30+ DRC 339

The last week or so hasn't been too eventful. I've been keeping up with the training so far. Last Wednesday I had a speedwork run (which I probably failed at) of 4 miles. And it was supposed to be the following:

• 4 Miles, including warm-up of a mile
• One mile at a 9:37 pace
• Half mile at a jog
• One mile at a 9:37 pace
• Half mile cool-down

Because I used my Nike+ GPS watch, I averaged for the whole run a 9:58 pace. So on paper I did what I was supposed to do. Problem is, I'm running faster than what the training plan calls for. I'm supposed to be running an 11:49 mile. I've tried and tried to do that, but I just can't get that slow. If you check up on my DailyMile, you'll see that the slowest I run at is a 10:44. And that's on my long run of 8 miles!

So should I be knocking off 2 to 3 minutes off my real average pace?! That's gonna be a little difficult because there is no way I could keep a pace of 7 or 8 minute miles! I think I could push 9, and still be able to do this speedwork run.

Tomorrow I have tempo run of five miles. It's supposed to be a mile warm-up, three miles at a 10:11 pace and then the last mile a cool-down. I'm really confused and I have no idea what I should really do. I just want to be able to run the whole half marathon in August. That's it! Pace be damned! I think if I kinda follow the plan, it'll get me there. Seeing as I've already had two fantastic long runs of 8 miles each, I think the plan will work . . . sort'a. What I mean is I'll be able to run the whole shebang non-stop.

I think I've even figured out the whole dinner-before-a-long-run thing! I've been careful with my food during the week. Weekends are ok. The Saturday night before my first 8-miler, some of my friend and my brother headed off to Round Table for some pizza and beer. I stuff my face and had pretty much a whole pitcher of Sierra Nevada to myself (I have wuss drinking mates). Got home (didn't drive) and chugged a shit-load of water and crashed out. Got up several times during the night to drain the weasel and woke up feeling fantastic! Had a good strong cup of coffee, some water and took the Browns to the Superbowl then headed out the door.

That first 8-miler was awesome! I started the run not worrying about the distance and just cruised. I knew I could run five miles and convinced myself that six was doable. By the sixth mile, I got my second wind because I felt that I could finish this run completely. By the time I finished my 8th mile, I was ecstatic! I probably could have done all 13 miles that day, but I knew that was only asking for problems.

I tried to duplicate THAT weekend this past weekend. Didn't work out as well. But I still was able to complete the 8 miles, just felt a bit more beat. And I would put that off to the fact that I knew I could now run the whole 8 miles and the excitement for the run wasn't there anymore. So it was another run . . . just longer.

The first 8-miler was 1:24:37 at an average pace of 10:33. This last 8-miler was 1:26:01 at an average pace of 10:44. I would attribute the slower pace two the previously mentioned lack of excitement, but also to the crappy dinner the night before of crappy Pizza Hut pizza and lack of beer. Also, it was windy as FUCK!

I was getting buffeted around a LOT on the way out. I thought it would at least help on the way back, but I think I expended a lot of energy trying to run into it that I was pooped out for the way back. And it still felt at times that it was pushing against me.

But the way I figure it is I only lost a little time on the run, a couple of minutes. Sure, it slowed me down a bit. But I still ran the whole thing. Good enough for me.

This next Sunday calls for a 9-miler. I've already called my friends and we'll be hitting up Round Table Saturday night.

GD

p.s.

too lazy to check. run smiley :)

30+ DRC 330

Last I posted, we'd had Boston. One "suspect" killed and the other captured after ALL of Boston was shut down. Amazing that. We'd also had the fertilizer plant explosion at West, Texas. There were 14 people killed, and part of a town leveled.

On something closer to home. My brat was supposed to have gone to Bakersfield for her last competition with her team. Umm . . . didn't happen. Of the three girls left, the brats best friend was nailed by a nasty flu. It got so bad for her that she was taken to the hospital. Everything turned out well, but there was no way her mom would risk taking her to competition in that condition.

They COULD have gone with just two girls, but the dance had already been drastically changed for three girls. They would have to relearn a completely new routine to compete. They ended up bowing out. I thought the chipmunk would have been devastated, but she was ok with it. It gave her a chance to go as a coach and see her Jr. Cubs go through their final tryouts. So everything turned out ok.

Last Monday I began a proper training plan for the Salinas Valley Half Marathon on August 3rd, 2013. Now the thing is, I've been running all year and my pace is usually in the 9's for my shorter distances of 1 to 2 miles. I start moving the distance up and so does my pace. When I do my four milers at the Toro Estates, I think I'm running 11:30 or something.

The beginning of the plan calls for 2 miles at 11:29. Nope. Too damn slow. I tried though.

Monday ("rest day"): 1.51 miles @ 9:29 min/mile pace
Tuesday: 2.05 miles @ 9:38 min/mile pace

Last Wednesday I had a midweek longer run of 5 miles. I was wary of it because I haven't run that kind of distance in a long time. I took the afternoon off from work (half a comp day) and headed to my chosen route. It's relatively flat until about the second mile where I start getting some little dips and rises. Not really hills. It's a big sidewalk meant for walkers and runners and it's about five miles long. Not too many intersections either because it's at the edge of town. Crossing the street wasn't too bad and I didn't have to stop at any (though I did have to sprint a couple to beat a few cars across).

Anyway, so I started the run and I tried to keep it slow but looking at the gps map, I started fast. The first mile was at 9:30. According to the plan, I was supposed to run it at 11:29. I tried, but I just couldn't. I ended the run at 10:07 min/mile. And I ran the whole thing non-stop. I usually have or two stops after the first couple of miles. That run surprised me.

Thursday ("rest day"): 1.46 miles @ 9:29 min/mile pace
Friday: 2.04 miles @ 9:55 min/mile pace

Saturday was weird. Friday night one of my cousins posted a picture of a tiny terrier up for adoption (free to a good home). Cutest little thing. I assumed that the dog was in Los Banos (about 45 minutes away from Salinas). I forwarded the picture that was posted on FB to my other cousin (the brats mom). She fell in love with it and asked me to find out if it was still available. It was and she wanted it.

Unfortunately it was in Bakersfield. 3 frickin' hours away and I had already said I'd take it. So off to Bakersfield at 7 in the morning. Cute dog though, huh?

The brat was the only one who rode with me to Bakersfield. And she slept the whole damn way. We got to the house and the god is one hairy mess. Not so cute. It was a mop. She needed a groomer. We left the old owners and their daughter was in tears. They had to give it up because the daughter wasn't taking care of her. We could tell. She's a spoiled rat right now, but by next week my cousin and the brat will have a quiet dog. I don't know how they do it. They could give Cesar Millan lessons. And the brat did a pretty good job at trimming her that night. Got rid of most of the knots!

So Saturday ("rest day"): 1.49 miles @ 9:33 min/mile pace

Sunday was a shocker for me. This was supposed to be my Long Run for the week. 8 miles at 11:29 pace is what the plan called for. I figured I'd get that with the walking I'd do. I was sure I'd be walking at some point. But I guess I prepared right the night before. I went to Round Table with some friends and had pizza and Sierra Nevada. Lots of pizza and beer. I don't like eating before a run and I knew I'd need something to keep me going. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

I got up at 6:30 am Sunday morning and made myself some strong coffee using Sweet Maria's Clever Dripper:

I highly recommend one if you love making your own coffee. You steep your coffee like you would with a French Press, but you don't get all the gritty grounds. I used some Santa Cruz Roasting Company French Roast beans. Love the stuff.

Soon enough, I took the Browns to the Super Bowl and out the door I went for my run.

The fastest I got was a 9:12 and that was only within the first couple of hundred yards then I relaxed and really slowed it down. Slow and steady I took it. I forced myself to relax (oxymoron?) and breath from the belly and lower ribs. Something I've been practicing for a while, the lower ribs part. Next thing I knew I was at the turn-around and circled back. The return trip I was struggling a bit every once in a while. I'd go through surges of high energy and low. I realized that I was starting to tense up again. So I just relaxed and took comfortable breaths.

