Soul ran the Hot Chocolate 15k and it was great.

Yesterday was the Chicago Hot Chocolate 15k. I swore after running it last year that I wouldn't run it this year. But...they lured me in by offering a medal...that is all I want now, medals and a fun run. However, this year around I got a dedicated timing corral. I was in the 2nd corral to start which was amazing because I hate standing around for 30-45 waiting on the race to start. It was pretty cold.

So it was my first run in a little over 2 weeks. I am very glad that I waited those 2 weeks to let my calf fully heal up. I had zero problems with it throughout the entire race, which left me very happy. However, I am super sore today in the rest of my legs, but

nothing serious. Figure I am going to take a few days off to let everything heal up and then I will get back out there. I miss running with Billy and I know he is missing his morning adventures. I started with a sweatshirt that I thought I was going to take off during the run once I warmed up, but around mile 6 I was super glad that I left it on as it was pretty chilly. After the run I had to wait in a line of at least 120 people to get to gear check. My body temp plummeted and I went home before I even got my chocolate reward. I feel kinda bad because my gf finished the 5k not long after I left...but I just needed to get to a warm place and get my body temp up. Next year I will make sure to have one of those foil blankets to trap body heat. no doubt.

My watch gave me a 9:26 pace, but the timing chip game me a 10:06 pace, which is probably correct. Overall I finished 1:34 chip time, 1:38 gun time. So hooray! I ran the entire time, I had a great time, and I got a medal with a smile on my face. I just enjoyed the run and the sights.

Knot in my calf the size of a golf ball

So for the last few weeks I have had some issues with my left calf. Nothing too major. It gets tight after a run, but I stretch it out and am good to go. It might be sore for the first 0.5 mile but then it loosens up and I dont feel anything.

Fast forward to Monday night. I did an easy 4. After I got home and stretched and cooled down and showered I noticed that it was difficult to put pressure on my left leg. I tried to massage it to find the trigger point, but without luck. Yesterday (tuesday) at work I massaged and rubbed and massaged and stretched and rubbed and finally the bugger rose to the surface...holy shit, it is pretty big. Ive never experienced something like this before. It is kinda exciting in a masochistic kind of way.

Slept with a heating pad last night o try to loosen it up. Sitting at my desk now rubbing and stretching. Hopefully this thing will subside before the Hot Chocolate in November. If not...Im going to be limping like a mother for a few days after the race.

I think I need to schedule a sports massage and hopefully they can work out the knot.

Nike customer support was awesome. I finally got in a run and made some bagels

A little over 2 weeks ago my Nike+ GPS Sportswatch band started to tear/separate from where the computer connector is. Bummer. I really like this watch. I decided to shoot Nike an e-mail and see what they could do. They said that since I bought it within the next year that they will replace it for free. Score! It was super painless and the lady I spoke with on the phone was American. That is a big deal to me. So kudos to Nike for not outsourcing their customer service phone numbers. They received my watch and are going to issue me a voucher to re-purchase a new one from their website. I kind of wish they would just send me a new one, but whatever. It is what it is and I am satisfied.

I got out for a run after work yesterday and it was glorious. I haven't laced them up in almost 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS! I don't know why, I think maybe my brain/body needed a solid break after recovering from the calf injury.  It was worth it. I felt light as air. I did under 4 miles because the president was in town and janked up my normal route. Whatever, it was still a great time. I missed it and my mental health really needed it. Big time. 

Sunday....so I think I am done rooting for the Bears this season. Cutler is just so off and on it makes it hard to watch. So, instead of watching I decided to bake bagels and Italian bread! I had never made either before but I love baking bread. I think everything turned out amazing.

Over a week...

So it has been over a week since my last run. My calf finally feels 100% and I have been stretching out to stay limber. However, I currently have no motivation to go run. I know I have a 15k coming up in a month...but I just dont really care. Hopefully Ill get in a run once the rain lets up and that will re-motivate me. It is too early in the season to stop running.

Dude with exact stride cadence blew past me the other day...why?

Am I missing something? I was on a run with Billy a few days ago and on the tail end of my run there was this guy who I heard coming up behind Billy and I. I could hear his footfalls and I realized that they were falling at the exact same time mine were. The guy caught up to us and quickly passed and put distance between us. I watched his feet and it was like we were mirror images in terms of footfall.....why was he so much faster than me? Is it stride length or something?...I want to run that fast.

