RobbyB.com

So Stu likes to trash talk. Alot. And Michelle and I aren't ones to let Stu get away with it. So we asked if he would put his reputation on the line. So we made some gentlemen (and ladies) wagers:

There are two wagers, 1) Between Stu & Rob and 2) Between Stu & Michelle.

The wagers are identical.

In each, the athlete with the slower official chip time (including swim, bike, run splits, transitions and penalties) at the April 5, 2009 Ironman 70.3 New Orleans triathlon shall compose a hand-written, original letter once per calendar month for the six (6) consecutive months following the race, including April. (April - September)

The letter shall be addressed to the athlete with the faster time. The letter shall be postmarked by the end of the respective month. The entire letter must be contained in one standard #10 envelope with no more than one USPS stamp. The letter shall contain at least three sentences articulating the following:

1) The addressee is faster than the signer.
2) The signer is slower than the addressee.
3) In general, the addressee is better than the signer.

So there you have it. May the best person (me, natch) win!

First, many thanks to all my awesome family and friends that cheered for me on such a miserable day! You are awesome and I owe you so much for being there. I also appreciate the well wishes from those that couldn't be there in person. It makes a difference knowing you all care.

As for my day, I finished my first marathon officially in 3:50:53. I am still replaying the race in my head as many things didn't go as expected. I have to consider all that happened as I write my true race report, which will replace this text.

Thanks for your patience.

This is it. This weekend I'm running the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. Sunday's race will be my 45th run in the last 16 weeks. It didn't start so well. In the first two weeks, I seriously doubted that I could do it. I wasn't making my intervals, struggling to meet the tempo paces and just frustrated about the whole thing. So I reworked my paces and found that I could work hard and meet the targets. I was on my way.

Of those previous 44 runs, four have been for twenty miles, several were 18 miles, and even more were 13 miles. In my last 13 miler, I extended it by a tenth to complete the half-marathon and finished nine seconds faster than my personal best set two years ago. Kris biked along with me for many of the long runs, serving up water, Gatorade, conversation and support. Each long run got faster, and some got harder. Some where in the heat of the summer, some were on hills. One was on both. (That one hurt.) But it all built to this weekend.

My limits were tested. There was big breakthrough learning that I could go fast, and I didn't need a watch to tell me so. I learned that what I expected to be easy, wasn't. Why should it be? I had to learn to train hard and recover. And do it all over again. Limits had to be broken.

The course scares me. It's billed as the most beautiful urban course. But they don't mention anything about the three miles of hills before the finish line. My cousin made a great observation that the race's halfway point is at mile 21, just before the hills hit. So that makes the halfway point of the race one mile beyond my furthest run.

I'm pushing my limits with a 3:30 goal. I know, I know, it's my first marathon, I should know better. First marathons never go as expected. But it's better to push yourself and learn from what happens than to set the bar low and not learn anything at all.

But this is it. As nervous as I am, I'm ready. I just need to keep my wits about me and I will have a great day. Should be fun.

I'm #3792. You can track me on-line on the race site on Sunday. See how it compares to my projected pace.

You know you're old when you wake up on your 33rd birthday and you look in the mirror, blurry eyed and not-so bushy tailed, your body creaking and groaning from the marathon training thinking it's just too damn early for work.. It's just then you notice that your eyebrows are growing closer together and there are an increasing number of hairs are growing out of your nose.

And then, you get a Dyson Vacuum from your wife for a present. Of which, your wife is excited to give to you. And you, all thirty-three years of you, is excited to get. What a life I lead.

So it's been a bit since I've update. Most of my training has been for the Twin Cities Marathon. Work and vacations have taken up the rest of it. Along with the big Ironman Wisconsin weekend, I've had a breakthrough in my running. Simply put, too much information can be a hindrance.

My Garmin Forerunner can tell me everything I need to know while I'm running. Really, really cool. As a dork, I tend to obsess over the information while I'm running. But, that was distracting and my running suffered. So on Friday's 10-mile tempo run, I stopped looking at my watch, save for the mile splits. I had such a successful run then, I decided to see what I could do on this week's 15-mile long run. (Which I had to delay until this morning b/c of the IM WI festivities.) And wouldn't you know, I was able to average 10 seconds/mile better than I was schedule to. In fact, I broke my PR for a half-marathon distance (13.1 mi). Take a look at the table below to see the results.

Just one more 20 miler this weekend, then it's taper time! Now I need to start to figure out just how to pace myself through the full 26.2 miles.

To top it all off, it was really something to watch the City wake up around me. Starting at 5 AM in pitch black with very few others being active, I finished after dawn at 7 AM. Just something cool to witness.