At some intersections I had to sprint across before the light turned red on me and those felt really good! But I would pay for those sprints a bit later. But I just kept going . . . relaxed.

I think at around the 5th mile, I started to feel my shoulder begin to bug me. Strange since I hardly move my arms when running. I keep my elbows in barely move my arms back and forth. I had this stupid thing running in my head that it was a sign of a heart attack. My arm wasn't going numb, just aching at the joint. I'd make windmills to try to loosen it up and that helped.

I was also beginning to feel my hip flexors. They were getting sore. But I was able to finish the run relatively comfortably.

Sunday (Long Run): 8.01 miles @ 10:34 min/mile Pace

I was already grinning like a damn fool before I finished my run. I knew I was going to finish it non-stop. I just didn't expect to see my average pace to be that low! That let out loud "YEAH!" when I saw it. Unfortunately it was still early for a Sunday in that area and no one was around to share in my excitement. So sad. But I called Steve. He's one of the people that encourage me and tell me to push harder. I'm brush him off and take it at my own pace, but I accept the encouragement! He's struggling with an injury right now and is really jealous of my fat ass right now. But he was happy for me.

My VFF Bikila LS's were great! Those toe shoes are awesome. My feet and legs felt great, even now a day later. My hip flexors are a tad sore, but nothing like yesterday. I have phantom aches in my shoulder, but it goes away quickly.

Tonight I have a short run since it's a "rest day". The title of today's post does say Day 330 of the Daily Run Challenge.

My next longish run is Thursday. 4 miles. It's a speedwork day. Included in that run is 2/1600 meter runs at 9:34 with 800 meter jogs/cooldowns. I could do 9:34 all day . . . not really. But it should be fine.

GD

p.s.

too damn long to check. run smiley :)

30+ DRC 319

It's been a pretty significant week, to say the least.

In the world view, it's what everyone has been talking about: The Boston Marathon.

Some moron with a grudge decided to pop some fireworks at a festive event. Several people killed and many, many more injured from shrapnel which consisted of nails purposefully embedded in the bomb and other shrapnel. Among the injured, children.

I'm going to guess this is a domestic born attack, like the Oklahoma City Bombing of 1995. That attack occurred on April 19th of 1995. My guess is this might be some type of anniversary thing from some wack-job. Not that I'm a conspiracy nut, it just seems like too much a coincidence. But I could very likely be wrong (very likely).

Then last night we hear about a fertilizer plant going off in West, Texas near Waco. This morning I heard that there are , so far, 15 dead and nearly 200 people injured. The explosion damaged 60 homes. And this morning I heard they haven't even accounted for people that may still be under rubble. This reminds me of those silo explosions you hear about every year. It's a terrifying job to have.

Pray for Boston.

Pray for West.

Damn straight!

Trisha Reeves of Barefoot Monologues had a great article she posted up on her blog about Boston Pride. This touched upon something that really ticked me off the day of the explosions. One of my cousins on Facebook mentioned that this was a sign that the world was "slowly, but surely, coming to an end". I went off on her. I posted a fairly long rebuttal to that along the lines of what Trisha wrote about. First responders and many, MANY good Samaritans jumping into danger trying to help others out not knowing if other bombs could have gone off!

I would like to think that I would have done the same had I been in that situation. But one never really knows until you are. I've been in situations where there have been serious accidents and I'm the one having to help out whomever is hurt because everyone else in struck dumb and in shock. Broken bones, blood everywhere . . . that kind of thing. But nothing like possibly being in personal danger of explosions or shrapnel.

Give those people the respect they deserve. There is much more good in this world than bad.

On a more personal view, this has been a trying time in my life.

Now that momma is back, I no longer am in charge of the chipmunk. My brat. My nightmare. Fortunately, I've been able to help out my cuz with both brats. The chipmunk is a cheer coach for the Steinbeck Jr Cubs and has been at tryout practice all this week. Her mom doesn't want ANYTHING to do with Steinbeck because of some personal issues she has with some of the advisors there. But she fully supports her daughter in her decision. She just will NOT help her get to and from practice. Guess who will?

So while I'm there already, I go for my run. Since I needed to start working on pavement, I thought I might as well begin there. And I've also began to increase my mileage. If you look to the right, you'll see I've almost doubled the miles for this week compared to last. I can tell you, it's been a tad difficult. My feet definitely feel the difference from the trail runs. I'm actually considering some sort of cushioned minimalist shoe! I'll give it another week and see how it goes.

My godson has soccer practice Wednesdays and Fridays and his games are on Sundays. So far, I've been taking him to practice and his games (3 so far). Mom has only been able to make it to one game because she's supermom and works her ass off to support her babies (overtime like a madwoman).

This weekend, the chipmunk will be heading off to her last competition with the rest of the Salinas Riptide (she's in Riptides Royalty song-pom team) to Bakersfield to some HUGE cheer competition/convention. So far the brat's team has won all their competitions. They are a tightly knit team. The bad thing is, they'll be going with only 3 girls of their 6 girl team and they had to make drastic changes to their choreography. The other three dropped out because the local high schools all have their cheer tryouts this weekend, too. But the brat still seems confident and excited.

I wanted to go and cheer her on, but the boy has his game on Sunday and the brat and momma will still be in Bakersfield for the last day of competition. So that is a bit of a downer. All I can do is tell her to kick ass and take names. She knows I'm there in spirit, at least. They'll keep me updated as to how things are going and I'm pretty sure they'll be blowing up Instagram and Facebook.

I can't wait to find out how they do.

GD

p.s.
didn't check. run smiley :)

30+ DRC 313

Friday the 313. Ooooooooooh.

Okay with that outta the way, check this out:

Before 2002. After April 11, 2013

The Before picture is from back in 2002. I got even bigger up until my scare in 2007. I can't recall if I've ever told the "Scare" story here before, so let me give you a quck recap.

Back in 2007 I was about 10lbs shy of 300 pounds. I KNOW that because that's what the doctor told me when I went to see them because I thought I was having the beginnings of a heart attack. What was discovered was that I had hypertension and was near diabetic. Both wonderful contributors to causing a heart attack in the near future.

As you can guess, that was a wake up call. My uncle passed because of complications with diabetes and a dictionary of other problems he added on to himself. He had to shoot insulin all the time and would still have monster amounts of sugar because he wanted too. He was a bit of a stubborn ass.

I mean that in the most loving way possible.

The point is, that was my wake up call to get my ass in gear and start changing things or I'd be saying hello to my uncle pretty soon again. I love my uncle, but I have no desire to see him quite yet. Again, said in the most loving way possible.

The doctor that gave me the rundown as to what was going on, was also a dietitian. She gave me a TON of information as to what would help me get started on the "road to recovery". I'll tell ya, changing one's ways after years of self-harm was friggin' hard. Just starting out the morning was a nightmare.

To begin with, my morning coffee was terrible. Black coffee by itself is very beneficial. The whole anti-oxidents thing and whatever. I still drink a shitload of BLACK coffee in the morning. But I didn't have black coffee. I'd load up my coffee with a shit-ton of creamer and massive amounts of sugar. It was the cafe-con-leche style my grandmother used to make us when we were kids. AND THEN, I'd have some mexican sweet bread or somthing like it. Maybe some super sweet oatmeal? Or a couple of PB&J sandwiches?

And I'd eat out A LOT! All the big chain fast food restaurants. And to end the week, lots of pizza and beer. And crappy beer at that. Bud, Coors, MGD . . . ugh, terrible.

At home wasn't any better. Too much food, not activity. But the "Scare" changed that. Diet drastically changed. I felt better after about a week. Any sugar I'd take in, would cause the symptoms to begin again.

Oh, they symptoms:

• Fast, hard heartbeat at rest (just laying in bed trying to get to sleep)
• Heavy pressure on my chest, like someone pressing down on it
• Scared shitless

I stuck with the whole reduced sugar thing for years, but I'd still get the symptoms every once in a while, just not as bad. Then in 2010, the YMCA started a free training program for the inaugural Salinas Valley Half Marathon. I'd always been a bit jealous of people who ran. I ran like a madman in highschool. It was FUN! But I no longer did it cause I was too damn fat and I got winded so quickly.

