He’s Nuckin’ Futs!

Safe to say I absolute hate riding on a trainer/rollers/stationary bike.

Putting mettle to pedal

Determined Aurora man rides again for stationary-bike record

By Joel Hood |Tribune reporter

11:32 PM CDT, May 8, 2008

After 64 consecutive hours on a stationary bicycle, this is what desire looks like: face grimacing and flushed red with sweat, fatigued arms slumped over handlebars, legs rhythmically pumping mile after imaginary mile.

Only 68 more hours to go. 

For the last year and a half, a retired drug-enforcement officer from Aurora has been on a quest to get his name inked in the Guinness Book of World Records. Twice in 2007, George Hood set a world mark for consecutive hours riding a stationary bike, only to have a clerical error and a rival from Tasmania take the titles from him.

It takes a certain kind of superhuman strength and, yes, obsession to pursue an endurance record that only a handful of people around the world probably care anything about. But Hood doesn’t do anything halfway. And when he jokes about taking back the record, he doesn’t joke too long.

This week, the 50-year-old climbed into the saddle at a YMCA in Naperville for his third and what he said is his final attempt for the obscure record. By Thursday night, he had ridden for close to 90 straight hours, 42 shy of the record. That is the equivalent of about 1,000 road miles or nearly a third of the way across the U.S.

If all goes well, Hood will break the record sometime Saturday night. But this time he wants the record to stick, so he is planning on pedal- ing another 20 hours, taking his painful and exhaustive personal journey into Sunday.

“This is a genuine human effort being done for all the right reasons,” Hood said. “This is the final chapter of this trilogy.”

Guinness rules allow riders to rest for five minutes for every hour in the saddle, time riders typically use to stretch, go to the bathroom and sleep. But riders don’t have to stop each hour and are able to stockpile five-minute breaks for longer periods of rest. When Hood began riding at 9 p.m. Sunday, he rode 15 hours in a row without a break, maintaining a minimum speed of around 12 m.p.h.

His bike is perched on a small stage at the top of a converted aerobics studio. The YMCA has put a second stationary bike beside him and scattered others around the studio so people can help keep him motivated by taking a spin for an hour or two. Rock music blares from the room’s speakers, and a limp towel hangs over the sweat-soaked handlebars.

Team of helpers

Hood rides alone, but this is far from a solitary effort. A team of volunteers monitors his time and makes sure he stays alert. Every four hours or so, paramedics stop by the gym to check on his condition. And when it is time for a break, volunteers gingerly lift Hood off the bike and carry him down a wooden ramp built near the stage.

Bathroom stops are brief because Hood is on a mostly liquid diet. Volunteers then help him to a fold-out table near the bike where he stretches his strained muscles. Sleep comes the instant Hood closes his eyes but never lasts more than 10 or 12 minutes at a time.

The record may be the ultimate test of physical and psychological endurance. But the divorced father of three hopes it also inspires others to take on challenges that seem out of their reach. In that way, the record is as much about others as it is about him, Hood said. Previous attempts raised more than $60,000 for various charities, and this week he has brought in about $16,000 for underprivileged families to participate in YMCA programs.

“There’s so much negativity in the world today, so much stuff on the news that you want to shy away from,” Hood said from atop the bike. “I’m awed by the number of people who’ve stopped by, just to peek in the doorway, to see how I’m doing it. I think that really speaks to people wanting to see something good in the world.”

‘High and extreme goals’

Hood grew up in eastern Pennsylvania and joined the Marine Corps after college. The eldest of four children, Hood said he always was obsessive about discipline and high achievement, traits that served him well in law enforcement and, he acknowledges, partly explains his pursuit of this record.

“There’s a lot of psychological things here that could be looked at,” said longtime friend Kathy Lewandowski. “He’s a goal-setter and he sets really, really high and extreme goals.”

In 1986, at age 28, Hood set a Guinness record by skipping rope for 13 consecutive hours, a mark that stood less than a month. Motivated once more to stamp his name in the record book, Hood rode 91 straight hours on a stationary bike in January 2007, breaking the mark held by a Danish man. But a bookkeeping error kept the time from being certified.

Six months later, Hood officially set the record at 111 hours, 11 minutes and 11 seconds, only to have a Tasmanian rider named Eddy Kontelj best him with a mark of 132 hours a couple of weeks later.