Nagging injury

The last week or so I have been dealing with some lingering leg pain. I am going to take the rest of the week off and hopefully get out there on Saturday or Sunday. Im not sure exactly what the deal is other than my calf is sore..probably a strain...and my knee is sore...probably from lack of stretching or something. So for the rest of the week I am going to focus on limbering the fuck up. Im pretty flexible, but I need to really work on making my muscles longer.

It is getting cold and I have had to switch my running routine to after work, which I am not a fan of. I prefer to run first thing in the morning and get it out of the way. Running after work is fine, I just have to pay more attention to the food that I eat. Meaning I cant get a slice of pizza for lunch anymore. I also have to watch my coffee intake.

I do believe that soon I am going to be relegated to the gym dreadmill. Oh well, at least it will take some stress off of my joints for a few months. I really really really do not want to put on that winter 15lbs this year. It takes me all summer to burn that back off. That is my goal!

Chris Pratt, Hockey, Paint, and a good run

Chris Pratt hosted SNL this weekend. I love that guy. He gives fat guys a good name. Well...not really fat...but man sized. There are so many Hollywood actors with the frame of women so it is great to finally see a movie star that is pined after by the vaginal society, but is also the proper size for a man. So hooray for hopefully changing stereotypes. 

So last week the GF and I went to 2 Hawks game. They are so much fun to go to and I love live Hockey. the game is so fast paced and tough. Football keeps getting boringer...more boring....every year with the additional rules and replays and all the scandals. Other than the Bears and maybe the playoffs, I am not going to watch much football. It is just becoming too boring for me.


Since we finally got rid of our weirdo roommate, we are turning the other bedroom into a study, which I am very excited about. I was able to bring my electric piano out of the closet, which makes me very happy because I love playing it. We are in the process of painting the room a really light grey and a burnt orange. I think it is going to look really good once it is finished. This morning the GF said she would finish the entire room because I took the dogs out this morning... haha, we will see how true that is.

I had a good run this morning with Billy. We did 4 solid miles. I really need to up my morning runs to 5 miles, but getting up pre-6am isn't something that I really want to do. I don't want to cross that threshold into that time frame. I already get up early enough. I don't need a 5:55 wake-up call. 6:06am is good enough for me. So for now, I am going to stick to 4 miles.

So I was supposed to review a product. Some kind of new energy drink powder stuff...I sent the company my address and information almost a month ago, and then this weekend they asked me if I still wanted to review the stuff....come on now, get your act together. You said you would get it out to me over a month ago, and then you didn't get it out at all. Plus you signed me up for e-mail spam. I don't want to review the product anymore because I already have a bias against it. I am very schedule oriented and if you can't keep to the schedule you lay out, I lose interest immediately.

A dick joke, Bi-polar awareness, pre-dawn runs, Jack Reacher & The Maze Runner

Q: What happened to the chinese man who walked into a wall with a boner? 

A: He smashed his his nose.

Always lead with a joke. 

So bi-polar awareness. I am trying to be a little more out spoken about being bipolar. Normally I keep it to myself and just let people judge me as some weirdo...but lately I have been telling people I am bipolar. Now a lot of people say they are...but if you have never experienced a rapid cycling, then you have no idea how painful it is. Imagine being on a roller coaster with no lap bar to keep you in. You go up and down and up and down and you have zero control of it. You just try to hang on for dear life and hope that it ends soon. My episodes sometimes last for days, other times they only last minutes. It's a feeling like wanting to cry, masturbate, laugh manically at everything, and wanting to run a marathon at the same time. It sounds fun, but it is very scary. I have a long history of suicidal thoughts and part of the reason I run is because it calms me down. It is not my therapy, it is part of my medication. A small cog to the whole machine. I had a rapid cycling episode yesterday...it wasnt pretty...but then I started to play the piano and smoke a little and it all went away. Pot is wonderful. I am on actual medication also, but it doesn't always work as it needs to. Some days I am a zombie and other days I feel nothing.

Pre-dawn runs are difficutl for me. I forced myself up and onto the road this morning with Billy, but it is just so hard to go outside when it is still dark out. I hate running in my normal glasses and I cant see anything if I dont run with some kind of glasses. I need to get online and order a pair of prescription glasses that change color. Maybe I will do that today. 

I have been reading quite a bit lately. I have burned through 4 books in a little over a week. I tried to read one Jack Reacher novel, and I just couldn't do it. It was so predictable and boring. The plot line had been done a million times before. Picture this...gritty wanderer who is ex military comes into a town and his first decision is always correct and he solves a crime because he is outside the law and doesn't have to follow procedure so he can get rough with people and kill people and he gets the hot girl and they bang all the time....sound familiar? No thanks.

