Krampus My Style

Krampus

More on this dude at the end of the post

Last week the weather was beautiful I was testing my limits and getting a little ahead myself. I strained my achilles a bit which forced my to stop running,  (at least for a few days) something my sore foot needed as well. The Manhattan Beach Yule tide 5k was Scheduled for Saturday the 18th on the beach and I really wanted run in it .  I was optimistic but I had to be realistic.  I had not run a fast mile in over 2 and half months and did not know if I was ready.  My body feels strong and steady but I wasn't sure If was ready to be fast.

Sport Kilt, Moeben shirt and sleeves, cep calf sleeves and my USTAF hat

Side note:

I posted this on Facebook and got like 10 dude friends saying they dug the pic and zero response from the ladies lol.  

Thursday 2 days before the race I got all dressed up in my running gear to help pump myself up.  I decided to hit the beach (hard sand) and try running a 5k at about 75% max speed to see where I was at.  From the very first steps speed and strength felt effortless but unfortunately pain in my foot was very evident.  I ran my first 2.5k faster than I expected at a 6 min pace. When I turned around to head back I hit a strong head/cross wind. (this was my first time running fast in the Kilt)  Lucky for me no paparazzi was around for when I looked down I saw my willie looking back at me.  Time to slow down.  The kilt preforms well when running slower than a  7 minute mile and I could careless (personally I have no shame) about exposing myself, however I do not wish offend anybody and for legal reasons if I race in an urban environment I shall where a loin underneath. I finished my run with my foot not feeling so good.  As soon as I stopped the pain was gone and optimism was creeping  back into my brain.  I headed to the sauna for a couple hours to figure out what was going on with my body.  I told myself if the foot felt good the next morning I would sign for the race, which I really thought it would.

"doh"

Friday morning my foot was not happy.  No doubt I could bare the pain, run the race and maybe win. That would definitely set me back in my recovery, so once again I am on the sidelines.  I should probably have my own set of pompom's by now.
Or better yet
a

My team spirit is "Bourbon"

Even though I wasn't running I was excited to go root my sister on.  It was poring rain about an hour before the start but by the time the horn blew it there were just a few sprinkles coming down.

Starting line Yultide 5k 12/18/2010 Manhattan Beach

I was a little bummed to see  most of the field  wearing shoes. Because of the rain the storm drains were flowing like mad into the ocean my sister told me that a few times she had to go threw water 12 to 16 inches deep.  I bet that made all the barefooters even happier with their choice . 

Annie Seawright official womens winner

1st place Barefoot guy  (i'm disqualifying all the shod runners) good job dude

I'm not sure if she was the 1st place finishing barefoot girl but she was the cutest so I took her picture :)

My sister and her cheer leading gimp brother

After the race my sister was dieing for water.  Instead of being helpful by having water ready for her, I was oblivious and spend the entire race shooting the shit with race director, then I made her pose for a picture before she could get a drink. (she has already given me my X-mas present so no need to suck up, lol)  She ran a good race, improving on her previous time and I was proud of her.

Out of the 500 or so people who signed up for the race I would say less than 300 braved the weather and showed up.  The race director is an ex Olympian who coaches track up in Palos Verdes.  5 of the top 6 runners are on his track team including the winner, a 16 year old kid who finished in 16:40.

Sunday

The weather still stunk in Southern California.  I thought about playing some disc golf in the rain but was not that motivated.  I hit the gym in the morning for a few hours and then it was off to television city to go watch the Survivor season finale be filmed live.

I been a fan of the show for years and my buddy mine knows some people who hooked us up with good seats. Maybe next year I'll be sitting on the stage.

That's me lurking in the shadows

It was interesting watching the cast of Survivor on the stage. You could tell most of them were pretty nervous and the reunion show developed into a train wreck of strange moments and inappropriate comments. Thus proving that I would fit into the mix perfectly.

Monday, Tuesday,Wednesday

The weather has continued to stink, I have been hitting the dreadmill each day and spending a lot of time in the sauna I finished my X-mas shopping and have been cooking a lot a food.  Blah blah blah, 

I had planned on writing a bunch more crap, but the sun is starting to shine through my bedroom window for the first time in a week.  Thus I am going to end my post short and get my ass to the beach for  a run.

Presents

I suck at wrapping presents and love the convenience of gift bags.  What I love even more is that my mom by them by the truck load doesn't complain when I take 20 or 30 of  them.

