Monday's "run"-
Sunday night mother nature blessed us with enough rain to cause some minor flooding, all the while it's raining I was actually thinking..."I hope this stops before morning, I really need to run." I don't know who has kidnapped my thoughts and made them think such things but I wish it would stop.
Monday morning rolls around and I have the feeling that I will not be able to run in the TC due to mud, so I was brainstorming of alternate places to run. Heaven forbid that I just run down the street like a normal person (as we have discussed there are too many avenues to failure when I do that). So, I first decided to go run out by the fairgrounds...little gravel road with a river near by...perfect. As I pulled up I noticed 20-27 campers and tents, this just won't due. An audience is just not necessary. I decided to head to the area right beside the TC, thinking that early in the morning it would be virtually uninhabited...which it was. I took off running on a gravel trail heading east. I did not have the tree proteciton that I like, but there were no spectators so I was ok with the situation. It was a nice overcast morning, actually kind of cool out, LeKyte was having a relatively good running day and I was oblivious to the world.
About 10 minutes into my run I came to the end of the trail which was perfect timing, turn around 10 minutes back and I'm back at the car. I was in amazement as to how well things were going. I said to myself, I said self..."today is really your day!"
As I turned to head back west I realized that today was infact not my day. The sky had a beautiful blue-green tint the wind had picked up to what I'm estimating 48 mph. No wonder I was running with such ease while headed east, I had a 48 mph wind at my back. Which at this point had became a head wind...awesome. The thunder and lightening kicked it up a notch, just to ensure that LeKyte would completely shat her puppy pants...oh wait...yessss, the rain...bring on the rain. Even better, it's sideways rain coming from the west. Double score! Naturally I'm trying to get to the car ASAP, while mother nature is bitch slapping me in the face the entire way.
LeKyte is terrified of storms and is quite insistant on the fact that I hold her. I could not think of anything I wanted to do more at that time. If I was to make a list of things to make this whole process easier, holding my 32 lb. dog while running would have been in the top 5. So, lets review what exactly is going on here shall we?
1. 10 minutes away from my car.
2. 50-60 mph head wind (i found out the actual speed when i finally got to the car and turned ont he radio)
3. sideways rain
4. carrying a 32 lb. puppy who is terrified of storms and flipping out
5. 10 minutes away from the car
6. I don't really care for running
7. thunder and lightening
So, naturally one thinks I had the only logical thought for a time like this..."things could not get any worse". You know who's funny? Mother Nature. She is a pistol! She obviously enjoying the show I was putting on decided to kick it up a notch and said *BAM* (i'm convinced that she does the "bam" thing in an Emeril esq fashion). At this point I actually laugh to out loud and say "seriously, hail...really? Coooome ooooonnnn!" Yep, it started hailing a scoach. We aren't talking like watermelon sized hail here or even softball sized hail. In fact some people would maybe have not noticed that it even happened, however those people were not running in it.
Touche Mother Nature, touche.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Running is soooo much fun!
Tuesday sparked a whole new week of workouts which I often look forward to, except this time there was a lot to remember. I looked at the C25K printout while in route to TC. I read it, re-read it, and re-read it again. Thinking to myself, 'how the hell am I going to remember all of these intervals, sing to the music, herd my dog, watch out for the python that is allegedly scampering about the TC area (yes, I beleive that pythons scamper), tug my shorts out of my crotch, and daydream of smoking & drinking.' I clearly had a lot on my plate here, so I did the only logical thing I could do. I wrote the interval times on my watch hand. Genius!
I set out on the warm-up trek, it was a little muddy due to the rain from the night before. My immediate thought about the muddy conditions was 'ugh, this mud is going to cake on the bottom of my feet and make it harder to run. This is just what I needed, I may as well be running in quick sand.' Nevertheless, I picked up the pace. I'm not going to lie, severl times I envisioned my own death during the first 12 minutes of the workout and I was ok with each scenerio, because if I was dead I was no longer running. Running is hard. At this point the interval cheat sheet that I had written on my hand had become a sweaty ink swirl that refused to be decoded. Unfortunately, I knew what the last two times were because I had been dreading them from the start. I had just glanced at my watch 17:34 - almost done, just keep moving. Then it happened....CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP. I quickly scanned the area because I was certain that somebody had shot me. Just below the calf and right above the heel. OOOUUUCCHHH!!! Are you kidding me 2.5 minutes from finishing and a cramp??? I decided to not be a nani and started to jog...CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP...I slowed back to a walk, with what was posibally an over-exaggerated limp for about 10 feet...and I again decided to stop being a nani and started to job...CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP....I could feel all of my tendons balling up, I was 97.6318% sure that I had snapped my achilles in a million pieces. Defeated, I walked to the car and left. This is the first workout that I was unable to complete. As the day progressed the cramp decided to hang around, take your leg cramp to work day it became. I recalled in the evening that booze is usually good for that sort of thing. So, I drank...a lot. My leg cramp is still here today. If it sticks around much longer I'm going to name it.
