Born to Run

I’ve finished the book.  I struggle to even know where to begin with this rating.  Here’s the thing.  Every now and then you find a book that ropes you in so quickly you find yourself carrying larger bags everywhere so you never have to leave it at home.  That way if you have a couple extra minutes waiting for the metro, sitting at the doctor’s office, stuck in traffic, at a boring staff meeting, you can immediately whip it out.  You never want to leave the wonderful imaginary world you’re a part of, and when you finish you’re sad because you’ve been forced to leave.  You can do nothing but pray for a sequel.

It’s been awhile since I’ve found one of those.  The last was Eat, Pray, Love (if you haven’t read it, you should immediately), and I’m so thankful to have found a new one.  But I want to be clear, when I give this book a 10, it is not just a 10 for incredible writing and one of the best stories I’ve ever read.

I’m rating it a 10 because of what I’ve learned from the people in the book, and the stories they had to tell.

I had a conversation with someone pretty incredible recently, discussing the intensity and the enigma of the human spirit (bear with me).  How do we begin to define it, how do we explain it, more importantly, how do we learn from those people who’ve truly found the meaning of joy and are able to embrace it in all situations.  It’s one of those things that you know and feel when you find it, but can’t always explain how, or why, you know.

While these don’t seem like issues that would be tackled in a running book, this is just one of the many reasons why this has quickly climbed to the top of my list of favorite books ever (even made it onto my Facebook profile that I haven’t changed in YEARS.  That’s saying something).

The stories told in this book range from Czech Olympians, to the Tarahumara tribe in Mexico, to a pair of college hippies, and there is something inspiring to be found in each of them.  These people have a spirit that’s different from many that I’ve met on a daily basis, and I’m not quite sure yet if it’s the extreme running that creates this, or that these are the only people crazy enough to run 100 miles in a day, across a desert.  Regardless, you’ll fall in love with them.

Perhaps I should give some context as I gush, and admit openly that I am the person who cries at every incredible sporting event ever.  Ranging from Colorado’s incredible comeback against Nebraska over Thanksgiving about 10 years ago, pretty much every Ironman ever (how can you not cry when they tell such incredible stories of perseverance and success along the way?) to the Penn State women’s volleyball team taking the national title, I’m happy if they’re happy.  So this book left me a mess.  Perhaps it won’t have the same effect on you, but be prepared and open to the possibility.

The overall story of the book is of the ‘greatest race the world has never seen’.  Christopher McDougall, a runner and writer for Runner’s World, discovers a tribe of Mexicans called the Tarahumara, who are known as being some of the fastest humans in the world.  They are known for wearing only sandals on their feet, and for living in the caves of Mexico, making them virtually impossible to find.  Yet this book tells their story, as well as the stories of many other ultrarunners.  While they seem crazy, running extreme long distances in completely unbearable circumstances, they all find a joy in running that is fascinating to me.  In the process of telling their stories, he also examines the history of long distance running, and what has gone wrong here in the US leading to such a large number of injuries.  He presents some fascinating theories, as well as solutions (I’ll be blogging about this shortly), that will absolutely revolutionize the way you look at running and advertising. I promise you will never look at it the same again.

WARNING!  This book is not just for runners.  While I ran a marathon back in college, I’ve been mostly out of commision since, and would not at all consider myself a runner.  This book is for EVERYONE.  In fact, I almost recommend it more highly for those that aren’t.

My new goal= to somehow get in contact with Christopher McDougall (who lives in rural Pennsylvania, not far from home) and convince him to go for a run with me over Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Wish me luck, and READ THE BOOK!

Crawling Across DC…

in COSTUME, is probably one of my favorite things ever.  Hence the perfect excuse for a 10 hour road trip this weekend.  Claud and I took off Friday night to be a part of my third ‘Nightmare on M Street’ bar crawl in DC.  Meeting up with a couple awesome friends from college made this the best reason ever to travel

I’d say it was pretty worth it…

ANGELICO’S VISIT: 9.  In college I was the hugest fan of this small Italian restaurant in Tenleytown called Angelico’s.  They have the most incredible pasta, sandwiches and calzones, took EagleBucks, AND delivered.  I have many fond memories of ordering oversized pesto dishes Sophomore year, and delivery to the front desk while working night shifts Junior and Senior year.  So a stop here for lunch on Saturday pre-bar crawl was perfect.

