So much humanity in one run…

Met some friends this morning for what we decided to call the “Black Friday Run”, explained in the previous post.  Admittedly, since the dawn of online shopping, you would be hard pressed to get me out to a mall under any circumstances, much less on Black Friday, so I had no idea what I was in for.  I arrived on scene fully at 5:45am expecting to either see the legions of blurry eyed standing in lines waiting for stores to open or perhaps even a tent or two.  What I saw was terrifying…

First, the parking lot was nearly full (did I mention it was 5:45am?), most of the stores were open (some had been since MIDNIGHT) and the cars coming and going in the parking lot were already LOADED with boxes and presents.  The throngs of people flooding out of (which implies they had already been there a while) the mall (Target, mostly) were pushing flatbeds full of TVs, appliances, toys, etc.  Everyone was cheery…  too cheery…  Although most of them looked at us in our running clothing like WE were crazy…! 

Then, as we started out the run, we passed one of the cheery people in the parking lot and she said “Happy Black Friday!”  …since when is Black Friday a holiday?  This troubled my thoughts, but not for long.  We had purposefully chosen to run around the mall, and when we got across the street into another parking lot full of big box stores, the next vision appeared.  Please understand that it is 28 degrees outside and still dark.  So as we round a corner we see…

A clown…  Complete with big shoes, face paint, little… honking horn thingy… the whole bit.  Very disturbing…

The clown honked at us as we went by and I found myself REALLY looking forward to getting down to the trail…

The route then took us through a neighborhood and up to our next destination, Walmart.  We got to the top of the hill by Walmart and it hit us.  The.  Lot.  Was.  Full…  Even the Starbucks in the parking lot had a 10 car line (it was 6:15am).  I had intended to run through the Walmart parking lot and past the front doors but… umm… no.  Too risky.  I’d rather run in the middle of the street.  Thanks.

Once past all that horror, we settled in to a local neighborhood and all was right with the world.  Until we started heading down a big hill.  It was then that this nice older woman in a red Taurus slowed down next to us (we were running in the bike lane) and informed us that the long concrete thingy next to the road was called a sidewalk.  Well.  I had no idea!  Thanks for the insight Ms. Scrooge.  My apologies.  I didn’t realize you needed YOUR lane AND the bike lane as well.  But, Happy Holidays to you, too!

Finally!  We got on to the trail and were rewarded with a spectacular view of the sunrise over a misty Twin Lakes.  That view was worth the whole trip.  Gorgeous…  And not a soul around to share it with.  We saw 4 people and we were on the trail for 4 miles.

By this time Andy and I were the only ones still running and we split our time chatting and dodging cars on the ever busier roads we encountered on the way back towards the mall.  Once through the neighborhoods, we popped back out across the street from the mall only to be met with rush hour like traffic.  Amazing.  And, already, the mood was turning from festive to surly for some.  Horns honking, the whole bit.  Reason number… the next one…  why I don’t like holiday shopping.  We took our lives in our hands and made a mad dash back through the parking lot to finish up at Panera.  In all, just short of 11 miles (and way too much of what is wrong with society) all before 8am on Black Friday…!

Closing thoughts:

Andy’s bagel at Panera had exactly 3 ingredients on it.  Ham, cheese and egg.  Somehow it managed to get to us without the ham.  When an item only has three things on it and you manage to forget one of them?  There is a reason you work at Panera…

I looked up at one point from my coffee and bagel (mind you, it is still before 8am) and saw something I just didn’t get.  Walking through the mall was a woman.  Perfect hair.  Perfect makeup.  Little black dress.  High heels.  My only thought (besides chuckling to myself because one of the boxes she was carrying was a Craftsman drill) was “What time did have to get up to look like THAT by 8am?”  By the number of packages and bags she was carrying, two things were obvious.  First, she didn’t work at the mall.  Second, she had been there A WHILE.  Say… several hours?  It was just so out of place it was startling.  Since when do we have to “dress up” for Black Friday?

The run?  Oh yeah!  It was fun!  It is amazing how much faster 11 miles goes when you are trying to process all the pre-dawn craziness that is Black Friday.  I will definitely do this again next year!

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Black Friday Run

Hugh came up with a funny idea and my wife and I made the route for it.  Wanna get some miles in before you battle the crowds?  How about a Black Friday run?

Unsupported and with my usual level of disorganization, I came up with the following:

Beat the crowds (most of them) and laugh/shake your head at the super consumers who are camped out or already in line by starting at 6am.

