Today was the last day to add mileage for the month, so tomorrow will have the October summary, but as for today… it was a track day. I thought for a second that I would run 4 miles out on the normal course. That was until I decided that since Monday's were speed days, that I could attack on the track. I probably should have ran my normal course, but I did end up running the track.

My intentions was to run 4 miles on the track, or 16 laps, for laps 7-10, I was going to shoot for a PR time for me in the mile. After all, where better to do this than on a track. So I hugged the line between lanes 4 and 5 for all of my 12 laps that I ended up running.

HEY! What I just realized is that I ran more than 3 miles. A track is typically 400 meters around, but due to the physical structure, the outer lanes are actually longer than 400 meters. This is why they have staggered starts in track races. Anyway thanks to Google (who has a cool halloween design) I found a Track Lane Calculator and my splits were for 423 meters! Therefore each split time was for 0.26 instead of 0.25. It adds up!

So here are the split times:

So, the best combination that I can find is laps 6-9 in which my average mile is a 7:02, 5 secs slower than my PR time. So I will have to try another day. The good news is that I went an extra 0.15 miles than I originally thought! Woo-Hoo.

From Chris Hill, edited for content:
Hello there all….well Troy is doing much better as of yesterday…he has improved a bunch…evidently the meds being giving for the bacteria is working its magic…The CFS leak has seemed to close itself off without a procedure (so far) they have also put in a different trache which will allow him to talk and according to the nurse he has talked a little bit….not much but she seems to think he was up all night and is just pooped….he has been staying awake on his own and for extended periods….

It's 53 degrees outside and they kicked us (the recreational swimmers) outside to swim. Out in the cold. Actually it was pretty darn comfortable ONCE you were in the water and moving!

What really sucked this morning was that I woke up this morning with a sore neck. It actually hurts to look forward, but when I try to look to the left it becomes excruciating painful. I tried to give myself a deep tissue massage on the neck and that helps but it doesn't really last. I would love to cut open my neck, pull the muscle out, kneed it a bunch of times and put it back. Now that would be great… anyone got a Time-Life Book Homemade Surgeries?

Oh well, on another note, I am about to send in my entry form for the Knoxville Marathon and my training will begin Oct 31st. Actually, that will be the start of my “base” training. My hardcore training will begin Dec 5th and I will follow a home cooked 16 week plan. I laid it all out on an earlier post, but I have had to tweak it a bit here and there to follow what I can and can not do.

One funny thing during the swim today and I really digress back to my college days… I had posted previously that there was writing on the pool floor… well, now there were pictures. Immature pictures of the male anatomy that when I finlly saw it and realized what I was looking at, I sort of chuckled a little bit. Who would take the time to draw something like that on the bottom (we are talking 12-14 feet deep) of the pool? Maybe the SCUBA class or something… okay, back to civilized thinking.

Looking forward to the weekend. The only football game (Furman and Virginia are both on byes) is the UT/South Carolina game. UT really needs the win, but it is against Fulmer's arch nemesis Steve Spurrier, so you never know. Things against us: Our Main running back Riggs is out, We are favored by 14 points. Things for us: It's at night. It'll be on ESPN2 at 7:45; so you will know where I will be.

Sunday is the Marine Corp Marathon and gregmce will be running for a PR time. I have him down for 4:39:25 (I think) at his Guess His Time contest. I KNOW that he will finish under 5 hours. I should have looked at the weather first though. Hmmmph. The statistician in me would rather calculate a confidence interval. Sunday night is our church's Trunk or Treat. Basically a safe halloween event where people dress up their trunks (of their vehicles) and kiddos get sugary sweetness. Eric won't wear a costume, so we will see what he does this year.

Today was a touch colder than yesterday with more of a breeze as well. It made it much colder, enough to have to wear band-aids (runners know why) and long sleeved shirts. Just 2 weeks ago, I was running shirtless. Now I am running with extra layers, we aren't in the South… what was I thinking.

