My first Half Marathon- Jeff Galloway 13.1

CALL ME KATHY

Jeff Galloway Half Marathon

12/11/2016
8 am
31 degrees

Goal 1:  Finish upright

Goal 2:  Enjoy the experience. 

Time: 1:58:25

Distance: 13.16 miles
Average pace: 9:00 

Official Chip Time: 1:59:23

Mile 1: 10:14   *easiest mile, felt much slower than this pace

Mile 2:  9:07

Mile 3:  9:17

Mile 4:  8:58

Mile 5:  8:27   effortless along the Beltline

Mile 6:  8:26   could probably hold this pace for entire race

Mile 7:  9:10   first real hill

Mile 8:  8:49

Mile 9:  8:20    *fastest mile

Mile 10: 9:02   Tenth St hill

Mile 11: 8:21   downhill

Mile 12: 9:08    Piedmont Park

Mile 13: 9:48   *toughest mile, felt faster

final .16: 1:13

Up until three weeks ago I've declared publicly that I will NEVER run a marathon or even a half of one. Never ever. No way, no how, no try. I had no intention of ever running more than an hour at a time.

But as I was meeting my wife at the end of a local 10K, which was supposed to be my last race this year, I could tell something was up. Kathy ran the Atlanta Track Club's 10 Miler a couple of weeks back as her long run and it had aggravated her plantar fasciitis. She told me that for the last mile she was in so much pain that she wished she could cut off her left foot. I ran in with her for the last few yards and right after she crossed the finish line, she whispered "would you hate me if I drop my half marathon, JG 13.1 which will be in 21 days?"

Nah, of course not, I said nonchalantly, I'll just run it for ya. Sure, why not.
For the first time in a long while, she was speechless.

This would have been Kathy's fifth half-marathon. Her first ever race was at the Publix Run Wild 5K on my birthday five years ago. She was telling everyone that it would the only time she runs as this was just a "birthday celebration with her hubby." Needless to say she was bitten by the running bug and started to come to all the ATC Grand Prix races with me since 2011. She's even more dedicated than me. Consistently she gets up at 4 am and runs 3 miles every day. I would come and support her at every one of her half-marathons starting with the Locomotive in Kennesaw, then Soldier in Columbus, Diva in Peachtree City and then the Silver Comet in Mableton last year. I would gracefully decline "No thank you" at her requests to join her. Then this time she didn't even asked, I offered to do it.

So began the world's shortest half marathon training program the next day.  Just run 3 daily miles and do one long run of 10 miles the next weekend. Sweet and simple. I had three weeks to do it.

I often jokingly say that my favorite distance is the Quarter Marathon or 6.55 miles. Most of the races I do are 5K or 10K.  Previously, my longest run ever was 10 miles. And that ten-miler was the time I got lost in the woods at Sope Creek and had to find my way back to Cochran Shoals along the Chattahoochee River about three years ago. It took me 3+ hours including a lot of walking. How did I know the distance?  When I got back to the car, I stopped my Garmin GPS watch and it said: "Congratulations, longest run: 10.3 miles."

I was behind this blue corral and 2:20 pace group at the start, way way in the back.

Speaking of walking, I heard about Jeff Galloway and his run-walk-run technique. I tried doing that on my 10 miler. It just didn't do anything for me. Just as I was getting into the groove it was time to stop and walk. I can't imagine doing that for a few miles let alone the entire 13.1 miles. So I ditched the run-walk-run method and just run by feel, slow down when I needed to and sped up when I felt great. Smile, breathe, relax- the mantra continues. After all, I've been running every day for the last six years. 

Race day comes quickly before I know it. Especially when you don't know what the heck you're doing. On Saturday we went downtown to pick up the bib number and the shirt at the Westin Hotel. Then we did some chores for my mother in law and ate at Stockyard Burgers & Bones in the Square at Marietta. It was our first time there, the burgers & beers were excellent. Especially the Creature Comforts Tropicalia on draft.

Fellow runner Nathan belted out the national anthem before the start.

Dr. Frank EIEIO McDonald at the starting line. He finished in
exactly 2:00:xx for the second straight year.