The gf and I went to see the Maze Runner this past weekend. It actually wasn't too bad. It looked cool. The storyline was pretty far fetched, but it was original kind of. The movie 100% ended to set up a sequel, which is fine. I will probably go see the next one also.

Brookfield Zoo 5k...not a run Id do again.

So yesterday was the Brookfield Zoo RunRun, or whatever they call it. This is the one that my work paid for and they paid for the "fun run" portion.
There were so many kids and strollers that there was literally no point in trying to run. I would have been dodging and bobbing and weaving around people the entire run...and I hate runs like that.  I just feel like I accomplish nothing.
My buddy from work ran it as well and he said the same thing even though he was running the entire time. He covered almost 4 miles in a 3.1 race. That is how much zigzagging was needed.

Today is my 2 year anniversary with my gf. It is pretty amazing.

Brookfield Zoo RunRun 5k, a solid 4 this morning, and Maze Runner

Quick post before I leave work for the day. I should have done this earlier so I had more time...but I forgot...and Im HOOKED on this new book series "The Silo Saga".

Sunday I am running a 5k with a work friend at the zoo...so that should be fun, but Im guessing my time will be shite because there are so many turns and twists..Im used to running flat and straight for the most part.

Billy and I had a solid 4 miles this morning. I really need to up my runs to 5 miles because 4 miles is just too easy now.

Tonight the lady and I are going to see the Maze Runner...the movie looks OK. I wanted to read the book first, but I have so many other books on my plate right now.

Dark mornings make for no motivation

Now that the seasons are slowly changing, I am finding it to be difficult to get out in the morning to run before the sun is up. Normally I dont mind getting out when the sun just came up...but doing 1/2 of my run before the sun even begins to make an appearance just doesn't sound like fun to me. I need to either change that mindset or start running after work. I am going to give that a go today me thinks. The GF has trial team practice, so that leaves me and the Billy alone to do whatev's. He really needs to be run. We are looking to sign him up for a Doggy Daycare place to hopefully wear his ass out one day a week.

Im back baby!

Did a solid 4 miler on Saturday morning with Billy. It felt great. My pace was up and down, but I finished right around 40minutes. Everything felt good. I was a bit sore on Sunday, but today(Monday) I feel fine. I did not go run this morning because the weather was a bit grey and it was dark out. I need to either buy a pair of glasses I can run with in the AM or learn to run with my normal glasses, which I hate. I wonder if the website where I get my glasses from does transitions....I will have to look today.
Hopefully going to get out tomorrow for a few miles. Since the weather is changing and it is darker in the morning it is going to take quite a bit of willpower to lace them up and hit the streets.

Tomorrow, we run...tomorrow night, we Riot

Tomorrow morning will make 5 full days of rest. I haven't run once other than to get out of the way of a cab. I have walked to and from work, which is a little over 2 miles round trip and my legs feel fine. So tomorrow I will go out to do 3 miles, but I might do 5 depending on how I feel and how the first 3 go. Really it all comes down to how the first mile feels. I think Ill be okay.

Riot Fest is this weekend. We are going tomorrow. The gf has a few bands she really wants to see, and I want to see the Wu Tang Clan and Taking Back Sunday. It should be fun. We went last year and it was gross. It rained really hard the morning of so everything was mud. The weather forcast for tomorrow is sunny and in the 60's. So hopefully the weather follows the script.

Registered for the Hot Chocolate 15k

Pretty excited to be running this race this year. I did it last year and it was OK. I prefer races that give out medals...and this one gives our a tech hoodie AND a cool chocolate bar medal...so this should be fun!

Recovery is the worst part...

I AM SO BORED! Recovering after a race is the worst part for me. Today is day 3 after the race and I feel pretty good. Little twinges here and there in my calves, but nothing serious. As much as I want to go out and hit the pavement, I have to wait a few more days. I dont want to return too early and hurt myself. I figure Friday or Saturday I will go out for a little 2 miler to test the waters. '

I have so much time in the mornings to do whatever. This morning I watched Doctor Who...which I love the new Doctor BTW...at least so far. He is a crotchety old man. Billy is bored out of his skull. I have been trying to keep him occupied by hand feeding him all his meals and having him do tasks/tricks. However it isnt enough. Oh well...soon enough we will be back out on the road.

Watermarked photo's! Don't copyright me!

The day after....

So everything below my waist is sore and heavy today. Haha. It feels good in a way. I know I pushed my body to the limit and that I can do better. I think I am going to decide if I wanted to sign up for the Hot Chocolate 15k before the end of the week. As of right now I want to do it. They are giving out neato looking medals this year...and I am all about the medals.