I set out on the warm-up trek, it was a little muddy due to the rain from the night before. My immediate thought about the muddy conditions was 'ugh, this mud is going to cake on the bottom of my feet and make it harder to run. This is just what I needed, I may as well be running in quick sand.' Nevertheless, I picked up the pace. I'm not going to lie, severl times I envisioned my own death during the first 12 minutes of the workout and I was ok with each scenerio, because if I was dead I was no longer running. Running is hard. At this point the interval cheat sheet that I had written on my hand had become a sweaty ink swirl that refused to be decoded. Unfortunately, I knew what the last two times were because I had been dreading them from the start. I had just glanced at my watch 17:34 - almost done, just keep moving. Then it happened....CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP. I quickly scanned the area because I was certain that somebody had shot me. Just below the calf and right above the heel. OOOUUUCCHHH!!! Are you kidding me 2.5 minutes from finishing and a cramp??? I decided to not be a nani and started to jog...CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP...I slowed back to a walk, with what was posibally an over-exaggerated limp for about 10 feet...and I again decided to stop being a nani and started to job...CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP....I could feel all of my tendons balling up, I was 97.6318% sure that I had snapped my achilles in a million pieces. Defeated, I walked to the car and left. This is the first workout that I was unable to complete. As the day progressed the cramp decided to hang around, take your leg cramp to work day it became. I recalled in the evening that booze is usually good for that sort of thing. So, I drank...a lot. My leg cramp is still here today. If it sticks around much longer I'm going to name it.
Friday, August 7, 2009
they see me rollin'...they hatin'
Wednesday morning's jaunt:
Apparently it was my birthday Tuesday night. Why is it that I can not socalize at a birthday gathering without drinking like its my own 21st birthday? This concerned me about Wednesday's run. I woke up in Stillwater groggy & functioning on about 17% lung capacity. I figured that I needed to walk the pup so I might as well run...cough, weeze, cough, weeeeeeze.
I find that I immediately get nervous when not running in the secure confines of the TC. Many of the success factors that I count on are absent when forced to 'neighborhood run'.
1. LeKyte is forced to be on a leash, its like resistance training. I feel like I spend the majority of the time pulling her because she has gotten distracted by a bird or plastic bag. I do not need an extra 30 lbs in tow. Might as well strap a freaking parachute to my back. TC = no leash and none of this is an issue. This becomes tiresome quickly.
2. The thigh problem. Sure they rub together causing the shorts to creep upward. However when we are running through the woods of TC nobody can see, so who cares. In public I spend a good portion of the time tugging at my shorts & commanding them to stay. This extra activity is tiresome.
3. Who put a hill there? In TC I know when the inclines are comingand have mapped\timed out the course to where I hit them on the descent every time. Did you know city streets can incline for blocks upon end? I do not have a pre-planned route for this. This is tiresome.
4. When in public & Im yelling at my dog to 'GO' rather than dance in front of my feet, people tend to stare.
Nevertheless, we battled the odds and completed the workout.
Friday's workout:
Again I am forced to run out of my comfort zone. Today's venue was the beautiful Prague Park.
However, I do not want to tell you about today's run. Instead I have a question for you...who the hell gave some people the right to decided who can be a runner or not & why do those people feel the need to give you a disapproving head shake because they just don't think your runner material?
Everyone has encountered the pompus runner before, they have no problem identifying themselves to you. They wear their last marathon shirt as if its a badge of honor and anytime running is mentioned they feel the need to top the mileage you last ran. Now don't get me wrong, I will rock the shit out of my first 5K t-shirt. Hell, I may even shadowbox it, but only in a 'yea I can't believe it myself sort of way'.
I encountered the popmus runner last night. When he over heard my conversation about running he inquired about what kind of race. I replied a 5K. It was obvious that a 5K just wasn't up to his standards. Perhaps, he even ran to the bar and if not he for sure ran farther than that for a warm-up that very day. I laugh because I was immediately offended...don't judge me because I have a social life and would rather hang out & drink than run, who made you the king of running, I bet you had to start somewhere pal, people like me better than you, why don't you take your half-marathon and shove it up your ass bucko, shake your head at me one more time like you think the 5K will never happen and I will break your shit off, I bet you couldnt smoke as much as I do and still run probably have fresh pink lungs - panzy....these are some of the thoughts that ran rampant through my head.
I walked away knowing one thing for sure, I could totally out drink this douch and that's what really important.
