Friday Funny 436: Someone Forgot His iPod

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Friday Funny 435: Growing Older

I am becoming this. More and more every day.

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Friday Funny 434: Arm Wrestler

Yeah... sure. You got that arm from "arm wrestling." Uh huh. Sure.

Turns out he's for real. His name is Matthias Schlitte, and he's a German arm wrestler. See? He's for real. And so's his 18-inch forearm. Wowza.

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Friday Funny 433: Who's Beating You In Your Marathon?

Is this guy ahead of you?

Have you heard about this guy? He's been back in "the news" this week.

That photo was from the Flying Pig Marathon in May. The guy who snapped it recently started seeing it pop up all over the web. (I saw it on 2 sites and on FB myself.) Well, the photographer tracked down this runner and interviewed him! It's quite funny. Check it out here. It will make you smile.

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Yearly Distance PR!!

In 2010, I ran a total of 911.42 miles, and that's my biggest year ever.

After my run early yesterday morning, I have a total of 913.8 miles for 2012.

AND IT'S STILL NOVEMBER!!

I tweeted my realization, and THIS was my favorite response:

So I've already set my new "yearly run milage PR," and I have almost 5 weeks left to SMASH it. It might be possible to hit my big yearly goal of 1,000+ miles. We'll have to see what December holds. It's supposed to be nice this weekend (highs in the mid-40s), so Henry and I hope to add 11-13 miles to my total together.


In related running news:

My new "go to" speed workout has changed. It USED to be 3x1600 on the track with 90 seconds to 3 minutes rest between. But my achilles tendon doesn't always like that, and I'm NOT getting any younger (...meaning I need more time to recover from a hard workout like that). So I've been doing 2x2 mile intervals with 3:00 rest between for the last 2 years (Coach Jen Harrison first turned me on to this workout). I've grown to like these for 3 reasons:

1st: You can get a good workout by doing only 2 (after a solid WU and before a good CD). Mentally, only doing 2 is nice - you're either on your first interval or you're on your last.

2nd: It's not as taxing on my (aging) body. I run 1600s around 5:30 - 5:45. I run 2 mile intervals around 5:50 - 6:15 / mile. That slowdown keeps my body healthier (well, "less injured" at least).

3rd: It's more "helpful" for training for slightly longer races (which I've been doing more of this year). Look back to my 2nd point: when am I racing around 5:30 pace? Only in my best 5Ks. When am I racing around 6:00 pace? Well, my 10K a week ago was right at 6:00 / mile, my last 10 mile was 6:08 / mile, and my best half marathon from a few months ago was 6:10 / mile. Running some 6:00 miles is more "race specific" for the distances I've raced this year, whereas running 5:30 miles is just "running super fast" without being specific to much other than 5K training.

Yesterday morning, I ran my 2 mile intervals in a not-so-fantastic time, but it was a good workout at 4:30 a.m. on a 25 degree morning. My half-mile splits were:

3:03, 3:08, 2:58, and 3:00 (for mile splits of 6:11 and 5:58) = 12:09

3:03, 3:11, 3:04, and 3:01 (for mile splits of 6:14 and 6:05) = 12:19

(Nine months ago, I did the same workout in 11:36 and 11:37 WHILE PUSHING HENRY IN THE STROLLER. So I've slowed up a bit. Dang.)


Oh, and one quick final thing. I got this sweet goodie package in the mail 2 days ago from my favorite PR firm:

LOTS of GU goodies, and a RoadID Supernova Firefly
(which is TINY, but can been seen a mile [literally A MILE] away)

I was running low on Roctane GU (and all the blue in the back-right is my FAVORITE Blueberry Pom Roctane), and I was nearly out of Roctane Drink (all the packets standing in the back). During my 10K race with Henry on Thanksgiving, I was sipping on Roctane Drink the whole time - that's a BIG benefit to racing with a stroller!

