October 2011
59 posts
1 tag
“695.6 km / 432.2 mi”
September 2011
47 posts
1 tag
Mental
I’ve run only 15 km this week. And the past two days have been rest days. And looking at how I’m feeling right now I’m not sure I’ll have the motivation to hit the pavement after work. I think I might just take the rest of this week off and start fresh Sunday.
I’m just not in the right space for running right now. Burnt out with work and life in general lately....
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“You can’t talk yourself into shape. Either you can do it or you...”
– Frank Shorter
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Snail Mail
Snail mail from my friend Sam makes me happy, so glad we’re doing this. Cheers friend, will write back very soon.
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Pride
It’s impossible for you to step outside of yourself and see the look on your face the first time you watched a serious runner pass you by. A more important question though, do you remember the expression of the runner? The determination on their face. The ‘Zen’ or ‘Zone’ of calm that they carried with them. They might have smiled or nodded in your general...
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What is running?
Running is…
Lacing up.
Drinking.
Farting.
Burping.
Having to pee.
Holding it in.
Finding a shrub.
Itching.
Scratching.
Sweating.
Chafing.
Bleeding.
Burning.
Breathing.
Crying.
Groaning.
Wanting.
Regretting.
Smiling.
Laughing.
Screaming.
And then waking up and doing it all over again the next day.
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Sometimes you have to just say ‘Fuck running!’. Yesterday was one of those days. Did some weights and stretches instead, a more indoorsy type of work-out. Sometimes it just has to be done.
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“It’s not about how fast you go. It’s not about how far you go....”
– Amby Burfoot, The Runner’s Guide to the Meaning of Life
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Not Thinking
Running provides many advantages. Two of them being that sometimes I think when I run and sometimes I do not.
Yesterday was the type of day where I needed to NOT. And it worked. I hit the pavement not really wanting to run, over-tired from too many consecutive days of twelve hour shifts. I had a million thoughts, most of which centered around the fact that there aren’t enough hours in the...
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“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
– Aristotle
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Are you drinking TOO much water? →
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5 not 10.
I wanted to run 10 km yesterday and then remembered that I had made plans with a friend to have a movie night. So rather than skip the running all together, I snuck in a quick 5 km run before she showed up. It was awesome!
I had a strong rhythm and my pace was quick and this is going to sound rather silly but I felt very aerodynamic. I felt like I was working with the wind and with...
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“We’re all mutants. What’s more remarkable is how many of us appear...”
– Walter Bishop ~ Fringe
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~
Will attempt a 10 km run this evening after work. It’s getting harder to do this, not with regards to ability, but with regards to motivation/time.
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Book Review
Tom Perrotta’s The Leftovers is a book that I really want to like. It has all of the elements of a book I enjoy, a large cast of characters, an interesting plot, and yet this book for me is a complete fail.
The story is basically as follows: the post rapture - only more secularized. We’re not sure why or if the rapture actually occurred. Though, to be fair it doesn’t really...
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“I’m conscious of every little pain and discomfort, from constipation to a...”
– Fred Lebow
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"Don't ask...."
Lately that has been my response to the question: “How has your half-marathon training been coming along?”
*sigh. “Don’t ask…”
It really hasn’t. Outside of that 15 km run I ran a month and a half ago, I haven’t had the time or the energy to push myself into a longer half-marathon training style run. I’ve been working twelve-hour shifts...
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Nike Lunarglide +2 (Livestrong Edition) Review
It wasn’t a perfect run yesterday but it was a good test run. I’m glad I made the switch to these new shoes. I’m not sure if I’ve been running on the WRONG pair of shoes the past 6 months, just different. I was wearing some trail shoes (also Nike) but at the time it was the right fit. I was doing most of my running on ice/dirt in the winter time. So the added cushioning and...
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Moon Miles #1
So I’m going to start a monthly log of my running distances. And just for fun I’m going to compare those totals with the distance between the earth to the moon. We’ll call this “Moon Miles”.
I’ll be using the following measurement as my standard.
In astronomy, a lunar distance (LD) is a measurement of the distance from the Earth to the Moon. The average...
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Running-Swag Talk
The Running Room is as awesome as I thought it was going to be. And it’s also as expensive as I thought it was going to be. There were some nice Brooks and Sauconys that I was eyeing but at $159+ I was a bit hesitant to just throw my wallet on the counter and say yes. I ended up spending more than I wanted to last night but I also picked up two pairs of shoes instead of the one. So I should...
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Maybe famous.
