Route 66 Marathon Recap - Volunteer Edition

Now that the Route 66 Marathon Weekend is over, it's time to reflect on all that I experienced.

Just as yesterday, I worked the finish line today. But first, the team of finish line volunteers gathered to hang the medals and heat sheets about an hour before the starting gun.

Pre-medal racks...

Compared to last year's freezing, windy weather, this year was a virtual paradise - mid-50's with gusty winds, and unlike yesterday, NO RAIN! We got the heat sheets and medals hung relatively quickly, and were ready for the first half-marathon finishers when they crossed the finish line.

The medals were hung by the heat sheets with care...

Once we were finished, I was stationed at the finish line with three other volunteers to greet the finishers as they crossed the finish line, keep the flow of traffic moving towards the medals and food tent, help any runners who were experiencing physical pain from injury of exhaustion.

Waiting on finishers...

The morning was filled with all sorts of amazing, confusing and inspiring sights - from the blazing fast marathon finishers to the runner that ran the entire downtown course in bare feet to the wheelchair competitors to the teams of runners finishing together to the (just like last year!) marriage proposal - this year's marathon pretty much had it all!

Four hours into it...

Finishers receiving their well-earned medals...

This year, there was a veritable plethora of medals:

A small sampling of the medals...

Marathon Finisher

Half Marathon Finisher

First Marathon Finisher

Marathon Maniac

Relay Medal

Half Fanatic

My shift ended after six hours at 1PM, five hours into the race. Amazingly (and accidentally), I exited the highway and came across runners still on the course - my hat's off to these runners, they're so much more resilient that I could ever hope to be!

Runners on the course 

And on a personal note, the Tulsa World retweeted one of my tweets - thanks, guys!

And so, another year is in the books. Already looking forward to next year's festivities. It's the 10th anniversary of the Route 66 Marathon, and I have it on good authority from @tulsagrly that it's going to be pretty amazing!

A special shout-out to Hannah and Laura, who despite having just finished running 13.1 miles, stopped to say 'hi' at the finish line - so proud of both of you! Maybe I'll be joining you at the finish line next year!

Route 66 5K and Fun Run - Volunteer Edition

Well, the Route 66 5K and Fun Run is in the books.

The weather cooperated - right up until the start of the race.

We volunteers showed up around 7am for the 8am starting gun and quickly got to work hanging medals and heat sheets, moving barricades and directing traffic. This year the medals didn't come wrapped in plastic - trying to be more green - and a team of us made quick work out of hanging the 5K and Fun Run Finisher's medals.

The Medals and Heat Sheets

About 20 minutes before the start of the race, the crowd of runners began to gather in the chute, and the weather was (so far) cooperating - the rain seemed to be staying to the east of us as the storm front moved across Tulsa.

The runners begin to queue up

Then, with about five minutes until the starting gun, the sky started to spit on us. Everyone was in such good spirits, though, that it hardly seemed to make a difference. With five minutes to go, we heard a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem, then came the final countdown and the starting gun, and the runners were off!

Five minutes to go...

Then the rain started coming down, very lightly at first. As the runners started cross the finish line, the rain became heavier. One of the first runners to cross vomited just past the finish line, and it became my job for the rest of the morning to keep runners and walkers from plodding through the mess. Sorry, no picture of that... ;) I ended up soaking wet because it was so busy for a while there, I completely forgot to put on my rain poncho until after I was pretty much soaked to the bone.

This year's medals were very nice indeed:

Fun Run Finisher's Medal

5K Finisher's Medal

And the Volunteer Coin wasn't too shabby, either:

Now it's time to dry off and get some rest - I'll be right back out there tomorrow working the finish line for the Marathon.

A special congrats to Sarah at @RunGingerRunBlog and her Hubbo, Cindy Decker and Ms. Kate, as well as the many others who completed the Route 66 5K and Fun Run today!

I'm Back!

Just a quick note to say I'm back.



I came across some pictures from two years ago...I want to get back there.

So stay tuned...this should be fun!

Just Another Thursday

It's been months since I washed my car. Months of rain, sunshine, dirt and pollen from the big oak tree shading the driveway where I park each night.

Today at lunch, I decided to do something about that. I grabbed my homemade PB&J from the breakroom fridge, grabbed a can of soda and headed across the street to the automatic drive-through car wash.