Apparently it was my birthday Tuesday night. Why is it that I can not socalize at a birthday gathering without drinking like its my own 21st birthday? This concerned me about Wednesday's run. I woke up in Stillwater groggy & functioning on about 17% lung capacity. I figured that I needed to walk the pup so I might as well run...cough, weeze, cough, weeeeeeze.
I find that I immediately get nervous when not running in the secure confines of the TC. Many of the success factors that I count on are absent when forced to 'neighborhood run'.
1. LeKyte is forced to be on a leash, its like resistance training. I feel like I spend the majority of the time pulling her because she has gotten distracted by a bird or plastic bag. I do not need an extra 30 lbs in tow. Might as well strap a freaking parachute to my back. TC = no leash and none of this is an issue. This becomes tiresome quickly.
2. The thigh problem. Sure they rub together causing the shorts to creep upward. However when we are running through the woods of TC nobody can see, so who cares. In public I spend a good portion of the time tugging at my shorts & commanding them to stay. This extra activity is tiresome.
3. Who put a hill there? In TC I know when the inclines are comingand have mapped\timed out the course to where I hit them on the descent every time. Did you know city streets can incline for blocks upon end? I do not have a pre-planned route for this. This is tiresome.
4. When in public & Im yelling at my dog to 'GO' rather than dance in front of my feet, people tend to stare.
Nevertheless, we battled the odds and completed the workout.
Friday's workout:
Again I am forced to run out of my comfort zone. Today's venue was the beautiful Prague Park.
However, I do not want to tell you about today's run. Instead I have a question for you...who the hell gave some people the right to decided who can be a runner or not & why do those people feel the need to give you a disapproving head shake because they just don't think your runner material?
Everyone has encountered the pompus runner before, they have no problem identifying themselves to you. They wear their last marathon shirt as if its a badge of honor and anytime running is mentioned they feel the need to top the mileage you last ran. Now don't get me wrong, I will rock the shit out of my first 5K t-shirt. Hell, I may even shadowbox it, but only in a 'yea I can't believe it myself sort of way'.
I encountered the popmus runner last night. When he over heard my conversation about running he inquired about what kind of race. I replied a 5K. It was obvious that a 5K just wasn't up to his standards. Perhaps, he even ran to the bar and if not he for sure ran farther than that for a warm-up that very day. I laugh because I was immediately offended...don't judge me because I have a social life and would rather hang out & drink than run, who made you the king of running, I bet you had to start somewhere pal, people like me better than you, why don't you take your half-marathon and shove it up your ass bucko, shake your head at me one more time like you think the 5K will never happen and I will break your shit off, I bet you couldnt smoke as much as I do and still run probably have fresh pink lungs - panzy....these are some of the thoughts that ran rampant through my head.
I walked away knowing one thing for sure, I could totally out drink this douch and that's what really important.
Monday, August 3, 2009
feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme
Today the C25K workout kicked it up another notch. I was thankful for this, it was just becoming way too easy. Many people ask me, do you listen to your IPod when you run? Here's the deal, I don't IPod. I don't even know if I'm capitalizing the right letters in IpOd..who knows it's too fancy for me. I like the idea of listening to music rather than my own heavy breathing while I run, but I'm just not ready to make that kind of financial investment into running. I had a hard enough time springing for the $15.98 Dr. Scholls inserts for my running shoes. I just don't know how long this phase of "I'm a runner" is going to last. However, I digress, this morning as LeKyte and I got into the car to head out to TC I noticed an ear piece in the little compartment on my driver's side door. Oh snap, I got an M3P thingy for Christmas a couple years ago. Now, I know these are nowhere as cool as the iPoD, but it holds music and is smaller than a walkman. I have used the M3P player maybe 4 or 5 times (which again tells me not to buy an ipoD) and was overly excited at what music was going to be carrying my through my run. I also feel that I need to tell you that I strongly dislike those ear pieces that you are meant to shove into the deep abyss of your eardrum. I like the old school ones, they are non-invasive, keep your ears warm on a cold day and look pretty darn cool if I do say so myself. As I'm doing my little warm-up walk I with great anticipation of the hits I'm about tot hear hit play and was greeted by the lovely voice of Carrie Underwood. What a nice starter song I thought to myself. I reached down to hit my stopwatch to being the run, and with perfect timing 2Live Crew comes through the speakers with the classic "me so horney". Seriously, I challenge you to think of a better first leg of the race song. After that I was hit with Violent Femes - Blister In The Sun, Pussy Cat Dolls - Buttons, Dixie Chicks - Long Way Around, Phish - Gin & Juice and finished up to Black Eyed Peas - My Humps. Holy Shit!!!!...Running has never been so easy. I'm also quite curious as to who the heck put this music on the M3P thingy....we all know that I am technologically challenged.
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