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By BrianFlash, on March 28th, 2009
I woke up this morning at 4:30AM. My cat Metro was trying to get under the covers. Unfortunately, this is not unusual. This 17 year old cat is getting crotchety in his old age and one of his habits is to burrow under the bed covers around this time every morning and start licking me on the arm or the belly – whatever he feels he can reach most comfortably. My problem is that I’m a soft touch and let him do it. Anyway, just a little early wakeup on the morning of our scheduled 10K race in Imperial, MO.
The beautiful thing about this morning was that not only did a serious cold front come thru bringing 40 degree temperatures, but we were forecasted to have rain and wind along with the cold. And I was just bragging about winter being over. But no matter, Kathy and I got out of bed around 6AM and started dressing for the race. Compression tights, my Austin marathon shirt for layer one and of course, the Team Flash top for layer two. Kathy dressed similarly, but her Team Flash top is a short sleeve so it stayed in the drawer and she doffed more sensible clothing instead.
I donned a pair of gloves and my Nike dry fit cap and I was ready to go. We pulled out of the driveway and headed straight to that famous American house of nutritious food, McDonalds. After receiving our order of coffee, orange juice, coke, and cinnemelts (mmmmm – cinnemelts), we took our 40 minute drive thru mostly light rain to Imperial. I pulled up to the intersection where the race was to start. And I see no one or nothing. What’s going on here? Check that, I see two empty tables and a few traffic cones. This must be the place!
This was a small race, but I was a little surprised at the extreme lack of people. Packet pickup was scheduled for before the race. We tooled around the intersection and finally found three ladies in front of an empty store front with a table of t-shirts. Gold Mine! I pull up and hop out – and they are having the race. It turns out we were the 2nd and 3rd runners to pick up our numbers. I ask the lead volunteer how many people they are expecting and she optimistically says, “I hope about 50.” She had a decent number of pre registered runners, so I went back to the truck with Kathy and waited in the warmth of cab for more people to show up.
Well, more people did come. They arrived in twos and threes and pretty soon more then 20 people had picked up their packets. At about 8:25, two sherriffs patrol cars drove by. One stopped at our starting intersection and the other drove off down the road. The lead volunteer and the starter led us over to the intersection. They explained that the course was an out and back, running it twice for a total of 10K. After thanking us for coming and talking about the charity we were running for (The Living Well Foundation), she asked if we were ready. We were. Then the starter said, “Go!” We did. All 14 of us 10Kers.
I broke out to a lead, running at a 7:30 pace. Within about 50 yards of the start, a lean, obviously highly fit dude, caught up to me and asked me how fast I was planning to run. Instead of lying to him, I said I would like to do an 8:00 pace (which was pretty darn optimistice). He wished me good luck and headed down the road at closer to a 7:00 clip. The course had two nice hills and since we were doing out and back twice, that meant a total of eight hills up and eight hills down. Plus we had a light rain falling. But I kept clipping along and was doing decently to the first turn around. At the turn around, I had a 100 meter lead on third place. Since no one was that close to me, I started having some concentration problems keeping up my pace. A couple minutes after turnaround, I see Kathy scooting along – she is clearly doing pretty well and looking good.
At the halfway point, I was at 25:14. The hills were having their effect and clearly no PR for me was happening today. The third place runner was still about 100 meters behind so I’m really having motivation problems at this point. A few minutes after the turnaround, here is Kathy again clicking along. Quick words of encouragement and we both continue. The 2nd outbound leg was a struggle. No PR and no competition to spur me on. However, when I get to that last turnaround, I see a young guy coming along pretty well. He has closed the gap to 50 meters and is looking good. I am clearly not the same runner I was 25 years ago. I didn’t get a surge of competitive fire or think that I needed to pick it up. I did summon a bit more speed, but he continued to close on me and with about 3/4 mile to go catches me. At nearly the same time, I suffer a blow out – my right shoe becomes totally untied (pre-race, I had tied a “Runner’s World” recommended Ian knot but the wet squishiness just forced the untie) and the rain starts coming down with some authority. I run with my new nemesis for 100 feet or so, then apologize and tell him I have to tie my shoe. I’m not Usain Bolt for God’s sake! He opens up a lead he never relenquishes. Now my concern is holding off his running buddy. I crest the last hill and see the finish line and pick up the pace. I give the last push and come in at 50:59 – not my goal of 49 minutes, but OK given both my condition and the weather and course conditions. 3rd place!