So today I had somethings going on because of the cold. I could really feel my hamstrings today. I pulled my left hamstring really badly in 2001 which has left me with residual issues ever since. One of the things that has been a result is that I can feel them when they have been worked hard or when it is cold. I think today was a combination of both. Yesterday was a fast long run, which put a lot of stress on them and today it was cold. So after listening to sage advice from my runner coach (me!) I decided that today would be slower and not as far.

As I was approaching the 2 mile marker, I decided to change course and take a new route back to the Aquatic Center. I figured that I could run through downtown and then back to campus within my lunch period and end up with about 4 miles. I had wanted to people watch as I run because there is not alot of action on the the James White Greenway. Here is a map of where I went today.

I didn't really keep time with my mileage today but I do know the following:

Has it really been since Friday that I updated this blog? Sheesh. I've been pretty bad at alot of things this past 6 days and just add this one ot the list.

The short-short version of the past few days. Friday: Jennifer got home from Puerto Vallarta just fine, very excited and intact. Jen's parents and our nephew Brian made the trip from SC to TN to get Tita Angie

Saturday: I missed the UT/Bama game… oh well. Sunday was Ryan's baptism, so he is all official. Monday I forgot socks and I wasn't going to run in no socks (been there, done that) so I ran errands instead. Tuesday was Ryan's 4 month shots (3 of them) so instead of going in half a day, I took the day off. So here we are at today.

Today I combined a speed workout with Traditional wednesday long run into something a little speedy with some distance. I ran the normal 5 miles that I normally do on Wednesday but I did it with zip today. I found myself finishing the first mile 7:09 with little trouble. A majority of this was that the weather was very cook and supported this distance with the speed. Other times, the heat was too oppressive to do anything worthwhile. I had a good run and would feel good about my 5k time if I ran one. Not at a PR time, but something that might put me in the top 3rd of age group finishers instead of the middle. And as for the 8k, today's time is better than 1/2 of my actual finishing times for the 8k, but still 4 minutes away from a PR which is not at this point reasonably acheivable.
Here are the splits:

Today's schedule did a little topsy turvy and when I wasn't thinking I would have time to workout today, turns out that I could. I was supposed to pick up Eric @ 2pm from his babysitter today. Well, when I got there, they said that they could bring him back to the house thereby meaning I could work longer. If I could work longer, than I wouldn't have to work through lunch and could work. Of course, I didn't bring any workout clothes today since I didn't think I was going to get the chance to exercise. Also to secure that I wasn't going to workout, I forgot my lunch and wold have to go out to eat.

But, that is not say that I did not have an athletic endeavor… see picture below.

So, I have applied to be selected to endorse PowerBar products for two years. I know that they do select some recreational athletes and I am hoping that my lofty goal of competing in the Atomic Half Ironman in 2007 (more on that later) will be enough for them to say “hmmmmmmmmmm, okay.” I'll know something by February 1, 2006… I'll let you know hopefully before then.

Thinking about applying? Here is the link.

I held aloft my scheduling sword and said “I HAVE THE POWER!!!” Eric was at Grandma's for his first overnight with Mommy and Daddy not in (at least) the same building. Hmmm, no phone calls yet, so that is a good sign that all went well. So that left after 5 with me having a free evening until about 8 O'clock or so. I had to run a few errands such as: getting a new espresso carafe (gravity sucks), getting my haircut and getting diapers. Once at Grandma's was secured, I called Party Marty (aka Beer Boy) to arrange some running in the evening. We decided that we would run Cherokee Blvd which has a 5 mile crushed gravel path in Knoxville, a good place to run among $400,000 and $500,000 30 year old homes. So, knowing that I would be working out in the evening, I opted to run a few of the errands at my lunchtime to get them out of the way. Conveniently, Great Clips ($5.99 coupon) and Bed, Bath and Beyond (20% off coupon) are very close to each other. So I ran my errands and finished the rest of the day.

