Santa Run

Ok, so the suits were actually fairly decent for the $25, so I retract my statement about them being cheapies. Now on to the race.



Jason showed up about 10:30 and we headed up to the Y at about 11 to meet Mike. We were all geared up and ready to go. Mike was sipping a Tim Horton's as he often does. This was his first race with us, and I think now he's officially hooked. So that's just one more person in the collective to keep us going.

The run was great, but there's just a few things that get in the way of running when you have a Santa suit over your clothes. The first thing is, it's hot as hell. So all of us overdressed. The second thing is, don't let your pants fall down. It's hard to tell they fell until they're at your ankles. Third, try not to blow out the crotch. Fourth, breathing through a fake beard is not easy, even if you're not aspirating some of it every time you inhale.

I toughed it out for about a 30:30 time though, even with the wardrobe malfunction (the pants around the ankles thing was me), and all the beard breathing (I kept it on, while most people ditch it down to their neck). It felt more like a 34 time, though, because I was really dragging ass (or so I thought). That's not bad. My 3rd best 5K time ever next to the two sub 30's at the Spirit Run and the Tailgate Challenge. If I can knock off as much time next year, I'll really be in business. It seems like now my slow times are what used to be what I thought to be almost out of reach. That's progress for sure.

The big thing now is, don't fall apart over the winter. We have to do things to stay relatively in shape. I want to hit the ground running (literally) next March/April.

F*ck Rocky!

Ice and snow are not that easy to run on. I have the Santa Run this weekend, which will likely be the last run of the year. I haven't picked up the suit yet, but I hear they're very small and flimsy. What do you expect for $25?

Anyway, back to almost falling on my butt, standing up on crappy roads takes a lot of ankle strength that I don't have. After a 5K today, they felt like the most worked part of my body. Stupid old injuries. Today trampoline ankle was more ouchy than soccer ankle, but I'm sure it will jump back and forth.

I looked up how to dress and layer yourself for winter, and doing a wicking layer, sweats layer, and windproof layer worked out pretty well. I stayed relatively dry, wasn't cut to pieces by the cold wind, and wasn't cold at all. I think I need to start researching some more running tips, and maybe subscribe to a running mag to give myself a little help. Although, I'm not sure it will help much until March or so. The weather is about the test my mettle...

I'm still going, I guess

I'm just not moving any worlds around here.

I woke up at 6:30am for a road race in Detroit on Thanksgiving Day that started at 7:45. Not a good idea. The play was to snap up at 4:30am, get down there early to pick up my packet with plenty of time to spare. Instead the race started before I was even parked, I pick up my packet to find (despite pre-registering) they gave my size shirt away, and have no time to run back to my car.

So I squeeze the size large they gave me on under my Lions shirt, and head to the starting line. The largest size that registration allowed was an XL and that would have been pushing it. I feel (or can only guesstimate, really) like I'm wearing a sports bra with my little Turkey Trot shirt choking my upper torso. So, great, not only am I starting 45 minutes late, but I'm going to be restricted the whole way.

After I got going, it wasn't as bad as it seemed, though. I didn't have a lot of freedom to pump my arms, and I was a little hot, but I pushed on through. By the time I got done with the Woodward leg, I was pretty psyched up. I'm in Detroit, running down the busiest street there is, going by the Fox, Hockeytown, Comerica, over the E-way, and back. It gets you a little worked up. Unfortunately, that was short-lived and by the time I got to the split where 10K runners went down Michigan and 5Kers went straight, I considered cutting off with the 5K people. I took the right down Michigan, though, and I'm really happy I did.

Running down Michigan is just as exciting as Woodward. It may not be as pretty, but it has a lot of history, even for me personally. The Corktown bars and restaurants from my childhood at Tiger Stadium, the field itself overgrown and bearing a homemade "Ernie Harwell Park" sign, the old train station, etc. All of it memories of Detroit in better times.

Unfortunately on this loop, I also saw a man collapse and EMTs doing CPR on him. I stayed out of the way. All I can do is pray for him and his family, and reflect on how fleeting life can be, and I did. I think it shook a lot of people and we all slowed down after that. When something like that happens, you realize your time and the person ahead of you that you've been pacing doesn't matter as much. It's a pittance of a victory when you think someone could be spending Thanksgiving without a loved one; a loved one who just wanted to do something fun before spending the day with his family. I hope to God he somehow made it. It didn't look good, but I didn't hear of anyone dying, so maybe he's okay.

Like I said, after that, I just didn't push very hard until the finish was in sight. It took another right down Rosa Parks after the Michigan turn-around, and reversed from there. Come back up Parks, you turned right again back onto Woodward, by Cobo, and down the ramp by the Detroit Princess Ferry to the River Walk. With all the buildings blocking it, you forget how pretty Detroit really is down there. I haven't been there since the Super Bowl, and that was at night. For a rainy day, Detroit sure looked wonderful.

Overall, I'm happy with the fact I was even able to make it to run there, given the circumstances. I left way too late, and probably shouldn't have even tried to make it there. I'm happy I stayed on the 10K route and not the 5K, because it was far superior as a route, and a much better tour of the city. The 5K was nearly pointless for the money, especially when I run one 3 times a week these days.

I still haven't changed a lot of things I need to, and I still need to start seeing a doctor regularly. I've decided I'd like to stick around here a while longer than most of my family, and I need somebody to tell me how to do that.

Boomeranging

I'm not using this damn blog as intended, at least not for myself. It was supposed to be a joint venture to remind me to keep going with the running and to chastise myself for eating metaphorical garbage. That's now how things have been going.

I run regardless. I don't need this for that. Since my last entry I've been through 3 races. I did a 5K trail run in Howell. That was the toughest 5K I've ever done. It's bad enough that it went up and down like a flipping hiking trail, but with half of it being gravel, it was tough just to keep footing. I'm sorry, but someone my size doesn't handle a steep decline on loose stone without slowing up a bit. Newton's laws, they still hold in that realm. So I didn't stay under the 10 minute mile again for that one, but it wasn't too bad.

The Sunday before the Michigan/Michigan State game I did a 10K in Ann Arbor at the Big House. I've officially ran down the tunnel of the stadiums of the two major college programs in the state now (after doing MSU in May). That field turf is slippery. This Sparty almost lost it and went down in enemy territory. My per mile times on these longer races is now better than my per mile was on 5K's earlier in the year, so there has been a lot of improvement. I'm not anywhere near where some of these people were. It seems the later the running season goes, the more pros come out. I'm getting faster, but there's more people ahead of me. Six days later, running the MSU/U of M Tailgate challenge, I broke under 30:00 for another 5K, with my best time yet. So, obviously, I am not anywhere near slacking in the run department.

