Distance runners Abdi Abdirahman and Meb Keflezighi talk about their preparations for the 2008 Olympics.

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=ebbacd2abc5eaa15e7cde256b10efcfc55623b74

My thoughts and prayers go out to Ryan Shay and his family! What a tragedy! He seemed like a terrific human being and a real model for the sport! It is strange how much learning about his death has effected me. I didn't even know him but as a passionate runner it effects me in a way that's hard to express. He will be missed! This news has most certainly shocked the running community.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/sports/othersports/04marathon.html?ref=othersports

Richards Run for life 5k and Breast Cancer Walk

Making strides aganst breast cancer walk, Tampa Fl Saturday October 27th. OK so it was not a race!!Although it took every ounce of restraint I had not too!!! ;) But for a good cause. Really there to support Kristin!

http://makingstrides.acsevents.org/site/PageServer?pagename=MS07_FL_eventinformation_Hillsborough

Richards run for life 5k. Great race. This is my second year participating. This is put on by the owner of the Columbia restraunt. What a sweetheart of a guy (Richard) and the proceeds go to support cancer research and the Moffit Cancer Center. Not my best performance but it was beautiful weather for racing!

http://www.richardsrunforlife.com/

results

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/07/fl/Nov2_Richar_set1.shtml

John Holmes 50K Oct 13th

Fun Race!! Great weather and I had the best support crew ever!!! Kristin ( and Jack) were awesome. Kristin made her way around the course to watch me and was there just when I needed her with a cold water bottle and a gue pack! Jack made a few laps around the course as well with one of the runners who did the 15 mile. I am still extremely out of shape but it's a start. I will be back next year!! I have a 5k next weekend Saturday. Not by choice!!!;) Kristiin is a huge Chick- fil -A fan. The winner's 3 deep in age group win free Chick-fil-A for a year! Just a little pressure! :) I am also doing a triathlon on Sunday. The Long Leaf Triathlon. So it should be a fun weekend! Here is a race report from Matt Mahoney's website on the 50k this past weekend...great recap!!!

OK...I just thought this was weird. So the race was on October the 13th, My race number was 13 and guess what place I finished overall...yup...13!! Freaky! ;)

Here are the offical results!

http://coolrunning.com/results/07/fl/Oct13_JohnHo_set1.shtml

original with edit

The John Holmes (Croom Trail) 50K (Brooksville FL) unofficial results
are
posted to http://mahoney4. home.netcom. com/scr/races/ 07croom50k. txt

.... The results are unofficial because I
copied them from the scoresheet at the race and left when there was
7:51 on
the clock and 23 out of 78 runners had either dropped or were still
running.
I heard from the RD that it might take awhile to get official results
because
he had to leave at 3PM today to fly to London. So that is why I am
posting
them.

The 50K is on sandy trails with roots and hills (but no rocks) in the
Withlacoochee forest about 50 miles west of Orlando. It started at
7AM when
it was barely light enough to run without a flashlight. It has a
main loop of
7.3 miles with 3 aid stations, repeated 4 times, with and extra 1.5
miles of
downhill dirt roads to the start and 0.3 miles of gnarly uphill trail
to the
finish. The main loop had several climbs up to about 50 vertical
feet at
10-15% grade, plus a 20 foot deep sinkhole called "Bundy's Pit" with
a 50%
uphill grade. There was also a 15 mile fun run at 9 AM that does
only 2 loops
(so actually about 16 miles). We had great weather due to the first
cold
front of the fall, low and dewpoint in the low 60's F and highs about
85 F and
sunny.

The 50K had awards for overall, masters, and first place in 10 year
age
groups, consisting of a shirt and LED maglite. The fun run had no
awards.
The aid stations had the usual ultra foods like water, Gatorade,
M&Ms, potato
chips, Coke, etc. Post race food was hamburgers, beans, chips, and
fudge.

Each race had reached its 75 runner limit, but then they allowed race
day
registration at a reduced rate of $1/mile with no shirt, about half
of the
preregistration fee.

I didn't list complete fun run results, but local runners included
Jonathan
Dea, 29, of Rockledge FL in 2:21:15 (2nd 20-29) and Steve Szabo, 32,
of
Melbourne FL in 3:26:59 (11th 30-39). The winning time was 1:58:22.

