Happy Pączki Day!

Most people realize that today is Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, the end of Fasching, and the end of Mardi Gras (tomorrow being Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent).  But, today is also Pączki Day!  What is a pączki?  It's this:

A raspberry one—my favorite

A pączki (pronounced like poonch'-key) is similar to a jelly doughnut, but very different.  It's a Polish jelly-filled (or custard-filled, or even plain) tradition that's deep-fried in lard.  Lots of lard.  You don't want to know the nutritional facts of one of these (hint: one of these probably meets your recommended intake of fat and calories for at least 3 days).

If you live in the Detroit area, you know that life stops on Fat Tuesday so everyone can have their pączki.  Either you or someone you know goes to Hamtramck every year to get these.  If not, you can pick them up at any grocery store.

For Detroit expatriates like me, finding a pączki is much tougher.  Some friends can't find them in Lawrence, Kansas.  Some try really hard to find them in Florida.  So far, I've found only one place in the Twin Cities that makes them—Kramarczuks.  They're pretty good, but not quite Hamtramck quality.  Since I ate mine yesterday (scandalous, I know), I'm ready for Lent to start.  And I have to run about 30 miles to work it off.

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A few miscellaneous (aka, running-related) items: 

• I was supposed to do a virtual 5k last Saturday as part of Detroit Runner's blog.  But, I was down with the flu, so it didn't happen.  I'll be doing the 5k this week sometime.
• Speaking of virtual races, Steve in a Speedo is organizing a virtual 5k as part of the "Run for Christchurch" initiative.  Christchurch, New Zealand suffered a pretty severe earthquake recently, and this is an effort to raise money to help the people of Christchurch.  I'll be joining up on Saturday to run.  Here's the link to the event (and how to donate).

Celebrating 100 Posts

According to Blogger, this post will be the 100th on my blog.  It's been a little while since my first post, in which I wrote mainly a training log entry about an easy 20 minute run.  My, how things have changed.

Well, in order to celebrate the Big 100, here is 100 things you probably won't read facts about yours truly:

