Thursday, January 17, 2008
Holy Shit!
Two days after Christmas I was involved in another car accident. This time I managed to stop in time to avoid a 4 car collision, but for the car behind me it was a different story. The car behind me hit me while traveling 40-30 miles per hour. Luckily it didnt do much damage to my truck, just bent my bumper, no damage to the body. The hit was hard, but compared to what I had experienced in the past, it felt like a flick in the ear. I didnt think much about it when the officer asked if I needed any medical assistance, my only thought was I have a marathon to run in two weeks. So I just took pain killers and put up with it. I just ran the marathon on Sunday, and my back has been hurting like a mother F**ker. Yesterday I recieved my massage from my massage therapist Gina, and my back and neck seemed to be tighter than my legs. She recommended I go back and get another one soon, but I plan on taking some time of from running, and hopefully do some stretches to help my back.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Here are 7 runners who never miss P.F. Chang's Arizona race
Mary Beth Faller
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 25, 2007 06:30 PM
When the guns go off at next month's P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon and 1/2 Marathon, it will mark the fifth year of the event. As one of the largest race events in the world, it has racked up impressive numbers.
Here are statistics from Elite Racing, which runs the marathon and half-marathon, including estimates for the 2008 events:
• Total number of runners: more than 160,000.
• Total number of miles: 196.5.
• Total volunteers: 25,000.
• Amount raised for charity: $28.5 million.
• Number of energy gels consumed: 175,000.
The 2004 race set a record as the largest inaugural marathon and half-marathon in the world. The 2006 half-marathon produced a world record when Haile Gebrselassie finished in 58 minutes, 55 seconds.
Running the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona has become a tradition for some people. Here are profiles of runners who have completed the 2004-2007 events and are registered for next month:
Cheryl and Tom Martinet, Scottsdale
Age: She is 58; he is 60.
Occupations: Cheryl is a cashier at Safeway, and Tom is general manager at Arizona Cart Retrieval in downtown Phoenix.
The Martinets have trained together for the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona half-marathons, and are doing so again for the fifth race.
"The first year, we were starting to get on a health kick. We saw people all around us getting cancer. So we said, 'We've never done that, let's try it.' That was our best year ever because we trained so hard, because I thought I might die," Cheryl says, explaining that she didn't know what to expect.
Tom is the motivator, charting the couple's progress as they power walk 3 to 7 miles through their neighborhood. They usually do a combination of walking and jogging during the race, "although we always run when we go by the cheerleaders," she says.
"One year, we didn't train at all. I was crying as I crossed the finish line, so I won't ever do that again," Cheryl says.
The first three years, Tom went ahead of Cheryl.
"Last year, I whined, so we finished together," she says. "I'm always faster if he goes with me."
Stephanie Robb, Temecula, Calif.
Age: 24.
Occupation: process development engineer, Abbott Vascular.
Robb is the youngest female five-year marathoner, and the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Arizona wasn't her first. She ran the Lost Dutchman Marathon the year before.
"I started running in college and never stopped," she says. A resident of Phoenix until last summer, Robb did a lot of training in Fountain Hills, where her parents live.
"I never could have done it without them. My father brings me water on my long runs, and my mother plots out the course for me," she says. "They're the reason I do what I do."
Robb did so well in the 2007 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona that she qualified for the Boston Marathon in April. She didn't do as well there as she hoped.
"The weather was really bad, and it was quite a bit more hilly than the P.F. Chang's," she says. She's hoping to qualify again next month. "I want to go back to do better."
Saul Soto, Tucson
Age: 26.
Occupation: sales associate for TN Games and part-time college student.
Soto is the youngest male five-year marathoner, and he wasn't really a runner until, a few months before the inaugural marathon, he received a flier about Team in Training. Team in Training is called the world's largest endurance training program, and it benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
"I didn't really know what it was all about, but I said, 'I'm doing it,' " Soto says. "My mom was really worried, and she kept telling me I didn't have to finish the marathon. At the finish line, the first thing she told me was, 'You've got to keep doing this!' That was the last thing I wanted to hear after running 26 miles."
But he kept up with the running, finishing a 50-mile trail ultramarathon a few months ago.
