6:50 or Bust

Actually, 7:49 would be sufficient to avoid a complete bust.  What the hell am I talking about?  6:49/mile is the average pace to finish a marathon in 2:59.  My PR is 2:53 and change so why does going just under 3 hours matter?  Well on Sunday, March 18th, I'll be part of a 5-man team attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the  fastest marathon by a linked team at the Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA.  The current record is 3:26:15 - just over 7:49/mile.  What would be better than breaking the record?  Going sub-3hrs of course.  A 3hr marathon is one of those benchmarks for serious recreational runners - an invisible line that many have on their radar.  Some can only dream of a 2:59:xx marathon, others train diligently for years hoping to crack the barrier just once, and even fewer are lucky enough to push themselves even faster.  In the bigger picture of marathon running it isn't all that fast.  After all, the world record is approaching 2hrs flat (currently 2:03:38) - an average pace for 26.2 miles that is faster than most people can run a single all-out mile.  But in terms of mere mortals it's still challenging and a very respectable time.

As I mentioned, our original goal was to break 3hrs and we had a team with the credentials to do it.  Unfortunately, running often involves dealing with injuries and we lost one of our teammates just last week which left us scrambling for a replacement.  Being only 3 weeks out from the race didn't leave many options because we obviously needed someone who was already in marathon shape, available, and willing to be tied to the rest of us for a few hours.  Luckily, we've got a good running store in the area with a few guys up to the task with only a couple weeks notice.  We may have to adjust our expectations slightly but I think we'll still be close to the 3hr mark.

In addition to myself, the other team members are Tommy Neeson, Drew Midland, Steve Speirs, and our newest running fool teammate Mark Manny.  We're coordinating with J&A Racing as well as the folks at Guinness World Records and we've decided to support a local charity - Preston's March for Energy.  So T-minus 18 days until we toe the line and run for a record.  Check out our Facebook page and keep an eye open for another blog post after the dust has settled.

Biffle Dinked!

Say what?  Yeah - Biffle Dinked.  I just returned from a short trip to Key West.  It's definitely a cool place to relax for a few days and punish your liver but this post is really about the journey to get there.  It all started Thursday when I arrived in Miami and met up with Jim, Tommy (Timmay), Bill, John, and August.  Collectively we make Team Biffle Dinked and we were running the 198 mile Ragnar Relay from Miami to Key West. I was the new (and young) guy on the team but I think I fit right in.  They put me in charge of the pre-race lodging in Miami so I promptly booked us rooms at the Embassy Suites...more on this later.  The basic concept of the relay was, well, a really long relay.  There were 36 legs mapped out varying from about 2 miles to just over 11.  Since we only had 6 runners we were considered an ultra team.  Most teams were 12 people but that's just weak sauce IMO.  And because everyone but me was old we were technically classified as sub-masters.  So you rent a big van, load it with Gatorade, water, peanut butter, and gels, then hop-scotch your way from one exchange zone to the next swapping out runners as you go, creeping ever closer to the finish at Duval St.

Intro - why a blog?

I thought I'd kick this off with a little about why I decided to start a blog and what you can expect to read here.  I'm not huge into the social media thing - I don't Tweet and have no idea what that Google+ account I have is supposed to do - but I am on Facebook.  It's been great for finding old friends but aside from that I consider it mostly a novelty - a place to share random thoughts, post fun photos or YouTube vids, joke with friends, and pass the time while you wait for the work day to end, but not necessarily to share every detail of your otherwise mundane life.  Honestly, I don't really care that Boots the cat just got her shots or that you just went the gym (again).  And that brings me to my point here.  I'm going to use this space to talk about stuff that doesn't fit the mold of "novelty" for FB - my forays in triathlon and running, maybe some traveling, and definitely beer.  Those of you that are my "friends" on Facebook should know that micro brews are a sort of hobby of mine - drinking them, not brewing them.  This isn't going to be a training log so don't expect to see my detailed daily workout but I will be posting about my journey through the season building up to the inaugural Ironman U.S. Championship in August and some fun events I have planned along the way.  Stay tuned, I'm kicking off 2012 by joining up with 5 other idiots to run (yes, RUN) from Miami to Key West Jan 6-7.  I'll also throw in some posts with more of my background in running and triathlon and how I got to the point of wanting to race Ironman distance or spend 24hrs running solo.