That goodie package is a not-so-subtle reminder to enter my GU, Injinji, RoadID, and Hydrapak "Stocking Stuffer" giveaway! Good luck!

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Stocking Stuffer Giveaway! (From Gu, Road ID, Injinji, and Hydrapak)

The awesome people at GU, Road ID, Injinji, and Hydrapak have some sweet goodies to give to my readers! Because it's the end of November, I'm calling it a "Stocking Stuffer Giveaway!"

The good folks at Road ID offered up 5 "Supernova Fireflies" to help with nighttime visibility while running, biking, cross-country skiing, etc.

The incredibly attractive people at GU have 5 boxes of very festive "Peppermint Stick Gu" for you:

The witty and intelligent folks at Injinji have 5 random pairs of their toe socks to share:

Before a 13 miler a few months ago.


Click here for my Injinji review from last month.

And finally, the sophisticated people at Hydrapak have 2 "Gel-Bot" bottles for my readers:

I've used the Gel-Bot: it's harder to use QUICKLY during short races,
but good for longer training / racing.

Here's a short video showing how the Gel-Bot works (you can have both GELS and WATER at your beck and call [Side note: I thought it was "beckon call," but I looked it up - turns out it "beck and call"]).


http://youtu.be/CytHDGTWwNo

So that's a total of 5 Supernova Fireflies, 5 boxes of Peppermint Stick GU, 5 pairs of Injinjis, and 2 Gel-Bot bottles. That's (roughly) $192.88 of sweet stuff to stuff into your stocking!

There will be THREE WINNERS total:

• ONE winner will get 1 Supernova Firefly, 1 box of Peppermint Stick GU, and 1 pair of Injinjis.
• TWO people will each receive 2 Supernova Fireflies, 2 boxes of Peppermint Stick GU, 2 pairs of Injinjis, and 1 Gel-Bot.



HERE’S HOW TO WIN A SUPERNOVA, SOME GU, and a PAIR OF INJINJIS:

Simply LIKE "Steve in a Speedo" on Facebook. Boom. That's it. You might win some sweet goodies. I'll pick a random "liker" to win.



HERE’S HOW TO ENTER TO WIN EVERYTHING ELSE:
(Two winners will be selected to EACH receive 2 Supernova Fireflies, 2 boxes of Peppermint Stick GU, 2 pairs of Injinjis, and 1 Gel-Bot.)

You can enter by simply commenting on this post, but you can earn MORE entries to better your chances (much like the other giveaways I've done in the past). If you just want to comment to enter, you can skip all of the "optional" steps and go right down to Step 4.

• Step 1 (optional): to earn +1 extra entry: follow these great companies on Twitter (here are their links: Road ID, Injinji, and Gu). Then send out this tweet to show your love to these great companies:

I just entered the @Injinji, @GUEnergyLabs, and @RoadID giveaway on @SteveinaSpeedo’s blog - http://iwannagetphysical.blogspot.com/

• Step 2 (optional): to earn +1 extra entry: "like" these 3 companies and "Steve in a Speedo" on Facebook: Injinji, GU, Road ID, and Steve in a Speedo.

• Step 3 (optional): to earn +1 extra entry: "follow" or "join" my blog on Blogger. (This is a bonus step for those of you with Blogger / Google accounts.)

• Step 4: comment on this post and tell me how many entries you earned! (You get one entry for just commenting!) Make sure to note if you tweeted or liked these companies or followed my blog so I'll know to add your name to the hat 2 or 3 or 4 times. You do NOT need to be a blogger, but make sure to leave some specific info so you’ll know if you won. (So you could say something like this: “Hey Steve, this John Smith from Topeka. I sent out the tweet, I liked those guys on FB, but I didn't follow your blog, so put my name in the hat 3 times! Thanks!”)


So, check back next week Monday or Tuesday (Dec 3-4) to see if you've won! ESPECIALLY if you’re not a blogger, because I have no way of contacting you! The contest is open NOW through 5 pm (central time) on Saturday. At 5 pm, I'll print out all the entries, give extra numbers to those who earned extra entries, and then draw numbers out a hat for the winner!