By Thursday morning, exhaustion and a strained left knee threatened to derail Hood. That is when he grabbed a microphone and implored onlookers to jump on bikes and help him power through it. He cranked the rock music on the stereo and began to bop his head up and down. He chanted, then stood up off the seat and pumped his legs harder. He had slept a combined three hours and 57 minutes since Sunday night and burned an estimated 23,000 calories.

“If you don’t witness something like this, you couldn’t imagine it could be done,” said Marvin Paysen, Hood’s friend and training partner.

As he sailed past the 80-hour mark, Hood grabbed the microphone again.

“This is more than just an event,” he yelled, “it’s an experience you’ll remember the rest of your lives. And I’m loving it!”

Here’s the original article.  Click on the pic above to go to his web page.

He’s expected to finish at 9am on Sunday, 11 May.  Good on him!

Headphones

I had to laugh at this one.  I get this question a lot, especially by the folks at work that try to wrap their brains around running for three hours, riding for six, or swimming for two (not that I’ve done the last two this year, but it’s happened).

I don’t wear headphones.  I don’t listen to music.

Except what’s playing on mental radio.

I agree with Frazz.  I’ve got to hear what’s going on around me.  And music is too much of a distraction.

Every time I run a race, I am reminded of why it’s a good idea to not wear headphones.  Little islands unto themselves, runners with headphones take hard right turns with no warning so they can get a cup of water or get to the curb to tie their shoe.  They cross center lines on the (open) road, not hearing the car on the other side, just so they can jog with a bit more space (even loud screams couldn’t get this guy’s attention).

I understand the desire to distract oneself from the discomfort and pain.  I do wear them when I’m on a dreadmill or trainer.  But never outside.

I must be one of the old diehards that this NY Times article is referring to.

Life, or something like it

Been a crazy week.

After last weekend’s long run and some other stuff, it was a week out on the east coast.  It was nice to run with the ocean breeze in my face as it warmed up through the week.  It’s taper time, so the runs were short (5-7 miles), but the pace was brisk.  Especially one evening when I was 3 miles from the hotel and realized that I had to get back to the room, shower and drive across town to meet folks for dinner - in 30 minutes.

I made it.

Midway through the week, Goddess got ahold of me.  Horrible news.  The husband of her bridesmaid, who just turned 31, didn’t wake up Wednesday morning, passing sometime overnight.  Apparently it was a congenital heart issue, although you’d never know it.  He was a healthy man.  Left behind a wife and two daughters, aged 5 and 3.  A bit of scrambling and we worked out travel arrangments for Goddess to get out to Colorado.

Unfortunately she landed less than two hours after the funeral.

But we got her out there.

A bit of shuffling to get Skinny a sitter for the weekend, since we had already made plans to be out of town.  So after dropping Goddess off at the airport, I drove Son and two of his friends north to Louisville.  We were off to see Gigantour, which we had been looking forward to since January.  The lineup was High on Fire (meh) Job For a Cowboy (meh), Children of Bodom (excellent), In Flames (good) and Megadeth (great).

I  didn’t enjoy it as much as I was hoping, mainly because I was worried about Goddess traveling (although she has traveled halfway across the world by herself), about her friend, her friend’s girls and the emotional trauma that I could only imagine that they were all going through (or about to in Goddess’ case).

But the show went on for six hours, which is about 30 minutes past the limit my ears (as well as Son and his friends) can take.  Even with earplugs.  Shame too, since that happened during Megadeth, who I’ve followed since the mid-80’s.  I was jazzed since this was the first time I’ve been able to catch them live.

And what was a first in the hundreds of concerts that I’ve been to over the past 25 years - the concert was paused for safety.  During Children of Bodom’s set, the crowd surged forward hard enough to break the barrier.  They cut the power to the stage and Bodom left for 30 minutes, giving the crew enough time to fix the barrier.  I was sitting up in the stands at that point so I had a pretty good view of everything.  Son was down in the crowd and immediately texted “WTF?”, so I talked him through it.

We got back to the hotel at 1230am.  Much to their chagrin, I woke them up at 700am.  Nothing like trying to wake three 16 year old’s up after only six hours of sleep.  But we had to get on the road so I could get back and spend the rest of the day writing a paper for school.