Free training?
Get in better shape,as in not round.?
Why not?

I still remember the first day of beginning the training. I had to run 1 minute and walk 2 minutes for 30 minutes. I thought it was going to be a piece of cake. FUCK. NO. I nearly collapsed after that first "workout"! The next day I had to walk half an hour. I was sooooo sooorrrre! The third day was the same and I was dreading it. It was so much worse cause I hurt like a mofo! Fourth day was walking again and still sore. Fifth and sixth day was more running.

Sunday I didn't want to move, but I took my bicycle to the Monterey Bay Recreational Trail and rode 20 miles. I went from Marina to Monterey and had fish'n'chips and an Arrogant Bastard. Walked around some for a few hours and got back on my bike and rode back to Marina.

My schedule was similar to that every week. Except I kept making the required improvements to be able to complete my first half-marathon. I finished my first half in 3 and a half hours. I was dry-heaving at the finish after cooling down. I now know it's because I didn't hydrate enough during the run. I'd only grab a cup at every water station. The year after, I completed the run in 3 hours. Last year, I finished in 2 hours 47 minutes.

For this year, my realistic goal is 2 hours and 30 minutes. My IDEAL goal is 2 hours and 15 minutes. That's a 10 and a half minute mile. I can't even do that on my 4 mile run right now. I've got a lot of work to do to be able to pull off my ideal. Which means a lot more distance to include in my runs now.

I'm gonna have to say goodbye to the Shitty-Work-Trail. I hate that trail. It's a hard run. I love it because it gave me time in the evening. But now that the daughters' mom is back, I can go for my long runs in the evening now. No more chintzy 20 minutes runs. Time to double up at least. Push for 4 right now at least every other day. And slowly increase. Gotta start using weights again. Ugh.

This whole workout thing, it's a love/hate relationship.

GD

p.s.
didn't check. run smiley :)

30+ DRC 302

Two days after what was supposed to be a milestone, my joints ache. Never really knew weather could make me feel like this.

And why is it a milestone? Idunnoknow. I guess because it has a couple of zeros in it. It's only a couple of days difference from today, which really isn't much of a difference.

So, yay me! THREE HUNDRED AND TWO straight days of running at least a mile a day!

Ok. Now that THAT is out of the way.

I've been achin' bad these last couple of days. It's not the exercises I've been doing. I've cut back on those because of the achy-ness (am I spelling "achy" right?). It seems to have come along with the muggier weather we've been having this last week. I've woken up sore before, but this is ridiculous!

I once asked my chiropractor (whom I haven't been to in over a year. Awesome!) if weather could really affect joint pain. He replied with an affirmative. He said gas bubbles can build up in the joints, and with changes in air pressure, the bubbles can cause stress in the joints.

Isn't biological science awesome? Ugh.

So . . .  the joint pain . . .


Once I get moving, I feel better. But it got bad enough Saturday morning that I didn't want to move much. I had intended to get up earlier for an 8am run. It was hard, I'm not gonna lie. But I convinced myself that it would go away once I got moving. It did, but it took half a mile of pain to get through. Not fun.

But then again, certain types of pain I'm a wuss about:

• I've sliced my hand open, no problem. A few stitches and I was good as new.
• I've dislocated my shoulder. Ow, but was lucky enough to have a paramedic on the opposing roller hockey team set it back in. That felt worse than the the popping out. Bastard friends all had a good laugh at it. Jerks. But it was something relatively quick and the soreness after wasn't horribly bad.
• I've had my wrist broken (roller hockey again) where I was doped up in time at the clinic to not really feel it. After the surgery a couple of days later, I was given this massive bottle of vicodin. Took'em for a couple of days and stopped. I'd rather deal with the pain than the stoppage . . . if you catch my meaning (and I made a couple of hundred bucks selling 'em). I think the statute of limitations is in effect by now.

Looking back on those incidences, and many others, I've dealt with them ok. I don't know why the joint pain is buggin' the crap outta of me now considering all the past stuff. Weird.

 I'm going to have to look into what may be going on. My upper body isn't as bad as my legs, but there is a bit of it buggin' me.

Is it age?

Am I finally gettin' old that I'm gonna be complaining of joint pain?!

Is that wood box not too far in my future?

Nah! At least not if I can prevent it!

GD

p.s.
no time to check. run smiley :)

30+ DRC 288

This past week hasn't been anything to write home about. Just typical work related stuff in which you, at times, want to destroy new machinery because it does something unexpected and results in EXTREMELY faulty results. The baby is teething and we are working out her moods.

When she works, she works wonderfully! When she doesn't, the end cause is NOT what we expected. She's very finicky.

Training has been getting better. I still feel beat up after my work runs, but I somehow am able to increase my workload. Well . . . only in the workout part. I'm not going to be running longer on that SWT any longer than I have to. One and a half miles of that crap is enough!

Have I mention how much I hate the Sh*tty Work Trail.

I'm still doing the Push The Earth quest and the As Seen On TV quest from Fitocracy. I've just increased the initial numbers for the workouts. I'm feeling pretty good about it. I was afraid of screwing up my shoulder again with the pushups, but I've been taking it easy on it and slowly increasing the quantity of the pushups. It also doesn't hurt that I'm doing them in sets. Much more manageable that way. Maybe later I'll start doing them all at once.

One last note:

I feel ashamed.

I participated in played out meme.

But because I love the daughter, I participated enthusiastically in her Harlem Shake video.

It was stupid.

It was fun.

I can't believe I let her dress those poor boys like transvestite strippers.

Ugh. I'm going to hell . . .

GD

p.s.
too ashamed to check. run smiley :)

30+ DRC 278

It's been a couple of weeks since the last post I made. And it's been busy!

Mainly competition prep for the brat. Lot's'o'shuttlin' to and fro!

Work.
Home.
Feed.
Pick up bff.
Practice.
Beer (one for me, please).
Pick up from practice.
Drop off bff.
Home.
Homework (for her).
Beer (for me).
Sleep.
Repeat 4 times a week.

And they have another competition in Sacramento tomorrow. It was supposed to be in Bakersfield . . . but whatever. The venue changed back to Sacramento. It's now at the Sacramento Convention Center Complex, about a block down from the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium we were at only a couple of weeks ago. Last time the brat and I went with her bff's parents in a big ass SUV. This time (because I don't want to take my car) we will be driving up in a Scion xB. A tad more fuel efficient. And there are no mountains really to worry about so no need to worry about gettin' in the slow lane for people to pass us.

They're happy because the heater works in it. I've been to lazy to fix my heater in my car. We get cold over here on the left coast, but not so cold where a good jacket can't keep you warm enough. But the brats like being in a toasty enough where I wish I was in shorts and a tank top in a car. Not a pretty picture that.

And seeing as that we'll be leaving early to Sac-town, I've gotta get up early enough to go for my run before taking off. That's a 5am start to my day.

"Why so early," you ask, "if you're leaving at 7am?"

Because I'll be sharing a bathroom with a couple of divas who'll be cranky bitches in the morning of competition. You've obviously never dealt with "twin" divas in a single bathroom home. Don't.

So get up at 5am, get into my gear, jump out the door for a quick 10 minute run, get back home and jump into the shower before the witches wake up. I'll be out of the shower by 5:30 and that will still get the girls in a mood because I didn't get out in time.

So . . . while they're getting ready, I'll be taking a nap. I'd make breakfast, but they don't want a home cooked breakfast. They want McDonald's. As you can guess, this is going to be an bit of of an expensive day. Gas isn't cheap. So I'm looking at a six hour round trip as well. We won't be able to leave the competition grounds until all the awards have been given out. So with any luck, I'll be back home by 10pm or so.

I've already got my Arrogant Bastard: Oaked in the fridge. That is going to be the best tasting beer EVER when I get back home tomorrow night.

