A Perfect Storm

I have been so unmotivated the last few months which has led me to blog less. Between work, work, and family situations I have been less than inclined to workout and blog. I know, I know working out reduces stress, makes you feel better, and even gives you a clean shiny coat. However, I was just in a funk. I thought about working out--I laid my workout clothes out at night, I set my alarm clock, and then I looked for excuses.

I did get a few runs and few swims; and I felt so much better on those days. However, it did not last. I set myself back in vicious circle. I ate poorly, I gained weight and planned on working out tomorrow. "What's one more day?" I would ask myself.

This weekend I had the perfect storm to motivate me. First of all, I did not do the 10 mile race on Sunday. I wimped out. Not running the race was not the wimpy thing. The wimpy thing was not preparing for the race. I ran from the challenge. I did not stay strong and do what I needed in order to keep myself healthy and prepare for the race.

The second thing that occurred was watching the news on Monday and watching the panic in the streets of NYC because of the Airforce One flyover. My first thought was "what a bunch of wimps and losers." How can anyone panic to that extent over this? Are Americans really that weak? Then it hit me!!!! I have been weak. I haven't overcome my hesitation (fear?) of working out. I have allowed emotions to over come good sense. I don't deal well in emotion; I prefer facts and logic because emotion tends to get me in trouble. I make bad decisions. This situation just reinforces that fact.

And as a disclaimer, I do think it was dumb to do a fly-by in downtown NYC without informing the population.

Smart Idea or Just a Wimp?

Bottom Line Up Front -- Did not run the GW Parkway 10 miler on Sunday.

My overall training this year has been less than ideal and my body was not really ready for a hot 10 mile run. However, I knew I could suffer through it--IF I did everything right the day prior to the run. So Saturday I was up early, eating properly, hydrating and doing the right things to suffer.

Saturday was also a birthday party for the bride. We surprised her by her sister flying in from Chicago and I presented her with a Dell Mini Computer. Both of which were big hits.

Saturday night we had dinner for her at a friend's house and that devolved into more alchohol and more food than I had intented. I also stayed up much later than orginally planned. Dinner was not served until after 9pm (which is late for me--so go ahead and laugh).

I woke up at 5 am to get ready for the race and I felt the red wine hitting me (one glass). I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast and then stick my head outside. It was humid and 70 (Friday mornings run was high 30s). At this point I made the decision to go back to bed and put off the race. With my physical state, the state of my training, and not having run in any hot/humid conditions I decided that I would hurt myself more by attempting this race. About 930 I did get out and ran for 35 minutes. This short run HURT, but I did sweat out the toxins.

So my question is -- Did I wimp out or was this a smart move?

Woefully Un-Prepared

Have you ever felt unprepared for a race? I don’t mean the normal “I tapered too long or did I train enough” that we all subject ourselves too. I mean, I haven’t run more than 5 miles at any one time in months and I am signed up for a 10 miler on Sunday. I am just hoping to finish the race and be able to walk on Monday.

Things the last month have just been so busy, but productive at work. We completed release 1.0 of our system for the Army on time and on budget. We are currently working on some minor enhancements for release 1.1 and working hard on release 2.0. It is great to be working on a project that is well run, fun, and meaningful.
In my other job, the unit is preparing to head to the rifle range next weekend for our yearly marksmanship training. For those of us deploying overseas this will be the crawl phase of the typical crawl, walk, run method the Army uses in training. I am looking forward to it—I like to shoot.

For the rest of the summer I just need better time management and motivation. I have not had the motivation to get my lazy butt out of bed and workout. Those first 3 minutes after the alarm goes off is just torture. However, at the completion of my workout I feel so good and energized. As I was changing channels last night I did catch two Ironman races on Universal Sports. That was very motivational. Maybe I just need to DVR everyone that comes on for my motivation.

Finally, we are having the Bride’s birthday party this weekend at a friend’s house. I have a couple of good surprises for her, that I will not share here just in case she reads this. The big present for her big four-oh bday is going to Hawaii in a couple of weeks. I wonder what I am going to get when I turn 40?

To everyone racing this weekend. Good luck!!!! I hope you are better prepared than I am.

Weekend Update

Saturday dawned cool and bright. For those running the National Marathon it was a perfect day. I was sad that my training (or lack of) did not allow me to be ready for the National Half. But it is time to get ready for my PT test in April and then for the GW Parkway 10 miler at the end of April. Running buddy and I did about 5.5 miles in the cool air. Running Buddy’s predecessor was in the neighborhood house sitting and ran with us. The family he was house sitting for has a dog that looks like a big fat sausage with legs and she ran with us. She made it the entire route and was not worn out. I wish I could look like a sausage with legs and be able to run like that.

Saturday night was a night of wine, pasta and Rocky. The Bride made a very tasty dish of baked ziti for some friends of ours. After dinner and basketball we all watched Rocky. One of friends had never seen the movie. How can anyone be over 40 and never have seen Rocky.


Sunday morning after breakfast we headed out the super pet expo at the Dulles Expo Center. We never made it inside because we could not find a parking space. I don’t wait in a line to eat much less see jumping dogs. So we headed over to the Manassas Battlefield Park. My nephew is studying the War of Northern Aggression and he has chosen his historical figure to be Stonewall Jackson. What better place to get him information on BG Thomas J. Jackson than the place where he earned his nickname.

As usual the National Park Service volunteers and Rangers provided great information. The walk we were a part of was the history of the First Battle of Manassas. Below are some photos I took during the afternoon:


As a former Artilleryman, I just love cannons.

Finally, my question for this post. How do you deal with people who (yourself included) who allow emotions to over come logic? Feelings can be based upon false premises and causes you to have invalid emotional responses. Comments.....

Confusion and a Plea for Help

I was up before the alarm this morning. I enjoy waking prior to that incessant beeping as long as it is less than 30 minutes prior to normal wakeup. Today it was about 5 minutes prior, so I was up and moving at 0445. However, I noticed the wife was not in the bed with me. I apparently snored her out and she went in the guest room after failing to wake me. Whoops. I am sorry.

Running Buddy and I started off on what we call the “long loop” and cut it short so that we could stop at the track and do quarter mile repeats. Today was not a day to time our repeats. We just added on 2x400m to our normal route, but still ram them hard. Needless to say after less than pleasurable day of kicking yesterday, my legs were very heavy. That half mile sucked, but it felt good to blow out the engine some too. The total run today was 5.2 miles in about 53 minutes. But that included some walking due to the sprints.

Now I have two pleas for help. Someone please explain The Housewives of NYC to me. They are the most annoying, narcissistic, childish, and over all disgusting women I think I have ever seen on TV. How is this popular? And number two—Help me get some more followers. I am feeling lonely. LOL

Tonight is a walk with the wife and then dinner with some friends and back in the pool on Thursday.