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 Updated 4/22/2013 Toxx Goals Toxx Complete 4/20/2013: Complete the ITU San Diego Triathlon - Sprint Distance New  4/22/2013: Run the Cosley 5k Run for the Animals on June 1 in 31 minutes or less (sub-10 minute pace).Non-Toxx goals 1) Hundred Pushup Challenge starting today 4/22. I can do 19 good form pushups right now, so we'll see how this goes. 2) Complete at least one more yet-to-be-identified sprint triathlon and one Olympic distance triathlon by the end of the year 3) Depending on how running goes, complete either a 15k or half marathon by the end of the year. Training Plan I only have 6 weeks until my Toxx 5k race. My 5k PR is 34:45 (December 2012) so I have to shave 3:45 off of that time to hit my goal, which I think is completely doable. My plan will be pretty simple - run more and cross-train consistently at least 3x/week. I'll be running 4 days per week, with "long runs" starting at 4 miles and peaking at 6 miles. Here's my rough plan:  The 2 mile runs on Wednesdays will be some kind of harder workout like a tempo run or hills or something, haven't figured that all the way out yet. I may cross-train on my rest days or I may do it after my run workouts, but ideally I'll be swimming and biking each twice per week. And that's that! Here's a picture of me wearing a lot of neon: 
Sub Par fucked around with this message at Apr 22, 2013 around 14:48 |
| # ? Nov 29, 2012 20:36 |
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| # ? May 24, 2013 19:17 |
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Yessssss running logs taking over TFLC. Followed!
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| # ? Nov 29, 2012 21:07 |
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Yesss more run logs more run logs
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| # ? Nov 29, 2012 21:28 |
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Sub Par posted:I enjoy gaudy and brightly-colored running shoes and whatnot The only way to run. I have fluo pink laces in my shoes and try to deliberately mismatch colours where possible.
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| # ? Nov 29, 2012 21:31 |
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So today was a cross training day. I did 30 minutes on the stationary bike, with the goal of going as hard as I could while keeping my HR below 160 and my cadence above 100, which worked out magnificently. Post workout drink was a large frosty glass of chocolate milk. Since it was an off day from running, the rest of the day was focused on the 3 Fs: Food Foam rolling Fuck I hate stretching 4.25 miles tomorrow. If it's overcast and 60 like it was today, I'm targeting 12:30/mi for that run.
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| # ? Nov 30, 2012 00:32 |
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  Sup overtrained-for-a-marathon-previously-and-is-now-trying-to-train-for-a-half-marathon-properly buddy? I will be following this log if only for the neon-clothing photo updates!
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| # ? Nov 30, 2012 12:11 |
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Followed for the neon green shoes
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| # ? Nov 30, 2012 17:30 |
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Start a log and on day 1 I miss my first workout since August. Must be a curse. I forgot I had an appointment for a stress echocardiogram today at 4pm and I wasn't allowed to exercise until after. The appointment took an a hour and a half, so did the drive home, and it's now almost 8 and I haven't eaten in hours. I'll do my run in the morning. As an aside, wtf is wrong with drivers in southern California? I just moved here but it rained today which apparently nobody here knows how to drive in. Accidents everywhere and it took an hour and a half to get the 18 miles from my doctor to my house, all interstate driving.
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| # ? Dec 1, 2012 03:38 |
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Got in my 4.25, review here. The huge spike in pace at the 13 min mark is a GPS fuckup. My legs started to feel fatigued at the 3 mile mark which was frustrating. I could feel my cadence fall and my stride lengthen as my form broke down. I tried to hold it together cadence-wise as best as I could. When I turned around on Hawley Blvd just before the 4 mile mark, I took a 5 sec walk break to give myself a little HTFU speech and promised to pick up the pace for the last tenth, which I did. Hit the pace and distance I was looking for overall though, so I'll call it a success. Chocolate milk time. Edit: My route looks like a unicorn:  Sub Par fucked around with this message at Dec 1, 2012 around 18:19 |
| # ? Dec 1, 2012 18:13 |
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Watched the Texans crush the Oilers and imagined Bud Adams crying into his fat, old hands. It was great. Then I went to the gym. 40 minutes on the stationary bike (5 warm up/30 high cadence HR ~150/5 cool down). Then some strength stuff: DB Bench Press 3x8 @ 35 DB Bent Row 3x8 @ 35 DB Hammer Curl 2x10 @ 10 Was going to do more but my wife was ready to head out, so we did. 5 miles tomorrow, and I'll probably go swimming, too. Hoping to hit around 12:45/mi for the run.
