Today's Inspiration

Here's my pup, Maggie. I'm still trying to snap a great shot of her outside, but for now, this will do just fine. I'm not sure if this picture was taken before or after she dined out of the cat litter box. Either way, it's priceless.

30 Minutes

Got home from work about 7:15pm, went out for a short run, came back home to go grocery shopping, then went back to work for a little while. Busy, busy, busy. The run was great--cleared out my head and relaxed me a great deal.

As for my new running partner... I haven't had time to put the pictures on my computer and upload them yet, but she is adorable. She's a 1 year old pup from the animal shelter, a black lab/german shepard mix--52 pounds of pure energy waiting to go running with me. She still needs to heal completely from the spaying surgery, but after that I'll start to get her, and myself, into top form.

For now, though, it's a 45 minute walk every morning.

I also want to note more new running blogs (to me, at least), Born-Again Runner and Running In Place.

Stats
Place: Round Hill
Time: 30:00
Heart Rate: n/a

Here's the Deal

I've been a lot busier at work for the last couple weeks. Essentially, I am performing work on two contracts--which requires a little overtime. Running has been difficult, though not entirely impossible. I've been able to squeeze in very short runs, but not the longer ones. The hour-and-a-half commute I suck up to and from work hasn't helped, either. A light is at the end of the tunnel--when one of the contracts runs out on May 15, I get to work closer to home with a half-hour commute. That will give me 2 hours of my life back per day! This means I should never miss a run and can probably start running in the mornings.

I'll have a surpirse later this weekend, maybe later today, as I expect to announce my new running partner.

Wow, how fast things change. In my absence, the following new running blogs popped up: Running Chick with the Orange Hat, GFRunBlog, McRunner, Mark, Aaron, and Lesley. Congratulations!

60 Minutes

I left work early today feeling totally beat. Fortunately, the bus ride back to my car was a little longer than usual due to heavy traffic, so I was able to get in a nice nap. Still, though, when I got home I was tired and running was the farthest thing from my mind. But a persistent little voice kept telling me to just get out there and take advantage of the beautiful weather. So I lugged myself upstairs and changed into some shorts and laced up. Before I had a chance to second guess anything I was 15 minutes into my run and energy came back to me. This run was particularly needed. I had a lot of work malaise and crap running through my mind that I just needed to clear out. Midway through the run, my mind emptied and I just enjoyed the feeling of my feet pushing off the dirt road. The grass is getting a lot greener now and spring is nearing full bloom. I was content to just let the run be without striving or straining. My legs felt heavy from yesterday's run, so coasting was just fine with me. And it paid off. I returned home, stretched, poured a glass of gatorade, made a sandwich and flopped in a lawn chair and enjoyed a little quiet time, totally relaxed.

Stats
Place: Round Hill
Time: 60:00
Heart Rate: n/a

Today's Inspiration

Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another. --John Dewey

And such is spring for me. With winter behind me, I accomplished one important goal: I slugged it out in cold weather, winds, and buying/fixing an old house. I am still running and in reasonable shape. Life is good, but can be even better. Spring is probably the biggest season for to-do lists. The world seems wide open with the endless opportunity of outdoor adventure. For some, it's a top-ten list for landscaping the yard. For others, it's home improvements. Then there are those who want to see as much of the landscape as possible--runners, hikers, and bikers. As the weather gets warmer, my list gets longer. It's already long enough to stretch into next year's spring. Lists are inevitable in the world of chores and I-really-shoulds. Running, for me, needs to be more straightforward, more simplified. I can't balance a complex series of goals and regimens. So I have two goals. First is to complete a half-marathon. Next is to still be running when winter snaps. Of course, there are other goals of dropping times, getting faster, and getting stronger. As I see it, though, focusing on the first two will make the others possible.

60 Minutes

The weather warmed up today, or rather the excessive winds died down. It was about 60 degrees with slight winds when I started out. I ran an out-and-back on Yatton Rd. and then a loop through the Villages, returning on Woodgrove Rd. The run lasted an hour, with three pickups: one for 12 minutes and two for 6 minutes. The rest of the run was much slower--maybe 9:30 pace. I felt pretty good throughout the run, though my left achilles felt a little sore towards the end. At the time of this post, my achilles feels fine, so it's probably no big deal.

I'm trying to work myself up to double digit runs in the next few weeks to prepare for some longer hikes. The next big milestone is the Maryland Challenge (40.5 miles) with my brother in June. I'm a little nervous about covering that distance in one shot. The challenge is to finish in 24 hours, but at this point I can't imagine standing up for that long without hallucinating. Still, I'm looking forward to it. I think the hiking I do in the meantime on the AT will make for some great cross training.

Stats
Place: Round Hill
Time: 60:00
Heart Rate: n/a

Appreciation

I want to take the opportunity to say: Thank You.

Blogs are a new forum for folks to discuss things that matter to them. I am the only person in my circle of friends and family that see the importance of blogs. Largely they see this as either my latest fad or another of my lifetime eccentricities. I view the matter differently. This running blog presents important advantages to me. First, it helps me keep track of my progress, or lack thereof. Second, it opens my passion for running to a larger audience that will (1) provide me with encouragement to keep on keeping on and (2) levy constructive criticism on my running "beliefs." It all keeps me on track; it all helps me to improve. For that reason I thank all of you. I don't proclaim to be an expert, but I do freely admit that I love running and I love the running community. The last few weeks have been tremendous--I have found so many people who not only love running, but also care enough to blog about it. By blogging, we put our best (and worst) foot forward. We truly find how running fits into, and disrupts, our lives. Most of us will never place first in a race, but it is the personal challenge we document in our blogs--it is the small triumphs we document, like squeezing in a run around grocery shopping or work or marriages. Together, we help each other figure it all out.

So I raise a toast to everyone out there who hears me in absolute appreciation of what they are doing for themselves and for me.

Thanks.

Today's Inspiration

Seriously, I need it. Spring is definitely here, well maybe, but definitely not the way I like it. Tuesday: rain. Wednesday: very cloudy / rain. Today: drizzle. You get the idea. I've been camping out indoors. I worked from home yesterday and fully expected to fit in a run, but I actually spent the entire day working. By the time I was finished, my wife got home and it was time to head out to dinner before going to the Austin Lounge Lizards' concert at the Wolftrap Barns. No running for me. The entire concert, I couldn't keep my legs still, as if they were undergoing withdrawal. Great concert, though. I didn’t stop laughing.

On another note, I bought a home gym. Nothing fancy. A $28 rig that fits to a standard door. It’s resistance-based with something like bungee cords. It’s pretty effective for arms and chest (at least for me), but it sucks for abs and legs. It’s an okay workout for my back. Of course, the door to our garage it not standard, so I had to nail a piece of wood over the door frame to “extend” the door height. Definitely a bargain.