-1 because I had the toughest time deciding between pasta and a sandwich, only to remember how incredible the calzones were after Claud ordered one.  One visit just isn’t enough…

OUR COSTUMES: 8.

I’d say overall we were pretty impressive when it came to costumes.  We had one Lara Croft Tombraider, a DC tourist, a Jane Fonda/80’s aerobics instructor, and one dual costume of pregnant housewife/librarian (when the milkman wasn’t around people were confused and not so friendly due to the beer drinking ‘pregnant’ woman).

-1 for the 80’s hair (room for improvement next year), and -1 for the lack of FBI t-shirt, jean shorts and white socks for the tourist.

FLASHDANCE SOUNDTRACK: 10!

Absolute favorite moment of the evening.  Earlier in the evening while the bar still had some space, people were dancing, and all of a sudden a song from Flashdance came on.  Could I be more excited?  Nope.  Pretty sure it’s not possible.

Luckily, there happened to be an 80’s dancing guy (who knows what he really was) there as well, and we showed everyone how it’s really done.  LOVED IT.

BAR CRAWL: 7.

You know you’re getting old when at the end of the night you remember the crowds and lines.  In addition to all the awesome parts of the crawl, when it starts at 3, by 8 or 9 it’s pretty crowded.  Once we left a bar we’d have to wait in a long line for the next one, outside, in the rain.  Once we were inside and dancing I was thrilled (hence the above 5 rating).

However, this is most definitely not to overshadow the brilliance of a Halloween bar crawl, where every time you enter a bar you’re surrounded by craziness.  Everyone’s talking to each other, because everyone’s wearing their own conversation starter.  Probably my favorite part of Halloween ever.  Not to mention, wearing an excuse to drop down and do aerobics in the middle of a bar is always a guaranteed good time.

Throw in some pretty incredible company, and it’s very likely you might find me here again next year.

SUNDAY BREAKFAST: 3.

The next morning before heading out we decided to check out the new restaurant put in place of the classic Bagel City down the street from my alma mater, American University.  While Bagel City was classic, with normal breakfast options and not excessively expensive, this place was french inspired, 100% organic everything, and significantly overpriced.

I did love their concept of a giant community table in the middle of the restaurant (German style) but almost everyone was sitting at small individual tables on the side.  And they did have a pretty incredible selection of jellies, chocolate sauces, etc. on each table.

However, the prices and prissiness were a bit much for me.  I’ll stick to Steak and Egg next time.

I’ve already begun planning my costume for next year, based off some inspiration from this year’s adventures… until then, just living for the tens

Born to Run

This book was passed along to me by Jay, after a high recommendation from Glenn.  The gist of the book is as follows:

Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world’s greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong.

While the book is incredible so far, I’m not yet finished, so this rating is actually of an individual story told in the book.  This story of a famous Czech runner earns a 10 in my book.  This excerpt is long, but 100% worth it.  I promise.

*              *             *

There was this Czech soldier, a gawky dweeb who ran with such horrendous form that he looked “as if he’d just been stabbed through the heart,” as one sportswriter put it.  But Emil Zatopek loved running so much that even when he was still a grunt in army boot camp, he used to grab a flashlight and go off on twenty-mile runs through the woods at night.

In his combat boots.

In winter.

AFTER a fully day of infantry drills.

When the snow was too deep, Zatopek would jog in the tub on top of his dirty laundry, getting a resistance workout along with clean tighty whities.  As sson as it thawed enough for him to get outside, he’d go nuts; he’d run four hundred meters as fast as he could, over and over, for ninety repetitions, resting in between by jogging two hundred meters.  By the time he was finished, he’d done more than thirty-three miles of speedwork.  One of Zatopek’s favorite workouts combined all his loves at once: he’d jog through the woods in his army boots with his ever-loving wife riding on his back.

It was all a waste of time, of course.  The Czechs were like the Zimbabwean bobsled team; they had no tradition, no coaching, no native talent, no chance of winning.  But being counted out was liberating; having nothing to lose left Zatopek free to try any way to win.  Take his first marathon: everyone knows the best way to build up to 26.2 miles is by running long, slow distances.  Everyone, that is, except Emil Zatopek; he did hundred-yard dashes instead.