1. My original due date was the 4th of July, but I was born 2 weeks early.
2. I won a "Most Beautiful Baby" contest at KMart.  I think I got a $20 savings bond for the win.
3. I don't eat oatmeal because it already looks digested.
4. Similar reasoning as #3 as to why I won't eat cream of wheat, farina, or grits.
5. I hate coconut more than oatmeal.
6. I got a real coconut from a tree in Florida, then opened it to see and drink the milk inside.
7. I spilled the coconut milk on my way to show it to my Grandma.
8. One of my biggest pet peeves is nervous tapping/shaking/rocking and the like.
9. My first dog was a Doberman named Ernie.
10. He had a brother named Bert.
11. I like things to be straight and even.
12. Not coincidentally, my favorite television show is Monk.
13. I'm the type of person who will straighten pictures and stacks of magazines in places other than my own home.
14. I can accept that my ears are uneven so long as I don't look in the mirror for too long.
15. More often than not, I communicate with Katie using words like "Whatzit", "Doodad", and "Thingamabob".
16. Katie and I rarely have trouble communicating.
17. I'd rather have all 4 windows down in the car than having the A/C on.
18. When I spent a summer in Georgia with a car that had broken A/C, I wished my car had more than 2 windows that could open.
19. I'm left-handed and proud of it.
20. I golf right handed because those were the clubs I learned on.
21. I used to consider myself a far-right-wing Republican, and supported Pat Buchanan in the 1996 presidential primaries.
22. Yes, I cared about national politics as a 10 year old.
23. I eventually grew up, and realized that being a moderate is much better than being to either extreme politically.
24. I still hold a grudge against Nike for not making a version of their Triax running watch for lefties (such that it would go on the right wrist).
25. I did track in 5th grade, and my event was the shotput.
26. I didn't have a long career in shotput.
27. I think the true measure of a friend is whether they are willing to stand up for you when it brings bad things for them.
28. I wanted to be a car designer when I grew up.
29. In high school, I accepted the fact that I wasn't an artist, and decided to become an engineer.
30. I played a British womanizer who wore a cape in a dinner theater my sophomore year of high school.
31. If the "alcohol" I drank during that dinner theater wasn't actually sparkling grape juice, I probably would have died of alcohol poisoning.
32. Half of one of my front teeth is fake because someone pushed me from behind in gym class in 7th grade and my tooth broke my fall.
33. My fall also broke my arm.
34. When I was a kid, I was usually the last person awake on Christmas morning, and sometimes my parents would have to wake me up so that it was still morning.
35. My normal wake-up time is now 5:30am, and my body won't let me sleep later than 6am.
36. I believe that if you're on time, you're late, and being 5 minutes early is on time.
37. Another pet peeve of mine is when, after I made sacrifices such that I could arrive to a meeting on time, the other person is late.  I'll be gracious about it and say it's no big deal, but it really does bother me.
38. I hate buying bottles of water because I just can't help but think of all the waste they cause.
39. Ever since Mrs. Hanyok bought us Nalgenes in Colorado, I'm rarely without polycarb water bottle somewhere close by.
40. Canada was due south from where I grew up.
41. I think there is no better state than Michigan, even if it's had a tough decade.
42. I may say that Ohio is one level above Hell, but it can't be that bad of a place if it gave us Katie.
43. My preferred method of eating muffins is with a spoon.
44. I also eat cake with a spoon.  It creates a nice well of frosting as a treat for later.
45. I generally don't use vulgar language—mainly because I think the English language is a rich and vast language, and to resort to using the same words all the time to express anger is just boring.
46. I'm pretty sure that I have iced tea in my veins instead of blood.
47. I judge a restaurant based on the quality of their iced tea.
48. I'm very good at talking myself out of buying things.
49. I learned to drive a stick when I worked for a summer at a car dealership.  I haven't driven one since.
50. In college, I gave blood regularly (every 56 days).  Since then, I haven't been so good.
51. Epcot is my favorite Disney park--mainly because of the Test Track ride.
52. The Waffle House at I-4 and US-27 is one of my favorite restaurants.
53. I used to be scared of roller coasters.
54. I've now ridden all the big coasters at Cedar Point--with the exception of the Dragster.
55. I played Euchre with my best friends from high school every day at lunch during junior and senior years.
56. I'm offended if no one does the "milk the cow" at the end of a Euchre game.
57. I hate having to wear glasses or contacts, but don't think I would get laser eye surgery.
58. I came dead last in a number of cross country races my first year on the team.
59. My first time coming in second-to-last was one of the best running experiences I've ever had.
60. I would have qualified for the state cross-country meet had I been more willing to run through mud puddles.
61. I always double-knot my shoes.
62. Every time I race, I still say "Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, let's go Eagles, it's cross country time!" to myself.
63. I move the mouse to the left side of the keyboard when I use a public computer.
64. I don't feel the least bit guilty for not putting it back.
65. I successfully completed "Book-It", and got the free personal pan pizza coupon from Pizza Hut every month.
66. Most of the coupons came during the time in my life when I wouldn't eat pizza.
67. When the school supplies list would come out each year in grade school, I couldn't wait until I got to 8th grade because it required an X-acto knife.
68. When I got the X-acto knife, it wasn't nearly exciting as I had hoped.
69. I enjoyed the Belgian waffles at Berg, but preferred Jester's brunch because it was less crowded and they had whole milk.
70. I think that any milk less than whole is just cloudy water.
71. I have an impeccable sense of direction.
72. I made my first friend at Valpo during orientation because we both brought our graphing calculators for the placement exams.
73. I wouldn't have joined Christ College if Dean Franson didn't notice me turning in my forms during FOCUS and persuade me to reconsider.
74. One of the most exciting things for me as a kid was when my dad would take me to the car lot to look at all the cars.  Not to buy--just to look.
75. I get semi-emotional when I or my family gets rid of a car.
76. I don't like getting messy while eating, but have no problem getting dirty while gardening or doing other household chores.
77. I get the burrito bowl at Chipotle because of #76.
78. I wrote 90% of my undergraduate honor's thesis at the Valpo Panera.  I spent 3-4 hours there every evening for 3 weeks.
79. My grandma was my best friend growing up, and I spent every morning at her house when I wasn't at school until my mom got home from work.
80. I loved going "bumming" (aka, garage sales) with my grandma because that meant there was a chance we'd go to Sveden House for lunch.
81. When I first started eating pierogis, I ate half of one.
82. Now, I can down 15-20 pierogis without much effort.
83. I hated having a last name that started with "M" because when we switched the order we lined up in to go to lunch in grade school, Z-A was no better than A-Z.
84. I'm proud that I can parallel park very skillfully.
85. After reading Michael Pollan's books, I find myself regularly checking labels in the grocery store.
86. I shopped at a Publix 20 minutes from my apartment in Georgia instead of the Kroger 3 minutes away for the sole reason that Publix carried Vernors.
87. I haven't been to a Wal-mart in over 2 years.
88. I was eating solid food within 6 hours of getting my wisdom teeth removed. 
89. I once "modeled" an orange knit hat at a community center where our NHS chapter was serving Christmas dinner to senior citizens.
90. At one point I was getting 8 car magazines per month.
91. Now, I only subscribe to Automobile because Ezra Dyer's columns and features are a hoot.
92. I have neither given or received, nor have I tolerated others' use of unauthorized aid.
93. I prefer the window seat on an airplane.
94. My favorite thing to get from the ice cream truck was the chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich.
95. I put 2 spaces between sentences while typing.
96. Top Gear is my second favorite TV show, and James "Captain Slow" May is my favorite presenter.
97. I enjoy wearing sweater vests.
98. Advent is my favorite liturgical season.
99. I spent 1 year as a polliwog, two years as a guppy, and never made it to minnow in the YMCA swim classes I took as a kid.
100. I was born and raised in Detroit.  Not a suburb of Detroit.  Detroit proper.