I slept like a rock last night. We went over a friend's house for dinner and had a few drinks. By the time we got home I could barely keep my eyes open. I wish I had gotten a few more hours though. Oh well, early to bed tonight and then hopefully Tuesday I will begin to feel back to normal.

Good race. New PB. Need to do more long runs.

Race is in the bag. Time of 2:15 and some change. That is a full 7 minutes faster than my last. So hooray for that. My goal was 2-2:10. 2:15 isn't far off. I'll get it next year. The medals are cool looking. 

I might take a try to complete the Chicago Half Marathon Series. It's 3 races. We'll see. Let's not wear the bear before it's dead. Winter is coming. 

Overall the race was ok. It was a pretty much an out and back course with very little turns or elevation changes. There were plenty of water stops but I skipped quite a few of them until mile five or six. I feel like I fueled pretty efficiently. I started eating my cliff bar at around mile five and I finish at around mile nine. It was not a whole bar because I can only carry so much. However I planned it like that because I knew soon they were passing out Gu gels. I had a chocolate one and I think I figured out the secret to taking one. I would take a little bit and swig it with a little bit of water and mix it in my mouth. It tasted just like chocolate syrup. Without the water it tasted like ass and I wanted to spit it back out of my mouth. Although I fueled efficiently my legs gave out at around mile 10, maybe somewhere between 10 and 11. The mind, lungs, and heart were willing, but the legs said no more.  I had to walk a little bit but I kept my walking to a minimum and my pace never dropped below 11:38 minutes a mile. Before mile 10 my pace was 10 min which is exactly what I wanted. 

Around mile seven I was keeping pace with the 2:10 Pace team and I lost sight of them. I do not know if my pace slowed down or if they just took off but all of a sudden I was 50 yards behind them. I am good at keeping pace, not catching up. Oh well. Just means I need to put in longer runs. Do more miles. 

The bag check pickup was a cluster fuck. None of the bags were organized. I waited a full 45 minutes just to get my gear. Oh well. Gave my lady and Billy a chance to sniff me out. Billy actually found me first. He pulled her over to me which was pretty cool. I still wish he had been able to run. He would be stupid happy right now. 

I think I might do the Chicago Hot Choclate 15/k and call it a race season. Maybe. We will see how the winter goes. 

Race day is mañana

I am awake early and feeling good. The race is tomorrow and the weather is supposed to be nice. Billy is laying down at my feet and I made coffee. I can hear the farmers market going up in the park outside and Grace place doing their morning Saturday thing for the homeless. I am a little nervous. I don't want to hit the wall like I did last time. But if I do I know it just means I need to train harder next year. Really, my goal is always just to finish the race no matter how I finish. On that note I really need to do laundry. I do not think I have any clean running clothes!

Solid run! A Man on a unicycle. A weird coin on the sidewalk.

Wootwoot! Solid 4 miles this morning. This is my last run until the race. I am so glad that I got out and knocked it out. I felt good. My stride felt good. My legs felt strong. My heart beat was slow. I am so ready for this race to get here. I feel like I have trained ok. I feel like I am fueling correctly. I know I could have trained more...or should have trained more, but cant live on should and coulds. Billy was very happy at the end of the run, albeit wound up. I love it when we get in a good run and I can tell that he is really happy. He gives up his belly so quickly.

Towards the end of the run this morning, we saw an older Asian man riding a unicycle. It was weird because he was riding it going up hill and he was working hard. It had this bright orange tire on it. Im curious what he is doing...I wonder if he is part of the Cirque du Solei down at Navy Pier. A man riding a unicycle by a non-hipster isnt something I see everyday.

On the way to work this morning, I found a funny looking coin. It is a 10 Lipa, which is apparently Croatian. So that is kind of neat. It is worth $0.02. Makes me wonder why was someone carrying this coin around. Oh well...it is mine now.

Paused the GPS during a run and forgot to unpause it...and my gf wore my dog as a hat

This morning's run was better than yesterday, but still not great. I really am surprised how much form I lost by taking a week completely off. Billy and I did a little under 4 miles, and we walked a bit, but this time it was only my left leg cramping up. That should clean itself up by walking to work this week I hope. I might go out again tomorrow to see if I feel any better. I really want to put in one strong 4 mile run before the race.

It was beautiful out this morning. The sun just came up and it was overcast, but there was a little breeze and it was cool. It seemed today there were squirrels all over the damned place. Billy's attention was everywhere but on me, which is fine when we are running as long as he doesn't cross over me.

