It's The Final Countdown

I hope that after reading the headline everyone has that horrible song stuck in their head.

So it is Sunday evening at about a quarter until 5. One week from right now I hopefully will be writing about how cool my finisher's medal is. Probably I'll be writing about how much my legs hurt. And how upset my wife is that I talked her into doing this.

Actually I think she is going to have a great time and feel very rewarded when she is done. She has never been in a race before. What an exciting experience this will be for her.

So Friday night we made our final gear purchases. She got a long-sleeve technical shirt just in case it is cold (last year it was freezing) and I did end up getting a hand-held water bottle. We also got our GU (4 tri-berries and 2 mandarin oranges).

Today we took a Wog after church in full dress rehearsal. We wore the clothes we will Wog in on Race Day (well my lovely bride wore the new long-sleeve just to make sure it would be okay but she'll probably wear a short sleeve she had already worn), I carried the new water bottle and even though it was cloudy today here in Houston we wore our hats. (Well technically my wife wore a visor)

You may laugh a little bit but the last thing you want to do is be in the middle of a 13.1 mile Wog and realize that this shirt chafes or this water bottle is really a pain in the ass and not worth the weight it adds to only one side of your body. In fact this is what has kept me from buying a water bottle to carry. Now some of you may ask why not get one of those Amphipod belts with the water flasks that attach? Good question. For those that have no idea what I am talking about here is a pic:

Here is my reason for not getting this: I think I'm too fat and the bottle would gouge into me. The truth is, most of the stuff made for runners is not necessarily made for Woggers, if you know what I mean. Let's be honest, most running stores don't have a big and tall section. Maybe this will be the motivation I finally need. Maybe this is what will push me over the edge. The wish to not look silly wearing a water belt and hoping to fit in with the skinny people. Not for myself. Not for my family. not to get off the CPAP or avoid on-set of adult diabetes. No, I'll be motivated by the urge to buy gear.

It's hard to believe we are only six days away. On Thursday's blog I will fill you all in on the schedule for the weekend. The plan for the rest of this week is a nice brisk walk every night and contain our excitement for the Big Day.

Almost there - Stay on Target

So the Wife and I are 10 days away from D-Day. And in this case the D means DOOM. No, not really, but it does feel looming. We are both so busy right now it seems like we have to focus on everything but Wogging. Yet the calendar moves whether we like it or not.

As we make our final preparations we are going to head out to the running store one last time for some supplies. We need to get some GU Energy Gels. I think real runners use these because they are light weight, can be strapped to their body, can be eaten in stride and full of quick energy. I will eat them because I want to be cool like the elite runners. Let's be honest, I could eat a chili dog and not really break my stride too much. But that could create other problems which no one here wants me to write about.

So if you have never had one of these imagine shooting several ounces of funky-tasting honey into your mouth that will instantly dehydrate you. Mmmmm-Mmmmm. I have had about 5-6 different flavors and I have to say that the Tri-Berry is my favorite. I find it interesting that they don't say what the berries are. I assume there is no actual berry in it but rather it was engineered in some lab somewhere. If someone has ever tried the cappuccino  let me know. I wonder what it tastes like but I am scared to try it. Coffee flavored gel just sounds gross.

We also need to pick up some Body Glide.

This stuff keeps you from chafing so it's importance can't be valued. Fortunately they do value it for under $5. This is important for anyone but when you are a fat runner like me you especially need it. You will notice I said fat. That's right. I am fat. I know it and have no problems with that word. Race Directors try and be clever and talk about Clydesdale Division Runners. To be honest I find this to be more demeaning. Are they saying we are like horses? That we got fat by drinking too much Budweiser? Either way I don't like it. When I was in high school on the track team they would sometimes do a "Heavy-man Relay" at a meet. This is when they would make the discus throwers and shot-putters sprint for the amusement of the spectators. In retrospect it was really kind of cruel.

On kind of a side note. I have to be honest, when I clicked for image search and typed in body glide I was very nervous about what would come up. Fortunately I got clean images.

The other thing I am contemplating buy is a water bottle that molds around your hand. Something like this:

 The nice would be to have the ability to have a drink whenever I want one. The down side (other than the price) would be having more weight in one hand rather than the other. Again, if anyone has any feedback, it's appreciated.

Wow Woggers. It's hard to believe we are almost here. I;m getting excited. To be part of 30,000 other participants and thousands of people cheering you is pretty awesome. Knowing you all will be there in spirit is even better. Alright, I will talk to you all on Monday. Have a wonderful weekend.

The Wogger's Graveyard

It was Halloween and I was Wogging in the graveyard in a part of town known as the Wogger's Graveyard. It got it's name because several years ago two teenagers went Wogging in the cemetery. They had decided to Wog there because they thought it would be peaceful and quiet. Never had an error in judgement been so deadly.

They were the kind of people who Wogged in the evening. As it was the fall the days were short and they were halfway through their Wog as twilight began. Suddenly they heard a strange sound. Like the sound of knives being drawn over the polished marble of a gravestone.

They checked their heart-rate monitors and and saw that the frightening sound had made their hearts beat faster. They were lulled into a false sense of security as they were both excited but yet distracted by the potential cardio-vascular improvement and concurring weight loss. Little did they know all that Cardio would just make their blood spurt out faster when they had their throats slashed.

They police never caught who did it. Some say he's still out there. Waiting. Waiting for more Woggers caught unaware on Halloween. Waiting for one more chance to ...ahhhhhhh!

Headed out of town. Check back on Monday.