The singularity

So Jen came back last night, after being gone for a week long vacation tour of Arizona, visiting friends and family. Back in the day, which was a Wed (Thank you Dane Cook for that one), when I was single, I hated it. But now that I'm married, I learned last week that I hate it even more. Even if Jen and I are in different rooms doing different things, it's still so much better than being without her. She's a good one, and I'm glad that I was reminded of how lucky I am to have her. Now, you might think that I'm writing this to gain points with her, but she doesn't actually read my blog, and if I were to ask her if she knew how to find it, she wouldn't know, I'm sure. So this is just because it's true!
Side note, I bought Guitar Hero II for PS2 on Saturday, after playing it over at my friend's place. Man, it's so awesome. I'm going to be so good at it. I can't wait to get home tonight and rock out!

Running Elvi

So, at the San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon in June, they are trying to set a world record of Running Elvi. Currently the record is only at 48, which seems oddly low, but anyway...
They listed an email address of someone who would make a custom jumpsuit out of the good running materials. I just got an email from her, and they only cost $100. So, if anyone wants to donate to my running as elvis cause, let me know, I'll tell ya how to get the money to me. Awesome!

Let's play compute, dude.

So, I'm in the beginning processes of new computer time. Gonna build my own, or at least try. Gerry did most of the building of this one, but I think I might be able to handle it. So, I got a computer magazine, rating all the stuff out there, and I'm discovering that things are pricey. But, I am getting closer and closer to really needing to do it. This one is still running Windows 2000, not even XP, and I'm getting to the point that new stuff, like the gaming mouse I got, and the gaming keyboard I want, aren't able to be used to their full potential because of the age. Plus, my itunes won't let me download any more stuff because I need the latest version, which doesn't run on Win2000. Time to start saving!

Well, here's a great picture of me in the middle of the OC Marathon. The look you see is of someone who actually isn't all too sure that what he's trying to do is even possible, and that the decision to attempt to do this thing might have been the dumbest thing ever. Of course, that all changed the moment I crossed the finish line, but that story has been told.

Now this one, is of me finishing the Arizona Rock n Roll Marathon, with an amazing 2 1/2 hours shaved of my previous week's race.
Ok, so this one is actually of me finishing the half marathon, and no, not in 3 hours. That's the clock time, started when they shot the gun in the first place. Since we were in Corral 23, we had to wait for 22 other corrals worth of people to start before us, which took about 30 minutes. So, I finished in just under 2:30, which I had set for myself at the start, so I was happy about that.

5 hours, 29 minutes, 47 seconds

So, I'm now a marathoner, and it was awesome. Here's a little summary of the OC Marathon 2008...


We had to get up at about 4:30, after a very restless night's sleep (it's hard to make your brain stop working the night before your very first marathon), and be down in the lobby by 5. We all checked in with our Team in Training coaches, and got on the buses to the start area. They were good, old fashioned yellow school buses too. Of course, I made Jen sit in the back row with me, and although I wanted to start a chant of "front of the bus sucks" like in elementary school times, I wasn't so sure the other people were ready for that quite yet. We got to the starting area, still dark outside, and hung out and waited until start. There weren't too many people there at that time, so it was fun to watch all the people show up. There was quite a few of them, too. A number of groups too, the largest was probably this group of Koreans. They did a group warm up before we started, complete with someone blowing a whistle to coordinate their jumping jacks and other warm ups. Pretty cool. Made our way into the starting corral, they made announcements, did the national anthem, and we waited. The buildup was pretty exciting, knowing that these past 5 months of training were all going to be put to the test in minutes. They started the handbike people first, and then we were off. Our group was pretty close to the front, so the first 4 or 5 miles was mostly spent hoping nobody was going to run up behind me without looking and run me over. There was a band out in front of Mariner's Church in Irvine, playing a Police song when I went by. They had a sign out front that read "Run like hell, then come visit us". I had hoped that meant there would be other bands, but alas, that was the last one. From there, we went around UCI, through some neighborhoods, and across a foot bridge over the 405. That part was cool, people on the freeway driving by were honking at us all, and that section was also part of where we had been training each Saturday. Just past that, we got to a part where we had a choice to turn right or left. Right was for the half marathon, and left for the full. Since the full cost more, I could have gone either way, so that right turn was pretty tempting, especially since it was at mile 8... I either had 5 miles more, or 18 miles more. I took the left. That part was also where we had trained, and I think that's why my mind sort of zoned out. I don't really remember that part, up to about mile 11 or so, which is a bit weird to have a section of five and a half hours no longer in my head for the most part. At mile 11ish, we got on the toll road, 261, which was closed for us, and went up past the Marketplace (which will always the be Tustin Marketplace to me) until about mile 14. It was at this point that my mind was experiencing the biggest conflict. I was just past halfway, had eaten my halfway snack of a Payday bar (the most delicious food I had ever eaten, at that moment of my life), and fully realizing the truth that I was only halfway done. It was also at that point that the 5 hour pace runner and the pack following her, passed me. I had set a rough goal of 5 hours for myself, not a strict one, just a round about one. Still, it was somewhat disheartening to see that pass me by, with no chance to catch it. So, I pressed on. The crowd was thinner at this point, I pretty much saw the same 10 people, they would run past me, I would run past them, and so on for a few miles winding along a trail in a new neighborhood that didn't look like California at all. It spat rain a little bit, but nothing special. At about mile 18, we were around the old El Toro Marine Base, wide open space, clouds, wind, a bit chilly, and lots of pains in the legs, hips, and feet. I trudged along, stopped for the porta-potty, and at around mile 20, the 5:30 pace person and her group caught me. At this point, I made a decision that I was going to keep up with them as best I could, unless I physically fell down. I quickly found that my pace was just a bit too slow for that group, and I slowly fell back. This was nearly a crushing blow, until I saw that this group stopped for periodic walk breaks. I ran past them, with the thought that maybe I could just keep my slow run pace the rest of the way, and they would just leapfrog me. Well, that didn't last long, and they caught me on my next walk break. From then on, I stuck with them. At about 21 1/2, I got my fourth wind, and I felt great. I was tired, yes, I hurt, but I was able to run, so I did. At mile 23, I snapped this picture..