And dear God, was he a Chatty Cathy!  Zatopek treated competition like it was speed dating.  Even in the middle of a race, he liked to natter with other runners and try out his smattering of French and English and German, causing one grouchy Brit to complain about Zatopek’s “incessant talking.”  At away meets, he’d sometmes have so many new friends in his hotel room that he’d have to give up his bed and sleep outside under a tree.  Once, right before an international race, he became pals with an Australian runner who was hoping to break the Australian 5,000-meter record.  Zatopek was only entered in the 10,000-meter race, but he came up with a plan; he told the Aussie to drop out of his race and line up next to Zatopek instead.  Zatopek spent the first half of the 10,000-meter race pacing his new buddy to the record, then sped off to attend to his own business and win.

That was pure Zatopek, though; races for him were like a pub crawl.  He loved competing so much that instead of tapering and peaking, he jumped into as many meets as he could find.  During a manic stretch in the late ’40’s, Zatopek raced nearly every other week for three years AND NEVER LOST, going 69-0.  Even on a schedule like that, he still averaged up to 165 miles a week in training.

Zatopek was a bald, self-coached thirty-year-old apartment-dweller from a decrepit Eastern European backwater when he arrived for the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki.  Since the Czech team was so thin, Zatopek had his choice of distance events, so he chose them all.  He lined up for the 5,000 meters, and won with a new Olympic record.  He then lined up for the 10,000 meters, and won his second gold with another new record.  He’d never run a marathon before, but what the hell; with two golds already around his neck, he had nothing to lose, so why not finish the job and give it a bash?

Zatopek’s inexperience quickly became obvious.  It was a hot day, so England’s Jim Peters, then the world-record holder, decided to use the heat to make Zatopek suffer.  By the ten-mile mark, Peters was already ten minutes under his own world-record pace and pulling away from the field.  Zatopek wasn’t sure if anyone could really sustain such a blistering pace.  “Excuse me,” he said, pulling alongside Peters. “This is my first marathon.  Are we going too fast?”

“No,” Peters replied. “Too slow.”  If Zatopek was dumb enough to ask, he was dumb enough to deserve any answer he got.

Zatopek was surprised. “You say too slow,” he asked again. “Are you sure the pace is too slow?”

“Yes,” Peters said.  Then he got a surprise of his own.

“Okay. Thanks.” Zatopek took Peters at his word, and took off.

When he burst out of the tunnel and into the stadium, he was met with a roar: not only from the fans, but from athletes of every nation who thronged the track to cheer him in.  Zatopek snapped the tape with his third Olympic record, but when his teammates charged over to congratulate him, they were too late: the Jamaican sprinters had already hoisted him on their shoulders and were parading him around the infield.  “Let us live so that when we come to die, even the undertaker will be sorry,” Mark Twain used to say.  Zatopek found a way to run so that when he won, even other teams were delighted.

*              *             *

When the Red Army marched into Prague in 1968 to crush the pro-Democracy movement, Zatopek was given a choice: he could get on board with the Soviets and serve as a sports amabassador, or he could spend the rest of his life cleaning toilets in a uranium mine.  Zatopek chose the toilets.

At the same time, coincidentally, his rival for the title of world’s greatest distance runner was also taking a beating.  Ron Clarke, a phenomenally talented Australian, was exactly the kind of guy that Zatopek, by all rights, should hate.  While Zatopek had to teach himself to run in the snow at night after sentry duty, the Australian pretty boy was enjoying sunny morning jogs along the beaches of Mornington Peninsula and expert coaching.  Everything Zatopek could wish for, Clarke had to spare:  Freedom.  Money.  Elegance.  Hair.

Ron Clarke was a star- but still a loser in the eyes of his nation.  Despite breaking nineteen records in every distance from the half-mile to six miles, “the bloke who choked” never managed to win the big ones.  In the summer of ‘68, he blew his final chance: in the 10,000-meter finals at the Mexico City Games, Clarke was knocked out by altitude sickness.  Anticipating a barrage of abuse back home, Clarke delayed his return by stopping off in Prague to pay a courtesy call to the bloke who never lost.  Toward the end of their visit, Clarke glimpsed Zatopek sneaking something into his suitcase.

