Posts made in January, 2010
In the UK Day 2 – York
An Noc
Craggemore
Glennmorangie
These were scrawled in a small notebook piece of paper I was holding in my hand as I attempted to remember specific directions to The Whisky Shop. They were recommendations, written by the cafe owner I had just bought the “Full English Breakfast” from (complete with complimentary coffee) at The Habit Cafe, a small cafe I stumbled into specifically for that breakfast offer. Whisky was the man’s “second passion” he told me. I not only did not find out his first passion, but I did not even get the man’s name.
Bad traveller, BAD!
I woke up as early as I could manage that morning and made for King’s Cross station to York. A lovely and smallish place with a bustling shop area downtown, I was charmed by York, but with next to zero space to hold anything whatsoever, there really wasn’t much shopping to be done. Instead, I made it my mission to find The Whisky Shop, a place I had read about the day before. As mentioned above (And in the video below) I was aided in this by the man who sold me my late breakfast.
Regarding the Full English Breakfast: I like it in theory, but the truth is, in my opinion there are too many disparate flavors on the plate, and I pretty much always leave the experience dissappointed. I think that British food is largely underrated, but at least for me, the standard breakfast is somewhat overrated.
Click here if you are unable to see the video.
It’s happening, people! Want to donate? I’ll draw you a portrait for your troubles!
In the UK: Day 1 – London
I seem to have stumbled onto the greatest Sunday afternoon quiz/karaoke session ever on at the Lambeth Walk Pub.
After following my fantastic wife’s directions* to my first London hostel, I found it, only to find no one answering the door. Not a big deal, sometimes check-in doesn’t open until 3 in many places. I decided to wait out the 45 minutes i had remaining at the pub I had walked by on the way. It was quite busy at 2:15 on a Sunday afternoon, an older clientele, who were about to begin what looked to be a weekly ritual of game show quizzing and karaoke! After a note thanking everyone for flowers and condolences sent for someone’s funeral, (obviously someone close to the group) the quiz began. All answers to the quiz had flower names in the answer, it was announced. After the first multiple choice question was asked, the MC let the group know that if they wanted to sing a song (karaoke) hey were welcome to.
The format was one quiz question, one karaoke tune. While I finished my pint of Fosters, I listened to the MC sing songs that were so well done I assumed they were studio recordings, a so/so version of a BG’s song, and a girl who could not have been more then 6 singing “Itsy Bitsy Spider”. You see, this pub is apparently a family joint.
I thought I had overpaid for my beer at three pounds, but after experiencing this, I think it was money well spent.
As for the trip out, it was a real slog. St Paul to London was an overnighter, and sleep was rough at best. My feet were already started hurting by the time I got to the hostel, which is not a good thing. I made the decision to not bring a second pair of shoes, hoping to break in these boots over the course of the week to get them ready for the race. It might be folly to put them back on after the race, but they are built in such a way that I suspect they will dry out quickly. I have my feet taped up now, and it has helped tremendously, and no blisters yet. Hopefully this will all end well for me and not in some horrific foot catastrophe.
Click here if you are unable to view the video
It’s happening, people! Want to donate? I’ll draw you a portrait for your troubles!
*I don’t think it can be overstated that the only reason I felt at all comfortable traveling for ten days here is because she agreed to plan every step of the trip. Granted, she loves planning, but I HATE planning, to the point where I wanted this to be a three day trip, in and out. Now I’m out in the world adventuring like Carl Fredrickson in UP. Thankfully unlike Carl, I have a wife to come home to, and no indiginous birds following me. So far…
My Progress: Video 9 – The Ice Bath
Last week I found out that the Tough Guy race organizers have an official “fitness” bar that you should be able to pass in order to compete. Their requirement? 10 miles in under 2 hours. So I decided to run 10 miles before the race and see how I measured up. My time? 1 hour 58 minutes. Ouch.
Double ouch, because in the last two miles my knees gave out and I was pretty much a mess, so when I hobbled into the apartment, I practically demanded that my very pregnant wife haul her butt to the store to get some ice for an ice bath. This, I believed, would be both effective and maybe hilarious. She left to get the ice. In the meantime, I drew myself the coldest bath that I could.
Then time passed.
It was probably 15-20 minutes, but long enough for my body to cool down, my joints and muscles to ease up a bit. That, and I had stepped into the bath I had drawn, and it was so cold that my feet hurt from it.. By the time Christine arrived with the ice, I apologized deeply to her for what was a completely unnecessary trip to the store for something that now seems like a silly idea.
