Grab your partner . . .

You can have too much of a good thing.  In my case, early spring.  It's 80 degrees outside as I write this.  To put this in perspective, we don't usually have 80-degree highs here in Hog Heaven until June.  It was 62 when I started on my long run this morning at 6:45.  The sun had not yet put in an appearance.  It was in the 70s when I finished hours later: exhausted and barely moving.  Yes, I bonked.  Big time.  After a 24-mile long run two weeks ago, my goal today was 26.  lol

I hit the wall at 18 but continued to grind along until I logged 20.  The last two were not pretty.  It wasn't hard to find the culprit.  Or, culprits.  Me and Mother Nature.  When I got home and checked my Garmin watch, I saw that I ran the first 18 miles as fast as I ran the first 18 miles two weeks ago.  But, looking back in my running log, I found that it was 32 degrees when I started out then.  I ran too fast for the conditions.  Ergo, I bonked.  Pretty simple.

I know better.  Among the marathon books I've read is Jeff Galloway's Marathon: You Can Do It!  Galloway warns readers to slow down at least 30 seconds for every five degrees above 60.  Galloway also says that almost every runner will experience a bad long run during his/her train-up.  So, here's hoping that I've had mine.

I just checked the weather for Ft. Collins, Colorado, for May 6.  The average low is 42 and the average high is 68.  The Colorado Marathon starts at 6:30.  If the weather is just average for this year's marathon, most runners should be finished before the temp reaches 60.  So, no problem.  I'm actually hoping for below average temps.  Maybe 38 at the start and 48 at the finish.  Cloudy but no rain.  Westerly winds behind us all the way into town.  Just saying.

Now that this week's long run disaster is over, it's time to dance.  As in the Big Dance.  The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.  The real action begins today with sixteen games around the country.  Another sixteen follow tomorrow setting the stage for this weekend's slate.  By Sunday evening, only a Sweet Sixteen teams will remain.

Along with everyone else in the country, I filled out a bracket and submitted it to ESPN.com.  As usual, I expect to be humbled by the results.  My son puts together a group on ESPN's Tournament Challenge every year that includes our family and his girlfriend's family.  Two years ago, his girlfriend's mother, who knows NOTHING about college basketball won.  Last year, his girlfriend who knows a bit more about roundball than her mother--by way of West Virginia University--won.  Go figure.

Anyway, I know what my problem is.  I pick winners with my heart, not my head.  There are certain teams that I will never pick to win a game, even if it's a #1 seed vs. a #16 seed.  I could name those teams but why alienate complete strangers.  I like to pick teams that represent schools with high academic standards.  Unless that team is Harvard.  Then, no way.  If it's Princeton, as has often been the case in the past, I'll pick them to win at least in the first round.  In general, I avoid Big 10 teams, but Tom Izzo and Michigan State and my home-state Iowa Hawkeyes are exceptions.  Iowa was banished to the NIT again this year, but I have the Spartans in the Final Four in my bracket.  Only Iowa State among Iowa's four Division 1 schools made this year's dance, and I picked them to make the Sweet Sixteen.  I believe Vegas has them exiting in the opening round.  See what I mean?  Heart, not head.

That said, my Final Four is pretty conventional (with one exception): Kentucky, North Carolina, Michigan State, and (drum roll) Vanderbilt.  I wish that I could say that I have Vandy winning the Championship, but the slipper seldom fits at the Final Four.  Just ask Butler.