“I thought I was smuggling some message to the outside world for him, so I did not dare to open the parcel until the plane was well away,” Clarke would say.  Zatopek sent him off with a strong embrace.  “Because you deserved it,” he said, which Clarke found cute and very touching; the old master had far worse problems of his own to deal with, but was still playful enough to grant a victory-stand hug to the young punk who’d missed his chance to mount one.

Only later would he discover that Zatopek wasn’t talking about the hug at all: in his suitcase, Clarke found Zatopek’s 1952 Olympic 10,000-meters gold medal.  For Zatopek to give it to the man who’s replaced his name in the record books was extraordinarily noble; to give it away at precisely the moment in his life when he was losing everything else was an act of almost unimaginable compassion.

To read more, you can buy the book here.  It comes highly recommended from many places, so if you’re looking for a new good read, this might be it!

Trivia Champions!

While two weeks ago our trivia team didn’t take home the overall victory at Cary’s Ale House Trivia Night (in our defense, we arrived after Round 1 due to an un-advertised time change), we did win Round 3.  That victory earned us a t-shirt, a beer coozy (?) and a free appetizer coupon.

Tonight, however, we went all the way.  Claudia was clutch in Rounds 1 and 2, but unfortunately her and Bill decided to leave early from there.  Sticking it out to the end paid off.  My incredible NFL knowledge (…) must have done the trick.  Despite our guess that the Washington Redskins were formerly the DC Manatees, we still managed to take home the overall win tonight, as well as this sweet neon Pabst sign, now proudly on display in my room.

It appears Freddy Kruger’s Left Pinky will need to return frequently…  I rate tonight’s win a 10!

Framilies That Twist Together, Stay Together

The Framily officially began months back.  I remember going to Laura and Snook’s for dinner with Jay and Paul, and thinking to myself how much it reminded me of a family holiday.  The comfort, fun, good food, and great company.  I must have commented on the feeling, as Paul began referring to us as ‘the framily’ (friends/family).  Framily dinners often occur on Sundays, but can happen wherever and whenever.  Last night I headed over for a classic Sunday night framily dinner, leading to some of the best tens of the week.  Let me share…

LEARNING TO PLAY THE STRAW: 9!  I’ve never heard of such a thing until Laura referenced it in a story last night.  When I asked what it was, she immediately whipped out the straws and taught me how (Jay, Paul and Snooky were old pros).  You take a twisty straw, stick the long end under your armpit or in the elbow crease (this proved more effective for me), and blow.  You then can alter the sound by messing with the bendy straw.  HIGHLY entertaining, so I encourage everyone to please attempt this at home.

-1 because I never managed to get out any music, but I did make some awesomely inappropriate farting sounds.

FRAMILY TWISTER: 9.  After dinner, rather than the usual euchre, we decided to go with Twister.  I’d say this was an incredible choice for several reasons.

1) It helped the team with their flexibility, which I think ultimately will help our climbing.

2) I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time (until the framily photos, that is).

3) it prompted the brilliant idea of a party size Twister board for the Celebration of Living on November 7.

The Celebration of Living is an outdoor party, and I thought, if Twister works so well with 4 people, why not put four boards together and create a giant party size Twister board so everyone can play!  I’ll be purchasing shower curtains shortly, and we have the spray paint ready to go, so stay tuned for the first ever party-size Twister board!

We’re also planning a pretty incredible Naked Twister fundraiser.  This could go one of two ways (all input appreciated).

1) Other people can enter you into the competition by paying a certain amount.  In order to unenter yourself you have to outbid them.

2) You begin with clothes, operating like strip Twister.  At any point, if you become uncomfortable with how much clothing you’re losing, you can buy your way out for a set price (perhaps $20?).

It’s all in the name of charity!