Ordinarily I'd take my car to a washing bay and pop quarters into it until I had scrubbed it clean, but since I was going to eat my lunch simultaneously, I thought it would be nice to be pulled through the car wash, thereby saving my work clothes from getting splashed with dirt and soapy water.

The first sign of trouble was when one of the attendants who was pre-washing the outside of my car knocked on my window. I rolled it down and he pointed out that the sunroof didn't appear to be fully closed. I thanked him, rolled up my window, and hit the 'close' button on the sunroof.

Then I was into the car wash, happily chomping away at my homemade PB&J, and alternating with carrots sticks to add a little crunch.

It was pretty cool to just sit back, my car in neutral, and let the conveyor belt pull me through the 100 yards or so of swirling brushes and spraying water.

At about the halfway point, it all went bad.

That's when the water started pouring out of the sunroof hatch.

I'm sure it would make for a better story if I described the water pouring down on me, soaking my hair and clothes, but (thankfully) the flood was limited to the passenger side, making me immediately thankful that I'd decided to make this trip alone.

Still, I was helpless to do anything but watch as a few gallons of soapy water poured down on the passenger side seat and floor, soaking the rest of my lunch with along with it.

As soon as I was out of the car wash, I rolled down the windows, opened the sunroof, salvaged what I could of the rest of my lunch, and drove around for a while in the ninety degree heat of the day, trying to help the drying process along.

But honestly, after a lunch break like that, I was happy to get back to the office.

A Sort Of Freedom

I've no more calorie-documenting, workout-recording, run-tracking apps on my phone, and I have music and a little android to thank for that, at least partially.

Most (okay, all) decisions I make are affected, at least in part, by either sex or music or alcohol, or some combination of the three.

This one started with music.

I've always been a hoarder of music. First cassette tapes (which are to me like vinyl is to Eddie Vedder, and I'll never get over its passing), then CDs, and finally over the last few years, mp3s.

I have - had, actually - gigabytes upon gigabytes of music files. On both home computers. My phone. My Kindle. My work computer.

Then my phone company did the unthinkable - they began letting me stream unlimited music without having any impact on the 2.5GB of high-speed data I'm alotted each month.

Truthfully, I'd been toying with the idea of moving all of my music to the cloud. Suddenly, it was no longer a concern. With Spotify and Pandora, I could stream whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, for however long I wanted.

And so I took the plunge, and deleted all of my mp3s. Every last one.

I was thinking about that today as I was in the process of entering the calories for my lunch in My Fitness Pal, which syncs with Pacer and Map My Fitness (and Map My Walk and Map My Run as well). And the thought that stuck in my head was, what am I doing?

I've run through the gamut of fitness apps - the ones mentioned above, as well as Nike+ and Runtastic, and even some iFitness band-thing for a while when I had my iPhone - and I've come to the conclusion that it's hurting more than it's helping.

About the iPhone thing - to digress slightly, my daughter has been "stuck" on my old 3GS for quite some time, and has been begging me for my "old" iPhone 5 when I upgraded to a new phone (when she wasn't begging me to outright buy her the 5C).

I'd done quite a bit of reading and research, and had already come to the realization that I'd be much happier on Android than iOS, a realization that has borne out to be true, and the details of which I won't get into now.

And so I got an LG Optimus L90 for a steal and passed my iPhone5 down to my daughter. And neither of us have ever been happier with the phones we have now.

Back to the fitness app - I've come to the conclusion that they really don't help me with anything but to have something to boast about on Facebook and Twitter, which is a whole other blog post (or three) entirely.

And so, much as a runner who runs without the benefit of music or a Garmin is said to be "running naked," I'm doing the same. As I continue to pare back my social media posting, I'm doing much the same with my fitness tracking - reducing the temptation to backslide, as it were.

So, no more fitness apps. Or running apps. Or tracking apps.

Just me and the workout. Me and Zeus and the run. Me and my food.

We'll see how this works out.

Why Can't Some Companies Do Social Media?

This article about the "tweet process" of President Cheese got me thinking about a few social media-related conversations I've been a part of in recent weeks.  Whether it's literally true or not, it really sheds some light (for me, anyway) on why social media seems to work better for some companies (and people, for that matter) than others.