Wish me luck.

GD

p.s.
didn't check. run smiley :)

p.p.s.
i just found out i have to be in sacramento by 8am. i gotta leave by 4am to get there for check-in. this sucks. i don't wanna be a daddy no more!

30+ DRC 264

Wow. 264 days run.

A little over three months and I'll have reached a year.

And what have I learned from this? That I can always make time for at least a mile. Twenty minutes out of my day to prep, run and cool down if I'm in a hurry. But I usually have more time to do more stuff so I take advantage of it.

I'm lucky about where I work. Yes, it can stink to high heaven at times. It's a mushroom farm and we make our own compost. But once you get used to it (after a few years), it ain't so bad. At times it smells like pork rinds for some reason. Then I get hungry.

Most of the time though, it's wonderful. The farm is situated in bowl, kinda. The composting yard up along one of the hill sides on a huge, paved area. It's on the opposite side of where I work. It's the start and end of what I call the SWT (Shitty Work Trail). As I've said before, it sucks because the elevation changes are spaced really close. I'm running on a sawtooth ridge.

On the map below, the Start is colored in what I think is teal? And the end is in black. The yellow spots are where I loop back. I kinda follow my gaming methodology in this. I always go right . . . until I can't. Then I loop back and go right again. It mostly works. Sort'a.

The big brown chocolate stain at the top of the picture is the composting yard, what is known in the mushroom industry as Phase 1. The white roofed buildings next to it are what are called the Phase 2 rooms. After they get the compost from phase 1, they stuff them in 4'X8' trays and stack them in these temperature controlled rooms get them colonized with what the growers call fire-fang. In the lab, we call it scytalidium. It a fungus that thrives in relatively high temperature. It's also food for agaricus bisporus . . . your typical, store bought white or portobello mushroom.

Yes, the white mushroom used on pizzas and salads are pretty much the same as the portobello mushrooms. They are analogous to how dogs are different, but can still breed with each other. Not you'd want to breed a Great Dane and a chihuahua . . . poor chihuahua.

The grey roofed buildings below the phase 2 rooms are the actual growing rooms. Most of it is dedicated to the white mushrooms. Each section of those buildings is a growing room. They are huge rooms. The buildings by where my trail starts are pretty much dedicated to growing the portobello mushrooms. Not as much coming out of those as the other side of the farm.

I don't know if I said before, but the reason I'm running the SWT is because I was getting tired of my bum knee. It really was jacked up and I couldn't comfortably run flats anymore. I took a shot at the trail one day to see if having a constantly changing trail would help my knee out.

Unfortunately it did. I hate it because of how friggin' hard the trail is to run. I mean, SHIT! It really kicks my ass! I love it because it's actually helped my knee. I love it because I get to do it at work early and not worry about having enough time to do it after work. So I get to spend more time with the daughter.

So . . . that's the lesson for the day. I want a 1000 word report on how fungi can save the world. Due next week.

GD

p.s.
didn't check. run smiley :)

30+ DRC 248

This is a little test that I'm trying.

I once tried typing up a post on my iPhone . . . didn't work out so well. I just want to see how this post up later.

The last few runs have been getting better. Each day an improvement. I'm hoping by next week, I can start running the two miles regularly and slowly bump it up again.

The Santa Cruz Half Marathon is in April and I'd like to be able to run that one. Gotta get better and increase my mileage for obvious reasons.

The problem area has shifted from my knee (kinda) to my outer thigh. More of an ache though, because that muscle has been compensating for whatever I originally screwed up.

Also when I used to start out my runs, my ankle would want to stiffen up. But about a minute into the run it would be fine.

After very little thought, I finally remembered why I have so many problems with this leg. And it has to do with that ankle.

Back when I was working (full time) and going to school (full time), I was mean ol' fat bastard. Well not mean, just horrendously fat. Like 5' 6" and nearly 300lbs fat. I'm still not a pretty picture, but 225 (at last check a couple days ago) is much better than 300.

It had been a LONG week at work and at school. A lot of projects and reports due (AAS in computer tech). School was 5 days a week from 6pm to 10:30pm. I carried two backpacks full of books and supplies EVERYWHERE.

I was relieved that I completed everything on time and was very satisfied that I'd get excellent scores and grades. Not being cocky, just very thorough (and I did, btw). I skipped pizza and beer with my friends that night because I had to work the next morning (on a Saturday, ugh).

I got home and headed to the garage to throw my backpacks on my desk . . . and misjudged a step down. I rolled my ankle and heard a snap. Then I felt it. I wanted to scream like a little girl and I don't know why I didn't. I still don't remember how I ended up on the sofa a few minutes later with an ice pack wrapped around my ankle.

I probably should have gone to the doctor . . . but I didn't. My ankle was the size of a football at first, but the swelling had gone down to about softball size the next morning.

Continuing this story on my computer now because it's a bit tedious typing on this crappy screen for this long!

Just so you know, that isn't really the beginning of the crappy day that I had.  It started earlier in the day right after I got out of work. My friend and I worked at the same place (he was my boss at the time) and we commuted together. We took turns driving. It was his turn that day. He's one of those drivers that sits really close to the wheel and tailgates like a mofo! I think he does it more when I'm in the car with him to keep me a nervous wreck.

Anyway, so it's the end of the day and we are sitting at the stop waiting to make a left-hand-turn at a notoriously dangerous intersection. There hasn't been a month that goes by that someone ends up in the ditch on either side of the road on hit by another car.

I guess we were selected to get T-boned that day.

We had left early that day that we got out at the same time school lets out so there were a lot of cars going by on the main road. It's a 55 mph curvy mountainous road. The road we were on had the elementary school, so people were turning onto it. When it was his turn to wait to make that left, there was a line of cars about 7 deep on the near side of the main road in front of us all slowing down to turn onto the road we were on. All the cars appeared to be making that turn. They were all signalling.

But I saw a work truck speeding up from behind those other cars and when my friend asked if he should turn, I told him no. He hit the gas.

The truck hit us.

We were soooooo lucky! And I'm not being sarcastic about this. It could have been so much worse.

When the truck hit us, nailed the back end of the drivers side hard enough to tattoo the license plate number on the body. We spun around a couple of time and ended up in the ditch right across from where we were at just a few seconds ago. The car was ass down, nose up at about a 60 degree angle. For some reason, I pictured us about to take off into space when we ended up there.

I asked my bud if he was ok. He said he was fine, then the jerk asked where his glasses were at. I told him no, I'm fine too! I wasn't calm, but I wasn't too upset. From the moment we stopped in the ditch, I knew we were more than fine. The car was totaled, but we were fine. I got out to make sure of my self assessment and make sure he was ok. He seemed a bit dazed. I had him sit down on the hood of the car while I checked on the driver of the truck. He was running towards us wanting to make sure WE were fine. He was just as scared shitless as my friend. When he saw that we were ok, he literally just dropped to his knees in relief . . . in the middle of the road. I helped him back up and had him sit next to my friend.

His truck . . . perfectly fine. Just a bit of paint from my friends car. No other sign that it had been in an accident. My friends car . . . all three back windows gone, driver side window gone, windshield spiderwebbed, body had a 15 degree angle to it now from the rear driver-side door (4 door Honda). Oh, and it was in the ditch.

Other drivers had pulled off the road and asking if we were ok and were calling 911. I found my buds glasses in the middle of the road. Not a scratch on 'em.

Something was in the cards for that day.

So there I am, on the sofa with my ankle FUBAR'ed. After the accident earlier I was supposed to pick him up the next day because he didn't have a car to go to work yet. But here was the problem: At the time I drove a 1981 Toyota Longbed pickup . . . STICK! I needed both feet to drive!

Crap. I just realized that's not the reason why I'm having trouble with my right leg now. I guess it's just a  regular injury. Bummer. Oh well, might as well finish the damn story.

My LEFT ankle was my clutch foot. How the fuck was I going to drive to work! I called him and told him what happened. Being the idiot that I am, he convinced me to pick him up anyway.