Where: Panera AT THE MALL

The route/scenario (per my wife):

Start on Black Friday early with a gift for your friend in mind and head to the mall to get it. 

Run through the mall (around the parking lot) but don’t find the gift. 

Go to the surrounding stores (through the parking lots of Dicks Sporting Goods, et al.) and, with no success there, head to WalMart (Ash>>Fairview).

Realize you will never be able to even get a parking spot at WalMart, give up and decide to go downtown (Fairview>>Chapel Hill>>Twin Lakes>>Trail>>Providence). 

Find what you are looking for downtown but refuse to pay downtown prices, give up again and go back to the mall (Stewart>>Westwood>>Broadway>>Clinkscales>>Ash>> parking lots>>Panera).

Buy the default Mizzou Sweatshirt you should have gotten them in the first place, and finally reward yourself with coffee and something decadent at Panera.

The route came out to be about 11 miles and I don’t plan on running it fast so if you are in town and want some miles, we’ll see you at 6am in front of Panera’s in the mall!

Happy Holidays!!

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Now and later (this year, next year)

Been taking a break from the online side of life to go out and experience as much of the real stuff as possible before the realities of winter hit.  As such, when I get done mountain biking, trail running, regular running, swimming, etc.  I’m kinda pooped and don’t feel much like talking about it. 

As I have been roaming around the local woods, I’ve thought a lot about next year and what I want to do.  I think if I have one more good season of training, I will be able to attempt the longest distance I hope to accomplish in triathlon, the Half Ironman distance.  This is a 1.2 mile swim, 65 mile ride and a 13.1 mile run.  I really think that I will never be able to go farther than this.  My body just breaks down.  Especially on the run.  I think if I could get this distance it would really be something special for me.  I have already swam this distance and run the distance as well (more on that in a sec), it’s just the bike that I haven’t covered yet.  That… and putting them all together on the same day…!

The other thing I really want to try is an Xterra triathlon.  These are (usually about) a .62 mile swim, a 14-16 mile mountain bike ride and a 3-5 mile run.  Again, I can do all of these now, it’s just putting them all together that the training will take care of.

The problem with each of these is the same, though…  I need a bike.  My cyclocross bike did OK as a stand in for road triathlons, but it would never stand up to or becomfortable enough for a Half Iron distance.  My old mountain bike (though it could still kick yer ass) is about $1,000 worth of upgrades and fixes away from use.  For not much more you can get a decent full suspension bike (mine is a hardtail).  So my choices are $1,500-1,800 for a mountain bike (no road triathlons next year) or $3,000 for a good road bike (no mountain bike).  I can’t afford both.  Heck, I can’t even afford one!  My choices are down to rob bank or sell kidney…  Not sure what to do.  I may just be doing a lot of training and not much racing.

Back to the road running.  I looked at my training log on Friday and saw that with a 12 mile run, I could get over 30 miles for the week.  Since this would be the longest weekly total for the year, I decided to go for it.  I ended up running 13 miles (longest run of the year) in 1:49.10 which is my fastest recorded half marathon distance by over 5 minutes.

Ya know… Thirteen miles is still a long damn way.  I felt great on the run, never tired and relaxed the whole way.  But shortly after, I started to feel those old twinges in my hips, pelvis and legs again.  Even now, after 3 days and a decent 6 mile run this morning, I am still uncomfortable and feel those twinges and pains from time to time.  I just wonder if I will ever be able to go longer distances again.

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A Very Special Bear Captured at Lake of the Ozarks

On a recent trip to see family in Oklahoma, my little band of four merry travelers decided to break up the 450 mile trip with rest stops to allow my five year old daughter and 11 year old son some wiggle time.  This helps us decrease the monotony and greatly improves the mood of the minivan on the way down to Grandma’s house.

One such stop was at a new place for us to explore, a state park at Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri called Pa He Tsi (part of Grand Glaize Beach/Marina).  This is a pretty little cove with a playground and stream to explore.  We got out and set about rumbling around and looking at nature.  This is where a remarkable story begins.

My five year old daughter hopped of the van clutching her ever faithful stuffed bear named “Beary”.  We walked and played and explored and after about 20 minutes decided to hop back in the van and head south.  About an hour and a half later, just outside of Springfield, my daughter asked a question that sent a chill through us all, “Mom?  Where is Beary?”