The start:  On Sunday morning we drove downtown.  I drove past the starting line on 11th Street and decided to park at one of those outdoor public lots just one block over on Peachtree Street.  We took a warm up walk to Piedmont Park so Kathy can see how far we are from the finish line. I was excited to see Frank jogging up the street towards the starting line. We exchanged hellos and continued on. The temperature hovers at 30 degrees which was ideal running condition for me. I had on a short sleeve and long sleeve T-shirt, shorts, Zensah compression socks, Saucony neon orange cap and Altra Instinct shoes. And gloves of course. I'm fine as long as my ears and hands are covered.

We saw Frank again later and talked for a bit this time. Last year he finished in 2:00 exactly (it turned out later, he finishes in 2:00:53 this year.)  I took a GU gel at 7:55 as we were lining up in our assigned corrals: red, blue or green. We walked over to the Blue Corral. One of Kathy's friend/ coworker spotted her and chatted briefly as we took some picture to commemorate this event. I looked around, up and down, left and right and soaked in the moment. I remember feeling relaxed, smiling and enjoying the thought of starting my longest run ever.

I was wayyyy in the back of the blue corral, behind the 2:20 pace group on purpose. 

Mile One:  And we're off. I was one of the last runners to cross the start line for this blue corral. Intentionally I decided to really take it easy for the first mile. Enjoy the moment. Conserve my energy. The first few hundred yards were downhill as we turned right onto Juniper St going South. We ate at Einstein's several times in the past. I looked around and took note of a couple of new restaurants on this street. The pace felt like 11 minute mile and I didn't really care at the time.

Mile Two: Turned on Ponce de Leon for a quick minute. I remember hearing music blaring from the back of a Chevy Suburban by this Krispy Kreme, oh the horribly distorted sounds coming from a Peavey amps/ speakers. Luckily it lasted only a few seconds. We passed Central Park on the left. I took Jeff Galloway's advice and stopped at every water station even when I wasn't thirsty. Took some Accelerade here.

Mile Three: Another quick left and suddenly we're on Freedom Parkway heading towards the Carter Center. Kathy and I have run on this part of the Path trail in the past. 

Mile Four: Here I am passing the 2:20 pace group. I'm starting to pick up the speed now. Maybe right around 9 minute pace, or it felt like that at the time. At the second water station I took some water this time. 

Thanks Brennan Galloway for the pictures

Mile Five: A sharp right then we head down to the ATL Beltline right by the Old Fourth Ward skate park. Lenny Kravitz' Fly Away played on a nice sound system outside a restaurant at Ponce City Market area. Much better sound quality this time and the tune is apropos. I love all the outdoor public art along the Beltline and the smells of all the restaurants here too. I'm really feeling great & hungry right about now.

Mile Six:  Tiny Doors Atlanta, even more restaurants, murals and graffiti-filled walls. I took my second GU gel at the Monroe Ave water stop right across from Piedmont Park.  Stop for a porta potty break when I dropped the last GU into the bowl when I closed the zipper on my iFitness belt.  Oops! Good thing it wasn't the phone. Oh, well. I got out and started up the first real hill. 

Underneath Freedom Parkway on the Eastside Beltline

Mile Seven: We turned right and right again to head up the first hill on St. Charles Ave. Kathy told me later that she got a glimpse of my back as I was heading out from the previous water stop. I maintained my speed, didn't slow down too much. I found myself passing the 2:10 pace group somewhere here.

Mile Eight: The Virginia Highland area.  Dark Horse Tavern, Ace hardware, Atkins Tavern or J Christopher's. Not sure. This is a nice & swanky 'hood. Don't remember the water stop but I'm sure I did drink something there. Every single stop. This is stop #4. 

Mile Nine: I could feel the adrenaline kicking in right around now. Then we're back on Monroe Dr. As I was approaching the Park Tavern on the right, I saw Kathy and she was jumping up and down like a school girl. I was waving wildly back at her too. I see you girlfriend!  As I was high fiving Kathy @ Park Tavern, she said her phone died so she couldn't take a picture. Oh, well, see you at Mile 12.