In the healthy eating department, I pretty much suck. As I write this, I'm not exactly treating myself too well. I need to start outing myself on here on that side of things, because I'm screwing it up. I really am. I may have to take some drastic measures. For now I'm going to shrink from that one...but I need to do better for myself.

Barriers don't exist in this dojo...

So the "I can't break 10 minute miles in a competitive 5K" belief is toast after today. I didn't even move that well, it was raining, and stretching wasn't much of an option because I didn't want to stand out in the rain. I sat in the car until about 10 minutes to the start, but I'm not sure it made a difference, as I was soaked by the first half mile anyway. Anyway, I finished the race at about 29:40. It's just nice to break 10 minuters. I was getting sick of thinking that wasn't going to ever happen, and this is some nice progress, considering the best I had before was a 32:17. Then, going against progress, I grabbed some McD's breakfast on the way home; two McMuffins and 2 hash browns is not going to help things, but I'm still lovin' it.

With the race you got a free ticket to a game and a Spirit shirt. Unfortunately the ticket is for a night that I'm going to Spamalot at the Whiting. Hopefully I can find somebody that wants it. That's too bad, because I love hockey, and I'd be fine going solo. Most people just don't do things like that alone.

Speaking of flying solo, I have to get down to East Lansing to go to the Michigan State game against Notre Dame. It's nasty as hell out, and that's going to make it awesome.

Greasy Fast Speed

So we have the distance thing down for this year, and now it's time to go for speed. I don't really have a chicken to chase around, but Jason is fast enough. I suppose we could always push for a half-marathon and then a marathon, but before I get into something like that I need to drop some weight. That would just be too much abuse on the knees at this point. I suppose the half would be ok, but 26.2 miles, nope.

We missed our run yesterday due to lightning. We'll go in rain, but there's no sense in getting healthy and going out to get killed by a lightning bolt. Sure it's rare, but it could happen, and has happened to people in my family before. Maybe we have high iron in the blood. Who knows?

Anyway, we did the usual trail run, but we did a short one around 4 miles or so pushing hard the whole way. I was just as sweaty as we usually are for 10 with the humidity, and the muscles were just as tired with pushing the whole time and being out of breath for the entirety. It's something I need to do, though, to build up my wind and break that 10 minute mile wall. To do that, I have to take off about 2 1/2 minutes from my better 5K times. It won't be easy, but we'll keep pushing for time, and it should help us in distance too.

The 4 mile run (guessing distance, we still need to confirm) took me 39:40 today. We'll just keep trying for better times.

Sweet Victory

I made it! I finished the 10 mile Crim run, and I did it in under 2 hours.

The Back-Story:

Tuesday Jason and I went out for our final practice run of the 10 mile out on the trail to avoid injury. That didn't seem to work very well, because in the final mile, my calf started to strain. I foolishly tried to run on it after it was yanking because we were having such a great go at it that day, and I made things worse in the final mile. From that point on, we both stopped running for the week until The Crim, and I put a lot of meds on my calf over the rest of the week.

The night before the race, I had $10 vouchers to see Blondie and Cheap Trick fall into my lap. I debated whether to go or stay home, rest up, watch "Run Fatboy Run," and hit the Olive Garden for the unlimited pasta bowl. You really just can't pass either of them up for 10 bucks and free parking, let alone both, so I went. The short version is Cheap Trick is still solid, and Deborah Harry is still awesome. Luckily they got done fairly early, and I was home and in bed at midnight.

I woke up at 5am the next morning. I showered, put Body Glide in all the necessary places, some icy hot on the calf, set the DVR for the Crim coverage, grabbed some toast and a banana, and charged up the mp3 player. Then I got my shirt, shorts, and shoes on and paced around for a bit before putting on my bib and D-tag.

Jason came over about 6:30 and we walked downtown to the starting line, as I finished a quick Power Bar. We hit the porta-johns (pre-race leak jitters), and watched the wheelers off at the start. Then they let the competitive runners, the 30+ year runners, and military runners go. I was doing a lot of jogging in place to loosen up the calf that felt like it could pull at any moment. There is a reason that I put it on my Colbert "On Notice" board on the fridge. We did some last minute stretching, and took our place behind the green flag for the 10 mile runners.

Immediately we were getting boxed in, and even worse there were walkers up in our section despite them being told several times that they are supposed to line up behind us at the purple flag. I've been over it several times, but here we go again. Walkers are just the bane of my running existence. Winning speed-walking is about the equivalent of winning at a game of online poker with no money involved. The sad thing is, these people cheat like crazy. One woman in particular I have seen at several runs, and she's ALWAYS cheating. The races without a starting block that takes your launch time, she'll take off with the runners, hiding in the crowd, and start walking after there is no crowd. At the Crim, she was running for part of it. I imagine this woman is queen bee of the super-bitches too and thinks she's the best thing since gravy cheese fries. Anyway, yeah, those f***ers got in our way again. Is it just competition bringing out the worst in them or are they just oblivious pricks? Speaking of pricks, I started up the mp3 player, and I just had to start up the race with a little K-Fed. I needed a funny distraction, and when I saw that, I had to play it. It worked for the first mile or so. Thanks "Pancake Man."

It did open up after the start, but not much. When you have nearly 10,000 people running, even a 10-mile span doesn't spread you out too much. My calf was already feeling tight in mile 1, and I was genuinely worried. I pleaded with it in my head, "Please don't do this to me, not today." Meanwhile, I looked at the timer for the first mile and it said a whopping 13 minutes and change (unbeknownst to me at the time, it was over 3 minutes before I got across the start). Mile 2 is where you start to get into the charm of the race. There were people lined down Third street, and the fraternities there were passing out donuts and beer to the runners. I didn't figure I should risk it this time, but maybe in the years to come, I'll partake in all of these station pit stops.

I started pushing through miles 3 and 4 by Mott Park (and grabbed my first water) to make up time, and a lot of people flocked to the woods there to take a public pee break. I was good, except for the calf (still). Then I hit the Bradley Hills, which is over 100' feet of elevation change in less than a mile. They're generally known to any area runner as "Where good Crim runs go to die," but I pushed through them, and grabbed a much-needed Gatorade boost at hill 2. Electrolytes are good, and by then my shirt, with our friend's physical therapy office on it, was soaked, so I'm sure I lost a little bit of what plants crave. I grabbed a water too just before mile 6 to wash the taste out and clear the mouth a bit.