I stand at the finish for a few minutes talking to my fellow runners and cheering for the others coming in. But the rain is really coming down now. I start getting a little chilled, so I figured I’d run out and meet Kathy and come back in with her. So, one more up and down hill. I end up meeting her pretty close to the finish, at the summit of the last hill. She’s running with a guy from Pittsburgh, Kansas! Why would you come all the way over here for a tiny little race? It turns out he was visiting and just thought he would run. So I accompany them in, he nudging her at the finish, leaving her to finish in lucky 13th place. The good news is that she set a new PR of 65:13 and beat her goal pace of 11:00 minute miles!
Even a tiny little race like this was fun. They had four volunteers, two water stops, and a digital clock on a tripod. When you get down to it, that’s really all you need. Running is a simple sport. The rain or limited participants didn’t dampen my spirits, although my clothing was all completely soaked. The entry money went to a good cause (a kid’s summer camp) and we got a nice looking t-shirt. It turns out that they also hold a 10K in the fall that the kids in their camp train for. So we may come back in the fall and make it a Team Flash event!
By JasonFlash, on March 23rd, 2009
This weekend I had the great pleasure grinding out my long run in Yosemite National Park. I am sure that no one has ever run in a place with more awe inspiring natural beauty than Yosemite. I have seen other places around the world that come close to equaling the valley, but none surpassing it. To quote John Muir “It is by far the grandest of all the special temples of Nature I was ever permitted to enter.“ Unfortunately the photos attached here do not even begin to do the park justice.
I woke up for my run at 5 am so I could make the hour drive into the valley from my hotel in Oakhurst. My goal was to begin my run 30 minutes or so before the 7 am sunrise so that I could maximize my chances to see wildlife, including the elusive black bears. When I left the hotel it was a relatively balmy 48 degrees, but by the time I climbed into the park the temperature had dropped to a crisp 39 F.
 I began my run at the visitors center, heading east towards the sunrise over Half Dome. I only had a vague idea of my running route for the day, but I knew it would include a trip beneath beneath this mighty piece of granite. Half Dome is a fantastic monolith, and it has been a special place for me ever since I summited it last year.
At the one and a half mile mark approaching Mirror Lake there was a sign that said “Rental bikes not allowed on steep grade ahead.” This did not seem to be a good sign, but fortunately the grade turned out not to be too steep or too long. I guess the park has to look out for the safety of all those bike riding visitors in the summertime. Running along the lake I had a wonderful view of Half Dome reflected into the aptly named Mirror Lake. The 2,000 foot high cliff on the front of Half Dome will make you feel small whether you are looking down from the top or gazing up from the bottom. Despite the isolation and the early morning hour I did not see any bears on this leg of the run.
Next it was backtracking and then heading back towards the visitors center. I passed by the Ahwahnee lodge and saw the first visitors in the park for the day, a friendly German family who moved their kids out of my way and gave me a cheerful “Guten Morgan”; as I passed. Yosemite receives about 3.5 million visitors each year. In the summertime the narrow roads can be quite crowded. The easy way to beat the crowds is to arrive at dawn – there are few visitors arounds and the people you do see are extra friendly. The solitude will allow you to appreciate the sunrise and overall your visit will be a much more moving experience.
