Long story short, ran the first mile way too fast again. The pace felt really slow but when I got to the mile marker the guy said 6:20, I knew I was in big trouble as the 2nd mile is much more hilly and had nothing left the last half mile. Thanks for the advice all, I'll try again next year.
Last year for the July 4th race I cramped up in the middle of it, I really would like to avoid that this time. Trying to make good time while it feels like a bunch of swords are piercing your stomach isn't a whole lot of fun. Right now I'm planning for pasta the night before and am just hoping for the best but any help would be appreciated.
In the meantime running is going well. I've been able to move my daily jog to 5.6 miles and tomorrow I plan on doing a test run jog of 2 miles as a smimulated race out on the pavement. In the meantime I hate not eating junkfood, I have a huge sweet tooth and to pass up on it hurts so much. I usually go to my buddy's house every 4th on the beach and there's an ice cream place right across the street. After the race I may have to head there before going to the party. It sounds so good right now.
I'm a competitive person so to beat 13:15 would mean a lot and I also have a couple bets going on this. So the tentative plan is tomorrow to run 5 miles in the morning followed by a 2 mile simulation at night. On Saturday I plan on running 5.5 miles and on Sunday another 2 mile simulation leading in to Monday. It should be interesting.
In the meantime I went to Pittsburgh this weekend to see 2 Sox-Pirates games. PNC is such a nice ballpark and we had great seats for both games. I was thinking about this earlier but as sad as it is I wouldn't chose Fenway park as a place I wanted to relax and watch a ballgame. Much of what makes that stadium great is the atmosphere and the history. However the seats are extremely uncomfortable and if two random teams were playing there I wouldn't go unless I had any interest. In the meantime newer ballparks like camden yards, jacobs field, PNC Park, Yankee Stadium, etc are all very nice places to kick back and watch a game.
In Pittsburgh we played this course, Cranberry Highlands that was in great shape and just an awesome course. The picture below is the 3rd or 4th hole and is a great par 3. With water on the left and behind the hole with it being 80' downhill. I came up short and left of the pin, duffed my chip then 2 putted for a bogey. Still a sick visual.
Won't blog again until after the 4th, for all the Americans have a fun and safe 4th of July. To the Europeans, run well.
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Worry gives a small thing a big shadow.
- Swedish proverb
So taking the advice of CalvinLinus a fellow DC member I set out to run some longer distances without the interval training I normally do. The first day I decided I was gonna run a 10k at a 9 minute mile pace. How hard could it be? I usually run at a 7-730 mile pace with no problems. Well, I had to stop at like 3.75 miles. There's was no way I was getting to 6.2. I gotta say I knew that Ashton's running prop bet was incredible difficult (70 miles in 24 hours), but coming off a night of drinking I'd figure it was impossible. I had gone out Saturday night and was in no shape to run even 6 miles the next day, that's incredible.
On Monday I ran for 4.5 miles, yesterday I ran 5 miles, and today I ran 5 miles in my morning run and 4 in my evening run. My legs felt so good going into the afternoon I figured I'd get another jog in. I do plan on running a few simulated races on pavement to push myself as I agree with nowhereman that I should try to run a bit faster. Right now my goal is 13:15 for my race and I don't see that changing as it;s 12 days away and I'm going to Pittsburgh this weekend which means alcohol and fatty foods. However those are the only 2 days I plan on drinking leading up to the race.
We'll see what happens, after running a 13:45 last year I know what to expect. I'd offer to make some bets but it'd be sort of impossible to pay/get paid so I'll just have to go on personal motivation. Speaking of that I saw this clip the other day, I'll probably put it on my ipod and watch it before the race. First time I heard this I was ready to run through a wall.
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Common sense hides shame. - Gaelic Proverb
Last year I ran my first ever race. It was just a two mile on July 4th. My goal was 13:30 and showing my inexperience I ran my first mile in 6:30, thought I was gonna shatter my goal, and finished with a time of 13:45. I wasn't displeased but would like to do better this year. My only problem is I have no idea how to train for it. Last year since it coincided with me losing weight I would just run my regular 3 miles however it wasn't all in a row. Typically I'd run at about a 7:30 mile pace on my treadmill for 8 minutes then walk for 2 until I got to 3 miles.
This year I'd really like to train for this race but have no idea how. It'd also be nice to know how to get ready for other races if and when I decide to run 5ks, etc. I also have no idea what to eat or how much water to drink the night and morning of of the race. Last year I cramped up after the first mile and it hurt my time. Besides that it wasn't a whole lot of fun running with shooting pain in my stomach.
This year my goal is 13:15 for 2 miles, however I have no idea how to get there and figure DC is a better source than just googling "how to run races"
Thanks in advance.
