Bonus Resolution 4 - Finish 12 Races in a Year - Halfway There!

As I eluded to in my last blog about running, I still want to blog about the rest of the races I compete in throughout the year even though I am done with the Fargo Marathon and #30daysofrunning. At the rate I am going I would like to compete for an average of one race a month, and right now I am halfway there with six races in the books, and I am signed up for two, with a possible third in September. I will get to those in a moment, but I will first recap the last race that transpired since my last running blog and that was the Firecracker 10k in Grand Forks on Independence Day.

I think this is easily the worst prepared I went into a race yet. The race was at 8am, and I worked the night before and got off work 45 minutes before the race. On top of that, I had a horrible time trying to get some sleep the day before and only got about four hours of sleep. So to recap I went into the race being up already for about 16 hours off four hours of sleep. At least I had a couple friends I started running the race with. I met up with my buddies and old coworkers Sean and Adam and we agreed to start off the race together, and not to slow down for each other and that we would eventually all meet up at the finish line.

I started off strong and kept up with Adam for the first mile before he pulled ahead of me and took off. A little while later Sean caught up with me and after about another mile he pulled ahead of me. I was definitely feeling the effects of going into a race right after work and on very little sleep. I kept seeing both of them get farther in the distance, but I did not let it get me down and I still kept on trucking and went nonstop. For the last third mile I finally got a last surge of energy and went into an all out sprint and managed to pass a couple people in the last minute. 92 people raced in the 10k and Adam finished the best of the three of us and finished 19th overall with a time of 47:54. Sean finished 37th with a time of 51:45. I finished 42nd with a time of 53:13.

I had a feeling I was not going to come close to record 50 minute PR, but I guess it could have went a lot worse. It did feel good to run against a couple of friends to get those competitive juices flowing and that definitely helped me get through the race. For next races coming up on the horizon, I am signed up the Grand Forks Half Marathon towards the end of September, and a 5k obstacle mud run in Grand Forks in early September. I plan on really stepping up my cross training and doing more biking and swimming in preparation for the mud run, which is running in the mud for 5km with 20 obstacles interspersed throughout. Not all the obstacles have been revealed yet, but we can skip them if we so desire. One of them is swimming across the Red River so that should definitely be interesting. I told Sean I would run that with him since he ran the Firecracker race with me.

There is another race a couple days before the mud run in Fargo which is another theme to it in the form of a late night glow in the dark electric run. Do not know if I will do it for sure yet or not, but I hope I can compete in it with a couple of friends. They also just announced the popular Color Run is coming to Grand Forks in September, so who knows I may just end up doing four runs in September. So now I will have a list of all the races and times I have finished so far this year going by distance of race.

5K

UND Autism 5k - 4/20/13 - 26:22 - 23rd out of 74

10k

Hillsboro Run - 6/13/13 - 50:17 - 23rd out of 55
Dewey Memorial - 6/1/13 - 50:21 - 15th out of 56
Firecracker - 7/4/13 - 53:13 - 42nd out of 92
Frozen Feat - 2/16/13 - 53:57 - 50th out of 108

Half Marathon

Fargo - 5/18/13 - 2:02:48 - 2062nd out of 5526

Resolution 9 - Clint Eastwood Quest - 60% Complete

We are now past the halfway mark of the Clint Eastwood film review quest resolution. 1990's The Rookie is where I start off the second half of the ten film BluRay collection of Eastwood's finest. This is very familiar territory compared to the last two Eastwood flicks I covered, Absolute Power and Dirty Harry. By similar I mean a cop drama chock filled with one liners up the wazoo.

Instead of being the sympathetic cat burglar like Clint was in Absolute Power, he is now on the side of the law as veteran detective Nick Pulovski, and at the beginning of the film he loses his partner when an attempt to bust a car heist goes horribly wrong. Pulovski is teamed with new partner David Ackerman (Charlie Sheen), a detective coming up the ranks who has rampant parent issues that the film throws in your face constantly throughout.

