JFK report

The JFK 50-mile run was held Saturday, and for the fifth time I completed it. It was not the greatest race of my life, but I'm fairly satisfied with how I did. The weather was quite warm -- low 40s at the start and getting up to 60 during the day, so I ran in just a t-shirt and shorts. I didn't have any problems in the rocks, and I got to the start of the towpath right around three hours. From there I was able to run for about 15 more miles, and I got to the 30-mile point with a split of 5:45. But things went downhill between 30 and 34. For starters, my calves and quads started to cramp. I'm pretty sure this was because it was a warm day, and I wasn't taking in enough electrolytes. I drank a lot, ate bananas and oranges, and took a power gel, but the legs were still cramping. Additionally, I had a bad pain in my right knee. But the worst problem was that I just suddenly lost all my energy. I seriously felt like I wasn't going to be able to walk without falling down. I told myself I'd walk to the next aid station, get something to eat, and then see if I improved at all. I did improve a bit, but I couldn't really run more than 3 minutes at a time before the calves would cramp and I'd have to walk. It took waaay too much time for me to make it to the end of the towpath, and by the time I got there my split was about 9:02. My knee really killed me on the road, and I basically walked it in to the finish. It took me 2:23 to cover the final 8.3 miles. Sounds pathetic, but I didn't really have another option. Fortunately I had plenty of time, and I ended up finishing in 11:25.

Iowa falls

After winning 9 straight games to start the season, the Hawkeyes finally lost Saturday afternoon. I watched most of the game on TV, and it was painful. Iowa jumped out to a 10-0 lead but then couldn't score again for the rest of the game. Ricky Stanzi got sacked in the end zone, fumbling the ball and giving Northwestern a touchdown, but even worse was the fact that Stanzi was injured on the play and was out for the rest of the game. Northwestern won it by a final score of 17-10. Iowa still has a shot at the Big Ten title, but they really need to win next weekend against Ohio State. The Buckeyes beat Penn State on Saturday and are sitting with only one Big Ten loss.

Game 6 coming up

What a World Series it's been so far. The Phillies took game 1 in New York, and I thought they would have control of the series after that. But the Yankees won the next 3 games, threatening to win it all here in Philly. Fortunately the Phillies won game 5 to send it back to New York, where game 6 will be played in about an hour. I'm not even sure what to think. My inclination is still to pick the Phillies to win, but it's really hard to imagine them winning two in a row in the Bronx. Tonight I'm just going to hope that it goes to a game 7, just so I can watch more baseball. I only get to see 2 or 3 innings anyway before I go to bed. Whatever the outcome, I won't find out until morning.