It was at this point that I truly, and whole-heartedly, believed that I could do this. Thinking on it afterwards, I feel that maybe, deep down, I didn't actually believe I could finish a whole marathon. But at this mile, I had to take a picture, because I felt it. I didn't think I could, I knew it, I knew that I was going to finish no matter what. I really can't explain the feeling. At this point, the entire rest of the group running with the 5:30 pace person had dropped off, except for one other person. By mile 25, she told us her part was done, and the rest was up to us. At about 25 1/2, the guy I was running with, named Alfred (who, 7 months before weighed 250 lbs, and I would say now was at about 175, after deciding he was gong to get in shape, lose weight, and run a marathon) got a cramp and had to walk. I offered to walk with him, he said to go on, and so I did. At the ending, we followed a road that went up and over the 5 freeway, hit the 26 mile mark, made a left, then another left, and then the finish line. When you get to the crest of that hill over the freeway, at the same time you can see the 26 mile marker in front of you, and the finish line on your left. At this point, I couldn't even tell you if my legs hurt, or if they felt no pain. I wasn't paying attention to that at all. A girl who had been part of our training group was just in front of me, so I caught up, and we went across at the same time. 5 months of training every Saturday morning, of running and going to the gym during the weeks, raising as much money as we could for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, running until I didn't think I could any longer, then running some more for 5 and a half hours, feeling my shoes digging into my feet, it all came to one point. Actually, it came to one line. The feeling of crossing a marathon finish line is completely indescribable. It isn't my results (789 out of 1052 isn't going to break records), it isn't the bragging rights (less than one tenth of one percent of the population has done it), it's that it was just me against me.. and I won. I did more than I thought I could.

And you know something... I wanna do it again. And I will.

Today, two days later, my joints are fine, my muscles are a little sore, my feet are fine. We're doing a half marathon this Sunday in Phoenix (chump change) and then we'll see which one is next, and keep the training going. There's more to write, side stories and all, but I'll save that for another day.

OC Marathon Course Map
Click that, if you dare, to see exactly what Jen and I will be doing tomorrow, at exactly this time. And yes, even if it's raining, we'll be out there. We're packing up now, getting ready to go down to the hotel. We've got the race expo to attend, and our pasta dinner and team meeting tonight. We have to meet in the lobby of the hotel at 5:00AM and head out to the race start.
Hopefully the hotel has free Wi-Fi and I'll try to make a post tomorrow after it's over, but we'll see if I have enough energy left to even type.

Ever see a brilliant idea, and have two thought? First, why didn't I think of that, second, what can I think of that's just as good?
Here's one of those.
Wants for sale
Basically, this couple makes paintings of things they want, sell them for the amount of the thing, then spend the money on that thing! Like a painting of a slice of pepperoni which sells for 3 bucks, and they go buy the slice!
Man, I gotta start thinking!!!

We watched this movie last night, to pass the time until turning on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve for the 5 minute countdown. (By the way, it was somewhat painful to watch Dick, he's getting old, and I don't remember if he's had a stroke, but it kinda looks like he has) Anyway, the movie, well, it definitely was movie length, and it did utillize actors, and there was dialogue, and I'm sure they used movie cameras. I'm sure someone wrote it, and I'd bet there was even a production company involved. But, ummm, that's about it.
It's not that I hated it, it just was really hard to follow who the characters were, which is pretty much the main thing. And, since it's a spy movie, they decided that to add to the secretive feel, everyone had to be whispering, all the time. So it was tough to understand everything that was said. Matt Damon, he did a good job of playing his character, but it just wasn't enough. So, I'd say to pass this one up.

I also have Snoop Dogg's Father Hood marathon on the TV today in the background, and it's a pretty entertaining show, so far.