Getting Prepared for the Race

This whole experiment of trying a triathlon is about to come to an end.  The race is Saturday, and I don't have any more workouts planned until then.  This past week has been about preparing for the race, and it started back on Saturday with a trip down to Cleary Lake.  Katie, Ariel, David, and I met down there with the intent of swimming the swim course and biking the bike course.  (David isn't doing the triathlon, but he joined us for a number of workouts and he's coming to be a spectator on Saturday).

Here we are before swimming:

Ok, well, David is a little tall.  Let's try that again:

Doh!  Now I've cut off his chin.  Here's my solution:

A little photo editing, and voila! 100% of everybody's faces are in the picture…more or less… (Sorry David)

We started with the swimming.  A problem we encountered (like the last time we were there) was the "beach curtain".  It's a floating curtain that separates the swimming area from the rest of the lake.  You can't swim under it either because it goes to the lakebed.  We weren't going to let it stop us though, and after some less than graceful flops (David and Ariel chose the see-saw method and I did the horse mount method—I don't remember what Katie did*) we made it into the lake.

*It's not that I didn't pay attention to Katie, it's just that her focus was not on the flops as much as it was on the weeds.


Speaking of weeds…Cleary Lake is full of them!  Katie wasn't happy with this.  At one point, I hit a patch of weeds so thick that it just stopped me in my tracks.  It just wasn't possible to swim through that patch of weeds, so we had to go around.  We ended up swimming most of the course (the buoys weren't out, so we guessed on how far to swim).