Now, he's part of a running group, Moja 2, that sells T-shirts to benefit Humane Borders, a group that maintains water stations along the border.
Richard Fadgen, Clinton, Mass.
Age: 51.
Occupation: operations engineer for an aerospace company.
Fadgen is the five-year runner who has traveled the most miles - about 22,000 by the time he returns to central Massachusetts after January's marathon. (That's five times to and from his hometown of Clinton, about 2,200 miles from Phoenix.)
Because his hometown recently has been buried under a foot of snow, he's been training on a treadmill and hoping the snow melts so he can get in his last 20-mile run before the race. "It's important for race day to keep your legs road-conditioned, as opposed to running on a softer treadmill."
Last year, he ran fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon, which is a goal this time, too.
Fadgen and his wife like to make a vacation of his annual running trip to the Valley, usually staying a week or so after the race at his sister's vacation home in Carefree. "We've always loved the area," he says.
Norton Goldberg, Phoenix
Age: 75.
Occupation: retired pharmacist.
Goldberg is the oldest male five-year marathoner - a fact that does not go to his head.
"I'm not impressed. I'm slowing down considerably," he says.
Goldberg started running about 30 years ago, after reading about physician and fitness guru Kenneth H. Cooper.
In those days, Goldberg often would run in place in his house. Now, he frequently trains on his treadmill. "But there's a world of difference between that and running outdoors."
Besides the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona races, he's finished seven New York City Marathons, from 1997 through 2003, as well as many shorter races.
"I'd like to run faster," he says. "I'm just glad I finish. I do enjoy the hot shower afterward."
Diane Teece, Salt Lake City
Age: 68.
Occupation: retired Realtor and caretaker for her father.
By the time the first Rock 'n' Roll Arizona 1/2 Marathon came around, Teece already had completed 17 marathons. In fact, because the 2004 race fell between two other marathons she wanted to run, she did the half-marathon that year, and subsequent three years. This year, she's registered for the marathon, making her the oldest female five-year runner in that race.
"It's not like I've been doing it all my life," she says. Her first marathon was in 1999 in Anchorage, Alaska, after she joined Team in Training. She started by walking, then took up race walking, which is how she competes now.
Teece retired last week from a career in real estate to devote herself to caring for her 95-year-old father. Training helps to relieve stress and keeps her healthy.
"I've met so many wonderful people, and I love the challenge," she says. "And I didn't realize that I am as competitive as I am.
"I want to be the oldest person out there one day."
Details: Online registration for the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon and 1/2 Marathon closes Jan. 4. Visit rnraz.com for more information.
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 25, 2007 06:30 PM
When the guns go off at next month's P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon and 1/2 Marathon, it will mark the fifth year of the event. As one of the largest race events in the world, it has racked up impressive numbers.
Here are statistics from Elite Racing, which runs the marathon and half-marathon, including estimates for the 2008 events:
• Total number of runners: more than 160,000.
• Total number of miles: 196.5.
• Total volunteers: 25,000.
• Amount raised for charity: $28.5 million.
• Number of energy gels consumed: 175,000.
The 2004 race set a record as the largest inaugural marathon and half-marathon in the world. The 2006 half-marathon produced a world record when Haile Gebrselassie finished in 58 minutes, 55 seconds.
Running the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona has become a tradition for some people. Here are profiles of runners who have completed the 2004-2007 events and are registered for next month:
Cheryl and Tom Martinet, Scottsdale
Age: She is 58; he is 60.
Occupations: Cheryl is a cashier at Safeway, and Tom is general manager at Arizona Cart Retrieval in downtown Phoenix.
The Martinets have trained together for the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona half-marathons, and are doing so again for the fifth race.
"The first year, we were starting to get on a health kick. We saw people all around us getting cancer. So we said, 'We've never done that, let's try it.' That was our best year ever because we trained so hard, because I thought I might die," Cheryl says, explaining that she didn't know what to expect.
Tom is the motivator, charting the couple's progress as they power walk 3 to 7 miles through their neighborhood. They usually do a combination of walking and jogging during the race, "although we always run when we go by the cheerleaders," she says.
"One year, we didn't train at all. I was crying as I crossed the finish line, so I won't ever do that again," Cheryl says.
