I love Chromeo too

Here is our buddy Van Damme grooving with some asain chicks to some music from Chromeo. Once again, I love the 80's.



Where do you get tank tops like that these days? How do you learn to punch somebody in the face while doing the splits? Maybe Tobe should try that move in his next fight.

Best Track Video Ever

This video is great. Why can't more athletes try and start singing careers like this? Watch all the way to the end. It might make you throw up a little in your mouth, but you have to see it. And no, I don't know what is going on with the bubbles. ENJOY



Remember when Carl Lewis was the "greatest athelte in the world". Well you just saw him run a 9.99. And you may remember Usain Bolt running a 9.69, man how times have changed.

Marathon Report - The Aftermath

Finish Line to Car - Mixed Emotion: Right after crossing the finish line they have this Blue Bunny Cool Zone of misters. Usually it's pretty warm at the end of the marathon so this is a welcome area for the runners but this year it was empty. I thought it was funny that a couple of the girls that finished just ahead of me said "why not" and walked through the misters because they were already soaking wet. We then made our way to where they give you the sweet petrified wood finishers medal. There were a couple of folks giving them out. One lady was giving everybody a hug so I decided to go to the other guy. This guy put the medal around my neck and then put his hands on my shoulders looked me in the eye and very genuinely said "well done". I have to admit this was a little emotional for me. I think extreme exhaustion, mixed with the feeling of accomplishing something that at one time seemed impossible, along with thinking about all the hard work that got you to that point brings tears to many eyes. I chocked back the tears because "real men" don't cry at the finish line and wandered my way into the finishers area. They had a big section of the park roped off for "runners only" with ice cream (just what you want after a long cold wet run), fruit, drinks etc. I grabbed an ice cream bar but only took a couple of bites because I didn't think my stomach could handle it. Then I heard my name called and turned to find a guy I work with. We talked about the race a little. He said this was the worst of the 5 SGMs he's done and the crowd was only 1/3 the normal size. I was anxious to see the family so I only grabbed a piece of cantaloupe and headed out of the finishers area. I ran into Paige and Elle first. They were very happy for me and it was really cool to have them there to share the moment with. After a while my Brother, Mom, and Drew caught up to us and we stood chatted for a bit. It was starting to rain again so we decided to part ways while I try to get a massage. I walked over to the massage area but the wait looked pretty long. I was starting to get cold so I thought it would be best to get my gear from the start and head home for a long hot shower. They had the bags really well organized and within about 2 minutes I had my bag. I looked around the random clothes area for the long sleeved shirt I dumped but came up empty so I guess it got donated to charity. It didn't look like there was anything else interesting going on so I took off.

Rest of the time in St. George: I spent the rest of the day moving as little as possible. I suddenly got my appetite back and was starving by the time I got to eat some Bajio's. That night at Pizza Factory was good too. I tried to sleep some that afternoon, but probably only got about 1 hr. I wasn't really as tired as I thought I would be. The next morning the weather was much better. It was cool, but the skies were clear and there was no rain. I remember thinking "why couldn't the race have been today" because the weather would have been ideal and I had a great sleep. Oh well.

St. George to home: The drive home went pretty fast. My legs were sore, but not bad so the car ride didn't seem to make things worse. I was pretty sore until Tuesday morning.

Final thoughts: Overall I think this was a good experience. I am still glad to have it over with. The more time that passes the more open I am to the idea of doing it again. I really think I could finish under 4 hours given better conditions. I don't think I'll try anytime in the next 12 months, but maybe the year after that. I think running 1/2's are much more fun. The training is enough to keep me interested, but isn't so much that it feels like another job. The races themselves are more fun because I can go for certain times instead of just making sure I survive. But, I know not finishing in under 4 hours is going to bug me. I'm also open to the idea of running for a specific reason i.e. to run with somebody who's doing it for the first time or as part of some group. It was an experience I'll never forget and I'm very grateful to my wife and kids for supporting me through the long hours of training as well as showing up to see me finish. Also, very grateful to my Mom and Brother for showing up in St. George to support me, it made the experience that much better. Also, grateful to all the other family and friends for their love and support and all the congrats that have been given. Thanks to the marathon organizers and volunteers (especially the icy hot dudes) for putting together a very smooth race.

Jacked Pictures: Sorry to the fine folks who braved the rain and took these photo's hoping to make a buck off me. WARNING: These photo's are always notoriously bad, I've spared you the really hideos ones but for some reason, in a few of these pictures I look like I'm about to die.

Miles 8-finish

Miles 8-13, The Mid Marathon Blur: These miles all sort of blended together. It was rainy, but I felt pretty good. I remember being really glad to hit 10 miles because I always think of a marathon as two 10 mile runs with a 10k at the end so in a way I was 1/3 of the way done. I remember being about 3 minutes behind my pace at the 13 mile mark.