-1 because I couldn’t seem to win…

HOMEMADE SOUPS: 10.  While unfortunately I forgot to take pictures, we arrived to find three different homemade soups waiting for us when we arrived.  Fresh chicken and rice, vegetarian chili, and pumpkin turkey chili.  I only tried the first and the last (both of which were DELISH), and I scored a container to take home with me   Considering that it’s supposed to rain the next two days, this is perfect.  Sorry Campbells, you’ll have to wait till next week…

MY NEW PINK HOODIE: 10!!!!!!!  Snooky has this incredible pink hoody I’ve seen him wearing several times recently, and loved.  I must have complimented it each time, as when I showed up tonight I got the best gift EVER.  My very own pink hoody.  Those who know me, my classic uniform consistenly almost exclusively of nothing more than jeans and hoodies.  Plus a fleece jacket when it gets really code.  I seriously live in them in the winter (and even the summer, when I turn my AC way up just so I can wear my hoodies and wool socks).  And while I used to have a pretty impressive collection, I discovered this fall that they’ve all becom stained and worn out.  What perfect timing for this one!  I’m pretty sure I may never take it off.

Plus, it’s in the Company color!

CAMERA TIMERS: 10.  Without them, we wouldn’t have these…

Or countless other incredible photos over the years.

If you haven’t noticed Snooky in these pictures, please revisit.

If you don’t have your own framily yet, start creating.  BEST. THING. EVER.

Until the next Framily dinner, just living for the tens

Hot Tea and Fat Tire’s Takeover of the Triangle

I-40 WEST AT NIGHT: 3.  I had no idea how much construction was going on at night on 40 West.  I suppose before I started going to school at NC State I had very little reason to ever be driving home that direction.  Now that I do go to school there, and am beginning to enjoy different parts of the area after class, I am frequently finding myself stuck in the traffic.  Obviously this is below a 5, but I must say it usually takes less time than I think, and now that I’m used to that I don’t get so frustrated by it.  Plus, last night I had some brilliant new music to keep me entertained.  Check it out (not the Brandi Carlile version I was listening to, but this one’s pretty great too…):

I rate this song a 10.  Seriously incredible.

MAD HATTER’S HOT TEA: 6.

Now that I no longer have an office, but have a lot of work to get done on a daily basis, I find myself returning to the local coffee shops.  I have my main office at the Panera in the Southpoint Mall, but occasionally visit my satellite offices at Weaver Street, Panera on 15-501, and Mad Hatters in Durham.  At each I feel pretty guilty if I don’t order something, so I usually end up with a hot tea (serves a dual purpose, as it’s often freezing in most of these places).  Weaver Street is by far the cheapest at $1.02, Panera’s next at $1.70, and Mad Hatters is by far the most expensive at $2.60something.  BUT, they do have silk tea bags and a ton of choices.  Plus, the giant cups like on Friends (which I always find oddly comforting).  So that being said, despite the cost, the actual tea is growing on me…

FAT TIRE’S TAKEOVER OF THE TRIANGLE: 9.

I was first introduced to Fat Tire last year by Paul, and since I have had the pleasure of enjoying it many different places.  Fat Tire is a beer brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company, located in Fort Collins, Colorado.  It’s an Amber Ale that apparently is well-loved here in North Carolina, since it’s arrival in the spring.  I can confidently make this statement based off of two things.  1) Popularity among my friends, and 2) the ever-increasing abundance of purple Fat Tire trucks everywhere I go.  Seriously.  I’ve been collecting these photos for some time, and can honestly say I’ve missed 3-5 shots in addition to these.  The trucks are EVERYWHERE.  Start playing the game and you’ll notice it too.

-1 because the trucks are huge and often in the way.

Headed to a corn maze scavenger hunt tonight (seriously, how could that NOT be incredible?), so until next time, just living for the tens

Bringing it Back Week (continued)

So in case you all forgot, this week is the second annual ‘Bringing it Back Week!  Don’t worry if you did forget, it’s only Wednesday, and you have four more days to bring back whatever you want!

After beginning with the scrunchy (which will live on through Halloween), today something pretty incredible was brought back… THE PICNIC!  While many might wonder if it ever left, it certainly has in my life.  The closest I’ve gotten is tailgating outside O.A.R. and the wonderful lunches Rachel packed at Hound Ears.  But this was a legit picnic.  If you don’t trust me, check out the picture of some of the goodies (and when I say some, I mean half of them are left out… yeah, we had that much food):

In one picnic we (I really shouldn’t be taking much credit for this…) managed to bring back ants on a log, juice boxes, and the Snack Pack.  I would count the PB&J, but let’s be honest.  I enjoy those on almost a regular basis. Add in a bunch more food, a nice park and a swingset, it doesn’t get much better.