 I ran this long run without my I Pod – this was to maximize my chances to spot a bear. You would be surprised at how loud bears are when they run through the undergrowth. Not having my I Pod also enabled me to hear the roar of Yosemite Falls grow loader as I approached them around Mile 6. Yosemite falls are the highest in North America, and the 6th highest in the world. This was my first spring visit to the park and what a difference some snow melt makes – the falls were roaring as I ran beneath. This was the first time I have had to be concerned about getting soaked by the spray from a waterfall on a long run. I had to double back after I moved away from the falls just to take in the view a 2nd time.
After the falls I crossed Northside Drive and saw a sign for El Capitan in 2.5 miles and Bridalveil Falls in 4.5. I figured I would be over half way finished by the time I reached that end of the valley. The run to El Capitan took me along the isolated Valley View trail which runs right along the Merced River. This trail featured a wide stream crossing around Mile 8. Too cold to be running with a wet feet, so I gave it all I had and managed to leap over it and land in the soggy mud on the other side. It was a mental victory to complete a hurdle after running 8 miles. This stretch also featured a couple of places with snow drifts – by the time I got to El Capitan I was wet and muddy. No luck spotting any bears on this stretch of trail either.
 From El Capitan the North Side drive is closed for construction. I was thinking about taking advantage of this and running right down the road. However, as I approached I noticed a sign “Closed for Construction, Extreme Danger, Exposed Electrical Lines” I thought it would be a wiser course of action to stick with the trail. It started to feel like I was a long way from home as I continued my run down the valley. I was moving gradually downhill and I knew I would need to come back up. I had a plan to run to the intersection of Northside Drive and Wawona, but I did not know exactly how far away this was. To compound my concern, it began to rain. At this point in the run I was both mentally and physically a long way from Happy Isle. I expected this to be a good location for bear spotting, but no luck here either.
After what felt like a long time I finally hit my turnaround spot – the Pohono bridge. From here I crossed the Merced and began to make my way back up into the valley. I am always mentally relieved when I begin to run towards the finish line. Out and back runs are great motivators for me – I feel like if I need to make my way to the car anyway I may as well run. At this point the rain stopped, but the previous 14 miles were taking their toll on my legs. By mile 15 I was mentally and physically drained. I stopped to stretch my burning calves on a tree, and walked about a half a mile while I ate my chocolate flavored Powerbar energy gel. I had not seen any other people outside of cars for at least an hour. Unfortunately this isolation did not help my quest to spot a bear either. No luck on the far end of the trail.
As I approached mile 16 I started to run again. No sooner than I started back in my run I rounded a bend and came into full view of Yosemite Falls. What a sight! This meant I was only a short mile and half from my finish. I cut back across the valley floor on the Sentinel Bridge and through the growing crowds. I felt like I had a 2nd wind as I completed the last 2 miles. Yosemite falls is an amazing inspirational sight for the finish of an 18 mile run. Too bad there is no chance of the National Park Service authorizing a Yosemite marathon. By this time it was too late and too crowded to have any hope of spotting a bear. I guess that will have to wait for another day.
 See the photo on the left for what I look like after an 18 mile run. I am still wondering how I am going to make it another 8 miles on top of this to complete a marathon. Maybe a couple of more training runs will help. After the run I changed into my “National Park Clothes” and spent the day exploring Yosemite. I was not up for as much hiking as I normally would have been, but I revisited the park highlights. All in all, it was a wonderful trip. I highly recommend to everyone that they try to experience places like Yosemite on their runs. This run will go right to the top of the list of my great running locations. Running here was not the same type of thrill as a marathon, but it does not have to be the same to be great.
I also finally found that bear….
By BrianFlash, on March 22nd, 2009
I had a nice week starting out on my peaking program for the Go! St. Louis Marathon. We’ve finally broken thru with springtime, with the weather being better then acceptable all week. All of my runs this week were outside which is the first time this has happened this year.