Miles 13-19, The really crappy part: These miles sucked. The rain was really coming down hard and I even had a hard time seeing because of the wind driving the rain into my face. I remember thinking how I really wished it was only a half-marathon and I could be done. I also remember being really jealous of the "elite" runners who were finishing about the same time I was crossing mile 14. I had a lot of discouraging thoughts of just wanting to get the thing over with during these miles. I never really wanted to quit, but I did think it would be cool if one of the suburbans or motorcycles that kept passing us would pick me up. I also had another bout with BM's at about mile 15 so that slowed me way down. The only encouraging thought I had was thinking that everybody else I saw was going through the same thing so I shouldn't feel too sorry for myself.

Miles 19-21, A New Hope: I can't really explain what happened at mile 19. I made a stop at the Icy Hot dudes, got some gel, took some Gatorade and all of the sudden felt great. It was at this point that I knew I was going to make it. I picked the pace way up, started passing people all over the place and started to enjoy myself. The only damper on these two miles was right before the aid station at mile 21 where my hamstrings started cramping up.

Mile 21-26.2, The long finish: The last miles felt as good as you could expect to feel after running 20+ miles. The rain finally eased up at about mile 23. I stopped at all the aid stations to get some icy hot so that slowed me way down but was crucial to my success because I was cramping everywhere. Over the last two miles I had to fight the overwhelming urge to walk. I also had to fight the idea that I had made it. I kept thinking "I've done it" and would start to loose focus so I had to force myself to not think that way until the end. I also had to ignore the spectators at like mile 23 saying "you're almost there". I ran these last few miles without the ipod for a couple of reasons. First, the headphones started to die because they were so wet and second, I wanted to get a sense for what the crowd and runners were feeling/saying over these last few miles. The final 1/2 mile of straight section to the finish was pretty exhilarating. I saw the family and was inspired by them. There are so many people there that you feel like to have to gut through it for them. Also, there were all these military folks lining the course like they were keeping guard which made me feel kind of special. Then, I finally stepped over the finish line. I can remember the two black mats and how good they felt under my feet and also how good it felt knowing I no longer had to run.

Marathon Report- The first 8 miles

From Start to Mile 3: I didn't really know when the race officially started. I didn't hear a gun or anything but all of the sudden the crowd lurched forward and there was cheering and then it stopped. Then after a few seconds we slowly started moving again and after a couple of minutes I was jogging over the starting mat and I was off. I pulled off the garbage bag and tossed it to the side because it wasn't raining too hard and I thought it would slow me down. I tried to be really conscientious about not getting caught up in the moment and going really slow at the start. Then before I knew it I was at the first mile post. I don't think a mile has ever gone by faster than that in my entire life. I wasn't running it too fast (probably around 8:45 or so) the time just flew by, so I was feeling good. I was trying to stay as close as possible to the 4:00 pace group and remember the Cliff pace lady commenting on the swishing sound of all the people who were still wearing garbage bags. Then again before I knew it we were at mile 2. My strategy was to take walk breaks every two miles but I felt good and figured that since the first aid station wasn't until mile 3 I could hold on. It was still dark as we approached mile 3 and I knew we were getting close when I could see the flashing lights of police vehicles. I was starting to feel like I was going to have to take a dump break but the porta poties at the aid station were packed so I decided to wait until I saw one that was open.

Miles 3-8: Still felt pretty good except for the lingering feeling of needing to use the bathroom. I started looking at the terrain to see if there were any good bushes. I fell behind the 4:00 pace group at the mile 3 aid station, but was able to catch up by mile 4. At mile 5 I felt like I didn't need my long sleeve shirt so I took it off and threw it to the side of the road. Again, the porta poties at mile 5 were packed so I decided to wait and see if there were any open ones at mile 6. As the mile 6 porta poties came into view I could see that there were at least 4-5 people waiting at each one and we were coming up to the town of Veyo and my options were quickly disappearing, so I made a quick decision to duck behind a bush/tree at the side of the road. I was surprised at the mud sticking to my shoes as I got off the road, found a good spot and quickly took care of business. I was glad that I brought that emergency TP and headed back to the road. By that time the 4:00 pace group was out of sight and I didn't see them for the rest of the race. The course heads downhill into Veyo, then right after mile 7 it goes into a steep climb. I could feel the anticipation of the crowd for this hill. Everybody speeds way up on the downhill leading up to it, then it's like waves hitting a beach as everybody slowly makes their way up the infamous Veyo hill. Right after the top of the hill I hit mile 8.

Marathon Report - The Preamble

It's over. This is probably going to be painfully boring for anybody else reading, but I'm going to do my best to relate my Saint George Marathon '08 experience (you know for posterity).

