Sweat Your Thorns Off 5K Pre-Race Report

Come On Monsoon Rains!!

Tomorrow morning at 6am, I will be running in the first ever Sweat Your Thorns Off 5K. This race was organized by Lauren and Adam, and so far it looks like the three of us plus Rio will be dashing for 5K. The route follows the ever-popular ARR Summer Series 5K Papago park route. Lauren spent 1/2 day and $13 on a suitcase of Strohs beer to mark the course.

Not for human consumption

I've been 'negative' training all week by tricking my body into thinking it will sleep in on Saturday. I usually do this by only running twice and eating a 1/2 loaf of homemade bread the night before. And laying out all of my gear for a race like this.

Finally got my race bib via email. I had sent in the $85 about 1 month ago (before the event had even been finalized) but the Director couldn't decide on the shade of green to use. Here is the final version:

I'll be up at my usual 5am to go thru the ritual and try to beat the crowds over to the start line. This is one of those races where I get to volunteer and also run the course. That always makes a complete day. I think I'm in corral #4 but I might try to move up. Fingers crossed!! Stay tuned for the race report.

Semi-Vicarious Leavened Pseudo-Virtual Run(s) Giveaway

I'm making this up as I go. 

I am hereby challenging my readers to The First Annual Semi-Vicarious Leavened Pseudo-Virtual Run(s). The premise of this contest is that RTP followers will pick one day of the week (and this is for next week  Sunday thru Sat), assign a single running task to me for that day, have your task selected, complete the run you assign to me yourself, and report back to this blog in a daily recap.

There are two ways for a chance to win a loaf of homemade bread

1. Have your task selected

or

2. Join us in at least one of the daily runs and report

For each day next week, I will randomly select one follower's run to complete (if you are the only one who submits an entry for a day, you are automatic). That person has to complete the run also which hopefully prevents the 50 mile assignments from sneaking in. I'll randomly pick one person from the seven to win a loaf of bread.


The rest of you can join in the daily runs, post here your results, follow this blog, and each completed run will earn you a chance to win the SECOND LOAF!

Get it?

WTF???

• Pick one (only 1) day of the week for next week (Sun thru Sat)
• Prescribe a run (be considerate, it's late July in Phoenix and no barefoot shit)
• We both complete the run that day
• Report back on this blog at the end of that day. Remember, we are not time-competing against each other, just trying to complete the run and have some fun.
• Wait for the bread (1 in 7 chance)

To have your run chosen for one of the days, you must follow the above instructions and you must follow this blog. You will get extra chances to be drawn for following any of the blogs I follow (up to 3 extra points, separate comment each). You get an extra chance for

• mentioning this contest on your blog. 
• You can also get an extra point if you follow me on Twitter (jgeyer66) but you will be sorry, my Tweets are flat. 
• Also for retweeting this message "New Contest at Running Through Phoenix --First Annual Semi-Vicarious Leavened Pseudo-Virtual Run(s) --check it out!!"
• Lastly, RTP followers get a point for completing each run, just report your results here. Please list each in a separate comment.

Ready.......  set......... Go! (on Sunday.... go on Sunday)

Eff You Atkins!

After reading 52 Loaves, by William Alexander, I decided to try my hand at baking bread for the family.

Alexander urges all of us to bake bread with a wild yeast levain, otherwise known as a starter or sourdough. It's French so go with it. I did, and I'm very happy with the result.

Slasher

This device measures miles run in the last week.

Today, I was finally able to put together the time needed to gather up all my old meth lab equipment make Pain de l'abbaye Saint-Wandrille. This is the recipe he used to get the monks at that abbey baking bread for themselves and the local villagers - a craft they had put aside for the last bunch of years. Read the book if you want to learn more.

The whole process takes a while, but there are hours of slack time while chemical processes take place and families sleep.

The Blob

It took about 1/2 hour last night, then about 2 hours of work today to make two really nice loaves.