"Santa" & "Claus" AKA Krampus

Attention Children be nice to your mom dad.  Not only will Saint Nick not bring you any presents if you are bad.  He may send his good buddy Krampus after you.

First he enslaves you, then he licks you, tosses you in a basket and... ultimately murders you.

Happy Holidays everyone

Surviving the elements, Snow at the beach, 80 degrees in December

Last Wednesday I got home from my daily sheenaigans at the beach and checked my answering machine.  what's that you ask?  I don't care for using my cell phone too much and thus rely on land line (well not really) I Use Ooma for voip service, that hooks up too a ragular phone does not require a computer and provides free phoinse service for life.  Any how I checcked my messages and I had calls from 3 different people telling me go try out for Survivor.  Auditions were the next day at the Morongo Indaian casino near Palm Springs (about 100 miles or so inland)  I have always been fan of the show and have considered trying out in the past but did I really want to drive that far?  I watched the show that night and saw the advertisement myself,informing me that interviews start at 9:00 a.m. and that you could start lining up at 6.am.  If I wanted to get their by 6 a.m. I would have wake up before 4,  I decided to leave my house around 5:45 a.m. figuring this might make the line longer but I had a couple books I wanted to read anyway.

I arrived at the Casino at about 7:30 I I had packed a a back pack full of food clothes and reading material. I was expecting to be sitting in a line all day outside on a cold windy day. After meandering through rows of empty slot machine I found where I was supposed to line up but their was no line?  After a few minutes some guy came up  to me and gave me a pink wrist band and told my to return at 9:25. (Sweet no line.)  I was then handed a a free $10 slot play coupon if I signed up for their winners club.

Hope and optimism are both very beautiful things. I really despise how Casino's feed on people's wishful thinking.  As I walked around the casino a saw a lot sorrow of people's faces starring at the blinking lights.  My guess is that most of them had been at it all night.  A night of poring money into a slot machine can really wear a person down.

I am not a risk taker, I try to calculate nearly everything I do ( I also often don't listen to myself which can cause quite a conundrum).  I am a gambler, but only when I feel the odd's are on my side.  I wasn't gonna put any of my money in the machine but a free $10, sure why not. I signed up for the winners club and also received a free buffet coupon (did not open till 11a.m.  I was told my credit would not show up for  30 mins, so I found a table and copped a squat.

When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose.  More important to me than money is good food in my belly and I was well prepared.

. 

Cha -Ching $$$

It was about 9a.m. and I figured it was time to break the bank with my free slot play.  I hit up a .02 slot machine, I was betting the max $1.50 a pull, after about 5 minutes I had netted $8.70 time to cash out.  Big pimpin. Even if the casino offered me free suite in an effort to reclaim their money I would have had to decline. :)

9:30

I waited in line for a total of about 15 minutes, before being ushered into a conference room with the other 60 or so people in the 9:30 group.  Other interesting people in my group.  Old native American Dude, Snake Dude,  Office Guy who said he had tried out 18 times before, Super buffed out African American guy, White trash no bra Cougar lady,  and girl dressed in blinky lights.

Then their was me: Barefoot runner, drunkard /future president and certified dumb ass.

After the conference rooms we signed a few papers and then were each put in front of a camera for 1 minute to explain how cool we were. (i could have spoke for hours j/k)  I actuality I felt pretty stupid and pretentious as I rambled through my idiocracy.

I was all done by 10:20.  I had expexted to be there until at least till the late afternoon.  The buffet didn't open till 11:00 a.m. and I had already packed a lunch.   About 15 miles away on the journey home was the Yukaipa  Disc Golf Course.  

As I pulled up to the course my phone rang (i do use my cell phone on occasion)  It was a friend of mine offering me a ticket to see the Survivor Finale on th 19th live at CBS. (Synchronicity at work)  Nice, this way I'll get a chance to see what it's like from both perspective's.  A good friend of mine (through Disc golf) is also one of the head set designers for the finale and it will be cool to go see his work in person.  

I had never played Yukaipa before and was pretty excited.  On a normal day of Disc Golf it's common for me to play 5 or more rounds of golf.  However my ribs were still not healed from my bike accident the prior week.  If you have sore ribs throwing a Frisbee is about the most painful things you can do.  But I was here and how could I resist playing at least one round

I stripped down to my shorts and was ready to play.