On Monday, I did four miles, two at tempo (8:02 pace). The most exciting thing about this run was when I lifted my water bottle up to my mouth and give a good squeeze. Even though I’m the only user of this water bottle, I still don’t suck on the end. I levitate it a couple inches above my mouth for the germ avoidance factor. Completely illogical, but that’s one of my little compulsive behaviors. Anyway, the water gushed out, resulting in me waterboarding myself. I would have answered any question put to me at that point! But, I shook off the advanced interogation technique and kept on going.
Wednesday was an easy four mile recovery run. I know what you are saying – recovery from what? You are barely training! Thursday I did 3 x 1/2 mile intervals (with 1/4 mile recoveries) and a heat up and cool down period. My 1/2s were 3:40, 3:42, 3:40. Like a machine I tell you! Around 24 years ago I set my PR at this distance; 2:08. Oh the wonders of youth. I pretty sure I can’t run that fast now at top speed over 100 meters.
Sunday, I knocked out an 8 mile jaunt thru one of the ubiquitous suburbs of St. Louis. Lots of rolling hills on an out and back course along Baxter Road in West St. Louis County. 9:28 pace while keeping my heart rate mostly in check.
Big blog related excitement around here. When I check my blog administration page, I see that I’ve got my first outside website link to my blog. And better yet, it is from Phedippidations, a great running oriented podcast and website. This was my first link back so obviously, I’m excited. Then I go to his site and he has labeled this blog, his blog of the week! You could knock me over with a tube of Vanilla Bean goo! I tell Kathy first and she is mildly interested if a bit puzzled – is this stuff that interesting? Then I call Jason and he is hyped up like an 8 year old boy on a Kool Aid binge. “We could have followers” he exclaims!
“Gee Brian, what are we going to do in this race?”
“The same thing we do every race, Jason – try to take over the world!”
This is just the beginning…
By BrianFlash, on March 17th, 2009
Team Flash is always trying to build our membership. We want to compete with the big boy running clubs like the New York Road Runners. One way to do that is to bring in the celebrities. Here are some of the people on our target list:
1) Sam “Flash” Jones - He played the title character in the 1980 Classic film ‘Flash Gordon.’ “He saved every one of us!” And he got all touchy with Melody Anderson, who was quite a babe. One of the best things about this movie is that if you drink every time they say ‘Flash’ you will be completely enamored with the film by the time it is over…
2) Usain “Flash” Bolt – Every running club needs someone who can actually run. So what that Mr. Bolt said he is too lazy to run the 400 meters, much less anything longer. We’ll make a space for the fastest man in the universe – even if he would have to retie his shoes every 100 meters.
3) Elvis “The Memphis Flash” Presley – he might be dead, or he might not be dead. Either way, I’m sure once we subjected him to a rigorous Team Flash training program, he could knock out a half marathon in his home town.
4) John Wesley “Flash” Shipp – He played “The Flash” in the TV series by the same name. While that show maybe wasn’t the finest TV program ever, it was pretty darn cool. Every running club needs a ruggedly handsome dude – and he’s our guy.
5) Tom “Flash” Gordon – He’s a real professional athlete. Of course, he’s a baseball pitcher, not a runner, but that right arm has thrown beautiful curves for 20 major league seasons and he’s probably about ready to do something else.
6) Roscoe P. Coltrane’s dog “Flash” – The energy exuded by this bloodhound makes this beast the perfect mascot for Team Flash.
And of course anyone with the nickname ‘Flash’ or any of its many synonyms or permutations. We’ll build this club into an organization that will make the other running clubs cringe in fear and quiver in humor.
By JasonFlash, on March 15th, 2009
I crossed a major milestone this week – I have run over 1,000 miles since I started keeping track just over 2 years ago. I had dabbled in running off and on for several years, but March of 2007 is when I really seriously started focusing on a disciplined running program. What a long way I have come from humble beginnings, 1,005.6 miles to be exact. In the beginning I only had 2 goals – run 3 miles in a row and run 10 miles in a week. Those simple objectives were both achieved in my 8th week of running, and things have kept getting better and better from there. That’s the great thing about running – you can always try to go a little further and a little faster. With any luck I will have my first marathon out of the way in a few short weeks.