The recipe will make 6 loaves, but then the title for this post would have to be "Eff You Atkins, I'll Dig You Up, Chop Your Head Off, Then Re-bury You Because I'm a Bread Eater, In Fact, I Eat Flour Right Out of the Bag So Sit and Spin!!" So I did some calculations on my cell phone and got it down to two ginormous loaves.

I promise a running post very soon with a giveaway contest that will make you drooool!

And there is some whispering of an upcoming open-water swim/triathlon with a boring runner and an Engineer. Stay tuned!

Bikram Baby!!

Blogging about my Bikram experience just isn't gaining any momentum ever since Lauren and Adam posted their experiences. If you want an entertaining recap about our experience, go here and here. Thanks so much to The Bikram Institute of Scottsdale, especially to Andrea, the owner, Robin, our patient instructor, all of the friendly employees

and the homeless guy in the parking lot who offered to pat me dry. I will tell you that I wasn't that phased by the Bikram experience because I couldn't do half of 'dat shit'.

The instructor spent a bit of time with me, but quickly realized that I would need the kind of special attention reserved for Warren from the movie There's Something About Mary.

I was pretty much able to handle the heat. Had to stop a few times and not move, but overall, the heat was what I expected. I had hydrated pretty well that day, and spent some time talking to others with experience. And I do like to sweat, but it never occurred to me to wring my towel out in the parking lot. Yuck Cool! Yuck!!

I highly recommend Bikram to those who are looking for something different. This would definitely count as cross-training and also as a mental break from life-stress--all you can think about for 90 minutes is staying alive.

Cake rating for Bikram Institute of Scottsdale!!


$40 contest alert!! See below...

 "Check out www.theboringrunner@adamrisu CSN stores $40 gift card GIVEAWAY!!"

Thirty-Something

RTP now has 30 followers. Welcome to the latest few and brave little Kelsey who stepped up to the line to become #30. Welcome!!

Kelsey is training for her first marathon and will race for 26.2 this coming January here in Phoenix at the RnR. I'm looking forward to reading about your training Kelsey and hopefully you will be joining the rest of us Phx-based blogging/running nerds for a pre-race orgy meet up.

I read 52 Loaves last week and have been busy building a levain, researching recipes, and emailing the author. Not too much running, but a really nice swim session with Runlaur and..........

-------------------------spoiler alert------------------------

Bikram Yoga this evening with Adam and Runalur!! I'm very excited, but also apprehensive because I have heard some horror stories from people about their first experience with 'hotroom' yoga. But as they say in Hell and Bakersfield, 'everyone into the fire'. I'll report out in the next day or so pending survival.

52 Loaves, by William Alexander, is a chronological self-rising journey of one year in the life of an amateur turned-pro-bread-maker and his family. If you have read anything by Alexander, you know he is anything but amateur in what ever he pursues. The author seeks to recreate the perfect bread and vows to bake at least one loaf per week for one year in pursuit of the pain de perfect. He describes the processes for making yeast and also the chemical reactions in each stage. He travels to France, North Africa, and to production-grade flour mills to better understand and perfect the craft. Hard to believe, but he actually plants a small plot of wheat in his garden and , a year later, harvests, threshes, winnows, and grinds (some by hand) the grain to make flour which he uses to make some kick-ass bread. In the final stages of his journey, he spends several weeks living in an abbey in France teaching the monks how to bake bread and revitalizing their tradition of bread-making and also has a profound and lasting spiritual experience.

I have taken his lead and am now in the final day of a six day process to build a levain (starter dough) that can be used to bake some of the best breads on the planet. There are plenty of informative websites and blogs for this topic, and I fear that I may have left my family behind. No worries from them, as I have promised home-made breads and muffins starting sometime in the next week, and food always trumps in this family. I needed some information about the levain and some other baking topics, so I emailed the author, and he replied with two separate emails within a day. Not to be too self-assured, but I knew he would. He just seems like that kind of guy.