I somehow hobbled out to my truck and miraculously figured out how to press in the clutch without TOO much pain. When I got to his house, I told him to drive. The fucker tells me he doesn't know how to drive my truck. He once had manual 4 speed Hyundai. I forgot about that like an idiot until MUCH LATER!

We somehow get to work without killing us and I told him I was just going to sit in the lab with my ankle elevated and that he can fuck off if he wanted me to work. I was too pissed and in pain to actually be able to work anyway. He left me alone until noon when we finally left. I didn't speak to him that whole week.

I didn't break anything and I think the only thing the visit to the doctor would have done was put me in a cast to minimize movement. I put a wrap around it and was on crutches for about a week I think.

I'm sorry for the long post, but I'm a bit worried. That happened in a February. My two personal car accidents (none my fault) were in February. My street hockey related broken wrist . . . February. My slashed on the are by some crazy random dude when I was 12 . . . February.

February and I don't get along. 28 days is too long for February. I'm not too superstitious except for this. I have several years between major incidences, but I'm still wary. Every friggin' year I watch for extra crazy stuff.

GD

p.s.
too crazy to check. run smiley :)

30+ DRC 243

The last couple of weeks haven't really been to interesting in the running aspect of my life. Other than really trying to keep up with the extra exercises after my runs. One of the reasons I actually keep up with it is because of the Fitocracy app on my iPhone.

Fitocracy is a social network for exercise. Only I don't really use it for the social aspect of it much. It's just another log I use to help keep track of what I'm doing. It's another reminder that I gotta keep going so I don't fall back to my former potato-ness. It's a great tool.

The other neat thing about it is that you level up! So it throws in that gaming aspect to your fitness. As of now, I'm at level 23 and I only need 1754 points to reach level 24. If I keep up the effort, I can break through to level 24 in about a week! Ok, I'm not really that excited about it. But sometimes you like to look at your level and appreciate all the work you put into what you've done. You have a hard number to work off of.

Another reason Fitocracy helps is because if you're really motivated, you can set up your exercises for the day and if you don't do them they are a glaring reminder of what you didn't do. It's a whole psychological thing with it. And it's helped me get through my days. You can track your running on it as well as a ton of other exercises they have on there. You can set up routines or follow one of the Quests they have. A LOT of them I cannot do yet. But there are two that I do follow. The Push The Earth Quest and the As Seen On TV Quest.

Push The Earth is as follows:
20 Reps - Body Weight Lunge
30 Reps - Body Weight Squat
20 Reps - Pushups or Kneeling Pushups
10 Reps - Jump Squats (Toyotas)

When I first completed PTE, I followed it exactly except for the pushups. When you select PTE for your quest, it actually posts both the regular pushups and the kneeling pushing for your routine. What I didn't know was that you could edit it out . . . until much later. But by then, I was already incorporating both into my version of PTE. I was doing the 20 kneeling pushups, but  only 5 regular pushups for the quest. And I was happy with that because it was something I wasn't doing before.

For the squats and lunges, I was happy that I'd taken a beginning class for Crossfit a while back. I remembered how to stay on my heels when doing the squats and the lunges were nice and wide without my knee passing my foot. The Toyotas were a bit of a surprise. I forgot how difficult they can be.

Now here's the thing about the quest. It tells you that you are supposed to complete the quest within one day. So you can spread out the quest throughout your day. You don't have to do them all at once. As long as you finish them all within that 24 hour period. But I figure since I go for my run when I get home and I'm all warmed up  . . . might as well just finish it all in one go. Sort of my own modified Crossfit routine.

When you complete the quest, you go to your workout for the day in the app or on your pc and you add in how much you did for each exercise. Now I've been slowly increasing the reps since I've started following PTE. This is what my PTE looked like yesterday:


30 Reps - Body Weight Lunge
15 Reps - Pushups
40 Reps - Body Weight Squat
20 Reps - Kneeling Pushups
20 Reps - Jump Squats (Toyotas)

Fucking Toyotas, man.

I try to complete this quest on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The As Seen On TV quest is a bit more diffcult:

5 Reps - Pushups
100 Reps - Jumping Jacks
30 Reps - Crunches
10 Reps - Body Weight Squat
30 Sec - Plank
15 Rep - Body Weight Lunge
20 Rep - Bicycle (abs)

The first time I did this quest, I only changed the pushups to 10 instead of the 5. I'm trying to build my upper body strength damn it! As with the PTE quest, I've also been increasing the reps on this one, as well as the order in which I do them. The following is what I did on Wednesday:

10 Reps - Pushups
40 Sec - Plank
30 Reps - Squats
40 Reps - Crunches
100 Reps - Jumping Jacks
50 Reps - Bicycles
30 Reps - Lunges

And I used to think planks were easy to do. What a dumbass. What probably makes them even more difficult is that I do the plank right after the pushups so I stop at the top and hold the position for the 30 or more seconds needed to complete the plank.

What trips me out is that I have no problem with all these leg exercises. But when I'm running, my knee is getting all out of whack and I can run further than maybe a mile and a half. It's been slowly getting better, and I think it's because I've been doing these quests. I'm would like to try to run 4 miles on Saturday at the Toro Estates. Hopefully I can.

Again with another long post, but I hope it was somewhat informative.

GD

p.s.
too lazy. run smiley :)

30+ DRC 232

I could go on and on about what a fucked up week it's been . . .

But I'm not. I need a break from all the drama and I'm going to do it here with a quick update about my running. And I mean quick.

I don't really have much to add as far as what I've been doing. I have increased my mileage a tad. I'm getting closer to 2 comfortable miles. The knee is still an issue and it's actually traveled up to my quad now. Just a bit of tightness that takes it time to loosen (if at all) during my run.

I'm still continuing with my cross-training stuff because I do believe it's been helping increase my stamina and helping to fix my knee.

The boots are no longer being worn and I am actively looking for a suitable pair I can use at work when needed.

Anyone want a pair of size 10 Redwings boots?

GD

p.s.
didn't check. run smiley :)

30+ DRC 226

And another eventful week has passed . . .

More daughter issues that I don't really want to get into right now. Too depressing and it's something I must talk to her mom about. I've never had to deal with other people like this and I'm finding it difficult not to stress over someone I love so much practically bury herself in a massive depression.

And because I empathize with her, she's dragging me down into her pit as well . . . and she doesn't care.

Which is one of the main reasons I continue to run!

The running helps clear my mind and think about how I can help her get out of this funk. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a remedy yet, but the run helps me relieve some of the pressure.

I've begun to incorporate some body weight exercises in hopes of improving my knee issue and also just to change things up a bit and get a bit stronger. And maybe by Spring, finally include some Crossfit into my runs.

I started last Monday . . . after my last emotional long post. The extra stuff after the run did relieve more of the pressure. I whip through them fairly quick. Again, to release the tension. The exercises are from the Fitocracy Quests. They are challenges that, for me, are doable.

The first one I did was the As Seen On TV Challenge
5 Push-ups
20 Body Weight Squats
20 Bicycles
100 Jumping Jacks
30 Second Plank
20 Kneeling Push-ups (cause I'm fat and have not an erg of upper body strength)
20 Body Weight Lunges
30 Crunches

That was a tuffy the first time. I started with the jumping jacks and my calves were burning!

The next one I did was Push The Earth:
20 Body Weight Lunges
30 Body Weight Squats
20 Kneeling Push-ups
10 Toyotas
5 Push-ups

I continued doing PTE the rest of the week, but I increase the lunges to 30, and the Toyotas to 20.

Last Thursday I increase my mileage to a minimum of 1.5 miles a day. I didn't want to have a repeat of the last time and totally aggravate my knee. So . . . baby steps. Literally. I've forced myself to take much smaller and quicker steps to protect from impact forces. And it has helped tremendously. I'm not hobbling on the runs anymore. Cool.

So I've included some exercises and increased my mileage a little. I'm just gonna go by ear and see if I can push the runs even more.