All in all I’d rate our picnic a definitive 9.  Only thing missing was a classic picnic basket… I’ll get right on that one for next time.

So what has everyone else brought back???

North Carolina State Fair 2009

After several years of incredible trips to the fair, I was definitely pumped about this year’s visit…

FOOD: 6

Most people head to the State Fair for the food, and I won’t lie it’s a definite plus.  But part of the difficulty is making the right choices.  There’s SO much there, and it’s a bit stressful trying to make the right decision.

First we started with a giant turkey leg (my personal fave) and DEFINITELY made the right decision there.  There are about 10 different stands all selling them, and I ended up with one that was exactly what I wanted.  Not dry, not burnt, crazy messy, and DELICIOUS.  First course= 9 (-1 because they get to be really difficult to eat).

Next we went with some sweet potato fries, which were actually a pretty big disappointment.  Once we covered them with cinnamon and sugar, salt and ketchup they got a bit better.  Overall they were too thick and not crispy enough.  Second course= 4.

For the third course we went for some ice cream before the pig races, which I discovered last year at the fair.  Even better, it’s made at NC State.  Went with the cookie dough, which not only has cookie dough chunks in it, but is also cookie dough flavored ice cream.  Doubly delicious   Third course= 8 (-1 because of how overwhelming it was, and -1 because there could have been so more chunks of dough).

To finish the night off, we had to get some fried dough.  We went with the elephant ear, and got it covered with chocolate sauce and powdered sugar.  The first half was surprisingly good.  Warm, crispy, and REALLY good with the chocolate.  The second half, however, was cold and completely soaked in chocolate. Difficult to eat, and at that point the thought of putting anything else fried into my body disgusted me.  I’d say it was still a good choice   Fourth course= 7.

HAUNTED HOUSES: 3.

When the guy operating the ride described it as a mix between Halloween and comedy, we knew we were in for a treat.  Literally could barely fit two people into the seat of the ride (too bad that picture ended up blurry, or it might have upped the rating).  In both rides there were tiny cars that went around corners, and around each one was something that lit up or popped out.  I actually jumped a time or two, so I suppose there was a bit of Halloween.  And there was certainly a bit of comedy.

+3 because it was a safe use of our ride tickets

ARTWORK: 7

Thanks to Claudia’s influence, I finally discovered more to the State Fair than just the food and rides. She informed me that the best part of the fair is actually all the contests that people in North Carolina can enter.  Everything from plants, to cooking, to artwork and texting competitions (don’t think I don’t already have my sights set on the blue ribbon for next year).

While I didn’t prioritize the plants, we did make a stop by the artwork, and overall I’d say I was pretty impressed.  The high school ones were obviously some of the best (besides the Professionals, clearly).  But below (on the top) you’ll see one of my faves.  Done by a 5th grader.  Seriously.  I swear.  Pretty impressive, yeah?

The one on the bottom.  Well, that one was also done by someone in elementary school and is responsible for a couple points off.

In case you can't read the fine print... "He saved us, from the pit of hell."

PEOPLE WATCHING: 1

One of my favorite parts of the State Fair is usually the people watching, but apparently Monday nights are not quite as conducive.  I didn’t end up with one good picture, or any good stories, about people at the fair.  Thoroughly disappointed.  Might even be worth a return visit.  Saturday night anyone?

FREAK SHOWS: 0.

I hate these.  Enough said.  Why are we making money off of women who are abnormally small, or deformed animals?  And what kind of message does that send kids about things that are different?  I’ve never seen them, so perhaps I have no right to talk, but just the sight of all the signs makes me a bit sick.

PIG RACING: 7.  Duck racing, however: 9!

I clearly remember last year trying to check out the pig racing, but I think it was a Saturday and way harder to actually get a view.  We may have showed up late too…  Either way, this year we made it a clear priority, and were about 10 minutes early for the 9:00 show.  As a result, I got to see everything   The pig racing was definitely entertaining, but when they unexpectedly brought our billy goats and ducks to race, the show got that much better.  The ducks were INCREDIBLE as they waddled quickly around the ring.  -1 because everyone in front of me had the new iPhones and were able to video how hilarious it was.  I, however, was stuck with just a still photo where you can barely see them.