Joy.

Marathon in 5.5 days.

Moments of Zen

Both Frazz and Caulfield hit this nail on the head.  I defrag using both methods.

Travel this week threw any semblance of a training regiment out the window.  Managed to miss our flight out by 5 minutes, thanks to an extremely full parking area that forced us to park somewhere in Minnesota in order to catch our flight in Nashville.  By the time we got into the hotel in SC, it was 1230am.  Typically I’d get up at 430am to run, but that wasn’t going to happen since I had to be in a meeting at 7am.

Worked all day, had dinner with friends that I hadn’t seen in many years, then it was off to bed before getting up early to head to the airport.  And the whole time I was glad I wasn’t flying American.

Sipping coffee this morning, looking out the window and wondering why there were barricades up along the road behind our house.  Then the bikes started flying by.  It was a youth triathlon, based out of the indoor pool down the block.  So Goddess and I got out there to cheer the little ones on.  Age groups were broken up into 6-7, 8-9, 10-11 and 12-13.

The 6-7 AG, especially the women, was the best.  Flying on a schweet pink Schwinn, complete with matching pink corduroys, pink down jacket (it was cool and windy) and pink helmet, the lanterne rouge of the event did it in style.  She’ll be rockin’ the course for years to come.  Watch out Amanda!

School work and a long run is all that’s in store for this weekend.  Well, that and washing and repacking, since I’ll be traveling again this week.  Meh.

Why not just put a target on your back?

Wouldn’t that be like wearing an OU jersey while biking through Texas?   You’d just be begging to get smashed.

Betcha if the moonwalking bear was wearing it, y’all would’ve spied it the first time around. 

————————————————————–

Found in the latest Performance Bike catalog to grace my mailbox.

Why, oh why, do they tempt me so?

Not with those jerseys, but with all of the other goodies inside.

Kinda pointless, since I’m not getting many bike miles in this year.

Flingin’ Flies and a 4 & 30 16

The title sums up the week.

Flingin’ flies refers to my afternoons this week.  For a few of them we drove down to a nearby stream to do some fishing.  For me, it was time to trust the muscle memory and try and find my fly cast.  I had tossed a few flies while living in Australia some 8 years ago, but it had been closer to 13 years since I had done it with any frequency.

Amazing how the muscles can remember such things.  The first day was sloppy, but it was getting there.  By Friday, the casts were long and clean, even to the side while trying to get under the overhanging trees.  I’m used to nice western rivers with broadly spaced pines, not this bushy, brusy tangled mess along both sides of the stream.  Needless to say, I left a few flies in the trees this week.

Tuesday was to see them stock several thousand rainbows and browns.  I don’t think they did, since we received over 2″ of rain that day and the creeks were flooded.  Even by Friday the trout weren’t really there, although Goddess hooked a pretty little 4″ (keep the jokes clean, folks.  OK.  Don’t).  Hopefully they just slipped stocking a week.  Regardless, a day standing waist deep in cool water and casting is much better than being holed up in the house.

As for the other part of the title, that refers to today’s run.  After last Saturday’s 1/2 marathon and the painful aftermath, the week’s running has been low and slow.  And today’s run was to be LSD.  A slow start and I finally got going around 11am.  No particular reason.  It was just a slow morning.

I decided within the first 100 yards that I was going to try a modified Galloway plan and run for 4 minutes, walk for 30 seconds.  Except I didn’t have a timer, so I had to keep an eye on the time.  Easier said than done.  By the time I got about 4 miles into the run, there were several sections where I was into my groove and missed the start of my walk time, so I’d have to recaculate.

All-in-all I’d have to say that it’s an effective method.  I felt just as strong through miles 14-16 as I did through miles 4-6, even though I’d amassed a fair bit of climbing in the intervening miles.  Average pace was 10:18; the run legs were 9:30’s and the walks were 14’s.  Although in the end the average pace is all that matters, I was still impressed with how I felt those last few miles.

I’ll give it another go on next weekend’s 20-miler.

Oooops, gotta run.  TV babe Tina Fey is on SNL.

Da Dip

So hawt!

