Fall 2006: Butler's Orchard Pumpkin Festival

Picking out Pumpkins at the Butler Orchard Pumpkin Festival.

2006: The Year in Running

For Lisa, 2006 was a banner year for her. She began running in March and was able to complete her first 10K only a month later (Pike's Peek, Rockville, Maryland). She continued to build on that and finished her longest race to date, the PriceWaterhouseCooper Half Marathon in September. She topped this off by being one of the 16,000 finishers in the Army 10 miler is October.

Things were a little more bumpy for me. I was super motivated to start getting back into shape with perhaps an optomistic goal of setting a sub-3 hour PR in the Columbus Marathon in October. Things seemed to be on target through the end of August, but I quickly found that unlike when I was younger, things tend to break a little easier than they used to. An Achilles tendinitis forced me to stop running for 6 weeks. Fortunately, it did seem that rest was the elixir, and I gingerly started back by running the Army 10 miler with Lisa in October. I cancelled the Columbus Marathon, but was able to slowly build my mileage back up over the next few weeks and ran the Philadelphia marathon in the end of November. I ran the best race that I could under the circumstances but my 3:16.14 left me 15 seconds over the qualifying time for Boston. I sent in my application anyway, and the powers that be were kind enough to let me slip in. This has done a lot to keep me motivated- I want to run a good race in order to justify my entry, when I line up in Hopkinton on Patriots Day in April 2007. It's the end of December, and I feel like I'm back in the shape I was in before my injury. We'll see what happens over the next 3.5 months...

Summer 2006: the Alps and Provence

On July 15-23, 2006, Lisa and I travelled to France and witnessed a couple of epic Tour de France stages in the Alps, then spent a few days in Provence immersed in sunflowers, lavender, and the famous Provencal sun.

Photos: sunflowers south of Bedoin; turning my pedals in anger near the summit of Mt. Ventoux; Lisa and lavender near Sault). Click here to see more pictures of our trip.

2006 Tour de France

The 2006 Tour de France is in the record books. Or maybe it isn't. It's 6 months later, 6 months before the next Tour de France, and it's still not clear who will be the rightful owner of the Maillot Juane. Who knew that the controversy wouldn't end after the pre-race ousting of Ullrich and Basso? The 2006 was first notable for the NON-performances. Discovery Team members weren't up for the challenge. A broken collarbone sent Caisse d'Epargne team leader and yellow jersey contender, Valverde, packing early in the race. A tepid early defense of the yellow jersey by Floyd Landis allowed the emergence of other riders who would have merely been domestiques in different circumstances, namely Sastre, Pereiro, and Kloden. On Alp d' Huez, Frank Schleck and Damian Cunego demonstrated they have what it takes to be future contenders. Landis cracked on Stage 16 giving Oscar Pereiro the opportunity to seize yellow, an event that would not have happened had Caisse d'Epargne not lost Valverde. CSC, despite the loss of Basso had a fantastic tour with Stage wins by Jens Voigt and Schleck, a Stage 14 podium finish by Christian Vande Velde, and an overall podium finish by Carlos Sastre. It was a free for all up to that point. The circus came to a temporary halt when Landis turned in what appeared to be the improbable miracle ride of the century in Stage 17, and finished it off by regaining yellow in the final time trial in Stage 19. Lisa and I watched this stage while sipping on beers in a bar in Carpentras, France. It was one of the most incredible athletic performances we had ever seen.

Then came the doping charge...

The case continues today, 6 months later. In fairness to Landis, it does appear the lab that processed his urine sample may have handled the situation improperly. Irregardless of the final verdict, there is no winner for the 2006 Tour. Landis loses either way. Pereiro rode the time trial of his life in an attempt to defend his yellow jersey and thus is a deserving winner, but even if he is awarded the Yellow Jersey, no one will remember the 2006 Tour de France for his efforts. TdF 2007 is around the corner, but it's going to take alot to get rid of the skeletons in the closet left over from this year.