We then did a bit of transition practice, and there I realized that I'm not so efficient with the transitions.  I dropped my swim cap and goggles, my wetsuit got stuck a bit, and I didn't double-tie my shoes.  This is something I needed to practice more (ominous foreshadowing…).

Then we hopped on our bikes to ride the course.  I borrowed Katie's slicks and put them on my bike, an WOW, what a difference!  I can really notice a big difference in the amount of rolling resistance.

The ride itself was mostly uneventful (Ariel warned us of some roadkill, but it turned out to be a banana).  David even had a chance to take a photo (I'm stealing your photo for this blog, David).

David taking the photo—just in case you couldn't tell.  Ariel is very visible.

Truthfully, I had no idea David was taking photos.  I didn't know he did that until I was tagged in this on Facebook.  I think I was concerned with the rumble strips more than anything else.

Well, that was all fine and dandy.  We had fun, and I even had the adventure of trying to go to the bathroom in my tri suit.  Since it's a one piece suit, it's pretty much impossible to go to the bathroom while wearing it.  But, I still love the tri suit, and it's worked great so far.

Remember the ominous foreshadowing?  It's true—I needed to practice transitions, and I did just that.  Well, kinda.  I did a brick workout on Wednesday with a 25 minute bike ride followed by a run.  I could practice T2 pretty easily, and I was quick at it.  If the actual transition in the race includes opening and closing a garage door, I'm all set.

T1 is where I had my problems.  Wednesday night I decided I would look ridiculous in front of my neighbors practice T1 a few times out in the parking lot.  I suited up in my tri suit and wetsuit and went out to my garage.  There I set up a little transition spot:

Yes, that's a folding chair.  No, I don't plan on bringing it to the race—it was so I could put my wetsuit on.

I don't have a lake at my apartment complex.  So, I'll admit that someone wearing a wetsuit, swim cap, and goggles may look a bit out of place in the parking lot:

Here was my thinking: it's tough to take a wetsuit off when it's dry, but tough to put it on while wet.  If I could successfully take it off while dry, then I should have no trouble in the race when I'm wet.  And, since I was dry, I could practice this a few times.  It didn't work out that way, though.  I made a bit of a video to show you why:

Yup, it started raining.  So, I got wet enough where I couldn't get the suit back on, but it wasn't wet enough to help me in getting it off.  So, I fumbled through one T1 practice, and called it a night.  I'm hoping I'll have better luck on Saturday.

I'll post tomorrow with my thoughts on race strategy.

A New Gu Storage Place

They say that all you need for running is a good pair of shoes.  Well, that's true.  But, when you train for a marathon, you have all kinds of other stuff—Gu, fuel belts, a gazillion water bottles, etc.  I haven't really had a place for my Gu in my apartment, so it's been living in my grill wok.  When we use the grill wok, the Gu moves to the table.  Then repeat this process every time we use the grill wok.

But, I have a new solution!  Behold:

Gu and salt packets.  (Yes, I really need to restock my Gu)

The coolest part, though, is what is on the outside of the box:

Yes, it is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lunchbox.  Coolest.  Lunchbox.  Ever.

In truth, I don't think I ever used this as a lunchbox.  For a long time, I stored some modular toy cars in this at my Grandma's house.  Those cars, though, have found a new and much better location—on display in my living room:

Facebook Knows All

This popped up in the "Recommended Pages" section of my Facebook home page:

Seriously, Facebook?  Huh?

What is Facebook saying about runners and triathletes?  Why do "biking" and "cycling" have the same photo?  Well, since I'm a runner, I'm probably supposed to enjoy biking more than cycling.

Silly internet.  At least I don't do the Twitter.

