Thunderupdate: 05 in '07

[As promised...]



[Which reminds me - few things have made me prouder than learning that the Spike gained a reader when the young man (I presume it was a man) Googled the phrase "rocky and apollo running all gay on the beach."]

[Spikeditors note: BT has foolishly vowed to complete 6 half marathons during 2007.]

First of all, my apologies to those readers who are enjoying Dave Law's real estate blog.

Well, I haven't done the best job of updating the fans of my running, but rest assured I'm still plugging away. The first thing to mention is the change in the title. Unfortunately, my quest for 06 in '07 is not to be. I've scaled back to 05 in '07, which admittedly doesn't quite have the charm of its predecessor. The change has nothing to do with lack of drive or commitment to achieving my original goals. Simply put, there is not an available half marathon every weekend (without flying all over the country), and the scheduling doesn't work to get 6 in with realistic down time between races. So I've scaled back to 05 in '07, with the caveat that I will do 06 in 12 months by having the early February San Francisco half be my first and last race of my running year.

Which brings me to my current status: the first half marathon is this Sunday (rough map of the course via the very handy Gmaps Pedometer is here). It seems to be a very flat course, which is good news for me. I think I'm ready to go.

The training has gone pretty well. Very few missed runs, and noticeable improvement literally every week. I know that my speed is improving a bit (though I'm still extremely slow comparatively - I'd say the ratio of runners that pass me to runners that I pass is 12:1, literally). Perhaps the best sign is that on Sunday I ran 7.9 miles, and it wasn't all that difficult. The legs never got too tired (nor sore the next day) and I wasn't completely drained at the end. Unthinkable a mere month or two ago.

Training notes:

Longest run - 10.4 miles. There are different schools of thought on how long to run in preparation for half marathons. Most novice programs top out at 10. In the past, I've topped out as low as 9 and run the race without dying, so I'm not too worried. However, as I continue to progress, I'm going to build my long runs into the 12-15 mile zone, so that the race itself is more about my time, rather than just finishing. That said, the stated goal for my first race was to finish comfortably. And I think I should.

Weight - Still very high. Throughout November and December, when I started training, I ate whatever I felt like. I did my usual holiday gorging, and on January 1, I stepped on the scale. When the shock wore off, I got down to being more serious about eating. No real gimmicks, just trying to stay below 2,000 calories a day, while eating a fair amount of vegetables and avoiding too much white flour and sugar. I'm happy to say that its working. As of last Friday, I'm down 10.5 lbs from January 1. However, while this sounds like a good accomplishment, its not all that impressive. My weight on January 1 was my heaviest ever. It was like I was just saturated. So the first few pounds just flew off as a result of eating like a human being. However, I'm hoping to continue losing on a slow and steady basis. My goal is to lose 48 more lbs. Wow. I'm fat.

Injuries - In my last Thunderupdate, I said this: "during sunday's run, I tweaked my right calf, though it seems to be fine now. Let's hope it doesn't linger." Well, it has done just that - lingered. It never was bad enough to make me stop running, but it hasn't felt normal normal either. I've been doing some extra stretching of it throughout the day, which seems to help. I don't foresee it being too much of a problem.

Outlook - I'm right about where I hoped to be at this point. I'm going to finish the run, though it will be tough. I will be embarrassed by my time, but that's ok. In the coming months, I'm going to continue to lose weight, but I'm also going to increase the intensity of my training. I'm going to start running four days a week, and upping my mileage. I will also include some interval training and hills, which should increase my speed.

Here's a handy chart:

Miles per week: January - 15+, Upcoming months - about 19-25

Miles per month: January - 68.6, Upcoming months - 85-110

Days running: January - 3 per week, Upcoming months - 4+ per week

Average miles per run: January - 5.7, Upcoming months - 5-6.5




My Prediction: Big Thunder rolls across the finish line this Sunday in 2:16.

Big Al Gonna be a BabyMama

Congratulations are in order for semi-loyal TGS reader and ever-loyal friend, Big Al. Her and K-Fum have apparently been up to the Devil's business, and their actions have been rewarded. The seed has taken hold! Soon, Big Al will be a hormone-driven ball of cravings and mood swings. Which is not at all the way she was when not pregnant.

The Big Two would like to offer their most hearty congratulations to the happy couple. Though their selfish actions have ruined an upcoming wine tour (we won't even know how to act around a sober Al), we wish them an easy, healthy pregnancy.

The Spike would like to offer some preferred names for the baby girl (we feel strongly that the child will be female, based on the fact that K-Fum doesn't spend enough of his free time around women):

Davette
Brianna
Legalina
Thundra

Finally, the Spike has performed some complex analysis of the couple's bone structure, DNA, and family history, and we have come up with an extraordinarily accurate prediction of the child's appearance.

London Crap-Hole

The Hoboken Condo advertised in the post below is a steal compared to this shoebox across the pond. Some bloody wanker is asking 170,000 quid (that's $335,000 US Dollars) for a 77 square foot closet.

So, come on people! Let's start the bidding for the palatial 700 square-foot Hoboken condo!

$399K; Hoboken, NJ - Beautiful 1 Bed/1 Bath Condo in Elevator Building – FSBO

700 sq ft, 1 Bedroom, 1 Bath condo, in move-in condition. 10 Minute walk to PATH, 1 block from buses to NYC. This corner unit, built in 2000, boasts a full kitchen incl. built-in microwave & dishwasher, gorgeous hardwood floors, large windows w/ custom Hunter-Douglas wood blinds, beautiful crown molding and chair rail, central AC/Heat, and a washer & dryer in unit! $155 maintenance, $3500 taxes. Asking $399,000. Please call (or email) Dave at 908-447-6595 to set up an appointment.

A Big Star

Sister Thunder has hit the big time! She is currently savoring her 15 minutes -- er, roughly 2 seconds -- of fame. Watch closely in the above clip from 0:59 to 1:01. That's true star power...

Its Official

The contest for the most obvious news headline of 2007 is over, just 9 days into the year.

Zidane playing 5 a side

Professional athletes often burn out playing their chosen sport. For your enjoyment here's a youtube video of Zidane playing a pick-up game w/ his friends somewhere in Frogland. TGS is glad that Zidane still loves the beautiful game enough to just play around like this – especially after France was humiliated by the Azzurri last year. Plus it's important for the world to have balding heroes. Go Zizou!



BTW - Zidane's friends suck.