WEEKLY UPDATE...


Boy, my running log has a lot of holes in it lately! One run last week, one or two the week before, and I have a marathon to do in less than a month. Boy oh boy!!!

Yesterday's run of 16 miles was by far the best long run I have ever done. Two things kept me from doing another 2 miles. First, I forgot my cho-pats (spelling) and my knees where barking at me pretty severely and second, the down pour that insued almost immediately after we finished 16. I actually ate well the day before my run and it helped! What do you know the coaches really do know what they are talking about! I ate two big bowls of pasta about an hour before bedtime, man what a difference.
Thanks to the Hanson's for putting on the run and laying out the course for us. Also thanks for the new shoes. I decided it was time to get a new pair for the marathon and decided to run in them yesterday. I split the miles in half and used the new pair for the second 8. They worked out really well and felt great. My old pair are Asics and they have been such a good shoe I decided to stick with them. My new pair are Asics cumulus, I'll keep you updated.

Short post today, sorry! The more I run the more I write.

R.P.D.

Anything with the power to make you laugh over 30 years later isn't a waste of time.
Stephen King

P.S.
I almost forgot to say Happy Birthday to my mom, Love you and thanks for being you!!!

SATAN LIVES....IN MY HOUSE!

For the life of me I just can't figure it out. How someone can go from being your best friend and lover to someone who hates your guts in the blink of an eye. This is going to be somewhat of a personal venting session, so for those of you who find this type of thing as interesting as watching paint dry I apologize up front.
Now I understand all of the complex feelings and emotions that occur when one goes through a divorce. You see I have gone through this once already. The biggest difference is there were no children in my first marriage. Be that as it may, my future ex-wife, as I now refer to her, is being TOTALLY unreasonable and goes out of her way to make things difficult for me, especially where running is concerned. Quick example, she has, for sometime, gone to meetings on Monday and Weds. Those were "her" nights and nothing could sway her. So if I wanted to run I had to do it before she left or on another night. I re-arranged my schedule accordingly. Then out of the blue she decides to switch Mon with Tues. So again I switch to accommodate. Now since the fall season of soccer has started my daughter and step son both play on Monday. Beth and I meet at my daughters game and then Beth leaves and goes home. I stay with Beccah and watch her game. So last night after her game we got home at around 7:40 at which time "satan" says that she is going to a meeting. Of course Tuesdays are now meeting nights and I tell her I need to run. "I thought you didn't run on Monday" was her reply. To which some spirited banter ensued. The end result is I got my run in and she left when I got home, thankfully. So what I have decided is to take my running stuff to work and run before I get home, because I can't be sure that I will be able to any other way. Pretty stupid if you ask me, but it is what it is!!!
Sorry for the rant, but I feel better with that mess out of me. And my run last night, was one of the best ever. I was so mad that I don't even remember the first 2 miles and I felt like I could have run forever. I only did 5 miles, however, and was home in time to put my 2 oldest to bed.

R.P.D.

When a man steals your wife, there is no better revenge than to let him keep
her. Sacha Guitry

DRINKING AND RUNNING, AN OBSERVATION....


Knowing full well I had to run at least 14 miles on Sunday I went out on Saturday night. Not the smartest thing I have ever done, but I needed it. Al, one of the team in training folks here had a bar crawl fundraiser. A bar crawl for those of you who don't know, is basically just what it says. You start at a bar have some drinks, food, etc. and then move on to the next. The bars are within walking distance, hence the crawl. Anyway I had a really good time. It's been a long time since I went out to the bar and it was nice talking to everyone and people watching. Speaking of people watching, either kids today have gotten really good at faking IDs or I am getting old!!

So long story short I had about few beers and a shot!! Thanks Amy! It was some sort of orange thing that tasted just like an orange pushup ice cream! After a time we ended up back at the first bar and the DJ was playing, the dance floor was crowded, and I firgured I had better leave or running was not going to be an option. So I bid my farwells and headed off. I was in bed by 11:30 and felt great when I woke up in the AM. I drank a big glass of water before going to bed and had some more in the morning with a bagel. Fast forward to mile 11 or 12 of my run... All of a sudden I got dizzy. When I say dizzy I mean looking around so I don't fall on anyone dizzy. It felt as though the ground was falling away from my feet, very strange. It only happend 2 times, but Tim, my running buddy yesterday, thanks by the way Tim!! seemed to think that dehydration was the culprit and alcohol was the cause. No arguement from the dizzy guy. So a couple of things learned, first drink copious amounts of water before and during a run if you have a few drinks the night before. And second, when you feel like dancing instead of leaving...

you can always run the day after the day after!!!

R.P.D.

Integrity has no need of rules. Albert Camus

FITTING IT IN........


Now that I have your attention. I am having a very hard time running as of late. Not because of an injury, but rather not being able to find an open hour or two to run. I know people will say, "The long run is the only important run of the week", but I need more. If only for my mental well being and attitude. FEED ME SEYMOUR!!!!

