Laziness...

I am beaten

2011-05-10T23:34:00.000-04:00

I can't keep up anymore, I have lost a battle I was not mentally prepared to lose. I need to find a way to escape and start over.

Struggling

2010-09-07T22:34:00.000-04:00

So I've been debating on what I should do in terms of getting my runs in. I don't know what is more time efficient and it might just take some testing to find out what I like better. Anyway my issue today was as I woke up I was pretty hungry so I had half of an english muffin hoping it would tide me over till after my run. I thought I had enough time since it was about an hour and a half till my run. Sadly I was mistaken.

My run started off alright and I made it through the first mile fine, then I had this constant feeling that I was going to puke in the middle of the streets of Boston. It was pretty miserable and I cut the run short ending up with just 2 miles

So now do I try to eat a small meal before bed and hope it tides me over enough that I can get up at 5 and wait for breakfast till 8 or what?

Wrapping up the month

2010-09-01T23:18:00.000-04:00

Well it has been a while. I haven't run all that much this month, the adjustment to the new job and new schedule gave me room to make excuses and slack.

Basically, between my training schedule for work and lack of time to eat, I was starving by the time I actually got home, and I did not yet have my gym membership. I do now have my membership and I am off and running in terms of work so it is easier to keep a somewhat regular schedule. I just need to catch the early buses every day and get runs in before work. If I try to run at home then take a later bus in it would likely translate to me just hitting snooze too many times to get a run in before work.

Signs of improvement though. So far I've been getting runs in the morning a little easier. I am not going everyday since I am unable to make myself go slow so I'd rather try to keep injuries away. It doesn't help that there are lots of other runners around and I don't want to look like some fat slob that is out of shape even if that is what I am so another reason not to run a comfortable pace.

The more of a routine I get into the easier this will get I assume. I am enjoying the gym membership even though I don't use the actual gym part it's nice that it is a method of forcing myself to exercise. The downside is all the naked old men that walk around the locker room.

I will try to get into more of a routine blogging. I think this site is blocked at my work, I've been updating my training log from my blackberry and maybe I will start even making blog posts from it as well. If that turns out to be the case I wouldn't expect anything that is too long. I might type it out and thing man this must be 2 pages of text but when I look at it on an actual computer and it's not even 2 paragraphs it's a little depressing.

Oh well, until next time.

Slacking

2010-08-01T17:16:00.000-04:00

On blogging and kind of on running. I've still been more consistent than I was in June but not as much as I should be. One good thing that has come about recently was I decided to finally time a run, I forget which day exactly it was but I did a 2.86 run at night on the clock. Not that it is very far but I figured I was around 8-8:30 pace. Upon finishing the run I entered it into my log to find out that I managed to run it at 7:30 pace. I felt good on the run and kept trying to slow myself down because I didn't want it to turn into a time trial.

I'm really boring lately, so I am not gonna write much more but I needed another entry. My last two runs I've felt like crap but what can ya do. I start my new job tomorrow so we will see what the new schedule is like. I will have to check out the gym this week and see if I can get a locker etc...

What have you missed?

2010-07-23T18:41:00.000-04:00

Alright I've wanted to blog the past few days really I have I just couldn't actually do it. I'd be sitting on the couch after showering and eating thinking I should blog about that run but no blogs. Anyway the last two days were pretty awesome runs.

Wednesday I went out planning on doing my longest run of the summer a whopping 4 miles. I managed to make it through alright, struggling pretty bad towards the end though, had I not been on a main road I probably would have started walking but I was much too embarrassed to do that. I might still have the scraps of a reputation as a runner in Burlington I wouldn't want to ruin that by walking on the main street. Either way though I was happy to get an increase in mileage in.

Thursday I almost ended up skipping pretending it was justifiable since I went for a new long the day before. I went to the movies with my friend Mike and saw Predators. It was pretty good, can't compare to the original but better than the others in my opinion. I was home by 10:15 or so and still had the run on my mind. I decided I'd hydrate stretch and head out for a quick 2 miles or so with maybe a decent hill in the mix to make it worth it. As I hit the hill I was planning on running I felt good considering the pace I was going. I thought I'd go get some water at a fountain at the top of the hill do a loop around the common and head back. I got the water and as I went up to make a left to head around the common I ended up taking off across the street to take a right. I knew that if it turned out to be a bad decision I could easily cut through back home and cut off some mileage I'd just have to deal with a hill one way or another in order to do so. I went on the extended loop not even considering cutting through. I kept my quickened pace on the hills and off, I felt great. I finally was coming down to the last quarter mile or so and I could really start to feel my legs shutting down. You know that feeling when you think you're picking your legs up for normal strides then you hear your feet dragging against the ground? Yea it's not good. The run overall however was great. Still haven't found my watch or started trying to time my runs so who knows I put in my log that it was like 8:30 pace but who knows, it felt faster but what do I know.

Today I went out to do a quick 2 miles, turned around early because I felt like absolute garbage, it was probably 1.5 miles so I didn't cut off much but I just wasn't loosening up at all. I'm happy I got it in though even if it was short and semi pointless it was important to actually get out.

I have not been blogging but I HAVE been running.

2010-07-20T18:49:00.001-04:00

I've been lacking motivation to blog lately, not sure exactly why but I had plenty of lame short posts in a row and I suppose I wouldn't subject my thousands of loyal readers to that. I was tempted to skip a few runs over the past week but forced myself out. I've kinda been doing 2 runs 1 day off kinda thing with a few exceptions. I am still trying to decide on today but I think I'm going to end up taking today off.

I have been getting bursts of motivation though. Talking with friends and different people about running has been motivating me to get back in shape. My friend Michelle is currently in the process of moving out to Colorado and before moving we chatted a bit about doing some races together down the road not local road races but marathon's or ultras something worth travelling for. I've also been chatting with an ultra runner that has given me some hope in getting in shape in a reasonable amount of time, of course that is if I stick with running this time around. Lastly last night I went and started looking back to my runs back in Jan/Feb before I stopped to see what the pace was for those. I was surprised to see a few of the runs 7-10 miles that were run at sub 8 minute pace. It was very reassuring that only 3.5 months ago I was running a reasonable pace and real mileage. I hope that I can be back to that by the end of august but that may be a long shot.

I just need to work on eating better and sleeping better and maybe I won't be so tired all the time. Other good news is though I've apparently lost 6 lbs. I don't think I ever dipped under 172 or 173 when I was running in the fall and winter but maybe with all this humidity I can sweat out a few more lbs before the end of the summer.

6 runs in 8 days. How about that.

2010-07-14T23:27:00.000-04:00

So since I didn't blog yesterday I will recap yesterday and today.

Yesterday after work I went to my friend Jenn's house to meet up for a hill workout. The original plan was to do it with 2 more of her fitness friends, one bailed early the other got stuck at work. One of them lives on a pretty nasty hill I guess so we were going to do it there. After that got nixed we just did it at a hill that Jenn lived on. It wasn't nearly as difficult as I was expecting but it was still a good workout.

Today I got home from work kinda early, ran a few errands then headed out for my run. I decided to do a loop for the first time from my house since starting up again. I wasn't sure how long it was going to end up but I figured I could handle it. It went much better than expected. Turned out to be only 3.25 miles but I felt great finishing up. A slight uphill to finish and I was still running strong unlike most runs I've done lately.

Today also is 6 runs in 8 days which is a good sign. Just gotta keep this up so I can do a real run hopefully by the end of September. I think I will set a goal for the end of Sept to be able to run 5 miles in 35 minutes. Nothing fancy but we will see.

Just two miles

2010-07-11T09:57:00.000-04:00

So after a good run later in the day yesterday I decided to get my run in earlier today since I was heading down to Hull to spend a day on the beach with some friends. I got up at 8 to run, finally made it out a half hour later or so. I was tired, sore from the run yesterday and not well hydrated. I knew I would only do 2 miles I thought when I was turning around I could probably go further but it's a good thing I didn't. I felt like total garbage finishing up but it's done. Gotta go though time to head to the beach.

Feeling better

2010-07-10T21:34:00.000-04:00

So despite going to bed at 5am after a long night of drinking then getting up for work int he morning I still got out for a run. I didn't feel too bad this morning just really tired my morning was fueled by 2 iced coffees, I finally had lunch around 2 or 3 a couple of stripes of bacon and a chicken pie. Finally motivated enough to go for a run around 7:20.

The heat has finally passed a brief storm helped cool down the temp but did not help the humidity. I went out planning on a 3 mile run and I felt pretty good about it as I got going. No hint of any tightness or pain in my calf which is always reassuring. I was probably sweating as much as any of the actually hot days due to the humidity which kinda felt good since I wasn't also dying of heat. I felt a bit of a stomach cramp about a mile to go but that passed after a minute or two and I finished pretty strong. I still didn't time it, I think I might have been around 8:30 pace or so but who knows.

Where did I go?

2010-07-10T13:46:00.000-04:00

Alright so I hadn't blogged in a couple of days but thats ok and I will tell you why. I ran both Wednesday and Thursday 3 miles each, Wednesday was much tougher due to heat/humidity and I was on my own so I cannot control my pace and run too fast. Thursday I had a running partner that kept me going more relaxed so that was good. I took Friday off from running because I was feeling pretty sore and I've been getting a hint of tightness in my right calf which has me a little nervous because my past issues with calf problems. I need to be more disciplined with hydration, diet and stretching to curb this problem before it gets worse.

I have not yet run today but I plan on going later tonight after it starts to cool off and I've got some good food in me. I had a very late night last night for my friend Tony's birthday, it was a great time but going into work for a bit this morning wasn't my top choice of things to do. So far though it's been a very good day in terms of productiveness I just need to actually run too. I will try to do another 3 miles but if my running log updates anything less feel free to make fun of me via the comments section.

Kinda going backwards here I think my love of running is sparking up a bit again which I am excited about. After my run Thursday I got home and showered and headed to Barnes and Noble to get a book a friend recommended to me(The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan that my friend referred to as the anti twilight meaning it's actually good) It was around 9 at night and driving across Burlington with the windows down was beautiful. It really reminded me of when I used to be in shape and doing night runs after work, flying through a run on a summer night at 6 or 7 minute pace for 10 or 12 miles was such an awesome feeling. Still warm but you could feel the cool breeze and when you're running fast but you feel like you'd never get tired despite the sweat pouring out of your body. I miss that, I really do and I need to get back to that as soon as I can. It has been frustrating being so far from a run like that and I hope it comes back quickly so maybe some time in the fall I could hit a 10 mile run at 7 minute pace and feel like a real runner again.

Another day another run.

2010-07-01T10:47:00.000-04:00

So that double I decided to do, possibly not the best idea I have had. Granted it was only 2 miles each run but my right calf was a little sore the next day, so I took the day off. Lucky for me it was not a big deal, I ran on Wednesday and no problems with my calf. Still plenty with being out of shape but I'm working on that. I don't feel like writing much and I updated my log so I should even post this but whatever I am going to.

What a difference the Sun makes

2010-06-28T22:41:00.000-04:00

So the unthinkable happened. I did a double, 2 2 mile runs oddly enough both were done at the same temp and same humidity(according to weather.com after both runs). In the morning I was a little sluggish but it seemed really hot/humid. Tonight when I ran it seemed much cooler.

I was thinking during my run what the best way of going about training. I was torn between doing a lot of doubles to get my mileage up or just trying to tough out doing some longer runs and trying to make sure I go slow enough to make it home. Either way I need to make sure I am keeping hydrated all day and potassium intake. I would really like to make it through the summer running and not have my calf problem come up again.

Blah Blah 2 miles Blah Blah

2010-06-28T09:12:00.001-04:00

Dragged myself out for a 2 mile run this morning. It again was a pretty good run considering how out of shape I am and that for some reason at 7am it was in the high 70's with humidity also in the high 70's. As I ran I could feel the sweat building up like it does on real humid days. It's almost like the moisture in the air is so much that it's keeping me from sweating until the pressure is too much. Then I end up covered, even on a two mile run my shirt gets soaked through, half because I'm so out of shape and half because I've always sweat a lot on runs.

I am going to have to start timing my runs though, I've just been assuming it's been around 9 minute pace because of how out of shape I am but this morning right after I started the 1 mile back home the song Knocked Up by Kings of Leon started playing. That song has a play time of 7:10 and I'd say it couldn't have been much more than a minute that it wasn't playing on the way back. It's pretty sad that I'm only running 2 miles at a time but if I am doing them at 8 to 8:15 pace then I'll feel a lot better about it.

Now if I could only find my stopwatch.

The last few days.

2010-06-25T09:54:00.000-04:00

So I haven't blogged since Mt. Washington but I at least got in 2 runs. It took me a while to recover from the weekend, I think today is the first day I actually don't feel tired.

Anyway I won't remember all the details from the week but I'll start with Monday. I didn't run I worked almost 12 hours and by the time I got home my fatness had me purely focused on eating and not running so what can ya do. Tuesday I made it out finally after work. I was feeling really good, I have no idea the pace I was going but it felt quick(probably like 8 minute pace since i'm out of shape). So I went for the typical out and back 2 miles but on the way back far up ahead I see a blond pony tail. I wonder if it's actually blondie since I saw her yesterday running on my street when I was driving home. So naturally I pick up the pace, as I get closer I notice the form is pretty bad and it couldn't be her, but I can't slow down. I don't know what it was if my body just enjoyed actually running vs the shuffle/jog I've been doing or what but I wasn't slowing down even though I wanted to. It really didn't take much to realize it wasn't blondie considering I'm probably too out of shape to catch her on a run anyway, but as I continued at my quickened pace I was starting to really get tired. It was bad as I got closer I can see that it's someone that needs to run more than I do, what a disappointment. Oh well, at least I got in a pretty hard run for me I'll take them whenever I can.

