Duty Bound

Oops. I forgot all about my jury duty summons until, oh, about 9 PM on Sunday. Called the hotline and, sure enough, I needed to be at the courthouse bright and early Monday morning. Sorry work, forgot to give you the heads up on this. I've received a summons each of the last 3 years and, the prior two, I simply called the hotline and was told not to show. I guess I was expecting the same thing. You know what happens when you ASS-U-ME. In this case, it's all on me.

After sitting around for 3 hours and listening to jury selection (of which I was literally the last potential juror on the list with no hope of being called), I was dismissed to return to work - which was not pleased with my last minute absence right smack in the middle of one of my busiest work weeks.

Watching the legal system work though is fascinating. I did enjoy observing the questioning of the potential jurors and guessing at the reasons for their dismissals. It was also interesting watching two jurors say anything they could in an obvious attempt to be dismissed. One woman in particular kept hinting in a very embarrassing way that she didn't think she could be impartial for one reason after another. When that didn't work, she then suddenly remembered - an hour and a half into the process - that she did, in fact, remember the accused as visiting her place of work and that she didn't have a good opinion of her. Wow. Amazing how she forgot that for so long and then pulled that out at the last minute. They put her out of her misery and dismissed her.

I think she should have been forced to be an alternate juror...not really part of it but still having to sit there the whole time. Kind of like a hockey penalty box.

Running Update:

Sunday's LR

9.7 miles
7:20 pace

I'm dealing with a sharp pain in my left heel right where it turns north. After about 1.5 miles, it loosens up but those first 10 minutes or so are miserable. Right now, I'm proceeding without changing my training plan but keeping an eye on this. I may cut short some long runs if it doesn't show signs of improvement over the next week or so.

Somehow or another I'm already at week 4 of my Chicago plan. Where does the time go?

In Process...

Postings may be sporadic over the next few weeks.

Job is in the busy season. We have some family mini vacations on the horizon.

As you can see, I've started repainting a bit. Still going with the boring standard templates offered by Blogger though. I've tried to lighten the colors a bit. I love the color blue but recognize it is a bit difficult to read white text on a blue background so I dumped my previous layout. I'd like to juice up the header but still investigating the best way to do that. In the meantime, mind the dust and nails, reconstruction will be complete soon (whenever time permits).

I'm back into my regular running mode (i.e. obsessing about not missing a run). Starting slowly into my training plan but will pick up steam over the next few weeks. Did over 4 miles at 6:51 pace earlier in the week and 6.25 miles at 7:08 pace last night. I have a 9+ miler scheduled for Sunday.

We were gone on a quick family mini trip to Chicago and Six Flags last weekend. I'll see if I can dig up some exciting news from that trip in the next post.

Happy running.

Slow Motion

Okay, so I'm not moving so fast on repainting this blog. Lots of things going on...finishing a backyard project that involved never ending shoveling, son's baseball, the Michigan Mile held in downtown Lansing which both kids finished in fine form. Work is very busy right now. All in all, just no time. I'll get to a redesign soon.

As for running, I'm still taking it easy. Logged a paltry 13 miles last week. Did over 4 miles @ 6:57 pace last night. I'll probably only due another 10 or so miles the rest of the week. Then, I'll start concentrating again on my training plan. I'm taking a mental and physical break between Bayshore and Chicago. After Chicago, Disney and Boston will come quick with almost no chance for a break so I'll enjoy this for a few weeks.

Happy running.

Changes Coming

I've lived with this basic blog look since it's inception. Mainly out of pure laziness to develop it further. At the very least, it's due for a new coat of paint. And with Chicago approaching, maybe I'll try to match the color pattern to the next marathons official colors? I think they are black and gold for the 30th anniversary.

I've been taking it easy on the running front lately. I reward myself with two easy weeks following a marathon before diving back in to regular running mode. I've done just two lazy 3 mile runs since Bayshore. Next week, I'll get back on my regular schedule. I've printed and modified Hal Higdon's Intermediate II plan to follow for Chicago. Once again, I'll attempt to hit his weekly LR target but the rest of the week, that's all my creation. Basically, I took his 18 week template and deleted out the Mon-Sat runs and entered my own. I think at this point I have a decent idea of what works for me. No need to even pretend I'm going to follow someone else's for the weekday runs.

Randumbness:

A) Did anyone notice the article on page 96-97 of the latest Runner's World? He was wearing a Traverse City Running Fit shirt.


B) The Tigers were decent hitting but superb pitching team in 2006. This year, they are a superb hitting but only decent pitching team. A complete flip-flop. I think the pitching will improve though as the year goes on.

C) I think the Pistons deserved their fate.

D) I don't think the Red Wings deserved theirs those. One tipped puck from controlling the series against Anaheim. Painful to see the Ducks skating around with the Cup last night. Tsk, tsk.

E) Reefer Madness: Interesting read. Basically, the author assembled and expanded on 3 article's he had written previously for a magazine. The subjects: marijuana, illegal migrant workers, and the porn industry and the impact on our economy through the black market. Each of these markets are examined in the context of what "we", society, consider moral and how our views on morality shift over time.

F) We were lured into each of the big Hollywood blockbuster Part 3's recently: Spiderman 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and Shrek 3. I think all three were the worst of their respective trilogy. I left each thinking 'if they don't make another one, that's fine with me'. None of the films were terrible. They just couldn't live up to the hype or quality of the preceding films in my opinion.

G) We finished viewing season 1 of Weeds. Hilarious. I love TV series' featuring foul mouthed 4th graders and pot dealing mothers.








H) We are now renting season 3 of Rescue Me. Good show. Check it out.











Now that you're all caught up, have a good weekend.

Bayshore Wrap-Up

Final thoughts on Bayshore...

A terrific race. Plain and simple. I have two marathon experiences...the large, crowded, high adrenalin of the Chicago Marathon and the small, scenic Bayshore Marathon. They are both special in their own way.

Bayshore was great because...

It was less crowded.

The course was beautiful...like a long, slow scenic drive along some of the best bay front views in Northern Michigan.

The technical race shirt is very usable and appealing.

The finisher's medal is solid and, frankly, better than Chicago's.

The volunteers were tremendously motivated to make this a great experience and deserve a round of applause.

My hometown...

...and I qualified for Boston!!


Final Numbers:

88th of 1292 finisher's overall.
14th of 111 finisher's in my age group.
1:33 first half marathon/ 1:39 second half. Both better than expected.

Mike and I pre-race:

Finishing (above)....barely able to stand still to have my timing chip removed (below)...

Smiles with the kids in the stands afterwards. My wife is taking the picture and I wish I had one loaded on my PC right now that included her. Next update perhaps.

I have a hotel reserved in downtown Boston....just waiting for the registration to open in September. Hope to see other familiar faces there! (hint, hint)