The Man Crush

C'mon, let's admit it guys. We all have a "man crush", right? I really can't speak for the ladies, but I'm sure they have a similar phenomenon. You know what I'm talking about. It's not a crush in a romantic kind of way as much as it is a great admiration for someone.

I was reminded of my man crush the other day while out on a group run. One of the runners mentioned to me that her fake boyfriend was going to be at Chuckanut. Not knowing who this fake boyfriend was, I inquired. Not surprisingly, her fake boyfriend was none other than the man, the myth, the legend, Hal Koerner. She doesn't actually even know Hal, but she thinks he's super dreamy. Well honestly I must concur. Hal is super dreamy. We spent 5 minutes or so talking about him, and I shared with her my infatuation with Hal.

So this is really my ode to Hal Koerner post. I mean let's face it, Hal's definitely got a lot going for him. First off, is there a nicer guy in the sport than Hal? Okay, maybe Phil Kochik, but Phil's like the nicest guy ever, so he hardly counts. Then there's Hal the athlete. The guy has won Angeles Crest twice and is the defending WS champ, not to mention the gazillions of other races he's won. Plus, he's not built like a waify little runner. Hal looks like an athletic person that could handle himself in just about any sports setting. Then there's the Hal style. Sorry Karno, I know you've tried hard, but nobody looks better than Hal Koerner. Did you see him when he broke the ribbon at States? I could swear he showered and coiffed his hair before entering the stadium. I don't think there could have been a more stark contrast to my ghastly finish in 2006 than Hal's hollywood-esque traipse through the tape in 2007. The guy oozes style, well mostly. There does seem to be some debate on that soul patch, but you've gotta' take a chance on something every now and then, right?

Well, all I know is that Hal's a great dude and a helluva' good lookin' guy. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I've got a man crush on Hal Koerner. How about you?

The Gym

How does one know if they're becoming a gym rat? I mean what's the criteria? I ask only because I'm so enamored with my new gym that I'm worried I may turn into one of those creepy gym dudes. I'm definitely not there yet. Sure, I've started to shave my whole body, and I'm drinking creatine shakes on a daily basis. Oh, and I have put on 15 lbs of lean muscle while lowering my body fat %, but I'm definitely not becoming a gym rat, right? If I start looking unnaturally tan, please feel free to let me know that I look like a douche-y gym dweller.



In all seriousness, it has been great to have a brand new gym much closer to home. However, I have a love-hate relationship with the gym environment. First off, the gym is ridiculously crowded nearly all the time. Maybe it's just because it's brand new. Hopefully the excitement will wane a bit as the newness wears off. And the worst aspect of all, in my opinion, is the posturing that goes on around there. When I go work out, I have a set amount of time and a plan. I put my headphones on and get in and out as quickly and efficiently as I possibly can. But there are those folks, and lots of them, that are clearly there just to strut around checking themselves out and displaying their unnaturally tan bods. Ah, I thought I was done with my rant, but I have one final complaint about the gym. I can only speak for men, but can't we have just a little bit of humility in the locker room? I get the fact that people are changing in there and nudity is inevitable. That's fine. What gets me are the tactless acts of the nude. Can't they PLEASE put a towel down on the wooden bench before dumping a couple of fat cheeks and a wrinkly bean bag over it? These are probably the same people that have no problem sitting bare bunned on a public toilet. It's just gross.

As much as I may complain about some aspects of it, I feel like the pros out measure the cons of having a gym membership. Some may argue that time spent in the gym could be better spent just running more. Personally I feel like I benefit from a couple days of strength training per week. I've been more or less injury free since I began running and I think that's in part due to the 2-3 days I cross train in the gym. The other benefit I've found from having a gym membership is the access to a sauna. Since I first ran States in 2006, I've spent time leading up to the race heat training in the sauna. So, as much as I make fun of the gym atmosphere, I really do love it. You just have to know how to tune out the obnoxious aspects that come with that culture.

Sometimes I Could Really Use a Coach

Couldn't we all, right? For the most part, I'm pretty good at coaching myself, or at least I think I am. In all fairness, I have to give a great deal of credit to Scott Jurek. Scott has never been my coach, but I've learned a lot from him about how to train. I used to just go out and run. That's fine to a degree, but at some point, if you want to go to the next level, you need not only run, you must TRAIN. So train I do and sometimes foolishly. In the case of this past week (recovery week), I got sucked into a 4 hour run on Saturday. On top of that, my new gym just opened, and it's such a nice facility I've been sucked into some extra workouts there. Needless to say, my so called "recovery" week ended up being the second biggest week of this past block. DUMB. DUMB. DUMB. I know better, but it's just so fun to get after it. Well it's early in the year, and even my big weeks are pretty tame compared to what lies down the road. So a little extra in the early going probably isn't going to hinder too much. At least with a coach, I'd have someone to answer to every now and then.

Off Topic

Well, this is mostly a blog about running, but I have to say that I'm inexplicably excited about the return of one of Seattle's most prolific athletes, if not THE most prolific. That's right. Ken Griffey Jr. is coming back to the Mariners. I'm not even a big baseball fan, but as a kid playing Little League I was a huge fan of Griffey, and his return, 20 years after he first came up with the organization, has rekindled some of those youthful memories from my past. Sure he's old and way past his prime, but it's neat to see a great player come back and finish their career with the organization they began with. I think it's great for Seattle sports, because outside of some phenomenal running performances, there hasn't been much to get excited about.

Back in the Swing

This past week capped off my second solid 3 week block of training for the year. I hit a little speed bump the second week of this block with a DNF at Orcas, but I turned things around this third and final week of the block. Everything felt great this week. I had a solid threshold run Friday morning at Green Lake, and then followed that up with a 25 mile run on Chuckanut Saturday. I hit 84 miles for the week and even managed to get three days in the gym. Mentally and physically I'm all systems go. Right now, I just need to squeeze a little more time in on the trails. Run commuting to and from work is great, but I need to build that strength that can only come from time on the trails. One promising tidbit to note was that my chronically achey achilles tendon wasn't even slightly worse for the wear after a long, hilly run Saturday.

Check me out

Bet you didn't think it would happen, did ya? Well look at this I'm actually posting two days in a row. I'm dead serious when I say that it's now officially running season, and thus blogging season as well. I've been hitting it hard this week after having a wake up call at Orcas last weekend. Today I had a great threshold run at Green Lake. It was a crisp clear morning and there was very little wind. I managed just over 7 miles between 5:50-6 minute pace and felt really good. Tomorrow I'm headed up to Bellingham to get a little time on the Chuckanut course. Ah, I do love the Bellingham trails. A long run followed up with a potato burrito, what could be better?

Called out

Well, it's officially running season again, so hopefully I'll have a bit more to write about now. But first I want to apologize to anyone who feels the same way a recent anonymous poster does about my last few blog entries. Evidently I've been complaining a bit too much and don't seem to appreciate how good I have it. This anonymous individual left such a comment on my most recent rambling about having lost my hammer. It's funny to me (not so much ha ha funny) how people can so differently interpret things. IT WAS A JOKE. It was a lame attempt at humor, but I know at least a few people got a chuckle out of it. And, last time I checked, this is my blog and I can write whatever I damn well feel like. No one's forcing you to read it. WHEW! I got that off my chest. Now where was I? Oh yes, race season is just around the corner and I can't wait. Chuckanut will be my next race, followed shortly thereafter by the brand spankin' new Rainshadow 50k, in the beautiful Methow Valley. I'd like to squeeze something else into April and then run Miwok and States. I'm not yet thinking much beyond that, but there are definitely some intriguing new races out there.