Ackerman and Pulovski play the odd couple as they attempt to take down a gang headed up by Strom, who is masterfully portrayed by one of my favorite Hollywood antagonists, Raul Julia. I remember around this time I was a big Charlie Sheen fan, and loved him in other late 80s/early 90s films like the first two Major League movies, The Chase and Terminal Velocity, but he felt completely miscast in his role here. Right from the get go of The Rookie they make it seem like this is his very first day in any type of role for the law, but Sheen seems about 10 years older for that type of portrayal here and I just do not buy him as the incompetent rookie like the film wants me to. I have seen other films cast this role far more effectively like with Joseph Gordon Levitt's character Blake in Dark Knight Rises.

At least Eastwood and Julia nail their performances. Eastwood is a slightly toned down version of his antihero character from Dirty Harry and plays a little more by the rules. He is still full of one liners, and actually I think they went way overboard with the one liners from all characters here as it seemed they were trying a new one every few minutes. One that did stand out though that cracked me up was when Ackerman's dad was trying to give Pulovski a big sum of cash to guarantee his son's safety and Pulovski responded with, "If you want a guarantee, buy a toaster." Julia is awesome because he goes balls to the wall over the top as the antagonist. You cannot help but hate him in here as the slimy gangster. I have not seen too many Julia films, but I do love his performances as the over the top villain in here and in another early 90s cheesy action classic, Street Fighter.

This is probably the weakest of the bunch of films I have seen so far in the Eastwood collection. It is still all right, but Sheen's performance in here really hurts it. There are a couple of bright spots from him here though, with him going crazy and kicking ass and tearing apart a bar in one of the most interesting bar fight scenes I have seen since Dirty Work. The pacing also seems a little off, the chase to get to Strom and some of the other supporting actors along the way drag the film down a little. There is the standard final chase/action sequence with Pulovski and Ackerman going after Strom and his heavy, and while it gets the job done, it did not have me on the edge of my seat like the final sequences in Dirty Harry and Absolute Power.

Unfortunately it looks like The Rookie is the first movie I am not recommending as must see viewing out of the Eastwood collection. For crime dramas there are far better ones out there, especially the aforementioned Clint Eastwood films. If you want to follow along on the Clint Eastwood collection fun with me, here is a link to the box set I have off Amazon.

Past Eastwood Collection Blogs

Absolute Power
Dirty Harry
Kelly's Heroes
Where Eagles Dare
Gran Torino

Bonus Resolution 2 - Get Back Into Baseball - All-Star Break Thoughts

So we are approaching the halfway point of the 2013 MLB season, more commonly referred to as the All-Star break, so I thought I would share some quick thoughts on how the Twins have been doing this season. I have been doing a pretty good job at consistently catching a game or two a week. Unfortunately the Twins have been pretty terrible as of late, with a record 37-53 as I write this.

They have been on some nasty skids lately, losing 12 of their last 13 games. Unfortunately they have lost a ton of close games. It seems I have seen them on too many of the wrong ends of extra innings games. Their bullpen has at least been mostly delivering, and I am a huge fan of Casey Fien whenever they throw him in for an inning or two and he just throws nonstop heaters. Burton and Perkins are also highly reliable closers and usually deliver scoreless innings, no matter if they are several runs behind at that point.

Their starting pitchers though have been quite iffy lately. Scott Diamond was the star pitcher from last year but he has been on a bit of a cold streak these last couple of months. It is pretty sad where I can say the most impressive thing I saw Diamond did this past month was get a hit in an interleague game. They did bring up the highly anticipated Kyle Gibson after a few years in the minors who had an impressive win in his Twins debut a couple weeks ago but lost his last couple of games since. Pressly and Pelfry have been underperforming a lot lately too. I am kind of digging Correia as I have seen him pitch his way out of some nasty jams, and get a few lucky breaks. He seems a bit older for a starter, but he is managing to hang in there.