It’s a bit early but think good thoughts. I may be featured in a Runner’s World magazine interview for weight-loss and running! They can only pick 5 applicants, but I was invited to respond, so that means I have a chance. Either way I’m excited and proud of myself. Here’s hoping. :-)
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Reading - Am & Want
I have a lot on the go and lately I’ve hit a bit of a reading wall. It usually happens once or twice a year, a few weeks will pass and it seems like I’m not making any progress on anything I have.
Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast Trilogy - Book 1 - Titus Groan
Peter F. Hamilton’s - Night’s Dawn Trilogy - Book 1 - The Reality Dysfunction
Clive Barker’s - Books of...
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“Running is a way of life for me, just like brushing my teeth. If I don’t...”
– John A. Kelley
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Rest Day(s)!
TWO REST DAYS in a row! I must be crazy, how will I survive? Easily. My hips are hurting and I also have dinner plans this evening with a friend I haven’t seen for some while. It’s a hard lesson to learn but a mantra easily comes to my mind when I’m feeling out of it, the three ‘R’s: Rest, Recovery, RUNNING! You have to do it in that order for everything to work. So I...
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“There is nothing quite so gentle, deep, and irrational as our running —...”
– Bernd Heinrich Why We Run: A Natural History
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#ConfessionsofaRunner
That guilty feeling you get whenever you drive in your car and see another runner on the road. “They’re running, you’re not. WHY!?” Despite the fact that you may have just finished a 10 km run an hour past. #irrationalRunningFears
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#SeenOnMyRun
Rainbow.*
Fat black squirrel.
Little shit-head kid riding on a motorized Tonka truck. Attempted to race me and subsequently run me over as his older brothers laughed from afar. In case you were wondering. I won.
Black glove. (Ever elusive and resilient. Made it’s first appearance just after last winter, sometime around March. Glove has somehow survived. Not sure if I should be impressed...
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Time
When people find out how frequently I run, they often ask me:
“Where do you get the time?”
The answer to that is very simple. You make time.
The past few weeks I’ve been working non-stop 12 hour shifts, usually from 7 a.m. in the morning to 7 p.m. (often longer). And I’ve still managed to hit the pavement at least 5+ hours a week. I could probably stand to train a bit...
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“When we run, we are already so exposed, often nearly naked in our shorts and...”
– Amby Burfoot
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Awkward
I over-analyze things. It’s something I do. It’s something I ESPECIALLY DO with social situations, like sitting down and having coffee with a friend or a pint with a group of people.
(IN MY MIND)
“Did you just say that out loud? They’re going to think you’re sad and pathetic, even more so.”
“Look at how you’re dressed…clearly you wore the...
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Rest Day.
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...
I hate tumblrs who glorify unhealthy weight loss and exercise. Fake before and after photos. Girls who have stomach shots where their ribs are showing. Don’t really care about that shit. Eat right, exercise, be healthy and happy. Fuck all the rest.
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“my dogs are barking / early morning crazed looks / glory in defeat”
– #runninghaiku
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Autumn
Can you smell it? The leaves, that crisp quality that hangs in the air early in the morning and late in the evening just before the sun sets.
It’s AUTUMN! My favourite season. The colours, the leaves, the SWEATERS! Yes. I’m a big fan of autumn sweaters. The great thing about it is that you can wear sandals, jeans, a shirt and a light sweater and you’re good to go.
It also...
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“I really wish non-runners would find something more clever to yell, other than...”
– IKILLEDIT
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12 in 12 UPDATE
Black Man by Richard Morgan
Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell [FAIL]
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
Less Than Zeroby Bret Easton Ellis
Eating Animalsby Jonathan Safran Foer
Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama REPLACED W/ Inventing Niagara by Ginger Strand [HALF-FAIL]
Mystery of Edwin Drood by...
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“Every time I have a personal or work problem, I go for a run.”
– Fred Lebow
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EXCUSES
I worked my 5th consectuive TWELVE hour shift in a row. (A worker just quit and I’ve been covering her hours all week.)
I have to be back at work at 6:45 a.m. tomorrow morning.
The humidity was at 82%
It was dark.
My shoes are starting to wear out.
All my good running gear is dirty.
I missed my lunch. (Can you say starving?)
There are a million excuses NOT to run, there’s...
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“I dont wanna change but i dont wanna stay the same / i dont wanna go but im...”
– Kurt Vile, - I’ve used this quote before but it still applies. This is how I feel right now. blurgh.
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Two Weeks
In two weeks I’ll be heading to Dallas, TX to reconnect with my past. I spent 18 years in Dallas, TX. I’ve only been back once for my cousin’s wedding and that was in 2001. So it’s been at least 10 years since I last visited my home-town. On the one hand I’m super-excited to hang with my cousins and all of my aunts & uncles, yet I’m feeling a bit weird about...
