Remember that shot? Yeah… that was last fall. That was also the last time that I was fit. Training was so easy last year with the Nike+ device, because I would just login every morning and my training program would tell me how far to run and how fast to go. Since I have switched over to the Garmin, I have had a much more difficult time getting motivated to train. It was much easier to stay motivated when I had a little computer program putting another notch in the spreadsheet and telling me “good job” at the end of each run.

Starting yesterday, there are only 18 weeks until the Chicago marathon, and only a handful after that until NYC. If I were to run either of those today, it would probably be the most painful experience ever. Since I have been craving structure so badly, I broke down yesterday and decided to go with a Hal Higdon training program. Reagan has trained with his programs before, and so have several of my friends. So I figure that I will give it a shot. To be completely honest, I don’t need a “training program” as much as I just need a little thing to check the boxes and keep me organized. So Hal, you’re it, buddy!

From now until November 7th, Friday’s will be my only lazy days. Actually, I will probably take a lazy week after the Chicago race, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

To keep myself accountable, I’m going to start posting a Weekly Running Evaluation again (just when you thought this blog couldn’t be anymore boring, hehe). So far, the training has not gone well. I had a very bad run yesterday and today. I am currently as sloppy and ridden with extra body-blah as I have ever been. So, it’s a good thing that I’m starting now. I’m headed out of town later this week, so I might miss a few days. But, I’m sure that they will be replaced with some high-altitude cross training.

This is a bonus paragraph for those who made it all of the way through this post– Tomorrow morning I’m posting the biggest giveaway so far, on JNB. If you are into photography, or know someone who is, you might be interested in this round.

Last night was the super moon. To be perfectly honest, it didn’t appear any larger to me than it has on previous occasions. But, it was very very bright. We were on the roof when it rose, and it was a very dark shade of yellow from all of the pollution. It was kind of a cool effect. I got a couple of shots when it was low in the sky, but I wasn’t super stoked about any of them. I did, however, quite like the one that I posted above. This was shot after the moon was much higher in the sky. Here are a few other times that I have shot the moon from our house: one time and another time.

Earlier Saturday evening, we were shooting some tutorials for Reagan’s hair blog. There was a cat on the fire escape that was meowing super loud. I think that it must have wandered up and become stuck. Anyway, we finally let it in, so that it would shut up. We immediately thought better of it. So, we put it back out. The cat then leaped from the fire escape to the sill of an adjacent window that was open (at least 3 or 4 feet away). and came back in.

Ultimately, I had to carry it down stairs and put it back out into the alley.

Backing up, a bit– Friday was beautiful. The high was well into the 70′s. I thought about going for an evening run, but then had a better idea. I called a couple of friends and we had a longboarding session in Central Park. I also brought along a little hand-held video camera (same one Jon used to shoot this), and some L.E.D. panels. I have been wanting to shoot a longboarding video since I saw this one, that I posted the other day. So, I figured I could get some ideas, shooting with the crappy camera for when we really go back and do it right. I think that having the moon out was key. Anyway, here is what we shot Friday night.

I was so stressed about this race that I had bad dreams all night, the night before, about not being able to find the starting line, about Reagan making secret breakfast plans that made me miss the starting gun, etc.. I’m not sure why I was so worked up about it. The weather was awesome, I had family there. I had friends there. Reagan was waiting at the finish. It was basically ideal. I have an amazing gift for psyching myself out. I’m sure that totally slacking on the training for the last two weeks factored in.

To sum up what happened, my goal was 3:10. I scored a 3:24. I blew it in the last 4 miles. Until then, I was on or ahead of pace. But, I’m trying not to feel bad about it. It wasn’t one of those races where afterward I was like “crap, I should have pushed more at mile such and such.” I pushed hard. I was doing awesome (by my personal standards), until about mile 22. I really just ran out of energy. I could feel myself slowing down and it made me really, really mad. I could not physically make my legs move any faster. When the 3:20 pacer guy blew past me at mile 24, it almost crushed me. I could go on and on about the highs/ lows and mental/ physical experiences of the race, but I’ll spare you.

Overall, it was a great experience. We met up with my cousins on Friday and drove to Hartford with them. They were able to meet Piper on the way up, which was awesome. We even were able to have dinner at my cousin Jill’s in-laws place in Glastonbury with the whole gang. It was delicious and fun. We was also able to meet my cousin Jill’s husband for the first time.

In a surprise move, Reagan decided to go ahead and run the half-marathon at the last minute. She has been trying to recover from bronchitis for the last two weeks, so I just kind of assumed that she was going to sit it out. She is one tough/crazy cookie. I can’t say that I blame her for doing it. It is hard being there with everyone getting ready to race, feeling that powerful energy and excitement– without having a very strong desire to participate. She said that she didn’t have a very good race. But, I’m pretty impressed that she tackled it at all, in her condition.