THE EXPO: It really started Friday at the expo/packet pick up. It was at the St. George convention center which took forever to get to because of all the marathon traffic. We walked in and it was pretty much like you would expect. A bunch of booths giving out mostly random stuff. I went straight back to the packet pick up. They had it really well organized and before I knew it this nice older lady was looking through a box for my packet. She said it wasn't there so I needed to go to the "problem" booth. "Oh great" I thought as my mind raced through what could have possibly gone wrong. I walk up to the table and and the lady takes one look at me and says "weight division". At first I was relieved that there was nothing major wrong, then I was a little offended, especially after so many people recently have been saying I look really thin. Anyway I step on the scale to make it official because they won't take your word for it, I was just fat enough to pass and was on my way. We wandered around the expo for a while and I was able to pick up some new flavors of "magic beans". I tried some gross Cliff products and looked at some of the vintage SGM t-shirts then we were off, back to the condo.

THE SHORT NIGHT: We got back to the condo and had a sweet pasta dinner made by my awesome wife. I was planning on getting up at about 4:15 am so I thought I could get to sleep by 9:00 and get a decent 7 hours of sleep. So at about 9:00 I wandered back to bed and by about 9:30 I was asleep. Then I woke up at 12:30AM to the sound of my daughter crying and my wife getting up to see what was wrong. When I looked at the clock I was really hoping it was going to say at least 2:30 and was really pissed when there was a one in front of that two. Then the long part of the night began. Between Drew getting up and waking Elle up, my Mother snoring in the living room and just being juiced for the marathon I couldn't get back to sleep. By 2:30 I decided if I didn't get to sleep right away I may as well try to make the early 4:00 am bus and be eligible for "earlybird" prizes. So at 3:15 I got up and my sweet wife told me how bad she felt that I didn't get any sleep. It doesn't sound like much, but I was just so relieved she was more worried about me than pissed off at me for dragging her to St. George and making her go through a sleepless night. I ate my breakfast, got my stuff together, got in the car and headed to the buses.

THE LONG BUS RIDE: On my way to the buses I found myself walking next to another "early riser". I asked if he planned on waking up this early of if he just couldn't sleep. He indicated the later and I was glad to hear that I wasn't the only one attempting to run 26.2 miles on less than a handful of hours of sleep. In fact, on the bus it sounded like most of the folks were fellow insomniacs. The guy who sat next to me on the bus was a "veteran" marathoner but this was his first SGM. He was from Ogden and had qualified for and run Boston. He shared some cool stories of previous marathons and about how when he ran Boston two years ago the weather was cold, rainy, and windy. Turns out he perfectly foreshadowed this years SGM. We swapped a few more running stories but spent most of the time in silence. I overheard the girl in front of me talking about living in Austin, the people behind me were overwhelmingly pessimistic about the whole thing and there were a couple of hyper high school age kids sitting across from me. I had heard the bus ride would feel long, but holy crap. That bus just kept going and going, even when I saw the lights in the sky that marked the starting line it seemed like forever until we got there. When we pulled up there were a bunch of American flags whipping in the wind and of course they were blowing the wrong way. This was when I got my first realization that the weather was not going to cooperate.

THE COLD DARK WAIT: The starting area was set up pretty cool. They had a bunch of lights, some speakers and an aid station right when you get off the bus. The song that was blaring was Black-eyed-peas "lets get it started in here". There was a huge line of porta-poties and another huge double line of about 3 foot high stacks of wood flanking both sides of the road we were about to run on. I hadn't had my morning constitution yet so I made my way to one of the porta-poties and took care of business as well as grabbed a few feet of TP for any "emergencies" I may have later in the day. I then made my way to one of the recently lit fires and sat down on the dirt next to it because it seemed like the thing to do not because I was feeling cold. I knew it would be nippy so I wore a long sleeve shirt, texas hoodie, beanie, and gloves. I started in on my pre-race meal plan and noticed the guy sitting next to me had a Red Sox hat. Since I went to bed early I didn't catch the end of the game. I was happy to hear the Sox won with a home run off K-rod and that was the last conversation I had until the end of the race almost 7 hours later. The rest of the starting line wait was a blurr. More and more people showed up, every once in a while a dude with an announcer voice would get on the PA and spout some random stuff. After a while I didn't notice the wind anymore, but then the rain started. At first I thought something was leaking out of my bag onto my legs, but then I realized it was rain. It was really light at first but picked up to a steady drizzle. I put on one of the trash bags they were giving away as makeshift raincoats. I headed into the bushes a couple of times to relieve myself. I was thinking it would be a good idea to sit on the pot to make sure I didn't have any more constitution to take care of, but the lines were too long and the race was starting in like 15 min. I took off my hoodie, beanie, and gloves and put them in my bag and onto the clothing uhaul. I set up at the starting area between the 4:00 and 3:50 pace groups and got my watch ready for the start.