Wednesday I took off on purpose since I really pushed it on Tuesday and I'm trying to avoid any small injuries since last time I had a small injury I stopped running for months. So Thursday I had a busy day, I was out of work really early but I had lots to do. I got in a run after the quick thunderstorm which I was hoping would be easier since it'd be a little cooler but it just seemed to make up for the lack in temp with added humidity. I finished the run well and should probably add in a few 3 or even 4 mile runs soon. I don't want to push the mileage too fast but I'll have to stop with these 2 milers eventually. Though I still can't believe how sweaty I was from a 2 mile run. gross

Mount Washington

2010-06-20T14:05:00.000-04:00

So yesterday I made a trip up to Mt Washington to watch the 50th anniversary road race that was also the US mountain running championships. The day didn't exactly have the best start, I didn't finish everything I had to do Friday night till sometime around midnight which was later then I wanted to go to bed. It certainly didn't help that I could then not fall asleep, the last time I checked the time it was 2:30 so who knows when I actually did.

The 5am alarm wasn't as bad as I was expecting, I got up and was on the road by 5:30. I am almost ashamed to say this was my first trip ever to Mt. Washington and even just the drive there was worth it, I took the route through Franoncia and was amazed. I would have really liked to stop and take some pictures but I didn't really have time to do so and I take pretty awful pictures in general so it probably wouldn't have been worth it.

I made really good time and arrived at the base of the auto road just shy of 8:30 and met up with Jim Johnson. Jim was nice enough to find a ride with a friend of his well he was running his girl friend I think was driving, maybe his wife I'm not sure. Either way I can't remember her name but we had a nice chat on the way up so that was good. There was plenty of time at the summit to enjoy the views before the runners made it up there so at least my first trip up there I had a chance to take my time.

Jim had a great race turning in his best time of 1:08 and change(I'm too lazy to look that up) which was impressive considering it was pretty hot the whole way up the mountain. Seeing some of the people finish was incredible, there were people completing it that I would say had no business running a flat race forget up a mountain. It's one of those things that watching it made me think that it's a horrible experience that I wouldn't wish on anyone and that I should have been running too.

Maybe I'll add some more pictures later but I gotta run now so until then you'll just have to wait.

And Back.

2010-06-18T20:29:00.000-04:00

So I broke my laziness that turned 1 planned day off into 3 but I didn't like it. So I obviously watched the Celtics game last night only to be disappointed with the result. I'm not sure if it was worth staying out late for considering I didn't finally get to bed around 2 needing to be up at 6am for work. I thought I was going to be meeting up with someone at 7:30 then another person at 9, it turned into the 9 meeting at 10 and the 7:30 not until noonish. I was forced to think of all the sleep I could have had or if I just made myself a real breakfast at least but no instead I had an ice coffee and 2 bottles of water to try to fight of the dehydration.

Lucky for me I didn't have to work too late today and made it home by 1:30ish I think at which point I decided I'd have some soup to get something in my stomach then head out for a run two hours or so later. Well 5:30 rolls around and I find myself laying down struggling to stay awake. I tried to motivate myself to get up and changed for a run and it wasn't working. Finally two hours after that I manage to get out of bed and drink some more water hoping to hydrate before a run and somehow hoping that drinking water would some how stop the immense hunger I now felt having only had a bowl of soup and some coffee with some water mixed in since 6am now 13 hours later.

The water unfortunately did not stop the hunger even a tiny bit but the dedicated runner that I am I went for a run first since I know I wouldn't go back out if I had dinner first. I stuck to the same 2 miles as usual and I felt much better than expected the out i was running with an actual stride instead of the shuffle it turned into on the way back. Between going out too fast and not being ideally prepared for a run when I'm this out of shape I knew it'd be not a fun finish. Overall though the average pace was probably still as quick as any other run so something to be slightly pleased with I guess.

Overall though it was good to get back out, for me any time I get out for a run no matter how short it's a win. Just need to get back to doing 8-10 mile runs even if it is at 8minute pace, at least I could go a real distance then.

Now to shower, eat and prepare for the trip to Mt. Washington tomorrow to watch Double J run sub 1:05 for the 7.6 mile uphill race. That is if I can get my lazy ass up early enough to make the drive.

Painful Reality

2010-06-15T00:19:00.000-04:00

So as I went out for my run today it was just starting to rain. There are some people who love rain and some who hate it. I love rain sometimes and by sometimes I mean in the summer when I'm running. Despite my current fitness I actually ran at least half of the run today like a real runner. I no longer felt like someone that would struggle to run an 8 minute mile even if I was being chased by a bear. My form was fluid, my stride open for a second I forgot how much of a douchebag I am for letting myself get thins far out of shape in such a short time.

The run was again just 2 miles, this time It was certainly quicker even though I struggled the second mile I was going much quicker the first. I am hoping to be able to get in at least 1 8 mile run in before the end of the month. It will be a stretch but we will see.

Small realization

2010-06-13T13:46:00.000-04:00

Well this morning I got up around 8 and decided to go running, 3 and a half hours later I actually went. Just another 2 miles nothing excited. I did go faster this time, I didn't time it but it was noticeably quicker, either that or I really felt like garbage.

Anyway I had a small realization about my training, not something blog worthy but something I feel good about. I suppose it was something I've known for a long time but never really thought much about it other than that. Now I've spent some more time thinking about it.

I'm a long way out.

2010-06-11T21:02:00.000-04:00

So I finally decided to see how far I had been running all this time. Turns out the shortest of the previous runs I've done the last two weeks was just over 2 miles, the longest being 2.8. I was pleasantly surprised by this as I figured for sure I'd be over estimating the distance. Anyway so I did this before going out for my run today and I figured since I felt alright on the last run of 2.8 I might as well make this one 3. As I got to the 3 mile mark which was just past a quick downhill I felt alright so decided to add on a bit more. I struggled some on the way back(which I finally realized today is almost entirely uphill) but not too badly and I finished strong, well strong for me considering. All in all a good run and another step closer to getting back to at least 5 mile runs.

I think I'll have to set that as my first goal I suppose being able to run 5 miles. As pathetic as it is, gotta start small. I just need to be able to run 8:30 pace for 5 miles then I might be able to find people to run with.

Today was a good day...

2010-06-08T18:55:00.000-04:00

So I originally planned on running yesterday but things did not go as planned. Sunday night I went to go to bed around midnight a little later than I wanted but what can ya do. The only problem was I never fell asleep, laying in bed all night I tried reading watching movies etc... all the tricks to fall asleep minus getting really drunk. So around 4am I gave up and went to make breakfast so I could run at 6. Well I got side tracked then took longer to make breakfast so I didn't end up going before work. I worked from 7 to 3, before I was done with work I kept zoning out and I'd get short bursts of energy where I could actually focus and get work done.

Anyway so Monday was a waste today was better except I didn't get to make myself a good breakfast before work. I ran further than I have the past few runs I'll still count it as 2 until I feel like I deserve to count runs for more than 2 miles(probably when they start being 2 miles in the first place...kidding). I felt good though my body is remembering what it's like to run which is nice. It's going better than I expected after the first run. I expect to be back up to 5 mile runs by the end of the month but we'll see.

I'd write more but I'm really hungry and I gotta go make dinner.

A small sign of progress

2010-06-05T16:54:00.000-04:00

So, I managed to get out for a run again today with a little help form an encouraging(more like demanding) text message. Now despite the two previous runs this week feeling like the first two runs I have ever done and that a 10 to 15 mile run at 7 minute pace was beyond possible in my lifetime, I felt better. I still only ran 2 miles(I'm still guessing I haven't really timed or measured it I'm just going by distance from runs I did back when I was in shape. Anyway, despite it being hot and humid I felt better today than the previous two runs. Even though it was probably 2 miles in 20 minutes I actually felt like a runner that was out of shape instead of someone that has never run before which was promising. Now these little optimistic views won't really matter when it comes down to it considering my track record with running but it's progress and I'm happy about that.

Lets just hope it continues.

Twice in one week

2010-06-03T21:08:00.000-04:00

This is going to be short because the Celtics game is about to start. I did another 2 miles today, felt equally crappy to Sunday but oh well. Maybe I'll edit this and make it longer later or just have a separate entry.

Well I did it.

2010-05-30T14:57:00.000-04:00

So it finally happened and I broke the streak. Feb 11th to May 30th. I went for a run, not I'm not sure if I can really count it but it but it was a step in the right direction. I am calling it 2 miles I didn't and will not measure it but I was gone just over 20 minutes(I didn't bring my watch) and it was probably the most horrible experience of my life. I could go into more detail but I really don't want to. Either way it's done.

Alright well I think I waited long enough between posts

2010-05-17T21:53:00.000-04:00

I was a disappointment even to myself today. I went to bed early last night, around 10pm, hoping I'd be able to fall asleep early and wake up at 6. I fell asleep right away and just happened to wake up at 4am. Now did I take advantage of this rare opportunity of having a decent nights sleep and being awake at 4am. Of course not, I basically stayed in bed browsing the internet until almost 6 then went to work. I got there almost a full hour early and started on a side project I've been doing on my own lately which was nice but what really bothers me was what I didn't do.

I didn't run. 4am with plenty of time to spare I didn't even put shoes on for a 20-30 minutes run. I might have gone further had I been able to drag myself out but I couldn't manage that. Anyway pretty lame but what can you do. I should just hire someone to run with me 6 days a week, how do you think that would cost? Could I pay them in massages? If thats the case I'd have to hire a chick cuz you know, it'd be gay otherwise. Seriously though, I'll make someone brownies once a week if they make me run. So for all of my readers keep in mind next time you're craving brownies....

I just do not blog that often anymore.

2010-05-01T19:27:00.000-04:00

I don't know if it's a lack of time or just that I don't run so updating a blog I started for running is just kinda lame when it's no longer running updates. Anyway, nothing really exciting has happened since my last post. My day to day life is still boring. I wake up, go to work and don't do much before going to bed when I get home. Although I have started planning out good things. I am trying to make a list of places I want to hike this year and try to figure out when I can do each or them and if I can find anyone to go with me. I suppose it wouldn't be bad to do them alone I could just bring an ipod but it'd be nicer to have company.

I would like to do Franconia Ridge, but the hike I at least that found that covered most of it was a 9 mile hike and I figured I should probably start out easier. I'm sure I could do it but especially if I am going alone I'll start off with something shorter. That way I can be sure if I get up at like 5am on a Saturday to drive up to some mountain or trail I can not only make it there, but get through the hike and stay awake on the drive home. Anyway so that is the plan, who knows if it will actually happen but I'll try to make a trip over to REI soon and get some stuff so I can start hiking. Let me know if you'd like to come along.

Temptations

2010-04-21T10:00:00.000-04:00

So again taking way too much time off from blogging but what can you do. Anyway I'll start my recap off with Thursday. Last week I had Thursday and Friday off from work. I decided that on Thursday I'd head up to Methuen and get some chicken pies, it was a decision I do not regret. It had been a while since I've had them so I was over due. The one problem is that as I was stuffing my face with chicken pies on the ride back I happen to pass by the river trail in I think Andover but I'm not sure. I ran there a few times with Jim and a few with Michelle. It got me thinking about how great trail running is and how much I missed it. Only problem was I don't even know where my running shoes are since moving and I was stuffing my face. I got home and figured well maybe later today if I have time(I had a long list of things to do) or tomorrow I'd head to the trails for a few easy miles. Well obviously I did not end up going because lets be serious I am me. I didn't finish the stuff I planned to do Thursday, then the nice weather disappeared along with my motivation. I suppose I can pretend the good news is I at least dug out my running shoes so I am aware of where they are now. I will keep you posted if the unthinkable happens and I go for a run.

I think I just need to accept I am just not a self motivated person. I really enjoy running and even running alone but apparently not enough to get in shape by myself so I can actually go for runs with my friends. I think I'd just need someone that wants to get back in shape or just in shape and forces me to go with them. That'd probably be a lot more likely to work than me actually getting back in shape on my own and staying that way.

The rest of the weekend wasn't too exciting. Friday I did go to the Beer Summit in Boston which was really cool. If you are a beer drinker I'd definitely recommend going next time they have one. 50 different microbreweries and 200 different beers(and some ciders). Next time though I'll have to figure out a way to document all the ones I try because there is maybe a handful of what I actually remember drinking. I remember things like the expresso beer I tried that tasted a lot more like coffee than it did beer, it was pretty good but I can't remember at all who made it. The same with the pear cider, it was different but pretty good and again no clue who made it.

Anyway I will leave you with this picture that I came across after Easter which had the funny headline "the lord has risen" apparently some religious people have a problem with this picture. I thought it was pretty funny.