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To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
Steve Prefontaine
Firstly, I hope that nobody went with my drinking game I posted before last game. After the Bruins scored their 4th goal in 4 minutes i immediately thought of my latest post and figured someone might be dead after playing the drinking game.
When I first started writing about hockey I never thought I'd make so many game 7 posts. In that aspect I've been very fortunate as the Bruins have been competitive enough to make it to these do or die games. Now as we reach the finals I really don't know what to think. I'm excited for game 7 but not really nervous. The Bruins in my mind are free rolling. This year they've answered the bell so many times beating their biggest rivals on the way to the cup that I'm pretty much emotionally drained hockey wise.
I know that sounds like emotionally hedging but the fact is I’ll still be extremely disappointed if the Bruins lose. The Bruins have had an opportunity to steal all 3 games in Vancouver and have lost them all. If they had lost to Tampa I’d be upset but not crushed. Tampa was actually a pretty likeable team, Vancouver on the other hand not so much.
They’re constantly diving, trying to get under the skin of their opponents when there’s no need to. They’re a very skilled team who doesn’t have to resort to those tactics and yet they do. The Sedin’s go down at the drop of a hat on the first touch after the whistle. Lapierre putting his fingers in Bergeron’s face was a joke after Burrows bit him in game 1 was ridiculous. They run their mouths constantly to the media and are just a very arrogant bunch.
Boston also has its flaws. They’re perceived by their fans as a blue collar team but they pretty consistently venture over into that grey area between physical and dirty. However one thing that’s great about rooting for them is they won’t be pushed around. If Marchand was a Canuck and hit a Bruin like he hit Sedin the face 5 or 6 times like he did in Game 6 the gloves would’ve been dropped. Also most of his teammates would’ve come over and said something. As a fan of the Bruins it's easy to cheer on.
The fact is that this Bruins run couldn’t have come at a better time for me. It started right as black Friday hit and has been a welcome distraction over the past couple months. Every couple of days I’ve been able to dive into a hockey game, win or lose its been awesome. I’ve learned from watching hockey for most of my life and seeing the last few Bruins playoffs failures that it isn’t easy to get to the Stanley Cup.
If the Bruins get the first one I think they’ll be alright. Luongo is one of the weakest mentally athletes I’ve ever seen. He seems to be very shaky after a few things go wrong and he’s not in the lead. He’ll have a short leash tomorrow but if the Bruins can get one early I’d expect another to follow.
I really have no good way to end this blog so I’ll say go Bruins and give you a few CBC intros. They really put all of the NBC/Versus teasers to shame.
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"It takes 4 wins, 4 times to get your name on that beautiful trophy" - Bob Cole
Here's a game we played at Chuck's the other night for the Bruins 8-1 win. You have a bottle of liquor and 2 beers, one recreational and the other one is your game beer. You can play this game with 2 or more people, each person picks a side. For example if I pick the Bruins I need to take a drink from my game beer every time they go offsides, ice the puck, or Tim Thomas freezes it. I can take sips from my recreational beer whenever I feel like it.
The fun part comes on powerplays. When that happens you have to finish your game beer before the other team scores, so there's a bit of strategy involved. If I have Boston and they take a penalty I can take my time finishing my game beer hoping the Canucks don't score. If they do score before I finish it and it's a powerplay goal I have to take a shot. You also have to take a shot if the opposing team scores a goal. As a result you could be doing 2 shots if you don't finish your game beer before a PP goal.
Any member can quit at anytime. I can't blame my opponents during game 3 as the Bruins scored 4 goals in the 2nd with 1 being a PP goal. If done right this is what it looks like:
Have fun, go Bruins!
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“They’ve been supportive of this team through thick and thin,’’ said 43-year-old Mark Recchi. “Tonight, we could hear them while we were still in our [locker] room, before warm-ups. We were like, ‘Oh, they’re ready.’ ’’
While the government forced me to cancel a few of my Summer trips, I was able to salvage a few. I just got back from NYC last night. I went with my good friend and his fiancée. I was supposed to go with another buddy but he had to cancel at the last minute. We went from Saturday-Tuesday. He's a big Braves fan so we saw two Mets-Braves games at Citi field and then a Yankees-Sox game on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. This trip was a little different than my last for a few reasons.
One I stayed in Queens. My buddy's fiancée has a cousin with a house where she let us crash. It was an awesome situation as they were a great family and we were able to save a ton of money on no hotel costs. Two, we took the Subway practically everywhere. It actually got really easy by the end of the trip with the hopspot ap. The toughest was going to Yankee Stadium during rush hour. Three, unlike last time I was in NYC I hung out with Chuck (Danzasmack). He met us out on Saturday night then invited us over to his place on Monday night to watch the Bruins-Canucks game, creating a great drinking game. It was so good, I don't really remember any of the third period.
