Worth a post

I know someone who turns 50 this week and is going to run 50 miles on his treadmill to celebrate

Think he will make it?

Happy birthday dude

Ice Age 50 Mile...... again. But things are changing

I am not one big on "streaks", although I have at times been inadvertently caught in one.

The most common one is the "I have run x days in a row".
The other is the
"I have run this race x years in a row"

Well, I am caught in the second. Not sure how it happened, because I am not a big fan of the streak.

So in walks Ice Age 50 mile. This race has become my favorite race. It strikes the perfect balance of factors which are in my "zone". Here are some reasons why

1 - Course - It has everything to offer. Technical, flats, hills, scenery. People see it as an "easy" course, but it is really not. It is hard enough to make you run a smart race, but no too hard where it tears you to pieces. You can actually run most of the race.

2 - Time of year - Mid may. Almost never hot. Usually 50s or 60s, often rain/cloudy/overcast/ etc. Rarely hot and humid.

3 - The people - I have tons of great friends who show up every year to represent, set the bar, and put it on the line.

But this year should be a little different......

Last year I was surprised to get an email in late February from "tater Todd" saying I better sign up quickly, as it will fill up shortly after. I was surprised, as the prior year one could sign up on race day (and here we were almost 3 months from the race).

I was also surprised at the race last year the large influx of "newbies" to trail running. I am all for "newbies". I embrace anybody who wants to be a part of this community. But this class of noobs was a little different from when I was a noob. I almost go the feeling that people weren't getting their "cahce" from marathons, so they graduated to ultras to be cool. One can see it in the amount of gear people think they HAVE TO HAVE to run these. Even a 50 miler. (and this is a 50 you can run with almost nothing because of the copious amount of aid stations and frequent access to drop bags).

Enter 2012. The community has been changing, and is showing a much different face. The race director decided to create an official website instead having the site an extension of the Badgerland Striders site. Good call. It used to be tricky to find the site, and it had become a nationally recognized race. It needed it's own (I am not sure if I have that 100% correct with the Striders, so sorry if I am wrong).

So the RD ran into some snags with the website development. No big deal. It was delayed going live. No big deal. Heck, it is January. Who needs to worry about a race in May? Well nobody told that to huge influx of noobs. If you go to the facebook page for the race, you can see threads of people freaking out that the website isn't up yet. One person even commented by saying "Radio silence - for the past week - wouldn't be the way I'd want to treat runners who are interested in participating in my event..."

Wow... Tough crowd. This person went on to defend his comment and saying that there was no disrespect. More surprising were the people who "liked" his comment.

I don't think people realize that trail ultras are much different than typical road races. They take a lot to put on. Sponsorship is rarely in money, but in free stuff. Resources are limited. Races typically don't make money.

Gone are the days of "you are responsible for knowing the course and markings". In are the days of "who marked this course?.... it is horrible. I got lost x times!"
(if you get lost at Ice Age...you need help)
Gone are the days of "results will be posted later this week". In are the days of "come on, this race was chip timed. Why aren't the results posted (this being said a few hours after finishing)"

So I signed up last night for this race, as I saw it was almost full. The website/registration went live Monday, and it hit the 300 mark yesterday. Limit is 375 (which I believe to be the largest), and that will be hit this week easily.

But luckily most of my Sconnie nemesis are on the list. And this year I will show up at least somewhat trained for the race.

And if I don't have a good race, I will pile on the race director and blame it on him.

Happy New Year

As most people commit to their new years' resolutions, I will commit to my curmudgen response. "Why commit to something in the new year when you can commit to it all year long?"

My wife and I rarely celebrate valentines's day as well. Aside from it being a manufactured holiday, valentine's happens in my house year round.

One does not only need a race to hget in shape for. Somwtimes being in shape is enough for to feed the soul.

If you made a new years resolution to get in shape or lose weight, I ask you this....
"What was stopping you before?"

There is one in every crowd... and it is usually me

Totally unrelated running post, but maybe some humor for you all this week.