At the split the time was saying 56:11, which I felt good about, and was only a little slower than my Blueberry time (in reality it was faster minus the 3 minutes, but you get it by now). The Bradleys did their thing to my legs though, and they were like rubber. I kept telling myself "keep going, keep going and it'll pass." It finally did, and I had a really quick mile 7 breaking past quite a few people that lost their sh*t at the hills. When I hit the middle of mile 8, I was starting to die though. My shirt was completely wet, the shorts were on their way, and I was really dehydrated. I hit 3 water stops in a 1 1/2 mile stretch at mile 8, 8 1/2, and at 9. I still haven't mastered the art of drinking and running at the same time. If I try it, I end up aspirating the water and coughing it out of my lungs for 1/8th of a mile. So I did have to stop, take a few steps, and immediately jump back in a few times. Maybe eventually I'll learn to do it while running like the pros, but it's not as easy as it looks.

Just before I made the turn at Saginaw St. for the final stretch, I flipped the player over to some Rocky IV soundtrack figuring it would help me let loose and finish strong. It did. At the turn, I started running faster, and halfway down the street I ended the race in a dead sprint (or as close as I could muster). I grabbed my 10-mile finisher medal (hell yes!) and Jason found me almost immediately after to tell me "good job." He was happy to see that I didn't finish too far behind him, and was able to go the whole way. We grabbed some waters, and each grabbed a popsicle, then another popsicle after eating those, then another water, then a banana, and then an apple. We ran into Ken and he snapped a picture of us on the bricks, which I have yet to see.

I look focused

Got it!

We went back to the gates and watched the other people come in, rooting them on like the crowds pushed us like a wind at our back, throughout the entire race. Those people help you so much when you feel down and out, and the volunteer stations keep us in business (big time). I almost got back in time for the 8K walk to be off, and walk with Jessi and her family, but I didn't make it. So I waited for them for an hour and a half to see them cross. Somehow I missed every one of them, and waited until it just wasn't possible for them to still be lagging behind (in fact they all were pretty quick). Jason and I gave up and grabbed our much-deserved free pizza and beer, and walked back to my place.

I called Jessi, and she was on her way to the grandparents. Jason and I went over there too, and they welcomed him and fed him, as I introduced him as my friend and trainer. They're so nice, and they always end up feeding somebody's stray it seems. Every holiday, there's somebody's friend there for some reason, and they always take them in like family, which is really admirable. We all shared our Crim stories at the table, and it was really great to get some food in after all of that.

I'm still in disbelief that this happened, and I'm still shocked I finished under 2 hours and my calf never pulled (the realistic goal was under 2:30:00 and optimistically I was hoping for 2:00:00 or under). I've taken it off notice, officially. The official time came in at 1:50:25, which is just over 11 minute miles. I'm good with that. The Blueberry race was 55:44 and it was half the Crim, so I did my job and kept that pace. Now it's time to start going for times the rest of this year. I won't be adding distance. Maybe next year we'll consider some half-marathons and maybe even a marathon, but for now I want to break that 10 minute mile wall. For now, I'm just reveling in my accomplishment, because I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to do this until this month. Maybe I should stop limiting myself.

Blueberry Race was a (Blueberry Pan-)cake walk.

The 8K Blueberry Race came about this Saturday, and I got up at 5:00am on the only day I can sleep in during the weekend. If running does anything, it snaps me back into a proper biological rhythm so I don't wake up late for work on Monday. Normally, my lazy ass would have stayed in bed until about 11:00.

I picked up my packet at the school's gym and had about an hour to kill. I stretched out, listened to some music on the headphones, took the phones off and listened to some pump-up music they had going (most of which was awful, but worked). I actually stopped some Local H on the mp3 player to listen to them blaring Ke$ha (blasphemy!). Yes, I know she's brutally awful, but I still, sadly, kind of like it.

After nearly an hour of stretching, I realized "hey, maybe I should find where this race is starting." As usual, when I'm without a clue, I just started following people, and it led me to a place that said 8K Start. I ran into a teacher from my old high school. He kinda close-talked me for a little bit, asked about my bro and sis and why they weren't out with me, and went into this long rah!-rah! speech about how if I keep on going I can be like this one guy he knows that lost 100 pounds and now wins some of these races. Thanks for reminding me I'm a fat guy there teach, I was not aware (see blog title).

Anyway, we started up and I ran by the 5K peeps, one of which being a girl I went to school with. We weren't really friends then, but she's always been a really nice, sweet girl, so I'm cool with her and all. I didn't jump out of the gate very fast, and just decided to set a pace similar to what I wanted for the 10-mile. By the time I hit mile 3, it was starting to feel a little too easy. I skipped all water breaks, and just kept chuggin along until I hit the track, and at the finish, I ran into the girl from high school again. Talked to her and her friend, who I assume went to school with us, and she figured I knew, but I didn't.

I talked to the other guy from work that runs, and lost the girls for a bit. I figured they were in getting pancakes, so I headed in for my blueberry pancake breakfast as well and they weren't there. They came in later with kids and husbands and things, and I didn't have room by me to sit. I think they probably figured I just tried to ditch them when I was looking for the guy from work and checking the results. Anyway, it felt kind of high school where I had probably made a social faux pas, and they figured it was me being unfriendly. If they went to school with me, they should just know I'm socially encumbered.

After that I tried to hurry home to catch church. That didn't happend because I spent too much time on the pancakes waiting for them to show up to be friendly, which managed to blow up on me anyway. So I cut off going to church after just going home, and got ready for the Tiger's game. After the run, driving to Detroit, sitting in the hot sun of a day game (which we did win 8-1 over Cleveland), driving back, and going to church, I was pretty much done. We went to bed about 11, which is the earliest in quite a while.

One more practice run with J tomorrow, and then Crim on Saturday. The 8K was easy, so that makes me even more convinced that I'm ready.

I got this...

Jason and I ran the Crim route on Sunday (full 10 miles) plus a little bit to get there from my house. We also did a 10 mile trail run the other night. We're ready baby!

I did a flat out mile and a half sprint to build the wind today until I literally couldn't breathe. If only I could hold that for a 5K and I'd run it in 20 minutes. Maybe I can keep trying to do that.

Blueberry 8K coming this weekend. I'm down about 30 pounds from the start of this. I'm sleeping better, I've got more energy, and it's awesome.