Offensively, I am happy to Aaron Hicks recently return after a month off with a hamstring injury. For a couple of games he finally eclipsed the .200 batting average after going 4 for 4 in a game, but just dropped underneath it again this last game. Joe Mauer is still the stud of the Twins and the only one batting over .300 and 110 hits and has rightly landed the AL catcher All-Star spot. Justin Morneau was at the beginning of the season, but his average has been gradually dropping the last couple of months and is now in the .270 range. Plouffe has been coming through in the clutch this last month, and Doumit has had a few games with some big power hits this last month as well.

Some stupid observations on my part of some Twins' players this season. I like watching Joe Mauer at bats because he constantly looks incredibly confused in between every swing and does not look like he knows what he is doing out there, and yet he is the most efficient hitter of the team. Dozier has been on fire with home runs lately, seems like he has hit four or five of them this past month. Clete Thomas did a sufficient job filling in on the roster the last month with recent Twins injury and I hope they manage to keep him in the rotation more, hopefully taking over Jamey Carroll's spot for the main 10th man player as I have not seen too much out of him lately.

That wraps up my mid season thoughts on the Twinkies thus far, speaking of which they just brought back Woody Harrelson's favorite snack on the market this week! Sorry, I am stretching for optimism here as the Twins definitely are not showing it out there. To motivate myself for catching their game today, I plan on watching my favorite baseball movie, the original Major League before catching them play today!

Resolution 4 - Learn to Dance - Trying

So here is a resolution I am sure some will get a kick out of. I have only braved the dance floor just a handful of times in my life. Usually a lot of alcohol is involved. I am trying to work on that this year and overcome this natural frozen state that comes over me when it involves dancing. I already rocked the dance floor twice this year. One time A LOT of alcohol was involved to get me out there and the other was just for a few quick dances at a friend's wedding a couple weeks ago.

Another thing I have been trying is playing Just Dance 4 on PS3. I use the equivalent of Playstation's version of a Wii controller, their Playstation Move controller and mimic a bunch of dance poses to the latest and (not so) greatest pop music. I highly doubt this is legitimately helping my dancing ability, but at the very least it is helping me develop maybe just a modicum of rhythm and confidence, and that is what I need the most to get me out there and overcome those wall of nerves that usually get the best of me.

I have no idea what to consider for criteria as vanquishing this resolution. I bounced back and forth a few times from doing a set number of dances for the year to just going out on a few dance dates or just going out randomly dancing with whoever on a random given night. I know of at least two more wedding receptions coming up later this year I will be attending so there will be two more dancing opportunities. Maybe after a few of these endeavors will I consider this resolution a success. I got this!

Bonus Resolution 3 - 30 Days of Running - Complete

Altru's #30daysofrunning promotion wrapped up yesterday. Did not quite run every day; all told I missed four days running for the months of June. Though running 26 days in one month far exceeded my average of 15-16 runs a month. I am looking forwards to taking days off again between runs. There were at least a couple of times where it felt like a grind. Ultimately, it was all for a good cause and I am glad I did my part promoting being active in the community.

The last couple weeks of it went well. I made it out to two group runs in June put on by the Red River Runners club that started off at local restaurant, Wild Hog. There was one day where it was so freaking humid out last week, where after only running for a half hour I arrived home doused in sweat feeling like I ran for five hours. That was probably one of the worst runs I have ever endured.

My last run of the month I ran a route I always wanted to, I did a loop around the four main roads of Grand Forks....kind of. I always wanted to run from Washington St, until Gateway Drive, until Columbia Road and 32nd Ave. S and loop back to Washington. I originally thought I was going to break my record for longest distance I have ever ran of 14.3 miles, but once I started doing the math I figured it out to be around 9.5 miles so I tacked on a little bit. I ended up running up west past Columbia until 42nd St., and coming down east on 32nd instead of turning back north on Washington, I did not head north until Belmont Road and upped my total distance to 12.2 miles. Still, that is essentially a loop around a majority of Grand Forks and a heck of a run to finish #30daysofrunning with.

I have been blogging way too much on here about running, I am going to try and keep entering as many races as I can for the rest of the year and have been debating about blogging about those, but my last few blogs about races felt like they have had the same flow to them and I do not really know how to spice them up. Anyone reading this want me to keep on blogging about races/running here? Please comment here or reach me on Twitter @Gruel - all feedback is welcome!