The Gunners Dream

2010-04-12T23:33:00.000-04:00

So to recap the weekend it was pretty fun. Went out to Patriot Place on Friday night which is pretty cool. The rain made it less fun walking around but still that place is impressive. I had never been in a Bass Pro Shop before and it's odd to say but being inside that store has really made me want to spend more time outside. Sunday we had our last regular season games of the regular season. We had a double header due to 95% of our team being in Toronto next weekend for Mike's bachelor party. The first game was a bit of a disaster from the start, again the league has the scheduled screwed up and gave people incorrect times, the field we played on was absolute crap which I'm sure we didn't have a permit for. Anyway very few bright spots between the two games. Between a couple of guys getting banged up in the first game and 2 guys having to leave before the second game we were tired and very short handed so we didn't stand much of a chance the second game against a team that was undefeated. Anyway to highlight the day, I had two plays I was really happy with. The first catch was a high ball that was a jump between me and the defender that I came down with. A tough enough catch that the teams that played in the previous game that were still on the sidelines were commenting on it and giving me high fives as I went back to my huddle. It was a bit awkward but cool that it apparently looked that good. The second was just a great throw by Dan outside of the defender so only I could get it. I dragged my feet to stay in bounds and got a first down. Sadly those type of plays were probably the only kind of highlights of the day since we got beat so bad. Oh well it's been a fun season and now we know two things. We need to find a better run league to join since this one sucks, and we need to find more people(specifically more committed people) since probably half of our games we had 2 or less subs. Actually to be more specific we need more big guys since our lineman generally played both ways the entire game just about every game.

Moving on. So I've been still eating pretty poorly but one thing that has improved is breakfast. So instead of either nothing or junk food for breakfast during the week I'm now having fruit smoothies. The weekends I still go a little overboard with french toast, bacon and eggs or something like that. Anyway so this is a picture of the smoothie pre mix.

So what I have in there is an orange, a banana, two kiwi's, some mango, blue berries, strawberries and raspberries. I think thats everything at least. Then I add green tea to it, it's surprisingly pretty good and I'm sure better for me than pop tarts or nothing.

I am about as good at blogging as I am at running.

2010-04-10T22:38:00.000-04:00

So it's been about 2 weeks since my last post. Woah, ok that sounds a bit too much like catholic confession so I have to stop. Anyway I've been pretty busy lately, obviously not with running.

Where to start, well since I started this blog to be about running I'll at least start with football since it's the most exercise I get without running. So well my left ankle is still swollen to about twice the size of my right one. It doesn't hurt really, I don't ice it which is really dumb of me but since it doesn't hurt I really don't think about it except on Sundays. The first game of the last two weeks was awful. We showed up at Arlington High where our game was at and started warming up etc... only to find out that our game was an hour after it was scheduled since AGAIN the league did not get a permit for the field and the early game was forced to play on a separate field and it delayed the start of all the games. It makes me wonder what we paid $600 bucks for since we supplied our own uniforms, flags, ball, tee, and we pay ref fees every game. We haven't played at the same field more than once with the exception of double headers and we were only supposed to have one game that wasn't on the same field. Anyway I'm not sure if it was the delayed start, or what but for some reason our team was just not in the game that week. The opposing team was good but very beatable and we just couldn't get it together. Needless to say we lost.

The second week we played a game at 8am on Easter Sunday in Milton which was pretty shitty since it's like 45 minutes away. Anyway because of the holiday we only had 8 people show up for an 8 on 8 game. No subs and we ended up having to play with some nagging injuries the entire game. Not only that our quarterback was one of the people who could not make the game forcing me to step in as the backup. I was not really looking forward to that but what can you do. Somehow early in the game I'm not sure if it was dehydration from being out drinking for a friends bday the night before or what but I had my right calf cramp up pretty bad. This isn't just a normal cramp this is a recurring thing with me, I've had it happen before just from running and it's bad enough that on one run with my friend Michelle in the Dracut/Tyngsboro woods she noticed me limping and refused to continue running despite being fine herself and me insisting that we continue on. Now imagine that playing football with lots of cuts and sprinting instead of just running at a measly 8:30 pace(I have no idea what we were running but it probably was close to that). So this cramp came up within the first 10 minutes of the game which was nice since we had no subs, but at least I was quarterback so on offense I didn't have to run too much. The first half of the game went alright Mark bailed me out of a bad pass and ended up scoring a TD which was my first throwing for the season and I think Mark's first receiving since he's been out with a bad foot. We kept it close, I scored another TD running the ball to keep the score tied at 13. The second half however was when our lack of subs really killed us. Jeff hurt his leg so he couldn't run too well so he needed to switch with me at QB. So now limping around I was still playing receiver, which I did well enough at but at this point in the game we had too many people either tired, hurt or not playing their normal position and we gave up a couple of big plays and were not able to respond. So that was that, another game we could have won but did not. We need to find a better run league and maybe some more players so we aren't always so short handed.

Aside from that work is going really well. Things are finally after a few years coming into place for me. Plenty of money coming in and I've decided I need to get my CFP within the next year. Now if it happens who knows I need to take 6 classes and shell out over 6 grand before I can even take the test so we'll see if I can get all that done soon so I can start studying for that wonderful 10 hour 2 day test.

Another reason I have been busy is I have some how beyond everyone I knows expectations I have manged to get myself a girl friend. How this has happened is still to be determined but it's been going pretty well so far considering my general retardation when it comes to girls. And since people will find a hard time believing me I will offer a picture as an attempt at proof.

Trust me this has nothing to do with my recent download of photoshop. Anyway thats it for tonight. I have a double header for football in the morning and I'm just hanging out at home by myself for the night. I'll try to keep the posts coming more often than once every 15 days.

Double Time

2010-03-26T13:07:00.002-04:00

I already posted once today but it's your lucky day I'm making a second very quick post.

You ever wonder what would happen if Mark Wahlberg and Steven Colbert had a son together? Wonder no more

Catching up.

2010-03-26T12:52:00.000-04:00

So it was brought to my attention yesterday that it had been 8 days since my last blog entry...whoops. Sorry about that. Anyway it's been a pretty busy week but I will start recapping from last weekend I suppose. So we had a double header for football a game at 10am and a second game at noon. Now we weren't exactly off to a very good start losing the first game 32-0 then the second game 18-0 at least we could say we had improved. What helped us this past weekend was those two teams played each other in the game before us and it was close.

We saw the team we were playing against as they arrived and it was hopeful, they didn't have a lot of big guys and unlike last week they didn't have an offensive line that all played semi pro football and were 6'4 300+. So the game starts and we controlled it from the start. I don't remember enough details now about the game so I'll just highlight a few things. My first catch was a stretch that I could not hold my balance after so I went down(which ends the play if you fall) but it was a good gain, then Pete made a great catch that caused him to land on his head and sit out a couple of plays. I had 3 touchdowns 2 in the first half the first one catching a tipped ball in the end zone for the teams first score, then catching the 2nd cutting across the back of the end zone for another. One pretty cool moment was my friend Mike's parents had swung by because they were in the neighborhood so they watched for a decent chunk of the second half, right after they showed up Dan called a deep pass to Mike, the defender bit on the fake bad and Mike was wide open for a long touchdown. I ended up scoring once more in this game where I don't even remember how I caught the pass, I just remember coming down with it and heading for the end zone and as I ran away from the defender I heard "How the hell did he catch that?" so that was pretty cool. That was pretty much it for that game, game 2 was a lot more exciting.

So game 2 gets started and it was a lot more competitive, granted this team had 2 players from the team that beat us week 1 filling in for some of their guys but still it was good. They scored first I believe on somewhat of a broken play. The QB was forced outside and I thought he was going to run so I bit as did Jeff who was in man coverage, only the QB didn't run and saw Jeffs man open deep and tossed him an easy touchdown. On our next possession I ended up scoring on a deep pass that was thrown a bit more to the middle than I was expecting but unsuspecting to the CB covering me who I think thought I had no shot at it but I slipped behind him and came up with the TD. Only right after I caught it I rolled my ankle pretty bad so I hopped off the field to my first aid kit where I had an ace bandage to try to wrap it up some. The pain subsided and with my newly wrapped ankle I was back on the field. The problem was on defense Jeff made another mistake of letting his guy get behind him and scoring again so we were down 13-6 heading into the second half. We decided to mix up the defense a bit early in the second half taking me out from safety and putting Mike in to play linebacker and really getting a lot more pressure on, it worked perfectly. We were able to stop them from scoring the entire half, we had a late score from a great catch and run from Pete, then we only went for 1 on the PA to force OT which Pete made a great play on again. The overtime rules are kinda cool but not what I expected. Each team does one play from 3 yards out, and you go until someone scores. So we missed out first scoring chance, but stopped them on theirs, so we went to the second round, they were up first and Doug came up with a huge stop after it seemed like his man had him boxed out. Then we were back on offense, Doug completing his great game comes up with a huge catch to seal the win.

It was really cool how close the game was and to see how well we improved in the second half so it was a great confidence booster. One of the refs told us after the game it was one of the most exciting games he's reffed in years so we were glad we weren't the only ones who thought it was awesome. Thats about it for Sunday though. I've been pretty excited about how that went all week and looking forward to our next game this weekend who this team against our team from the first game of our double header they won 30-15 which is a good sign for us. If that team was able to score off them we should have a field day with their defense.

The only other really interesting thing from this week was going out Wednesday night. I headed out to trivia in Chelmsford which was a good time then decided it was still a bit early so I headed to the Brewery in Lowell for some pool since it's free Sunday-Wednesday. Walking from the parking lot to the door I see a very large "woman" standing outside smoking. Then I remember hearing someone say a week before that they do Tranny nights on Wednesday nights on the 3rd floor so that was a bit interesting. Granted this "woman" was probably at least 6'2 without the high heels on and bigger than some NFL players, I considered trying to recruit for the football team since our lineman don't really have many subs but then I decided against it. Either way had a good time playing pool despite not being that good at it.

That about sums up the week, of course I'm still not running. Oh my ankle that I rolled last Sunday is still about twice the size of my other ankle. I don't really have any pain unless I try to move it side to side but walking it's been fine. I haven't run on it or done any cutting/football moves on it so we will see.

I'm not sure how this is happening.

2010-03-17T19:26:00.000-04:00

Well, as I've stated before I haven't run at all since mid Feb, just football stuff a few days a week. I've drank a lot more than usual lately because I've been going out yet some how I keep losing weight. Now I had lost some when I was running before and when I stopped I slowly put it back on, now this isn't a lot of weight mind you but still since Jim insists I'll be pushing 200lbs in no time I feel I need to make this point. I weighed myself this morning which is what I normally do and the decline continues 171.7. I checked to see if someone had switched the scale to kilograms to play a joke but nope still on lbs. I suppose I have been eating less junk food than usual since I'm not really home as much so I'm going to assume that was it but I figured the added drinking would change that. I need to start doing something to get me working out more though, I might start the 100 pushup challenge again and try to go 0(well probably like 40-50) to 100 pushups in 6 weeks.

Ignore me doing this

2010-03-11T20:45:00.000-05:00

So as you can see it's been a month today since my last actual run. That is pretty crappy, but I haven't been completely lazy in that time. Football has kept me pretty busy, despite it being completely disorganized I've been able to get a lot of running in when people have been around to get together for practice. I've had sore legs pretty much the entire week. Today they feel pretty good, mostly because I took yesterday off so I had a chance to recover a bit. I probably would have at least gone and done some hills since it was nice out but I had a date believe it or not. A girl I met last weekend I've been talking to a bit gave me a good excuse to be lazy. We went to trivia at a bar near her house that she's been to a few times. It started late and there were only 4 teams, all of which had at least 5 people against just the two of us. It didn't go well for our team but we had a good time anyway. I didn't run at all today either but I will have to start some things up tomorrow again. I've got plans to meet up with some friends in Allston tomorrow night for a trip to the Sunset Grill which will be a good time. I still need to work on posting more often, I get a bunch of views every day even if I am not posting so apparently I've got some people eagerly waiting for my next post and I keep disappointing them.

Total Chaos

2010-03-07T17:24:00.000-05:00

So the good news is I didn't have to play quarterback today, the bad news was I don't think it mattered who was there. This was our first game together as a team and half the team had never even played organized football before. The other team however has been playing together for the last 5 years and were extremely organized. This basically caused everything that could possibly go wrong to go wrong. I don't really need to go into details but it was bad. I will say I didn't see everyone playing cuz I had to play myself but from what I did see Sweetland probably had the best game out of everyone. The upside is we got our first game out of the way and now we have a much better feel for what we need to work on, granted there is probably too much to work on but still we've got our starting point. Another good thing was the other team was really cool they were having a lot of fun(easy to do when you're winning by as much as they were) but hung around and talked after the game and gave us some info of what to expect from the league in general and what they though we needed to work on most.

Backup

2010-03-06T12:22:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged all week, not exactly sure why but I've been kind of annoyed. I have my first football game tomorrow morning which I am pretty excited about overall. The only part I am not excited for is that our quarterback is in Florida so my life as a career backup QB forces me into playing. My excitement for being the backup now is about what it was growing up. I just have never had interest in playing quarterback but year after year growing up I was forced into it nice to see how things change. Oh well. Maybe it will be nicer on my groin not running receiver routes since I still have soreness, nothing that would affect running around but still it's there.