I'm progressing way too quickly

Jason and I ran, get this, 8.5 miles yesterday. How? I have no idea. It felt great, and I could have kept going. We did two dead sprints during it, even. Today I don't even feel that bad. I'm sore, but no worse than if I had run a 5K. Speaking of 5K, they are getting way too easy. On my worst day there's no chance I would never finish one now, where that was a question earlier in the year.

It's pretty much like this; once I hit a rhythm running, and don't get a side-cramp from hell, I can probably just keep going. There's a much bigger difference between not being able to make it a mile and getting up to a 5K than there is from going to a 5K up to an 8K, or an 8K up to a 10K, and on. The differences in conditioning between them get much smaller after you get in the larger race range, I think. This month, we've been slaughtering on the run, and keep bumping it up without a lot of trouble other than that one super-humid day that destroyed even Scott.

I did get a blister the size of my pinky toe on the big toe, and lost the nail on my second toe on the same foot. My sock was pulled too tight to my toes and instead of adjusting it early, I just let it go. Eventually the toes escaped the sock, but not without collateral damage. I also need to invest in some sort of non-boxers undershorts, because there's some rubbing and other issues I will not go into too much detail about.

Pushing it....

We tried the humidity run again, but pushed a lot farther today. Started with a headache, and I popped a few aspirin. I think we're up to about 6 miles now. I didn't eat hardly anything today. No lunch with family, and other than some crackers and applesauce, I didn't eat until I got home tonight about 9pm.

Not a great post, I know. I'm exhausted, though.

Good vs Evil

Today I went up to the YMCA to run the 5K Pizza Run. I grabbed my mp3 player and keys, and 25 dollars out of my wallet (the race cost $21). I set my stuff down on the table as I'm filling out my race card. Somebody swiped my money. For a bit I just stood there dumb-founded and looked under some things on the table. It was nowhere to be found. I kept trying to believe I lost it on the way or left it at the car, but I knew I didn't.

Now that I think of it there was one person that was at the table with me, and filled out the rest of their card at the other table and was acting kind of weird. By the way they were acting, I'm guessing there was a good chance it was them. No way I would ever know, though. All I know is someone did it.

Anyway, because of the slightest chance someone saw it there and turned it in, I asked the registration table if anybody had. Of course not. One of the ladies at the table commented on how "runners used to all be such trustworthy people." Then she asked me if I still wanted to run, gave me a bib, and even gave me a shirt for the race, for nothing. I honestly think this was the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for me. I was obviously flustered, and I didn't have even enough money to race w/o a shirt after my money had been swiped. In the end I was almost even (still $4 down from what I would have had), but I have at least $4 worth of faith in humanity. I think the YMCA is going to get a donation from me when I can afford it, because one of their staff just made my year.

As far as the run, considering I had to push my way through all the walkers and everyone from the very back because I missed the start, it went ok. I still can't seem to break 10 minute miles. I did run yesterday too, and I had a huge lunch/dinner that was still knocking about (Patty Melt, Slaw, and Chips). Either way, I did it, and I finished. Good wins today.

Sometimes you just can't win...

Some days it just doesn't matter what you do. I wear a stay dry shirt, and I sweat completely through the bastard. I guess they're not made for big sweaty dudes in post-rain humidity. I guess I must have missed a disclaimer somewhere. The air was so thick, breathing was nearly impossible. I also suffered two attacks of side cramps causing me to stop twice on a 4 mile run. Scott and Jason pushed pretty hard today, and I'm just not up to that pace, so that killed me too.

I even tried listening to the soundtrack to "Rocky IV," but even that couldn't put the spurs to me today. I pushed hard the last mile, but I was so wiped after, I could barely walk back to Jason's to have the celebratory Labatt Blue. I'm not a big Labatt guy, but that's Jason's preference, and any beer is great after a run. Besides, the truth of the matter is that if you deny a free beer of any kind, you're probably a dick. We all have our preferences, but what kind of ass would ever be like "No, I don't drink ______" like it's not good enough for them?

We watched a little of Dr. Who after, and then I went to Meijer. I learned my lesson. It doesn't really matter how close I am to it, I should just go one of the other Meijers. I can never find anything there. There's too much out of aisle impulse buyer set up going on there, which is fine, but please also put the things in the aisle they belong in. If I go to both snack aisles and can't find sunflower seeds because you put them all at the registers, or some special snack kiosk out front, screw that.

All I wanted was a bag of seeds and a 12 pack of beer, and I was in there for 40 minutes. I found pre-shelled seeds, but none with shells in produce. I found only crappy off-brand on the end of a snack aisle, but it wasn't in the actual aisle. It really is set up for somebody that's shopping randomly without objectives, which may work with all the mindless yuppies, I'm not really sure. Never again (I said that last time).

I didn't do it, and then I did

I didn't wake up and do the Legend 5 mile. I woke up and my back and calf were both killing me. I got a text from Jason about doing it, and I said "I'm out." I ended up sleeping that day until 1pm. Then I made waffles after I had carbed up the night before for a race that never happened. That was probably a mistake.

At least Jason and I played tennis later that day, before coming back and watching the Tigers blow another game against the Red Sox. I know I like them, but those "Sawks" are really starting to get my goat (no Cubs pun intended).

Today Jason tricked me into a 5+ mile run, so even though I didn't do the Legend, he made me pay up those lost 5 miles with a different trail run. We kept taking turns and it kept going farther and farther away from where my car was. I asked when we were looping back, and he kept saying "soon, we're almost there." I thought we were running a 5K, but after running over an hour and then some, I kind of wised up.

Oh well, at least I know I can do my Crim 8K, so I'm happy. I still have to perform on game day, though. Jason also gave me a Labatt Blue after so we're square. Tricky man...

Do I Want to Be My Hero Tomorrow

I have a pretty bad calf strain that I got up north swimming. My back is partially out and has been for at least a week and a half. There is a 5 mile race tomorrow. Do I wake up and do it? If I do, do I finish? If it happens, that would be incredible for me. More, either way, tomorrow...

Canoeing, etc.

I've been running still pretty steady. I haven't tried a full 5 miles yet, but it's on the docket for this week. Vacation will be happening this month at some point, so I may not be running on the camping trip, given that we do so in a place with no showers and I don't want to be that smelly. By the end of the week, I smell like a moldy cheese forest anyway, so there's no need to add to that. It's going to be a busy month so any push this week before the push next month is much needed.