Just about all children have special toys.  The ones that give them comfort during stressful times and make them happy.  To her, this was Beary.  And in the next few moments, many sad revelations came to light for us.  A frantic search of the van revealed that Beary was, indeed, not with us.  My daughter then thought a little more and remembered that she had carefully placed him on a park bench to look at the boats while she played and had forgotten him in our haste to leave.  We knew that there was no way we could go back to get him at that point as it would have put the whole trip in jeopardy.  We also knew we needed to break this news to her.  As you can imagine, she didn’t take it well and her heartbreaking pleas made this old, gruff, surly dad want to cry.  Questions I couldn’t answer like “Who will take care of him?”, “Where will he live now?”, “What if they throw him away?”  I was nearly as devastated by the answers I had to give as she was to receive my awful and ill worded replies.  She was genuinely devastated and took full responsibility for the loss, which I admired in one so small.  But that didn’t make it any easier.

After much discussion, crying and heartfelt pleas during lunch, I decided to make one, last gasp effort to contact someone at the park.  I walked out of the restaurant and paced up and down the sidewalk chasing down the right number as if I was the one who had lost a family member.  Finally, I got the right number and actually got to talk to a someone with a pulse on the other end of the line.  Hastily, I explained my plight, but my secret cynicism could only be barely suppressed.  The person on the other end of the line, after getting a firm location, said he would drive over and take a look and then transferred me to another real person who said she understood but that they were very short staffed.  She would do what she could and took my number, just in case.

Do you know how hard it is to hide your doubts about humanity from a child?  To try to be optimistic when you doubt the outcome will be anything but bad.  Those big brown eyes just pierced me when I told her that the rangers were looking for Beary.  It was all I could do to keep my outside voice weakly positive, even when I had huge doubts inside.  We loaded up, all (including me) still on the verge of tears and drove on to Oklahoma.  My wife and I were secretly discussing a plan B when the most amazing thing to happen to me in a very long time happened.  The phone rang.

And on the other end of that phone was a very cheerful and positive human being.  His name was Ranger Dave Stark and he was calling with the best news I could possibly imagine.  It seems an APB had been placed on one wayward little brown bear named “Beary”.  All park personnel had been placed on high alert (yes, I’m embellishing a bit) and after a brief pursuit, Beary had been “captured” while enjoying the view of the marina.  And it got better!  Ranger Stark informed me that “Beary” would be part of the bear relocation program and would be boxed up and shipped back to us.  He should be there when we got back from our trip.

And he was.  Not only did he arrive safe and sound, but the staff at the park had a little fun with him.  They took a picture of him with Ranger Stark, sitting on his truck.  Ranger Stark included a very sweet note detailing the capture, inviting my daughter down to meet him and encouraging her to be a ranger someday.  There were also goodies such as a badge included in the package.  My cynical, doubting, black little heart grew three sizes that day.  And I will admit to feeling a little ashamed because I doubted this process would go well from start to finish.  I even doubted whether the box would indeed arrive after Ranger Stark told me it would.  That’s sad.  Shame on me.

We have made a thank you package for Ranger Stark and the staff at the park.  Lots of thank you’s, not just from my daughter, either.  Pictures, cookies, the whole bit.  And an addition to our holiday card list as well.

See, this isn’t just about a little girl losing a toy.  Or about a nice person finding it and returning it.  To me it is about what is, or appears to be sometimes, lacking anymore in society.  Truthfully, as you were reading this, didn’t you have those same adult doubts?  In a civilization that seems sometimes to be losing all civility, a simple act such as this is, unfortunately, remarkable.  However, in my opinion, it is absolutely essential to recognize anyone who goes above and beyond the call, regardless of whether it is to put your life on the line for someone else, or just to show care and compassion in daily execution of your job.

But the reason I submit this is to let as many people as I can know that great people exist and that we are all still capable of courtesy, understanding and appreciation.  We don’t just have to do great things to be great people.  Little things still mean very much and go a long way toward making things better.  Like a little bear to a little girl.

My heartfelt thanks to the staff at Grand Glaize, Pa He Tsi and Lake of the Ozarks, and especially to Ranger Dave Stark.  I know sometimes it seems that what you do doesn’t make much difference.  But just know that it does.  And we appreciate not only what you did for us, but what you do every day in service to the public.  Enjoy the cookies!

Note:  I have sent a copy of this to his commanding officer, several local papers and am planning on sending it to the state rep for his district as well as the local chamber of commerce.  If you can think of anyplace else I should send it, let me know.