Speaking of being a backup it's kinda strange that lately I've had two girls I know tell me if they hit 30 single and I am also single that I don't have a choice in either marrying/having kids. The friend that said having kids I don't think mentioned marriage just kids. Also which I'm not sure about is a girl I knew through a mutual friend a few years back got in touch with me this week and that she's approaching 30 and single has me worried given my recent trend.

Either Way

2010-02-27T08:24:00.000-05:00

This is about how I feel this morning. I've been awake since 4:30 listening to some great music and it's been pretty nice.
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Aside from that my birthday was on Thursday. 29 years old, I suppose it went fairly well. I'm not really a big birthday person for example on my 21st birthday instead of going out to a bar or doing something normal, I instead went to the movies with two girls I had a night class with. Anyway now that facebook reminds everyone about my birthday the last two years I have actually gone out for my birthday(maybe it was 2 out of the last 3 I dunno). Anyway the plans tonight are to head to Buddha's Tavern in Peabody that is owned by my friend Jeff and my friend Tony is hosting karaoke there. Karaoke wouldn't be something I would have thought I'd choose to do but last time was pretty fun. Granted I won't sing but still, Josh should be attending and he can sing pretty well, and my friend Karen also I think is going who surprised everyone last time with a very impressive singing voice. So it's not the standard drunken awful singing, at least not the entire time.

So thats that, I still haven't done shit in terms of running. Zero motivation and I don't know why. Oh well.

This is just NOT my month.

2010-02-21T23:26:00.000-05:00

So despite everything that has gone wrong this month, between having my car puked in, then broken into, my xbox breaking and my overall lack of motivation it gets worse. So today I got together with my friends for football "practice" instead of being in shape and doing a long run. Now my friends are generally lazier than I am which might be hard to believe but it's true. Well maybe not overall but at least when it comes to football apparently. Since we had people that couldn't all make 1 time we had 2 practices set up and a few of us ironmen(Me, Tony and Mark) were at both practices. So for my commitment to my team and effort put forth to practice football for 6 hours I am rewarded with a broken finger. Now I don't think it's actually broken it might actually be worse than a simple break but I'm not sure. Anyway it's not that big of a deal because it's my left pinky but just on top of everything it sucks because seriously what else can go wrong this month? Well I am sure it will get plenty worse, my birthday is Thursday and I know I won't hear from some people I'd like to which again not a big deal but things have been piling up.

Alright was that enough bitching? ok good. Anyway aside from that I am excited for football it's helped my motivation for being active which is good, it'd just be a lot nicer if we had more sunlight so I could get some time to throw the football around during the week after work. I think that'd help my motivation because I AM SLOW and that sucks. I am still MAYBE the fastest out of my friends but I'm not used to it being close I didn't have to worry about this through college and it'd be nice to not have to worry about it anymore.

Why is picking scabs so much fun?

2010-02-20T18:08:00.000-05:00

Seriously why do I enjoy it as much as I do? It was a week ago friday that I had ended up with this road rash on my leg and for a little but it was annoying then that went away and it was all scabbed over. Now that the scab is starting to come off I of course am picking at it. Man it's fun, it's about 2 or 3 square inches I guess so there is only a little bit left that just isn't ready to fall off.

Anyway, I've bee slacking on the running quite a bit but I've been doing some other stuff working out. Not quite the same or good enough so I need to get on the ball.

Goddamnit

2010-02-14T20:42:00.000-05:00

So didn't run today, played football instead. Anyway after I went to play some xbox and got redringofdeath'd so this week I had my car puked in, then shit stolen out of then and on top of that i got rrod. it should be free to fix at least but still very annoying. Now to start plan on creepily talking about how i will hit on olympic athletes or maybe even blondie who is actually no longer blonde. anyway his is a very weird post so deal with it

Friday Night Football

2010-02-13T13:24:00.000-05:00

So I'm not sure if I have mentioned before or not that I'm joining a flag football league with some of my friends but I am. The league it outdoors and starts Sunday the 28th. So we had our first "practice" last night at Turf Time in Woburn. It's a small indoor turf field which was fine, except we didn't actually practice. We threw around for a bit which is fine to warm up, then did a scrimmage which is completely useless in my opinion. It was complete disorganization and of no help to anyone on the team. We have plays made up well not so much a specific play book but specific assignments for each position that we will call in the huddle then run. Now not sure who decided this, but instead of teaching everyone that it was decided to just scrimmage instead. Some of the people have never played any kind of organized football before so they didn't know what they were doing. Anyway thats my rant I guess, so I think I will have to take charge next time and keep it organized. Also if we end up doing another indoor practice I'd like to see us go to Tyngsboro instead since they have a larger indoor field more for football too not just soccer. Anyway I've got a lot of stuff to do before heading out tonight so ummm see ya.

So I guess it was Glenn Beck's Birthday Yesterday

2010-02-11T09:21:00.000-05:00

I saw this online and thought it was pretty funny. I should have printed it out and taped it to my dads TV before he got his daily dose of Glenn.

Robbed

2010-02-10T15:51:00.000-05:00

Today I woke up went to go to work only to find out that someone had been in my car last night, making a mess, well more of a mess than it already was but taking my GPS and Ipod out of my car. So today pretty much sucks, and I'll have to start planning out my vigelante justice of walking around Burlington with a batman suit on fighting crime. Not so much fighting crime but scaring all the junkies out of town.

If you somehow stumble on to this blog after you stole my shit I want you to know that I hate you.

Great Friend or the Greatest Friend

2010-02-09T10:39:00.001-05:00

I've always thought of myself as a great friend to have but recently came another example. So this weekend was the Super Bowl which is less exciting since there was a lack of Patriots but still the Saints have a few ex Patriots not to mention a coach that admits to trying to emulate the Patriots it was easy to choose a team. Oh that and I HATE the Colts so it really didn't matter who the other team was.

On to the point so as normal I was driving so I wasn't out to get wasted not the case of my friends. Pete however took it as a challenge apparently. It certainly didn't help that shots kept getting served where we were and who was he to turn down that. Anyway after the game ends we end up going outside to throw the football around with a couple of other people. Upon returning to the party we find the rest of our friends left which was fine but everyone else we had met for the first time. As Pete finishes off some random drink that was on the table he declares he has to go outside and puke. Someone asks "did he just say he was going to throw up" so I said I thought so and would go check on him. I go outside to find Pete and he responds with alright we gotta go, that figures though if he's not feeling well, it took a turn for the funny when we get to the car to hear him say "I had to get out of there before I banged a fat chick". I lost it then considering there were a few heavy hitters there so probability was not going to help.

Had I known what was going to happen I might have considered ditching him. We are driving home and as I got on to the highway the window went down. I was like well hopefully he can hold off till we get back but this is not an unfamiliar situation. I ask him if he wants me to pull over, he says no and waves me on. You might think well why not stop? Well since this is now the 3rd time he's puked out the window of my car I figured he's made the first two without incident he could pull off number three. Man do I regret t hat, so I make the mistake of assuming he's doing a good job of keeping it all on the outside of the car, until I hear him puke then feel a mist blow back in my face. That is pretty awful for those of you who haven't experienced that. So he says he's done I don't remember if he actually was or not but I know the damage had been done and I just wanted to get back to his house. So we get there I go inside to get cleaning supplies and Pete just heads upstairs. I do what I can in the limited light I have and get everything for the most part.

Instead of going into more details than I need like I already have I'll move on. It got me thinking, as gross as it is puke doesn't really bother me. Aside from not smelling too well and the thought of what it actually is it doesn't bother me. I've cleaned up puke plenty of times from drunk friends so it's not new, cleaning when someone misses the toilet in their attempt to upchuck, just the middle of a floor, clogged sinks, my car and the list will continue to grow I'm sure. The best part is I can always wash my hands etc... after so I don't really care. What this got me thinking about though is I'm really a great friend to have and I want to let everyone who reads this know that I'm aware of their under appreciating of my friendship but I'm okay with it as long as you keep the puking to a minimum or at least make up for it with buying me breakfast the next morning.

To use a quote from Seinfeld to describe me I will quote Jerry mom "How can anyone not like you?"

Anyway feel fee to use the comments section to write testimonials of how great of a friend I have been to you.

I Need A Running Partner

2010-02-04T19:31:00.000-05:00

I made my way back out to the roads tonight. This will be short because I'm writing this as I stretch and I need to shower and eat dinner. Anyway I only ran for 34 minutes, it's probably just over for but I'm just going to call it 4 instead because I don't feel like measuring. I probably didn't run the best route considering my recent calf issue rolling hills didn't seem to be a good idea. The last uphill I went up my calf was feeling a lot tighter not to the point that it was like when I woke up the other day or previous times it's bothered me but it didn't feel good. I decided to cruise the rest of the way until I got to the last uphill to my house and I'd walk in in from there.

Less than ideal run but I need to stop getting distracted from stupid other stuff like my job(s) and make eating right and running a priority.

Anyone know someone in or near Burlington that wants to run with me a few days a week? Preferably a hot chick so it's more motivation to not slack.

How the hell did I manage to do this?

2010-02-02T12:02:00.000-05:00

So I've done quite a bit of slacking off recently which is right on par for what I normally do. Granted I had an awesome weekend and was reminded how great the friends I have are. Friday night out in Lowell with most of my friends was probably one of the most fun I've had in quite a while. Then Saturday night I drank and cleaned my friends house which for me is surprisingly more fun than it is for pretty much anyone else. I cleaned the first floor while Pete cleaned upstairs, so I was blasting some good music and basically alone most of the time but still something I enjoy because well, I was out of my house.

Anyway talking with a friend last night about how I needed to stop slacking and I was going to head out for a run around 8:30 or 9pm then between getting 2 different phone calls that lasted a while from 2 different friends. Suddenly it was 10:30. While I was on the phone I gave up on the idea of running and changed back out of my running clothes and decided to slack again. Now I probably should have still gone but I kind of let myself get talked out of it for fear of having a tough time falling asleep after a late run but in reality a run that late isn't going to change anything about my sleeping difficulties.

Regardless of that I also mentioned again to my friend about how I was hoping to avoid a recurring calf injury that I've had a few times when pushing myself too much when trying to get back in shape but it was normally in the summer so I thought it was almost hydration related. Oddly enough I am proven wrong. This morning I wake up and get out of bed to turn off the alarm. That all too familiar pain is in my calf again, a pain that is deep in the muscle and is almost impossible to find a way to stretch it out. This cannot be happening right, I mean something that normally made sense when it happened all of a sudden happens in my sleep? It's always been running too much or playing a long game of ultimate frisbee before I felt my calf give out. Is this some sort of mental block I have where I'm actually making it up to the point it becomes a physical problem? Maybe it could be just a sign of how bad my diet really is, a complete lack of proper nutrition bad enough to cause injuries while sleeping.

Whatever the cause of this is, I should try to improve everything I think could have caused it instead of doing one at a time. Then maybe life will just get a whole lot better overall, and this stupid injury will finally go away for good.

The End is the Beginning

2010-01-29T19:31:00.002-05:00

This song is pretty awesome, if you disagree don't talk to me we have nothing in common. It has nothing to do with the title of this blog, in fact the title of the blog is another awesome song by The Smashing Pumpkins. I was never really a smashing pumpkins fan before when they were apparently popular. It was on The Watchmen soundtrack but it was not the original version, or at least not that I know of. The original is much quicker paced.

Anyway end to an awesome week, Despite a shitty week running wise since I missed so much time I'm still very optimistic about pretty much everything not just running. So anyway now I am off to Lowell to hang out with some friends and have a good time. Have fun reading my blog.... jk no one will read this tonight.

P.S. Good Luck to Jim Johnson this weekend at the snow shoe qualifier race.

P.P.S. Apparently posting a embedded video messes up the text below so it's a little jumbled. I'll fix that later.

Poor Timing

2010-01-28T21:54:00.000-05:00

So today was an odd day, it was as far as I saw above freezing all day then around 1pm it started snowing. I wasn't sure how much snow to expect since I never watch the weather but I was wishing I could run then before too much snow accumulated. Then I ended up talking to my friend Jim about meeting up in Wakefield for an easy 10 miles. So we decided to meet up at 6pm and we'd learn later how bad an idea that was.

The snow in the afternoon didn't really stick to the ground at least not the pavement it was mostly just melting. The snow seemed to stop close to when it was time to run and as I drove over I noticed the temp had then dropped below freezing. As I pulled into the parking lot and we got ready to run suddenly blizzard conditions hit the lake. It didn't last very long but it was heavy enough to put a layer of snow over all the pavement within maybe 5 minutes. There were no tire tracks from when I drove in but it was clearly covered when we started our run. A thin layer of snow normally wouldn't be a big deal but since all the snow previous had just been melting and the temp was dropping the snow that had just fallen was covering a thin sheet of ice pretty much around the whole route we were running. Now the plan was to run 10 miles and as we went along my legs were feeling worse and not like they were loosening up so I wasn't looking forward to the rest of the run. Anyway we finished our first lap kinda a slower than normal pace because of all the slipping. It really felt like at some points it was trying to run across the frozen lake instead of on pavement. Anyway we started the second lap and in my head I was thinking since my legs had no felt any better that I might just make it 2 laps instead of 3. That would have been fine until we approached one side where it was apparently much more slippery and Jim went down pretty hard. Going down with his full weight on his right shoulder he was hurting. After waiting for the pain to subside and debating on weather we should cut the run short or not. Instead of finishing that lap we just turned and headed back since we were not yet half way. He has his snow shoe national qualifier race this weekend and I didn't care if I cut it short or not since my legs felt crappy. We finished the run in 42 minutes and it was probably between 5.25 and 5.5 but I'm just going to call it 5 since I don't really care to map it out.