*Aftermath*

I didn't run this weekend because we went canoeing. That can really test your patience with your significant other, but we got it figured out after a couple spills into the water. It sounded like the other groups had a much worse go at it. We went with 4 of our friends in 3 boats, and only one made it down the 3 hour trip without dumping. They had a 30 pack of beer to weigh it down in the middle, though.

My friend Nick and I bought some hideous straw hats that really did a great job preventing sunburn. Yeah, they laughed at us, but we had it right. Some of them are still burned pretty bad on their face and neck. The camping itself was pretty interesting with not having the right poles for the tent, the neighbors at the site (partying Canadians and a group of college kids next to us), clunking Jen in the face with a baseball when she was paying attention to a dog instead of a ball while we played catch, and a raccoon that really enjoyed our Sun Chips.

We need to make it an annual thing, and I need to let go of my obsessions with beer and sodas...at least one of them.

Blitzkrieged

Went to our state's own little Bavaria for a run today. I was up at 6:30am, and so was Jason. We drove together, and went to late registration. They told us there weren't enough shirts and to check back later and maybe they'd have an extra from people that didn't show. Then we went to where the pancake breakfast was and that wasn't included.

Immediately we got all huffy about the race. A whole lot of "Why the Q*Bert are we paying $35 for a 5K and not getting a shirt or breakfast or beer or anything? This is the worst race ever." After I got my pancakes I was a little calmer, and $40 down in this race so far with nothing to show for it.

Once it started it got clogged really quick. I felt good and didn't run slow like Flushing or that curs-ed YMCA Re-tread that we now hate so much because of our bad times at it. The only problem was all the slow people that were staying 5 wide and getting in the way and slowing me down. I swear that alone added a minute to my time. It was really frustrating. I couldn't keep a pace. I would get bogged down by them and then get pissed about it and pass them going way too damn fast and would temporarily screw up my breathing and pace.

I really hate the moms with their baby carriages that sign up for the run, go 1/2 mile, and stop to walk side by side yacking away the entire time. They're the worst for destroying your progress. I'm not fast enough to be in front and get ahead of all those horrible people, because there are good runners up there that I would just get in the way of, but they don't have any consideration being that far up at the start and then proceeding to walk. You can't run in the walk, and I think you shouldn't be able to walk in the run. It's not the point of the event. I just don't understand how any of these people can't realize that they're getting in the way. I can sense someone behind me even with the headphones on, they should be able to move over, but they probably don't care.

It's not that I'm competing for a win, but I want to at least have a fair shot at knowing whether I'm getting better or not. Oh well, there will be other days.

After the race, we each grabbed a Hofbrau, and went home. Jason had to work, and I went immediately to a cook-out, and then to Auto City for some car, trailer, and bus races. I've been up since 6:30am and now it's 1:00am. I'm completely blown for the night, and I'm going to sleep like a baby.

Look, this just doesn't add up...

After the 5K on Thursday, I've started to push a little longer. I went somewhere around maybe 4 mi today on my run. I could have went further, but it looked like it was going to rain, so I cut it off. I am going to try to push for the 8K, and if that means throwing my lot in with Jason and Scott and running with them so be it. They don't have this pack mentality like those awful running groups, and everyone will run their pace. The only extra motivation that will be is to catch their skinny asses eventually.

I talked to a coworker that runs often and he didn't do very well at the Y race either, and said he thought it was a little longer than it should be. I know one of the Sparty runs used to be too, so I guess it's possible. I'm just looking for extra excuses at this point.

The other thing I should bring up is the fact we had our 83rd family reunion this weekend. There is always piles and piles of food there, and I didn't hold back. It's once a year, and it's all delicious, so whatever weight loss goals or running goals have to take a back seat when it comes to the family's cooking. The most important thing, though, is the fried chicken. I never have it here, because nobody else likes it at home or work, and it's not something you eat alone, you need to share a bucket. Anyway, wherever they get this stuff, it's absolutely wonderful. I had 6 pieces myself. I also had about three full plates, which were about a foot in diameter, and I piled it pretty good on the first. I also picked at the dessert pretty good.

So I jump on the scale, which I haven't done in quite a while, and I'm down about 5 pounds. It makes no sense. I should have gained 10 just yesterday. I'm probably not going to get away with eating like that again, but thanks for the freebie.

YMCA race today...ugh

Have a 5K today, and I feel like crap. Chances are my improving streak ends here, but that's what I would have said last time...results later.

*Edit*
I gained about 40 seconds, so not too bad, but the streak of improvement ends. It's not as disappointing as I thought, though, because I know I could have killed this course, and could have done better. My friends and I were pissed about our times and were tempted to grab our timers and run the thing all over again. I just didn't feel as good during the race as I did at the end of it. Maybe that bodes well for the 8K, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

It's still disappointing because any other day I would do better, but to not gain even a full minute being as achy, crappy, and tired as I was, I guess I will take. I know this was an easier course than Flushing, and I just didn't get into it. Also that water break killed me. I shouldn't have done that. We'll just have to destroy the next one.

The Wind Blows Both Ways

So with my new-found resolve, I was going to really start training hard again. Then, Friday, I stayed up too late after the Art Walk downtown playing Singstar with my friends. This was after a Thursday evening where we were dog-sitting and kept up by said dog and our cranky kitty. I tried to medicate and sleep in Saturday, but the dog insisted I take it for a long walk early Saturday morning at 8:30. Well, honestly, it insisted at 6:00, but I ignored its pleas for 2 1/2 hours.

I thought I felt better Saturday, so Mr. Ken and I went to Detroit to watch the World Cup Match against England and go to the Tigers game. During the World Cup watching, I started to get a little sneezy, and by the middle of the Tiger game, I was in full blown fever. Guillen hit a walk-off HR in the 10th and I was just thanking God it was over.

I didn't leave the house but once the rest of the weekend, and that was to get medicinal supplies. Monday, I fought through work, and then Tuesday I was called for jury duty. Yesterday, I was still too sick to run, so I stayed in, cooked dinner, and rested.

Today I'm back, and I went out for a run, but it's amazing how much a week can set me back. At least I lost a little weight while being sick. Maybe I can just keep it off. It just sucks I couldn't get jumping right back in and build off that excitement I had after last Wednesday, but there's another run on the 24th, so we'll just have to give that a try.

The Morning After

I'm still way too happy with myself today. During all this grilling and eating, I actually managed to lose a few pounds. Again, I can't find any rationale for this, it's just happening. Maybe it's just hard work paying off in delayed fashion.

We took a walk today. My girlfriend's dad dropped off his dog for the weekend for us to watch. That should be interesting. The cat doesn't like it, and is a ball of puffed fur right now.