Mile Ten: Here comes the second hill at Grady High School. The Peachtree Road Race finish line is around here. It's a long uphill and I passed a bunch of people slowing down and walking on the bike trail. I'm starting lose track of the water stop. Don't remember the water stop at this point.

10th St and Piedmont Ave across from Caribou Coffee

Mile Eleven: After we turned right on Piedmont Ave and heading to the beautiful Botanical Garden, I passed even more walkers and some slower runners. I'm getting excited, maybe even a little too overwhelmed. Only a couple more miles to go!

This guy, Brian Post, was the overall winner at the 10K three weeks ago.
He's an ALTRA-sponsored athlete no doubt. I've been wearing Altra shoes for 5 years.

Mile Twelve: We entered Piedmont Park at the North End and wind down to the dog park. Man, here is where I could definitely use that last GU gel. Took some water at this last stop. I looked for some gels but there were none.

Hat askewed, hands dropped, form deteriorated here. Kathy's on my left.

Mile Thirteen: The End is Near. Finally I'm feeling fatigued as I was approaching the marker right outside Park Tavern. I was glad to see Kathy waiting to run in with me as I've done with her on four previous half marathons. Told her I have a chance to go under 2 hours if we could run a ten-minute last mile. We jogged past the Phidippides cheering section as they were high-fiving runners in front of us. 

The last .10 mile:  I could hear the announcer saying something about these runners could come in under 2 hours even if the clock is showing 2:01 or 2:02 since they started later.  All of a sudden I started to feel better as I could see the finish line banner in the distance. I had a big grin on my face as I semi-sprinted across the finish line. The clock showed 2:03:xx but I knew I had started about 4 minutes after the first runners began, so definitely under 2 hours. Stopped my Garmin watch and saw 1:58:25. I definitely was sweating a little but wasn't even breathing hard. Nguyen-win situation. I went over and rang the PR bell for first time half marathoners. 

Kathy took some pix as I stretched at one of the park benches. Then we went back to the finish line and cheered on some other runners. As we were taking a picture with Jeff Galloway I could see that Frank and his wife were in line behind us too. 

I was also glad that I wasn't one of those few people in the medical tent just off to the left side. There was an older gentleman with scratches on his face, probably from a fall. And a couple of women laying and sitting on the benches. 

I did it! I finished upright and thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience. Beautiful morning, lovely course, top notch support and organization. Great fun event.

But no. Definitely no full marathon. 

Too much of a good thing...

Kathy snapped this one with me and Jeff Galloway. Thanks JG!

Make America Gag Again

Respect or Disrespect is earned.

I listened as they called my President a Muslim.
I listened as they called him and his family a pack of monkeys.
I listened as they said he wasn't born here.
I watched as they blocked every single path to progress that they could.
I saw the pictures of him as Hitler.
I watched them shut down the government and hurt the entire nation twice.
I watched them turn their backs on every opportunity to open worthwhile dialog.
I watched them say that they would not even listen to any choice for Supreme Court no matter who the nominee was.
I listened as they openly said that they will oppose him at every turn.
I watched as they did just that.
I listened.
I watched.
I paid attention.
Now, I'm being called on to be tolerant.
To move forward.
To denounce protesters.
To "Get over it."
To accept this...
I will not.
I will do my part to make sure this great American mistake becomes the embarrassing footnote of our history that it deserves to be.
I will do this as quickly as possible every chance I get.
I will do my part to limit the damage that this man can do to my country.
I will watch his every move and point out every single mistake and misdeed in a loud and proud voice.
I will let you know in a loud voice every time this man backs away from a promise he made to them.
Them. The people who voted for him.
The ones who sold their souls and prayed for him to win.
I will do this so that they never forget.
And they will hear me.
They will see it in my eyes when I look at them.
They will hear it in my voice when I talk to them.
They will know that I know who they are.
They will know that I know what they are.
Do not call for my tolerance. I've tolerated all I can.
Now it's their turn to tolerate ridicule.
Be aware, make no mistake about it, every single thing that goes wrong in our country from this day
forward is now Trump's fault just as much as they thought it was Obama's.
I find it unreasonable for them to expect from me what they were entirely unwilling to give." 