Local runners in the 50K were:

Joe Ninke, 38, Sebastian FL, 4:25:01, 3rd overall. He is one of only
2 people
to finish the Wickham Park 100.

Me, 6th overall in 4:40:35. I only managed an age group award
because Ray
Bell (4:28:28) turned 60. (In the 1990's he was second in the Run
across
America where you have to run an average 45 miles per day for 64
consecutive
days and make every cutoff.) My marathon split today of 3:51 was
about a
minute per mile slower than on roads. I dunno. I started off in the
lead
pack with 3 other runners on the downhill dirt road at a 6:45/mile
pace, but
after about 1/2 mile I decided that was too fast for 31 miles and
backed off.
By the end of the race a 10 minute pace was hard enough.

Scott Maxwell, 57, Indialantic FL, 5:25:06, 4th in my age group. He
has run a
bunch of 100 mile races and is race director of the LOST 118 mile
race around
Lake Okeechobee.

-- Matt Mahoney, matmahoney@yahoo. com

Kayaking at Wheaton Island

Montana!!!

Here is a video of my first and last skydive:)

It's been a crazy month!!

I forgot I had this blog! With my training thrown out of the window I haven't thought to keep it up;) I landed my new job with Johnson & Johnson and took about a month off prior. I had a chance to do a bit of traveling. I went out to Boulder, CO (Where I will move to one day!!! ) It was awesome. I did some amazing trail running with my buddy Grant. I had a week long hunting/ fly fishing trip in the Catskills mountains of New York State with my Pop. I finally had a chance to catch up with chores/ projects left unfinished around my house. I even did something I swore I would never do...I went skydiving!! As Ernest Hemingway said "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut" After a few beers I made this mistake of agreeing to go skydiving with my buddy Aubrey who has over 4000 jumps. He held me to it and woke me out of bed at 9 a.m. the next morning with parachut in hand! I adopted a new dog. His name is Jack and he is a cool dude. I dropped out of Ironman CDA this June. With my lack of preparation and my upcoming flyfishing trip to Montana in July, I cannot afford that much time away from the new job:( Currently sitting in the Tampa airport waiting for my delayed flight to Newark, NJ. I hope to use these next two weeks in Jersey to get back in shape. Then maybe I can actully blog about my training:)

Gators like banana's!

Hard day of training:)

It's amazing what a little exercise and some whole foods will do for your overall energy level and mindset!!! I have slowly been changing my diet by eating more raw vegetables and unprocessed foods. I have fresh juice place a few blocks from me and I have been living on these carrot/ celery/ apple and beet juice drinks! I’m too lazy to use my own juicer;)

I woke up this morning and busted out a quick 15-mile bike ride at around 24/25 mph avg. I then hit Bobby Hicks pool because my pool is being resurfaced and swam about 3000 meters. I then stopped off at the local coffee shop to grab some Joe and ran into my buddy Anthony who is an avid triathlete. He introduced me to Robert Pennino, founder of Terrier Tri and a certified USAT Triathlon coach. http://www.terriertri.com/ Robert and I linked up and rode this afternoon… a quick 35 miles around Tampa, We road down Bayshore to Picknick Island..over the Gandy bridge and then backtracked. Super nice guy! He trains a few Pro Triathletes and was a wealth of information. He is living my dream. Apt in NYC and an Apt here in Tampa with about 120 clients in both locals. I think he said he was in movie/ commercial production and like myself quit and decided to make a living doing what he truly enjoys. We are meeting tom morning to swim over at Bobby Hicks.

On another note…Snoop Dog! Unbelievable!!!! He is trying to say that he can use derogatory statements against women because it’s art and “what’s in my soul and my mind” and that his statements should not be compared to demeaning statement of Don Imus (another winner!) What is this world coming to?? Both should lose their jobs!!!!