Next race: NYC Marathon, in 28 days. From what I have heard. It is kind of a big deal. Hehe

In contrast to the past few weeks, this one has seemed to drag on FOREVER. But it will soon be a happy memory, being that today is Friday. It actually feels like I got the weekend started last night, since I covered two events that were both pretty fun. My favorite of the two, was the preview party for new Chrome store [above], which opens Saturday.

The weather is supposed to be awesome, this weekend. It should be ideal for our long runs on Saturday. In addition to running and visiting Piper, we have a few extra items of fun slated for the weekend. Tomorrow and Sunday is the Gatsby Festival at Governor’s Island. I’m hoping that we can make it down there for that. Also this weekend, is the second of only two MotoGP races that occur on American soil each year. The GP riders will be fighting it out at the brick yard. I have to admit though, with Rossi’s injury, and Stoner’s apparent ineptitude, It hasn’t been much fun to watch Lorenzo run away with the title this year. Just the same, it will be fun to watch Hayden and the other American riders go for broke on their home turf. I’m getting ahead of myself for a minute, but I am also very excited about Rossi’s new contract with Ducati. Sounds like a match made it heaven. Italy’s hero piloting Italy’s flagship.

I’m also excited because this is the last weekend in 2010 without college football. I’m sure that I have told this story before. But, here it is again. Once, several years ago, about this same time of year, I was feeling kind of bummed out because the summer was over. I was in college, living with my parents and dreading going back to class for fall semester. I was expressing my dismay to my mom one night and she told me “Jake, that is why God gave us college football. So we have something to look forward to.” Such a wise woman. Since I have never been a BYU or Notre Dame fan, I wasn’t used to hearing the words “God” and “Football” in the same sentence. But the way she contextualized it, I had to agree Ma B. Utah’s first game is next Thursday against Pitt. Getting ahead of myself again, I can’t wait to see how the U of U does next year as a member of the Pac10.

I hope that everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Distance: 3.0 Miles, 4.9 Kilometers
Date/Time: June 24, 2010, 6:45 pm
Location: Financial District, NYC
Weather: 87 Degrees, 57% Humidity, Wind 15MPH, Clear.

Total Finishers: Men – 2555 Women – 2506 Total – 5061

I really really hope that Reagan blobs about how the race went for her. Because it is freaking hilarious.

The only official item that we have calendared for this weekend is a race that Reagan is running. It is the NYRR Mini 10K. It is a Women’s-only race that dates back to the 70′s– and “mini” refers to the miniskirts that were popular during the era. The race is Saturday morning. If it wasn’t exciting enough that Reagan was running, so is Kara Goucher and Paula Radcliffe. Still not exciting enough? They are both pregnant (Reagan is not pregnant, hehe).

Besides the Mini 10k, I’m sure that we will find some fun stuff to do this weekend. Most likely there will be some World Cup viewing in the mix. I have seen a lot of cool promotional stuff leading up to this year’s iteration of the World Cup. But my favorite, by far is the t-shirt below:

When your team scores a goal, pull your shirt over your head, and this is what you get. Pure genius, if you ask me (via). Even though the matches officially kick off today, for me the World Cup doesn’t really start until Brazil plays it’s first match. It’s so crazy that they have a new Ronaldinho, from when I was living there in 1999. Maybe for the next world cup they can have a new Pele. Hahahaha.

While we are on the subject of cool stuff that I have seen recently– I discovered a photographer today whose work completely blew me away. His name is Nadav Kander. Here is one of his images from the series: “Yangtze, The Long River.”

Check out more of his work on his site. It is seriously otherworldly (via).

I tried to charge my Nike+ sportband the night before, only to find that it was malfunctioning, again. The display looked like some sort of alien language. Reagan was kind enough to let me borrow hers, since she was sitting this one out. I will be sending it back on Monday Grrrr. The Central Park Races are normally capped at 5000 runners. But since it was for a charity (I guess), they doubled the cap and let 10,000 participants run. It was crrraaazyy. I wasn’t expecting such a crowd, so I showed up at the 9th hour and barely made it starting grid before the gun. As a result, I was way in the back and had no real chance of making it through the pack enough to get a good time. It was ok, though. My friend Mike ran with me, and we just had a relaxing race, and chatted the whole time. It also made me totally pumped for the upcoming running season and nice weather. Woo hoo!

Our Alaska/Hofstra friends also came to visit us, this weekend. Reagan and I pretty much just tagged a long with them through the village to various thrift stores, before hitting Broadway, in SoHo (pretty much Reagan’s dream day). It was a pretty good time, even for me.

We also saw this guy, playing in Washington Square Park. It is the same dude who drags that busted old piano down to the 4th St. A platform in the Subway on the weekends. Pretty awesome.