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Passion for homebrewing revealed…

OK… Look.  I’m trying to live a healthy lifestyle (nice swim workout this morning… btw).  I work out six or seven days a week, sometimes twice a day.  I pay attention to what I eat and don’t do anything stupid.  But two of my greatest loves in life are cooking and (my only vice) beer.  Yes, I drink occasionally, but “usually” (I’m looking at YOU Uwe…) just beer.  I love beer, not as a habit, but as a great beverage like a fine wine or good single malt.  I am VERY picky about my beer.  To the point that I actually started brewing my own back in the day.  It was awesome and I made MUCH better beer than I could ever buy, and WAY cheaper. 

I gave up my recipes along the way and eventually just got out of it, but I was always sad about that.  I had secretly hoped that someday I could start brewing again, along with doing more barbecue and smoked meats/veggies, etc.  When we moved to Missouri I thought about it some but got caught up in re-establishing my life and it got lost along the way.  But now, after nearly 4 years here, I began to think about it again.  Unfortunately, the Smoker I want is a little pricey so that will have to wait, but I found a friend who had switched from brewing to making mead and was selling his stuff.  I met him and bought just enough stuff to get back into single batch (5 gallons) brewing.  Nothing fancy, but I really did love brewing and having a batch or two around to share or knock the edge off a particularly hard workout seems a small price to pay in calories for the joy it gives me.

So, all that being said, things fell into place last weekend for me to start back into the homebrewing hobby.  A co-worker/friend had planted a kit he recieved but never brewed under my desk one day about a year ago.  I didn’t even notice it for a month after he put it there, but I figured it would be a good, no cost, jump start back into brewing.  My only concern was that the yeast might be old and wouldn’t be viable.  But I decided to give it a shot anyway. 

My lovely, darling, tolerant wife even indulged me with a Turkey Deep Fryer from Bass Pro.  Not to deep fry turkeys, but it is actually the perfect setup for brewing.  Since I am fermenting downstairs in my shop (good temperature control, like a cave) it didn’t make any sense to cook the beer in my kitchen for two reasons.  First, carrying 5 gallons of pre beer in a glass bottle, down several dozen stairs is ludicrous, and second… beer stinks.  Making the house smell like the Bud plant was a sure way to make my return to the hobby “short term”…

This cooker, by the way, is a really great set up.  The cooker has a timer that can’t go more than 20 minutes so you can’t overcook the beer and it forces you to PAY ATTENTION and not wander off and ruin a batch.  Second, the cook pot is plenty tall enough to brew a batch without fear of spilling and there are metal supports on either side of the burner that hold the brew pot firmly in place so you don’t need 3 hands while sturring or adding stuff.  That and it lets me brew on my lower deck by my shop, which has one of the better views in Columbia!

So to make a short story long, there is now a carboy full of a simple wheat beer happily bubbling away in my shop.  It should be ready just in time for Christmas!!  I might even try to get another batch of yummy, sweet, dark, spicy, VERY alcoholic, Christmas Barleywine rockin’.  I think if I get it going by Friday it will be ready by Christmas too!

No, I don’t plan on drinking a lot.  One batch makes enough to fill a Cornelius keg (about 2 cases) and it usually lasts several months…  Unles friends are involved, then we can usually float one in an afternoon…  But just like making a good meal with fresh ingredients and good quality meats is a decadent pleasure, a GOOD brew now and then is an indulgence that I think I can afford.  Anybody wanna help me “test” it?

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Darn right I overdid it!

…and if we ever get another weekend like this last one… I’ll do it again!

Yes, I’m sore. 

Yes, I’m tired.

No.  Not one regret.

After Saturday’s euphoria settled in I just had to see if it would last one more day.  I packed up the bike and headed back to Rock Bridge for round two.  I decided to stop at another trailhead because the map made it look like there was a bigger loop I could hit that would join up with the ones I did yesterday.  But since I had never done this loop I decided to run it first.  What I found was another spectacular (albeit leaf obscured) trail that wound through the woods in Rock Bridge.  After several missed turns I managed to find my way back to the car.  I was tired, but satisfied that I could ride the vast majority of this trail.  The run was about 3 miles and although I was glad I did it to scout the trail, it took a lot out of me and I was tired when I got on the bike. 

Nevertheless, on a day so spectacular for November, they were going to have to drag me off the trail kicking and screaming…  I was here to play and I brought all my toys with me.  The ride was surreal.  I saw 5 people on the trail in an hour of riding.  I knew 4 of them.  I rode roughly 8 miles (no GPS so I’m not sure) of which, about 100 yards was hike-a-bike (less if I was a better rider!).  Really the essence of mountain biking.  Lots of ups, downs, bumps, mud, water, leaves, rocks, critters, even a couple of downed trees to navigate.  I went back down the trail I had run until it split and went off toward some of the trails I ran/rode yesterday.  Then I crawled back over those for a while, just exploring and trying to remember what mountain biking was supposed to feel like.  I would have bursts of getting it all right and climbing stuff I didn’t think I could.  Followed immediately by nearly crashing due to lack of control or inattention to technique.  This will be the way of things for a while, which is cool.  It’s all fun and exciting and new again.

