The Thursday Stoke!

Today I'm stoked about the cool swag that came in the mail recently. A few weeks ago I was one of a few winners of a giveaway that Frayed Laces held on her blog. A few days ago I came home and a large UPS box was waiting for me at the door. I had completely forgotten about winning the giveaway until I opened it up and this T-shirt with lots of Halls Refresh candies fell out. I tried one immediately and decided they're pretty good tasting. I don't see much benefit to using them before, during or after a run as they don't have much of the things runners are looking for (carbs, electrolytes, vitamins, etc.), but they sure do taste well. I will probably try a few of them out during surfing sessions next week in Puerto Rico. Since they're wrapped individually it will be easy to stash on in the wax pocket of my boardshorts. The T-shirt is cool, but not really my style. However, I do think I might wear it too while surfing as a layer of protection from the sun simply because of the bright yellow words on the back that I failed to take a picture of that read, "Rethink Your Everyday Refreshment." For some reason I think that would be hilarious to read on my back as I'm flying down the line of a head high wave with heals on the nose! That's more my style.

Thanks Frayed Laces!

I'm always stoked to win anything!

In other news:
Yesterday I decided on a little experimentation. The idea came from the Go Dog Go Race that will be held in New Smyrna Beach this Saturday. Mainly it's a 5k race, which I ran last year, but they are also having a 1/2-mile Dog Dash and that intrigues me. I won't be running it this Saturday because I have better plans with a special someone in Gainesville, but I can't help but think, "could Sir Tucker and I win that dog dash?"

I'm never run only a 1/2 mile before full out so I have no idea what time or pace I could do nor my dog. I know that my dog is only good for about 3 miles before he "tuckers" out. He usually starts off with a bang and doesn't pace himself so he should be great for 1/2 mile!

I clocked out a long stretch of straight road through a nearby neighborhood in my truck and then verified it on MapMyRun.com. Then I laced up my new Brooks and walked Sir Tucker around until he "dropped a bomb" in the neighbor's yard (dude, don't worry I picked it up with a baggy). With our pre-race bathroom routine done it was time for the 1/2-mile experiment.

We both stepped up to my imaginary start line. I had Tucker "sit" and I crouched low while preparing to start my Nike wrist watch and said aloud as if Tucker would surely understand, "1....2....3.... GO!"

I sprang into a medium sprint; not as fast as say chasing down a pop fly in the outfield, but faster than I'd ever run during my normal runs. Tucker followed with a "Oh-boy-oh-boy this is exciting" look on his face. The first 30 second were easy and Tucker was right there with me almost heeling at my side. He was not distracted and he didn't try to kill me by crossing my path or tripping my long arse legs! The next 30 seconds Tucker began to lag behind me about 6-feet. I yelled, "come on boy!" to encourage this new behavior on my part. I also started to breath really fast... a new sensation.

Around the 90 seconds into the run I could clearly see my imaginary finish line. My legs felt fine. No Achilles tendon pain (my major concern), but I was beginning to feel pain in my lungs. The air temperature before I left was 58 degrees. Perfect I thought. I immediately recognized this new sensation, but not from running. I know it from surfing. It's the feeling your lungs and body have when its oxygen deprived like when you've exerted yourself super hard and then take an entire set of bombs on the head while trying to paddle out of the impact zone in hurricane swell surf. I've heard runners call it Vo2MAX. I'm not sure what the V stands for and maybe I should look it up. In aviation V-speeds are speeds to fly by like Vne, which is Never Exceed Speed or the imaginary speed of where the integral structure of the aircraft can be compromised.

At 120 seconds into the run I feel as if I've surpassed Vne while breaking the sound barrier inverted and my entire system has been compromised. My pace has significantly slowed down to about half of where I started and not by choice, but pure instinct. I see the finish line merely feet ahead and find a little more energy to increase pace until I've past my mark and I stop my clock. It reads 2 minutes, 40 seconds. Or a 5:20 mile pace. Tucker is about 10 feet behind me. We both stop and I almost double over. That was downright painful! It takes at least as long as the run for me to catch my breath to where I can talk again. Tucker on the other hand immediately sets about sniffing every nearby object in sight and peeing on selected targets. He seems fine if not even winded. "Whatever dude, I'll still out run you in distance any day," I think to myself.

So now I know. A 2:40 half mile. Experiment complete.

On the walk back a homeowner strikes up a conversation by asking about my dog. I had to explain my experiment to him after he says, "Man, you were running so fast I thought you might be in trouble or someone was chasing you."