The course was beautiful, the grass was soft and moist and my spirits were high. That is until my first throw, "Ouch" my ribs were not happy.  Although painful my drives were decent but my putts were falling a little short. Yukaipa is about 2,500 feet above sea level which means slightly thinner air.  This meant my discs would fly just a little bit more overstable (fall to the opposite direction they are spinning) and drop out of the sky a hair sooner since they had thinner air to glide upon.  I adjusted my putt and canned a couple 60 footers.

Water Hazard

Hole six plays about 325' over water before a 10' wall and a 3' fence.  The basket then sits about 10' away from the ledge.  I can throw my side arm up to about 375' under perfect conditions but realistically I'm comfortable up to about 315'.  When I throw sidearm in shoes I drag the toes of my back foot on the tee pad for balance (at my peak I bought about 10 pairs of disc golf shoes a year)   This allows me throw the disc with much more accuracy and provides me with the confidence to add more power.  

I was playing barefoot (no toe drag unless I want blood) and with bad ribs,and  the hole was out of my comfort zone.  There was the option of laying upto the left at about 250' if my ego would let me. I decided to go for the birdie.  I pulled out my favorite driver a $25 Champion Destroyer from the 2008 Japan Open.  This disc has been with me a long time and tends to flip over easily if your not careful.  I really should not be throwing this shot.  With little confidence i hucked a low drive way off the mark, out of my hand it never had a chance as it barely careened into the wall below the basket and into the water. "doh" I had just lost my favorite driver, their were about 20 fishermen around the lake giving me that "what a dumb ass look." A bit dejected with my stupidity I decided to see just how stupid I really was.  My first shot never had a chance and their was little reason for me too think my next shot would be any different.  I'm sure the fishermen were wondering how many disc I would donate to the lake.

I pulled out a second Champion Destroyer out of my bag.  I visualized the shot in my head ( I had to throw it higher to have a chance). The disc came out of my hand with some heat however it was not even close to as high as I had planned it.  I really did not want to lose another disc.  My body English was trying to coax the disc to lift long after it left hand.  As the disc sailed closer, I realized it had a chance of going in the basket.  It barely cleared the wall grabbed the chains and fell in.  "Holy shit" was screamed by one of the fisherman.  I gave a small fist pump as I grinned from ear to ear.  I was cloud 9 and was receiving accolades from the people who were laughing at my misfortune minutes earlier.  Along the wall below the basket the lake was only about a foot deep and I was able to retrieve my other disc.  The Fate's were on my side.   From the tee pad I could not see the fence guarding the basket.  The margin of error was very slim and my disc squeaked over it mere inches.  It was a very lucky I mean skillful shot.

"Life is good"

I finished up my round bogey free but left a bunch of birdies out there. I really enjoyed the course.  As I left a couple of fishermen gave me the Waynes World "Were not worthy bow." in appreciation of my ACE.

I was out of the course by about 1:30 a.m.  I drove straight to my moms house to wish her a happy B-day (dinner plans for the next evening) and then to the beach for a nice sunset barefoot run.

I had to sacrifice my identity ans shave my chest for this one.

Friday morning another interesting opportunity presented itself.  I had a meeting with an advertising agency in Santa Monica about promoting a company I have worked with in the past.  The meeting went well and they may start using my lovely  face (lol) starting early next year. It was good morning the sun was shining and my spirits were high. Guess where I went?

Pic is from Saturday but who cares.

THE BEACH

Getting a little redundant by now, huh? I'm there pretty much everyday.  My body is starting to come together and I almost feel athletic again.  I hit the sand only expecting an 8 mile run but kept reevaluating my goals.  The only thing that stopped me was time I ended up running over 16 miles  before hurrying off to go watch my 

nephew's  winter singing performance.

My nephew's the little dude in the red on the back right side of the stage.

I t was cool to see my nephew sing but this horse totally stole show.

After the performance we took my mom out to dinner at a hole in the wall Sushi restaurant my family loves. (Soba for me).

On the way home we stopped by an area Torrance known for it's X-mas decorations

The local kids camp out in their driveways vending popcorn and hot chocolate.  My nephews were thankful for this

Home built and about 20ft tall

Saturday morning I got a call from Mr Burke, asking if I wanted to do a long run with him (20+ miles on the soft sand)  I wanted to but my body is still not ready to go his speed. The day before was the first time I ran over 15  miles in 2 months and thought maybe I should take it easy.

  (yeah right). 