My lady woke up this morning after I got out of the shower after my run, and decided it would be funny to wear Molly as a hat. Molly is my smaller dog, she is only 6lbs...it was just cute because it was the first thing she did after waking up. Sometimes...sometimes....

Back to work today, which is a nice change of pace. I worked from home twice last week and I left work early twice, and on top of that having Monday off, I feel like I haven't worked in a week. My mouth feels quite a bit better thus far. Just general soreness which is to be expected.

Going to e-mail the race organizers today and see if I can run with Billy. Who knows...I should have e-mailed them months ago instead of race week.

Not a great run but I am so glad I went.

I'm sitting on the couch post run and my leg muscles feel used. My head feels clear.  I feel awesome. The run was absolutely terrible. My first out and back in a week and my legs cramped up after the first mile. I haven't paid attention to my diet this weekend so my form felt awful. I didn't go run first thing after the sun came up and because of that I couldn't focus on my run.  I drank coffee and got a little stoned before running which isn't always a great idea.  The weather was overcast and humid. I am so glad I went. I feel so good even though all of the negatives. 

I pushed out 3.5 miles in a time too terrible for me to admit to.  I walked a lot. A lot.  I'm ok with that though. I needed it. The race is this Sunday and I got the bad run out of the way early. However it doesn't matter. I feel good and that is the important thing. Getting home before the rain was the other important thing. 

A tired puppy is the other reason this run was awesome. I know he could have gone for more and if I had been able to I would have taken him for more. He gets it though. I be human. He be dog. 

I really want to run the half with him. He deserves the medal more than I do. 

I can't wait until hockey starts. We are going to 2 pre season games and 2 regular season games so far. I think it would be really cool if they had a storm the stadium stair run at the UC during a hawks practice or morning skate or something like that. 

Getting out tomorrow

I feel like it's been a week. I'm finally getting out tomorrow morning to go for a run. Billy is been very restless and needs to be exercised. We went on a super long walk tonight around the loop which he enjoyed. I always feel like he gets the best exercise when I run him for a few miles on the leash.  

I feel like I'm over the hill for the mouth hurting and tomorrow seems like a perfect day to run until I'm tired. Hoping for 8 but will settle for a strong run. 

Billy looks super disco eyed in this picture and it makes me laugh. 

Mouth pain

My mouth has been killing me. To top it off my temporary crown fell out last night. I have missed 3 training days so far. Not too pleased with that.

Oh well, tomorrow is saturday and as long as I get my crown/tooth situation figured out I am hoping to put in at least 6 or 7. The 1/2 marathon is a little over a week away!!!! Excited!

Although I wish that the expo was not at Navy Pier.

Fractured tooth, dead phone, and further update about my last few runs

To start off, I want to talk about dental care. Take care of your teeth and go to the dentist. I thought I was taking good care of my teeth. I have one of those fancy $100 Sonicare toothbrushes. I flossed sometimes...but I didnt go to a dentist for a few years. That being said, I have had a few root canals done lately. One of those root canals fractured a tooth so it is going to have to be removed. how does a fractured tooth feel you ask? It feels like butt. At least it is a molar all the way in the back, so no one will notice that the tooth is missing. I am originally from the south and now I can say I am southern and toothless. Toofless?

On top of that, my iPhone has been super janky lately and as of this morning, it is no longer charging or turning on. Awesome. I have an appt to see a "Genius" at the apple store today. So hopefully they can fix it because I really dont want to buy the 5s. I wanted to hold out for a few more months until the 6 came out. Oh well...such is life.

Okay, the 10 miler! I am really proud of myself for this. This is the longest solo run I have ever gone on. Normally I dont do "long runs". I just do my normal 4-5 miles at my normal 4-5 mile pace. Im not out there to win or to prove anything. Im out there to keep my soul clear and to exercise the dog that never gets tired. I might have said this before, but the 10 miler really tired out the Billy. He could barely make it up the stairs. It was cute. However as soon as we got in the house and he drank some water and ate, he was all wound up and ready to play. I could tell he was sleepy because he was a lamb on the leash. He walked right next to me with no tension. Ever since then he has been amazing on the leash. I really am proud of him. He is my best friend.

The 5 mile run on Monday sucked...it was sooo humid. My training schedule told me to run 6 miles today, but I skipped it because my jaw hurts like a mother and my legs were just dead on my Monday run. I might try to get out for 4 or 5 tomorrow depending on how I feel. I am taking pain killers in addition to everything I have to take for my depression/bipolar nonsense. So I am pretty zombified.

On a side note, I finally got some trees today. Hooray! Now when I have an episode of going crazy or being a dick, I can rid myself of it fairly quickly instead of taking a Rx that takes hours to kick in. Love it.

