Race Time!

So...it's been a long time coming (per the norm), but it's time now to do a bit of racing. I had been planning on doing the Tri Fall Creek Falls in Pikeville, TN, but it was a bit more expensive and the INDY race seemed like a better idea for travel and logistics.

A few things I'm excited about going into this race include
1. The canal swim through downtown (see picture below) and getting back in my wetsuit.
2. Testing some swim fitness just to see how I'm doing.
3. Working on that dreaded T1 that I have (Shoes on bike, running start and hammer).
4. Seeing how much I can push on the bike and still run well (no speed guarantees or goals besides go hard.
5. Suffering through the run and pushing as hard as I can for the last 5k.

The weather is looking good in Indianapolis on Sunday. I tend to do well with cloudy weather and cooler temperatures.

The excitement is back and I'm looking forward to it.

Note to those looking to swim better: Swim outside

Why? Let's break it down, shall we? First, you have the sun which does wonders for your desire to swim that extra 500m when increasing yardage versus the mind numbingly dull fluorescent lights of the globo-gym pool. Second, you can swim 50m lengths, instead of laps, which adds to the interest factor, and is more long-course/open-water specific training. (Did I already mention the sunshine?) Third, you can bring people with you even if they don't share your love for a long swim (read: they can swim and then chill out and read by the pool). Fourth, you can see cool stuff by the pool like the Luna moth pictured above.

Finally, it's summer and winter looms with fierce dread. Brrr. Get outside!

Anybody else think about this?

When I get done with a ride, especially if the ride is TO work, I take a quick look in the mirror to make sure I am presentable. First I do this...

And then I think, "That's odd. Why does my head look like that? There's no way I can go into work looking like this."

"I look like, like, like, ummmm.....This!"

Oh well, what to do?

Come with Us...

So, here at The Torch, we're always seeking to promote healthy, physically active lifestyles. With that spirit in mind, Steve and myself adopted the idea of having team posting on Buckeye Outdoors. Some of you already use this site to log workouts, walks, hikes, gym visits, etc. It's very easy to use, and if you'd like (just let me know), I can add your workout in a widget to the side (see Steve's to the right). So if you'd like, sign up on buckeyeoutdoors, and then go find the Team "Torch de Fitness." You will need to request permission to join the team, but don't worry. I will give it.

So get off the fence.....

And come join us....

A Bit of a Breakthrough

So a typical ride for me over the past two months has been one of two types: 1) Group ride with a couple guys who ride competitively (Sam hangs for as long as possible until getting wrecked, usually during difficult efforts) or 2) Solo ride of some sort.

All rides have been in road configuration sans aero bars. Well, yesterday things began to look up. We were planning to do a brick (for those that don't know, that's a bike followed by a run). The plan was to ride easy beginning and end, but in the middle include 5x(4-min effort w/2-min rest interval). Thus, the tri configuration was set up prior to the ride. I honestly forgot how much I like being in the aerobars with some skeletal support as opposed to musculature support of the road configuration. So effort number 1, we stay pretty even most of the way, with the training partner getting ahead at the end of the interval. Breakthrough came in interval 2, we had done about 2 minutes, and I was about 20 feet behind when we slowed, turned right and started going uphill. From somewhere (perhaps the suffering of all the previous rides) I found some power to go past the training partner (who is light and usually trounces me on hills) and continue accelerating on the hill. Closed out the interval feeling like a champ and held on in front. The next two we stayed pretty even, and he trounced me on the fifth with his endurance. But all the same. It was good to remember (by feeling) that I can throw down a little on the bike when I want to.

I think there's just something about being aero from which I get more power (ahh, the joys of fitness).

(is this a sweet looking bike or what?)

The run off the bike was a bit tough as the legs were feeling gelatinous near the end of the ride, but a planned upon fast first mile was cut by 15 seconds (probably due to group workout nature) and the following 2.8 miles were hard but good.

Lesson for today: keep going, keep mixing it up and don't overdo it. The breakthroughs will come.

Photos courtesy of velonews.com

KY in the Summer (gotta love it)

This will be your encouraging post for the week/month/quarter. It's hard not to appreciate being outside this time of year, even if one lives in a highly urban area. Regardless, it's better than laying on a couch, and it's exceedingly more interesting. So even if it's a walk, go enjoy your life and slow it down with getting out of the building.