52 Loves gets an overall RTP rating of 'Cake'. I'll have to increase my mileage, or I'll get an overall rating of cake-eater. 30 suckers followers. Who knew??

RTP Product and Media Rating System

Cake = it's great and I highly recommend this product. Keep your fingers away from my mouth.

Cupcake = pretty good product, take it for what it is worth, leaves me wanting MORE

Fig Newton = it's good for you and tastes ok, but who really wants it? Survival food.

Cow pie = not on your life, but it's sometimes fun to watch others interact with this.

Melon Patch-icide

Had to pull up the watermelon and cantaloupe plants. They were spreading like wildfire and choking out the other plants, including the precious tomatoes. Can't have that.

Dead watermelon vine.










The vines creep out and wrap little tendrils around the other plants to secure the plant. We thought it would make nice ground cover and give us free food, but we will need to grow a separate patch somewhere else in the yard next spring.

We started this little project back in the March and have had good reaps for the past two months in zucchini, bell peppers, and tomato (4 different varieties). The eggplants are producing fruit but they have not really been edible. They are Japanese and we haven't been able to tell when to pick them.

(the botanical definition of fruit is a ripened seed bearing ovary).

This is a photo of a ripened seed bearing ovary.

Actually, it is Adam the Boring Runner, who is one of the funniest and entertaining bloggers out there -and a hell of a good runner. I urge you to check out his blog. There is a current contest giveaway for compression socks that is worth entering.

And don't forget that Jamoosh's special big boy b-day is this Saturday. He like Transformers, Legos, small-batch 'chewy' beer, and disturbing tattoo/piercing photos.

The $64 Tomato Book Review

For a second or two, I had a Dan Quayle moment with the spelling of Tomato (potatoe).

This book was written by William Alexander and published by Algonquin books in 2006. It's a big hit and there are numerous websites devoted to reviews and expounding his ideas of home gardening.

Here is a link to the author's website and you can wander from there.

As the title suggests, this guy built and established a garden in his yard out East (moved out of Yonkers and went somewhere North up the Hudson where I want to move today honey), and after all of the digging, fertilizing, planting, supporting, protecting, reaping, etc., he calculated the cost of his tomatoes at $64 each --which is not the point. The point is that this man launched his family into home gardening and house resurrection. And not just a side of the yard garden with a few veggies and a flower pot. He grows fruit trees, ROWS of veggies: underground, terraced, hamocked, caged, etc.

He had to re-grade the plot (about 75 feet long), plan the planting map and cycle chronology, and learn how to grow organically and pesticide free -which helped him learn why veggies in the store look so beautiful. THEY AREN'T REAL! BURN IT BURN IT KILL IT WITH ACID!!!! Tree-huggers scream at farmers for using pesticides and hormones, but the consumers scream for perfect fruits and veggies, which are impossible to produce in quantity without using chemicals. This happens at all levels beyond the backyard family farmer, so the next time you go to a farmers market, believe me when I say the 'cover shot' fruits and veggies were grown in the Matrix. Pesticide-free fruits and veggies have blemishes.

Alexander is a terrific writer, he.....

Hey!! Little sideline: We watch a crapload of Curious George in our house (HJG watches while mom and dad bring him popsicles and beg him to take a nap), and The Man with the Yellow Hat just finished a marathon. Yellow shorts and sleeveless (cotton!!) shirt, I'm almost certain Chuck Taylors (minimalist!! I knew it!!) and his YELLOW HAT!! He came in 17th overall and received an Apollo trophy--not bad bling though I doubt the same trophy was given for the blogger who came in 11,703/14,112. And I heard they ran out of ice cream sandwiches-- Of course! My wife said that he has participated in other races in other episodes. I will research this further and get back to you.

