Reflections on my first sports obsession – Björn Borg
Growing up rurally I did not have a ton of TV exposure but one of my first sports memories was watching Wimbledon & Swedish tennis legend, Björn Borg. All of the American stars were angry, screaming at umpires, throwing rackets – but Borg stayed icy cool, focused, no emotion, no noise – just steely determination.
In addition to his incredible gamesmanship, Borg maintained a few unique superstitions. Each Wimbledon fortnight he stopped shaving throughout the entire tournament. Did it work? The guy won 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles.
Friday May 17th was my last shave day. Expect it’s gonna get ugly – but hoping to awake my inner Borg.
Marathon in 30 days!
- completed my 3rd half marathon – sixth race of 2013
- running the BolderBoulder on May 27th, another half marathon on June 1st, (hopefully) hiking a 14er (Longs Peak) on June 15th – then A-L-A-S-K-A
Movie of the Week
Django Unchained (2012) – vintage Quentin Tarantino, not for the faint of heart. I had avoided this film thinking it was a slavery flic (an embarrassing portion of U.S. history which is often film romanticized). In reality, Jamie Foxx & Christoph Waltz are bounty hunters. It a long film (could have easily ended 30 minutes earlier) but fresh & completely original. Recommended for Jamie Foxx’s performance alone (but warning: there’s a high body count).
Runner Log
Sat May 18th – 6 miles
Sun May 19th – RACE DAY (Colfax Half Marathon 13.1 miles, Denver CO)
Tue May 21st – 5.25 miles
Wed May 22nd AM – .75 miles
Wed May 22nd PM – 10.5 miles
Thu May 23rd – 3.25 miles
YTD total – 647.45 miles
Björn Borg
Just back from sea level, less than a week to altitude adjust my running for May’s race – the Colfax Half Marathon in Denver.
Was sucking wind at 3 miles on Monday’s training run but by Thursday not only hit my stride, but ran 20 miles – my longest distance run in 2013. So…on Sunday I felt super confident – this being my 3rd half marathon of 2013.
Overslept my 4 a.m. alarm on Sunday (race day) by 45 minutes so rushed around, quickly walked Ro & barreled down the highway headed for the Denver Zoo (official race parking). Parking was already full at 5:45 a.m. (argh) but luckily found on-street parking only another 5 minutes away. Whew – now I could kick back and relax ‘til the 7 a.m. start time.
For today’s race I was able to use my time in Moab (my first Half in March) to qualify for a lower race wave. AWESOME! So instead of running in the thick of 3,000 people, I qualified for E corral (5th wave) & wasn’t blocked in by so many bodies.
My time goal was to beat last month’s Fort Collins time at just under 2 hours. Focused on going out fast (kinda risky) in an effort to catch “C” wave which started almost 4 minutes ahead of me…and then maintain pace ’til race finish.
Raced thru the Zoo between miles 2 & 3, then caught & followed ‘C’ wave just past mile 5. Despite running 20 miles only 3 days prior, I felt zapped at 12 miles. My pace started dropping off fast. Finish line ahead. Relieved then stunned.
Ran a 2013 personal best today 1:49.42 – a full 10 minutes faster than last month’s Half Marathon. That’s why my energy was zapped. Additionally, raised money for my charity of choice – Autism Speaks. Enjoyed BBQ & Blues AND still managed to shower & attend church. Busy day. Did I mention ‘Personal Best’? Woo-hoo! Only 34 days left ’til my Alaska marathon.
Congratulations #6126 K R HAGA!
Here are your results for the Kaiser Permanente Colfax Marathon:Your final time is 01:49:42.
You finished 672 out of 5165 in the HALF MARATHON.
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- Sports Authority (Broncos) Stadium (Saturday bib & shirt pickup)
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- Broncos (took pic for BFF Dawn)
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- 7 a.m. START
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- personal best finish time & race bling
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- after race BBQ & Blues
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- the Hazel Miller band
Work days, weekends, vacation – haven’t missed a day in May. That’s 16 straight runs.
Capped off these past 2 weeks with a 20 mile run last night – my longest run ever in 2013. Only 36 days to go ‘til my Alaska marathon so I needed to complete this run to stay mentally strong. I needed to know that I could run distance after two weeks of 5 mile pace runs. I arrived home at 11pm, caked in dried chalky salt – no sweat, just salt.
2 Half Marathons & a 10K scheduled over the next 16 days – then A-L-A-S-K-A!
- Surpassed not only 500 miles YTD, but 600 miles as well
Campy Movie(s) of the Week – not classics, but fun
Rocky III (1982) – talk about a movie that didn’t age well; think Jersey Housewives set to VH1 music clips, gynormous cell phones, big hair & Mr. T. ‘Eye of the tiger’ vs. ‘I pity da’ fool’.
Guilt Trip (2012) – only received 2.5 stars but laugh-out-loud funny moments in this road trip flic starring Seth Rogen & Barbara Streisand. Got to tell ya, I rented this movie for Seth Rogen but it’s Streisand who is INCREDIBLE. I wouldn’t buy a copy but also don’t begrudge the $1.30 RedBox rental fee.
Runner Log
Sat Apr 20th – 1 mile trail run
Sun Apr 21st – RACE DAY (Horsetooth Half Marathon 13.1 miles, Ft Collins CO)
Mon Apr 22nd – 1 hour BIKE
Wed May 1st – 4.5 miles
Thu May 2nd – 5.25 miles
Fri May 3rd – 5.25 miles
Sat May 4th – 5.25 miles
Sun May 5th – 5.25 miles
Mon May 6th – 5.25 miles
Tue May 7th – 5.25 miles
Wed May 8th – 5.25 miles
Thu May 9th – 5 miles (Mexico)
Fri May 10th – 4.14 miles plus 1.5 miles beach run (Mexico)
Sat May 11th – 5.86 miles (Mexico)
Sun May 12th – 5 miles (Mexico)
Mon May 13th – 3 miles
Tue May 14th – 5.25 miles
Wed May 15th – 8.25 miles
Thu May 16th – 20 miles
YTD total – 608.6 miles (plus 12.5 hours BIKE)