These are some pics from the ride home yesterday afternoon. I did beat the storm home.


Kid you not, there were some 7-8' tall corn stalks just a little further down the road...

On tap for today is a brick with the fellas and maybe a few minutes of Tour de France coverage after.

Ride your A$$

These are some pictures from our ride yesterday. We needed to get out and move after the Fourth's Feast and a hard run at the 10-k.

A quick 10-k recap: I haven't been doing too much speed work, and was not as well-trained as last year. Hence, there were no PR expectations. That's Rodes city next March. Get ready. Mike and I had a little too much fun the night before hanging out and staying up late playing Madden. It was a good time. The next morning we all got out the door a little late (Katy, Mike, Amber, and myself) due to some bowel testing. There was a nice line at the port-o-lets and we all tested their hospitality prior to the race.

Mike and Amber both PR'd and had good races. Katy finished strong, but I'll let her tell you about it. I went out at about 7+min/mi pace and the HR was skyrocketing. I figured it wasn't a PR kind of day as earlier determined, so I went for a good tempo run and finished in 43:02. It was a good time. The weather was overcast and rainy, and pretty cool for July.

The 1st annual SAMBER Independence day cookout was a success with a lot of people coming over for inside out burgers and cornhole. Fun was had by all. Hopefully we'll get some pictures up on the other blog soon.

My riding buddy Jeff and I went out for a nice 45 mile ride saturday morning. Paris is lovely in the summer!

After that, came home and got some lunch and then Amber and I went for a 15-miler. She's getting stronger. About 1+ mph faster than the last ride. We stopped for a quick visit with a local farm inhabitant.

Getting Trashed (No, not like that)

You'll have to ask Amber if I looked like this when I got back from my ride last night, but I can assure you this is how I felt. I decided I'd ride with the fellas after commuting to and from work. Maybe not the best idea, but a good way to grind out some endurance nonetheless. I tried to take it easy on my work commutes, and still ended up averaging right around 18+ mph. In retrospect, I should be setting my MHR a little lower when I know I have a long day, just to stay fresher longer.

So everything was going great and we were cruising along (rather quickly, I might add) when I hear a shewwwww coming from my tires. Thankfully, I had realized I'd forgotten a spare tube on my commute and with my luck riding with the fellas (numerous mechanical/bike issues), I wanted to have it just in case.

Jeff and Casey were contending for county line and bridge sprints throughout the four counties we rode in yesterday. I usually attempt to do this when I'm fresh, but I just let them go today. I believe the score was Jeff 4, Casey 3, with Jeff pulling out a nice acceleration to take the last sprint.

Anyhow, around mile 55, Sam popped. The 20+ mph pace became too much and climbing became a thing of pain. We returned to Lexington (around mile 75), and I was a little scared I was going to pass out on my bike. For the first time since training for my half last year, I just wanted to lay down on the side of the road and take a nap. No questions asked. After I split off to head home, I decided I need to stop and infuse my body with some sugar. 44 oz. real sprite anyone? I got a couple of powerades as well, just to make sure I could ride the last mile home.

I was pretty much a zombie the rest of the evening, and thankfully my wife is pretty awesome, as she rubbed my legs for me (while reminding me that she didn't feel bad for me because I decided to ride "a billion miles" :D )

The main point is this: when you're riding off the back of the pack as much as I was yesterday, you have two choices. You can quit, pack it in, pull out the cell phone and get a ride (which is not always a bad decision), or you can fight the voice inside that's calling you stupid for trying to do more than you have before, for trying to keep up with people who are "better" than you, etc., etc., etc. I think everybody has it. You hear it often when people are worried about not feeling in control during a workout. I've learned from riding with these two ,who have much better fitness than myself, that simply accepting where you're at and not worrying about it is key to success. If you constantly beat yourself down about not being fast enough, bla bla bla, you'll never have the motivation to get out and do it the next day. Just know that in whatever area you might be working, playing, you're out there extending yourself, and it's a good deal better than sitting on the bench. I would also advise riding with some people who are weaker than you on a semi-regular basis to keep self-confidence high.

By the way, a link to an article about the pool in the last post can be found here.