Resolution 9 - Clint Eastwood Quest - 50% Complete

I never heard of today's film, 1997's Absolute Power, I am covering for the Clint Eastwood resolution blog entry today before buying this BluRay collection it was a part of. Not even two minutes into it I was hooked as I was introduced to Eastwood's character, Luther Whitney, a retired Korean War vet turned cat burglar vet. Whitney is in a routine heist when someone with....absolute power (Gene Hackman)....stumbles in and becomes part of a greater crime right in front of Whitney.

Of course, the movie turns into an edge of your seat mystery thriller where I was just jonesin' to see which direction it would go in next, and I was constantly kept guessing on every twist and turn the mystery took. Would Whitney break the perfect cover for his heist to expose this crime, or would vice versa happen upon him, or would ace detective Seth Frank (Ed Harris) manage to figure it all out and bring everyone to justice?

Eastwood is once again outstanding. Of course I am biased towards him, but the man is just so damn convincing with every line of dialogue that trickles out of him. Do not mess with Eastwood or he will seek revenge! When the bad guys try to mess with Luther, you cannot help yourself but to get behind the antihero. Like the last film I covered here, Dirty Harry, there are several standout quotable moments, but this time delivered in a far less hokey and quite deadly serious type of way that really made an impact with me at the film's pivotal moments.

The last time a mystery/crime film had its hooks in me this good was The Town, and exactly like that film I just loved how this kept me on my toes on how everything unfolded and played out. I cannot think of a single role that was miscast, as everyone brought their A game, especially with Eastwood, Hackman and Harris being absolutely amazing in their roles. For a little while I was surprised to see 24's Mr. and Mrs. President Palmer (Dennis Haysbert and Penny Johnson) in this film in supporting roles I never saw them in before, just a few years before they were brought to the mainstream as the first couple in one of my all time favorite cable dramas.

As if you could not tell already, Absolute Power is an easy recommendation! Especially if you find yourself craving a good mystery/crime drama, then go right this instant add this to your Netflix Queue now! It is not on streaming unfortunately, just the disc, but if you want to follow along on the Clint Eastwood collection fun with me, here is a link to the box set I have off Amazon.

Past Eastwood Collection Blogs

Dirty Harry
Kelly's Heroes
Where Eagles Dare
Gran Torino

Bonus Resolution 3 - 30 Days of Running - Halfway There!

We are halfway through June and I have only missed running on one day for Altru's #30daysofrunning promotion. Only day I missed was procrastinating too long to see if the rain would let up where I should have just hit the treadmill at the gym instead. Speaking of rain, we have had a ton of it lately this month. I do not think I am exaggerating too much by saying that 15 days into June it seems like we only went three or four days without rain.

I mentioned last blog how we started a running group with several friends. Week two of the running group was quite the run as myself, Ryan and Justine ran and Justine's husband, Mike joined us on bike. It was a heavy overcast and you could definitely smell rain in the air, but I was hoping we would manage to sneak by the brunt of it in our planned 40-45 minute route along the greenway. It was not to be however, about 10 minutes in it started sprinkling, and not another 10 minutes later it was full on pouring for the final 15-20 minutes of the run. I guess I am lucky I went this long running and not getting caught in a downpour. Part of it felt great, but my super squishy shoes were not appreciating it afterwards.

Yesterday was the third meeting of our running group which consisted of myself, Ryan, Justine and Adam. I was really looking forward to this day as it was the first time I ever went trail running. We drove about 20 minutes out of town to Turtle River State Park, and hit a variety of trails. I was a little trepid on our way there as there was another overcast looming and a few scattered sprinkles on the way there, but luckily it cleared up by the time we started running. Hitting the trails was an experience like no other, I finally got to take advantage of the trail running shoes I have possessed for too long without going trail running, and the wide array of twists and turns on its narrow paths, along with a ton of hills made it a fun and challenging run throughout.