We did it anyway. Christine was tough for me when I was unable to be tough for myself, and I thank her immensely for that, because by God, the ice bath absolutely worked wonders on my muscles. I still hobbled like an old person the next day, but it could have been far, far worse than it turned out to be.
Click here if you are unable to view the video
I am typing this while on my way to York, on a train that happily for me, has wifi. Expect a short video of my London stop later today!
It’s happening, people! Want to donate? I’ll draw you a portrait for your troubles!
Gear up for the Toughguy Race
At one point in this journey, I had very real intentions on dressing up for the race in some sort of attention-getting costume. Several ideas were thrown around, the one I liked the most was going as “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair. As the race grew closer, it became clear this was an unrealistic goal. For one thing, I suspect I am going to have a hard enough time just finishing the race, period, let alone spectacularly dressed in a costume highlighting my failure. Even more importantly, the temperatures in Wolverhampton (and much of the UK in general) are the lowest they have been in 30 years, from what I hear. With that in mind, this weekend I picked up the last of the gear I would be wearing during the race. I thought it might be interesting to see how I plan to keep hypothermia at bay for 4 hours during the Toughguy race..
Apologies in advance for the low quality image. Christine’s camera is in need of repair, so you will have to settle for our first generation iPhone. You can still get a pretty good idea of what I was wearing though. It was sort of like playing games of bingo getting these images together – I had that much fun!
Here’s how it all ended up breaking down:
1. Bicycle cap, Sugoi. $22 I would really have preferred a neoprene cap to keep my head warm, but that proved too challenging to find. After talking to a fine gentleman at REI, I settled on this polyester cap. It has a fleece feel inside, but the weave is really sturdy, and will cut the wind extremely well. Not to mention, with my big ears pinned back, I should shave my mile pace by a good 30 seconds. It was between this and a better fitting wool cap, but wool always makes my head itch, and I felt like this would not retain water as easily. It’s probably not great protection from the water at all, but it’s better than nothing.
2. Coldgear Base, Under Armor. $40 The first of three layers for my torso. 95% Polyester, 5% Elastane (I have NO idea what elastane is, this is my first encounter with it, I can only hope it’s approximate to lycra) It’s REALLY snug, but I think this is for the best in an event like this. I like the high neck, and I feel like I have full mobility with it.
3. Nike Pro long sleeve, Nike. $20 This was a steal on clearance, 84% Poly, 16% Spandex. It fit slightly more loose than the Coldgear, plus, the orange arms allow me to possibly be identified in a crowd (Until I am covered in mud)so it is my second layer.
4. Champion Tech T. $? I don’t recall how much my top layer cost, I bought it at Target when I started this training and have really enjoyed it, it’s amazing for wicking the sweat off of me, so it comes on as my top layer. I believe it is 100% Poly.
5. Glacier Gloves slit finger glove, Glacier Outdoor. $18 A neoprene fishing glove, I got a great deal at Wholesale Sports in bend. Other than two slits in each glove, one for each index finger and thumb, I have high hopes for this keeping the cold away better than anything else I could have found (other than say, one with no slits…)
6. Swim Trunks $? Possibly another target purchase from my past, I have had them awhile and don’t recall the cost.
7. Footless Tights, Nobo $6 Yep, I went to Target again and got me some lady tights. For $6, I figured I would give them a shot, and if I couldn’t stand them, I could always spring for something better. As it turns out, I think these will work out great. They are a bit shinier than I would like, but I suppose there’s a superheroish thing they give off. I was also worried because they really don’t breathe at all, but then realized that they would cut the wind extremely well, and in this cold weather, I don’t want them to breathe! I want them keeping the heat in if at all possible.
8. Jungle Combat Boots, Military Surplus. $25 This is really the biggest question mark for me. We passed by Military Surplus while shopping and decided to see what they had. The Toughguy race organizers reccommend boots highly, as one might lose a shoe easily in the mud during the race. I had been prepared to take my chances on this, but at $25 these boots were a steal. But so extreme looking! And large enough on my foot that I am worried about how my feet will take the beating in them. They offer no real cushion on the soles of the feet, and I don’t have much time to break them in before the race. However, they are unbelievably light for such a high boot, and Christine rightly convinced me that my shoes would soak up water like a sponge, something these boots won’t do with their side vents that should dispense a good deal of water collected. Also the canvas sides allow for a shockingly full range of motion in my ankles. I just need to get used to the higher heel and trust that after four miles of running my feet will swell enough to not make the extra space a big deal.