To complete the night when I got home after the run the power was out, either strong winds or some idiot that can't drive in winter conditions took out a pole and knocked the power out who knows. Anyway so instead of getting some candles going and showering by candle light I just gave my friend a call and got some clothes and headed over to shower there and hang out for a bit. Now it's approaching 10pm I am home again trying to figure out what I want for a late dinner.

A Lack of Consistancy.

2010-01-26T19:58:00.000-05:00

Well another week without a run pretty much. I finally got back out there today and despite having my legs feeling extremely sore from football on Sunday I still managed to get in a good run. I did a loop just shy of 7 miles with a little add on to make it 7 even. I finished the run in 51:47 which comes out to around 7:24 pace for the entire run. I'm pretty happy with that considering how my legs felt and that I slowed down on the second lap of the run because my left achilles felt a little tight so I didn't want to push it.

One thing I need to do better is stretch a lot more often, I don't do nearly as much stretching now as I did back in high school or even college. So hopefully that combined with eating better will help recovery a bit and stay ahead of any injuries that I might run into.

Conflicting Interests?

2010-01-26T11:15:00.000-05:00

So as I move forward and backward on my journey back into shape as expected there are plenty of things getting in the way. Some maybe shouldn't be an issue others maybe they should. One thing that has come up recently that could cause me to alter my goals and training is football. My friends and I have seriously started looking into getting a competitive flag football team together and playing in a league. This of course is a great thing because on any given day if I had the option to do anything playing football is likely to be a top 5 choice every time.

This is something that could work out very well for me or not well at all. What it comes down to is if I come home from work on a Friday night and I can either go for a run or meet with my friends(teammates) for a football practice, I'll be taking practice. One because I love to football but two because I'm going to be running the offense for this football team so basically a captain/coach in addition to being a player so it becomes more difficult to skip practices. That being the case it will force me to alter my running schedule. Something I should probably do anyway but am not forced to do unless we go through with this football team. If I start doing my distance training in the mornings it simplifies everything. Then at that point the only thing I have to worry about are injuries between over training and all the stop and go cutting that is involved with football it could beat up my body more than I can handle. After all I am closing in on 30 and have been out of shape for a while.

These kinds of situations though I have never really handled well in the past though football vs running really isn't as big of an issue as others. When it comes down to what I want versus what is best for me I end up doing something other than picking one or the other. Sometimes I've tried to force the things together, other times it's waiting it out and hoping that what I wanted eventually became what was best. Either way it rarely works out. These decisions are something I end up spending more time on than they are worth because I tend to do that with everything in my life. When you do that you end up a whole lot worse off than had you just accepted something for what it is instead of what you either thought it was or hoped it was.

Anyway enough off topic ramblings for today. What it comes down to is I need to start running in the mornings and forcing my sleeping problems to go away. Being wide awake until somewhere between 2am and 6am just isn't going to help anything and needs to stop. I suppose being awake as much as I am I have no reason to not blog more but oh well you have to deal with it. I will keep you posted on progress in the future.

Funny I come across this on a Sunday morning.

2010-01-24T11:41:00.001-05:00

Also not surprising that religious people would value going to church over an education.

Progress...kinda

2010-01-21T12:40:00.000-05:00

So despite being a little lazy for a few days I managed to get a run in finally. Last night after work I met up with Jim back at Wakefield to attempt 3 long laps. Lucky for me Jim had done a track workout the night before and was late getting there so did it with no warm up and was paying for it. By 6:45 or so we finally started our run, nice and slow which of course I'd rather go quicker but since it'd be my first run of this distance since last spring/summer.

We were probably well above 8 minute pace on the first lap, which was fine, not all of it was clear running, there was plenty of black ice along the route we had to be careful of. We picked up the pace as we ran, nothing drastic but by the end of the run we were probably hitting 7:50 at least. My breathing was completely fine but I started to feel my legs getting sore at the start of the last lap and they just felt progressively worse as the run continued. Now at almost 1pm the day after they are still incredibly sore. Getting out of bed this morning was a task. Still though it's a good feeling and it's good to know that at least breathing wise the 10 miles was easy to do so even though I've been taking too many days off I am still getting into better shape.

Also another good sign is weight has started to come off, and I've seemed to get somewhat of a runners hunger back. There has been a few times in the past week or so that I've been more hungry than I've been in months, something that runners can get when training or people with tapeworms get. It's great though it just means that what little running I've done so far is taking effect, so I just need to keep it up, well hopefully run a little more consistently but at least for now no real injury problems.

Whoops where did that week go?

2010-01-15T14:42:00.000-05:00

Well it was brought to my attention last night that I had gone a week without a post by my only reader so Jim here is another one for you. I haven't updated it because I guess I really haven't had much to say. I have been running though actually had a great run on Wednesday night. 6.7 miles at 7:36 pace definitely the best run I've had so far since getting back into it. It's a lot nicer now that my runs over at the lake I'm not dying at the end of one lap and debating on if I should try for the second. I am still going to do a few one lap runs and take it easy on days to hopefully avoid injury. I think that is one positive about my laziness is I've gotten plenty of rest over the past month or so but I am still improving which is nice. No calf issues yet and I have wondered if I am just lucky so far or if maybe it happens in the hot weather solely because I don't hydrate enough anymore at least when it's hot. I drink plenty of water but I don't think as much as when I was in real good shape.

Anyway I will try to keep the posts more up to date but I still update my running log so it can always be checked to see if I am actually running.

Staying on Track

2010-01-07T08:22:00.000-05:00

Last night I did another short run, 3.43 my legs were still feeling fatigued from the previous two runs. I think the snow/ice has taken it's toll just making it a little bit more difficult to run and it's now catching up with me. I am undecided if I am going to take today off yet. I will probably try to go another 3 or 4 miles which is behind the schedule I want to be at but still it's a run that I'd be getting in.

Wakefield Winters

2010-01-06T03:51:00.000-05:00

So New England winters can be annoying when it comes to running. I don't overall mind it, I have a bigger problem with the town I live in and their lack of clearing any sidewalks. Considering how narrow the roads are to begin with it makes it pretty difficult to run safely at night. So most of my winter running as long as their is snow covering the sidewalks will be done in Wakefield. Not that it's really a problem it's not too far away and since in the nicer months in the cases I do end up running I don't normally run there because there are better options so I don't get too sick of it during the winter.

Well since it is now 3:30 in the morning, I should say that Monday(no longer yesterday) I ran the lake with Jim Johnson and got in 2 laps which totaled 7 miles. We ran it in just over 54 minutes which isn't too bad of a pace for me. I felt awful starting out, Jim had shown up early to do a quick lap before I got there so he was warmed up well and going quicker than I would have liked for the first half of the first lap. I paid for that the rest of the run.

Tonight(well last night since it was 10 hours ago) I headed back to the lake to take an easy lap around, and from my start and finish point it's 3.4 miles. I felt pretty weak at the start of the run, but I also felt loose. I didn't need to warm up to run a quicker than normal pace but I didn't feel like I could sustain it very long. Instead of trying to hold myself back I just went with it and figured I'd see what happens. I covered the 3.4 in 25:21 which is 7:21 pace I think, either way without checking back at previous runs I'm pretty sure that is the fastest I've done any run since I've been keeping track again.

Definitely more encouraging information, also despite my lack of running in the recent past I still have managed to start losing weight. Not that it's really a surprise I was doing regular runs before the holidays hit, but it's nice to see the weight start to come off as I've dropped 3 lbs. Now All I have to do is keep it up so I can make it back down to the 140 range. Maybe at that point my shin will stop hurting though I'm not sure if my rolled ankle will be completely healed by then, it doesn't affect anything but I still notice the pain now and again.

As to my yearly goal of getting a minimum of 2,010 miles in I'm certainly behind after the missed days. A total of 17.66 right now when I should be at 27.5. I figured I'd start off behind considering I'll be doing 3 mile short runs instead of 5 but still i've missed more days than I should have. It shouldn't be an issue to make up seeing how I'd like to get up to 70 miles per week by the spring which should be easily doable. If that is actually accomplished I'd be caught up rather quickly.

New Year Shmoo(Is that spelled right?) Year

2010-01-02T00:24:00.000-05:00

So today is January 1st 2010, the first day of my challenge for myself to see how long it takes me to run 2,010 miles. I made a post about it before here. I am not going to go into the details of my day but it started off pretty crappy and ended pretty good. I didn't go running until 9pm which is probably why I am writing this at midnight and I feel like it's maybe 9 or 10 instead.

I did a longish run today at least for me at the moment, 7.23 miles is what it was mapped out to be. I went slow partially due to wanting to and I was also kind of forced to, there was still an inch or so of snow on just about all the sidewalks which made it slippery especially going up hills. I ran for a total of 59:37 which comes out to like 8:15 per mile much slower than runs were at least before the holidays and my laziness of not running.

So not that I will average that per day, hopefully it's more for the entire year but if I average that out for 6 days a week it would take 46 weeks to hit the 2,010 mark. Anyway stay tuned and keep track on the widget on the side that keeps track of the running. I may not always write a blog entry every day but I will update the widget to keep track of each run. I also map each route with mapmyrun.com.

Shh, I didn't skip any runs you're making that up.

2009-12-29T08:22:00.000-05:00

Alright well I finally got back to a normal schedule today. Well actually yesterday but it's carried over which is nice. So this morning I got up at 6am, started stretching and drinking water to go out for a morning run, something I've only done once since starting to run again. Morning runs were always something I had a hard time adjusting to, anytime I had gotten away from them getting back was a struggle.

As I stepped outside this morning I realized it was a lot colder than I was expecting which surprised me since I sleep with a window open in my room and I was not particularly cold getting up. I soon discovered it was more the wind than anything else that made it cold. The assault the wind had on my face at first was very unpleasant but thats what comes with running in the winter in New England. I don't really mind it that much after all it is only noticeable at least to me for the first few minutes of a run unless it's below 0.

I got about 4 miles in today in just over 31 minutes, slow but considering how I felt and it being my first run in a while I suppose it will do. I am kinda tempted to do another 3 and change later today but I can't decide if that is a bad idea or not so only time will tell. I've gotta get back on track though starting Friday I need to make sure I get on pace to hit the 2,010 miles for the year and make Sweetland eat some donuts.

What I would give for a full nights sleep.

2009-12-27T13:39:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure how long this has been going on but I think it's been the past 5 nights I have not been able to get more than 2 hours of sleep. Now as bad as 2 hours of sleep is in one night, you'd think it'd be easy to fall asleep the following night, well it's not when you end up falling asleep at 8pm then waking up an hour later feeling completely refreshed. I should have written this first but there is a good chance of this post not making any sense. Anyway moving on. So I slept an hour this morning between 9 and 10 after being up all night. I was going to avoid it but I figured it was only an hour before jesus(aka my dad) came in to make sure I was awake for church. There is no chance he'd let me miss church if it was my first time getting sleep in 5 weeks he'd still make sure i woke up for church. He's already proven church comes before any health concerns of mine when I woke up one morning to find a tick burrowed into my skin and he wanted me to wait till after church to take care of it and tried to rush me out of the house. And he wonders why I don't respect his beliefs! So now that that is over with the only concern I really have is making sure I stay awake till at least 10pm tonight because despite the lack of sleep I've had over the past few days I will most likely not sleep through the night if I do sleep before 10. Christmas eve I was tired and went to bed at 11pm, woke up 2 hours later only to be up the rest of the night/day.

Anyway I think I've only managed to run twice over this span and neither time was more than 4 miles so it's been a waste of a week. I just need to find a friend to keep me occupied till 9 or 10 tonight so I don't fall asleep during the day today then maybe I can finally get back onto a normal schedule tomorrow. My go to person to hang out Pete isn't around.

A messy weekend.

2009-12-21T04:38:00.000-05:00

Well this weekend didn't go at all as planned. Me writing this at 4am should be the first sign of that considering I haven't slept yet. This is how the entire weekend went really. Last night it was some time after 5am when I went to sleep, to get up a little after 9.

Moving on. So my plan for the weekend was 8 miles Friday, 4 on Saturday and 10 on Sunday. Of course that isn't how it went at all, but the good news is it was still a solid weekend of training. Well it was good in my opinion for where I am at. I got in just over 8 miles Friday night which I had mention in a previous post, Saturday I felt pretty good which was encouraging, instead of the 4 mile run I planned on I got talked into doing 7 with Jim Johnson. My thought process on it was with 8 to 12 inches of snow expected for Sunday it was not only going to make running tougher because I would unlikely be able to run on any clear pavement. I figured if I'm going to do the longest run since I've started training again I should probably try to get it done in favorable conditions. I decided that back to back "long" runs of 8 and 7 were a pretty good substitute for missing a 10 miler with rest. The 7 miles was pretty good and I actually ran much faster than I thought. It turned out to be just over 7:30 pace. It obviously helped quite a bit to run it with Jim I'm sure I would have been close to 8 minute miles had I run it alone.