Alexander write smoothly and is funny. If you are at all interested in following a family that moves into a destroyed house and spends lots of money and time and effort building the house back up and building a formidable garden, then you will enjoy this book. I will be reading his book about bread making called 52 Loaves and will review here.


"Enter to Win @Spibelt Giveaway over at ericarunning.com http://bit.ly/a8eEEs #giveaways @erica_h

Nathan's Catalyst Alka-Sport Drink Review

Just a quick review of this product.

I picked up a tube of lemon-lime Nathan Catalyst drink mix tablets from Runners Den and threw them in the gym bag. After running hills yesterday, I tossed one in my water cup and after about 1 minute of fizz fizz, it was ready for consumption.

These tubes contain about 16 tablets, and each tablet prepares 24 oz's of sports drink. Each tube costs about $7 or $8 so that comes out to about... mmmmm..... well the cost is not the important part. I felt refreshed and balanced in hydration after drinking it, and I like the ease of preparation.

You can read the ingredient particulars, but it has all the usual stuff and tastes pretty good. The big bonus (for me) is that it is effervescent and I love bubbles. Looks like I've been wearing an Al Qaeda hostage hood all summer. Must work on face tan.

It goes flat after a short time but still has a good flavor.
Overall Rating assigned: Cake

And here is the new product review rating system you have been waiting for:
Cake = it's great and I highly recommend this product. Keep your fingers away from my mouth.
Cupcake = pretty good product, take it for what it is worth, leaves me wanting MORE
Fig Newton = it's good for you and tastes ok, but who really wants it? Survival food.
Cow pie = not on your life, but it's sometimes fun to watch others interact with this.

It's a WET Heat

Just got back from a family trip to NY. The first few days were magically cool and comfy --we spent most of our time outside and slept with open windows. The last two days were swampy and hot and we spent most of our time outdoors and slept with windows * open *

I was able to get two quality runs in, both with my father in law. He doesn't run anymore, but he is a champion walker and walks for exercise almost every day. He warned all the muggers that I would be in town so we pretty much had the park to ourselves.

Glen Island is now one of my favorite places to run, walk, sightsee, loiter near the restrooms.

Glen Island is connect to Westchester by a drawbridge 

and you get there by driving through historic Pellham and Pellham Manor (the rich section of Pellham). This whole area north of the Bronx is rich in history, tradition, and established neighborhoods. Though I didn't get the chance, its easy to get downtown on the train --about a 30-40 minute ride to Grand Central.

Glen Island has a nice wide paved path that circumnavigates the perimeter (call me out on that redundancy but it is still a sexy sentence). Since I will be alerting my NY family to the existance of this blog, I must now apply the principles of truth and not the usual set of exagerations and downright fabrications which make up the lion's share of my posts.

A quaint location to be sure, though I am positive I saw some shark fins down there.

The island path totals about 1.64 miles if you take a small detour near the north end. There is also a nice hill on the north end that adds a bit of heavy breathing to the route. I went around once walking with Bruno then ran around three times. It was starting to really warm up and I had to go buy my winning lotto ticket, so we called it a day and went back to New Rochelle where they live --also the home of the Dick Van Dyke show.

I got to interview the man himself.

Me: DVD (may I call you DVD?) Do you believe that I could make it into show business?

DVD: (silence, but his expression says it all).

Me: Mr. Van Dyke, want to go shark fishing in the sound?

DVD: (Again, you can see it in the eyes)

Adam the Boring Blogger in 50 years

The temps and humidity were in perfect harmony but there were not very many others out there running or walking. That's a shame because it is an absolutely stunning location and has all the elements most exercise enthusiasts would want --it even has a 1/4 mile track in the center, though I stayed on the outside edges to be near the water. This was fun and there are miles of nearby streets with rolling hills, shade, and interesting neighborhoods (and Iona college) for those who want to extend their run.

* Our room had a window A/C which we cranked up to 11 and huddled around all night long, like crack heads at a Columbian sample party.