As I have mentioned before I am getting little cooperation on the home front in relation to my running, so here's the plan. I need to find a running stroller, nothing to fancy or pricey, but it has to be able to hold two little ones. This way I can take to whole tribe with me when I need to run. My 2 older kids can ride their bikes and my 2 youngest can relax and enjoy the ride. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to get one, or better yet does someone have an old one they would like to sell?

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend!!!
R.P.D.

"Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays."Henry Youngman

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.....MAN AM I HUNGRY!!!


I have gotten my appetite back in a big way this past week. All of a sudden everything looks delicious!! There were a few bagels left over from meeting yesterday here at work so I toasted one up and added some cream cheese with chives, woohoo! I am thinking about getting a pizza tonight for the sole purpose of putting it in the fridge so I can have cold pizza in the morning. I had Pad Thai 2 days ago that I can still taste, in a good way!!! The problem, you ask... I haven't been running!!! With any luck, keeping my finger crossed, I will get at least 6 miles in tonight.


On a completely different subject, have you ever been caught completely off guard by someone? Yesterday at Beccah's Tang Soo Do class she was the only student. So her master, master Larry decided to do some promotion review with her. As I have mentioned before she is a yellow belt and is very into karate and wants to get her black belt in 4 or 5 years. There are forms and stances and movements that she does as part of her training. Some of them are fairly complicated, especially for a 9 yr old. So about 30 minutes into her training Master Larry asked her to do a movement that I won't even attempt to spell or describe. In a nut shell it has about 20 to 25 moves and you end up moving in the shape of a big letter H. Normally I take this time to relax and shut my eyes, but I know Beccah has had trouble with this movement in the past, so I took notice. She aced it!! She did every move without direction and when she finished I felt like crying!!! Her teacher was amazed and told her to try again only with less pauses in between moves. Damned if she didn't do it even better. It was one of those proud parent moments for me. You could see that sense of accomplishment on her face and she seemed to stand up just a bit straighter. I am so very happy for her. I asked her on the way home if she would like it if I trained with her and to my surprise she said yes. So next week I think I will sign up. Chuck Norris better watch out!


R.P.D.

Seek the lofty by reading, hearing and seeing great work at some moment every day.

Thornton Wilder

NOTHING TO SAY...

As hard as I try to come up with something witty or humorous or even poignant I just can't. Writer's block sucks! I am glad I don't do this for a living, I would be in trouble!!!

It has been increasingly difficult to find the time to run lately. Because of this I have been focusing on my long run and if I get any other miles in it's a bonus. I did manage to get 3 miles in the rain last night thanks to my father-in-law. He watched my kids while I ran, what a guy! I know I have said it before, but there is something about running in the rain. If nothing else it makes me feel like a kid again.

Just 39 more days until my first marathon. I am about as excited about this as I have been for anything up to this point in my life. Mixed in with that feeling are a million other emotions. Talking to Margarita, my mentor, last night I discovered something. This marathon, this running, it is for ME. It is mine and I own it out right. Nobody can take it from even if they wanted to. I had a picture of the finish line in my head when I signed on for this adventure back in May. That picture has changed several times in the last four months, but the one constant... Me. I am the one crossing the finishline!! That's right, me!! All you nay Sayers out there here's a Bronx cheer just for you, PLUGHHHHHHH!!! For those people who have gone out of their way to make it difficult for me to get the miles in, and you know who you are, you can kiss my pale white ass!! So as I've said before if you want to come along for the ride, hop on, otherwise get out of the way. Because this train has too much momentum to stop now. Next stop San Francisco, October 22, 2006 at around noon. See ya at the finishline!!!

I guess I did have something to say after all. Happy hump day!!


R.P.D.

By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher. Socrates

HAS IT BEEN A WEEK?!??!


8 Days since my last post, yikes! I know this blog doesn't have the readership of say the New York Times, but I have to say I feel as though I haven't kept my part of the bargain. There is a sense of responsibility when you start a blog to those people out there who have honored me by reading it. I know that I want to what's up when the blogs I follow aren't being updated!!

So now that the apologies are out of the way...

I had one of my best runs last night. It was late by the time I got out, 8:30PM, but there was a full moon to light my way. I started thinking about how I got back into running after all these years. Why now? What made me quit smoking in April and start running in May? Back then I thought, hey it just happens that way sometimes. When you least expect it you get inspired. Looking back from where I am now some three and a half months later I think differently. I am not what I would consider a spiritual man. I have always had issues with faith and whether or not there is a hereafter. Recently, however, I am having a change of heart. Just over two weeks ago my wife told me she wanted a divorce. I was devastated to say the least. My whole life seemed to be turned upside down. The only thing other than my children that gave me some sense of right or purpose was running. It was a time when everything that was and is happening seem to fade just a bit and the next step forward was all that mattered. And as those steps added up I could feel my spirit moving forward as well. Don't get me wrong I am still very upset and sad about what is going on, but I now have a clearer understanding of what I have to do. Which brings me back to my question...Why did I start running? For the first time in my life I can say that I was led to running. It was a gift that unbeknownst to me was given to help me through this troubling time.

Ok, that's enough spirituality for one post. Have a fantastic weekend!

R.P.D.

We are still masters of our fate.We are still captains of our souls.
Winston Churchill