Escape from Fort Desoto

Here's proof JD that I have two different colored eyes...I will take my five bucks now!!! :)

I signed up for Escape From Fort Desoto Triathlon today...It is this Sunday. I was going to start my road trip this Friday, however I have a final interview scheduled with Johnson and Johnson for their women's health medical device division on Friday in Orlando. If I am offered the position I'll probably have to start fairly soon. Plus I offered to dog sit Deuce…Jackie and Craig and the rest of the crew are heading to Vegas. I simply didn’t want to go! The idea of staying up late and drinking all day just doesn’t do it for me! I’d rather be camping and getting exercise! Am I getting old?!!! I 'm hoping to squeeze at least 15 days of travel in. My plan is to head to Denver to spend time with Grant and Justine and then boogie over to San Fran to see Tony stopping in UT. If time permits I want to head to Portland OR. then up to Wapato, WA, .to see Ed and Gail Boob.

I just got back from the gym and I tried to complete a swim/ bike and run but the pool was closed:( So I just did a modified brick… a run/ jump rope/bike/run and then weights. I am gearing up to start doing Yoga. I went to my chiropractor today and she said she has a short list of clients including myself of beginners that she is going to hand over to her friend who is a terrific instructor. I would rather be in a class of beginners than some experienced yogi’s:) I'm pretty competitive and I'm sure I'd try to bend farther than the person next to me and end up hurting myself☺ Can one actually be competitive in yoga??

Who sings this song on this clip!? It's pretty great!

Croom DNF :(

This was from an e-mail that my good friend and running partner sent to me after I told her about Croom...

"Put it on the line, be courageous, take the risk to fail, and
experience success. Avoiding such a risk may seem emotionally safe at
first, but in the long run it will be there to haunt you."

"Runners who possess the warrior attitude demonstrate very distinct
characteristics. The warrior runner... Has courage to risk failure,
learn from setbacks, and forge ahead."

You are a courageous, passionate, fearless warrior runner!

Thanks Jackie! :) Ditto!!

I had zero business being out there for the race!! My longest run since Gasparilla was about 13 miles. So I risked failure and I failed;) But I got 24 good miles in before I threw in the towel. I went off like a bat out of hell and paced with the lead group of 3 runners. I got behind John Doc's the same guy I tailed at last years Croom and unknown to him he led me to a finish time of 8:15. But that was not in the cards this year. I tripped on one of the lovely roots on the trail and did a face plant into a beautiful rock. I got up a bit dazed but I had hyper flexed my back and it killed!!!! I continued running and caught up. I then tripped 3 more times within a 5-minute span. I could not se the trail. Here is the kicker! I stopped by Adventure Outfitters to pick up a new headlight because my dog Bear snacked on my old one. I was holding a 26-dollar Black Diamond flood in the left hand and a 59 dollars Black Diamond light in the right. Yup.... went with the left hand;( I am not a frugal person but I figure a light is a light. WRONG!! I could not see a darn thing! After I lost the group I picked up the pace to catch them and proceeded to make a wrong turn. The course was extremely well marked with Montrail Yellow tape and I still managed to make a wrong turn. So I looked at my garmine and I was running about a 7 1/2 min mile and after about a mile I still had not caught these guys and I new at that point I had made a wrong turn. I backtracked and finally saw a string of headlights up on a ridge and I rejoined the race. My back was tweaked and I think I made a good decision by stopping. I am going to see my chiropractor tom morning. Still I have never DNF'd anything in my life and it's a huge shot to the ego. I am thinking about redeeming myself and signing up for a race in CA called the Leona Divide on April 21st. It looks like a beautiful spot. I am going to contact My Buddy Tony who lives out in San Fran. I would like to run out by Castle Rock State Park and head back to the Purisima Open Space Preserve. So we’ll see☺ On another note: Easter was a blast! I was invited over my friends house and a group of us enjoyed some terrific pasta and I kept the Brennan family Easter tradition alive by making Whiskey Sours! After a few of the sours someone got the great idea of starting an annual Easter 1 mile race in your Boxer shorts. I finished second!! ☺

Philadelphia

It has been quite the week. I resigned from my job and decided to pack up the Subaru and head out West on an extended road trip. I am still in the process of planning out my trip. I am planning to camp as much as possible and explore all of the running trails I have been reading about for the past few years. My goal is to leave in the next couple of weeks. I am completely at peace for the first time in seven years since I started working in medical device sales. You start to ask yourself..Whats the point of working so hard if you cannot enjoy life. I think I just need this time to get my head straight and come back with a renewed vigor. I am even thinking about selling my home and moving to Boulder CO or Portland OR. The great thing is that I'll have this time to figure out what I really want.