So that was Saturday, now on Sunday I spent the morning shoveling then was starving so I sat and had breakfast while I watched NFL pregame shows. While I watched football I decided I'd do my run "later" with no specific time in mind or where I'd run. Finally 9pm rolled around and I started to get ready. I decided it was late enough to just go out on the back roads around my house. Conditions weren't too bad but it helped quite a bit that there weren't many cars on the road. I didn't measure out the run and i don't think I will. I ran for 32:29 and I'm going to call it 4 miles. The first 2 miles of the run my legs felt like trash, it was a real struggle just to get going. At one point I thought they were finally loosening up as I went down a hill but as it flattened out I realized they were still junk. Maybe 5 minutes or so after that I finally started to feel better, better but not good. Fitness wise I could have kept going but with how my legs felt I didn't want to push things, they are a little beat up as it is and I certainly don't want to add an injury into the mix. I will continue to push myself as much as my body feels comfortable. I am taking tomorrow...well today off which will be much needed rest. I would still like to be able to get in a 12 mile run within the next two weeks but we will see, I can't get too greedy.

Half(twice) the man I used to be

2009-12-18T20:29:00.000-05:00

Well I got my 8 miles in tonight, it was dark and cold. So cold in fact I had to stop to use one of my gloves for something other than my hand. I felt like complete garbage for the first two miles or so which had me a bit nervous but luckily that went away. I was feeling pretty good for most of the run, the only time i really was nervous about anything was there is one spot before the 5th mile mark that there was no sidewalk on the main road so i had to dodge some cars there and kept going. I started getting tired around mile 6 or so which is about what I was expecting that is about my limit for runs being comfortable. Hopefully this weekend can help that some if I can get the 10 in on sunday or at least 8, it will all depend on how my legs feel then.

I mixed it up a bit with the Ipod tonight though, it was only about half STP.

Interstate Love Song

2009-12-18T14:34:00.000-05:00

I took yesterday off as I said I was going to, it's definitely something I need to make sure I continue to do regularly until I get back in shape(lose a few lbs etc...) I hate it though, not that I am a hardcore runner by any means all of a sudden but I feel lazier on days off during the week, I was home with not much to do running would have fit in perfectly but no.

Anyway I meant to write during my last entry that for that entire run I listened to Stone Temple Pilots. I've been listening to them a lot lately which was all triggered by downloading a video of their MTV unplugged session that is incredible. Most of their stuff is great for running though not to mention Interstate Love Song is probably in my top 10 best songs ever. So if for some reason you haven't been listening to them you should start.

ANKLE UPDATE:
Yea the capital letters are completely unnecessary but what are you going to do about it? Nothing. I still have some significant pain in my ankle even though it was a week ago today that I rolled it 200 times. Running I don't notice, mostly it's going up and down stairs and just generally the entire morning it's stiffer than normal. It's not really an issue running or walking around but it doesn't seem to have gotten any better the last few days. I am only concerned that it will stay weak and will roll again a lot easier than normal which during the winter months is never a good thing especially because I think it's going to snow again tomorrow.

I will write another entry later on after my run. We will see if I can make it 8 miles.

Captain Zapp Brannigan: In the game of chess you can never let your adversary see your pieces.

2009-12-16T23:23:00.000-05:00

The title of this entry is a quote from a real genius of our time. Captain Zapp Brannigan. If you're not familiar he's a character on the cartoon show Futurama. I haven't really seen the show THAT much, I have no idea when it normally airs just catch repeats now and then. Still though he might be one of the most quotable characters in all of television.

Today I decided to take it easy for a few reasons. I am going to take tomorrow off, then for Friday, Saturday and Sunday I am hoping to aim at doing 7-8, 4, 10. We will see, it's all going to go on how I feel as I go. I'm doing my best not to over do it but at the same time I want to get back to doing at least 60 miles a week as soon as I can. Once I am there I can start to get faster and get my average pace back down to a reasonable 7 minutes per mile or less instead of the jogging I am currently doing.

Once I am in a better groove of getting my runs in regularly I will have to start adding in workouts and doing drills. I need to get back to adding in plyos to my runs that I was doing earlier in the fall. I am encouraged at my run tonight though and I think maybe by the second week of January I might aim to hop in one of the Wakefield Lake 5k races on a Wednesday night just to see where I am at and mix things up a bit.

I am in a great mood tonight though and eagerly looking forward to what is ahead of me. I'll end this entry the same way I started another Zapp Brannigan quote.

Captain Zapp Brannigan: Kif, I'm sensing a very sensual disturbance in the force. Prepare for ship-to-ship intimacy.

David Caruso: Worlds Greatest Actor

2009-12-14T21:45:00.000-05:00

So I have never seen the TV show CSI Miami but I've seen lots of clips from it. The only thing I can gather from the clips is that David Caruso is the worst actor on the planet. Now this isn't news to anyone at all because if you have ever seen him you know he's terrible. I bring this up because this weekend I recently saw this again and Jim Carrey making fun of him is pretty funny.

On to more important things though. My ankle feels a lot better today, there is still some pain but no limping so I went back out for a run. I didn't feel any pain in my knee or ankle today on my run but as I ran today though I felt fatigue in my lower leg, almost as if the muscles or tendons were tired from healing but it did not affect my run much. I started off pretty slow which is something I definitely need to do more often, as I loosened up and got into a rhythm I felt a lot better as I went and picked up the pace. I ran about 6.5 miles and that took me 49:46 so not too bad I think that comes out to 7:40 pace, the first mile or two was probably around 8 minutes so not bad.

I felt pretty good after today though, even though it was a slow run it felt kinda fast. Just getting the taste of feeling like I am running fast is good for motivation. It will be a whole lot nicer when I can hit 6 minute pace on a run and actually be going fast instead of just part of my illusion. Anyway today was a good run and I'm looking to do a longer run tomorrow at a more relaxed pace so we'll see.

Crippled

2009-12-12T09:41:00.000-05:00

Well, instead of my ankle feeling better this morning it feels a whole lot worse. I hobbled downstairs to pee when I woke up going one step at a time. It is possible it just needs to loosen up or something but I am guessing I am going to miss a run today which is no good considering the rest of this week already is a mess. What can you do though? These are the problems I will have when I run in Burlington, none of the sidewalks are ever really clear once it starts snowing so if I want to run somewhere and not worry about rolling my ankle I have to go to another town.

Twenty Six

2009-12-11T20:53:00.001-05:00

So in honor of Michelle's birthday and my own knee pain and laziness I ran tonight for 26 minutes...exactly. I'm not going to measure it out, I'm sure it's over 3 miles but I'm only counting it as 3. It would have been a little over except at the end of my run, going up a hill from a park(that closes at dusk) I had to dodge a car coming down the hill apparently not paying attention to anything that might be in the road to go park in an empty parking lot. I jumped to the right to get out of the way and proceeded to roll my ankle, for the second time of the run. This time was worse than the first and I was just too annoyed to continue the run more than a few steps after. I hit stop on my watch and looked down to see 26:00.99 not bad. Anyway thats it I'm not going to write anything else here.

Well other than another Happy Birthday to Michelle.

Update: I rolled my ankle AGAIN walking into Pete's this time being worse than the previous two

I forgot my password thats why I didn't blog the last 2 days.

2009-12-10T19:12:00.000-05:00

Is there any chance you actually believe the title of this? If you do then we're better friends already, the truth however is not that I forgot to blog or lost my password the truth is I got lazy.

Anyway despite the time off and new shoes I still have some knee pain, and since I already ruined this week I've decided to take it easy for the week(I don't expect that to last) to try to help it heal some more. I did a real easy 3.4 mile run, it was pretty windy but I felt relaxed most of the run once I got loosened up a bit. I finished in 26:13 which is alright.

I've still got a long way to go before I can actually start enjoying my runs but I'm still pretty hopeful even after the last two days. Thinking about being able to run 8 or 10 mile runs at 6 minute per mile pace is a good thing. Is it strange that I don't enjoy runs unless it's at least 8 miles? Maybe I just associate those runs with the trails of the Dracut State forest I enjoy so much. Either way it's only something that real runners understand and the casual jogger cannot. The jogger can get enjoyment from running sure, it always feels good to have a good run of any distance but there is something different about hammering through a run of 8 or more miles being able to talk the whole time to finish and recover almost immediately. That is what I am aiming for.

Hello Old Friend

2009-12-07T20:31:00.000-05:00

So winter has finally arrived in MA with some snow Saturday later afternoon/night and cold temps to go along with it. I think my last run in shorts has passed for the rest of 2009.

Weekend recap. I did not run on Sunday and it's something I was kinda going back and forth on the whole week. I didn't know if I wanted to be taking 1 day off per week or 2. I've decided for the month of December at least I will take 2 days a week off to try to be sure to avoid injury. I figured this is the safe route to take since my last attempt at getting in shape this past spring/summer I ended up having a calf issue that would only require maybe a week off from running but it actually led to a few months. So that is that, I will run 5 days a week till January starts. I'll reevaluate from there but hopefully I'll bump it up to 6 days a week until I'm back in shape.

So tonight I headed over to the Wakefield lake for my run. I planned on doing 2 laps and as I got going making sure to keep it a very relaxed pace. I forgot to bring my watch so I was using the stopwatch feature of my iPod to keep time. I didn't check it as I ran to see what pace I was running which was nice since I always tend to aim for a quicker pace. Though I did not check splits I am certain the second lap was a little quicker than the first. I felt looser and even though I was tired and could feel it in my legs I felt like I was moving more fluid than the first. According to mapmyrun the route I took totaled 6.4 miles and my time was 52 minutes flat. Comes out to just over 8 minute pace. Not too bad I'm gonna need some of those easy runs to make sure I stay healthy.

Accidental Long Runs

2009-12-05T16:52:00.000-05:00

I am using the term long run very loosely here as I am still not actually capable of doing a long run without injuring myself I'm sure. I did however end up doing an 8 mile run today. I woke up with zero motivation to go running this morning, stayed in bed watching bad movies until 10ish maybe. I finally decided to get out of bed, start stretching and hydrating to go for a run. That attitude lasted 2 full hours however, I decided to go run in some trails to give my legs a break from the pavement. As I headed up rt 93 to the trails I decided since I need new shoes desperately I'd stop putting it off and go pick some up. I bought the Nike Pegasus since they've finally brought them back to being good shoes. The trails were in the best shape out of the 3 times I've run on then in the past month or so but still some real muddy sections. I had only planned on running 4 miles so I kept telling myself I was going to turn around soon and I kept pushing that time out 5 more minutes until I hit 32 minutes and I had at first didn't know where the trail went from there so I decided to turn back. I got lost on the way back but only had to back track maybe 20 seconds or so and I ended up finishing up in 1:04:10 so pretty even

This works out pretty well though that I went long today. It's supposed to snow overnight 2-4 inches I've heard and the Pats are playing at 1pm tomorrow so I'd have to get my run in early and conditions would probably be worse then. Now I can get in a shorter run and not worry about it as much.

I’m in love with a man ... a man named God. Does that make me gay? Am I gay for God? You betcha.

2009-12-04T18:38:00.000-05:00

The title is a quote from an It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia episode. If you haven't seen the show already I suggest you start. Anyway I don't have a ton to talk about today. I got up at 6, stretched, hydrated, relaxed eventually got out on my run at 7. I did all roads it was reasonably hilly one big hill really then a bunch of smaller ones. The last of which was pretty short but steep and I was feeling it. Total distance was 5.29 and the time was 41:13 which comes up to be 7:46 per mile. Considering where I am at now it's good enough. I always had a tough time getting used to running first thing in the morning again. I did have the morning 5 route record at Lowell though as far as I know. For some stupid reason we pushed the pace one morning and I finished a couple seconds ahead of Nate and Jon in 29:45 so I've got a long way to go.

How long will it take me to run 2,010 miles in 2010?

2009-12-03T11:38:00.000-05:00

Place your bets everyone. Since this is about my 300th time getting back into shape since I graduated college in 2004 I've decided to actually keep up with this blog(this is the 2nd or 3rd attempt at it) this time and try to keep things as interesting as I can to keep my motivation up. Plus this will give plenty of people good reason to give me shit for being lazy which is always fun. So feel free to take a guess/bet whatever in the comment section and whoever is the closest without going over(price as right rules are universal) will get a pair of running shoes if you're lucky or maybe even a high five from me if you're really lucky.

So for those of you that either haven't read much, or haven't run a lot I'll give you some info. I've been running sporadically the last 2 months maybe but not more than 1 or 2 days a week until the last week of November. I am averaging like 4 to 5 miles per run right now and I'm hoping to just be taking off 1 day a week but if I suspect any sort of injury or snag coming along that will obviously change. As recently as June or July I had done runs as long as 12 miles(slow pace of course) but as of right now I am 180lbs and in 2004 when I was running a lot I was 135lbs. Alright so now that that is out of the way, some quick math before you make any guesses. 2,010 miles over a year would come out to be 38.65 miles per week which is averaging 6.44 miles a day with 1 day off every week. I am below that weekly amount at the moment but I plan on running much more than that as soon as I am able.

There is a tracker on the right side of the blog that will keep track of each run every day and I will try to map out as many runs as I can with mapmyrun.com if that isn't possible I'll do my best to be conservative with the estimate of my pace for the run and mileage will be listed as shorter rather than longer on any run like that.

