Not to get all personal, but since we at the Action-Squad are all about action and squaddery, this weekend MK1 and yours greedo-y raced in the Fifth Third River Bank Run, the largest 25K race in the country.
After last year’s success with the 5K, MK1 has pretty much become a running zealot and said I either had to run the big race or I would forever be a wuss. Not one to back down from a challage, especially from a girl and especially from my sister-in-law, my AIM avatar looked her AIM avatar right in the eye and said “OKAY!”
So after literally months of training (most of those 6AM solo runs) we hit the pavement on quite possibly the most perfect day for a race. The 25K course (BTW, that’s running 15.5 miles, in a row) takes you southwest along the banks of the Grand River, through parts of the West side neighborhood and through downtown.
I could take you through an exhaustive mile-by-mile analysis of my split times, but that’s just going to be a big fat snoozer. My goal was to finish in less than 2:30 (that’s two hours and thirty minutes). My final time was 2:19:54, an average of just less than nine minutes per mile. MK1 finished in 2:33:31, so she pretty damn proud too.
Smange and K-Pat joined us for the morning also, they walked the 5K, which they completed in an amazingly swift 45:44 (seriously, that’s much more than a walk). So with the extra time, they had a delicious cup of coffee at Four Friends and got in place to take pictures of us at the finish line.
The only thing is, they didn’t get any pics of me, either because I was so FAST, or because they dropped something at the exact moment that I was running past. But whatevs, they got MK1 racing for the finish, and the cover of the Grand Rapids Press Sports Section got me at the starting line.
Overall, it was a perfect day for a race. I couldn’t have done it without MK1 for talking me into it, my fam for encouraging me along, Cancerman for being my new coach, Jeff for paying my entry fee, and especially Smange for putting up with four months of my training shit. Thank you everyone!
A substitute teacher in Florida says he has been taken off the job after the school board leveled some serious allegations. What was the charge? Wizardry.
Seems he did a magic trick during class, and then he claims he was brought up on charges of inappropriate wizardry (presumably by the wizengamot). Granted, there’s no proof that that was the reason he was dismissed, he just claims that it was the explanation he was given.
For a fun Friday diversion, count the number of horrible magicky words used by the godawful local reporter in the news story. “Piculas said his job did a disappearing act of its own.” SEE WHAT THEY DID THERE? HAHAHABARF.
no photoshop or trickery was used to watch xavier kick your ass…yet. I see flying chimchomblys all over this site in a few months. Also, color me impressed.
Smange and I watched The Golden CompASS (what a POS BTW), but it begs the question, what’s the deal with Steampunk? It’s kinda cool in theory, but in practice, when would you really want a watch like this?
The world’s longest drives, as mapped by the current capabilities of GoogleMaps (which is the best, true dat).
Babies have always been a good laugh with the Squad, whether it involved a microwave or a fireplace, but this is just insane.
Whoring it out in the name of free speech? I’m trying to argue with that, but can’t. The Back Door Surprise is non-negotiable.
Fashion combines with comic book nurdry. Somewhere there’s a translation of the Bible that says “and the Geek shall inherit the earth.” Yes, I believe it’s actually a part of the Apocrypha.
I’ve been putting of the playoff posts so far this year, but ’twas a good night to be a Detroit sports fan last night.
+ Pistons beat the tar out of ‘76ers, 100-77. Next up, the Orlando Magic. If the Pistons swept the Magic in 2007, which was THEIR YEAR, what’s going to happen now? (Note: this does set a good precedent for the seemingly inevitable Pistons vs. Celtics series. Apparently the ‘Stons are impervious to the A-S zodiac.) Game 1 vs. the Magic is Saturday at 6:30pm Central.
+ Red Wings beat the ever-loving bejeezus out of the Avs, by a score of eight hockey goals to two hockey goals to complete the sweep. Johan “The Mule” Franzen had his second hat trick of the series (!!), giving him 9 goals in the 4 games against Colorado, which breaks Gordie Howe’s franchise record of 8 goals in a four-game playoff series, set in 1949. Franzen’s 11 goals in the playoffs are also a Red Wings record, beating Peter Klima’s 10 goals in the 1988 post-season. AND THE THIRD ROUND HASN’T EVEN STARTED YET. The pay of the night, however, was Zetterberg’s goal. Detroit awaits the winner of the Dallas-San Jose Series (stars lead, 3-1).
+ The Tigers get an 8-4 comeback win for their first sweep of the Yankees in New York since 1966, and pull within one game of .500.
The laser eyes seem to be operating at full power on all fronts.
Why, the city even got a shout out from 30 Rock last night (”Tornadoes tore through Detroit today, putting out several fires.”)
Good ol’ Wedge managed to survive all three movies and even party on Endor, but Ackbar delivers the most emotionally profound and stirring line of all the movies when he simply states, “May the Force be with us,” right before the poop hits the fan in RotJ. Who wins???
I could take you through an exhaustive mile-by-mile analysis of my split times, but that’s just going to be a big fat snoozer. My goal was to finish in less than 2:30 (that’s two hours and thirty minutes). My final time was 2:19:54, an average of just less than nine minutes per mile. MK1 finished in 2:33:31, so she pretty damn proud too.
The only thing is, they didn’t get any pics of me, either because I was so FAST, or because they dropped something at the exact moment that I was running past. But whatevs, they got MK1 racing for the finish, and the cover of the Grand Rapids Press Sports Section got me at the starting line.
I’ve been putting of the playoff posts so far this year, but ’twas a good night to be a Detroit sports fan last night. 