I was reflecting back on my running log and I want to highlight some of the best runs I have had over the last few years. In no particular order:
Death Valley – Nov 21, 2007 If you ever get the chance to run in the desert, take it. You should try to do this at night, and preferably in the winter. I ran 9 miles while staying in Furnace Creek. There was no one around, but the stars alone are enough to make it bright enough to run without a light. That trip up the valley floor was one of the most tranquil runs I have ever had. My only concern was stepping on a rattle snake, and you certainly think you see things in the shadows of the cactus. Whatever is out there in the shadows just makes you want to run a little faster…
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Santiago Chile – Jan 20th, 2009 I think a treat way to explore a new city is to run across it. I did this a few months ago in Santiago Chile. Santiago has done a wonderful job of making the city running / bicycle friendly. Many of the major streets are bisected by medians turned into parks with bike paths. The drivers in Santiago are particularly diligent not to hit you when you cross the streets as well – I had some trepidation about this when I started but it quickly disappeared. I ran 8 miles one way from my hotel and took the Metro de Santiago for the return trip this also enabled the whole run to be slightly down hill.
Las Vegas Dec 3rd, 2007; Nashville April 26th, 2008; Huntington Beach Feb 2nd, 2009 I put these all together because they were each half marathons. Running in a big race is an amazing experience, from the crowd support to the camaraderie with your fellow runners. Plus, when else do you get a chance to run up the middle of Las Vegas Boulevard? I would encourage everyone to at least complete one major road race, even if it is a half marathon instead of a full marathon.
  
Forest Park Dec 7th 2008 This was a great 6 mile run around the perimeter of Forest Park in St. Louis. I have made many runs around this park and it is the perfect mix of hills and flat and scenery and other runners. This particular run stood out becase it was a Team Flash Team Event. I completed the run with Brian and Kathy. For anyone in St. Louis I would recommend this park for a run, it is one of my favorites.
New Orleans Oct 28th 2007 This is one of the best places to run for the history, scenery and sights and smells of New Orleans. My 5 mile run was right up the streetcar tracks on St. Charles Avenue, passing by the mansions of the Garden District. When I lived here in the early 2000′s this was a place I frequently ran. I was in town for a weekend with some friends so I went for my old run again. This is another place that lets you run all one way and ride the streetcar back. If you ever do this run just remember to run on the left, not the right, this is so you can see the streetcars coming and get out of the way. Keep an eye out for the Mardi Gras beads stuck in the trees, leftover from years of the Rex and Zulu parades following the same route.
It has been a great 1,000 miles. I hope the next year or so brings me 1,000 more.
By BrianFlash, on March 11th, 2009
Six weeks to go to the Go! St. Louis Marathon. Well, really 5 1/2 weeks to go. I’ve got a serious situation here – my IT band has really prevented me from training as much as I should, both prior to the Austin marathon and now. I just finished a nice brisk 3 mile run today and the band feels great so I needed a plan to get in some kind of pseudo shape for the Mound City Meander.
After thinking about this during a drive to one of my company’s manufacturing plants in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, I’ve come up with a basic plan. I want to take it easy and not hurt the IT band (or anything else for that matter) but want to get in good enough shape that I can keep up with Jason “Flash” Flaspohler. Additionally, I’d like to do a bit better then the Austin shamble.
After two more easy runs this week, I’ll go into my serious program for the five weeks before the race. Each week I’ll be doing a tempo run (escalating from 4 to 6 miles), a recovery run (escalating from 3 to 4 miles), an interval session (4 x 800 with warmup/cooldown), and a ‘long’ run (starting at 6 and going up to 10 miles). So, my longest training run will be a 10 mile jaunt. In order to try and simulate a longer run, the weekend before the marathon will be a 10 miler on Saturday and a 10 miler on Sunday. My heaviest mileage week will be 35 miles.