None of that really matters because my guess is the most popular response will be "you will stop running again and never hit 2,010 miles in 2010"

The song remains the same

2009-12-02T21:42:00.000-05:00

So after planning on taking a day off today, I decided to go for another run. I did the same loop as last night 4.23 miles it felt a lot more relaxed and the time was just slightly slower at 32:06. Since I planned to go easier than last night I figured that I would wear pants since it was a little cold last night. Tonight I was wrong again, I was much warmer than i would have preferred not July run during the day warm but still warm.

Now on my run I was thinking that I should at least start to set some kind of fitness goals and not have everything just arbitrary. The more I thought about it the one thing that has stuck out in my mind the most would be to run the last cross country workout I ran in college. Actually the one which resulted in my lower back muscle strain which kept me out of nationals. When I ran it in college it felt easy, a workout that on paper I looked at and didn't think I could hit all of the times but as we ran I was holding myself back on each interval and still running below the target. If I can get back into that kind of shape and complete that workout again this time without coming out of it damaged and unable to run for two weeks being condemned to the bike and pool prison at that point is where I will consider myself back. The workout was a pyramid workout and the only thing I am not 100% sure on is the rest, either way here it is:

What it was supposed to be What it was
400m 70 seconds 69 seconds
400m 70 seconds 68 seconds
800m 2:20 2:18
mile 4:40 4:35
800m 2:20 2:16
400m 70 seconds 64 seconds
400m 70 seconds 63 seconds

Now as far as I remember the rest wasn't based on time it was based on heart rate, once we got back down to a certain level we started again. I am pretty sure the rate was 120 but it's been a while since i have done real workouts so that could be way off. At that point I'll at least know what heart rate we were resting to.

Alright so I was going to leave a quote from this youtube video I saw today, except there were too many quotable things to pick from. It's got the gays, gay marriage, catholics, PETA, Tiger Woods, video games. I mean take your pick. Anyway I suggest you watch it here

i'll have the milk steak boiled over-hard and a side of your finest jelly beans raw.

2009-12-01T21:14:00.000-05:00

So I decided not to check the actual temperature before I went out for my run tonight. A check of wunderground.com after the run let me know that it was 32 degrees out. I thought it was cold but I figured it was right around 40...so much for that. In my brilliance I decided since last night I was pretty warm with pants and a long sleeve. I wore a lighter long sleeve and shorts for my run tonight. Whoops.

Anyway I just did the standard out and back 4 miler that I have been doing for a while now. Turns out according to mapmyrun.com the distance is actually 4.23 miles. Who knew? I just figured I was running slow I am after all in horrible shape. I completed the run in 31:44 which comes out to 7:30 pace, not too bad. If only I ran 10 miles at that pace with a lot less effort and I could be moderately satisfied with it.

So the last mile of my run I kind of zoned out thinking about racing again which was a great feeling and it definitely made the time pass by quicker. What confused me about it though was that I wasn't thinking about getting back in shape and running any kind of PR's all I thought about was running either to help pace someone else to a good time or as part of a distance relay race. I have always felt this way about running and I am not sure why. I have always preferred races where I was part of a team vs running just for myself. Sure I always had my own goals for my races but I when I made the decision to run in college my ultimate goal was to run as a part of a 4x800 at Penn Relays not to qualify for nationals in anything individual.

Even when I was in my last year of college, I missed cross country nationals because of an injury and for whatever reason the coach chose not to run a 4x800 team at Penn Relays. Still my two best races of the year were 1 the 4x800 at the New England Championships which we won and I had my best split of 1:55 and our conference championship where I chose to rabbit the mile for two of my teammates that were looking to get better new england championship and national qualifying times(Kevin didn't even have a new england's qualifying time yet) I set a perfectly even first 1000 meters till they went flying by, at which point my coach told me if was ok to drop out, but I thought I could still hold on to score some points for the team so I did.

The point of this rant is I have no idea why it is easier for me to motivate myself into racing again to race with other people vs just motivating myself to race just for me. I enjoy the experience of racing and I am always happy to run personal bests, I loved the ability to go out some days or nights and do a run as long as I liked 10 miles or 15 it didn't matter to me they were both just as easy, but none of that compares to being a part of a team and having the entire groups hard work pay off. Who knows.

I thought this was a pretty funny quote as I had listened to some new Pat Condell videos on youtube I ended up going back and checking out some old ones.
So, I hope the Hindus have it right, because if there's any justice in this world, you (Islamists) will be reincarnated as a female, homosexual Jew, and then you'll find out what a pain it is having to deal with violent, primitive dickheads like you. (to domestically violent Muslim men) " - Pat Condell

So are there any relay trail or mountain races? I know there are some relay Marathons

Climbing My Way Back

2009-11-30T19:15:00.001-05:00

This will be be a shorter entry as I get ready to go raise the intensity level before watching the Pats Saints game at Pete's.

I decided to do as hilly of a run as I could today given my location and how poor shape I am in. It was a bit shorter than 5 miles according to mapmyrun.com it was 4.8 miles but it seemed as if it were shorter. I had 3 significant hills in the run and a few other bumps that I don't really count but it was good to keep things interesting. I had to zig zag my route a bit to account for all of the hills and keep the distance at least somewhat close to 5 miles. I started of going what I thought was slow but my first mile said otherwise at about 7:30(I'm not sure exactly where the mile marker was). I felt good on the first two hills, starting to feel it a bit towards the end of the second one.

Then coming down after the second hill I probably encountered the longest flat part of the run with an exception of the first mile and Going to California by Led Zeppelin came on my iPod and that slowed me down quite a bit, it wasn't till the song ended right before the last big hill that I noticed my slower pace. I tried to work the hill but I was definitely starting to feel it and thoughts of maybe cutting the run short started entering my head.

Luckily for me I came to my senses as I came down the other side of the hill and kept to the original plan. I ended up finishing the run just over 38 minutes which made my pace 7:54 per mile. I am pretty happy with that it is certainly nice to seem some progress coming. Still to slow to do real training with any of my running friends but I am 4.8 miles closer than I was when today started.

I will update this in a bit with picture of the elevation part of the run(not that impressive) once I get a chance but for now I am heading over to my friends to get ready for some football.

Edit:

It only looks like 2 hills here really. but that little bump after mile 1 is a decent hill.

Lunch with Pink Floyd

2009-11-30T12:45:00.002-05:00

So while I sit at my desk eating lunch I though I'd write a new post with some of the random things I forgot last night and an update on the uneventful monday morning I had.

I'm going to take it as a good sign that when I was driving to work this morning I almost started going the wrong way because I was busy thinking about how to make my runs have more hills instead of actually getting to work.

I don't think I've mentioned blondie at all before here but I'll start now. Not the band from the 70's and 80's but the real good looking girl that I see running around my town. Granted I know her name because she graduated high school with my younger sister and used to come over my house when they were friends but that takes away the fun. Anyway I told my sister if she saw her at her 5th year reunion this weekend to let her know that if she ever needs anyone to go running with I am available. Sadly she did not attend. Mission failed.

If you heard a strange sound recently and couldn't figure out what it was it was Mike Huckabee's political career going down the toilet.

I'm a little behind but apparently creationists have proof that disproves evolution...who knew?

By the way the Pink Floyd part of my lunch was because The Gunner's Dream came on my ipod this morning on the way to work so I decided to listen to some more while I ate.

Alright time to get back to work, I'm pretty sure I did say I'd like to make 500k a year so I don't think I'll do that by blogging.

The Dreamer in print.

2009-11-30T01:59:00.000-05:00

So since I decided to write a little about myself in my About Me section and I mentioned that I am a dreamer I decided to start writing down some of the things I either want to do or thought would be cool to do if the opportunity comes up. I am not saying this is a list of goals just the sort of things I waste time thinking about instead of doing anything related to them.

So in no particular order here is at least part of the list:

Getting back into racing shape and actually racing to my potential for once.
Making a minimum of $500,000 per year which as much as that sounds in my job it is very possible with the right system.
Starting my own, or volunteering and donating enough to make a significant difference for a dog/animal shelter.
I would love to have a husky or two of my own trained well enough to run with me off the leash(probably impossible for a husky) so that I always had a running partner(unless it's above 90 not sure how much they'd like that) no matter how lame my running friends are.
Significantly impact government at least at the state level about the waste and inefficiencies of government particularly with the level of benefits awarded to elected officials.
Run a race on every continent, including the Antarctic ice marathon.

There are a lot more but you get the point, some are ridiculous, some are long term things some aren't but these are the kind of things I waste time thinking about.

Oh and you can feel free to comment but negative comments will be met with emails from my assistant Jeremy Piven

The LONG weekend

2009-11-29T19:05:00.000-05:00

So the title of this blog isn't referring to the 4 days off because of the holiday so much as it is referring to I slept less than 8 hours between Friday night and Saturday night. Friday night I had my 10th year high school reunion which was interesting to say the least. Between being sexually assaulted numerous times by my friend Jaime(between her assaulting a few others), trying to get my friend Nihkil to stop buying everyone drinks and when he finally did and just trying to get him to sign his credit card receipt(it was a lot tougher than you'd think), and catching up with people I hadn't seen in years, I had a pretty good time.

I got home around 1am and was up for about a half an hour before going to sleep. Then I decided it'd be pretty awesome to just wake up at 3:30 and be completely wide awake. So I figured I'd take the time to catch up on some tv shows on hulu. I was exhausted all day and even though I planned to take the day off running I felt really good besides being tired and probably would have gone out for a run but I didn't want to be tempted to nap on the sidewalk somewhere.

Saturday night I ended heading up to Jim's because I had a tape with a bunch of old races from college that I wanted to get ripped to start uploading. I had a great time there is always good music playing(often stuff I have never even heard of), good food and drinks and great company. I don't think I've ever not had a great time up there. We watched the last two years of the Mount Washington race and I gotta say I am hooked. I am not sure why the hell this would happen, maybe I just miss the pain of a race and feel like since I haven't raced in years I need to make up for it with what I'd imagine is the most painful race around. I mean I imagine marathons and ultra marathons to be extremely painful, when you look at the Mount Washington race and you see people that are in the top 10 or 20 at mile 1 looking like they had run a marathon already then fell down several flights of stairs and thats only at mile 1. Not to mention the wall that the runners have to climb right before the finish I would wear that the incline is well over 40 degrees.

Random thought: Does anyone else see those Roni Deutch commercials all the time about people with tax or debt issues? I assume it's a scam of some sort scam right, basically a cash 4 gold kinda deal just with tax and debt problems?

I somehow managed to stay awake ever later than the night before. I didn't end up leaving Jim's till 2am and not going to bed till almost 4am only to wake up less than 6 hours later. I rolled out of bed made sure my friends were still down for playing football at 11 then went out for a 3 mile SLOW run. It was really more of just a jog(not that my "runs" can qualify for anything more than a jog)

Now more importantly I've been trying to get my friends together for a game of football for months, finally today we got 8 people together for some 4 on 4 which was pretty good. When we were playing catch warming up for people to show up I kept dropping the ball which earned me the nickname Braylon Edwards, but all was redeemed when we started playing I didn't drop a single ball that was thrown to me(I did catch 2 that I had 1 foot in but couldn't get the second one down) including 5 interceptions 3 of which were returned for TD's.

Anyway all that being said my legs are pretty sore from football this morning which prevented me from going out for another run that wasn't so crappy but I'll deal. I am looking forward to this week, getting back to work and getting some more running in. I will have to start trying to work in more hills into my runs though so I can start to prepare for Mt. Washington. This might also lead to some trips to Lowell for some Christian Hill workouts too since I have never been a great hill runner.

Also I had titled this the LONG weekend since I didn't really sleep much, not that I normally do but it was less than normal.

Snow leopard not to be confused with slow cheetah the RHCP song

2009-11-27T15:13:00.001-05:00

So this is a completely pointless post but then again so aren't the rest of my posts. I am not sure if I'm the only one that does this but I end up seeing a lot of pictures in my time online that I think would make great desktop backgrounds and I find myself struggling on whether or not to change it. Anyway I found a new picture this week and I just kinda change my background without really even thinking about it. Anyway so this is the awesome picture and you are obviously jealous and I will give you permission(even though I didn't take the picture...jk I did you're jealous) to use it as your background.

Alright I can't get it to post a reasonable size so here is the link

I got beat up by a girl

2009-11-27T14:32:00.001-05:00

So after last nights run I got my first two consecutive runs done in I don't know how long. Pretty surprising also because I ran harder last night than I normally have been, so getting todays run in I was all motivated.

I had sent my friend Michelle a text message last night hoping she'd want to run today to help ensure me actually going for a run instead of deciding I should be lazy instead. She gets back to me this morning open to go running. We headed over to some trails that I had run in before but she had not so she was excited to see some fresh trails and I was happy to show her in hopes that I'd have someone else to make me run more often.

The weather today is not ideal but not bad, my car has the temp at 44 degrees before we started(shorts and long sleeves weather) the run and it was accompanied by some light rain. Almost immediately Michelle goes in front of me to lead the way and then I knew I was in for a tough run. We ended up going for about 50 minutes at somewhere between 8:30-9:00 pace. Really probably 9:00 pace but I wanted to pretend it was faster. By around the time we were likely finishing the first mile of the run my legs started to ache, I knew I was in trouble. I got through the run by just watching the shoes in front of me to see if I had to try to react to any roots, rocks or other impassable(to me) obstacles. I had to stop I think twice(if it was more I might have blacked out) because I was dying at 9 minute pace.