I'm always unsure of how my non-poker friends will get along with my poker friends but here's basically what happens on Saturday night. We head out, Chuck comes into the bar with his friend, introductions are made. Within 15 seconds he's buying everyone shots and within 2 minutes he was getting an invitation to my buddy's wedding. And not just to go to the wedding, to be an usher. Things went well on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium too when we had an extra ticket and invited my friend who coaches baseball down in NYC to the game. He was also nice enough to give us a ride home after so we didn't have to deal with another jam packed subway ride.
I thought Citi Field was great. Awesome sightlines and a fun ballpark. My only problem with it is they have too many clubs/restaurants. So instead of people being at their seats, many aren't watching the game from the field. Yankee Stadium is incredible. They spent a ton of money on it but everything about the place is immaculate. We did have an overly intense dude in front of us that looked like he wanted to say something to me in my Sox gear about 10 times but he never did. However the unintentional comedy in the seat in front of us was awesome.
During the ride home I was thinking that it's funny that I quit coaching legion because I wanted to travel during the summer and thanks to what's going on in the poker world I could've just continued to coach as I only was able to go on trips for one summer. This is the 5th year I've coached varsity baseball and for the first 4 I was coaching during the summer. I also thought about how easy I thought it was going to be to transition from a player to coach, I'd just emulate all of my favorites and it'd be easy, wrong.
It took about 3 years until I actually became comfortable running practices, creating the team mentality that I wanted, learn how to discipline kids, among a bunch of other things. It really is hard to become a good coach and it's something that takes a ton of time and effort. I've been fortunate enough that I've had quite a few people top help me speed up the process and while it took a little while I now know I could run a team with very little problems.
The Bruins tied up the Stanley Cup Finals tonight against the Canucks as it's now 2-2 in series. I was unable to watch game 2 since I was at the Braves-Mets game and it absolutely killed me. They were up 2-1 in the 3rd and lost 11 seconds into overtime. To make matters worse, Burrows scored 2 goals and had an assist after biting Patrice Bergeron in game 1. The league decided not to suspend him and he goes onto be the first star of the game. Following on your phone at a baseball game was next to impossible.
However the Bruins came out flying in the next 2 games at home, winning 8-1 and 4-0. As the West started to get figured out I wanted to play the Canucks all along. The Bruins have a ton of trouble with quicker teams and although Vancouver is very skilled they're much more physical than most Western Conference teams. The series has become very chippy which in my opinion suits the Bruins much better than the Canucks, we'll see what happens. Game 5 in Vancouver is going to be ridiculously intense, I just hope the Bruins can continue to play well.
I'm running in a 2 mile race on July 4th again. I've been running quite a bit in the last week or so and although I know it's only a 2 mile I was curious if any DC members had any tips on how to prepare for a race. Before I would just continue running about 3-4 miles a day on my treadmill and I fell short of my goal last year. I plan to do much more street running for the upcoming race but I also cramped up too. I know I'm about a month away but any dieting tips for what to eat leading up to the race would be huge as well.
Last year my goal was 2 miles in 13:30 and I finished in 13:45. I did such a bad job pacing myself as I ran a 6:30 first mile. This year I'd like to run it in 13:15 or less. It isn't going to be easy but I'd be willing to bet that I can do it.
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If the wind will not serve, take to the oars. ~Latin Proverb
After the Bruins won game 5 against Tampa on Monday night my brother started planting a seed in my ear that if it's a game 7 we gotta go. I've mentioned before that he's always willing to take a road trip for something and this was no different. When Tampa won game 6 on Wednesday it started up again. I immediately dismissed it saying we can't tickets will be too expensive, etc. Later doing some quick research I found a cheap hotel across the street from the garden now the only problem was tickets. Fortunately, despite being expensive tickets went on sale on Thursday at 11. Now it was just a matter of beating the virtual line.
I got through at like 11:10 clicking best available on ticketmaster after about 40 failed attempts and we were able to get 3rd level tickets. Not great seats but at the same time it's really difficult to have a bad seat in a hockey arena and we were in the building. So the next morning we started on the 6 hour drive from Rochester to Boston. Got in around noon, our hotel wasn't ready yet so we took the T to quincy market to kill time and grab lunch. After taking a power nap it was game time.
