Updated "Grand Prix" Standings

I'm proud of myself.

Why? Because I'm doing so poorly in the 2013 MDRA Grand Prix series:

When people heard me say things like "I'm not putting any pressure on myself to race 10 Grand Prix races this year," and "I'll probably only race 5 or so of the series races," they weren't sure I could do that. (Both of those quotes came from this post back in January.) People would say "Yeah right Steve... I know you, and it'll be hard for you NOT to race every race!"

Well, I'm not racing every race! There are 13 races this year, and the best 10 finishes count. I've only done 1 of the first 3, and there's NO WAY I'm doing the 2 marathons, I plan on doing a duathlon on the day of the Get in Gear 10K, and I think the New Prague Half is in the middle of a lot of duathlons, so that one's out too. That means I'm realistically looking at finishing 7 of the 13 races AT THE MOST this year.

I'm happy that I'm OK with dialing back the road racing this year.

Oh, and 2 other things to note about the current results:

1. Jeremy is in 4th overall!!!! He's doing great this year! He'd have more points from the last race if he weren't 2 minutes late - everything is scored by "gun time" not "chip time" for the series, so his official results are about 2 and a half minutes slower than he actually ran it. Oops. (At a quick glance of the results for that race, he'd have about 100 more points if he were there on time, and that'd put him in 3rd right now.) But nice work so far in the series, Jeremy!

2. Ben Merchant is in 9th place right now with 2 perfect 1000 scores. Last year he had a perfect 1000 in 8 races, was beat once in another race, and then didn't race the last race in the series which allowed me to hang on for the win. I'm kinda hoping he can score a perfect 10,000 this year!! He's a great runner.


Other "Grand Prix" related posts:
• What I learned while running the most miles I've ever ran in a year along with winning the 2012 MDRA Grand Prix. I still revisit these ideas to be reminded of them!
• Someone else's points on how to win a running series like the Grand Prix.
• The 2012 MDRA Annual Party.
• When I learned I had won the 2012 Grand Prix.

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Friday Funny 498: 2 Weeks of Funnies

Here are some of the best of the last 2 weeks from my tumblr page. I'll split this in 2 this time:

Non-athletic funny things:

• The "best" of the red equality avatars.

• If you like rapper 50 Cent and Spongebob, you'll like this GIF.

• Good medical advice.

• Everyone's professional ambition.

• The Spice Girls are releasing a musical.

• VIDEO: hot guys help you with your breast exam.

• Fishing vs. Yoga. That's a solid argument, Ron.

• Was anyone else's first day of Spring like this??

• How to tell if you're living life wrong.

• Oh Hank Hill... you're the best.

• I've watched this GIF too many times.

• His date was like a rollercoaster ride.

Athletic-related funny things:

• A "truth" about running and sex.

• EVERY runner has said this at one race.

• Liars.

• Yeah, so don't worry.

• My BMI is off.

• A sweet shot of a downhill mountain biker.

• A few great marathon cheering signs.

• When weightlifting, this is true.

• Most guys have done this at the gym.

• Cute little girl doing yoga.

• An AWESOME sports bra ad.

• If you like to train / race hard, this should oddly make sense to you.

• Fit couples being fit together. Oh, and here are all "hard body" tagged posts if you're looking for muscles.

Remember, check out steveinaspeedo.tumblr.com often for funny stuff. Happy weekend!!

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Friday Funny 497: Luigi's Revenge

Yep... THIS Facebook page exists:

Remember, there's lots of "funnies" and endurance-related things being posted all the time on steveinaspeedo.tumblr.com! Check it out!

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Friday Funny 496: Easter Cards

I'm Catholic. That makes giggling at these NOT sacrilege.... right? Right?!?

And finally, maybe the the most disturbing one....

(All from someecards.com)

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Friday Funny 495: 16 Reasons to Like The Rock

I don't love or hate Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. But after seeing some of the stuff he tweets, it's hard not to like him at least a little.

These last 2 are my favorite. This one is great because it's TOTALLY something I'd do:

How can you NOT love that?

In the gallery of these images, my favorite comments were:

"He is really hard not to like... I tried and tried."

"He would probably split me in half, but I want to have sex with him."

"His legs are just INVENTING muscles."

"I don't understand how his age 15 picture looks older and manlier than I am at age 25..."

"He was in a spanish tv show. He danced hula. You could have planted rice in the female audience's panties. He's that hot."

"What's the female equivalent to a boner? A lady boner? If so, then yes. Yes, I think I do have a lady boner."

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Gear West Duathlon Trash-Talk Update #3

Ten days ago, I was called out by Devon Palmer (a local pro triathlete) to have a "relay" race at the Gear West Duathlon. I noted that Pete and I (team "Itchy and Scratchy") wouldn't stand much of a chance because Devon is a killer biker, and he could find any runner to team up with him to take us down.

Well, Devon didn't just find "any runner."

I got this tweet 2 days ago:

Ben Kampf.

Ben mother-f*cking Kampf.

Ben is a local elite runner. In 2009, as a junior at the University of Minnesota, Ben ran a 4:01 1500 meter and a 14:41 5000 meter! Yes, that's 4:43 / mile pace FOR A 5K! In 2011, he did the "Human Race 8K" in 25:01 (4:59 / mile) finishing 5th in a deep field.

