Rock n' Roll, Rocky Balboa and Donations Galore

Total miles run since entry to NYC marathon/this year: 58.66/377.26
Total miles swam since entry to marathon: 1.38
Total miles biked since entry to marathon: 20.65
Exercise calories burned since entry/this year: 9,253/70,275
Weight: 197
Beers in last 24 hours: 0
Total raised towards goal: $860

I'm sitting at the office right now, getting ready to pack it up and go home. It's 7:40 p.m. here in Phoenix, and I can't wait to hang out with Heidi. By now, little Beckett is already to bed.

But today has been another good day, and first I must tell you all about it.

This morning, the TV station that is doing the story on the Phoenix marathon runners provided VO2 Max testing, along with analysis of our body's performance, efficiency and use of oxygen. We went to a Scottsdale sports medicine clinic that was like no other doctor's office I've ever been in – it had leather chairs and a plasma TV playing the first game of the Diamondbacks/Cubs doubleheader today. That was about the best doctor's waiting room experience I've ever had. The doctor I guess was the doctor for the Milwaukee Brewers for several years and now is known as the "Rock Doc" because of his clientele of rock stars.

Once inside they hooked us up to something that looked the machine Ivan Draco was hooked up to in Rocky IV, or like something out of a Gatorade commercial. You have this headgear on, plus a mask to which is connected a temperature sensor, and oxygen and carbon dioxide sensors, a heart monitor is wrapped around your chest and over your head you wear some kind of bizarre gizmo with all kinds of electric do-dads attached to it. I don't even know how to describe it. That's about the best I can.

Then you run. They start the treadmill at a walking pace and slowly work the speed up to 7 miles per hour (about a 9:08 mile pace). When it reaches top speed, the treadmill begins a gradual incline, eventual going to 8 percent incline. All the while, you run, as long as you can, and this machine reads your body's signs. At the end, you get statistics about your health, and then you get a custom routine aimed towards further increasing your body's effiency, so that you could ran farther, faster, and exert less energy. Very cool stuff.

The VO2 Max is basically some kind of measurement that looks at how your body uses and exchanges carbon dioxide and oxygen, and it's a very good measure of cardiovascular health - that, along with pulse. Most everyday people, who live a sedentiary lifestyle, would have a VO2 Max of about 25 to 30. An elite, high-performance athlete would have a 60. Mine is a 49. According to the test's today, my health level is considered excellent, and I would be categorized at the very high end of physical and cardiovascular health when compared to the world's population.

For those of you who know my past – cigarettes and booze, and way too many of both – I was stunned. My health level and VO2 Max were comparable to the other people there who had been marathoning for years, and looked like it. Guess it just goes to show with some hard work we really can improve ourselves. Anyhow, it made me very happy.

Speaking of which, I have to extend some more thank-yous: first to David and Karin, my favorite duo from the beautiful island state of Hawai'i. Everybody should be so lucky as to have two people in their lives like David and Karin. My first experience on the open ocean comes thanks to them. They own a beautiful sailboat which they race off the shores of Oahu. On that boat, I've been a guest during a race, and sailed out to some channel where the ocean swells were so high, you just knew that if somebody fell off, finding them would have been very difficult. They have a rum tank on that boat, too. Combine that rum tank back at the dock with some cribbage, and you've got a night you'll never forget. They've also been so kind over the years, allowing me to stay at their house, hosting friends, providing dinners and just taking care of us so we could have a good time. There's no way to really every thank them enough or repay them for all their kindness, but I'll try. Thanks David and Karin.

And then, of course, I can't forget my beautiful, wonderful friends, Becky and Gibson. I don't even know where to start. Gibson and I have ridden some bizarre personal and career path that just seems to keep intersecting at all the right times. Gib is responsible for some major, major turning points in my life that ultimately led me to be a lot happier in everything I do, and Becky, in the same way, has been equally important to both me and my wife – providing advice and insights and food for thought that often became integral parts of decisions we made on big issues. And, on top of that, they're just friggen' fun to hang out with. Thanks, you two. You're belief in me, and the contribution means a whole hell of a lot. Hopefully, we can get together soon.

Okay guys, that's all for today. I've really got to get home.

Oh, and if you want to donate, just click the word here.
Yeah, that word: Here.
The marathon/registry # is TFK06
The last name is TEAMPHOENIX

Hope everyone out there is doing well. The weekend is almost upon us ...