9. Polypropylene sock liners, two pair, Fox River. $5 Each. The race organizers recommend silk socks for this race, but I could not find what I needed, so my solution is to double up on these Polypropylene sock liners and hope for maximum wetness-wicking power. They are very thin, and won’t offer much of any protection from the cold, but hopefully will retain almost no water and make it so my feet are able to dry out quickly.
How will all of this hold up? I have no earthly idea. I do know that I started getting very toasty in the outfit almost immediately in the apartment, so I hope that bodes well for me in the race. I will report back on how these stood up once the race is over and my body resumes it’s normal temperature.
I am still taking donations! And time is running out to get your portrait at a cheap price in exchange for your donation. If you would like me to draw you or a loved one at a super cheap price, now is the time to do so before the race is over and I raise my rates to a more respectable level. If you have any questions about this, feel free to email me at drew.gilbert@gmail.com
My Progress: Video 8 – Heat Stroke
When I sat down to look at what I had recorded the on Christmas Day of ‘aught nine, I was truly baffled at what I was seeing.
“This is unusable!” I thought. I was making no sense at all! Christine and I had gone to Maui, a last vacation before the baby comes (I don’t count this trip to the UK as any sort of real “vacation”, not to mention Christine will not be along with me for that trip), so I thought I would try to accomplish what I had not been able to do in the previous month: Run eight miles.
And what do you know, I finished! I did end up walking for nearly a mile, broken into two separate walk-chunks towards the end. My body essentially shut down the running against my will, the sun was too strong in the middle of the day for those last four miles, and my belly was full of that morning’s ham and pancake breakfast, served to us by our gracious bed and breakfast hosts. The run, as I say in the video, wiped me out good for a day or two, but I did not know until I sat down to edit this how truly cooked my brain had become. I hope I didn’t do permanent damage…
Click here if you are unable to view the video.
The kicker in this whole thing is that I had been using “eight miles” as a baseline bar for where I ought to be from a fitness standpoint. I now read on the Toughguy website that the bar is actually “ten miles in under two hours”.
Well… crap. Guess what I am doing this weekend?
I wanted to create some sort of mix tape/playlist to post here to share what music got me through that run. Because I haven’t figured out how to do that, I will just share the tracks and artists below. The embarassing list in no particular order is as follows:
Bad Religion – Let Them Eat War
Coheed and Cambria – Welcome Home
Dethklok – Go Into The Water
Dethklok – Go Forth & Die
Europe – Cherokee (Don’t even play like this wouldn’t help you run, liars)
Journey – Separate Ways
Kanye West – Stronger
Linkin Park – Given Up
Linkin Park – Bleed It Out
Linkin Park – No More Sorrow (Yes, I know there’s a lot of Linkin Park. Yes it is embarrassing)
MGMT – Kids
Muse – Assassin
Muse – Exo-Politics
Muse – Sunburn (fitting?)
Paramore – For a Pessimist, I’m Pretty Optimistic
Paramore – Let The Flames Begin
Paramore – Hallelujah (Yeah yeah, Paramore. Also embarrassing.)
Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now
Radiohead – Reckoner (Not an obvious choice, but surprisingly effective.)
Savage – Swing
Shinedown – Second Chance (Cheezy as hell, but I dig it.)
The Ting Tings – That’s Not My Name
Now I feel more exposed than even those videos make me.
I am still taking donations, and I am still doing portraits for anyone who contributes more than $35. Anything will really help though, and you guys would absolutely be my heroes at the end of the day with virtually any donation you make. The formal pitch I make for getting a portrait reads as it has in the past:
$35 will get you a head and shoulders portrait, $50 will get you a full body shot, or two head and shoulders pieces. All come with a simple background included.
Because I make these in vector format, they can be resized to any size you could possibly need. I recently sent one person a 22×33 inch piece they can now have printed as a poster.
I can also work in other styles, and have worked with people who have requests for things that fall outside the standard head and shoulders to find a price that is fair – If you have any questions at all about anything at all regarding my work and how I might help you, please feel free to drop me a line at drew.gilbert@gmail.com.
- 35$ or more gets you one head and shoulders portrait, with a simple background.
- 50$ or more gets you two head and shoulder portraits, OR one full body portrait, again, with a simple background.
This is how tough I need to be in (gulp) 16 days!
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Lifestream
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Shared Taken with instagram.