Forced (by) Gas furnace

It seems like this happens regularly now, but the spring months are often tough for me to get consistent training in. Subsequently, it is the first day of Summer, and I just had the first good week in a long time. Saturday and Sunday are still available, and I've gotten in two runs, a swim, and 3 bikes. Riding the bike is becoming a bit more desirable now that fuel costs are growing. Both Amber and myself are embracing this a bit more. My goal is to grow into commuting an average of 2-3x/week and carpooling the other days. I have a nice 16-18 mi trip (depending on route) each way. It's good and hilly, so it forces fitness in pretty well.

I'm currently trying to set up a little race schedule and a training schedule that's realistic for every week. I also need to get off my arse and go to master's swimming. The wife seems to be warming up to the idea.

The author realizes this isn't much of a post, but starting to write again is kind of like recovery. Just a little bit at a time before you get back into full swing. I'm saving better stuff for later.

Defensive Cycling

Since the above happened to me about 5 weeks ago, I figured I'd post a PSA for all those beginning to ride in traffic or who still fear it. You have good reason. Dan Empfield wrote a good article regarding safety on the bike. Don't forget to remember how it should be isn't how it is. And how it is has a lot to do with whether you're safe or not. Enjoy

Who likes Climbing?

I do. It hurts like crap, especially when you're a bigger guy, but the fitness gains are remarkable (at least they have been in the past). Yesterday was a good ride. Beautiful day in the bluegrass, and we took it down the the river for some climbs at Clay's Ferry, T-burg Hill, and the climb up from Hall's on the river. There were some other tough ones in there too. I'm looking forward to doing this ride more. Only next time, I'll be throwing on the 12-27 cassette instead of the 11-23. If you don't know what that means, just e-mail me before you have to do any serious climbing, because you should know.

Hammering out Fitness

Cycling in the spring is one of the greater passions of mine. Beautiful days filled with 60+ mile rides is a good afternoon.

So today we had a bit of deja vu. We had a guy come out who had not been riding since the winter. We were supposed to get in a somewhat easy 50+ mile ride, but somebody forgot to tell one person. This singular person started leading out at about 5 miles and we hammered in a pace line for about 10 miles. We put at least a half mile into the poor guy who hadn't been riding. Why deja vu you ask? Because that was me two and a half weeks ago. Getting dropped really builds some fitness.

Yesterday was a 6 mile effort with some 1/2 mile intervals mixed in in the second half of the run. What's the point? Building base fitness is a great thing. It helps to be ready, but when you can't be ready, it's good to go ahead and thrash yourself a little bit every once in a while. First, it does actually build fitness. Second, it's great motivation to put in some training to get up to a level commensurate with your abilities. So if you need to get ready quick. Crush it a little bit. Just don't be stupid.

Papa John's 10 miler Race Report

So I realize that I've become a fitness freak when I have racing traditions. This is my new one: a longer run to kick off the season and get me going. Last year it was a half mary pacing Mark, this year, a fun run with Mike at the 10-miler.

The other reason I know I'm a fitness freak is that I look at a race as training for something else. Seriously. I got to Lousville friday afternoon and was more excited about riding over to the stadium on the bike with Mike for packet pickup than I was for the race. I felt a little bad (and took a lot of crap) for pushing him a bit on the bike. There were some good hills and Mike was pretty exhausted by the time we got done with our ~23 miles. Sorry bud. We'll do it again next year and you'll be in shape.

It was a cold morning. High 30's. There was record attendance yet again for this event. Around 7500 people.

My plan was to go out along with mike pretty easy the first 3 miles until we got to Iriquois park. This is where the race begins. There were some solid hills out there. Nice long hills are really becoming something I enjoy more. But I especially enjoy it on the bike. The run, it's good, but not my favorite thing. However, I was killing it in the hills this day. I was able to have just a solid cadence, and I was passing people like gangbusters. After the first hill, I decided it was time to start pouring it on and let Mike run his own race and me mine. The last hill in Iriquois was pretty rough, but it felt good to have it over with and the downhill was a glorious break. I took in a gel before getting to the water station and then it was back to the stadium. Mostly a slight up grade and into the wind just a smidge. I was able to keep the cadence pretty high and at mile 9, just before the last hill ( a bridge over the RR), I started planning the finish. Halfway up the hill, some tall young dude caught me and went by me. He looked like a basketball player. I decided that with current conditions, I would use his apparent strength to my advantage. I slowed down a step and hopped in behind him. I'm so happy drafting is legal in running, because it just isn't fair that I used this poor sap the way I did. I was right on his heels and I'm sure he heard me, so he just kept pushing harder. I enjoyed it back there, just matching him step for step experiencing no wind. as we turned into the stadium at about a 1/4 mile to go, I pulled out around him and poured it on. I'm not sure how close he was, but I definitely wasn't letting him catch me.