 I got a late start and didn't hit the sand till about 1:30.  I thought maybe I'd catch Christian near the end of his run.  Once again I had only planned on a short run.  I started at 1st in Manhattan and headed North. When I hit Marina Del ray 6.6 miles later I had no beach left so I turned around.  By the time I got back to my car I had already  ran a half marathon in the soft sand.  I remembered that their was snowboarding going on at the Hermosa Beach Pier, Yes Snow boarding! I kept running and decided to take a a 10 minute pit stop to check it out.

Pier Avenue covered in more than 30 tons of snow

Snow is nice but I prefer sand and sun

When  I reached the South end of Hermosa mile 15 the sun had almost set.

 I kept going another mile and half before stopping again to take in the beauty of it all.

180,000 footprints on the beach this week

I was board and running on fumes so turned the camera on my stride as I ran.  Then I held the camera in the same spot but watched the video of my past steps as I made new ones.  I  felt like I was hallucinating when my legs were out of sync with the camera.

Take that "John Post"

What the Hell if Christian said he was gonna run 20 miles I'm doing 21.  I decided to do a second lap of Manhattan  and ran my last 30 minutes under moon light.

I got up bright and early Sunday morning.  The weather report predicted temperatures up to 80 degrees at the Beach.  I'm there almost everyday and there was no way I was gonna miss out.  My body was sore from my run the day before with a slight strain in my right Achilles.  My weekly mileage goal was 77 and I had already ran 80 (all barefoot and in the soft sand). I ended up going for a real easy 6 miles as I took in the scenery (girls in bikinis in December) I then sat around for awhile on the sand enjoying the sunshine with some friends. After a short Icing of my legs in the bone chilling pacific i went for an easy 4 mile run giving me a grand total 90 miles for my second week back running.

That night there was a huge winter firework celebration planned at the Manhattan Pier. at 4p.m. they had sledding and snow for kids to play in.  I jogged over to the pier about a half mile and met up with my family for some fun.

I wish I was a kid.

Playing in the snow barefoot with my family

I.m about to get nailed by a snowball.

Paradise

I had planned to meet up with some friends for the firework show but since my family stuck around I couldn't resist spending the time with them

What a bad ass, lol

My X-mas hat from the $.99 store came with puffy paint.  Nothing says X-mas quite like SLAYER, and nothing says SLAYER quite like glittery red puffy paint. Right?

Another great week in the books. 

Chia tree after 1 week

The closest thing to nativity scene you will see in my house.

Sand in my Blood, Time to Reclaim the beach Zombie Style

For nearly two months I have gone without running.  Countless hours on the recumbent bike, elliptical and climbing on the dreadmill.  I am not meant to be excercising indoors.  For one I despise wearing a shirt, also the people exercising on the machines next to me  don't seem to like that much when I accidentally hit them with a snot rocket.

Last Monday I was enjoying an easy relaxing 40 mile ride on my strand cruiser.  The air was crisp the sun was out and I wore nothing but a pair of board shorts and my new Luna Go's (most people had on sweat shirts and pants) I had put a new basket on which allowed me to carry bag full fruit to help fuel my adventure.  I only planned on riding about 20 miles but I didn't want to stop.  

Living up to my name sake 

Around mile 30 I was came  up to  a small hill on the bike path.  Most of my ride I kept at a very relaxing pace on flat ground.  Since my bike is a single speed  (p.o.s.) strand cruiser I tried to get a lot of momentum before the hill and charge up it at at around 4 times my cruising pace.  About half way up the hill I was pulling hard on the handlebars and quickly learned some dumb ass (yours truly) didn't put them back on tight enough.  The front wheel turned but the handle bars straight 

Great Grampa Sweeney (perhaps)

I was probaly going about 10 to 12 mph and I hit the pavement before I even realized what was happening.  about 2/3 of the impact ocurered on the frame of the bike and the concrete as I tumbled into the sand.  It took a few minutes for me to regain my cognaitive faculties (I din't have much to start off with) Shaking off the fall it was time to assess the damage, I realized nothing was broken.  I had about 5 to 10 small scrapes on my legs, a skinned knee full of sand, and I took a good poke in the ribs.  I figured it could have been worse.  My handlebars were pointing completely sideways as was my seat which took a small tear. Other than that the bike was still in one piece and I was able to go with my ride

I'm not meant to be riding a machine. It was as if the beach was calling me back.  The sand had entered my blood stream it had gone in my mouth trying to feed me and went in my my ears straight to the brain transfixing my train of thought.  It was time to get my ass off the bike out of the gym and back on the beach where I belong.