I got back to the car completely exhausted, but happy.  Then I went home and made the first batch of beer I have attempted in 12 years.  Finished up the day with friends, Guinness and a game of Munchkin.  Next weekend is going to have to really be something special to beat this one.

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Didn’t want to stop

So much of this summer (that wasn’t) has been about dealing with adverse weather conditions.  I had nearly forgotten what it was like to do a workout in nearly ideal conditions.  But as I read the weather forecast for the weekend I was stunned to see no rain and temperatures in the 70’s… in November…?  Really?  I immediately got happy feet and started planning some workouts.

Yesterday, I headed over to Rock Bridge State Park.  This park is amazing for several reasons.  First, it’s urban.  It is less than a mile outside of Columbia.  Second, it’s beautiful.  Gorgeous scenery, caves, sink holes, creeks and ponds, huge trees and lots of trails for hiking, biking, running and general putzing around on.  Finally, it’s well maintained.  Decent bathrooms, good parking, picnic tables and signs to help you find your way around the trails.

I had been threatening myself with a mountain bike ride there since I got the bike back together again and yesterday was the day for it!  After a quick stop at the bike shop to pick up a spare tube, I was on my way.  My thought was that since Mizzou was playing a home game, maybe the park wouldn’t be so crowded (did I mention it’s urban?).  No such luck.  It wasn’t aweful, and I certainly don’t ride fast enough to worry about crashing into anyone, but there were lots of people on the trail so I tried to be as cautious and polite as possible.

Several of the trails are 2 miles long or longer and most intersect so you can just jump from one trail to another and stay out in the park for quite a while.  I took off up one of the few trails I had actually been on before (hiking) and thus the adventure began.  Beautiful doesn’t begin to describe it.  Great single and double track trails, all very much ridable.  A few slightly technical sections but nothing major.  Very little mud or water.  The only thing to worry about was that a lot of the trail was completely obscured by leaves!  Fun to ride through but hard to see what was under them.  In general, a nice, easy ride.

I went around one time (about a 3 mile loop)… then I went around again (about a 4 mile loop)… and then, yup… you guessed it… I went around again (another 3 miles)!  When I was done with the last loop, I rode in circles around the parking lot.  I was tired, but I REALLY didn’t want to stop.  Finally, and very reluctantly, I got off the bike and put it away.  I put my shoes back on and it was then I realized I had grabbed my trail running shoes to wear…

…heh…

I only ran about a mile and a half (made a wrong turn and didn’t realize it until I was back at the parking lot…) but it was awesome!  My legs were not tired and I was careful not to do anything stupid.  What a day…  I actually thought about going back around AGAIN… but decided that I was just tired enough that it wouldn’t be prudent.  Besides, there was always tomorrow (which is today!!).

It is these types of workouts that keep me motivated.  I’m sure if I had been with someone else I would have just slowed them down because I was purposefully NOT going fast… I was just GOING.  And it was awesome.

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Reacquainted with an old friend

Went for a mountain bike ride yesterday.  Back in the day (circa 1993…*cough*) I bought a GT Zaskar LE frame and then spent the next year (and entirely too much money) building it from scratch.  The only things I didn’t do to it were press on the headset and build the wheels.  Other than that, I did all the work.  I then subsequently spent the better part of the next two years putting well over 5000 miles on it in the mountains around SoCal.  For all the ugliness that is SoCal, it’s wilderness (yes, there is a substantial amount) is spectacular.  Then a horrific back injury took me off my bike and put me on the couch for nearly 10 years.  Through various attempts to get back in shape, my mountain bike mostly just sat there.  It was sad. 

When we moved to Missouri in 2006, I started running again to get in shape, and still the mountain bike sat.  Through another difficult injury in 2008 and into the launch of my triathlon career, it sat.  The only time I touched it was to pull the saddle and pedals off of it to put on my new cross bike as I tried to build it into a triathlon bike.

As the triathlon season came to a close in October, I began to make plans for offseason training.  One day while driving to work, I went by a familiar trail called Bear Creek that leads to a huge park.  The back side of that park has some really cool mountain biking trails on it (Rhett’s Run).  I have run and walked these trails many times.  It all got me to thinking about that old mountain bike, now nearly 17 years old.