Author unknown.

Educational Video: How not to get your ass kicked by the police

People's Lives Matter. Everyone's lives matter.

     These are the words you won't hear from our leaders:

     The killers (cops & civilians) are not reflective of their communities.  Crazy reckless people with guns are the problem. Lack of common sense and out-of-control anger are the problem.  300,000,000 killing machines in the USA are a big problem. We are often our worst enemy when we show disrespect towards others.  

      Lives matter.  Stop it!  You're making it worse!

Banos

I like the clear, concise and simple image.

It's straightforward and universally recognized.

Designed by Brad Fishkin of Burlington, VT

Orlando, USA 6/12

This All-American Love Affair with Inanimate Precious Toys / Metal Killing Machines has got to stop.

School's out

1. Art:  This coming school year will be my 15th year of teaching art.  I haven't made any new art in years, besides some examples of lessons for school. Currently there're 2 ideas for my next project: one is an assemblage, found-object, abstract sculpture inspired by Prince, tentatively entitled "Purple Rain, Rurple Pain."  Another is a large (4'x6') black & white charcoal pastel drawing of our 5 cats (Kathy the Krazy Kat Lady Hashtag CatLivesMatter.)  I don't usually work this big, so this will be a stretch and a good challenge.  Time to reinvent myself. 
2. Music: My idea of a supergroup/ fantasy band would comprise of Beck, Nina Simone, Beastie Boys, Pylon and New Order.  I'm also thinking of making a semi-giant percussive instrument a-la Klimchak-style gamelan ensemble of pots and pans & everything including the kitchen sink. Why not?  
3. Blogging: Can you believe that I've been doing this blog thing here since 2002?  That's 14 fricking years and counting.  Some days are more enjoyable and inspiring than others but the point is I keep on keepin' on. I don't really care if anyone is reading it or not. I do it for me, like the great Heisenberg once said.
4. People:  I've been reminiscing about these famous people/ celebrities that I personally encountered over the years, either by accident or while I was on the job.  We were literally  face-to-face, a few feet away from each other.  Just off the top of my head, here's a short list: Carl Lewis, Houston, Texas 1986.  Cyndi Lauper, Portland, Maine, 1991.  Cheri Jones, Baltimore, Maryland, 1993.  Michael Moore, Marietta, Georgia, 1999.  Elton John, Atlanta, 1998.  Heather Headley, ATL, who played Aida at the Alliance Theatre where I was a sound tech. Evander Holyfield, 2012, at the airport waiting for our shuttle bus. And of course there are various Broadway Tony award-winning regional theater designers like Natasha Katz, her husband Dan Moses Schrieir, Don Holder and others. I've actually had conversations with these folks. Recently, we ran into Clark Howard at a coffee shop and I've passed NFL Hall of Famer and Dancing With The Stars champion Hines Ward and his wife a couple of times while running on the Silver Comet Trail right here in Smyrna. The last time the summer of 2015 as he was training for his first triathlon in Hawaii I believe. 
5. Humor: We all need a little humor in our life. As I get older I find that I appreciate all kinds of comedy including the lowbrow juvenile sophomoric moronic types. Life's too damn short, man.
   
6. Sports: The running streak is still going. I'm on Day 923 of running a minimum of a mile a day.  I keep track of it on dailymile.com.  I try to run at least 3 miles or a 5K, like I did today. The sweet spot is around 4 miles or 40 minutes. No half-marathon or marathon silliness for this boy. I run for the joy of being alive and being able to move from one location to the next. I run for fitness. I run just to keep myself from being stagnant. I do my best thinking while running. The streak is a way of keeping myself motivated. 