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| # ? Dec 2, 2012 23:49 |
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Sub Par posted:Got in my 4.25, review here. The huge spike in pace at the 13 min mark is a GPS fuckup. How are you tracking your cadence? Just by feel or are you using a metronome? I hear all sorts of people talking about running at 180 strides per minute or something like that but haven't bothered to try and keep track for myself to this point.
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| # ? Dec 3, 2012 00:40 |
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When I first started I would use a metronome app on my phone, set it to 170, and play it for a minute or two at various points of the run. I did that until I felt like I had a good feel for what 160-170 felt like. I still bring it out every couple weeks to check, or I'll just use a metronome online and listen to it for 30 sec before I head out for the run. I want to buy the foot pod for my watch so I can be more precise, but I haven't pulled the trigger on it yet. Maybe I'll get it for Christmas.
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| # ? Dec 3, 2012 00:50 |
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Ran 5 miles today, an out-and-back over a 2.5 mile portion of the half marathon course near the UCSD campus. I was going to go to a coached swim with my Tri Club afterward, but I got done running at 6:45, the swim started at 7:30, and in that time I wolfed down a pint of chocolate milk, some kind of granola bar I bought at 7-11, and a bunch of water. Too bloated to swim. Pace on the run was 12:37/mi. It was kind of fun running in a new place. Plus it was dark and foggy so I was focused on not falling and the whole thing really flew by.
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| # ? Dec 4, 2012 06:22 |
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Have considered trying to get your mile and/or 5k time down a lot before trying to increase your distance? 12 minute miles are horribly, horribly inefficient. If you're skinnyfat, intervals, stairs, and hill sprints will do a lot towards that end.
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| # ? Dec 4, 2012 08:03 |
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I am going to start doing that, yes. But I (stupidly?) registered for this event already and want to make sure I'm prepared for the distance.
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| # ? Dec 4, 2012 20:20 |
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Busy day. I went to the cardiologist to get my stress echo results and a few other things. Got cleared to do whatever I want physically, so that's great. My cardiologist is also an extremely avid marathoner (has done 160+) and said the same thing as dorquemada - that I am basically running too slow. I'm a little frustrated because up to now I have read (in the running thread and elsewhere) that when you're starting out you should focus on just getting out there and putting down the miles, and that the speed will come. So that's what I've done and I've plotted out my training accordingly. I'm rapidly closing in on 16 weeks out from the half now, and I'm worried that I've done this wrong - that my slow speed will hurt my economy and ultimately limit my distance and that I don't have enough time to correct it with speedwork without risking injury. All that said, I am going to stick with what I'm doing. Track repeats and tempo runs are part of the FIRST plan, so once I start that the first week of January, hopefully my speed will naturally pick up. Did 4 miles today. I tried to pick up the speed to sub-11 min/mile after warming up for a mile, which went fine, but it killed the rest of my run and I couldn't even hold that pace for a mile. I think that's because I just did the 5 miles two days ago, and I'd like to think that on full rest I could hold 11 min/mile for at least 2 miles.
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| # ? Dec 6, 2012 03:30 |
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Oh look, another 4 miles. Wearing my HRM again, still disappointed with how high my HR is. I took a few walk breaks when my HR was 180+ to get it down, thus the slower time. Going to try some interval type work the next few weeks and see if I can make any progress. I have a 5k race coming up on the 23rd, and I want to put in the best time possible there. Other than that, my wife signed us up for some strength class with our tri club tonight. Not sure what it is other than it's 30 mins so I'm guessing some kind of bootcamp-style. I'll be sitting out any leg exercises, though. Sub Par fucked around with this message at Dec 7, 2012 around 20:16 |
| # ? Dec 7, 2012 20:13 |
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So the strength thing was pretty fun, just a 30 minute circuit of bodyweight stuff mostly. Was pretty cashed by the end of it, but I think it was worthwhile. Oh and I didn't sit out the leg stuff. It was really tame - 60 lbs dead lifts, box step-ups, bodyweight squats, bodyweight lunges, and monster walk. Legs feel fine, and tomorrow is a swim day so I figured what the hell. Sub Par fucked around with this message at Dec 8, 2012 around 02:53 |
| # ? Dec 8, 2012 02:44 |
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Ran 5 miles in 1:02 this morning. Now spending the rest of the day on airplanes. Edit: Workout Summary. Had two planned rest days after this. Next run will be 12/12. Sub Par fucked around with this message at Dec 12, 2012 around 14:57 |
| # ? Dec 9, 2012 18:14 |
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Did 5 miles in 59 minutes tonight. 11:44/mi. Feels good. I ran from my office to my hotel down the Mount Vernon Trail, it was gorgeous. Great night views of the monuments, plus the sound of the water, made it a great experience. Thanks to DC traffic and the dumb employees at the Verizon store, I beat my wife back to the hotel, even though she was driving. This was also the first point to point I have done. Makes you feel a real sense of accomplishment. As I was crossing the Memorial bridge after a mile and a half, I looked down the river and saw the control tower at DCA and the air force memorial in the distance and was like "holy crap, I am going to run all the way down there. Great night. Time for a beer.
