Water Baton

My friend Hicham and I have volunteered at a handful of water stops together with our running group the past few years. It's a lot of work. It takes a lot of time to get all the cups set up and filled with water or Gatorade to then pass them out to the runners as the run past us.

Here's Hicham and our friend Jen stacking and filling the cups 5 rows high!

There is close to 200 cups per row!

It is also messy, cold, wet and if you are working the Gatorade tables, it can be real sticky! Many times we have said, there's gotta be a better way!

Well I think my friend Hicham has probably come up with that "better way" Let me introduce you to his idea...

Water Baton

Example Picture from the Indiegogo site

Not only a great idea for us as volunteers, but for us as runners too. It's easy to grab, easy to carry and easy to drink from. I think it's a great idea. But as with any great idea, to get it off and running, to get it from idea to reality, a little help is needed. Please visit Water Baton's Indiegogo site for more info and if you can, any contributions would be greatly appreciated.

Water Baton Link - http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/water-baton

What are your thoughts on this idea? I would like hear them. Please share.

Thanks, Jose

I Don't Even Know You Anymore....

"So I signed up for a 10k this month"

"I went to Sneakerama during my lunch they recommended I try running in New Balance's 860 v2"

"You wanna run this Sunday?"

"I can't believe I PR'd by a minute at the 5k!"

"My feet are sore"

"My knee hurts"

"I love my new running shoes!"

"So I was thinking. I need to start doing more hills. I need to get stronger at them."

"I need to get faster."

"Maybe I can do a half marathon...... What do you think?"

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This is Me with a blank stare on my face.....

I heard the words perfectly. I understood it all. These are things I've heard many runners say. These are words that at one time even came out of my mouth. They are familiar words. They make sense.

What doesn't make sense is who is saying them. Something's not right here. I'm a bit confused. Who is this person talking to me? Am I in the wrong house? She looks like my wife. Dresses like my wife. Except for the words coming out of her mouth, she sounds like my wife.

Who are you??

This is coming from someone who used to question my spending habits when it came to races and running gear. Who thought I was crazy for running a much as I did. Who thought my friends were all crazy too. Someone who would give ME the blank stare when I talked to her about my running. 

Now there she is. She has a handful of 5Ks under her belt. New running shoes. New running gear. Running every couple of days. A couple of my "crazy" friend are now her friends. Her next challenge is a 10K coming up in two weeks. ... and she is ready for it.

It's weird to hear her get excited about races and running in general. She "gets it" now. I must admit it's kinda cool. But she still doesn't consider herself as a "runner". Yeah,... I laugh at that.

Welcome to our world... You are officially as crazy as the rest of us!!

I Wish I Was Running NYC...

Well here I am. I have only run twice since Bay State Marathon. And you know what? I'm OK with that. I'm in no rush to jump back into it. These old bones need the rest. Plus, work has been keeping me way too busy. For past two weeks I've been covering for our European office which is 6 hours ahead of us, so I have been getting up at the wee hours of the morning to deal with any issues they may have. To then work a full day at my office. PLUS this week I'm working out of the NYC office. It's been busy!! I'm on the train back home as I blog tonight.

This Sunday is the ING NYC Marathon. New York City was flooded with runners from all over the world this week. While watching my beloved Red Sox (World Champs!!) on Wednesday night at the Heartland Brewery at the Empire State Building, I chatted with runners from Holland. The were telling me that there were over 250 from their running club in Holland coming to run NYC. Wow!

I of course wasn't going to pass up the chance of running this week while in NYC. This morning I headed out early in the rain and headed towards Central Park. I wanted to see the finish line for the marathon. Not knowing where it was exactly, I found it fairly easy. I just followed the hundreds of runners that were already out there that morning.

Plus it was just about all set up leading up to the finish line.

The finish line

A group of runners taking a picture in front of the finish line.

Not sure where they were from. They were speaking some language I didn't recognize.

And hey.... why the hell not? .... Haha!

And no I have not shaved yet..... how's it look Char?? LOL

I have to admit. I started to get a little bit jealous when I saw all the runners out there and the whole set up for the marathon. Can't tell you how many times I was asked this week if I was running it :(   .... After talking to a few of my friends today, we have decided to try our luck and enter the lottery for next years race. How sweet would that be! We'll wait and see.

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Speaking of races, I do have one race scheduled for the end of the year. The Jingle Bell Half in Salem, NH on the Dec 14th. Runnning it with a group of friends. It will be a fun race. Plus... they have beer at the finish line!! Woot!!

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Tomorrow I go to cheer on my wife as she does another 5k in the morning. She is slowly turning into one of us!! Ha!

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Have a great weekend every one. And if you're racing, run hard!!!