If you’ll browse through the left column, you’ll see that I’m a Maker’s Mark Ambassador. I am a big fan of the Mark.  A very fine, very smooth Kentucky bourbon. I prefer it with just a splash of clean water to mix up the essence and then an ice cube or two, depending on how many fingers deep the pour is.  But if you prefer mixing, it stands up quite well to that use as well.

13.1 mile Train Wreck

Ok, maybe not all 13.1 miles, but a good chunk of them.

This morning was the Tom King 1/2 Marathon in Nashville. As forecast, we got there just in time for the thunderstorms to roll in. At 7am, in a driving rain and occasional clap of thunder, Goddess started her very first 5K, which she smoked with a 39:24!

While she was running, I warmed up under the overhang of LP Field, which is where the Tennessee Titans play. I’m not a football fan, so I won’t insert any comments about whether they play or not. If you do, I’ll shrug, since it doesn’t mean anything to me.

Lots of warming up, lots of stretching, then a run inside the stadium to watch her finish. For both races, the finish line was on the east side 50-yard line, after entering the stadium on the northwest corner and then running the perimeter of the field. Quite a unique finish, with everyone’s sprint displayed on the Jumbotron. Here’s the view, with the final turn before the final 50 yards:

So at 8am we started the 1/2 marathon. A nasty start at that -> 48F, pouring rain and a good flash of lighting right before the gun went off, with the course turning into a 5-10mph wind after the first 1/2 mile. Good stuff! Starting off at a very comfortable 8:18 pace, I was right where I wanted to be, slowly warming up and then picking up the pace for a 1:45 finish, which needed a 8:00 average pace to pull off. That’s a pace I’m comfortable with for 10 miles on training runs, so I knew I’d have to push it a bit to go the full 13.1. But it’s a race, so isn’t that the idea?

I typically take several miles to warm up, often not feeling supple and smooth until the 5-6 mile range. Well, that never happened. For the next 10 miles, my average pace dropped a very even 5 seconds per mile, then I flattened out at a 9:02 average pace for the last 2.1 miles. I just never warmed up.

Before the start, I made the decision not to wear a jacket, since I heat up so quickly. So I was wearing an UnderArmour compression shirt under a long-sleeve technical running shirt. That wasn’t a bad decision, since I was pushing the arms up after mile 9 and was quite warm above the waist. Below the waist was where the train wreck occurred.

Down there I was wearing UnderArmour compression shorts under a pair of Nike running shorts. The quads were half-covered, but apparently not enough. I chose not to wear tights since I do heat up so quick; plus I didn’t want to deal with them soaking up water and making my legs heavier than my soaked shoes and socks (layered Injinji and Thorlo) would be.

For the first 8 miles, I wasn’t uncomfortable, but the legs were giving what they could (cue Scotty - “I’m giving it all I can, Captain”). At 8.1 miles, the fun began. The knee pain that cut short my run last Sunday reappeared. Luckily it wasn’t the stabbing pain that it was on Sunday, just an ache. Something to keep an eye on, so I pressed forward. Another mile or so down the path and I could feel both of my hamstrings start to tighten. Again, nothing significant, just something to keep an eye on. During these miles, my average pace was only dropping about 2 seconds/mile, so it wasn’t any significant discomfort.

As soon as the ache went away in my right knee, my left ITB started tightening up, which pulled on my left glute and made for a fun couple of strides. As fast as it appeared, it disappeared. And that’s when the right ITB pulled the same stunt. I tell you, I had a stinkin’ Rolodex of pains going on. The legs just spun the wheel and pulled whatever card showed. Fargin’ Bastages!

Like I said earlier, the goal was 1:45. Well, that slipped away. So I then hoped for a PR of faster than 1:49:38, which I set last October. That slipped away, so then I hoped to beat my January time of 1:55:46. Well, that slipped away, too. So then it was all out to come in under 2 hours. The trick was that I wasn’t sure what my time was. My Garmin turned off for about three-tenths of a mile between 9.5 and 10 miles, probably when I was pushing my sleeves up.