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| # ? Dec 13, 2012 02:15 |
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Ran 6.25 miles today in 1:18. Had some bad planning on my part last week where back-to-back holiday parties on Thursday and Friday followed by an all-day-on-airplanes Saturday resulted in me missing a run. Was supposed to be 4 miles. I probably won't make it up, since I have the 5k a week from today. I also bought a bike today. I got a Felt z100. I'll post pictures in here later once my phone is charged up.
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| # ? Dec 17, 2012 02:34 |
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Nice bike! I endorse biking far and often - it's at least a hell of a lot more entertaining than running.
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| # ? Dec 17, 2012 20:23 |
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First, a bike picture: I went on my first bike ride today since I was 15 basically. It was fun - had to get used to a road bike and stuff like that, but I'm doing it with my wife so I have someone else to struggle through it with, which is nice. We went 6.5 miles in a pathetically slow 49 minutes today, just a little ride around the neighborhood getting used to the bikes. Doesn't count as a workout really. Heading to the pool tonight for an actual workout, however.
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| # ? Dec 17, 2012 23:49 |
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Disappointing day today. I decided to try and get my 5 miles in today that was originally scheduled for tomorrow so that I could get an extra day of rest before the 5k. In retrospect, that was really dumb! My right knee acted up a little bit with IT band tightness and my legs were still a touch fatigued from the long run on Sunday. So I cut it short and stopped after 2.11 miles. Now I need to decide whether to make those 3 miles up later this week or just run my 4 miles on Friday and the 5k on Sunday and call it a week. It's been a bad week training wise, what with missing that workout last week and having a bad performance today. Going to spend some more time stretching and foam rolling in the meantime and hope I can get back on top of things.
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| # ? Dec 18, 2012 23:52 |
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Swam tonight. I am a very, very beginner swimmer. Did 400 yards where probably 125 of it was breaststroke. Just working on my breathing for now.
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| # ? Dec 19, 2012 04:37 |
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In a hotel room tonight in Memphis with some wicked heel pain. It started 2 days ago randomly when I was just walking barefoot out to my car. I didn't step on anything, my heel just suddenly started hurting. My running friends tell me it's plantar fasciitis. I've been icing it, stretching my calves, rolling my foot on various objects, etc. I'm supposed to run 4 miles in the morning. If my heel hurts, I'm going to do the stationary bike at the hotel instead. I have the 5k coming up on Sunday, so I'm a little bummed to be injured right now. Hopefully it will pass quickly.
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| # ? Dec 21, 2012 03:40 |
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30 minutes on the stationary bike this morning at ~145 HR and 90 cadence, followed by 5 minute cool down. Heel is feeling a little better today. I was on the road last night so I bought a bottled beer from the hotel bar then took the empty bottle to my room to roll on my foot. Real MacGyver-type poo poo. I think I'll be good to go for the 5k on Sunday at this rate.
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| # ? Dec 21, 2012 19:39 |
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Well today was the 5k. My heel felt about 95% so my plan was to make it a really good effort. It was really crowded and I tried to run slowly at the start and not get out too fast, which was harder than I had imagined it would be. After a while I gave up on that and just tried to run based on perceived effort. According to my watch, the course was a tenth of a mile short. But I finished in 33:51 at a pace of 11:13/mi which was about what I expected, perhaps slightly faster. I felt that I could definitely have maintained that pace for another tenth of a mile, at least, so that's good. Official results aren't up yet but I will post them when they are. So the long and short of it is that my 11:13/mi pace equates to a 34:45 5k time. According to my book, my target half marathon pace should be 12:19 or about a 2:39:30 finish time. That's... slow!. Hopefully after some of the track workouts and whatnot that will come down, but for now that's the time I'll be using to build my workouts. That starts on 1/9/13 and I have about 39 miles to run before then.
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| # ? Dec 23, 2012 21:08 |
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6.5 slow miles in humid, stormy Houston this morning. Can't wait for Christmas lunch now, I'm starving.