I got a call from Beer Boy at 5 saying that he was late leaving work because of some brewing issues and wanted to know if we wanted to change locations to someplace else as it wouldn't be until 6:00 to make it to Cherokee. We decided to meet at the Alcoa/Maryville Greenway, a nice 6 mile greenway that runs through the two towns. This is when things really started to fall apart. As I was traveling Alcoa Highway, traffic backed up and right at that time the SportsTalk show went to a traffic report. An accident on the southbound side of Aloca Highway (Oh, great) between a Tractor Trailer and a Horse Trailer (uh, oh) had happened at Topside Road (crap, I am 2 miles away from there) and Alcoa was backed up for a good distance. I called Beer Boy back and we decided that we'd meet at Volunteer Landing, because he wouldn't be affected much by the accident if he travelled North on Alcoa but if he went South, he would be stuck like I was.

So I turned around and made my way to Volunteer Landing, would take me 7 minutes… if I had taken the right route. I should have taken the Neyland Dr exit, but like a dummy, took the interstate, got stuck in traffic, got off on the Henley Street Exit only to get caught up in downtown traffic. Then was a victim of the one-way streets and had to pass right in front of Volunteer Landing, go to the campus and turn around. It was about 5:25 when I parked at Volunteer Landing. Ugh.

I figured that Beer Boy would be around in 20 minutes, so I decided to run a mile to get it under my belt. I was were I run during my Lunchtime runs, so I was familiar with the area. I ran a mile, not keeping time, and came back to wait. I decided to take advantage of the time to take pictures of Volunteer Landing, which was a nice break. When it was close to 6 and no Beer Boy, I decided to run another mile, just in case everything fell through, which at this point wasn't totally unbelievable. So I ran another mile, out and back and still no Beer Boy. I decided to run an additional mile to bring the count to 3, that way, if I had to abandon, it would not be all for naught. I run my 3rd mile and get back, at about 6:30, I get a call saying that he is about to Volunteer Landing (sigh) and would be there in about 10-15 minutes. So, I struck out for another mile and finished before he arrived.

Beer Boy finally showed up around 6:45 and we headed out for an out and back course that I mapped this morning to be 2.75 miles. I was late getting home because I still needed diapers, but all in all it was a good run. 6.75 miles, I am not complaining! Here are a few pictures that I took while waiting for Beer Boy, some will be queue for | P | L | A | N | E | T | 3 | R | R | Y |.

	&nbsp

BEASTIE BOYS
SOLID GOLD HITS
AVAILABLE NOVEMBER 8
ON LP, COMPACT DISC & LIMITED EDITION DVD/CD

In celebration of Beastie Boys' 24th anniversary, Capitol Records has suddenly decided to pay tribute to their second (or perhaps even third) best band with a greatest hits record: Michael “Mike D” Diamond, Adam “Adrock” Horovitz and Adam “MCA” Yauch-known collectively as Beastie Boys-will be lionized November 8th with the release of Solid Gold Hits.

This sick ass 15-track compendium distills the NYC trio's storied career into a very friendly friend format: Making it’s way from the “No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn” and “Fight For Your Right” antipasti, through the “Shake Your Rump, “So What'cha Want” and “Sabotage” primi piati, right into last years secundi piati To The 5 Boroughs' “Ch-Check It Out,” “An Open Letter To NYC” and “Triple Trouble” - and all courses in between.

So whether you're reliving your own favorite Capitol Records memories or sharing the “Sabotage” or the “Intergalactic” with a loved one for the first time, the audio and visual Solid Gold Hits experience is guaranteed to put the nuts back in your fruitcake this holiday season.

Track listing for Solid Gold Hits:

1. So What'cha Want
2. Brass Monkey
3. Ch-Check It Out
4. No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn [Terry Note:All Time Party Starting song]
5. Hey Ladies [Terry Note: "And when I mean stupid, I mea Stupid! Fresh!]
6. Pass The Mic [Terry Note:Excellent song... Do what I do, professionally and to tell you the truth I'm exactly where I want to be.]
7. An Open Letter To NYC
8. Root Down [Terry Note: This song is growing on me and is an excellent running song]
9. Shake Your Rump [Terry Note:One of my favorites]
10. Intergalactic [Terry Note:My All-Time Fave Bboy song... the video is hoot too]
11. Sure Shot [Terry Note:Reference Galore in this song (e.g. Lee Dorsey)]
12. Body Movin' (Fatboy Slim Remix)
13. Triple Trouble
14. Sabotage
15. Fight For Your Right [Terry Note: I actually HATE this song!!!]

