I had been in a big running funk as of late. Truth is I haven't had any desire to run and when I did I put in a half effort. Something clicked in my mind last Friday. After logging a whopping 35 miles from 1 Oct until Friday I decided I was going to start running again...period.
So Friday was a 6 miler that was rather slow but felt great. More importantly, it felt great to WANT TO run again. I followed that up Sunday with a decent 6.2, Monday with another 6 miler and today with a 6 mile speed routine. Today's run is what this particular post is about because I'm pretty proud of it.
The speed work routine I did I've done in the past and I really like it. I basically made it up one day when I failed at the routine I wanted to run. All times are as follows:
1600-7:03, 800 recovery, 800-3:35 (the only non-negative split I had...grrrrr), 800 recovery, 400-1:38, 400 recovery, 400-1:37, 400 recovery, 400-1:36, 400 recovery, 400-1:31 (BAM!!!!), 1200 recovery for a total of 6 great miles.
I was running in my ASICS Hyper Speed 4's. I love those shoes. They are so light and make me feel fast. Too bad they are being discontinued.
Well, that's 18.2 miles for the week on my way to 36. I know, too much too soon. It's okay. I really don't know how to do anything without doing it to extreme. That includes being a lazy @$$.
Happy running to you all.
Wednesday 17 November 2010
Monday 15 November 2010
Port-A-Potty Diaries--1st Entry
15 Nov 10
Dear diary,
I've ran in Germany, Portugal, the U.S., the U.K., Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Qatar, and Puerto Rico. In all of these instances there is one common factor. All port-a-potties are the same. They all look the same, usually blue. They all smell the same. I'm not talking about the obvious smell of poo and pee. I'm talking about the smell of that blue crap that's in 'em. Speaking of which, they ALL have that blue crap in 'em. Why can't a country come up with another dye color for that crap?
Now don't get me wrong, there are a few differences. For example; a port-a-potty in Qatar is far worse than one in the U.K. Why you may ask? Because the by-products of...well, you know...smell far worse in 130 degree temps than they do in 85 degree temps. Sometimes the alternative of crapping ones pants may be better. Thank goodness I've not done that yet...but...
And what exactly is it with that urinal thing on the side? Do we guys REALLY need a urinal in a port-a-potty? All that does is give us something else to pee all over. And speaking of that, why is it that dudes can't hit a hole twice the size of a toilet at home? I'm telling ya', if I peed all over the toilet seat at home I'd get my butt stomped by the little lady. Not to mention I kind of like having a clean bathroom.
I also think that every port-a-potty on a running race course should be stocked copies of Runner's World. I mean seriously; what if I get a bad stomach ache and need an extended break in the ole mobile crap house? At least I can feel in touch with the race by reading some race related material. Besides, there may be an artical on how to increase your PR chances after having to taking a port-a-potty break. It could happen.
Finally, I think it should be a law that ALL port-a-potty companies world-wide should stock those things with Charmin, hand sanitizer, those paper @$$ gasket things and some Lysol smell good spray. Violators would be prosecuted under INTERPOL or something.
Dear diary,
I've ran in Germany, Portugal, the U.S., the U.K., Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Qatar, and Puerto Rico. In all of these instances there is one common factor. All port-a-potties are the same. They all look the same, usually blue. They all smell the same. I'm not talking about the obvious smell of poo and pee. I'm talking about the smell of that blue crap that's in 'em. Speaking of which, they ALL have that blue crap in 'em. Why can't a country come up with another dye color for that crap?
Now don't get me wrong, there are a few differences. For example; a port-a-potty in Qatar is far worse than one in the U.K. Why you may ask? Because the by-products of...well, you know...smell far worse in 130 degree temps than they do in 85 degree temps. Sometimes the alternative of crapping ones pants may be better. Thank goodness I've not done that yet...but...
And what exactly is it with that urinal thing on the side? Do we guys REALLY need a urinal in a port-a-potty? All that does is give us something else to pee all over. And speaking of that, why is it that dudes can't hit a hole twice the size of a toilet at home? I'm telling ya', if I peed all over the toilet seat at home I'd get my butt stomped by the little lady. Not to mention I kind of like having a clean bathroom.
I also think that every port-a-potty on a running race course should be stocked copies of Runner's World. I mean seriously; what if I get a bad stomach ache and need an extended break in the ole mobile crap house? At least I can feel in touch with the race by reading some race related material. Besides, there may be an artical on how to increase your PR chances after having to taking a port-a-potty break. It could happen.
Finally, I think it should be a law that ALL port-a-potty companies world-wide should stock those things with Charmin, hand sanitizer, those paper @$$ gasket things and some Lysol smell good spray. Violators would be prosecuted under INTERPOL or something.
Does The Dryer Eat Your Socks?