President Drumpf

Nut Job  Looney Tunes  Egghead  Knucklehead  Nincompoop  Nitwit  Blockhead  Jack-a-Ninny  Fool-a-gape  Bozo  Booboo  Yah-hoo  Doofus  Dum Dum  Nimrod  Twinkie  YoYo  Buffoon  Ding Dong  Cretin  Dweeb  Dingbat  Sicko  UberMoron  Douche  Wazzock  Chumpy   Blowhard  Hobo  Donny Drumpf  & my personal all-time favorite:  PURE APPLESAUCE

All Things Must Pass/ Tower Records documentary

Back in my high school days (33+ years ago), a Friday night ritual for me was driving to a Tower Records store to check out new music on one of those listening stations. There was a Tower on El Cajon Blvd by San Diego State University. The other store was downtown, closer to the Sports Arena. Then in college I often stopped at the Tower in Mountain View (San Jose/ Santa Clara area) halfway between Fremont and Santa Cruz, almost every weekend on my drive back to school from the visit home with my family in the Bay Area. I got mostly cassette tapes or singles of bands like Depeche Mode, Yaz, New Order or Tears For Fears. For some reason I didn't listen to many American groups at the time, the mid 80s. Camper Van Beethoven and Pylon were a few exceptions.

I remember once visiting the Tower Records in New York City, 4th and Broadway I think in 1991, which also was the last time I talked to Carlos Tabakoff, who was a music director at KZSC-FM, the radio station of UC Santa Cruz. He got a job at CMJ in Manhattan and moved there the same year I started working at Portland Stage in Maine. I was shocked to hear that he passed away recently. Back then I was delivering some sound equipment and called him to see if we could meet somewhere. I had to drive back to Portland with the company van that day so couldn't stick around and Carlos said he can't believe that I'm "dissing" him like that. I didn't even know what that meant at the time. Carlos was probably my same age, or possibly even a few years younger. I can still hear his Brazilian accent and see that coy smile/ smirk on his face. He was a sweet and charming fellow with an extensive knowledge of the international music scene. We would talk for hours about all kinds of music.

I moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1994. Boy was I glad to find a Tower Records store in the Lenox Square in the Buckhead area. It was conveniently located in a corner next to Bally Fitness, not too far from the exit off I-85, and close to Buford Highway, where we go for Vietnamese food all the time. I'd go there maybe twice a month, sometimes more when I was working on certain shows to get sound effects CDs, soundtracks, blank tapes, magazines, stickers and the free Pulse! magazines. I was in a couple of issues of Pulse! magazine-one of those DIDs (desert island discs) lists- and favorite world music recommendations. I remember like it just happened last year. How is it possible that twenty some years had just gone by in a blur? 

Needless to say, I was extremely saddened when Tower Records went bankrupt and suddenly closed all their stores including the Lenox one in 2006. Seemed overnight, without any warning. One weekend we woke up, and there was a "Going Out of Business" Sale. Tonight as I was surfing the TV and came across a documentary on Showtime entitled All Things Must Pass, I could really identify with the heart-wrenching commentaries by the employees who were let go after working there for 30 years. Tower Records was like a close favorite faithful family friend to us music aficionados. Many fans of the store mourn its passing. We were devastated. It was the first time I heard the term No Music, No Life! Recently I heard my nieces and nephews saying No Wi-Fi, No Life and it amused me to no end.

But just as George Harrison sings All Things Must Pass, life must go on...  
Nowadays, we could just peruse and get whatever we want/need online at the interwebs and you can do almost everything with a few clicks on Google. But you just cannot replace that tactile intimate feeling when you're in the store browsing the record albums, touching the cassette tapes, reading the books, the zines and the posters. You know, the good old golden days. Now I sound like a grumpy old man. GrandPa. Gramps. What I learned from the documentary was that there're currently 85 Tower Records stores still in operation in Japan today. Eighty five! And they couldn't keep just ONE store open here in America?

Waterdrop Dash 5K 2016

Mile One @Chattahoochee Nature Center in Roswell.

Mile Three, almost at the finish line.

Temple of Art - trailer GRIT

Ding Dong, Scalia is dead!

When Bette Davis was told that Joan Crawford had died, she replied, 
"Well my mother always told me to speak good of the dead. Joan Crawford is dead. Good."
So to paraphrase Bette Davis:

My mother always told me to speak good of the dead.
Antonin Scalia is dead. Good! He lived a long, hate-filled life.

(I lifted the last line from a friend, Amy D.  Hope she doesn't mind.)

Project 366

16/366

17/366

18/366

Day 12-14 of Project 366

Day 12  Camouflage. Create or alter something so that it disappear into its background.