I’m pretty sure this limited training won’t get me to my goal finish of 4 hours, but I have no doubts I’ll be able to complete the race. With the challenge of dragging Jason along to his half marathon PR and marathon PR in the same race (yet keeping back just enough energy that I can outrun him to the line), I should be good to go.
Team Flash’s goals are to get to 13.1 in 2:10 (Jason’s goal and PR) and then drag along to the finish. Jason in 4:29:59 and me two seconds faster. Kathy’s plan is a 2:30 half marathon; hopefully her heart will hold out.
I’m begging the people of St. Louis to make their signs supporting Team Flash and strategically position themselves along the course. That would really help us out!
By BrianFlash, on March 8th, 2009
Well, those of you in the US have just had spring handed to you on a silver platter. That’s right, daylight savings time has struck! We’re a month early this year, pushing the clock ahead one hour. I’m a major league fan of daylight savings time. In fact, I’d like to keep it the whole year. I’m an afternoon/evening runner for the most part and I hate running when it is dark. During the winter here, it gets dark by 5, which kills my evening runs since I typically don’t make it home from the salt mine until well after then.
Kathy and I went out this afternoon and did a 3 mile tour around our subdivision. The sun was out, sky was a brilliant blue, and the temperature was in the low 60s. Absolutely perfect weather! The only slight downfall was a 20 mile per hour wind. Maybe a bit warm to run your fastest, but after suffering thru winter this year, I’ll take it. Every year I dislike winter more and more. My IT band held up against the 3 mile saunter and I’m ready to get back into the training program. Unfortunately, around here we only get about six weeks of great weather, three in the spring and three in the fall. The rest of the time it is either way too hot and humid or cold and miserable. Oh well, running is at least partially about suffering and weather is something you just can’t change.
After the run, we compared Garmin’s. Kathy just got her 405 to match the 405s that Jason and I already had. This was the first side by side course comparison we had done. They were 0.02 of a mile off at the finish, even though we ran together the whole way. The devices differed by .67% in measuring the distance. I think that is pretty darn good, given that these babies are talking to satellites in order to calculate your position every step of the way. I believe I’m talking for the entire Team Flash membership when I extol the virtues of this little watch. True the bezel does take a little getting used to and the battery life could be a bit better, but the advantages of this device are huge. It collects great data. You can set up basically limitless types of workouts. The heart monitor option keeps you from trying to kill yourself. It also tells you how few calories you just burned during the run which is a nice reminder that a run doesn’t give you the leeway to eat all the pig fat and bacon grease that you want to jam in your pie hole.
By BrianFlash, on March 6th, 2009
All that talk of the quick brown fox jumping over the lazy dog might not be accurate. The dog (Jason) feels his training is going so well, that he might as well go for the full marathon in St. Louis. I’m completely in favor, but can he recover from that race quick enough to get married the following weekend…
Kathy got irradiated again, being subjected to a chest CT exam today. Basically, as soon as the doctors start to look at you, they find things that MIGHT be bad, and feel they need to do additional tests. But how do you say no when they suggest that it is something that should be followed up on? I’m sure all is well, but I’ll cross my fingers until the results come back.
Hermes, God of Running, please get the demons out of my IT band! It feels OK, but I’m not sure I should really run on it yet. Kathy’s doing her seven miles tomorrow and I’d love to get out there and do something (and I might), but I need this inflammation ejected from my soul. Not training for this marathon could lead to a fate worse then death – being beaten by Jason in a race. Of well, I’ll stick with the ice, side plank, Wally’s exercise, the rolling pin, aspirin, rest, elevation, stretching, peaceful thoughts, hip raises, and impatience.