I snuck it in at 1:59:44. 60 of 91 in my A/G; 480 of 939 O/A. Here’s Goddess’ capture of me just yards out of the finish chute:

Afterwards I told Goddess that I was going to change my tagline of “Races are a celebration of me being fit” to “Races are proof I’m too stupid to give up“. Quite a bit of frustration there, especially since I’ve been very diligent about stretching, especially my glutes, on a daily basis. But as the day wore on, my normal over-analysis of every run made me realize that I just never warmed up during the race, even though I did a warm up and headed out at a good clip.

The Good -

- My Injinji. After first wearing them at my marathon last month and coming out completely unscathed, meaning absolutely no blisters at all, I bought another pair. Since my foot moved around so much during the marathon, I used the Injinji as a liner inside my Thorlos. Even with completely soaked feet, not so much as a hint of a blister today. Those socks ROCK!

- The fine gentlemen at the turn around point @ 6.21 miles. Runner’s choice of Michelob Ultra or Amber Bock. The bock for me, thank you. And since it was just an ounce or so, it didn’t impact my run. But it sure tasted good, even though it wasn’t even 9am yet.

The Bad -

Did you not just read my post above?

The Ugly -

- Not a single thing. Even the weather really wasn’t that bad. I don’t mind running in a driving rain. I just wish I had warmed up.

I’ll keep stretching and rolling and hopefully I’ll loosen up for the Country Music Marathon next month.  But I’m not betting on it.

Looking forward to tomorrow.  I’ll spend a few hours casting Wooly Buggers in front of a few browns and rainbows.  I may even catch one.

7″ of Not So Much

(ohhhh, there’s a gazillion ways this post could go with a title like that, but we’ll stay on topic)

Today was my scheduled long run for the week.  Not going to happen.

I sit here at the computer desk and look across the field.  An unusual field of white for around here.  I measured 7″ on the patio and had to put on boots to trek out to pick up the morning paper.  The nearby weather station measured 6″.

This area is definitely not built or prepared for snow like this.  But at least we have power.  There’s enough water content in the snow that the short trek out for the paper soaked the bottom of my comfy pants.  So any run would leave me with soaked shoes before the end of the block.  And it’s 25 degrees.

The other option would be to find a plowed road and hope for the best.

Not gonna happen.

I have my doubts on the quality of the roads at the moment.  I’ve seen a few cars go by, but those are the folks I don’t want to be near.  I was driving home from work in it last night; the folks here definitely don’t know how to drive in it.  I appreciate being cautious, but driving in a driving snow at 10mph, when visibility is still a mile or better, creates more of a hazard than driving faster.

Isn’t it funny how everyone says that the people in their area can’t drive in (insert weather phenomenon here).  Or, (Insert city here) has the “worst drivers” in the world.

I can speak with first-hand knowledge that the world’s worst drivers are actually in Panama City, Panama.  I’ve been in some pretty horrific traffic situations in Cairo, Boston, Seoul, LA, Atlanta, Venice and many other places in the world.  But the Panamanians have y’all beat.  Hands down.

And isn’t it funny how most American drivers think that they are better than average drivers?

Perhaps we’re just bad at math.

Anyway, the smart thing to do today is shift schedules and do my normal Sunday catch-up on school work.  The run will be there tomorrow.  And the roads will be clearer.

Fingers crossed.

I am…

Iron Man

Iron Man 100% Hulk 95% Spider-Man 90% Supergirl 83% The Flash 80% Green Lantern 75% Robin 63% Catwoman 60% Superman 60% Wonder Woman 58% Batman 45%
Inventor. Businessman. Genius.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

Good fun there, thanks to Brad.

I find it really interesting that Super Girl is #4. And that Batman is dead last. What does that say about Batman?

Not feeling the Ironman at the moment, though. At least 3″ on the ground and still falling heavily. We should see 6″ by morning. Then it’ll start to melt. I’ll likely have to push off the long run ’til Sunday, since the roads will be a mess and the trails will be unusable.

And just for fun, I needed to find out which Super Villain I am:

Venom

Venom 93% Riddler 84% Apocalypse 82% Dark Phoenix 74% The Joker 73% Magneto 72% Mystique 67% Juggernaut 67% Lex Luthor 62% Mr. Freeze 61% Dr. Doom 60% Poison Ivy 48% Catwoman 48% Green Goblin 47% Two-Face 47% Kingpin 46%

Strength, disguise and adrenaline are your greatest weapons.

Click here to take the Supervillain Personality Quiz