10 miler on saturday, 4 miler this morning

Saturday morning. Hot and humid. Billy and I did 10 miles. The first 7 were straight run, the last 3 were intervals because the heat completely drained me. I hope to science that the half marathon isnt this humid. It really kills my spirit when I am sweating but not because I am working hard. Ugh. I sweated so much that it felt like I dunked my shoes in a pool. They were squishing and shit. Never ever had that happen before.

This morning I did 4 miles. Actually 4.25...it was supposed to be 5, but fuck man, that humidity is a killer. It just breaks my spirit so fast. I dont know how I lived in Florida for as long as I did. Now anytime I think of Florida I think of pedophiles, the rat, and humidity. I was hoping to make a longer post about this...but...ya know. Stuff happens.

Zoo RunRun! Sometimes I like the peeps I work with

So one of the more approachable VP's at my job is paying my entrance fee into the ZooRunRun at Brookfield Zoo. I asked her in jest if she would sponsor me to run it, and she said she would...and then she did. This thing is only a 5k, but it should be fun. I really want to get a gorilla costume to wear.

Hung over, no run, beautiful day

So last night at our work outing I had a few too many drinks. I normally do not drink to excess because I am super prone to...wait for it...hang overs! I can have 2 beers and wake up with a headache. Normally I only have a drink if we are out to dinner. Otherwise drinking bores me. I discovered my poison of choice is not liquor related. Below is a pre-drunk me.

So tomorrow I have 10 miles to do. Just checked the weather and at 6am it is supposed to be 70 degrees and 95% humidity. Gross.  But at least it will strain my body more than normal and hopefully in the end make me mentally stronger. One can never be too strong mentally. Know what Im sayin.

Day of rest # 2, sore jaw, arthritis, an office booze cruise, and some awesome dreams.

Today is my second off day. Technically it is strength training day...so today I do body weight squats and wall squats to help my glutes and quads. I like to feel the burn. I am a masochist sometimes. I will also do a few sets on the ab wheel to help my core. I actually probably need to do the ab wheel daily. Tomorrow is 4 miles, but the forecast says rain up the ying yang...so we shall see.

By the way, my jaw is killing me on the right side. I cant even touch my back teeth together. I'm not sure what I did. I am guessing it is all of the dental work I have had done over the past few months is taking its toll. So I am chewing gingerly and hoping that it will go away on it's own. I have another dental appointment coming up in the next week or so for my perm crown, so if it is still sore by then Ill ask the dentist to see what the deal is.

So I woke up to the sound of rain this morning. Was coming down hard. I also woke up to my wrist hurting from where I had a bone re-shaped from my Navy days, my right shoulder hurting for whatever reason, and my right ankle felt touchy. Stupid science and rain and barometric pressure making my joints hurt.

Tonight is my office's booze cruise. Technically it is a "boat tour on the Chicago River"....but these things are really just a shit show. It starts out innocently enough. Some light chit chat over a few drinks. Food. A few more drinks. A few more drinks. Then someone is singing or slurring or stumbling. My office is a bunch of drunks. Seriously. Drunks. It is funny to see what happens. That is the main reason I am going. I got all of my partying out of the way when I was in the Navy, so I have a few drinks and keep composed.

My shrink gave me some new meds to help take the edge off since I am not currently smoking pot. This stuff knocks me the f out. It is wonderful. I sleep so soundly. One side effect of not smoking for awhile is that I can remember my dreams now and they are very vivid. Last night I dreamed that Patrick Kane was Erica's secret brother or some shit, and we became best friends. Laughing and joking. Going to sports authority. Him telling me to not put stuff on YouTube...strange stuff. Im not sure if I am going to stay on these meds though, because they dont really take the edge off, they just make me go to sleep.

Well this post ended up longer than I thought it would. Tomorrow is 4 miles and I cant wait to lace them up. I really hope the weather is clear enough for an hour.

8 Miles...4 miles...and a sad little 3

It's been a few days since I last updated. I have been a little pre-occupied with procrastination nation.

My 8 mile run this last weekend was aces. I ran the entire time and finished in a little over 80 minutes. At the very beginning of my run I caught up with a Fleet Feet running group that was running right at my pace, so I just kept up with them. It was great. I think I might join a training group next year because running with the group really kept my spirits up during the hard parts. Billy loved every second of the run. Of course he wasnt tired at all. As soon as we got back to the house he started running around with his toys looking for someone to play with him. Jerk...I wish I had his stamina. The weather was perfect, it was in the 60's at the start of the run with a little breeze.