I've been lucky enough to attend a lot of great sporting events in my life (baseball, basketball, football, hockey). As much as I love baseball, nothing really matches the energy of a big hockey game. There are no planned breaks so you're holding your breath for 3-4 minutes at a time with very little time to think and analyze what's going on. Everything is on the fly. Pre-game was awesome especially with about 10 minutes before the game started. Here's what Johnny Boychuck said pre-game
"You could hear the crowd all the way from the dressing room stomping their feet and yelling." Here's a video from youtube of some of the pregame.
The game itself was about as exciting as a 1-0 game could get. Being in attendance you always have an inflated opinion of the game, however after reading about it everyone was in agreement that it was an awesome game. It was 0-0 going into the third period and the Bruins had really carried play so everyone in the crowd was basically worried that Roloson might steal on for Tampa. When Horton scored with 7 minutes left pretty much all the tension was released out of the building.
For the goal we were on the opposite side but had a great angle for it. I thought Krejci was going to shoot the puck. It wasn't the best angle but he was in a prime spot and though he was gonna short side Roloson. The pass he made was obviously outstanding
The crowd was loud before the goal but it was pandemonium after. For about the final 6 minutes it was touch to hear the whistle and the final 4 minutes you could barely hear the music playing on the PA. Under a minute you couldn't hear anything. With about 45 seconds left Tampa went offsides and they actually played "Teenage Wasteland" and it was impossible to hear any part of the intro. After the game the party filtered out into the streets, I had to retire a little early as I needed to get up at 5 AM the next morning to drive back but the whole experience was outstanding.
Now onto Vancouver.
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There isn't a person anywhere who isn't capable of doing more than he thinks he can. - Henry Ford.
I've been preparing this post for a while. It was going to be my first one when I got back from my golf trip that I left for on April 14th. Needless to say i never got around to writing it. Anyways I wanted to talk a bit about preparing for your session. Before the government shut it down I was starting to get a good feel for PLO and really enjoying it. However I would always drop a couple buy ins to start my session. This was past the point of variance which is what i told myself it was for the first week or so. Furthermore, I've read posts on 2+2 and DC saying, "It seems like I always lose a few buy ins in the first few minutes and have to grind it back up after."
Thinking about it a bit more and to bring up a baseball coaching comparison is the best way I can explain it. Coaches hate to see their guys lazy right before a game or practice. We hate to see screwing around in stretching, laziness during infield/outfield, etc. Bad habits creep in and it generally leads to a slow start. Well the same can be said for poker, when I was still playing when I felt like it I would sit down and fire up some rush PLO tables. That'd be equivalent to me just rolling out of bed and trying to hit a baseball. Is it possible? Sure, but it's not likely that I'm going to be at my best.
I talked to Joe a little about this and the best advice I can give is to come up with some sort of pre-game routine. Much like stretching and throwing in sports, something that gets you ready to play. Whether that be watching a video for 15 minutes (I'm not a fan), reviewing some hands, writing down a list of things to focus on, etc. Anything that'll get you to playing your A game as fast as possible. When you think about it, it makes no sense to do anything else.
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Be prepared and be honest.
John Wooden
Our baseball season is winding down and although I've mentioned this has been a fun and different experience, its also been a bit frustrating. Many of the teams we play have kids on it that wouldn't be that good at bigger schools but act like they are. The same with a lot of the coaches, just the things they say makes it obvious that their baseball IQ isn't very high. The worst part is when you know the opposing team is going to do something yet there's nothing you can do about it. With better, more experienced players there's 3 or 4 things you can do to counter something with baseball so it's a bit of a helpless feeling at times.
With that being said we're going into our first playoff game as a coaching staff doing everything we can to be competitive. We'll be pretty big underdogs for sure, if there was a betting line my guess is my team would probably be like a 20-1 underdog. However we will have a bit of a scouting report and our number one pitcher on the mound. In the past I've coached teams that were expected to win and lose. I've watched games where upsets happen, basically everyone has the same storyline.
The lesser team hangs around for a bit for the first couple innings then in the middle innings something happens. It can be the pitcher getting out of a big jam, someone getting a big hit, a great defensive play, etc. Something to show the favored team that this is going to be a game, and they're going to get your best effort. So I'm hoping for something like that on Tuesday. We'll be prepared, now it's just a matter of our players playing well.
Lost in all of my Bruins posts lately is the Redsox have been playing really well lately. The baseball season is so long that every team goes through slumps, while most teams don't want to start off 2-10 something like that will inevitably happen over the course of 162 games. The cream generally rises to the top and hopefully the Sox can stay healthy. I'm going to 3 of their games in June and was worried they they were going to be fighting to get to .500 and back in the race at that point, good thing I shouldn't have to worry about that.
Also, sorry for the lack of poker content lately. My next post will be poker related and could be my last poker strategy content for a while.
Go Bruins!
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We do not quit playing because we grow
old, we grow old because we quit playing.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
