Sharman and Semick Blitz South Africa

Congrats to Bendites Ian Sharman and Kami Semick for rocking the Comrades Marathon today. I watched the livestream video until midnight or so at which time Ian's live results put him around 305th place overall and Kami 4th for the women. There was an occasional video shot of Kami, who looked her usual strong self. I figured she would at least hold her position. I awoke this AM and was happy to see Kami did hold onto 4th, finishing in 6:32:55. I think it calculates to around a 7:02/mi pace. I was absolutely floored to see that Sharman picked off 281 runners while I was sleeping, to finish 24th overall in 6:01:13! I calculated his pace to be around a 6:28/mi. I didn't see many non-African names ahead of him. He beat the likes of Michael Wardian (6:02:36) and both he and Kami crushed Josh Cox (6:51:29), who must have had an off day. I'm very impressed with both runners. Awesome run!

All Time Dirty Halfers

Just a mere 4 weeks of training left to get your Dirty Half legs rolling. Below is a list of the All-Time Top 10 Dirty Halfers. Could this be the year to get your name on the list? Good Luck.

Top 10 Men-Open
1. Andy Martin 1:13:37 (07)
2. Max King 1:14:22 (06)
3. Dylan Mason 1:15:00 (06)
4. Dylan Mason 1:15:49 (05)
5. Andy Martin 1:16:36 (05)
6. Santi Ocariz 1:17:08 (09)
7. Sean Rivers 1:17:21 (05)
8. Brett Kimble 1:17:26 (06)
9. Dylan Mason 1:17:58 (07)
10 Jeff Caba 1:18:00 (09) Sweet!

Top 10 Women-Open
1. Lisa Nye 1:25:08 (08)
2. Katie Caba 1:25:27 (09)
3. Katie Caba 1:27:37 (08)
4. Lisa Nye 1:27:40 (07)
5. Pam Bradbury 1:28:19 (08)
6. Pam Bradbury 1:28:49 (06)
7. Sunny Gilbert 1:28:58 (08)
8. Kami Semick 1:29:35 (07)
9. Evelyn Dong 1:29:56 (07)
10 Erica Johnson 1:30:02 (07)

Top 10 Men- Masters
1. Mark Ryan 1:22:14 (08)
2. Brian Gingerich 1:23:08 (08)
3. Kevin Hutchins 1:23:19 (09)
4. James Nelson 1:23:57 (04)
5. Tim Monaco 1:24:25 (07)
6. James Nelson 1:24:35 (08)
7. Brian Gingerich 1:24:44 (07)
8. Joel Vergona 1:25:03 (05)
9. Jim Bendis 1:25:04 (05)
10 JC Callans 1:25:06 (09)

Top 10 Women- Masters
1. Kami Semick 1:29:35 (07)
2. Dru Carpenter 1:33:17 (07)
3. Dru Carpenter 1:34:26 (06)
4. Shelly Tozer 1:35:44 (04)
5. Terry Sheasby 1:36:36 (05)
6. Dru Carpenter 1:37:28 (08)
7. Julie Downing 1:38:59 (08)
8. Chris Vergona 1:39:05 (08)
9. Amy Peterson 1:39:38 (09)
10. Terry Sheasby 1:39:51 (03)

American 10k Record goes down.

I know this video has been circulating, but if you haven't watched it, I suggest you sit back, grab a cup of coffe and enjoy. It takes less than 27 minutes. If you are short on time, fast forward to the last mile.