SAAANND,  MUST RUN ON SAAND!

Day1 (the day after the fall)

It was now or never.  I have been extremely cautious with my injury.  A certain hypersensitivity towards it has lead my to be maybe a bit too careful.  The first day back the sun was out (although it was only aobut 60 degrees.  The plan was to take it easy (1 mile) at about a 14 minute pace on the soft sand.  The body felt better than expected and I ended up running between the Manhattan and Hermosa piers and back roughly 3.4 miles.  I could of gone farther but I was concerned that adrenaline (more from my excitement to be running again than from physical exertion) might be masking some pain.  I hit the sauna that night and while at the gym I even got on the Dreadmill for a few slow miles in my Luna's.

Day2 

Optimistic about the way things were going I decided give some Barefoot paddle tennis a try another sport I had not done since September.  I challenged my buddy Justin (who is also banged up) we didn't play a match just rallied for and hour or so and it felt great to hit some balls. After a quick trip to the farmers market it was back to the Beach.  The plan for me was to do the same run as the day before.  Justin came with me for the first mile and we ran into "Hermosa 24 star" Christian Burke.  Man he looked strong out there, he has been training almost entirely on the soft sand (taking a page out of my book as he put it).  He told me was doing 10 miles each day on the soft sand.  It was only my second day back and we caught Christian near the end of his run I decided to push it an extra mile farther than I planned going 5 miles, while I listened to how well Christian's training had been going.

 I was  running at a pace that I shall refer to as Quicksand training. (so slow I could walk backwards faster)  each step I allow my foot to strike soft yet sink as far as it can in the soft sand.  The result is a slow low impact strength building workout. After the run I hit the sauna for a few hours while there I had some time to think, if Christian could 10 miles I can do 10.5.  I returned to the beach for another 5.5 mile run as the sunset

Christian Burke thinks he's Mantracker

(I can't help but laugh every time they say the name man tracker during this show which I would guess is at least 100 times an episode.

Day3

I had felt decent the first two days my body was beginning to find sourness in strange places.  Out of the blue I woke up with an extreme pain in my ribs about 60 hours after my bike accident.  I could hardly do anything without pain.  I was supposed to meet a friend for Disc Golf that afternoon but I quickly realized that was out of the question.  Stubborn as I am decided to for a run anyway.  Focusing on keeping my body balanced to avoid pain I could ran with a glass of champagne balanced on my head and not spilled a sip (maybe not champagne i would have drank it, will say horchata instead I hate that stuff).  Even though I was going real slow my body was starving for oxygen , my breathes were very shallow mostly through my nose and about every three minutes I involuntarily  yawned painfully as my lungs strived to get the air they needed.  Near the end of my run here comes Christian Burke gracefully speeding through the sand.  "He told me he had been tracking my gimpy foot prints.  Because of my injury I have been running with my left foot pronated and my right perfectly straight.  (very easy to track) I didn't want slow Christian down so I told him to catch up with me on his way back for a few miles.  I thought about doing 10miles but for once I  listened to my body and quit after 7 miles

Thank you very much Christian for looking over my beach while I was gone the last two months.  This is my sand am I here to reclaim it.  It is I that puts more steps here than anyone else.  Your services are no longer needed and you my friend are trespassing.  You are a wanted man and although I am not currently fast enough to catch you.  I will be very soon.

Day 4

I enjoy running with my sister but hardly ever get a chance.  We run at very different speeds and she prefers hard surfaces to sand.  I convinced her to join me barefoot on the beach.  She always worries about slowing me down but on this day she might have been able to outrun me if she wanted to.  My ribs felt a little better and we ran a nice 4 miles together before she departed.  I kept going planning on doing about 8 miles but the legs felt too good to stop I ended doing a little over a 1/2 marathon and felt like I could do much more but didn't need to.  For the first time I found a little bit of spryness in legs as my tempo increased I found my rhythm.

Day 5
I almost felt like a runner again the body. I had broke through a few barriers and ran my normal 10.5 mile soft sand run with ease.  Along the way I saw a bikini photo shoot, a seal and some dolphins.  I love the Beach.