It was a good finish. I went and got my chip taken off, grabbed a water and a powerade and went back to get Amber. I had done training runs with her, and we figured it would be fun to run in together. My knee and calves were hurting heading back. I saw mike coming in as I was going back out. Mike beat his time from two years ago by like 8 minutes. I found Amber around mile 8.5 (so I got in a half mary all told). She was running really well and ended up going sub 10-min miles for the whole thing. She had done the half mary last spring in over 11-min miles, so we were both pretty stoked; especially considering the amount of training she'd been doing. We've been pretty busy with weddings and moving and such lately.

Steve should have his first Tri race report up soon. Maybe we can get Mike on to do it too?

My First Tri. The REBELMAN.

You think its Iron-distance don’t you? No, I’m not that good, they’ve fooled you. It’s a (short) Sprint-distance (400m swim, 21k bike, 5k run), in Oxford, MS on Saturday. I’m all the things you’d expect from a tri newbie—nervous, excited, constantly crapping myself….

For something like a decade, I’ve been dreaming of doing a triathlon, always putting it off because of time and/or money. Now that it’s less than a week away, I am literally dreaming of triathlons. Last night, as I drifted to sleep, I was sitting in T2, trying in vain, to get my shoes on. They wouldn’t go on, it’s like someone switched them out with a smaller pair. They finally slipped on as Ella jolted me awake with a cry. Hopefully Saturday’s race goes better than it seems to in my sleep.

I’ve not finished the first race yet, and I’m already looking forward to my first Oly. This will be a good summer of racing….hopefully the move(s) don’t mess it up too much.

Working into Crossfit Shape

Last night I did half of the workout pictured above, but mixed in some presses (95 lb) when I could no longer breath from the burpee pullups. I would recommend using gloves as I tore up my hands a bit. (Also, there's some questionable language in the last 15 sec of the video-please stop before then if you have kids around)

In the quest to build power with endurance, and to become a better athlete, with a more well-rounded approach to health - and also to make me a better, faster triathlete - and because it's just cool to crush yourself in workouts, I've decided to work towards being crossfit.

The reasons:

1) Crossfit's simplified approach: Their definition of Fitness and Health in 100 words:

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast. Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports.

2) It is undeniable that pushing oneself to the limits increases fitness in a way that walking from machine to machine, doing a slow regimented workout does not. It changes the mind, and has the ability to alter one's composition in a way far more strongly than does the big box gym method.

3) I enjoy pushing my limits.

4) Look around the crossfit site. Watch some of the videos. This is an ethically viable system which doesn't require failing your customers in order to gain a profit.

5) They have cool shirts. One even says "Smoke you like cheap crack" on the back. Gotta love it.

Running in the snow/ice/wet trails

So I decided last week that since it was February, I should probably start doing some training again. And since Febtober is usually the month we get more snow and ice than any other month here in KY, that it was time to construct the el cheapo saucony ice cleat. So I snagged about 50 6x3/8" sheet metal screws and drilled them into the bottoms of my shoes in much the same manner as you see pictured above (those aren't mine, but I liked his craftsmanship, and I think using his pattern on the asics is a good idea).

So last night, I was busy until about 8:30, but was hoping the snow and ice would keep coming, so I could give these pups a try. Mother Nature cooperated with continued snow, and halfway through my run (about 5 miles), it also began sleeting and icing. It hurt a bit on the face, but there's nothing like running in the snow. It's hard to beat.