I didn't eat great today. The grilling saga continues as we had burgers for dinner today. I also at at a cookout at work today in pretty much the best work day I've ever had. I got to sit the the #29 Harvick car, eat free food and drink free water and diet soda all day, and got $50 of free Red Lobster gift cards. So yeah, it was a good day. I tried to do work for a few hours, but when everybody else was essentially taking a day off for the event, I joined in.

I'm still hungry...

Sometimes the Wind Rights the Ship

Just after work today, I was thinking of calling my friend Jason to play tennis, when my phone rings. It was Jason and he asked me if I wanted to go run a 5K with him today. With the slacking I've been doing lately, I thought it was a bad idea to do an official one. However, I was planning on running anyway, and Jason and I have been trying to do a race together for a year now with no success. So I said "yes."

I drove out there to meet him and register, we walked around a bit, and caught up with each other. One of his friends met us there for it as well, and we all walked up toward the start.

They both took off like a shot, as I was fumbling with my mp3 player at the start. I never caught up. I hit the first mile where I was at a 9:45/mile pace. The second mile was murder. It was almost all uphill, and we all admitted we each almost stopped to walk in that 2nd mile. The last leg was a pretty steep downhill, though, and I just let my weight do the work. I really booked it down the big hill, thinking it ended at the bottom, and there was another turn. I was dead, but seeing that clock and the finish really pushes you at the end.

When all was said and done, I knocked another 1:05 off my 5K time for a 32:17 time total. I don't know how it happened, with my recent laziness, but I am newly inspired. Maybe I needed the quasi-break mentally, or physically to refresh and jump back in, anyway. I definitely needed this random unplanned race with my friend to get me enthused again.

Afterward, our friend Pat came downtown, and we had a few beers downtown to celebrate finishing the race. We were all incredibly pleased with our times. Jason and his friend both ate an entire pizza each. I stuck with just beer, no sense is undoing what I just did.

Told you I had some new resolve going...

Timed out

The house has been driving me up the wall. Sure working on things and doing yard work is sort of exercise, but it's been getting in the way (especially the things you need daylight for).

In addition we're fighting ants all over the house. I'm waiting for John Goodman to jump out and say "surprise" or some claw to grab me under my chair like "Matinee." I think we may be nearing the end, and have won. We had to resort to chemical warfare, but sometimes that's what it takes. Hopefully nobody comes after us for it, because I don't have a bunker.

As far as eating healthy, well I'm just damn ashamed of what I've done to myself lately. All the cook outs have been killing me. If there's one thing I can't pass up it's potato salad and burgers, but I keep getting invited because I am a pretty damn good grill master. I wish talents were trade-able, because I would trade a few for a super-fast metabolism.

I did make it out for a short run this weekend, but haven't made it out this week yet. I gotta get back on the horse before I eat it.

P.S.- Out of curiosity I had a double-down chicken sandwich. I'll never do it again, but it was delightful.

This heat is killin' me

I hate running in this weather. There's too much sweat, heat, and sun going on. I'm a winter person. That being said, I'm still going on with it. I hate it, and I miss when we used to have spring and fall, so I could get used to this. Weather's out of my control though.

The heat is really killing the appetite, though. So that's good. The only problem is that on days like this a nice cold soda or beer is just too perfect.

Torturing myself

My punishment for missing the race on Sunday was to make myself run the full 5K immediately after work in the sweltering heat of mid-afternoon. I was going to force myself to extend things too, but I was already dehydrated from work, and not drinking enough water today. Also, I can't be sure I was fully recovered from the weekend.

On top of that, I didn't take shady routes and did it all in the sun. I was reeling afterwards, but I forced my way through. Of course there will be warmer, and more humid days ahead, but today was a big jump in temperature and I haven't adjusted yet.

In the process I gave away my super hero identity (The Human Waterfall)

I wish I could say...

I wish I could say that I ran in the WIOG Leaping Lizard 5K. I wish I could say I improved my time yet again. I wish I could say I got up and had a productive morning.

Instead I compiled another big night of drinking at the World Expo of Beer to follow the binge on Friday with too many Johnny Vegas shots for Nicole's birthday. I spent the entire morning including an hour of church fighting a hangover until the Olive Garden wiped that away.

Nothing today...

After a day at work of climbing all over stuff, sorting a lot of material by hand, and then coming home and doing yard work. I'm done. I even had to get up 2 hours earlier today to line up with the shift people I was overseeing, and I don't do mornings.

I deserve a break. It's Miller time!

Fighting the Decade

People always told me when I hit 30 I'd slow down, and start to notice aches and pains. Of course I thought this was all nonsense, and thought I'd be different. Truth be told, though, I just don't recover like I used to. I only ran a mile and a half today, because I was playing tennis later with Jason. They just put the nets up on the courts in the neighborhood, and I wanted to take advantage of it, so I called him after work.

Jessi was working. She got called in to cover for somebody, who, in turn, was covering for another store where they had somebody die. So she really couldn't say no given the circumstances. Maybe she'll repeat this month for Employee of the Month. So I had the day all to myself. I was planning on watching all my shows like Breaking Bad and Heroes while she was out for the day, but I couldn't justify wasting such a beautiful day inside. So I was out jogging and playing tennis until 7.

I used to run and play tennis in the same day all the time, but I got the rubberlegs today. I just never bounced back from the run, and since we haven't played tennis in so long, all the muscles involved were getting a work-out. Jason and I both getting pretty winded at points, and we weren't even playing competitive. This never used to happen. Tennis was easy and effortless. I don't remember ever having to stop and catch my breath. So disappointing.

At the very least I hope this is what's missing from the rest of my health and helps the running as well. I know when I was in good shape, tennis was a big part, and I hope it can reinforce what I'm already doing.

For now, I need the bed. I just hope I can get out of it tomorrow...

Social Runners and Walkers: Vampires and Zombies of the Road.

Ok, I'm back. Lots of personal crap going on, so don't chastise me for ignoring my blog. I've been keeping with the program, but I've had to cut a few runs short this last couple weeks because of time constraints and trying to fit them in between work and something going on in the early evening. Sometimes 40 minutes is all I have, and when that 40 minutes has to include getting a shower and getting dressed, you can only count on a mile or two.

There's been a few times where I felt I could go on forever, but had time issues. I'd really like to start amping up the distance to prep. for an 8K, as the 5K I have nailed down (not that improving time wouldn't help, but I thinking pushing an extra 3K would help that as well).