I flew home this weekend to spend time with Mom, Dad and Paige. She is sooo funny and wicked smart! She can carry a full on conversation and doesn’t skip a beat. Brandon and Cleo flew up from Miami and Tyler and Alison drove down from the City and Rick and Stacy drove up from Jersey. It was one of the best evenings I have ever had. Mom cooked an amazing spread and Pop cracked about 10 bottles of wine and we played all kinds of games...I think Catch Phrase was the hit of the night. It was so great having my three best friends and their wives all together at the same time. Being with family and great friends coupled with lots of laughter is truly the fabric of life. It's really stinks that these guy's live so far away.

Well I'm back in Tampa. I'm finally able to get some work done around the house. All of the travel that I have done over the past six months caused some neglect around my house. I have my cousin Kelly and Aunt Fran coming to visit this Saturday for five day's...so it's time to clean the bachelor pad! ;) My ankle is back in shape!!!! Pete did his magic. I am meeting the X-crew tom morning at 5:30 at the gym for a 10 miler. I can't wait!

Ankle tweeked :(

This is me and my track coach Droor boozing it up on St Paddy's!
Training has come to an abrupt stop. Work has been absolutely nuts.....way too many conferences and dinners. I also did some damage to my ankle. I increased my mileage way too quickly and think I have tore some tendons. I have been off my ankle for about two weeks..... Decided I would run yesterday just to see how I felt. IT FELT GREAT!! Until I got home ;) It was such a beautiful day that I didn't want to stop. I ended up running about 11 miles at a super easy pace. I'm going to try going back to Pete my sports massage guy. He is a miracle worker so I'm hoping he'll work his magic. Truly sucks to be injured.... why can't the body be as strong as the mind. I guess it's strictly just pool for this cat for the next few weeks ;(!!!

Had to work this weekend;(

Had a meeting this weekend in Howey in the Hills, FL at the Mission in Golf resort. It definitely is in the middle o nowheresville, if the name of the town gives you any clue;) It was a meeting for the Florida Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Last time I was in the area I was cycling through during the Great Floridian iron distance triathlon. It was brutal!! You wouldn't think that there are any hills in FL;) but peddle 112 miles on this ROLLING course and you'll change your mind real fast!! ;) I was especially blown out due to the fact I was fresh off racing Ironman Canada just about a month prior. I had zero business being out there! I just sent my application in for the tampa bay 24 mile marathon swim. Although now I'm a bit scared..I just spoke to on if the surgeons at the meeting who crewed for his buddy who swam it a few years ago and he was telling me how his friend blew up like a balloon. I guess being in the water for 11 plus hour's will do that to you;)

Gasarilla Race Weekend

Well I was supposed to head down to Miami this past weekend for a crawfish fest that a friend was throwing and decided last minute that a weekend of debauchery was not what I needed so on Friday eve I called Brandon and told him I was bailing. On Friday I signed up for the weekend races. Gasarilla 5k on Saturday and marathon on Sunday. I will never do the 5k again...there were some 5000 people plus. Literally there were people holding hands and walking in front of me and not just one or two couples...I swear I was at Woodstock. I was waiting for Janice Jop to be jamming out around the next bend. You will not find I bigger supporter of people getting out and exercising..but locking palms in a race??? So After jogging for the first 3/4 of a mile (literally) I was able to actually run. Time was like 22 something horrible...if it tells you something I was 5th in my age division...thats how conjested it was. The marathon was not quite as conjested. I found the 3:30 pace group around (or should I say they found me!! ;) around the 19 mile mark and stuck with them. Time was around 3:36. It was a great training run for the upcoming races. My goal is 2:55 by August...so we will see....I need to loose the extra poundage!

training..