I flew to St. Louis yesterday for a quick trip before the down time of the holidays (us in sales can't do much these 2 weeks... Nobody wants to see us)

Anyway, went to go pick up my rental car at Dollar. Not a single sign in the airport showing they even existed. Figured I would follow the Thrifty signs as they are usually close to each other.

After some searching, I found a little filled with people waiting for the Dollar bus. They had been waiting quite a while.

Long story short, we get there and they don't have any of our info on file. So they start from square 1 trying to upsell to a larger car, add ons, etc.

We all just wanted to get in and go. Since I was at the end of the line, I had a lot of time to come up with smart ass answers to every useless question they were going to ask.

So here it goes
"Good morning Mr. Patten, what brings you to town today?"
Answer "I am a hired assassin here on a hit"

"Uh.., where will you be driving?"
Answer "Hawaii"

"Who is your employer"
Answer "I can't reveal my source"

I almost said "Maybe you should call the guy at Radio Shack because I bought some batteries there last week and they have all of my personal information"

So later that night in the hotel lobby I saw one of my fellow soldiers who had to endure the same silliness. I told him I am still worried the guy reported me to the FBI.

Yes, there is a smart ass in every crowd...... I am honored to be that person.

The Empty Glass Phenomenon

Through my extensive travel in the past 2 years, I have come to notice a commonality in the world of food service.

Try this the next time you go out to eat.

> Sit at the bar
> Order a beer
> Drink half of it
> Try to get the servers' attention (only through body language and eye contact)
> Finish the beer and count how many seconds your server comes to your service.

My point..... The empty glass is a far greater motivator than an eager server.

Why?........

Empty glass = another full glass of XXX = larger bill = bigger tip

Yes, it is that simple. Our primal instincts are motivated by money, not by making people happy.

At a company I used to work for, I had a co-worker who called me "root cause Matt". I mentored and trained many people there, and I ended up spending a lot of time challenging people on the "root cause" of any issue.

The "root cause" has always been my key motivator, and the thing which has distinguished me from the competition.

What does this have to do with running?

Training. What is the root cause to success or failure in races?

Training. But not the formula of training. I have come to believe that there is no such thing as junk training/miles.

In the bike mechanic world, there is a saying "bad grease is better than no grease"

Well, "junk miles are better than no miles".

And that is what I have been lacking for the last year and a half. Not enough miles.

The restaurant server who ensures who is always focused on an empty glass, is the runner who always worries about "not enough miles"

As dumb as that sounds, I think there is some truth to that.

This is why I finally got my mileage up to 40 last week.

Airport Body Scanners - A runners anmaly?

First off, thanks to all of you (both) who keep reading. My temptation to quit blogging was not a cry for attention... just crying.

I will work on some beer posts. I have 4 beer available in the house, so drop me line and come by (maybe during the holidays is best)

So.... we all know the controversy about the new full body scanners at most US airports. I, for one, don't get caught up in the controversy. I find it very odd that we have willingly surrendered many liberties for all sorts of "public good" and airport scanners are the things that push people over the edge? Really?

Personally I think it gets legs because certain groups scream and cry about them, and the lemmings follow.

Me... yawn.... give me something real to worry about.

Anyway, I started noticing I was always stopped after going through these. The person TSA agent proceeds to a minimal "pat down" focused on my left leg. Hmmm, whatever.

But I kept happening. More specifically, my left knee. In fact, I turn around and see it on the little screen. It happens with different pants, different scanners, etc. Always the same knee.

So Tuesday I go through and jokingly say "let me guess, left knee?". Sure enough, left knee.

TSA dude says "Do you have any pins or screws? any surgery". No

But wait. Could my 30 plus years of running, some with 2000 miles plus years have an effect? Could it be scar tissue from running? Could it be a lingering effect of the infamous Sawtooth bee attack? (same knee, and I still have numbness there)

So any of you orthopods (Nic?) or geeky tech scanner experts want to try and theorize?

So how is that for a post?

May be finished

This blog thing has been so low on the priority list that it is in danger of being shoved off the list.

Too busy? Not really
Too Lazy? Kind of
Don't really care anymore? Pretty much

Had a good stretch of fitness until mid-October. Been really hit and miss since.

Considering only 2 people read this anymore, I may just send you emails