Today I went out for a walk with the girlfriend and the streets were flooding with these group walkers and runners. Essentially you pay something like $125 from May-Aug to run with others in some training program for this race in town.

Now, to be completely forthright, these people annoy the living crap out of me. It's not just that they pay to be with people and run with people, which annoys me enough because of my lone wolf runner mentality, either. It's that they flood the streets, yapping all the way, blocking road traffic, and listening to the trainers' every instruction like trained dogs. I just don't get it. There's no way a huddled mass of people of all different body types and fitness just all happen to run/walk at exactly the same speed.

I just don't get it. I run to get out some frustration and to be left alone for 30 measly minutes a day with my headphones blaring and compete with myself. If I even see a person on the street or sidewalk I'm on, I move to the other side of the road. These masses of people out there, at least when it's my running day, ruin it for me. I don't want you in my way, I don't want to see you, and I definitely don't want to join you like you have tried to yell out to me at times. The worst part is that some of these pinheads are people I know, and they try to lure me into it.

The walkers are even worse. Why do you need a group and trainer to walk? Just EFFING walk. It's the most ridiculous thing in the world for a trainer to be telling the walkers to "take it easy" for a few blocks. You've been walking, that's it. Every person with two working legs can pull that off. "What about the people who have been speed-walking," you say. Well, screw them. There's nothing in the course of mankind's stay on this world that has looked any dumber than speed-walking. Walk or run. Don't do some sort of half-bred mix of the two. You have to be the most annoyingly indecisive person in the world when you can't even make a decision when it comes to your gait.

Heart of a Spartan

I haven't written in a while. I'd like to say that I've been too busy hard at work training, but that's not true at all. I have no idea what the weight battle is at right now as I haven't done a weigh in for nearly a week. I haven't been eating horrible, but I haven't been extremely healthy either.

I've spent a lot of my time the past couple days hanging out with my friends and doing a lot of drinking. Also, with the new smoking ban in bars and restaurants, I felt the need to have a few cigarettes out at the bar just because it was the last night I ever could. I'm not sure I've had a real cigarette in a few years, so it was pretty nasty. Definitely not something to start back up.

I did run a 5K today finishing in Spartan Stadium at my Alma Mater, Michigan State. My time, once it's officially confirmed will be my best time for the 5K since I've started running again. I'm sure knowing that I was going to run through the tunnel onto the field added to that. Then again, I'm pretty sure that the rain adding weight to my clothes and shoes weighed me down quite a bit as well.

I had a great run, though, and my family came down to watch me, come down on the field with me, and take pictures. We had a little picnic afterward in the hour when the rain stopped. After, I hung out with my friend who lives down there, and we talked and had a few beers while I petted his new weimaraner, Alice.

All in all, I think I'm making progress, nonetheless. My times keep getting better. My energy is up, and I feel good. Well, except right now. Getting up at 6, after going to your friend's bonfire the night before, then running, hanging out with another friend, driving to and fro, going out with the girlfriend, etc. after already having a busy week is pretty taxing. I may just go to bed before midnight for once.

Screw it today...

No working out. Just saw "Hot Tub Time Machine," ate some Applebees, and enjoying a beer or two (had two at the 'Bees too, big ones). Took my girl out for a date :)

Taco Bell Strikes Back

Enter cheesy motivational 80s music to keep me going today. Pulled out a few songs from The Karate Kid and Top Gun Soundtracks to get through my run today. Hey, whatever it takes, and I did add a block on to the run.

My tradition of doing shots every time my hockey team scores and having the beer stein full of beer and taking sips at certain situations is really adding a lot of unnecessary calories. Every hockey fan has his superstitions though, and if they don't, they're probably not that into hockey. It's just true, especially with hockey and baseball.

This weekend was horrible for staying in line with the calories. I went to a few of the local hockey team's games and ate crappy there. Had some bosco sticks and a hamburger dog (which is hamburger in the shape of a hot dog in a bun). You know, pretty much foods designed to be the undoing of mankind. We keep doing it too, with things like the McGriddle and the double-down chicken sandwich. You know what the biggest problem is, though? They're delicious!

Had some Taco Bell today again. I need to ween myself off doing that. Two burritos and a tortada, and I'm pretty much done eating for the day. If I'm going to get something there, I need to make better choices, but I really need to cut that sh*t out. Every other place I can do without...

About to do a weigh in after the weekend and today. Pretty sure I'll be complaining about it tomorrow, but who do I have to blame? Nobody but me.

Taco Bell will end us all...

I had to cut off my calorie intake after noon today. I had 24 layers of burrito today at Taco Bell for lunch. I'll leave it up to you to figure out the combination of layers equaling that number. My only defense is I had too much to drink last night, and the cheesy goodness cured the downs of that, which is useless calories in as well. So I guess it's all the more incriminating.

I spent the rest of the day doing yard work, and took a walk. No late night snacking, I hope. Baby steps to bed time.

Evil in the form of a scale.

So the scale's a liar, and I'm back down again today 4 1/2 pounds. That's after I ate some thai food, and drank about a quart of water after my jog today. I can see why some people can overreact to these things so badly, though. You're doing right by everything in the world and a couple water pounds make you fly right off the handle. Suddenly you're squeezing a couple extra cookie dough tubes of reinforcement into a half-gallon of cookie dough ice cream to make it a more even fight between the two assemblages. Then they turn on you, and make you carry them around in your tissues for all eternity.

Anyway, if anything's even going on it's a gain of 1/2 pound. I still have only 2 1/2 pounds to lose before April 26th to hit the monthly goal.

I just signed up for the Heart of a Spartan 5K in East Lansing on May 2nd. It's going to be great. Actually, a good chunk of it was the old route I ran while living in Campbell, only in reverse. I will get to run past the rock, the soccer/baseball/softball fields, the Sparty Statue, and it finishes through the tunnel at Spartan Stadium ending at the 50 yard line of the field. Since we generally don't rush the field, I've never been on it, so that will be a thrill for me. While I'm down there I may check out the baseball team if they have a game or practice. I hear they've been killing everybody in the Big Ten lately. I miss watching the less popular college sports like I used to when I was on campus.

I may also run Belle Isle in a week and a half. We'll see. I haven't been to Belle Isle in a long long time.

Walk it out, bitch

Muscles sore. Took a long walk today. Took a trip to the Taco Bell and had a couple 5 layer burritos, and had some spaghetti when I came home. Not too healthy, but not too bad. Somehow the last two days it says I've gained 5 pounds. I don't buy it. I'll see what it looks like tomorrow.