Pseudo-legal stuff:
- Contest only open to residents of the US and Canada.
- You may comment now (on THIS post) through 5 pm Central time on Saturday, Dec 1st.
- The winner will be chosen at random by a random number generator or by drawing numbers out of a hat. If you’ve earned multiple entries, you will get multiple numbers, thus bettering your chances at winning.
- Check back next week (Mon the 3rd or Tues the 4th) to see if you won! (Especially if you don’t have a blogger account because I have no way of contacting you.)
- If the winner does not contact me within 2 days after being announced, I'll be forced to draw a new winner. So check back and KEEP checking back in case the winner is lame!

One final big THANKS to the people at Outside PR, Road ID, GU, Injinji, and Hydrapak for being so generous and for helping to put together this "Stocking Stuffer Giveaway!" Thanks guys!

The sweet, sweet goodies for 3 different winners!

Comment now! Tell me how many entries you've "earned."

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Henry's First 10K Race With Me!

I'm putting Henry to work. He's in charge of writing the "Fast Before the Feast" 10K race report from our race this past Thanksgiving. (The only other race I did with Henry was the Lake Johanna 4 Miler from this past spring.) Henry, my blog is yours....


Hi dorks who read my Dad's blog. Henry here. I guess I'm supposed to write a bit about my race last Thursday. Here we go.

A few days before the race, I pumped up the tires of my stroller. I wanted a smooth ride during the race:

We got to the race and Mom and Dad took their 2 bags of food shelf donations to the truck. Mom and Dad added over 25 lbs to the (hopefully) over 6 TONS donated:

One of the trucks filling up with donations.

Dad was pretty casual at this race. He USUALLY likes to get to a race really early, but being he picked up his race packet the day before and he was racing with me in the stroller, he knew we could just show up, hop in line, strip extra clothes and throw them in the stroller, and then TAKE OFF RUNNING!! In fact, Mom, Dad, and a friend were talking near the start when I heard Dad say, "Oh, we better line up - it's 3 minutes to the start of the race!"

People starting to line up. Dad recognized the lady in the neon calf sleeves as speedy Melissa Gaecek.


Over 300 people lined up with us!


Me flirting with 2 ladies next to Dad (and eating raisins).


Dad's view pre-start.

There were a few final pre-race announcements from Jason. One thing I heard was "If you have a stroller, please line up near the back. Unless you have the speed of Steve Stenzel... then you can line up next to him and his stroller near the front." Dad smiled.

Jason and Jerry on the mic.


With my hand in my box of raisins.


Singing just a few seconds before the start.

"5... 4... 3... 2... 1... GOOOOOO!"

Dad had to immediately jump around a few people who shouldn't have been lined up that close to the front. Dad took the first little curve WAYYYYY wide so he could pass a bunch of people to move into about 14th place. Here's the out-and-back race map, and he made that pass at the very top next to that little lake:

We made our way through a lot of parking lots and turned onto a bike path (around the "mile 6" marker above). We had to climb a decent little hill, but I heard Dad was warned about that pre-race. I think Dad took it easy up that hill... I think he could has pushed it harder, but he didn't want to die with 5.5 miles left in a 10K. Here's a photo of me at the top of that hill about 0.5 miles into the race:

Still digging in my raisins box.

We had to make a left, and Dad lost some time doing that. Everyone got to cut across the grass to cross the road (as you can see in that photo above), but Dad had to take me straight to the intersection, come to NEARLY a complete stop so he could ease me down the curb, and then take off running again. Thanks for not slamming me off that curb Dad! I heard a volunteer at that intersection say "THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT, DAD!! WAY TO GO!"

Then we had some downhill on a smooth, smooth road. It was smoother than my baby butt. And Dad took off! He seriously found another gear and used the weight of me in the stroller to go from 14th to 8th in a matter of seconds! Nice move, Dad! (His Garmin data had him at 5:10 pace for a while!) Once that hill leveled out, we ran a while and then hit the first mile marker.