On Monday I knocked out a solid 4 miles. It felt great and I felt super strong. Im starting to add sprints to the end of my runs to help build my stamina. Billy almost caught a bird because it was dumb enough to not fly out of our path. Stupid bird.

My Tuesday run was a different story. I was supposed to do 5 but I only ended up doing 3. Excuses coming up.

1. My legs were dead and my feet felt super heavy. I was hoping it would even out after the first mile, but they just got worse.
2. It started raining. It's not that I dont like running in the rain, but I havent been feeling so hot the last week, I didnt want to make it worse.
3. I didnt poop very well before the run, so I felt like I had to poop mid-run, which is never a good feeling.

I am glad that I did the 3 miles instead of just calling off the entire day. I guess a solid 3 is better than a terrible 5.

I saw my shrink yesterday and he prescribed me some new meds, which is great. Since I have cut out pot my anxiety has been very high.  This new stuff helps me when I am about to have a break down. I tried it last night and it just made me super tired. Not sure if we are going to stick with this or change to something new. Ill give it a few tries before I decide.

Today and tomorrow are my off days, and man I feel like I deserve them. I slept like a log last night. Tonight we have agility class with Billy! Ill try to get some pictures up of him jumping over things tonight. I keep forgetting.

Easy 4, a new day, and Herbert from Family Guy

On my runs I always end up getting part of a song stuck in my head. MGMT, Rolling Stones, Bela Fleck....but today was different. I got a song stuck in my head that Herbert on Family Guy sings..."I know what boys want...I know what guys like..." etc etc etc. It was kind of funny because I cannot remember the last time I heard that song.

Anyways, the morning 4 were awesome. It was 55 degrees out and sunny. I finished in under 40 minutes, which is awesome IMO. We didnt see any wildlife, or should I say, I didnt see any wild life. Im sure Billy and his laser eyes and radar ears picked up and saw everything. However he did not try to chase down anything this morning. Billy is a curious dog. He loves to go after pigeons, but he wont even look at a finch if it walks under his nose. He likes to get rough and tumble with big dogs, but little dogs he will let bite his face and he wont move. Strange pup.

So today is a new day. A day where I try to keep myself more composed. Since I have stopped smoking pot I feel on edge all of the time. I smoked daily for...10 years? I was a heavy smoker and holy crap I miss it. It really helped take the edge off. I didnt want to quit smoking, but the guy who my guy gets it from is on vacation for a few weeks. So I have been taking it out on people close to me...mainly my gf, which I feel terrible about. Im not talking abuse or anything, Im just more critical and more vocal about it. Which is good and bad. It is good because some of this stuff needs to be said, but it is bad because I am very reactive and let my emotions speak for me without thinking first. Sooooo....all that being said, I am trying to be more present and aware today in what I am thinking and feeling. I need to do this for me so that I can keep those close to me around. I have a bad habit of chasing people off and I dont want to do that anymore.

Tomorrow is 8 miles! I hope I can knock it out. Supposed to go to some party tomorrow night, but I will see how I feel.

60 degrees, 5 miles, and a good shrink appointment

This morning was perfect out. It was 61 degrees with a little breeze. The sun was just coming up as I hit the road with Billy, my trusty sidekick. It was a really nice run this morning. I finished my 5 under 50 minutes. I saw a lot of other people running with their dogs today, which is always nice, especially when they are well behaved and dont try to attack my Billy. Since I missed the last 2 training days because of rain, my running schedule is a bit off. I am going to take tomorrow off and get back at it Friday and Saturday. The race is a few weeks away!
So I saw my shrink today for the first time since May. Normally I see him every few weeks, but because of vacation and scheduling and such, it just happened to be a nice chunk of time between appointments. I went in today thinking that it was going to be my last appointment, but every time we hit on something that I feel needs to be explored.

Note to self, I need to get a small-ish camera...something I can bring with me on runs that wont bog me down. I dont run with music or a phone, so as of right now all I have is my eyes to take pictures with...but I see a lot of cool shit that I want to share with the FB world.

Rain Rain go the fuck away

So I have missed my last 2 training days because of rain. Ugh. Hopefully tomorrow it will clear up so I can get back at it.

6 miles, a homeless man welcome to tourists, and Guardians of the Galaxy again

My traini ng had me knock out 6 miles yesterday. They did not go as well as planned because...

1. I woke up to my dog peeing on the floor.
2. Got into a tiff with the gf.
3. Didnt end up running until the sun was at midday.