That weekend I pulled it down of the rack, took it downstairs and put it back together.  Surprisingly after all that time, a little oil and a few small tweaks were all that was needed to get everything working again.  It even shifted nicely (better than my new cross/triathlon bike!) after all that time.  I took it out and rode it around the yard a bit and it still seemed pretty sound.  Granted, the tech on it is still 17 years old.  Air/oil shock (Rock Shox Mag 21), XTR, cable brakes, etc.  But it worked.  I put out a call to the triathlon list to borrow a set of spd pedals (mine were not compatible and there are no cleats available for them anymore) and got several offers.  The next day the bike was complete and ready to rise from the ashes.

That was two weeks ago.  I have ridden the bike 4 times since then.  Once on a local trail and three times at Rhett’s Run.  Several things became apparent on these rides.  First, this is still a SOLID bike.  Second, I do still love mountain biking.  Third, I have become very tentative in my old age and will need many more rides to find that comfort level I used to have with mountain biking.  And finally, I have found my offseason cross training.

Yes, I suck at mountain biking.  I miss shifts, miss turns and have forgotten everything about riding position, climbing, descents, etc.  I’m lucky to get out of the parking lot without falling.  But even with all that, it’s awesome exercise, beautiful and tons of fun.  The bike, even though very sound, is still very old.  The shock doesn’t rebound anymore and the brakes are sketchy.  Falling seems to hurt a lot more than it did 17 years ago.  Nevertheless, I’m pretty excited about getting back on my old bike again.  I don’t pretend to think I will ever go as fast as I used to (back in the day I hit 52mph through the speed trap at Mammoth Mountain in California) but I don’t care about that anymore.  It just feels good to get back on that bike and ride again.

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Feelin’ WAY too good to be at work…

After many a week of soggy weather, Ma’ Nature decided to give us a reprieve.  Starting on Halloween, the weather has been nothing short of spectacular.  I have been trying to cram as many outdoor workouts in as I could because I know it’s bound to end all too soon.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your opinion of running) it has all been running miles.

I got 5 miles in on Halloween (new tradition, do something active on EVERY major holiday) in Oklahoma.  Then I got back to Columbia but the drive took it out of me and I missed my Monday morning swim session.  Tuesday was an awesome run under an early morning full moon on a tough, hilly, long course.  Missed ANOTHER swim session yesterday morning and then had a GREAT 8 mile run this morning under clear, chilly (30 degrees!) skies.

But as I sat outside in the sun at lunch with my family, I found myself in serious want of more.  A day like this should NOT be wasted and I’ve already pissed away my share of good ones, so I’m taking off an hour early and taking Frankenstein down to Rhett’s Run for a little fat tire time.  I may not be completely in love with road bikes yet, but I do still love me some mountain biking.  So much so, in fact, that I’m thinking about doing the Xterra Eureka Springs race this year…  I’ve always wanted to do an Xterra or offroad triathlon and this one is close (relatively) so I just might have to put it on the list…!  The only problem is that I also want to run the Hospital Hill Half Marathon, which is the week before… crud.  I could definitely DO both…  I just don’t know if I could AFFORD both… *sigh*

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Miserableness cancelled due to lack of misery…

Is it officially a sickness when you are disappointed the weather isn’t crappy when you run?  I have learned more about running in foul weather in the last two years than in the other 40 combined.  It now takes a tornado warning, large hail or temperatures well below zero to keep me from my appointed run.  Thursday before last I damn near killed myself trying to get to a regularly scheduled run when EVERY road to and from my house was flooded.  And for what?  A bead?  The satisfaction of getting my run in?  A notch on the gun to brag about later?  Scars?  Physical therapy visits?  Why do I do this?

This morning I will admit to being slightly disappointed when I arrived for my run and not only was it NOT raining but the weather was (almost) perfect.  Fifty two degrees, bright stars shining.  The only thing to gripe about was a little wind.  I got in 5.6 miles at an ok pace but spent the entire time (that I should have been concentrating on pace, et al.) hoping that the lightning I saw on the horizon would get to us before the run was over.  That’s sad.  We have had such crappy weather for so long that I am now frustrated by GOOD weather (he says as a deluge roars outside…).  I don’t know what to wear.  I have nothing to bitch about (except my lack of fitness).  I’m miserable when I’m not miserable.

Demented…  That’s what I really am…  I need a new hobby…  Anyone for cribbage?

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