The first three years, Tom went ahead of Cheryl.
"Last year, I whined, so we finished together," she says. "I'm always faster if he goes with me."
Stephanie Robb, Temecula, Calif.
Age: 24.
Occupation: process development engineer, Abbott Vascular.
Robb is the youngest female five-year marathoner, and the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Arizona wasn't her first. She ran the Lost Dutchman Marathon the year before.
"I started running in college and never stopped," she says. A resident of Phoenix until last summer, Robb did a lot of training in Fountain Hills, where her parents live.
"I never could have done it without them. My father brings me water on my long runs, and my mother plots out the course for me," she says. "They're the reason I do what I do."
Robb did so well in the 2007 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona that she qualified for the Boston Marathon in April. She didn't do as well there as she hoped.
"The weather was really bad, and it was quite a bit more hilly than the P.F. Chang's," she says. She's hoping to qualify again next month. "I want to go back to do better."
Saul Soto, Tucson
Age: 26.
Occupation: sales associate for TN Games and part-time college student.
Soto is the youngest male five-year marathoner, and he wasn't really a runner until, a few months before the inaugural marathon, he received a flier about Team in Training. Team in Training is called the world's largest endurance training program, and it benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
"I didn't really know what it was all about, but I said, 'I'm doing it,' " Soto says. "My mom was really worried, and she kept telling me I didn't have to finish the marathon. At the finish line, the first thing she told me was, 'You've got to keep doing this!' That was the last thing I wanted to hear after running 26 miles."
But he kept up with the running, finishing a 50-mile trail ultramarathon a few months ago.
Now, he's part of a running group, Moja 2, that sells T-shirts to benefit Humane Borders, a group that maintains water stations along the border.
Richard Fadgen, Clinton, Mass.
Age: 51.
Occupation: operations engineer for an aerospace company.
Fadgen is the five-year runner who has traveled the most miles - about 22,000 by the time he returns to central Massachusetts after January's marathon. (That's five times to and from his hometown of Clinton, about 2,200 miles from Phoenix.)
Because his hometown recently has been buried under a foot of snow, he's been training on a treadmill and hoping the snow melts so he can get in his last 20-mile run before the race. "It's important for race day to keep your legs road-conditioned, as opposed to running on a softer treadmill."
Last year, he ran fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon, which is a goal this time, too.
Fadgen and his wife like to make a vacation of his annual running trip to the Valley, usually staying a week or so after the race at his sister's vacation home in Carefree. "We've always loved the area," he says.
Norton Goldberg, Phoenix
Age: 75.
Occupation: retired pharmacist.
Goldberg is the oldest male five-year marathoner - a fact that does not go to his head.
"I'm not impressed. I'm slowing down considerably," he says.
Goldberg started running about 30 years ago, after reading about physician and fitness guru Kenneth H. Cooper.
In those days, Goldberg often would run in place in his house. Now, he frequently trains on his treadmill. "But there's a world of difference between that and running outdoors."
Besides the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona races, he's finished seven New York City Marathons, from 1997 through 2003, as well as many shorter races.
"I'd like to run faster," he says. "I'm just glad I finish. I do enjoy the hot shower afterward."
Diane Teece, Salt Lake City
Age: 68.
Occupation: retired Realtor and caretaker for her father.
By the time the first Rock 'n' Roll Arizona 1/2 Marathon came around, Teece already had completed 17 marathons. In fact, because the 2004 race fell between two other marathons she wanted to run, she did the half-marathon that year, and subsequent three years. This year, she's registered for the marathon, making her the oldest female five-year runner in that race.
"It's not like I've been doing it all my life," she says. Her first marathon was in 1999 in Anchorage, Alaska, after she joined Team in Training. She started by walking, then took up race walking, which is how she competes now.
Teece retired last week from a career in real estate to devote herself to caring for her 95-year-old father. Training helps to relieve stress and keeps her healthy.
"I've met so many wonderful people, and I love the challenge," she says. "And I didn't realize that I am as competitive as I am.
"I want to be the oldest person out there one day."
Details: Online registration for the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon and 1/2 Marathon closes Jan. 4. Visit rnraz.com for more information.
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