Trust me.  If you haven’t gone to the State Fair yet, make this a priority.

All in all, this was a pretty incredible trip to the fair   Looking forward to next year already!

Raleigh Rampage 2009

AKA, The Company Climbing Team’s big debut!

While our competition consisted mostly of young people teams (see below), there are few (if any) adult climbing teams.  While there are plenty of adults who compete (and kick serious butt), none climb on organized teams like the young ones.  So we decided to start our very own here in Chapel Hill/Durham, North Carolina.  Called ‘The Company’ after our main sponsor, our team colors are pink and purple (as you’ll notice in our official team shirts).  Right now we’re a team of 7 (Snooky and Ben are sadly missing from the picture), but always looking for more awesome recruits

ROUTES: 8.  One of the many reasons I love bouldering competitions is for the routes.  For whatever reason, the routes at comps are so much better then then normal routes!  They’re more well thought out, more interesting, they require more technique and not just strength, and they’re more fun.  I love them.  Yesterday was no disappointment.  Overall I rate the routes an 8.  -1 for the horrible green slopey one, and -1 for the crowds.

The comp at Inner Peaks last year made smart use of many of the surrounding walls, creating different types of problems so that the actual boulder wasn’t nearly as crowded.  TRC didn’t do such a great job of that, and as a result there were tons of lines.  While adults handle lines well, kids aren’t quite as great.  Lots of obliviousness, lack of manners, and adults not wanting to push kids out of the way meant LOTS of waiting.  Thanks Glen for stepping up (‘Hey kid, she’s climbing over here, get off the wall’).

Please don’t get me wrong.  I love kids.  I just don’t love when they’re constantly cutting in line.

Completing the hardest route of the day!

The routes for the finals were even more insane.  One of the men’s included a jump start, and the second move involved holding your entire body off of several fingers.  INSANE.

A1: 5.  I want so badly to rate this lower as it was the bane of my existence, however in reality, it was kind of a fun problem and I’m just mad because I didn’t get it.  I really wanted to get the top 5 routes in the beginner category, and successfully got all but this one.  Probably a V2 (my best guess), I worked it for awhile, and finally, at the very end of the day, I made it to the last hold.  I went for the top and just barely missed, falling after all that hard work.  At that point my arms were just too spent, and after 5 more attempts I finally had to give in 4 minutes before climbing was over.

Even bigger disappointment= one of the routes set for the finals was right there, meaning they took it down and I’ll never get a chance to finally get it.

And no picture of the finish, since it didn’t exist…

D1: 8.  I LOVED this route.  Granted, it took me four attempts to finally finish it, but I must say I genuinely enjoyed all four attempts.  It was tricky, adding the puzzle aspect which I love, required some traversing, wasn’t strength based, and overall was just a really great route.  And I’m not the only one who thought that.  There was a pretty large group of climbers who all spent a large portion of the day working on this one.

Good news= finally got this one with about an hour left

-2 because of how much I gave to it, ultimately taking away from A1

JAY’S CLIMBING FACE: 9.  While none that appeared on Saturday were quite as classic as the Hillsborough bouldering face of last year (see below), they were still all pretty great.  And some I didn’t even notice while climbing, but thank god for our awesome photographers who caught them on film.

None will ever be as great as…

TEAM CLIMBING: I think if our body soreness is any indication of how we climbed as a team, then we did incredible.  This morning at the Community Center we heard every complaint ever.  The classic forearms. shoulders, back, add in Paul’s sore knees and my sore quads, we had just about everything.  I’d say we left it all out there.  9!  (There’s always room for growth )

And I hate to brag, but we did place first in the Adult Team Division…

CHEERLEADING/SUPPORT: 10!!!  The amount of support received for our team’s first competition was incredible!  Outside visitors from Charlotte to some our local favorites, there certainly was a good showing.  In fact, we may have had the largest cheering squad around.  Special thanks to Kim for playing a great soccer mom, keeping our scores, taking pictures, and showing everyone love, and to Laura who made our team shirts (in less than a week’s time!) and brought us all Gatorade

Paul's game face is better than mine...