MILE 1: 6:01.9. Whoa Dad! Didn't you say you hoped for 1 mile of the 10K to be sub-6? Well, if you didn't have to ease me off that curb 2 minutes ago, you would have had it here! Nice opening pace!

Still digging for raisins at mile 1.


Showing me and the other runners just after mile 1. Dad was in 8th.
Look at how sweet this road is! Smooth riding for me!

Dad passed a few people in mile 2. He chatted with most of them. One guy called me "Sport." The race was full of friendly people. Volunteers and other spectators would ALWAYS cheer for Dad.

MILE 2: 6:07.3. Keep up that pace, Dad!

Around mile 2.5, starting to get a LITTLE sleepy.

Dad was starting to look a little worse. I could tell mile 3 was going to be slower.

MILE 3: 6:15.2. Still solid, Dad. That's about the pace you'd hoped to hold, so you're doing FINE!

About to hit the turn-around cones, with 4th place coming back on the left in white,
and 5th place just in front of us in black.

Dad was offered water, Heed, or baby formula at the turn-around. REALLY. The guys there LOVED him! He glanced at his watch, and I think it said something like 18:53 at the turn-around. I knew Dad would be happy with an evenly-split race if he could hold onto this pace!

After the turn-around, we got a LOT of cheers from the other runners. I even heard MOMMA!!!!

Momma behind another runner!

Side note: This was the race where Dad gave away 3 free race entries on his blog. The women in all pink in that last photo was one of the winners! Apparently, Momma was in a small pack of runners, and some were chit-chatting. She said she'd be looking for Dad and me in bright pink shorts and a stroller. The woman in all pink said something like "Yeah, I know. I read his blog. I actually won one of the race entries. I know you're Pharmie. Is that weird?" Not weird at all! Mom and Dad LOVE that kind of stuff! Her name was Rachel, and she ran with Momma for the rest of the race!

Spunky Lisa in the middle, giving LOTS of cheers to me!!!
(She cheered for Dad a bit too, but she mostly cheered for me!)


Emily, another race entry winner from Dad's blog! Go Emily!!

Dad always runs faster when he sees other runners, so I knew mile 4 would be faster than his 6:15 mile 3. He passed another runner before the 4th mile marker too, so we were now in 5th overall!

MILE 4: 6:01.5. Holy buckets Dad! Keep this up!!

The runner just in front of Dad had b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l form. His foot-strikes were perfect, and he had NO wasted "giddy-up" in his kick. I could tell Dad didn't know if he could catch him. Dad worries about crap like that sometimes in a race... dummy.

Suddenly, the road up ahead was CROWDED! The 5K race (which started 15 minutes after the 10K) was meeting up on the course with us. Here's a photo of the SMOOTH runner in front of us and all of the 5K racers coming around that corner to the right:

The good news was that the roads were so quiet and smooth that the SMOOTH runner and Dad could just run in the middle of the road to pass all of these runners. Just before the mile 5 marker, Dad PASSED the smooth runner! They chatted (with heavy breath) for a moment, and then Dad moved into 4th place!

MILE 5: 6:01.0. Dad, you're KILLING it!! Just suffer through this last mile, and you'll turn in a great time!

I heard Dad shout "Alright Joel's boys!" to 2 kids running the 5K. Then Dad passed Joel D, a runner he met years ago at a 5K race. Joel took a photo of his boys running the 5K with him, and this was just after Dad and I passed him - you can see the man with the SMOOTH and beautiful form in the orange shoes:

Great work, Joel's boys!!

We hit the edge of the uphill with just over a half mile left. Dad looked BEAT. Near the top of the hill, I saw Dad do something he's never done before: he actually put his elbows down on the stroller handle and ran half-collapased on the stroller for 10 seconds. He was toast. Wuss.