The good news is that he's slowing down. In 2012, he finished the Human Race 8K in 25:47. Oh but wait... that was the "hot" year where everyone's times were slow. Ben did it in 25:47, and I did it in 29:15. At the Get in Gear 10K a month after that, Ben finished 16th in 32:07, and I finished 86th in 36:47.

Oh, what else?... Remember in 2010 when I was shooting for my first ever sub-60 TC 10 Mile? Well Ben did the 2012 TC 10 Mile in 52:54 (5:17 / mile).

To make matters worse, he's also good at running cross country (the Gear West Duathlon is 9K of solid cross country running). He ran the 7.5K USATF Minnesota Cross Country Championships in November of last year in 23:01. That's 4:56 / mile... OFF-ROAD!!

So here was my response to Devon (and Ben):

Devon made a good point right after that:

It's true. I am.

Kyle (local friendly elite multisport athlete) summed it up well:

Do you know why Ben was picked?

Karma.

Let me explain: I noted in a post just after the “Meet of the Miles” that local speedsters Meghan Peyton and Heather Kampf were finishing up workouts on the track before the meet started. I wanted to say hi and get a photo, but I felt like a nerd. (Wait... I AM a nerd.) I was admiring Heather’s abs. They look like this:

Heather's the 2nd from the right. The abs.
(And that's Meghan in the middle - the other one who was working out before the meet.)


Heather's abs winning the Bermuda Front Street Road Mile 2 months ago.

Well, Heather is married to Ben. It’s as if Ben is now taking his revenge on me for ogling his wife.

(OK, I really wasn’t “ogling” his wife. I’m being dramatic for the sake of making a funny point. I may really like Heather’s abs, but I really LOVE every piece of my wife. I hope that dug me out of any potential hole I may have gotten myself into.)

Anyway, here’s that post I’m talking about, and it shows an awesome video that Heather's kinda famous for back in her college days.

Oh, one final thing: after tweeting that Henry and I came in 4th overall at the Lake Johanna 4 Mile as I pushed him in the stroller last weekend, Devon tweeted me this:

Ouch.

So don’t follow Devon or Ben on twitter. And don’t ever go to Devon’s blog. But feel free to follow me on twitter. And I have nothing but respect for Heather, so you can stop by her blog anytime. In fact, I give her bonus points for recently mentioning "Tim-the-Tool-Man-Taylor" in one of her posts. (I wonder if she’ll be there at the GW Duathlon to watch her hubby mop the floor with me...)

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Official Photos from my Race with Henry!

I posted about Henry's 3rd race with me on Monday. Here are a few more photos from Wayne Kryduba:

Michael and his daughter about to run in the stroller.


We all had to get through this snowbank to register...


... and then there was snow all around the race course.

Flashback: I keep bringing up the snow because last year it looked like this:

Budding trees last year!!


Henry and I in green grass near NON-frozen Lake Johanna last year!!

OK, back to THIS year:

Winner Chris DeNucci making his 5:30-something pace look like a walk in the park.


3rd place with me and Henry on his tail for 4th!


Good God I look like hell!! At least Henry and I are leaning in the same direction. :)


Kirt and George!
(Kirt ran the Irish Run 8K [about 5 miles] the next day in 31:10!)


Michael and Julie!
(Julie ran the Irish Run 8K the next day in 34:53!)


Kacey and Rick!


Post-race giveaways. You can see the top of my hat back there.


I like how this guy cooled down post-race. My kinda dude.

I mentioned in my race report on Monday that we had to get going to hang out with family. My folks and my sister's family came up and took me to "Chris and Rob's Chicago's Taste Authority" on West 7th near downtown St. Paul for a belated birthday meal. It was tasty!

Just a little train car along West 7th.


Meaty pizza, my bro-in-laws mostly finished beef and sausage sandwich to the left,
half a pizza puff (like a REALLY good Hot Pocket) at the bottom,
and my Chicago-style hot dog with everything in the lower right.


My family post-meal!

A few final things about the race:

• Henry and I finished 22 seconds slower this year. I'm not in as great of shape, and it was colder, so I'm just fine with that difference.

• We placed 4th this year, and 7th last year. But only 1 guy who beat us last year was back at the race this year. Second place this year was Scott Myers, and last year he was 5th. Both years he was 2 spots in front of us, and both years he was around 20 seconds faster.

• 157 finishers was the largest "Lake Johanna 4 Mile" ever! I thought it'd be smaller this year because (1) it was still snowy and chilly, and (2) the "Irish Run" (formally the Human Race) was the same weekend as this race, whereas last year they were a week apart. So I figured more people would choose to do the Irish Run.

• Going up that hill at mile 3, my quads were on fire! I had 2 "Spinerval" trainer workouts in the few days leading up to the race, so my legs had been worked. I've been spending a LITTLE time on my trainer trying to get ready for multisport season.

• Chris won Lake Johanna on Saturday, and his wife Jenna won the VERY competitive Irish Run 8K on Sunday! She placed 57th out of 546 overall, and she was the first female. She did the 5 mile run in 27:55!! They're a speedy couple. We've ran into them almost weekly at "Dome Running" this past winter.

I'll be posting an update tomorrow on the Gear West Duathlon "throw down" between pro triathlete Devon and myself. There have been new developments. Stop back for that!

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