I don't claim to be an expert in social media.  I've been doing it consistently (some might say with annoying consistency) for a number of years, I'm fairly active on Facebook and Twitter, and I've recently started using Instagram in earnest. I don't know all the ins-and-outs, rarely get double-digit likes or retweets, and have no interest in adopting Pinterest or any of the other dozen or so major social media outlets.

The one thing I do well, though, is engage with my followers.

This, however, is the one area in which most companies (and again, some people) fall flat on their face - the engagement aspect of it all.

Those companies that utilize Facebook and Twitter, et. al., as a means to disseminate information only are missing the "social" aspect of social media.

One of my favorite Twitter accounts that does it right is Taco Bell. HuffPo thinks so, as well, and even wrote about it recently, as did BuzzFeed a while back.  There are a number of lessons, in fact, that can be derived from Taco Bell's Twitter feed alone:

1. Have fun.
2. Don't worry about staying "on message."
3. Interact with people, both proactively and reactively.
4. Have fun.

I realize that most companies suffer from two sometimes-debilitating conditions that keep this from happening - not wanting to been seen in a bad light, and hiring someone else to manage their social media presence.

The second one is purely understandable, especially for smaller companies that don't necessarily have the resources to bring that sort of thing in-house. It's important in these cases to use a third party social marketing management firm that "gets" your business, and portrays the personality you want to express on social media. If you're happy with just pushing information out there and hoping it catches someone's attention, then more power to you. It's important to note, though, that that's not how most people engage with social media.

The first one is not so easy to overcome, but it's the very thing that keeps many businesses from fully utilizing social media marketing to its fullest advantage. The fear of making a misstep - of tweeting or posting the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time is a valid concern, and should not be taken lightly. However, it's important to remember that people engage with things that interest them, and sometimes a little controversy never hurts - there's some truth to the old adage that there's no such thing as bad publicity.

Giving Up

Giving up shit is hard.

It's that time of year when everyone - or so it seems - is starting a new diet or workout regimen.

One friend has started running again, and just signed up for a full marathon in November of this year. Another just completed the Boston Marathon on a charity bib and is now talking about BQing in earnest.

I'm in the same boat with the whole "starting a new thing" thing. Bonnie and I joined a gym at the beginning of the year, and we've just recently began to make it a priority, doing treadmill and weights three or four nights a week together.

It's been harder than I thought it would be, giving up running. After being devoted to it for a scant eighteen months, it's become obvious that my old body - my knees, in particular - just can't take the pounding.

So after six months or so of pouting, I've made the switch to walking, and began to do some work with weights as well (which I haven't done since high school 35 years ago). The transition hasn't been that difficult, but I sure miss those runner's highs. Now all I have to show for my work are sore arms.

Now if I could only do something about my diet. But giving up shit is hard. :)

This 'n' That

As I'm walking the dog in da 'hood this morning, I see in the distance someone walking towards us pushing a baby carriage. It's a bit chilly, so my first thought is "I hope they have their baby bundled up."

As we get closer, I hear yips and a man saying, "No, stay. Sit down."

And then the older gentleman coming towards us stopped and restrained the two Pomeranians that were riding in the baby carriage until Zeus and I passed him.

SMH.

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Upon turning 50 this past week, and with the weather warming up, I'm finding myself more and more motivated to get back in shape.

First up is losing the twenty pounds I've packed on since I has to quit running months ago.

One of the nice perks about my current gym is the price break I get when I show up at least five times in a calendar month. As I hadn't been for the entire month of April, I'm having to literally make time to go every day this week, and that has actually had the effect of lighting a bit of a fire under my ass.

I've been three times in the last two days, and am actually looking forward to squeezing in another workout tonight.

My current routine of hitting the gym when it opens at five, coming home and walking the dog, then going again with Bonnie after dinner really seems to be working.

I'm sure the lack of sleep will catch up with me eventually, but until that happens, I'm just going to keep pushing through.

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One of the high points of the last week has been gathering around a TV at the gym to watch the overtime period of the OKC Thunder loss (boo!) to the Grizzles.

It's moments like that - strangers gathered together for a common purpose - that remind me why I love sports.

And we'll get 'em in game 3 - Thunder Up!

Is It The Shoes?

In the 90's, Mars Blackmon made the phrase "maybe it's the shoes!" famous. The Spike Lee character, appearing with the incomparable Michael Jordan in a series of Nike commercials, delivered the line repeatedly.