A little better now...

Yep, definitely gained some weight this weekend. I made up for it today. I ate pretty modest farmer's market stuff, and had a good run instead of mowing the lawn like I should have. Of course I'm stalling to figure out what's wrong with the mower so I don't need to buy a new one.

Lazy Sunday

Didn't do jack to help my cause today. Muscles are sore as hell. Went to church, then out to eat with the family at Olive Garden. I had a pretty modest meal and didn't get a soda at the restaurant. That being said, my temperance there does not make up for the sweet cream cheese pretzel, bosco sticks, and budweiser (yuck, but my options were limited) I had at the hockey game tonight.

To top it off, Jessi's mom invited us over for dinner. So tack on some potato salad and a burger. Not a good day...

1st Entry, but not the beginning

After nearly 5 years away from being a consistent jogger, I am getting back into it. Over my break away from it, I've tried a few comebacks. It's been one thing after another: Bad ankles, bad knees, shin splints, you name it. At 30, I've made a comeback.

The main problem was this injury (see below), a 2005 trampoline incident where I turned my ankle at the edge of the trampoline one way to stop myself from falling off, and still flew off, landing on it and turning it the other way. Lots of damage, and I still went to Chicago for Lollapalooza and had food, socks (promotional giveaway), and drink thrown at me at U.S. Cellular Field the next week (the most visitor unfriendly place ever). However, it did essentially kill my running regimen, and I have gained nearly 100 pounds since then.

Last year, I wanted to train enough to do a 5K in the Crim Festival of Races, here in my hometown of Flint, MI. After starting to train way too late (just a month before the race), I figured there was no way it would happen. I kept going out to run and having to cut off at about half that distance. About a week before the race, I finally pushed out a full 5K. Then I did the exact race route yet again 3 days before. When the Crim came around, I ran it. I felt good about it, and felt like I could have went another 3K. My final time was 35:28 (about 11.5 minute mile). I had done it, and was finally part of one of the biggest events in Flint for the first time.

Then came the long winter. Every winter, I gain a LOT of weight. Running outside wasn't really an option with the ice and snow, and too much chance for injury. So, the best I could do is some indoor workouts, Wii Fit and Wii Sports etc., and a little bit of outdoor walking. I whole-heartedly admit it wasn't much, but it kept my weight stable.

In February, I decided to keep thing rolling, and ran when the street was without ice. I signed up for the Al Kayner St. Patrick's Day Races for another 5K. The winter, despite keeping the weight steady, had taken its toll of my wind, and my shape. I pretty much decided I was delusional for signing up for the race. Three days before, on my last training day, I still hadn't made it up to 5K running around here, which is much less hilly than the old apartment where I trained for the Crim. I was screwed.

The night before racing, I went out bowling with my friend Nick, and stayed out way too late. I pulled in about 1:30AM, and the garage door opener broke. I couldn't fix it, the door wouldn't open manually, and I had a nervous breakdown. The tantrum with the door ended up waking my girlfriend and making her think a burglar was in our garage. So not only was I not sure I'd get my car out in the morning, I had an unnecessary tantrum, and frightened the person I loved at 2am. I couldn't do anything about it. I went to bed.

I got up early, and made some adjustments to the door. I could get it up manually, but that was about it. I moved her car out as well, as we've already had garage issues before when I'm away. After waking her up the night before, it wouldn't be fair if she couldn't get out and get to work. That would just be a double dose of a-hole on my part. I moved out my car, and shut the door. Then I began the drive to Bay City.

I got there, and parked. I found the registration place, and picked up my packet. It was freezing. I looked at the ticker on one of the buildings 35 degrees. I had to keep running, walking, stretching for the hour before the race to not completely lock up. By race time it was still only 39 degrees, but at least I was loose. It was time to go, and I wasn't even sure I could do it. I kept trying to coax myself into some positive thoughts, and I threw up The Ramones on the mp3 player. We were off.

As the race started, unlike the Crim where I felt good and ready, I was a little bit afraid. Just before the race a lady took one look at me and my 5K bib and scoffed a "yeah right" at me. That didn't help very much. Within the first half mile, I have to admit, I was dying. There was no way this was going to happen. I told myself to just keep going until the turn and then you can walk. The turn couldn't come quick enough. I kept running and running wondering where the hell it was. By the time I got to it, I felt better. I finished the rest of race without walking. My time was even better than The Crim, 34:15. I picked up my St. Patty's Catholic Federal Medal like I won the gold, downed a water and scarfed a banana down. I was ecstatic. The free Powerade on the way home in the car tasted like victory, and I hadn't even seen my time yet.

This morning I was going to go run the Martian Meteor 5K in Dearborn. Too bad last night I got some horrible lower abdominal pain. I figured it would pass, and I'd feel fine in the morning, so I got all my race things together. I woke up at 6am this morning, and it wasn't going to happen. I felt awful. Good thing I hadn't pre-registered. Hopefully it wasn't the eggplant parmesan, as I just killed the last two squares of it before writing this. I guess I will find out.

Anyway, I did go out and run later today, and all was fine. I did some housework, went to lunch with my girlfriend and her father, and trimmed the bushes around our house. I'm completely exhausted. I'm really glad I went back to sleep this morning. Sometimes you just have to punt, they say.

I still plan to do a race every month, so I will keep going, and get ready for the Spring Into Nature race on Belle Isle (April 24th), and follow that up quick with Heart of a Spartan (May 2nd). The latter will fulfill my dream of setting foot on Spartan Stadium, which I haven't ever done. I never was part of a rush onto the field. I did however, rush the court at Breslin after watching the National Championship win on the big screen. Anyway, for that race, you get to run out of the tunnel and finish at the 50 yard line. I love it!

As far as goals. I want to run at least one race a month, and get up to an 8K race at The Crim. In addition, I'm trying to lose about 5 pounds a month until I feel it's enough. I've lost almost 20 already, and am finally south of 3-bills. Yep, you heard it. I am a runner, and I'm just recently under 300 lbs.

This blog will cover the running, the weight loss (or gain), the struggles, the doubts, the inane, and any lapses in diet or working out that come with it. It may not be pretty but what do you expect from a runner of my size? In an ideal world, I'll be back down to my college weight of 225 and run a 5K easily at 23-25 minutes. I'm not going to even try to get down to my 2004/05 weight, because that was just all alcohol calories, smoking, and depression, and well, screw that. Wish me luck. Now back to watching Britney videos on Fuse for absolutely no reason.