FOCUS ON FASHION IN THE FINALS: I didn’t know until yesterday that it’s imperative to take special care of your hair before a big comp.  I learned this, however, while watching the women’s finals.  4 out of 5 had their hair down (versus pulled back, which may seem the obvious choice), and all obviously done.  One even had curls (not natural curls, but ‘I spent the morning with a curling iron’ curls)!  I suppose it makes sense as ultimately everyone did end up watching them, and I’m sure lots of pictures were taken.

Note to self: must make more time in the morning for hair before the next competition.  May be the key to the finals…

INJURIES: 8.  Overall I’d say we did great!  While we’re all a bit sore, every one of us returned to the wall today, so it couldn’t have been anything too serious.  -2 (one for each hand) for the rips acquired on the last climb of the day (goes to show I gave that A1 everything I had).

MY RAFFLE LUCK: 9!  As mentioned in a previous post, I am not the person who ever wins raffles.  Ever.  So when I saw tickets for sale on the way in I didn’t look twice.  Kim, however, surprised me with 7 tickets later in the day, and I actually felt hopeful considering I hadn’t actually purchased the tickets.  This had to produce better luck than normal.  And that it did.

Most of the prizes given away were worth about $20-$30.  T-shirts, hats, gift certificates, etc.  However, the big prize of the day was a set of quick draws, used for sport climbing, worth about $100.

Now, it’s important to mention here that I don’t sport climb.  I’m scared to death of the falls you can take when not top roping, and as a result have insisted that I’m not a sport climber.  As they held up the quick draws and got ready to draw a ticket I turned to Bill and said “Watch me win this one and no longer have any excuse not to sport climb.”  And don’t you know 10 seconds later they pull my ticket and I won them.  All in all I have no complaints, and am actually a little bit excited about giving it a try.

-1 because only 1 of my 7 tickets won…

TEAM POTENTIAL: 10!

I see our team potential playing out in several ways.

1)  Most importantly is our climbing.  Each day we’re all improving, and now that we have one comp under our belt, and we know what the competition looks like (4 feet tall and under 12), I think we’re more prepared to take them by storm next time around.

2) The future of adult climbing teams.  Right now there’s only fun, recreational climbing teams for kids.  But there’s lots of adult climbers out there who like climbing, and competing, and having fun.  So why can’t we join in too?  Once we make our presence known at several competitions I think word will spread and others will start their own too.  And before you know… BAM!  Worldwide sensation and adult climbing is the next kickball.

3) Behind the scenes work.  This morning, back at our home gym, Brian came up to the team and said “Since you all are fresh off a competition, I’m thinking you might have some insight for some new routes.  Would you be interested in putting a couple up?”  Needless to say the first Company route is hitting the wall this Tuesday night.  Be prepared.

Glen working on The Company's first route

All in all, our potential is pretty incredible and see no reason to take off any points.  10!!!

AFTER PARTY: 10 again!  (I told you it was a good day!)  The original plan was to head to my place and order some pizza, however Jay suggested a BBQ at his place instead.  And boy did he show me up (in the best possible way).  When I called to find out what I needed to pick up on the way over, I was informed by Paul that they already had the salmon, steak, cheesecake, Vermont Cheddar cheese (aged 2 years, clearly), guacamole, salsa, macaroni salad and more.  So much for pizza… we decided to go gourmet instead.

And I’m most certainly not complaining.  In my opinion there’s nothing in the world more incredible than great company and great food, and we had plenty of both.  What a fabulous end to a fabulous day

Zev and Justin Getting Kicked Off the Amazing Race

Don’t worry, this isn’t a spoiler, as it happened last week.  While this is the only TV I follow, I’m clearly not a loyal follower, as I missed my favorite characters getting kicked off last week.  As I began watching this week’s they gave a recap, and it nearly broke my heart.

My two faves, Zev and Justin, came in first place last week (yay!!!), and then discovered that Zev’s passport was missing.  They were given the chance to find it, but literally he had no idea where it was lost, so needless to say the search was fruitless.  It makes my heart cry to see them so successful, and then so unsuccessful, all in one episode.  And now they’re gone

I rate this a 1.  Time to start cheering for the Globetrotters…