12/366

Day 13  Use tea leaves or tea bags (used or unused) or even just liquid tea (in a cup or not) to create something today.

Day 14  Make something microscopic. How small can you work? Can you make something that requires a magnifying glass or microscope to see?

14/366

15 minute workout

http://videos.aarp.org/detail/video/4136656625001/the-aarp-15-minute-workout---aarp?cmp=SL-DSO-OUTBRAIN-DESKTAB-MULTI-VIDEORSS-VIDEO-VIEWS_The%20AARP%2015-Minute%20Workout_1132597082_4804907&linkBaseURL=http%3A%2F%2Fvideos.aarp.org%2Fdetail%2Fvideo%2F4136656625001%2Fthe-aarp-15-minute-workout---aarp%3Fcmp%3DSL-DSO-OUTBRAIN-DESKTAB-MULTI-VIDEORSS-VIDEO-VIEWS_The%2520AARP%252015-Minute%2520Workout_1132597082_4804907

Day 11

Day 11  Work on the other hand. Pick a medium you're comfortable with, then work with your non dominant hand-if you're usually favor your right hand then only use your left hand and vice-versa.

11/366 (used my left hand only)

David Bowie passed away last night so this is a sort of tribute from me. Today I'm calling all of our 5 cats Ziggy. Been listening to Slacker Radio's Feature Artist Top 33 station all day long at school. When the kids heard me play this station instead of the usual Kidz Bop Kids station, I told them that an icon in music for the past 50 years had just died. They said: David who?

So these are my favorite songs, in no particular order (from all of his 27 previous albums), I haven't heard his latest release which just came out last week:

• Sound & Vision
• Rebel Rebel
• Changes
• Modern Love
• Under Pressure
• Starman
• All the Young Dudes
• This is not America
• I'm Afraid of Americans
• Tonight
• Ziggy Stardust

10/366

Day 10 Use only water as your medium/inspiration today.

10/366

Day 8 and 9 of Project 366

8/366  Right foot & Left hand on Yellow Pages Phone Book

Day 8  Transform an old book into something new by cutting, folding, gluing, and so on. 

Day 9  Make something with your breakfast before you eat it.

9/366  Banana Nut Cheerios cereal

7/366

Day 7 Today make a stencil and use it in your work.

7/366  Stencil on gray cardboard (right hand)

6/366

Day 6 Look in the kitchen and work with the first fruit or vegetable you spot.  It could be in the form 
of juice, jam, or even canned.

6/366  Before 

6/366   After (2 peeled clementines)

5/366

Day 5 "What do you collect?  Work with a collection of objects you have in your home.

Day 5/ 366  Another hour went by playing in the studio.

4/366

Day 4 "Take a five-minute walk, then make something using whatever materials are available where you've ended up. Leave it there for someone else to discover, but be sure to document it first!"

4/366  For Kevin McNamara 

Day 3/366

Day 3- Make something out of paper, but don't use scissors or glue or draw on it. What now?

Found some scrap tissue paper and decided to weave the strips using a warm/cool color combo. It was a challenge not being able to cut with scissors or use any glue. The hand ripping of the hand was not easy as tissue paper is very fragile and sensitive. An hour went by quickly.

3/366

Project 366

Day 2 - What's your favorite animal? Use it as your inspiration today.

My cat Georgia. Saw the contour of her profile and it resembles the thumbs up of my left hand so I decided to draw from observation. Will come back later for another project possibly morphing her head into the fist and her ear is the thumb.

2/366

366 Project (A Daily Creativity Journal)

2015 is gone with the wind in the new South.

Day 1  "The first step is the hardest, so start small today and make something that fits in the palm of your hand using only the materials in your immediate environment."

I am going to make something every day for the next 366 days since 2016 is a leap year. Here is the first project of the year. It's relief collage using bottle caps, hot glue, colored pencils and construction paper crayons on a piece of scrap black mat board. The focal point is the tiny red hand from a beer bottle cap. I think I'm going to make the HAND the motif. Will see how this is going to work out in the next few projects. The only rule is: there are NO RULES!

1/366  My Right Hand