Vote for Me and Help Me Win Some Gear

Friends, I humbly implore you lend a hand in my direction.  I'm entered into a contest on another blog, where the goal is to find most fashion-backward athlete.  I've got some particularly geeky photos entered of me wearing my Speed of Light shirt*.  Here is an example:

I'm "blue shifted"

If I win (or get in the top 3), I'll win some cool triathlon/running/cycling gear, which will help me as I begin to try triathlons.  So, I'd love your vote.  Here's how to do it:

1. Go to this link: http://iwannagetphysical.blogspot.com/2010/04/vote-for-best-fashion-forward-your.html
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the post and vote for "Lightning McCuen: Freaky Geeky"

That's all there is to it.  You don't have to register with the site or give your email address—just vote.

Special thanks to Katie for entering me, and to Mrs. Vaught for making me the fantastically awesome Speed of Light shirt so many years ago.

*The Speed of Light shirt is a magical shirt that makes it look like the runner is running at the speed of light.  From physics, if an object is traveling away from you at the speed of light, it will appear red (hence, "red shifted").  Conversely, if the object is traveling toward you at the speed of light, it will look blue (blue shifted).  So, when I wear the Speed of Light shirt, it appears as though I'm traveling at the speed of light.  See, isn't that geeky enough to merit your vote?

My Toenail is Purple (and Week 5 in Reverse)

Look, it's my foot!  Sorry my foot is so gross, but a picture is better than me trying to describe what my foot looks like (it's, well, foot-y…).  On Thursday, I noticed that the 2nd toe on my right foot was a little sore, so I whipped off my shoes and socks to look at it.  Oh, and I was in my office at the time, so my officemate came in and saw me holding my foot up to my face.  There was a small (about 10% of the toenail area) section that was faintly purple.  As you can see, it's a lot more purple.  My guess is that I did this while doing my hill repeats on Wednesday.

The most likely outcome of this is that I'm going to lose the toenail.  Sounds gross (and it is, a little), but apparently it is a common thing among runners.  When the toe impacts the inside of your shoe too much, you damage it and then the toenail dies.  This will progress over the next few weeks, and then the nail will fall off.  I feel like a real runner now.

As for the Week in Reverse, I'm going to tone it down a bit from now on to spare you the boring details. I'll just make mention of some highlights and other interesting things that happen.  I've started keeping an online training log at Runner's World, so you can get the nitty gritty details there.  (I'm going to post a review of their training log in the next few days, so stay tuned.)

Sunday, April 4:  8 miles, 1:07:49.  It had been a long Triduum, with many late nights, and the Vigil was especially tiring, so this run should have been slow, and painful.  I went for the run in the afternoon, so it was much warmer than I was used to.  It started fast, and I wondered if I could keep the pace going.  I did.  Then I turned around and faced the wind, and wondered if I could keep the pace going.  I did.  When I got back, I calculated my pace to by 8:30/mile.  Let me say that again: 8:30/mile for an 8 mile run!  Holy moly!  It was comfortable pace for me, so all I can say is that this speed work is really working.  I'm becoming much more confident that I can get a sub-4 hour marathon this year.

Wednesday, March 31: 5 x Hill.  An increase of 1 repeat this time.  This workout was so tough, it killed a toenail (see above).

Tuesday, March 30: 5 miles at 9:00/mile pace.  Another "easy" run at a surprisingly fast pace.  I'm becoming fast again!

So there are the highlights.  Stay tuned for more pictures of my toe!

Chariots of Fire, Or Something Like That

You may or may not know that I'm prone to weird dreams that are of the "liturgical disaster" variety.  I still have these, but I had one last night that merged with a running dream.  I shall tell you about it:

The Scene:  A well-cared-for outdoor area with trees, open spaces, bushes, and prairie grass.  Kind of like a golf course or a nice cemetery without the graves and dead people.

The Dream:  I was part of a service of lessons and carols that was taking place in the outdoorsy space.  There were a number of groups doing each lesson/carol in a staggered fashion traveling around the space.  The theme of the service was Easter.  At one point, I realized we had forgotten something, so I offered to go back to the base and get it.  I start running, and I look down and realize that I'm not wearing any shoes.  This gives me great joy.  At first, I don't know exactly what to do.  I run down a dirt road, then through some prairie grass.