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| # ? Dec 25, 2012 17:35 |
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Lateral right knee/IT band pain after yesterday's run was moderate to severe. Kind of frustrating. I head home tomorrow where I will be re-united with my foam roller. Until then I'm stretching and using a rolling pin. Two off days, then back at it on Friday. Also, about to register for my first triathlon (a sprint) which will be on my 30th birthday, a mere 8 days before the half. Maybe a bad idea, but whatever - it sounds fun.
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| # ? Dec 27, 2012 00:58 |
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I re-engineered my training plan a bit to give myself an extra rest day on account of my knee. So today I just went swimming 450 yards. Freestyle the whole way. Tomorrow's run is 7.5 miles. I have been stretching and foam rolling 2x per day, so here's hoping tomorrow goes well!
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| # ? Dec 29, 2012 04:11 |
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Got in just over 2 miles of my planned 7 miles before the right knee started to hurt, so I cut it short. Out of frustration I then exhausted myself by going very hard on my bike trainer for 15 minutes. I'm not sure what to do here. I've had IT band pain before and I know that I'm supposed to take it easy until the acute phase passes (which I did), then stretch and foam roll a lot (which I'm doing 2x/day) and then run at an easy pace and stop when you feel pain. But my 16 week half marathon plan is supposed to kick off in about a week, and right now there's no way I'll be able to complete that first long run of 8 miles. And I am worried that if I just rest for like a week and a half I won't have put in enough volume to get through training plan injury free. I guess I'll give this another week and see how the knee progresses.
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| # ? Dec 30, 2012 02:06 |
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Pain free all of last night and today, so that's a great sign. Went on an easy 3 mile hike today and had no pain as well. Based on the reading I've done, I am going to keep up my stretching and foam rolling routine and just run every other day up to the point that I start to feel knee discomfort, and then stop. If I can get 6+ miles in on one of these runs, I'll get back on track with my plan.
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| # ? Dec 31, 2012 04:30 |
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2.17 miles. Stopped to stretch my IT band twice during the run. Mild discomfort started at about 1.75 miles, I stretched and walked and then got in another third of a mile or so before the pain came back called it quits at that point. Iced it immediately after the run for 20 minutes. Will stretch and foam roll shortly. Going for a swim this afternoon, hoping to get in 500 yards.
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| # ? Dec 31, 2012 20:08 |
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The only downside to using the gym at the university near me is that when the swim team is practicing there aren't a lot of lanes left for the rest of us. The lanes were filled today so I carved out a small section of the non-lap pool (which nobody else was in) and just swam. Not sure how far I went but it was 30 minutes of freestyle. I think I finally have my breathing down enough were it makes sense to start working on some other mechanics. Progress!
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| # ? Jan 1, 2013 01:06 |
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I've been stuck at home with the flu for the past several days. Looks like my fever has finally broken now so hopefully I can put in some time tomorrow. We'll see.
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| # ? Jan 3, 2013 14:27 |
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First post-flu run this morning. Only made it 1.6 miles before knee pain cut it short. Really frustrated and not sure how to proceed.
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| # ? Jan 8, 2013 13:16 |
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Sub Par posted:Well today was the 5k. My heel felt about 95% so my plan was to make it a really good effort. It was really crowded and I tried to run slowly at the start and not get out too fast, which was harder than I had imagined it would be. After a while I gave up on that and just tried to run based on perceived effort. Be very careful with your knee pains... those will get you. Where is it on the knee?
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| # ? Jan 8, 2013 14:12 |
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swyys posted:Hey this is always impressive-- getting out there and killing a 5k as best you can. Side of my knee. 99% sure it's my IT band. Had that before with the left knee. But this feels a little different - the pain persists a little longer after running and kind of feels more toward the inside of the knee. I'm going to get back to eating well after the flu and doing stretches/strengthening/foam rolling. If that doesn't make it better in a couple weeks I'll probably go to the doc. Really need to get on track though - was supposed to start my 16 week HMP plan tomorrow and that's definitely not happening now.
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| # ? Jan 8, 2013 22:08 |
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| # ? May 24, 2013 19:17 |
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Did "9 miles" on the stationary bike at the hotel gym last night in 31:30. Then immediately got on the treadmill and ran a mile in 12:00. No knee pain on the run, but was pretty tired after. Having my HR up from the bike made the run a lot harder. Then I did 3x8 @ 35 dumbbell bench, 2x10 @ 20 dumbbell hammer curls, a bunch of abs stuff, and stretching. All in all a really solid hour - feeling the best I have since I got the flu. Going to warm up pretty hard tomorrow and try for a longer run - my knee felt really good on the treadmill and I'm thinking it was because my legs and hips were warm from the bike. Good luck me! Sub Par fucked around with this message at Jan 11, 2013 around 20:28 |
| # ? Jan 11, 2013 20:26 |
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