And I noticed yesterday that my run was a bit more comfortable than it was before I included the Quests.

Hopefully this upward trend continues.

GD

p.s.
I love you Chipmunk. Be strong.

p.s.
too lazy. run smiley.

30+ DRC 218

New Years has come and gone.

Happy 2013.

It's been an eventful week, I'll tell you. I've had a pretty emotional and stressful week. Family drama and having to be a responsible "dad" can be heart-wrenching and stressful. But in the end, things were looked at with a clear eye and my decision to be blunt has made a bit of a turnaround in attitude.

Over the past few years, the daughter has been heavy into the social media Beginning with MySpace in junior high, going to Facebook and lately with Twitter. Before MySpace, she had a lot of friends. She eventually began to get surly and have a lot of problems at school. Of course, being oblivious to social media, we didn't make the connection. We did notice the drop off in friends visiting or her heading out to go to friends houses. It was about the time she started dating as well so I thought I might have something to do with that.

She still had friends, though. And during the summer, she made more and hung out more often with them. She left MS and began using FB. The surliness would come and go and I contributed it to teenage issues. When she began high school, she tried out for cheer and was a shoo in because of all her experience with a championship Youth Football league cheer squad. Her squad won the nationals two years in a row.

During this time, she could only be on social media sites with her laptop at home. She had an internet capable phone, but it was a bit clumsy to work with and she always had problems with it. Some cheap Android phone from Metro PCS. She was dealing with freshman issues, but still having problems socializing and making enemies. Still no connection made to social media.

It made no sense to me at the time, though. When she met new people, they loved her.

Sometime during late spring, she got a new iPhone. She was so in love with it, but still working out the in's and out's.

During the summer she got real serious with a new boyfriend and was hardly on FB. This year was her sophomore year which she began with a positive attitude. She was asked to coach a group of 9 to 10 year old cheerleaders for her former youth cheer squad and had it all planned out. Calendars, notebooks, cheers, choreography . . .  everything you want a coach to prepare before the season begins. Her advisors LOVED her. She is a go-getter.

But she had a problem with her co-coach. There were attitude issues stemming from some argument that I later found out began with an FB post . . .

She also began to have problems with her high school cheer squad. Boyfriend issues also began. Eventually everything broke down for her. She broke up with the boyfriend (several times), her grades started hurting, and she quit cheer.

Her quitting cheer really hurt me. She has been cheering since she was seven years old. She ate, lived and breathed cheer! It was her one passion and it was going away.

All because of Twitter.

She quit using FB because of too much drama coming from it. That was before the decision to quit cheer, in fact. At least a couple of months prior. She hadn't been happy. She wasn't comfortable with the squad any more. She had been bullied, and then they stopped with her and they began with another member. I understand that she quit, too.

I don't know when she began using Twitter, but it must have been in the summer. She didn't have many followers (relatively speaking for a teen girl). But when I finally connected the dot (about a week ago) she had only about 200 followers. Her friends had been over to spend the night and make some goofy YouTube video and she was on a mission to break 300. Once the video was out and had been posted on Twitter, she began racking up the followers.

But she also began getting that look in her eye when she was having a flame-war. As anyone used to posting comments anywhere, you see the troll reaching for attention. My guess is the daughter is one such troll. She can't help it. Her mom's the same way.

That weekend the video came out, she actually broke 400 followers. But she wasn't happy. She was in such a foul mood, I didn't understand it. Nothing I did would break her out of that funk. As it is, she hardly wants anything to do with me. Again, I blame the teen girl, angst thing.

But the day after New Years we had a quiet day at the lab and I had a lot of time to think and piece things together. I wrote her a long letter explaining my conclusions as to why she should chill with the social media addiction.

That's what it had become. An addiction. I don't know why I didn't see it before. But the more I looked back on what was going on, the more I realized that she was always on.

On her iPhone
On her laptop.
On her friends phone or laptop.

It was nonstop with her. Texting, commenting, grunting an answer to a spoken question.

I got a text about an hour later saying that she wanted to go with her mom to Yuma. My heart dropped.

I got a text from her mom telling me she got a call from the daughter crying. She wasn't upset at me, she just wanted an explanation. I told her. She agreed with my conclusion. She told me she'd get over it.

I still felt like shit. I tried to explain to her why I did it. Seeing all the problems that came from it, the tears she shed . . . just seeing her in pain!

Her response: "Thx for telling me I don't have friends"

That's what she took from it. I told her she has her close friends, but not like she used to. I told her not to twist my words around. I don't know why, but I felt I had totally fucked up. That I should have left well enough alone. I told her I was just trying to help. That at times, I felt like my limbs were bound and I was in this freakin' cold and deep pool and I didn't know how to get out of it.

That I was trying my best to show her mom that I was strong enough for this whole helping to raise a teenager business, but it was really hard to put on brave face in all this drama! I was trying to learn, but that the she wasn't talking to me to try to help her.

I didn't hear from her the rest of the day. That whole event was before noon.

I was sort of on auto-pilot doing what I had to do. But I was still totally distraught over what I had done. I had been too brutally honest with her.

Luckily for me her best friend had been with her.

They must have discussed what I wrote. Must have broken it down and finally interpreted it to why I had sent it to her. When I got home, I actually hesitated opening the front door. I could hear them laughing and listening to music. This sounds cheesy as fuck, but I didn't want it to end.

I opened the door and we just looked at each other. We were both a bit uncomfortable and I made some small talk. I eventually was able to get her alone and ask her if we were good. She said she already forgot about it. I looked her in the eye and told her, "That's just it. I don't want you to forget about it. I need you to think about it. Hard!"

She said ok, and I hugged her. She hugged me back. I love you's were said and a slight burden was lifted.

The most of the heaviness I felt was lifted this weekend when she actually hung out with me for most of it. I hadn't seen her this happy and positive in a long time. She also wasn't glued to her damn phone either. She was still on it, just not like she used to. I think she was texting, not Twittering.

I hope this keeps up.

As far as my running is concerned. I don't really want to talk about it. The streak's still on, it's just been a very uncomfortable few weeks with the bum knee and all. I don't really think I'm aggravating it. But because I have to wear the boots at work all the time now, I think the knee is going to be an issue for a while. Hopefully wearing them loose instead of all cinched up will help. The achiness has dulled a bit, but it's still there at the beginning of the run. It may eventually go away.

GD

too drained to check. run smiley.

30+ DRC 211

I have been seriously reconsidering this whole running challenge thing lately. I'm not terribly injured, but my knee isn't making running fun any more . . . at least right now.

I know if I stop to rest up a week or so, my knee will be fine again. But I'm not certain what would happen after. Would I want to try to start another non-stop challenge? Right now I'm not certain. But I think I'd lean towards a "no".

I know I'm not aggravating the knee, just prolonging the healing it could be doing. By running on it, I already feel my other leg working more than it did. And the leg with the bum knee, well that's working a bit different too. I'm feeling other parts of my legs that I didn't feel before and I don't think that's a good thing. My time has drastically dropped because of it.

And the thing is, I finally figured out where the problem stems from.

 These mofo's!

Ever since I bought these damn things and worn them, something funky crops up in my running. Be it my knee (currently) or my stinkin' ankle! Aaaaand it's always the same leg! These boots are so comfortably awesome, it's a shame I can't use them any more. And they're practically new! I only use them when I have to go onto the farm and walk the rooms. I can't be walking into those growing rooms with toe-shoes or my Merrells.

The boots are just too cushy. I need a boot that has a hard sole and insole.No cushyness. The closest thing I can think of is my old Altama military combat boots.

I had started wearing these boots in high school. At times after school, I'd go to the local flea market and help out some of the vendors there for a bit of money. Mainly the produce guys. It was open a few times a week. A couple of hours work and $20 was pretty good back then. These boots got me through a lot of shit. Sometimes literally . . . or almost. Rotten fruit and produce at the end of the weekend, no bueno.