Before reading on, hit play, then start reading:




I'm now running through some trees and I'm starting to really get into the barefoot running.  The theme from Chariots of Fire starts playing (see above) and everything is in slow motion.  Up ahead, there is another group of people, and a big lawn sprinkler is shooting in a large arc.  I see this sprinkler, and in my mind, I see myself getting to the sprinkler, leaping into the spray with a fist pump into the air.  Epic.  As I get to the sprinkler, I miss the water, the music stops, slow motion stops, and I chase after the sprinkler desperate to get wet.

Well, after failing the epic leap, I walk into the building and find Mr. Justice (my high school athletic director).  He tells me that he heard from the NCUR people, and they suggested that since I was just accepted for a third time, that I should frame a pair of my shoes.  I asked if my dress shoes would work because they were old and worn out.  He said it shouldn't be a problem.

I walk out of the building to go back to the service of lessons and carols.  In the distance I can hear the organ—which is actually built into a truck—playing This Joyful Eastertide.  I'm excited, and run back, only to realize that I was supposed to do a reading and didn't have a service folder.

Crazy, huh?

How I Left For Work Wearing Mismatched Shoes

This morning, I left my apartment a little earlier so I could swing by the recycling bins and drop off some old magazines.  I did that, and began to walk along the train tracks because that was the shortest way to the bus.  I became worried that the ground would get muddy, so I looked down, and this is what I saw:

Yup, I mixed up my old running shoes (the dirty one on the left) with my new ones (the clean, geeky one on the right).  They don't look that different in the picture, but the camera flash hides the differences.  They are noticeably different in person.  Since I didn't have a lot of time, I seriously considered just going to work like this, but I relented, and sprinted 50 yards back to my apartment carrying my lunchbox, dashed up the stairs, changed my shoe, and speedwalked to the bus.  What a start to the day...

At some point, I would have thought this was madness

First, read this story.  Gross, right?

It is gross, but to dismiss it is right away is unfair.  These people are solving a major problem that they have, and the solution works for them.  The fact that we just don't get it isn't their problem.  Years ago, I thought runners were crazy—then I became one.  I then thought marathoners were crazy—well, we are, but I appreciate it now.  Are ultrarunners crazy?  Sure, but that's their thing.  If they want to surgically remove their toenails, so be it.  And they have the ability to really creep people out—always a fun thing.

Tips that are more useful before a marathon than after

Too bad I didn't find this catchy video earlier.

Last Minute Marathon Tips: shot with Nikon D90 from Mike Kobal on Vimeo.

Dances with Squirrels

I must have done something to anger the squirrels in Minnesota. There seems to be a concerted and extremely effective effort by the squirrel community to attack me. On my 20 miler a few weeks ago, a squirrel leapt at my head from the top of a fence. Only quick action on my part assured that he didn't actually hit me. Today, though, I wasn't so lucky. I was running on Summit, and noticed a group of cyclists going down the road. As my gaze returned to what was in front of me, a squirrel scurried across the sidewalk, and threw a fast-acorn at me. Having no time to react, the acorn hit me just millimeters to the right of my right eye.

No more long runs left in the training plan. The race is drawing nigh.

TC Marathon Countdown: 8 days

Running Dreams

Apparently, the liturgical disaster dreams have given way to running dreams. Two nights in a row now.

Last night, I dreamt I was running the Twin Cities Marathon. I was about 9 minutes into the race when I decided it was time for lunch. So I stopped at Subway. Then, about 17 minutes later, I was hungry again, so I stopped a another (slightly sketchy) Subway. I decided that I was probably not doing so good with the running part of the marathon, so no more lunches for me. I finished with a time of 7 hours, 47 minutes. Does that make this a running nightmare/disaster? I don't know, but let's hope I'm significantly faster than that on October 4.

TC Marathon Countdown: 101 days