Ran 7 miles tonight at @ 7 min mile....Felt really strong tonight....I wanted to go further but had to get back to the office for a report due tom:( Was planning to head down to Miami this weekend to spend some time with the Brandon and Cleo Crawford....our friend Ryan is having a crawfish boil/ fest expecting 300 plus at his house. He and Elaine really know how to throw a party!! But alas I decided...today! to stick around in tampa and be healthy. Sorry B.C..I did promise I'd come..but I can't afford a weekend of drunkin debauchery;) .. So I'm going to run the Gasparilla race's...still undecided if I'm going to run the 5k/ 15K and the half marathon or if I'm going to do the 5k and the marathon. It's called the bud light challenge?? It was called the jeep liberty challenge last year.. Anyway I also met this cute girl on a blind date... on Valentines day no less!! so I think were getting together this weekend.... P.S. my spell checker is not working...so I'm posting anyway;)

training..

Ran 12 miles tonight....easy pace for the first 7 and then kicked up the pace ....The weather was actually quite nice. About 65 degress. There was a fog that hovered over parts of Bayshore and Davis Island...Finished off the run with a chicken curry dish and a Boddingtons beer at Mad Dogs and Englishman Pub ;)

Made me think

I drove down to Sanibel FL today to visit with my mom and dad who are vacationing here for the next month. It is extremely relaxing down here. Their condo is right on the beach. It brings back so many great childhood memories of growing up at the Jersey Shore. to sit on the deck and listen to the gulf's gentle waves, feel the breeze and smell the salt water. For a brief second I forgot that I have to work tomorrow...thankfully I have a meeting at a Hospital only 20 miles from here:) We had dinner tonight with my Aunt and Uncle who are also vacationing up the road from here. I have not seen them in 6 years. It was great to catch up! It's always neat to get your parents perspective on their parents. I never met my grandfather on my dad's side but he was a touch Irishman, grew up in the coal minds of western PA was an semi pro boxer and eventually became a Doctor. I don't think he would ever be classified as the "touchy feely" type...yet he had a certain way of showing his love. My dad made a comment to his brother tonight over dinner about how "dad always gave the best cut's (of meat) and the biggest portion's to his family saving the scraps for himself." I believe if you look at a person as a whole it's the small things that truly define a person... the everyday sacrifices and gestures that are the makeup of who we are.

Diet begins after this bowl of ice cream

Sooo the training begins....time to put down the cheeseburger's, peanut M&M's and my all time favorite bacon egg and cheese sandwich and everything that has led to the ridiculous size of my belly. 20lbs....that's my goal.....time frame 2 months. Well... had a fairly productive training weekend. Ran 8 miles friday eve at a relaxed pace and then Ran 11 miles at 5:30 a.m. on Sat morning with the SHARKS. Biked about 25 miles Sat afternoon and even hit the gym. The gym was partly because my BRAND NEW hot water heater crapped the bed= no hot water:( So once again gym today did a quick two miles on tready at a 6 min pace, then stairmaster, jump rope (my new favorite activity...reminds me of Rocky in the meat locker) combo-d in with push up's. I seriously need to get back in the pool!!! I had my first real lesson by a buddy of mine a former olympian. DUDE....I was wasting so much energy with my old stroke. No wonder why I was getting past by jellie fish!!

Soo has anyone ever aspirated water while swimming? How about in a race? It just happened to me in a sprint relay race I did with some friends. I did the swim, and bike and my friend Deana did the run. We were racing against 3 other teams of friends. I really didn't take the race all that seriously...I had a date the night prior and ended up drinking a bottle of really good wine and getting about 3 hours of sleep. So I took off like a bat out of hell and rounded the first marker where some clown tanked me while doing the zig zag. It was quite possibly the scariest / most emabarrasing moment of my life. I couldn't breath. Started looking around for one of the kayak dudes to grab on. But no luck....so I treaded water for about three min taking short quick breaths and was able to take a half a breath. For the first time I thought about quitting the race. And then my ego kicked in and i thought there is no way we are losing this freakin thing. So started swimming again and pounded the bike and team GLUE won:). But still when I think about it...darn scarey. I could have bit the dust! Just that feeling of helplessness and shear panic!!! If I ever lifeguard a race....I will be dam vigilant about keeping an eye out for cat's in trouble!

Just ran into this cat at Gasparilla......he is one of the Mullet Marathoners. You have to check out this site! freakin funny stuff:)

http://www.mulletmarathon.com/flash/index.htm