And now I, too am a believer.

I've been slacking off from running. I haven't had a proper run since October of last year. Five months ago.

I had planned to turn that around this morning, but when I woke up, the knee and foot pain I've been a costumed to over the last few months was especially bad, and so I blew it off. Again.

I've long suspected my current shoes (a two-year-old pair of NB's with hundreds of miles on them and a pair of Asics that never felt broken in) were a contributing factor in my ever-present, nagging injuries.

So I finally broke down and bought a new pair of NB trail runners, the same model that I was wearing when I fell in love with running two summers ago:

 

And I've been pain-free all afternoon.

I'm about to head out for a walk downtown while my son is in music lessons, and I'm planning another two or three mile walk with Zeus this evening, and if all goes well...

But I don't want to get ahead of myself. Still, it's a good sign. 

Maybe it IS the shoes.

The Great Bean Brownie Trick

There's a recipe for black bean chocolate brownies floating around the internet, and as I enjoy using my kids as guinea pigs, I thought I'd give it a try.

After yoga this morning, my wife and I were shopping in Aldi when I saw the brownie mixes, which reminded me of the recipe, so I threw the box into our cart.

Once we got home, I decided to make them then and there. I started with two very basic ingredients - a 15oz can of black beans and the box of brownie mix:

Since Aldi didn't have the low-sodium (or sodium-free) black beans, I first drained and rinsed the beans:

Once drained, I added them and half a can of water to the Ninja and pureed the heck out of 'em:

...then added the puree to the dry mix...

But how did it taste at this point? A taste test was in order:

Then into the 350-degree oven they went for 30 minutes:

And after an appropriate amount of cooling (5-10 minutes), the verdict was in: "It tastes like the trampoline-y top of chocolate pudding!" I just don't have the heart to tell them what the secret ingredient was...

Give it a try and let me know how they go over at your house!

Here's the original post I got the idea from: http://greenlitebites.com/2012/07/05/the-black-bean-brownie-trick/

March 5, 2014 Accountability Check

Today's accountability check:

Stairs: three flights, four up and three down

Fiber: 23g

Lunch: Cobb salad and apple slices, 490 cal.

Weakness: 5 Cadbury mini creme eggs, 200 cal.

Creme eggs...yum!

Workout: 2.2 miles on the treadmill at the gym - 30 minutes total. Sweated like a stuck pig - felt so out-of-shape afterwards!

 

Sweating like crazy!

Additional nonsense: In honor of Wig Wednesday, wondered what I'd look like with Jared Leto's hair. It's not pretty:

And now that you've seen it, you can't unsee it - bwahahahahah!

Sweet dreams.

Shh - It's A Secret!

So, I've joined a secret group. And you can join to - I'll tell you how in a minute.

But first, a little backstory:

I stream RadioBDC at work frequently, and last week Dr. Sherry Pagoto, Ph.D., from the UMass Medical School, was the featured guest, talking about making better dietary and exercise choices. She mentioned a private Facebook group she had started, and before the interview was over I had emailed her, asking for an invite to the group.

As I write this, there are 44 of us, committed to making positive changes in our diet and exercise routines. Big changes or small, they all matter.

This week's challenge is a pretty simple, straightforward one: Home Improvement. Sherry has challenged the group to make one change at home, one change at work and one change in our exercise routine. The trick is that it needs to be something that, in the past, we haven't had the willpower to overcome. So, for instance, if you are unable to resist a handful of Nilla Wafers before going to bed, the idea is to get them out of the house so that the temptation is no longer there.

Here are my goals for the week (and longer, I hope):

The building I work in recently added a keypad at the top of the enclosed stairwell, making it possible to take the stairs UP to the third floor now. So that is what I'll be doing every time I enter the building as well as every time I leave it. I'll be taking the stairs. This is what will greet me every weekday morning:

Once in the office, my next goal is to avoid the kitchen. The well-stocked kitchen. The as-long-as-I'm-here-getting-coffee-I-might-as-well-grab-a-PopTart kitchen. Here is a small part of what I'm giving up:

However, making it until noon without SOMETHING is a torture I can't endure, so I brought something a little healthier from home:

So, Home Improvement Week begins now for me. Wish me luck!

And if you're interested in joining Sherry's secret Facebook group, drop her a line at sherry.pagoto (at) umassmed.edu.