Problem #1: The dryer ate your sock. Now you have that lonely mismatch. Of course you hang on to that sock for months on end. It clutters your dresser or laundry basket. The problem is compounded if you have children. Those socks are NEVER found. Yet you hang on in hopes that it will turn up. You finally throw it away and low and behold, the other half of the pair shows up the next day. The problem is you forgot that you threw its partner away and now you hang on to that sock forever. It's a brutal cycle.
Problem #2: This may not have happened to you, but you've seen it. The runner about mid-way through the race with one sock on and one bare foot in the shoe. You know exactly how that happens since there wasn't a dryer around to eat that poor sock. Yep, they (or you) got caught with pants down and nothing to finish up with. Begrudgingly, off comes the sock. Embarrassement ensues.
Solution: Take that poor, lonely mismatched sock and strategically place it in a convenient place to use if needed. When the match turns up next week you have yet another article to bail you out of a sure fire mess.
There you have it. Free and usefull advice that you didn't even need to register for.
Problem #2: This may not have happened to you, but you've seen it. The runner about mid-way through the race with one sock on and one bare foot in the shoe. You know exactly how that happens since there wasn't a dryer around to eat that poor sock. Yep, they (or you) got caught with pants down and nothing to finish up with. Begrudgingly, off comes the sock. Embarrassement ensues.
Solution: Take that poor, lonely mismatched sock and strategically place it in a convenient place to use if needed. When the match turns up next week you have yet another article to bail you out of a sure fire mess.
There you have it. Free and usefull advice that you didn't even need to register for.
Wednesday 3 November 2010
While Walking Through Life I Lost Myself
I haven't given up on posting blogs here. I've tried multiple times and can't get them to go through. So hi...if this makes it out there to blog land. Now on the my actual writings.
The last 8 weeks or so have been rather difficult. I've been traveling through life just sort of...living; but not to my fullest desire or ability. Nothing has been going on that has made things difficult. Well, I did find out that I didn't even get accepted to the London Marathon as a charity runner. That pretty much sucked. Otherwise, I've just noticed my motivation waning like the last bit of moonlight as the moon hides out for a few days. But just like the moonlight, my motivation seems to find a way back.
This week has been rather good to me. My vision is coming back after getting PRK. My distance vision still isn't fully there, but it's getting better every day. It's rather refreshing to not have to wear glasses to see. It's even neater to wear "cool people" sunglasses for the first time.
This past Saturday I got my assignment. I'll be moving to Offutt Air Force Base Nebraska in Apr or May. Any Nebraska Loopsters out there?
I found out that after almost a year I'll be putting on my next rank on 1 Jan. Happy New Year!!!
But here is the really big turn around. I ran today. To put things in perspective, I haven't ran in exactly 21 days. Not because of injury or time. I haven't ran because I haven't wanted to. I have had zero desire to take care of myself. Now I feel like s#*t and wanted to find myself again.
The run wasn't too bad. I cruised through 4 miles at an 8:32 m/m. All in all I felt great. I had missed that feeling of finding myself every time my feet connected with the road.
Now I need to find a nice marathon to run before I leave the UK. I'm looking in to the Paris marathon. The only problem with that is that I'll be leaving the UK on Apr 14th for good and the race is on the 10th. The timing may not work out. Wish me luck.
Happy running to you all and it's good to have found myself again.
The last 8 weeks or so have been rather difficult. I've been traveling through life just sort of...living; but not to my fullest desire or ability. Nothing has been going on that has made things difficult. Well, I did find out that I didn't even get accepted to the London Marathon as a charity runner. That pretty much sucked. Otherwise, I've just noticed my motivation waning like the last bit of moonlight as the moon hides out for a few days. But just like the moonlight, my motivation seems to find a way back.
This week has been rather good to me. My vision is coming back after getting PRK. My distance vision still isn't fully there, but it's getting better every day. It's rather refreshing to not have to wear glasses to see. It's even neater to wear "cool people" sunglasses for the first time.
This past Saturday I got my assignment. I'll be moving to Offutt Air Force Base Nebraska in Apr or May. Any Nebraska Loopsters out there?
I found out that after almost a year I'll be putting on my next rank on 1 Jan. Happy New Year!!!
But here is the really big turn around. I ran today. To put things in perspective, I haven't ran in exactly 21 days. Not because of injury or time. I haven't ran because I haven't wanted to. I have had zero desire to take care of myself. Now I feel like s#*t and wanted to find myself again.
The run wasn't too bad. I cruised through 4 miles at an 8:32 m/m. All in all I felt great. I had missed that feeling of finding myself every time my feet connected with the road.
Now I need to find a nice marathon to run before I leave the UK. I'm looking in to the Paris marathon. The only problem with that is that I'll be leaving the UK on Apr 14th for good and the race is on the 10th. The timing may not work out. Wish me luck.
Happy running to you all and it's good to have found myself again.
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