I kept on buying these every few years because I couldn't find any other boots as comfortable. I've always tended towards harder soled shoes and boots. Vans, Chucks and Dickies shoes were great as well. The Dickies Vulcans were uber-cushy, but at the time I liked them.

I LOVE the look of some of the Red Wing Heritage boots. Especially these babies!

Red Wing Heritage Iron Ranger Style No. 8111's.

Old school. Love the damn boots. Just a bit pricey. They're around $250. But they last forever, so I think they'd be worth the price.

As far as running . . . I'm gonna keep at it. It's gotten a bit better. But I think that's because I'm REALLY concentrating on my form when running. And I try to wear my VFF's or Merrells when I can. I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet and take it slow until my knee heals up.

GD

p.s.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

p.p.s.
take it easy, too lazy. run smiley :)

30+ DRC 207. Yeah, I'm Getting Lazier

And I figured it was about time I abbreviated the titles to these damn updates. So today is day 207 of the 30+ day running challenge . . . or as abbreviated 30+ Day Running Challenge 207.

I think I have to work on that.

Anyway, for any regular readers, I think you'll understand.

My legs were doing ok. They weren't feeling as leaden in these past couple of days. I'm running slower now that I've essentially doubled my mileage, but it's not too bad. On Monday, Christmas Eve, I ran two miles and they were ok. Rainy, chilly, but ok. I got back, showered and made myself presentable and headed over to my parents house to spend the night with them.

My Dad asked after the daughter, godson and cousin. As I was telling him, my mom who was at the table, got up abruptly and stalked away. That hurt. I played the good son the rest of the night. Dinner, smiles and some conversation. I mainly conversed with my brother-in-law and my brother and his girlfriend. I stayed away from my mom. Soon midnight came around, handed the presents out the the kids and then went home around 1am.

Christmas day on Tuesday, I was not up to seeing family. I called the brat and spoke with her, my godson and my cousin. They LOVED the presents I had sent them. I got my cousin a Kindle Fire and the daughter told me she screamed. The same went with the godson, whom I made a 50/50 split buy on a new XBox 360 since he RR'ed his last on. The daughter already knew what was waiting for her at home, but I did send along a giant gummy bear. FIVE POUNDS! I love Amazon. The rest of the day was spent reading and glued to Netflix. I went for a run in the midafternoon and continued with the Netflixing.


Wednesday, I received a call from another cousin asking if I could give her a ride to pick up something from friends house in Marina. I agreed and as soon as I got home I got into my gear and headed out the door for two. After my shower I went to pick her up and along tagged along two other brats. I had planned to spill my guts to my cousin, but with her two nieces along . . . nope. Still, I made it the trip an event. My cousin is the WORST navigator on the planet. She'd been to her friends house several times, but apparently not at night. And she never paid attention to landmarks either. She finally got the address, but my map app couldn't pinpoint the house. Just kinda give us an general idea. So I was dealing with digital version of my cousin. I finally broke out the flashlight (I always carry one in the car) and started spotlighting the numbers on the homes (dark street). We had passed the house like three or four times! And when we finally found it, she finally recognized her friends car!!!!

Her nieces were laughing so hard, it was contagious. I really needed that.

When she finally dropped off some gifts and received some in turn, we headed back to town. On the way we were getting close to this really good frozen yogurt shop called MYO (Make Your Own). I parked and everyone wanted some. They poured their favorites and loaded up the toppings they wanted. Everyone was happy. I finally dropped them off and the nieces mom, gave me the evil eye :)

I forgot to mention that during the run, I was nearing the end and began pushing to go a bit faster in the last two tenths. Just as I was about to finish, I tweaked something in my knee. I had to slow down and finish much slower than before.

It's been aching off and on all day. It's not too bad, yet. I hope it doesn't bug me too much tonight when I go for my run.

GD

too lazy. run smiley :)

Day 204 of 30+ Day Running Challenge

And boy, I'm beat! And I've been trying to figure out WHY until I got my training report this morning.

For the past month (until last Monday) I'd been running a mile a day, to keep up with the Running Challenge. I'd been laid out with the flu and later with a cold. I don't think going out and running hurt me. When I went out for my run, my sinuses would clear up and my coughing would alleviate for hours, at times. Nearly four full weeks of running one stinkin' mile a day, needless to say my mileage dropped a bit.

And apparently it hurt me.

Last Monday (December 17th), I went out for a three mile run. I felt fantastic! It was great to be out there again for more than ten minutes. I had planned for at least five miles, but I was huffing it a bit near the third mile and called it quits when the clock turned over. I felt good though. After the run the glums hit hard, but I worked through it.

Tuesday, I made myself go for three. It was freakin' cold out. Once I got warmed up though, it was fine. Just a bit of skin burning off for a few minutes. I was really puffin' away by the time I got to the three mile mark.

Wednesday is when it really hit me. I started out great and about a half mile out, my legs really started to let me know that I was pushing them further than I have for a while. Just in the last two days, I'd put almost as many miles as I had last WEEK! And the previous weeks as well! But for some reason it didn't want to click into my dense skull. Mentally I was still in my 15+ mile-a-week mode. That's a big NOPE! And insult to injury, I thought running with my Merrell Trail Gloves would be ok. Again a bit NOPE! Not on pavement.

Thursday SUCKED. I didn't even get to start comfortable. My legs were sore and heavy from the get-go! It didn't help that it was really cold! My joints actually hurt, and not just legs. I was hoping it wasn't a flu relapse. I was beginning to reconsider my need for some sort of running pants.

I must apologize to Brent. I have foot-in-mouth disease. I've ran in the cold before, but not every single day. I've been able to make do on those days I did run in the cold, not needing to consider that I may be running in the cold again. Well now that I am running everyday, I want to make sure I stay motivated. And the only way to stay motivated is to be comfortable.

So I must buy pants.

Friday wasn't so bad. Yeah it was cold. But it was also rainy. It was something novel and I had fun. Because of the toe-shoes, my tootsies were soggy as well. They were cold at first, but the water in them warmed up enough to not be an issue.

On a side note, as I was starting out, my neighbors were just arriving from . . . wherever they were arriving from and were looking at me as if I had just grown another head or something. I said hi and continued on my way.

On Saturdays, I like to start my run around 8am or thereabouts. The covers were holding me down longer than usual and the fight that ensued was bloody. There was fleece and cotton everywhere, but I eventually prevailed. I got to the trail head an hour later than usual and started my run . . . about the same time it began drizzling . . . then raining. And continued until I was finished with my two miles. And stopped. Neat.

Yesterday . . . the battle with the blankets was epic! I got to the trail head two hours later than usual. It was raining pretty steadily and it was a might, bit colder than yesterday. As I was reaching the turnaround point, the heavens opened up. I was drenched and shivering by the time I finished my cool-down walk.

Though my legs are still a bit beat, I'm getting back into the groove of things. As to why I've been having so much trouble with my mileage? Let me give you a rundown of the last four weeks:

11/25/2012 to 12/01/2012
  8.16 Miles

12/02/2012 to 12/08/2012
  7.31 Miles

12/09/2012 to 12/15/2012
  7.35 Miles

12/16/2012 to 12/22/2012
  15.49 Miles

Even though I've gone back to the mileage I've had before, I've pretty much doubled my mileage after a near hiatus of almost a month. I didn't think it would hurt me this bad, but hopefully when it happens again, it won't be as big a surprise. It feels good to be back here again. I'll be staying here for a while, God willing.

Though I still miss the Chipmunk, my brat is with her mom and brother. I can take comfort in that. She's with some of her cousins and is having fun. She says she misses me and wishes I could be there with them. My godson says the same. Maybe next year I'll go there with them for at least a few days to spend Christmas with them. Though my mom will be upset. I'll deal with it when the time comes.

So to any of you who read this self-serving blog, Merry Christmas! Love your family, cause as the kids say . . . YOLO!

GD

p.s.
didn't check. run smiley :)

Day 198 of 30+ Day Running Challenge . . . And Teen Girls.

