4:19.15

Today I raced a mile at the BU Valentine's Invitational. The race went pretty well, and I ended up running 4:19.15. Total mileage for the day was 8, which gave me 58 for the week.

Warming up I felt pretty crappy, which I think was a result of going out on Thursday night after work. Having been a little under the weather, I didn't really know what to expect in terms of time. After 3 miles on Comm. Ave, and some strides on the infield, I laced up the spikes and stepped on the line for my last race of the indoor "season".

The race got off to a pretty bad start when the started asked someone to take their foot back from the line, and immediately fired the gun as I was leaning back. Needless to say, I got off the line pretty slowly, which sucks, because I'm usually pretty good at it. After settling into last, I figured I should just bide my time until the race opened up. I was able to do that for the first half of the race, which went through the 800 in about 2:13. I was hoping to go out a little quicker than this, but moving up to the front would have required a pretty massive effort over the first half of the race. Right at a half mile I decided to get a move on and moved up to about 3rd place. At this point, I was pretty much "all in" and made a serious drive to the finish. The last half went pretty well (read = hurt a whole lot), and I finished in third (in my heat) and ran 4:19.15. This is good and bad. Good because any time under 4:20 is pretty decent, I ran the first half of the race in lane two, and becuase I was feeling a little sick. It was bad becuase my p.r. is 4:18.99, and one of my goals on the To-Do List was to run a p.r. in the mile. Less than a quarter of a second.... damn.

So, not so sure how tomorrow's run is going to go, considering we're supposed to get some snow tonight. We'll see...

And finally, I'd like to mention that I ate Anna's tonight, which puts me at 8 times in the last 10 days. Yes. At somepoint I'm going to write a whole post on Anna's and may even devise some contest where I see how many nights in a row I can have it. I'm guessing I could get between 14 and 20 days before it started to get difficult (and not because I'd be getting sick of it, but becuase at somepoint I might not be in town, or there might be some other reason why I'd be unable to eat Anna's).

Goal # 2

Hey all... sorry about missing yesterday. I went out with Foley peeps after work and didn't get home until late. (I also may have made myself sick, which does not bode well for tomorrow...we'll see.)

Anyway, on Thursday, Bromka, Hog and I ran Brookline. This morning we ran Sci-Tech, which is 5.5 miles. I hope my race tomorrow goes well.

But, in more important news, I just sent a letter to Amanda Congdon. It went a little something like this....

Dear Amanda,

Hi, my name is Brian McNamara, and I am a 23 year old working and living in Boston. A friend of mine showed me www.rocketboom.com, and I was an immediate fan of the site. My purpose in writing this letter is to ask you out on a date, so if you are currently involved with someone, or prefer not to continue reading, please feel free to stop.

I guess I can begin by telling you a little bit about myself. I am originally from Saratoga Springs, NY, a picturesque city in upstate New York. During high school I was involved in several different activities, including my academics, running cross country and track, and playing the violin. After finishing high school, I went to Boston to attend Tufts University. While there I majored in Philosophy and Psychology, and continued to run cross country and track. Currently I’m working at a law firm in Boston, and have plans to attend law school next year.

I’m impressed that at such a young age you’ve been able to achieve so much success on rocketboom and on television. You should be very proud. I should also tell you that I think you are a very attractive girl, and I think it’s pretty sweet that you graduated with honors from Northwestern University. You have a wonderful sense of humor, as evidenced by your work on rocketboom and your appreciation of Dr. Katz. I should tell you that my favorite episode of that show was when someone was on talking about the Manatee, and what the Manatee would say on Ricki Lake. “If you’re upset about bein’ fat, you should go to the gym.” “I have a layer of blubber to keep me warm in the water.” I think that is pretty funny.

So, Amanda, would you like to go to dinner with me sometime? I realize that New York City isn’t exactly next door to Boston, so I thought that if ever you were in Beantown, we might arrange to go then. Hopefully we’d have a good time together. I would describe myself as being a relatively attractive person (think Topher Grace, but not Brad Pitt). I would treat you nicely, and try to make funny jokes, most of which would end up being very bad puns though. Maybe you think those are funny, maybe you don’t.

I realize you are a very busy person, and that you probably receive many letters like this one. That being said, I understand if you don’t have the time or interest to respond. Please know that a response would, however, be greatly appreciated.

If you wish to contact me, I suggest you check out my blog at http://macrunsboston.blogspot.com. Also, I would like to suggest a web clip for your show. You may or may not have seen this, it is a funny parody of Brokeback Mountain. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfODSPIYwpQ. Enjoy.

Sincerely,

Brian McNamara


Hopefully she actually reads it, and isn't so put off that she signs me up for a bunch of porn emails or something. We'll see.....

Harpua

I've been listening to a lot of Phish lately, hence the post title.... anyway...

Good morning run this morning. Hog's alarm got messed up so we ended up leaving a little later than normal. Bromka, Hog and I did our Boston loop. I came back via Mass Ave to get to work on time. It was pretty beautiful out.... chilly, but really sunny. Mornings like these are fun to run on. My legs felt pretty good, not too sore from yesterday. The run was 6 miles.

Entries for Valentine's are posted here. Should be a really fun meet to run in and watch.

And, if you want some new music that isn't too bad, I recommed the Arctic Monkey's new CD "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not". It's pretty good.