How'd the el cheapos perform, you ask? Admirably, to say the least. I felt like I was running on an indoor track. Seriously. It wasn't much besides snow at the beginning, but at the end, the only track I left consisted of screw holes entering the ice, and I had great traction with zero slips. One suggestion though: if you're of the male persuasion, make sure you wear some form of insulation around the manhood, else (to borrow the phrase from moonpie), the tip of your bayonet might go numb.

I'm taking these babies camping with me this weekend too for a trail run. It should be muddy, so we'll see how they do. Happy running!

Crossfit

After a lot of reading and approximately a month of thought, I'm convinced that Crossfit is an excellent way to stay in shape, especially if done consistently.

Chicago Marathon (Sam's a-hole moment)

I'd like to start by saying it's a crying shame what happened yesterday. People shouldn't be dying at these events. But it's going to happen when people have health issues (known or not) and choose to run. You know that little voice inside your head that automatically speaks (silently if you have a filter)? The voice inside is brutally honest, and I have to say speaks from the heart with no concern for how people feel. I have to say before I start, I honestly don't care either way if someone wants to run a marathon to say they did it or for whatever reason. If they want to do it and choose health, good for them. I'm happy you're working at it. That's a whole heck of a lot more important than qualifying for Boston. However.....

My unfiltered mind has a couple of questions.

(1) What kind of weather were these people "training" in all summer to prepare for this marathon? I ran Chicago last year and I suffered through a lot of brutal heat. I know from my training runs that it probably would have added 15-30 mins to my overall time. But that's it. No more. My theory (supported by a lot of personal experience) is that many people don't train and aren't in anywhere near good enough shape to try to cover 26.2 miles in a morning.

(2) If you can't get past halfway by 4 hours, what are you doing trying to run a marathon? That's OVER an 18 min/mile pace! That's 3.2 mph. Most people can and do comfortably walk at this pace touring the Mag. Mile. Seriously people. It's an effing marathon! Not the dog Park.

(3) How you gonna disrespect a marathon? The thing is named for someone who died upon completing a mammoth feat. I speak from experience (and I ran sub 3:30) when I say I trained with fear. I knew I was going to do it, but there was a little bit in the back of my head that said "26.2 miles is a long way to run!" I don't think I'm alone in this. This is the PSA portion of the questions. If you don't run, you need a year to train. If you do run and haven't run a marathon, you need 4 months minimum to really train for a marathon. These people who write training programs say these things for a reason. The body needs time to make adaptations.

(4) It was hot all week and the weather was predicted. If you know you're running slow, you should be prepared for the eventuality that aid stations might not be that helpful. Why weren't you? 'Nuff said about that. You're solely responsible for your safety. Paying $100 doesn't mean someone else takes on the burden of your personal health assessment. (Granted, this same logic applies to the people running the race. This article is in no way an excuse for your shameful performance this weekend if what the reports say are true).

I really write this article to say this. It's ok to not do big stuff like this. Your health and life are more important than this stuff. But if you want to do it, really get ready so race day is a celebration and maybe a time challenge, but certainly not the time when you answer the question "is this really possible?" Follow the training programs and get ready. Let's not have people dying and gettting hurt over things that don't matter.

I write all this and say i sure hope the evil karma doesn't come get me in Miami. It probably will and I'll have a bad day because of this. But you know what? I'm ready. 65-mile ride yesterday at 18+ mph for 3:30 in 93 degree 60% humidity weather. If the bad comes, I'll drink some water, suck it up, and curse the heat.

Music City Triathlon Race Report

This is the second Olympic Distance Race of the season and really the final prep race for Miami Man in November (I'm doing the local sprint this week, but I don't really think it qualifies due to its short distance).

The weekend began with the drive down to Nashville to stay with Amber's very hospitable family (A big Thanks to the Leslie's). Saturday, we went over to get registered since I signed up late and was on the waitlist. I was pretty sure I would get in, but didn't want to leave it to chance, so I showed up before they opened. I got in, got the right size t-shirt and a blue cap (you'll see below why this was so interesting-it did help the spectators find me though. I might try to do this in other races). Race Report Below: The pic below is me hangin' out before the race. I'm easy to find with my blue cap. If you look directly to the left of me, you'll see a guy who I think is related to Mr. Miyagi. Dude was whipping out some dojo stretches before the race and Steve and I shared a few good-natured laughs over it. Steve also gave me some swimming tips on streamlining my body in the water. Thanks brotha!
Swim: 1500 m (I think + run to transition, not sure) - 27:32.87 (1:50/100m)

I felt pretty good most of the swim. I also felt smoother in my stroke than I did a couple weeks ago. I still swam off course a little bit, but still an improvement. I'm hoping to keep getting better on the sighting. It'll come. I got out and my adoring fans were cheering me on the run to transition. It was pretty cool.