I’ve considered getting a tattoo when I completed a major race. Initially, I was going to get one after the half, but after it was over it didn’t seem like such a big thing. So I said, marathon – tattoo. Now that I’ve done that, I still haven’t been drawn on. Maybe after Comrades. I can get one on the right leg for the down race and a matching companion tattoo on the left leg for the up race. Cool, that puts off the tattoo decision until June, 2010.
How’s about those of you who read this drivel, leave an occasional comment or two? We’d love to hear from you!
By JasonFlash, on March 2nd, 2009
When it comes to running I am generally a lazy person. I love the feeling I get when I finish a run, but sometimes it takes a little extra something to get me out the door. In the last few months I have been looking for things online that go above and beyond the traditional music motivation. What I have found to be the best place is motivational are videos from You Tube. I thought I would share some of my personal favorites. Hopefully these will help get you to throw on your Asics and head for the running trails as well.
First is this compilation by Matthew Belinkie. It is great because it is takes the 40 greatest inspirational movie moments and boils them down into a single 2 minute video. This is perfect becasue it coincides with my current attention span. It is entitled “40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes“. I find it exceptionally well put together and it really pushes me to do my 6 mile tempo run when I would rather stay at home and eat bacon and cheese. If someone can tell me how to turn it into an MP3 and put it on my I Pod I think this would also be a great pick me up one the last mile of a long run.
Next is a video I discovered as a result of the first one. It is the long version of the St. Crispins Day speech from Shakespeare’s Henry V as performed by Kenneth Branagh. The video is 5 minutes long, but the most motivational parts are in the first 3 minutes. This speech was givin to rally the English army just before the battle of Agincourt. If this speech could motivate 10,000 Englishmen to take on 50,000 Frenchman in battle it should get you out the door for a long run.
Here is a more traditional running inspiration video from the 2006 New York City Marathon. What a start!
Finally this one is for Brian, it may be a commercial but sometimes you have to Feed the Warrior! While we are using Nike adds, how about this Classic?
All of this motivational material must have worked for me this week, I completed 4 runs and a solid 29 miles. This included a new personal distance record of 14 miles.
By KathyFlash, on March 2nd, 2009
In the spirit of Team Flash’s never ending goal of setting new and extreme PRs, I am happy to report that I recently achieved a PR during a nuclear stress test for both time and speed at incline.
A few days ago after a routine visit to my cardiologist, I was scheduled for an unplanned stress test the following day. There was some concern about recent shoulder pain I had been experiencing. So with trepidation and an empty stomach I strode into the outpatient services building at the hospital mentally visualizing the complete and utter pwnage I was about to unleash on the hapless hospital treadmill.
Upon arrival I learned I was actually scheduled for a nuclear stress test. This procedure can take up to 3 hours involving a couple of injections of radioactive material along the way for good measure, actually for enhanced imaging. So after an injection and 20 minutes of waiting I was ushered into the imaging room where I spent another 20 minutes lying perfectly still in a little trough dreaming of bacon double cheese burgers while a very expensive camera buzzed, clicked and whirled about me happily detecting the gamma rays emanating from my chest cavity.
Now it was time for the tough part, the dreaded treadmill. I approached my adversary warily. I have bested its kind many times before on my turf, the basement. But now I was in its house, outpatient services. They started by hooking me up to a 12 lead EKG – no worries just a few more electrodes that usual. Once on the machine I was told to grab the bar. Ha, I never held on to the bar at home! With one last blood pressure measurement the treadmill glided into motion. I didn’t pay attention to the initial setting being in a heightened state of anxiety. Speed and incline increased, blood pressure measured, EKG recorded; rinse and repeat. After a few minutes and absolutely no chest pain I began to realize I was about to set a new PR for a nuclear stress test; a new achievement for Team Flash. With adrenaline running high and the treadmill running at 16% incline and 4.2 mph I walked for a couple of more minutes for good measure and put this one in the Team Flash record books.
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