Dad TOTALLY lost his running form on the final downhill once we reached the top of that hill. His stride was gone. He booked it down that hill, and turned back into the final 3 blocks of parking lots. He was gunning for 3rd place, but she (yes SHE - it was speedy Melissa) was just out of reach.

MILE 6: 5:51.3. Well Dad, there's your sub-6 mile for this race!

Dad hit the line in a big pack of 5K runners. He had a solid race!

The initial results posted at the race site had Dad in THRID place being he started a few seconds behind Melissa and maybe caught up to her a bit. But the final results posted online had him back in 4th (which was correct). Dad was beat by an 18-year-old, a 19-year-old, and speedy Melissa.

Official Results:

Steve Stenzel, 31, M, St. Paul, MN

37:16
5:59.85 / mile
4th out of 304 overall

Garmin Results:
6.18 miles
37:16.2
6:01.81 / mile
18:53 out / 18:23 back (super unofficial)

Dad's pace graph:

That shows Dad going easy up that first hill and FAST down it (before mile 1), the turn-around at mile 3.1, FAST around mile 5, a slow trudge up that hill at mile 5.3, then fast to the finish.

Dad had spit on his lip when he finished:

Oh, DIDN'T I MENTION THAT I PASSED OUT AROUND MILE 4? Well I did. Dad's boring.

Dad ran back along the race course with me to look for Momma.

Random non-Mom people finishing the 5K and 10K.

Dad took a photo of Momma, but she deleted it ASAP - Momma was saying "hi" to Dad, but Dad took the photo at a weird moment... So here's Momma running past (in light pink with a blue shirt tied around her waist) and Rachel was just behind her in darker pink:

Momma's sprint to the finish!

Pharmie finished in 51:03 just inside of the top 100 (and therefore in the top 1/3)! Yay Momma!! SHE ACTUALLY GOT A 10K PR BY ABOUT 4 MINUTES!!! She was thinking she'd finish around an hour, but she KILLED it! I love you, speedy Momma!

Blog contest winners Rachel and Emily with Dad post-race. Sheesh... that's a lot of pink!

Alight Dad, put those pink shorts in the drawer for a while. And I think I'm done here. Back to you.


First of all Henry, when I ran "half-collapsed" on the stroller, I was being aerodynamic. It's a strategy. I wasn't dying. I swear. (Yeah... nobody's going to believe that...)

FOUR FINAL THINGS:

Henry slept as we hung around post-race, he slept while we loaded up the car, and he slept the whole way home. He woke up coming into the house after a 90 minute nap. Racing is tiring for my little dude!

Believe it or not, I did NOT step foot inside a porta-potty while at the race! This is the first race in a LONG time since that last happened. I kinda had to go pre-race, but there wasn't time. And by the time I'd finished, I didn't need to anymore. I can't be the only one with a "nervous bladder," right?....

My 37:16 finish is the middle of my 3 10K finish times this year. I ran a faster 36:47 at the Get in Gear 10K this past spring, and a slower 38:02 at the HOT Victory 10K in September. My PR is 36:46 from a few years ago (my only other 10K besides these 3 this year), so I was pretty surprised to just be 30 seconds off my PR! It was a good race!

And finally, stop on back for a GIVEAWAY tomorrow! They'll be lots of good gear in this "stocking stuffer" giveaway!

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Thankful

I share the same sentiments as this 5 year old boy:

I went out on a quick easy 6 miler today, and I got out the door in a hurry. I failed to dress properly "down below," and... well... long story short, I crammed my mittens down there to help keep "things" from freezing up solid from miles 1.5 - 5. All is now well.

Back with my family's 10K race report from Thanksgiving morning tomorrow!

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Friday Funny 432: Spot The Irony

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Friday Funny 431: Thanksgiving Funnies

But really... I love my family!








Stay in school, kids.

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Friday Funny 430: The "50 Shades of Gray" Aisle at Home Depot

Asile 15 was always my favorite...

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