Finally on the way back I knew I was close to being done but I couldn't stop just staring at the shoes in front of me I missed the trail back to the car. It wasn't that big of a deal it's not like I couldn't use the extra time but we went back to the trail, then Michelle asked if I'd mind her going an extra 10 to add on because we thought it had only been 38 minutes. Turns out that wasn't the case and she just wanted to really rub it in that I am out of shape.

All in all though it was a good run despite the embarrassment of how out of shape I am but that can't be avoided. If anything it's good for me and will only make me come back quicker.

"if we don't change, we don't grow. If we don't grow, we are not really living" - Gail Sheehy

Fast with a silent s.

2009-11-26T22:29:00.000-05:00

So I've decided to finally get back in the saddle for real this time. Since I've stopped blogging I've started and stopped running probably 4 times. I decided to run tonight after all the thanksgiving festivities, I cramped a little bit but I got in 40 minutes. I was going to go more but my left calf felt like it was about to lock up and since I've had some issues before I figured I'd rather be safe and not take any chances.

I am going to try to get as much running as I can in but anytime I feel like any potential snag could be coming I'm going to just stop and walk it in. Since I have had similar issues before and it's basically stopped my training for example it happened in the spring/summer when I was running with Michelle on the weekends, took me a few months before I started again.

Fucking toothaches man....

2008-04-14T07:53:00.000-04:00

Alright so I started running again....kinda. So last week I ran 4 times. how about that. I was feeling good last monday so I went for a 5 mile run which was good. I was able to start out slow so I could actually finish it. Tuesday I was going to go for a repeat but I decided that I'd back off a little so I just ran 4, but it was a good run so I was happy with it. Now Wedensday the idoicy of mine came back. I started the run with intentions of going 4 or 5 if I could but I was running a bit too quick and it was really warm out. Then there was a girl ahead of me going kinda slow so naturally I sped up to pass her, but I can't pass someone then slow down so I had to keep it up. So by 1.5 miles I was cooked as lame as that is. So I turned in and finished with about 2 miles. Thursday was a bit better though. Still warm out but I started off fairly slow. I was gonna try to get 5 miles in but I was dying the last 2 miles so I turned in and made it about 4.5 I'm guessing maybe a little more. Friday I decided to take a day off I had run 4 straight days and to be honest more mileage than I expected I could do. My legs still felt good but I figured I should rest them a bit. Saturday morning I wake up to a killer toothache and swelling in my gums...kinda nasty. Anyway so I figure it's an absese because I had a root canal on that tooth last August/September or so and the dentist did have trouble with one of the canals. Man was this annoying I was icing and took some advil and that made it feel a bit better but I knew I needed some antibiotics pretty quickly. One of my brothers had an absese once and he ended up with swelling almost the size of a golf ball from his gums. The swelling I had was maybe like having an m&m in your gums but I didn't want to take any chances. So I found some amoxacilin I had so I started taking some of that and it worked out well. By Saturday night the swelling popped which was pretty gross but the pain was already getting better. Sunday morning the pain was almost gone but the swelling was for the most part done. This morning there is no longer any pain in my tooth and no swelling just a little irritation I think on the gums. Anyway I had a busy day sunday and I originally planned on taking the day off because of my tooth but I didn't think it was going to be that much better. Anyway I'll have to talk to a dentist today and I will go for a run tonight now that the pain is gone.

Weekly total: 15.5 miles....

umm i meant to write this yesterday

2008-03-28T06:12:00.000-04:00

Alright so I was too busy eating some extra cheese and bacon pizza to write this yesterday after my run. The pizza was delicious and really filling, which I think was what got me to fall alseep before midnight, either that or the run. Anyway I got about 2 miles in, that same loop I had been doing earlier this year, it wasn't too bad, I knew I was going too fast at the beginning but I couldn't help it. The last maybe half mile ore quarter mile I was hurting pretty bad but it happens. It felt good to get out there again though, now that I can wear shorts on runs maybe i'll be more motivated to stick with it.

2nd attempt at rehab

2008-03-24T21:40:00.000-04:00

So I decided to stop being such a lazy asshole at least for today. I got on the bike for 25 minutes. I was gonna go longer but I didn't want to set the standard too high you know. If I'm gonna do this again tomorrow I'll have to do something I can repeat when I'm sore. And as we all know I'm a complete wimp right now seeing how I've gotten into shape and out of shape maybe 4 times since graduating college. I suppose the only good thing about it was that I went further than I could have fun if I was in good shape haha.

25 minutes 6.62 miles on the bike.

5 days

2008-02-20T09:31:00.000-05:00

Yea I forgot to write a post last night. I didn't eat anything good yesterday, just junk food until diiner, but I went running before dinner. I only did that two mile loop, I did a lot of stretching before hand so my legs felt great during the run I just had no energy. I just gotta not be stupid today and actually eat meals before I go running. I should start with breakfast but it's already 9:30 and I have work to do but we'll see.

2 miles, I didn't bring a watch on purpose.

Reese's pieces

2008-02-18T22:16:00.000-05:00

So I've been gone from the blog 10 days I think from what double J has told me. The main reason is laziness I suppose but the rationalized excuse I made up for myself was, I normally thought to blog when I looked at the recent sites when I click the down arrow and I cleared that out and apparently never came back on here because I didn't see the address to remind me. Anyway I've been running, but not everyday but just doing the 2 mile loop, I did extra one of the days, but my knee is still giving me some pain. I'm gona have to make a trip to whirl a way and get some new shoes. I really thought these shoes were fine I didn't wear them much they were just in my trunk the past few months. Anyway I did do some Yoga last Wedensday it's power vinyasa yoga. It was actually a great workout, and I had to take a few breaks cuz obviously I'm not in very good shape if you've ready any other posts. Anyway lets see if I can get this going again. I should try going back to trying to run every day just 2 miles at least and then start mixing some longer runs in there.

Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils ... - Louis Hector Berlioz

Thwaits chicken pies are awesome

2008-02-08T22:12:00.000-05:00

Yea I didn't blog yesterday, I took the day off cuz I had some knee pain again, which normally happens once it starts it continues for a few days on the new shoes so I wasn't too worried about it. I just wanted to go for a short run today since it still hurt a little and I still had work to do after my run. I did that loop I've been doing thats just under 2 miles but today I ran it in 14:26 so much faster than I had been. I guess thats a good sign, I was laboring a bit but I figured it was from the snow on the ground and not getting good traction. I gotta be happy with it I suppose, even though I'm still not going far on the runs, it's good to know the pace is getting quicker with relativly no change in effort. I'll just have to start slowing it down a bit to get longer runs in. Tomorrow I think I'll do a 10 minute slow warm up, some drills, and then a 15 minute warm down, so we'll see how that goes.

2 miles almost 14:26

I still hate the giants

2008-02-06T21:26:00.000-05:00

Well I haven't blogged in a few days, part of which was the bike sucks and I didn't do anything Sunday or Monday. I was only doing 15 minutes on the bike the other days. Today I finally remembered that I had an extra pair of running shoes in my car since I still haven't gone to whirlaway to get a new pair. I don't think there are many miles on these shoes either so thats a plus. I started the run not sure how far I'd go but I wanted to go further than that standard 15 minute loop. I ended up doing 33:47 so that was probably 4 miles I'm guessing maybe a little longer, if I'm bored later I'll map it out. I felt good for the most part, but there was a couple parts where I felt my achilles twinge once for each foot. That made me a little nervous but there there was no pain or tightness after so I am thinking it might have been in my head. Good run though, now I'm really hungry so I'm going to go find some food.

33:47 4.? miles

"If you shut your door to all errors truth will be shut out." - Rabindranath Tagore

Black History Month

2008-02-01T19:56:00.000-05:00

My shoes are cooked I'm pretty sure because I've been having some knee pain that normally happens when I need new shoes. I decided instead of pushing my knee I figured I would bike instead. I got 30 minutes in, slowing increasing the resistance after the first 10 minutes until the last 5 minutes then i dialed it down a little. not quite a workout just a good session. My legs felt good during it, stronger than I feel when I run but maybe it's just the different exercise.

30 minutes, I forget how far it was I think 6 and change, nothing to be happy about really.

"In any situation, the best thing you can do is the right thing; the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing." -Theodore Roosevelt

He gives half his check to orphans, orphans with diseases

2008-01-31T00:41:00.000-05:00

Yea so today's run was rushed, I slept in later than I wanted so everything was kinda rushed all day. Which ended up not being needed because I had plenty of time later on. I started out way too fast I didn't bring my watch, and I don't know the first mile mark but it was probably sub 7 but the second mile was probably the worst i've felt since I started running again.

2 miles no time-

"The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them." Robert Frost

I'm aware thats a really cheesey quote, but I still thought it was funny, so deal with it.

Somehow I'm still out of shape

2008-01-29T20:33:00.000-05:00

I don't really have much to say today, I was busy at work, and tired for my run.

I went 19:48, I started out way too quick and paid for it at the end, but I got it in and thats all that really matters.

Monday morning, early.........

2008-01-28T14:05:00.000-05:00

So after not being able to sleep all night after my 5 hour or so "nap" on Sunday, at 5:30 I decided to give up on trying to get any sleep so I went out for a run. I planned on going short like 15 minutes or so because I wasn't sure how the conditions were going to be because of the snow during the day on sunday. The loop I normally run has sidewalks, and people in Burlington are far to lazy to actually shovel them like their supposed to. I started off with 2 half mile loops near my house, and the time after that was 6:53, and I was feeling good(which I was expecting to change since thats too fast for me right now) so I decided to go do part of that short loop I've been doing. The snow was pretty annoying even if it was only a couple of inches, my feet were sliding a lot since it was mostly backroads, which weren't entirely down to the pavement yet. Overall it was a good run though, with the exception of toward the end my left achilles was tight and bothering me.

Not sure of the distance but I finished up at 22:54, I followed it up with some light stretching, and I actually cooked myself some brekafast after my shower. It's been a while since I've had a real meal for breakfast. Now the rest of the day I'm gonna have to fight off the urge to take a nap and see if I can stay up till 9 and just go to bed then and get on a normal sleep schedule.

"The best way out is always through." - Robert Frost

Weekend

2008-01-28T14:00:00.000-05:00

Alright well this weekend was a total bust, both Saturday and Sunday. The lack of sleep Thursday night had me totally drained all day Saturday despite a decent nights sleep Friday night, I was fighting the urge to nap all day because I had a work event at 6:30 to 1 that night. My work event came and I seemed to get some more energy and felt fine, I planned on leaving around 10 or 11, but time went by quick and I was having fun so I stayed till the end. That really caught up to me on Sunday, I kept waiting to wake up some more all day, eventually fell asleep at 4:30 maybe, I'm not sure what time, but I didn't wake up till 9:30 and that was it for me, I didn't go to sleep the rest of the night. So it was a very lazy weekend, and I didn't get any running in so it sucked.

"In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on."
Robert Frost

The Longest Day

2008-01-25T23:00:00.000-05:00

Well let me just say today sucked. I thought it was going to work out pretty well, I knew I was going to have to get up at 5am so I started feeling a little tired last night around 9 so I went to bed and actually fell asleep. Then I woke up at 12:30 and couldn't fall back to sleep, I dozed off around 4 or 4:15 and then got up at 5 and got my day started. I had some work stuff in Boston in the morning, and just was non stop till I got home around 9. No meals or snack in between but I was still somehow feeling ok. I went out for a quick 15 minutes or so, I didn't want to bring my watch , actually I didn't really even want to go, but Carl called me out, so I had to.

15 minutes or so(same loop as always) I felt fine, wasn't trying to push it and wasn't really worried about anything, I just wanted to get it done so I could cook dinner, which was good by the way.

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."
-Mark Twian

Day 2

2008-01-24T18:24:00.000-05:00

Wow two consecutive days, I'm almost impressed. I really didn't have motivation to run at all today, I'm not even sure why. I planned on going a bit longer but when I got out there my right calf tightened up a bit so I just did that short loop I had been doing, and did some stretching after.

15:02 on a loop just shy of 2 miles

"Enduring habits I hate…. Yes, at the very bottom of my soul I feel grateful to all my misery and bouts of sickness and everything about me that is imperfect, because this sort of thing leaves me with a hundred backdoors through which I can escape from enduring habits."-
Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science, 1882

Getting back in shape

2008-01-23T20:32:00.000-05:00

Well I've been convinced finally to start writing a blog about my running. I've been in and out of shape a few times since graduating college in 2004, but never in good shape. I started running again a couple weeks ago, and was just gonna keep track of how many days i've run in a row then people got annoying about it because it was an annoyance to them when they checked my profile i guess? Lavalley, I'm talking about you deleting me from your buddy list. I'm not 100% on getting back into racing shape and start racing again, which i'm sure JJ will not like. Maybe the blog will help, but it's not just gonna be running stuff, I'll probably throw in other stuff too becuase chances are I'll get lazy again and stop running once the weather gets good, even though that doesn't make sense.

1/23/08
Ran for 20:21 which is the longest run of '08 I had been averaging just over 15 minutes a day, which is pretty pathetic, but my pace is better than I expected I'm under 8 minutes per mile haha.

"What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson