And I’d agree. Life is good.
Work was tough today, but all was made good by the boyzos and Missy’s book club. Us with the X-Chromosome deficiency grabbed the canoe and bought a little bit of fried chicken. We headed off to a cove off of the Thames and watched the sun set. The boys were fascinated watching the swallows darting about catching the evening’s bugs.
I’m a sucker for paddling.
Hi.
Man, what a couple of great weeks I’ve had. Off to Glasgow for a conference, where I gave a paper without dropping a single f-bomb at the podium AND got intelligent questions at the end. Stopped by the place where the pedal bicycle was invented. Then down into England to visit with a couple of vendors. I highly recommend the United Kingdom for a running vacation.
Extremely highly recommend it, especially if you can get the aMAZING hIP to show up. We headed into the Peaks District, just outside of Manchester, and the Hip mastered the hills and rocks with such aplomb that the sheep ought to have been scared, were it not for the kindness of the Hip leaving his wellingtons back down in the car.
But, the run was amazing. The UK’s built with the car as an afterthought, an inconvenience, really. There are amazing public footpaths EVERYWHERE. Just be considerate and shut the gate after you.
Yesterday was jet-lag day. Waking up was fine, as long as you’re allowing that 4 AM and wide awake is a good thing. Only lost one bag. Fell asleep in meetings, so I bailed early from the office. The airline had lost my backpack with my shoes, so I picked up a new pair, and did 5 miles on Jamestown in a glorious, sunny day.
Cannot wait for the weekend.
Yeah, so it turns out that I am paying for breaking the primary racing rule (Don’t change shoes on race day). While walking’s been no more problem than usual since the Twilight Trail Race, running hasn’t happened.
Sunday evening, I figured I’d jump out of the house and run to the church to pick up the audio file to build the podcast. So, tucked the kids in, strapped on the sneakers, and started running. Everything was kind of tight, but that’s kind of to be expected, right?
After about a quarter mile, though I bailed. As I kept running, instead of the usual loosening, it felt like the tendons were just getting tighter and tighter. I stopped, stretched, declared defeat, and walked home.
I’ve been on travel this week, which is usually great for the running. AND, believe it or not, I’ve been in the same hotel all week, which happens once in a blue moon. So, I ought to be getting great runs in.
Tuesday, I made it a mile on the dreadmill before I bailed to the bike. It didn’t hurt to run, and I was really hopeful. But when I woke up on Wednesday, walking was bad again. So, stretch and bike Wednesday and today.
This morning everything feels good, but I don’t want to press it. I’ll go for a group ride tomorrow morning, and try to do 5K a couple of times over the weekend. If that’s OK, I’ll pick up the routine next week – the long run is only 8 miles for the weekend, with a 4, 6, and 2 between now and then.
Otherwise, it’s time to re-evaluate goals and start turning pedals a lot more.
1. Taxes. Man, I hate taxes. This year was going to be different. This year, I was going to do them February 1, as soon as I got them W-2 forms from all our various employers.
I filed last night.
2. Like the thing that is your spine. I think it’s mostly better. I took it easy last week, including wimping out on the run Sunday morning and just walking for an hour before breakfast. But, I spread fertilizer Sunday afternoon, and didn’t hurt at all this morning.
3. As in Baby Got. After the trauma of realizing I had no physician to go cry to last Monday when I was in pain, I had a physical with Dr. K. this morning. Overall, I’m in good shape – a little overweight (28 on the BMI; should be 25), but the BP was 107 over 73, even with a cup or three of coffee, and the “prostate was smooth”.
I chose poorly. Dr. K’s got big fingers.
4. To the Y. I haven’t swum in, what, two or three months? So I swum tonight, and followed it up with a half hour on the bike. An extremely modest brick, and I was quaking like a little bird when I finished. Not quite sure why. But it feels good. Really good. I’m psyched.
5. To training. So, I’m heading down to OKC in two weeks. I’m down to running the half. It’s going to suck. But, I’m doing it.
In other news, Nike+ has added training programs. I signed up for the “Beginner Marathon” program, starting tomorrow. Mileage will be pretty much where I was in training for the half; it builds up over 28 weeks, so I ought to be able to target any of the fall marathons. I’m interested to see how it works – if it downloads a workout to the iPod, or if it just goes. Y’all can follow my training if you want…
6. Good TV. Battlestar Galactica is phenomenal. Still. Amazes me. I was worried with the first episode this season, but the second episode rocks.
30 Rock is back. Not sure if it’s good any more, but I’ve still got a crush on Tina Fey.
Oh, and I’ve got a thing for Masterpiece Theater on PBS. Possibly just ’cause the wife likes it.
F’n back went out for the first time this morning while I was putting on pants.
And the doc, just like everyone else, says “Hey, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened earlier…”
He then proceeds not to prescribe me anything good…
Bleh, bleh, bleh.
Nothing better for setting “the mood” than the 4 year old retching down the hall.
Hi.
It’s me. You know, me – Jank.
I just wanted to let y’all know that this isn’t a dead blog.
Life is good. I’ve been running (made my long run the last two weeks in a row, and actually haven’t missed a run in two weeks). Missy’s been running. The boys have been running. I’m very hopeful about the whole OKC Half Marathon thing (which reminds me – I need to register)
Blogging? Not so much.
But there’s interesting things afoot here.
I dig me some spring.
Boys and girls, interesting times are afoot up here in Mystic. Spring is always a good time to be in New England, and an even better time to be a runner.
I had a whirlwind trip down to DC early last week, in which I got to catch up with my brother-in-law and his wonderful wife, and got to head up to the Sausage Factory (eg the Capitol, from the immortal quote which I’m too lazy to google, which goes along the lines of “It’s terrible to see what goes into both sausage and laws”). I managed to stay downtown, and got in a transcendent dawn run on the Mall, and tried as to be as loud as possible in the hotel hall, as it was full of whipper-snapper teens down for one of the many “see how government works” programs, which, near as I can tell, involves a lot of running between rooms and giggling at about midnight. But I had beer with the brother-in-law, and a good walk, and it really didn’t matter.
Saturday was Pinewood Derby, and it was outstanding. Jake’s (mostly) self-made car (I will dig up a picture, but all I did was rough out the shape with a table-saw and do a little light soldering) came in 5th out of 8, and that was without him doing anything to the wheels or axles. “But daddy, I want to paint it!” We also headed out to check out the YMCA camp over by Burlinggame State Park in Rhode Island. I’m sending the kids for pretty much as long as they want to go. The camp’s got all the cool “camp” stuff, like swimming and canoes and sports and lanyards and musty cabins, and none of that modern stuff like PowerPoint and DVDs. I’m sold.
The boys and I followed up a little time in the woods with a hike over at the Ninengret National Wildlife Refuge, and a trip up to URE outfitters to buy a fishing license. The hike rocked – it was brisk and windy, but there was no whining by the boys, and on the way back,
Jake said “Dad, can I run back to the car?”
“Sure”, I said, “just turn around and run back to us when you get there”.
Off he went. Nate and I continued to stroll, and Jake met up with us a little quicker than I’d expected. “Did you make it all the way back?”
“Yep. I did stop to read the sign for a while, though, so I didn’t run right back”. Man, fast, and honest, too.
I finished up Saturday with 5 miles. It was supposed to be 4 miles in preparation for a long run on Sunday, but I took a new route, took a different turn to do some exploring, and added another mile. I didn’t make the long run on Sunday, but I did a bunch of walking after church, so I think it’ll all come out in the wash.
Now it’s Monday, and I’m feeling rested, excited, and pretty fired up about being able to get back on track. I hit the gym with my officemate at lunch. Calisthenics and some time on the exercise bike are good for what ails you.
So, apparently I’ve redefined “cross training” today to involve Pop-A-Shot and chasing 4 year olds at novelty themed pizza restaurants. Let’s not forget eating cake.
The slack (not really slack – I did paint the laundry room today, too) got me thinking about races for the rest of the year.
After the funk I had all last week, I skipped my long run this weekend. Only supposed to be 6 miles, but still.
I’m feelin’ pretty low on the old running stick-to-it-ness.
The upside was a great weekend with the wife and boys.