I had posted up on DailyMile that I was going to break 500 miles for the year. Yeeeeaaaah. Not gonna happen. I'm a dumbass. I hadn't realized that just running a mile a day for about a month was going to set me back this far.I would've had to run at least eight miles last night to break 500.

One highlight of the night though, as I was about the halfway point of my run, I ran past these high school girls. They were across the street. I was wearing my reflecting anklets and had my Knuckle Lights on (awesome fashion accessories). A moment later I hear some giggling and the pitter-patter of someone running behind me. I was being chased by one of the girls while her friends were yelling at her to run faster! Awesome! I'm still hot enough to chase!

Anyway . . . if I had to, I probably could've run 5 miles earlier in the day. But by the time I got home, it being dark and cold and drizzling and a MAJOR case of the glums, I just wasn't feeling it.


Why the glums, you ask?

The daughter is gone :'(

Her mom came down last Friday night from Yuma and took the daughter away for Xmas break on Sunday night. Saturday, I spent the day chauffeuring her and the daughter around taking care of some stuff before she had to head back to Yuma. I was holding up like a champ until her ride arrived Sunday night and my cousin says "Awwww! Your Uncle GD is gonna cry!"

And the daughter looked at me with her crumpled face in tears. Ugh! That broke me. The tears came and we hugged each other for a good minute or so. All the while my cousin (the heartless bitch) was laughing her ass off. Before they got into their ride, I gave my cousin a heartfelt hug and the daughter another long hug.

The daughter later texted me a several minutes after they left that her mom was crying, too. So maybe she isn't such a heartless bitch after all. This Christmas is gonna feel a bit more empty without the brat around . . .

GD

p.s.
too bummed to check. try to run smiley :')

Day 192. 12/12/12

Ooooooh. Supposedly, this is this century's last sequential date.

I call shenanigans.

There hasn't been a TRUE sequential date since the beginning of the Gregorian calendar. I mean, seriously!

January 1st, 1 - 1/1/1
February 2nd, 2 - 2/2/2
March 3rd, 3 - 3/3/3
April 4th, 4 - . . . and so on

You get the picture. After the first twelve years, sequential dates were DONE! If you wanna make a big deal outta the dates, then you can play with the binary stuff.

January 1st, 1 - 01/01/01
January 10th, 1 - 01/10/01
November 11th, 1111 - 11/11/1111
And blah, blah, blah.

When the second millenium began, fun stuff with binary dates was gone, too. I guess you can start playing with other numerology stuff, but the above mentioned ones are the ones that I thought a bit funny when people made a big deal about it.

The whole Mayan prophecy thing, today was one date a lot of people thought marked the end of the world. Others say it's the 21st of this month. Terrence McKenna, one of the new age philosophy gurus thought something significant would occur on the 21st. He "discovered" a pattern throughout history that the Mayan calendar appeared to match up with. Something to do with a 67 year cycle. But I remember reading somewhere that McKenna kinda fudged a date to match up with the Mayan calendar.

McKenna had an "Omega Point" theory. Having something to do with our mental capability increasing to such a high point that it was theoretically infinite. That Omega Point would occur December 21st, 2012. According to his theory though, that point should have occurred sometime in mid-November, which would mark the 67-point-something year cycle. The beginning of that cycle having occurred with the bombing of Hiroshima.

All that aside, there is a lot of things happening in this world. The main reason people take notice though, is that we literally have information at our fingertips. Most of my friends have smartphones. I know of only two hold-outs that adamantly refuse to get anything more than a simple text-capable phone. And they are married to each other. I use my iPhone all the time to look up stuff.

But my friends and I refuse to be like those dumb asses in group settings staring at their phone. Sure we'll take pictures and take calls if necessary, but we will NOT be Facebooking, Instagraming, Tweeting or whatever when we are trying to catch up on each others lives!

If you're one of those people,  STOP IT! You're in a social situation with REAL PEOPLE! Socialize with your friends, meet new people if you want, but get OFF the damn phone!

My brother was one of those guys. He's a kid (relatively speaking) at 23 years old so he's into the whole social media stuff. I won't call it crap, because . . . come on. I'm blogging right now. He wanted to hang out with my friends and I. Cool! We got to the bar ordered some beers and burgers.

Pulls out his phone takes a picture of us, his food and beer. And starts tapping away. Bad move, dude.

My friends gave him so much shit, I almost started to feel bad for him . . . almost. He gave as good as he got, though. Pretty good, considering the smack talk thrown his way. But he got the point. From then on he only took pictures and updated his status' on the ride back home. Lesson learned.

Oh, and the running updates?

Still a bit of a cold. But I hope to be well enough for a good long run (long for me) on Saturday . . . maybe even Sunday.

GD

p.s.
too lazy to check. run smiley :)

Day 190 of blah, blah, blah . . . ugh.

The title has nothing to do with my motivation of keeping up with the running streak. It's to do with this stinkin' flu-turned-to-cold that is lingering like death on battlefield. But I'm fighting off the mother with everything I have. I'm near the end of the hit right now, thank the gods. I've had this thing for the past two weeks and right now, it's just some congestion and a bit of a cough.

And it's all because I gave my brother a ride from work . . . bastard.

About a month back, I had finished my run and had just got home and was about to jump in the shower when my brother called. His girlfriend was at work and he needed a ride from work later that afternoon. I agreed and I had been wanting to hang out with him for a while and asked him if he wanted to go have a beer and a burger. He said he had a cold, but he wanted to go anyway. I didn't think his being sick was a big deal. Oops.

We had a great lunch with some awesome beer at BJ's Brew House. I had their California Burger  with blue cheese crumbles and an Arrogant Bastard . . . or three. My brother, ever the adventurer, got the Bacon Cheeseburger and the AB as well. He was coughing a bit, but nothing major. He just happened to cough in my general direction once in a while. Again, I thought it no biggie.

That weekend I started getting sick. Just a general feeling of . . . blah. By Monday I was bad. Headache, runny nose, cough . . . I think even a slight fever. I left work early and went for a run. That cleared up the headache surprisingly. As well as the sinus issues. Cough worsened though. Dry air and deep breaths would do that. I coughed all night into Tuesday morning. I ended up biting the bullet and hit up the 24-hour Safeway and bought some Nyquil/Dayquil caps.

I attempted to speak to my boss and call in sick in the morning, but my voice was gone. I think he got the point. I crashed out after taking the daughter to school. I didn't wake up again until my alarm went off to go pick up the daughter. We got back home, I took a shower and made her some hamburger-mac-n-cheese. Homemade, even. No boxed stuff for the brat. Real sharp cheddar. Awesome. After giving her dinner, I went for my run.

That's when the single mile streak began.

It wasn't until this week that I began feeling a bit better and probably could have gone for more. But every time I finish a mile and stop, I begin coughing intermittently for a while. I had my first spaz attack a few days ago and again really bad yesterday. A couple of hours later though, I can take deep breaths again with no problems. It's really pissing me off.

I'm hoping by Wednesday I'll be able to start kicking up the miles again. It's sad seeing single digits on my weekly training log.

GD

p.s.
almost too sick to check, just lazy. run smiley :)

Day 183. Six Fuggin' Months!

Holy crap! Six months today!

And unfortunately it'll be a short run of a mile . . . again. For the past week or so, I've been really laid up with a nasty roller-coaster cold. Why roller-coaster? It shifts from being tolerable to horrible within a very short period. AAAAND . . . I had to contend with the weather as well!

When I was feeling good, I had no problem going out in the rain for a run. But being miserable and then having to go out in this miserable weather? Nuh-uh! So I'd wait for a break in the weather and in my cold and go out for my mile. It's been like that all week.

Today I'm feeling a bit better, not as foggy but contending with a bit of a cough and phlegm build-up. No rain, but it's a tad nipply. Usually great conditions for run when feeling well. Not today. I wanted to mark the dianniversary with a 6 mile run. But I guess it'll have to wait a bit. Hopefully this weekend.

If it feels like I'm rambling on, I probably am. Feeling a bit foggy again. Ugh.

GD

p.s.
ugh. run smiley :)