One of my biggest weaknesses is candy, I have a huge sweet tooth. I typically have to have candy everyday and will scheme to make sure that I can get my fix when I need it. The past few weeks, I have been taking advantage of major candy bar sales at Kroger and Pilot. Both stores have been running specials where their candy bars have been from $0.25 to $0.33 on sale, making the financial impact of consuming chocolate very bearable.

I can't resist what I buy… if buy 3 candy bars, I will eat 2 now and 1 later (or maybe the next day), so I would only buy 2-3 at a time which made it less convenient for me to eat them. Afterall, they aren't all that good for you. Calories, Fat and Cholesterol it does add up, especially if you are eating them as fast I as do.

well, I got my Cholesterol levels back last week and my levels weren't all that great (saved for another post). I came up with 3 action items to help lower my cholesterol and get my cardio health back to normal. 1) was to consume fish 2x a week, 2)Flax Seed and/or Cod Liver Oil supplements and 3) lower number of candy bars to 4 for a 2 week period (instead of 6-9 a week).

Apart from a bag of pink M&M's that I bought before I found out my score, I have been doing pretty well on the chocolate intake. Hey, Pink M&M's you say? Hey, they are for Suzie K's Cancer research and I am all about Breast Awareness.

However, as a candy JUNKIE, I have to get my fix elsewhere. In the whole scheme of Holiday Candy, Easter is my favorite time of the year (Mini Eggs, Cadbury Eggs, White Chocolate Lambs, Chocolate Marshmallow eggs, etc) since the QUALITY of candy is much higher. Christmas is nice because of the amount of candy involved, but the candy is just rehash of normal flavors just marketed into a holiday tin to get you buy it. Halloween is my least favorite because the candy is the cheapest crap out there apart from the normal stuff that you can find in the candy aisle anytime of year. The one exception for Halloween is that it is the only time of year that you purchase Smarties in million pound bags. And cheap… Smarties may be the best taste/price ratio out there.

Smarties - 60 Whew only 25 Calories a roll, NO fat, No cholesterol - Just sugar. I probably have had, GULP, 1000 350 calories of Smarties just today or more. But the beauty about Smarties is that if you can burn the calories… no harm no foul no fat. Thermodynamics, baby!

And if regular Smarties aren't enough for you my friend, check out what
Else is available

Today I ran my normal speed day on a day where I am normally a fish in water. Since I did not get a chance to workout and Ryan's schedule didn't allow me an evening, I made sure that I jumped back on schedule for the week. Today, I ran a quick 3 miles. Actually, it was the best 2 miles that I have had, even though they were not the fastest, the were consistent. I then walked about 0.2 mile to the Lake Loudon hill before I shredded that course, almost sprinting the last 200 feet or so. I was very happy to see this progression because it lets me know that I am getting closer to being able to run a PR time. If I had to guess, I would probably be able to run a sub-23 5k at this point.

It looks like Eric is going to have a sleep over tomorrow night. That means that I will have the evening essentially free after work. So I could go have a drink, go run, run errands, etc. I think that I will try to meet up with Beer Boy and from there run and pick up some stuff from Bed Bath and Beyond that I need now that I have coupons. All 3 will be taken care of. SWEET! and maybe another crazy story of The Misadventures of Beer Boy and Math Boy!

Here are my split from today…

I just realize I didn't allude to the post title nor did I encrypt any secret coding into my post. Sorry no PLANET3RRY code today. Anyway, today I ran with my cell phone and my MP3 player (which acted up on me), so I was full of gadgets on today's run… see, nothing exciting this time.