T1: 2:08.9 - No big deal. I ran out the wrong way at first and had to turn around. I just need to keep getting quicker.

Bike: 22.5 miles - 1:01:28.43 (21.96 mph)

The bike was really good. It was a hilly course, but most of the hills were shorter than the ones here in KY. Honestly, I just had one of those really good days where I felt like I had juice in my legs in almost every gear. At about mile 16, I thought a big climb was coming up and tried to gear into my small chainring. As I did this and threw the chain, I swore at myself for being an idiot. I had to slow down and stop to put it back on and lost probably a minute to minute and a half. In hindsight, this was a painful mistake. About 10 people I had passed in the last 5 minutes passed me when I stopped. I was pissed, but decided I was going to use it for motivation to track people down on the run. All in all good bike, but I need to not have mistakes like that

Run: 10k - 40:12.21 (6:29/mile) PR by 6 seconds for a 10k!

I got out of T2 and almost fell down on some uneven ground. Ran about a quarter mile and then went up a 1/2-mile switchback hill that was brutal. At the top, I fell back just a little bit of some skinny dude that looked to me like he was going to put together a good run. So I latched onto him a little bit to try to keep a good pace. After a while we got out to the dam and I was running next to another guy named Rod. It was an out and back and we ran over a dam and down a large hill that we had to come back up (also painful but we made it). On the back, Rod pulled me up one hill and said "hang on and get up here!" I'm grateful for that as I would not have had the run I did without him. As we were getting back to mile 5, I knew it was mostly downhill and I wanted to repay Rod for his help, so we started picking it up to try and catch dude in gray who was in Rod's AG. On the .5 mile steep downhill, I just let it rip striding out fully and going about 5min/mi pace. Rod yelled at me from behind "It's not even fair with those long legs you've got!" I told him my large arse was pushing me down the hill. At the bottom of the hill, I was hurting bad, but still had about .3 miles left. We had passed gray suit dude on the hill and all I wanted to do was beat him. We caught another old guy at mile 6, and I poured on almost all I had. At about 50 yards out, we went in through the fence (and my cousin Steve said he thought I would get kicked at the end), I decided I'd worked too hard to lose at the end, so I poured on everything else I had and finished strong in front of rod and old dude. We must've dusted gray suit dude (or he was demoralized by watching me stride past him like a bloated camel), because he wasn't in the video that Amber took.

Total Time: 2:14:06.25, 4/29 in AG, A really solid race for me. The real twist now as I look at the race results is if the guy ahead of me is really in 3rd place since he had a 2 min drafting penalty (cheater). If his penalty has yet to be assessed, I finished 3rd. Oh well. Good day regardless. I'm asking the RD if I'm reading the results correctly and will update when I find out.

Summary: I need to keep getting better on sighting in the water, keep speeding up my transitions, and not do stupid crap like throw chains on the bike. However, I do believe this HR training/base training really works. I feel so much better running at that speed now. It's uncanny. I'm really looking forward to lower volume, smooth pace base work this winter in hopes of really cranking it up for next spring at the Louisville Triple Crown and St. Anthony's.

I've attached some pics below of Amber and Myself after the race, and Steve messin' with my bike with me thinking I was leaning out of the picture.

So I Love Dogs, But

Sometimes they get their comeuppance. I was riding today, and I heard a dog come up on me. I've learned in the past year that if you want to keep a dog out of your spokes, you have to scare them off and keep them away from your bike.

So without even thinking about it as the dog came up next to me on the right (running full speed), I let out a strong "HEY!"....I definitely scared his butt, because he tried to stop on a dime. I kid you not, he had so much momentum when he stopped that he literally somersaulted right next to me. I was a little worried at first that he was hurt, but then he got up and looked at me. I smiled to myself with a great sense of accomplishment. Today's Score: Sam 1, Dogs 0