Back in the Saddle

Ok.... back at it. Finally. Apologies for the temporary hiatus. A combination of laziness and technical difficulties contributed to the blog not being truly updated for some time. No matter.....

Ok, so a running recap of the last few days. On Saturday Nate, AK, and I went to the last Tufts meet to cheer on the team, take some footage for the video we're making, and to race (at least Hog and I). So, a quick note about the video. My junior year I made a documentary about the Cross Country season, which I think turned out really well. (You can see a trailer for it here... I suggest you check it out.) I used Adobe Premiere to make it, and I still have the trial disks. Ethan, the men's Track and Field coach had asked our apartment if we could make a short movie about the season to show the guys on the team the night before the New England Division 3 Championship. I think this is a great idea, so we've been filming at each of the meets. This project has been reflected in our house goals.

Some back-story on racing at these Tufts meets. Throughout the indoor season, colleges host indoor track meets. These meets are sometimes open to unattached athletes, or athletes who belong to a running club. Since I've been at Tufts, our home meets have always been open to unattached athletes, assuming they register to run in advance. I had asked Ethan if it were ok for Hog and I to race this weekend, and he said it would be no problem. We got a call from Ethan on Thursday before the race, and he said that due to a large number of entrants in the running events, meet management decided they weren't going to let any non-collegiate athletes compete. I was sort of bummed out, but Ethan said that there was a still a chance that I could race in the 5k.... there were only 6 kids in the race anyway, so it wasn't like they would have had to have added extra sections to accomodate me. Ethan said I should still show up, warm up, and that he'd try to get me on the line right before the race started. I figured this would be no problem, especially becuase it was a meet at Tufts, and I had been a four year Varsity athlete and captain of the team.

Well, it didn't turn out so easy. I went out on my usual three mile warmup, changed into spikes, ran my strides... same as always. About 5 minutes before the race was to start, I found Ethan and asked what the deal was. He went to talk to Branwen Smith-King, who is the former women's head coach, and the current assistant athletic director at Tufts. After a 5 minute conversation Ethan came up to me and said the race was a no go.

I was pretty disappointed. I fully understand if Tufts wants to put a cap on the number of athletes they let compete, and I really appreciate when people make rules and stick to them. This situation just seemed ridiculous to me though. There were 6 competing athletes in the 5k. Usually you can fit about 20 or 22 before you have to add another section. So it wasn't like I'd be slowing down the meet if they had let me run. It also makes me mad that Branwen didn't let me run. I don't really understand why she would treat former athletes the way she did. I was there to support the team, take video for a team project, and to hopefully run a race on my home track. Bran's decision to not let me run wasn't unfair, it just seemed inconsiderate. I know Ethan tried really hard to get me into the meet, which I really appreciate. It just sucks that I couldn't get to race due to bureaucratic crap. It's more annoying that I wasn't able to get in the race becuase I thought I had a good chance to pr, and I had tailored my training with this weekend in mind. Oh well, I guess some things are just out of your control. Anyway, Hog and I ran 6 miles in the Fells after to give me 9.5 for the day and 62.5 for the week.

On Sunday, Hog, Rosen and I ran 14 miles around Jamaica Pond, through Boston, and Cambridge. My legs felt pretty crappy, but I think that was due to a lack of sleep from the night before. Monday Bromka, Hog and I did our Brookline loop. 8 miles. My legs felt pretty good. Tonight Nate and I went to Tufts after work to do some lighter intervals. We ran 5 miles warmup, then 2 by 400 and 4 by 200 with 90 seconds rest. There was a running club on the track, so we did the intervals in lane three. We ran 64, 64, 30, 29, 29, and 28. I felt pretty good, and I'm very excited to race the mile at BU this weekend.

On Saturday night AK, Hog, Skip, Rosen, Cummings, Anne and Annie (of Foley fame) and some of Skip's friends went out to The Harp. It was a pretty good night, highlighted by Nate consuming a few beers. A good night for sure, despite not getting to bed until about 3:15. Ouch.

And... for what you've all been waiting for. Updated To-Do Lists. Last week was generally a bad week for the apartment, as no one accomplished all of their goals. Nate did garner the distinction of being the first ever recipient of both Best Week Ever and Worst Week Ever. He won Best Week Ever due to his amazing Saturday night (which included an awesome phone call to his girlfriend Emily, as well as walking home from North Station.....(it's very far)). And , because Nate didn't achieve any of his official goals, he was also awarded Worst Week Ever. Good job Hog.
Now, for the new To-Do List. It's pretty good. I think the hardest goal for the week might be for Bromka to stop drinking Hater-ade. He's been hating on the To -Do List for some time, and he really needs to show the apartment that he's dedicated to success. Also, "Rocket Boom Girl" is actually Amanda Congdon, of www.rocketboom.com and www.amandacongdon.com fame. She's a 24 year year old Magna Cum Laude graduate of Northwestern University, and currently resides in Manhattan. I figure when I tell her that I'm a dude who 's living in Boston, working at a law firm, have boyish good looks, a rapier wit, and an amazing sense of humor, I figure I'll be all set. We'll see....

blast

Ok, so last night I spent about 40 minutes on a huge post, including a weekend recap, and an updated To-Do List. Blogger then decided to go through some "Scheduled maintenenance", and I lost the whole post. I'll try to get it up tonight.....