Running around midday was a terrible idea. It was 75 and humid as all hell. There was at least a 10-15 degree temp difference between the shade and the sun. When there was a breeze blowing it was fun, but when that breeze stopped it was brutal! I ended up almost throwing up at one point. The run was rough and I was walking after 3 miles, so I started running intervals. Jogging along normally and when I felt like walking I would up my speed for 50-75 yards and then I would walk. So I almost lost my lunch, haha. I held it in though. Glad I finish the 6 miles.

At the end of my run, I was coming up on a family of tourists. How do I know they were tourists? City folk know how to walk a sidewalk in a straight line. Tourists b ounce from one side of the sidewalk to the other with no sense of surrounding. I saw this homeless drunk who I have seen around the hood many times coming up on the right. So since the bum was on the right AND the family was randomly drifting around, I decided to stick all the way to the left. The family and I passed the bum at the same time...and the bum spit right in the face of the entire family. Ew. Gross. I just kept going because you cant fight nor cure crazy. I will avoid that bum from now on.

After the run me and the gf went to see Guardians of the Galaxy for a second time...this time in 3d, which was a waste. I think 3-d movies are kind of silly....BUT...the movie was amazing again. I cant wait until it comes out on video. I am going to buy it day 1.

3 weeks until the half. I am feeling pretty good. I have 4 miles planned for tomorrow morning! Beat the feet to beat the heat!

4 miles of hardness....not a penis joke

So this morning was a bit of a rough one. It was pretty humid and I have a hard time filling my lungs when this happens. This knocked off my breathing cadence and I wasnt able to hit my groove. Normally I can knock out the morning 4 without much of a struggle, but today I was walking a little before mile 2. Ugh. Not ideal, but at least I got out there and did it.

I do not like to point fingers when I have a rough run...BUT...all fingers are pointing at me. First,.I put on the wrong hat this morning. I know that sounds silly but I am OCD when it comes to doing things like running and what gear I am using. I have to have the right hat, right socks, right shirt, etc etc. I grabbed the wrong hat because it was hanging up in the shower (so all the sweat from the previous run could drip off) and the bathroom was dark and I was in a hurry. I also blame it again on me for not putting the pronged collar on Billy and running him with just his flat collar. Normally the pronged collar helps keep him in line and at my pace and it lets me easily correct him. The flat collar does none of these things. So he basically pulled the entire time, which increased my pace, which annoyed me and that emotion helped expedite my demise. Oh well, tomorrow I have 6 ahead of me which should be fun. Hopefully the weather is nice and this cloud of humidity finally leaves.

There weren't too many people out on the path this morning, which was kind of a nice change of pace. Although I do enjoy waving at people who do not acknowledge or wave back. I know they probably dont see me, but still, EVERYONE SHOULD ACKNOWLEDGE ME. Haha. Kidding. It would be weird if I was actually like that. I also do like seeing people smile when they see Billy trotting along next to me. It makes me feel good.

Half marathon training, running with my dog, and working from home

So, I decided it might be a good idea to start a blog to help me document my runs as I train for the upcoming Chicago Half Marathon as well as blurt out other random nonsense and insane ramblings.

I am into day 2 of a 5 week training program. 4 yesterday, 5 today. It was a bit rough in the middle of mile 3 and I walked a bit but I am glad I got out and beat the feet. I never went through the phase of the "feeling bad when I walk" problem like I have heard a lot of other runners have RUN into...haha...I love word play.

I have been running for a few years now, and last year my girlfriend and I adopted Billy.

Billy is my shadow, my training buddy, my long distance partner, and my "protector" from random ass rabbits on the LFT. He sure loves it when he see's a bunny. He never has the chance to get one as he is always on a leash and is never more than 2 feet away from me...but seeing his tail wag makes me smile every time regardless of how many miles deep I am. He motivates me to get up and out of bed more often than not and lace 'em up and hit the pavement.

I love it that I was able to work from home today after my run. It was a nice way to recover. Feet up, cartoons on, foam roller and stick at my disposal. What else can a man ask for? Well...a lot of stuff I guess. Like a sub 2hr half time. That is where my sights are set. Honestly I just want to beat my last poor showing of 2:22. I died at mile 10. My body just gave up on me...but I wasnt prepared. I didnt really train beyond my normal 3-4 runs a week, and I did not get as much hydration as I needed and I had no idea how to properly fuel during a race. I cramped up super bad...I was one of those guys...since then, I read a lot and I feel super comfortable with it now. I finsihed the Solider Field 10 miler with a very respectable 10min mile time.  I ran the entire time and did not walk once. That is always my goal during races. Yet if I have to walk...I walk.