It has been one whole year since my first post to thebradlands, December 15th, 2005. I would like to thank my mom and dad, for bringing me into this world. Also my producer/ providor/ spellchecker/ factchecker Warren Myers. Of course I’d like to thank Jillian who has stuck with me through thick and thin and has helped me with my Spanish. And lastly all my fans who have made it fun for me to write knowing that you care enough to check by and read. Blogging has been a great way to vent my excitement in lots of different areas. Hopefully reading has energized you, and thebradlands has been an instrument to get you excited about life.

The first ever Jingle Bells 5K was held this morning and Jillian and I came out, her to cheer and me to run. It was fun because it was to support a private middle school, so there were lots of happy families with cute little kids running everywhere. There weren’t a lot of guys running in my age group (hence my first place finish) but everyone was out there having fun and enjoying an absolutely perfect beautiful day. I ran a 22:11 which I am not too disapointed in since I haven’t trained for about two years. I am hoping this will be a baseline and that over the winter I will improve my times so I can hit under 20 in the spring. Here are some pics:

We were at a park in Cary called Bond Park. The course was on trails and was very well laid out. Above is the finish.

I was really pushing hard at the end and passed someone in the home stretch.

While waiting for the results we enjoyed watching these kids rolling down the hill. Apparently St. Michaels doesn’t teach kids how to read.

My prize is a hard faught for ornament for the tree.

So Justin and Leah Falciola are down for the long weekend to hang out. Upon hearing the news that they were comming Jamie Biondo told them one must see is a burrito sold only at Banditos Mexican Restaurant in Chapel Hill or Durham. The burrito is called El Gigante and it weighs four pounds. Four pounds of beans, rice, onions, green peppers, salsa, guacamole, and whatever other slop they decide to throw in. The challenge is that if one person can eat the whole burrito then they get a free t-shirt and their picture on the wall, and they get bragging rights forever.

Strangly even though Justin and Leah were the ones visiting, it was Mike and Jamie who decided to give El Gigante a try. They each ordered one of the huge burritos, costing around 15 dollars each, and after strategizing a game plan and going through the psychological preparation necessary for such an endeavor, they dug in.

Mike was sprinting, and we all soon became convinced that he could do it. Although he had to take a few brakes to walk around a little and let the food settle, he amazingly finished the entire thing in 16 minutes, just one minute shy of the all time restaurant record set in 1947 (ok I dont actually know when the record was set).

Jamie was a different story however. He had the added challenge that he didn’t like onions, peppers, or beans. Where Mike saw this as wonderful, having so much food in front of him, for Jamie this was more like fear factor. after 10 minutes he was about at the halfway mark, but the psychology of it was killing him. He kept battling, getting some tips from the recently finished Mike, and managed to get down to about the last pound, but he was not looking like he was in too good shape. He was sweating, his pace slowed, and he was seriously looking like he wasn’t going to be able to hold it down. However he dug down, found a small empty pocket in which to put just a little more rice and beans, and cleaned his plate.

Now we would like to say this was the end of the story. Both guys got T-shirts and they got their picture taken together. After we all paid however, Jamie hobbled out of the restaurant bent over like a grandma, and Mike wasn’t looking so hot anymore. Upon their leaving the restaurant, they both seemed to suddenly remember an appointment they had made, and the next we knew they were both out in the bushes behind the building reviewing the contents of those wonderful burritos.

So was it worth it? Heck yeah it was worth it. For a T-shirt and the fame and the picture on the wall it was totally worth it. Would they do it again? Lets just say they probably wont be looking forward to Leah and Justin’s next visit with quite the same vim and vigor.

Oh yeah and one more thing, the race for the cure is a very noble 5K that tours the country and will be in the Raleigh Durham area June 10th. Registration is $30 for the competive 5K where they time you, and $25 for a recreational 5K where they don’t time you. Also there is an option to “sleep in for the cure” where you give them $25 and they will mail you a T-shirt. Might be a nice back up plan. Anyway let me know if you are intrested in running it with us. It would be a lot of fun.

Jillian and I are binging on 5Ks. She likes them because they keep her motivated to work out during the week, and I enjoy the competition and the environment. We have done two this spring and are looking to do another on Saturday. So far my times have been 23:03 and 22:45, and hers have been 26:45 and 26:35. Its nice to see progress like that. My goal is to get down to under 20 minutes, and jillian is shooting for under 25, and I will keep track of what we do here. A couple good sites to find 5Ks are www.runnc.com and www.active.com.

Last saturday morning we decided we didn’t want to go all the way out to high point for a 5K so we went running together in an area near where we live. She has run there before a bit but I never had, and I enjoyed it so much. I really don’t think I have ever had such a pleasant run. It was a 5 mile loop, and I was really powering at the end. Hopefully I will be able to get out there to run either Wednesday or Thursday and maybe this saturday I can get my time down below 22 minutes. The long term goal is under 20, the short term goal is under 22. We’ll see how it goes.

I have decided that the best way for me to train for a 5K is to get used to running strong for 4 or 5 miles. This way I am not too tired for 3 and I can pick up my pace. Also I would like to try running mile intervals at the a 5K pace. So like if I want to do a 19:30 5K then I run a 6:30 mile, walk for a couple minutes, run another 6:30 mile, walk for a couple minutes, and do this like 4 or 5 times. The breaks between running will get shorter and shorter and eventially I’ll be able to just do three 6:30 miles in a row.

Of course my long term goal has always been to run a marathon, and even more long term is to run the Boston marathon. I am not rushing that though. Lets make a few short term goals before buying a plane tickets.

I checked out both the Nike and Addidas websites to find inspiration for running. There is something about Nike, the way they don’t just sell shoes, they drive demand through inspiration. Their commercials make you want to run, and they glorify every ordinary person who does. Their website isn’t just about selling shoes, its about inspiring you to run, and it is complete with wallpapers, training pages, event calanders, and the means to hook you up with other runners in your area. Pretty sweet.

Addidas on the other hand is about selling shoes. Instead of going creating demand through inspiration, they create demand by producing a better product. Nike probably gets more people into running, and once they start running then they realize that they need to go to addidas for a good pair of shoes. Speaking of good pair of shoes, check out the insane technology that Addidas put into these shoes. Crazy.