M 10k F01 (**AR 26:59, 2010 Payton Jordan) 10k 2010 Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational on Flotrack

Hall, Keflezighi, Deems, Webster

Two big time races over the past two days. American heroes abound. For those who didn't pay to watch the Boston Marathon, it was...strange. Fortunately Andy "Deep Pockets"Martin threw down the $5 cash and brought his computer to my house this AM so we could view it. Like last year, Ryan Hall charged off the line to lead the main pack through the first 8+ miles while the rest of the pack was happy to let him take on the wind and coasted behind him. Merga, last year's winner, then threw down a 4:35 mile and Hall was suddenly dropped, barely visible on the screen. Within two miles he came charging back and took the lead. The other fast guys once again strolled behind his wind shield, running comfortably for several miles. Once they hit the hills around mile 18 or so, Robert Cheruiyot and Merga separated themselves from the pack. It then became a two man race, with Cheruiyot eventually outclassing Merga. Cheruiyot went on to run a course record of 2:05:52 and bounced around the finish area like he was ready to run it again. Merga was overtaken by Kebede, who finished second. Out of nowhere, a resurrected Ryan Hall then again entered the screen and was kicking hard, rapidly closing the gap on Merga for third. Merga had just enough at the end to finish in 3rd, two seconds ahead of Hall. Meb Keflezighi then came charging down the home stretch for 5th. Pretty sweet, 4th and 5th for USA.

DEEMS (Blogger Picture) VS WEBSTER
As sweet as Boston was, it was nothing compared to the Light of Hope 5k. While I couldn't get the live feed on my computer, I did check the results to see who took home top honors. While there was no surprise with Mike Olsen taking first overall, admittedly there was, well, shock seeing Ron Deems and Dave Webster as second and third overall. Looks like it was a battle! Way to go old guy masters! There's a new rivalry in town.

As for me, well I knocked down two maple bars and three cups of coffee during the marathon this AM. I then limped out a 5 mile run and am now eating again. Pretty typical training for me. I should be ready for barbeque season soon.

Why Tele when you can Alpine ski?

If you haven't noticed, this is slowly becoming a ski blog. That's what injury will do to a man. Two weeks ago I entered my fourth decade of life. I had been counting down this date in anticipation of becoming a "masters" runner and climbing back onto the podium...top spot if all played out to my plan. Instead, I haven't run more than 10 miles per week and am now attempting yet another rehabilitation modality with Active Release Therapy. Matter of fact, I have my second session today with Mark DeJohn. Anyhow, by great fortune, winter decided to hit the Cascades right around my birthday. Due to the influence of my wife, who practically begged me to get rid of my 1980's rear entry boots and $15 skis, I received a new setup of K2 Obsethed skis and Salomon X310 CS boots for my birthday. The kid who sold them to me described it as a "sick" setup, so I assume it's good. Anyhow, the skis have easily taken 20 years off my skiing age. Feel like I'm back in college again. Two weeks ago I had a "dad's" sense of pride skiing with my antiquated stuff, but now...wow. So, because of my inherent guilt, I had to buy Katie some fat skis. I was able to justify it as her early birthday present. She wound up with the Volkl Kiku's. We just returned from the mountain today and had an absolute blast. So, both of us now are contemplating temporary retirement from running and transitioning into full time ski bums. Shouldn't be that tough for me. I already have the affinity for beer and laziness. Might be a little more difficult on my wife, but I'll work on her. Hopefully with the end of ski season, this phase too will pass. I'm sure at some point we'll be back out running the trails, but for now, well, this is pretty fun.

Why Run When You Can Ski?

Katie and I set running and rehab aside over the weekend to ski Tam McArthur rim with some friends. We stayed two nights in yurts, operated by Three Sisters Backcountry Wilderness. After a 5-6 mile snowmobile ride in, it was nothing but skiing powder and hanging out for two days. Oh, and drinking beer. Needless to say, it was a blast. It also looks like a great place to run in the summer. We hope to head back out after the snow melts.

10 days out

I'm now 10 days out from the PRP injection into my achilles. Overall things are feeling pretty good. Not certain how I'm supposed to feel at this juncture, but figure reduced pain is a good thing. I was able to enjoy a spectacular day of alpine skiing today without a glitch of achilles pain. Unfortunately the rest of my body hurt. In a couple days I plan on ditching the walking boot I'm in and transitioning back to normal footware. This will spare me the awkward explanation of PRP to compassionate folks politely asking me what I did to my foot. I'm hopeful to be running in 2-3 weeks. Until then, a bit more PT, stretching and eccentric achilles loading. And of course, spinning.