We all took turns leading and basically kept turning off at random forks in the trails as we saw fit. It was a recipe for disaster, but Ryan and Adam biked on these trails a few times before and had a general idea where we were heading and in the end we eventually found our way back. I guess I would be remiss if I did not mention one of my lows occurred on this run as we ventured off the trail off a rather steep decline for a shortcut back to the vehicle for a water and bugspray pit stop (the skeeters were out in full force after all that rain) and leave it to me to lose my footing on this treacherous, slightly muddy decline and slide on my stomach about a good 20-30 feet before I somehow lunged onto a nearby branch. I only suffered a few light scratches and managed to regain my composure and make my way down....all for naught because our shortcut turned out to be a dead end and we had to go right back up, luckily without hazard this time around. Minus that tumble however and I had a blast tearing up the Turtle River trails and look forward to doing it again.

One last run to recap, and that was from last Thursday on 6/13 when I participated in my fifth race this year, the Hillsboro 10k. Hillsboro is a small town of about 1,500 about a half hour away. I was looking at the results of their 10k last year where it featured only 30-some odd racers and with my new PR I set at the beginning of the month at 50:21, and comparing it to the top 10 of the 2012 Hillsboro race I thought I stood a marginal shot of cracking that top 10. There must be a big buzz going on in the running community this year, because after looking at the results the amount of finishers for both the 5k and 10k nearly doubled with about 300 in the 5k and 55 people in the 10k.

It was a pleasant surprise to bump into Chris and Lyzz again at this race after seeing them in Fargo. Lyzz definitely has the running bug and she was thrilled to be competing in her second race. I felt pretty good about my tempo and pace I was keeping for this race, especially considering I went on a good practice run with a few runners from the local running club the day before and was able to maintain a 8:40 pace for five and a half miles. However, I did notice a bit more of a competitive field at the front of the pack and my hopes of cracking the top 10 quickly went out the window. I still had a backup goal of breaking the 50 minute mark for the first time ever in a 10k, so that was what I was shooting for.

The race flowed about the same as the Dewey 10k where the pack thinned out after a good mile or so, but there was usually a few runners within reach of me. In the first half of the race another green shirt runner passed me and I tried my best to stay on pace with him for a km before he shook me off. A short while later a runner in a red shirt just snuck by me for a short while before I caught up with him and we ran side by side for at least 2-3 km before I finally went ahead. It felt a little weird intentionally running alongside him to maintain pace, almost cheating. All I know was we were side by side for about 15 minutes and then I went to quickly wipe the streaming sweat off my face with my shirt and when I looked up, he was (presumably) behind me. Yes, I managed to not look behind me again for this race, minus one part where there was a 180 turnaround in the track.

I felt pretty good about my pace on this race, and according to my RunKeeper app, I set a new PR for myself with a 7:56/mile pace. I never thought I would break the eight minute a mile barrier for that minimum of a distance. For the last half of the race I saw the same two runners side by side quite a distance ahead of me, I would guess about nearly a minute ahead. The last mile I really stepped it up into high gear determined to pass both of them before the finish. I only managed to pass one, and finished a few seconds behind the other, but that last push helped enable me to just sneak by my old PR from a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately I did not break my 50 minute goal mark, but I did vanquish my old PR by a whopping four seconds with a final official time of 50:17. As I was crossing the finish I was in disbelief at how close I was to my same time as before and thought for sure I would beat 50 minutes. Oh well, a new PR is a new PR. As far as my placement went, I finished 23rd out of 55 in the field. Not a bad day, and I definitely loved the small town vibe this race was held in. Hopefully, I will manage to stay on track for the rest of June and not miss another day.

Shout out to Chris for taking these pics, and props to coworkers Nikole and Danelle for the shirt I was wearing in the photos. I am in a volleyball league with several coworkers and Thursday night is usually our volleyball night, and Danelle & Nikole made some slick custom shirts for our team to debut that night. I was unable to make the game because of the race, but met up with Nikole before I left town to at least sport our team's colors at the race!