Day 6
The weather was pretty crappy in South Bay.  I was lazy all day and I planned on taking the day off but couldn't resist  watching the sunset as crazy clouds passed through the sky and large raindrops fell on my head during my 6.5 mile beach run

Day 7

Me Lurking behind Much as I was during this run

I ran 6 days in row and was starting to get a little cocky.  I called up Mr Burke to see if he wanted to go for run.  We met at first street in Manhattan.  I figured we would run 10 miles which I was totally ready for.  What I wasn't ready for was to do it at his pace.  My blood was pumping as we sailed through the soft sand running 9 minute miles (I'd say each 9min mile in soft sand is equal to the effort of running 2 sub 7 minute miles on a track) I informed Christian that only one person had put more miles on the beach than him last week :) and that I was proud of his efforts. We had a good discussion about our future race plans and about the future of the Hermosa 24 more on this later.  An adventure athlete friend of Christian's joined us halfway through.  The workout was enjoyable (in a sick way) but my body was not ready for it.  After 10 miles Christian stopped but I kept going (an act to show supremacy) for another 2.5 miles (very slow). I'm at least 3 weeks away from running his pace comfortably.

Day 8
The plan was for this blog post to be about my first week back running but I lagged in writing it so heres a bonus day. On day 8 my body really wasn't that sore but I definitely sensed some fatigue in my foot I didn't really know if I should go running or not.  I rarely listen myself and almost anyone can convince to go running or play disc golf at any time.  On this day my buddy Justin wanted to go few slow miles (sounds good) I ended up running with him for about an hour.  I wasn't ready to stop  3 miles became 8 miles, 8 became 10 and 10 became 14.  Along the way in Dockweiler I got board.

Exactly 5km of GPS graffiti

Along time ago I wrote my name on the beach when graphed out out by my Garmin over a 1 mile run.  On this day I tried to make things a little bigger.  I set the bare pretty low with messy writing (I don't think I blame this one on being left handed) Anyhow it took exactly 5km to complete.  While out there who shows up none other than arch Nemesis and friend Mr. Burke.  I must of looked like a roomba bouncing into imaginary walls. He gave me a puzzled look and ended up running the perimeter with me.

8 Day total

80 miles total 78 barefoot on the beach and 2 on treadmill in Luna's.  The body Is not back yet and maybe a couple of days off are in order.  My body feels strong and all I want to do is run.  I still feel like I have training wheels on and I don't plan on doing anything fast for a least another week or 2.  If your a member of Daily mile you can follow my training there.  I really like that sight and I encourage everyone to become a member so that we can help motivate each other.

The Future
12/18
Yule tide 5k held on the hard sand by the water in Manhattan Beach (Barefoot).  I have won both the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair 10k and the Manhattan beach 5k this year and it would be fun to go for the trifecta.  I'm not sure my body will be ready for 5 minute miles 10 days from now But I sure hope it is.  This will be my first race in the Sport Kilt if I do in fact run it.

12/26
Operation Jack Marathon
The race is for a good Cause and starts in the El Porto Parking lot.  (the scene of the Barefoot Ted running clinic from my last post)  It is ran on bike path right next to the beach.  I plan to run the race super slow maybe barefoot.  Since about 70 % of it is right next to the sand (although slower to run on) I may take a slight diversion.
Sign up here

3/06
Copper Canyons Ultra
My main focus will be on this event.  I am going to arrive their well prepared and expect very good things to come out of this experience

6/18
The Hermosa 24

Last year Mr. Burke set the world record for most miles ran on sand over 24 hours.  He did this in effort to raise money for daughter's school (Pretty freaking cool).  He put this event together really quickly (most likely in an effort to keep me from running against him lol)  This year it shall become a race both solo and relay.
My blog post from the event in 2010

Last year I helped pace

It was a really cool thing to be a part of and I was really proud of my friend.

But this year It's time for me to reclaim my Beach.

Christian is from Hermosa I'm from Manhattan The course takes place in both cities.  I plan on doing a lot of miles with Christian and when the day comes I plan to run run at least one more than him and everyone else.

Christian will have the whole city on his side (rightfully so). He's a good person and raised a lot of money for their schools.

But while he's signing autographs. "I'll be training!"

While he's posing for the cameras "I'll be training!"

And yes 

I have fans to.

From all over the world for that matter.

It totally wasn't me (I hope)

Anyhow I feel good and I'm optimistic about the future

Hey Christian I updated your sign for 2011.  No need for a thank you it's the least I could do.