great day to be alive

Beautiful day today. Great day for an early morning 5 mile run.

So tomorrow I start a 10 week marathon training program. I've basically taken a 12 week prog and adapted it to my needs. I'm going to train using a 10:30 pace, which would give me a marathon time of 4:35:18. Realistically, I'm going to predict my marathon time, right here right now, at 4:55. If I could finish it in anything under 5 hours, I'll be stoked beyond belief. When I did the Disney Marathon in January 2007, I was aiming for 5:30, I did it 5:58 I think. My big problem there was the weather. For the 3 months prior to the marathon, I was running in the typical New York late fall / winter weather.. I get to Florida, and it was 87 degrees. I ran a few miles the day I got there just to attempt to acclimate myself, but it didn't help much. The day of the race, I had to be at Disney at 3am. 3am in Florida is a lot like winter in New York... cold. At 6am, when the race was about to start, it was already up to 68 degrees, warmer that New York for sure. About 10 miles in, the air temp hit 89 degrees. This totally messed up my breathing and everything else.

But I should be alright this time, since I'll be training in the same climate where I'll be running the race. However, one thing that is different about Providence compared to Long Island is the hills. I remember back in the day the Gravity Games held their street luge competition in Providence. One of the perks about moving out here to the country (and by country I mean East Northport, 10 minutes from the Nassau border), is the availability of hills to run on. I've incorporated one full day of hill training into my training program. I live about 5 minutes from the Cow Harbor course, so I'll definitely be running over there.

Adam, whom I mentioned a few posts ago as being a huge sissy, has made another bet with me. He believes he can lose more percentage body weight than me before July 4th. Now, I'll be training for a marathon for 10 weeks of this period. Training for a marathon is much more than just running. It's a totally different diet, more yoga, more gym times, etc;. So be prepared for July 4th, when I might just make another blog dedicated to Adam being a sissy.

Miles run today: 5 Year to date: 132.5

Funnel Fort

So yesterday New York got slammed with the biggest snow storm of the season. I have to commend the Town of Huntington Sanitation Department for doing a great job of clearing the roads in a timely matter. When I got home from work, I was going to run 2 or 3 miles, but Mike wanted to build a funnel fort* so I only ran one quick mile.

* A funnel fort is a fort, built from snow, that can comfortably fit two adults. It is also equipped with a funnel in the top of it, with the tube running through the snow. It makes the beer super cold and super awesome because your drinking in a fort.

So we started building the funnel fort, but we didn't finish it yet, as happy hour was calling our names. We shall finish it today.

Speaking of today, I woke up pretty early and got a 6 miler done before 8am. I don't know what gene humans have to make them sleep late, but I'm missing it. It doesn't matter what time I go to sleep, I can never ever sleep past like 830am. It's a real disease. I don't think I went to bed until about 2am, but I was up at 7. The crazy thing is that I can totally function on 5 hours of sleep. I might pass out for like 10 minutes while watching the tele or something, but I'll be good to go for sure.

Right now I'm watching The Tao of Steve. This movie got tons of indie critical acclaim when it came out back in 2000, but I don't think I know one other person that has ever seen it. It is an absolutely amazing movie.

I'm also waiting for Mike to wake up so we can continue to work on the funnel fort. A little known fact about Mike is that when he doesn't have work, he sleeps for 19 hours of the day.


Miles today and yesterday: 7 Year to Date: 125.5

adam is a sissy

So yesterday I wasn't in a particularly running friendly mood, so I only ran 2 miles after eating some fantastic Tex Mex from Burrito Loco with Mike. Today, I went out for 5 miles, but was distracted by Kimya Dawson, and I would up running 6.5 miles. It's supposed to snow tonight, but only 2-4 inches. 2-4 inches is just a nuisance. It's not enough to cancel school and work or to make a sick fort, but it's enough to make driving and running a real hassle.

So I did it. I signed up for the Providence Marathon on May 4th. On Monday, I'll start a 10 week training program. I was telling someone else whom will remain nameless, and they said "Why don't you start tomorrow?" Well my friends, training for a marathon is crazy. It's not like you can say "Ok I'm running a marathon, I'm gonna go for a jog." It needs to be planned out real specifically. Especially in my case where I am attempting to keep a streak alive. When I was training for the Disney Marathon, I would only be running 4 or 5 days a week. The 2 rest days are totally important. So I'm thinking for the days that I would normally take off, I'll just jog 1 or 2 miles, at a real slow pace. This will keep my streak alive, and hopefully will give my body the proper recovery it needs. It should be real interesting once I get to like a week before the marathon, when I should be tapering off and only running like 2 days. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

My favorite Canadian rock band is Rush. These are my favorite Rush songs, in top 8 order. If you are an old schooler like myself, you'll know that the top 8 is what Myspace originally had, not a top 40 nor a top 64. You also couldn't choose your top friends. It was in the order of who joined Myspace first. This system was good because I was in almost everyones top 8. But anyway, my top 8 Rush songs are as follows. (8 is my 8th fave, 1 is my top fave.)

8. New World Man
7. Working Man
6. Closer to the Heart
5. Limelight
4. Freewill
3. Spirit of the Radio
2. Tom Saywer
1. The Trees


Miles Run Yesterday and Today: 7 YTD: 118.5

P.S. If you want to know why the title of this post is "adam is a sissy" it's because we made a pact on January 4th not to cut our hair or shave our beards until July 4th. Keeping tidy was allowed. But Adam cut his hair yesterday. He took about 6 inches off. Therefore, he shall be known as a sissy for all eternity on the interwebs.

See Ya

i can haz marathon ?

So the terrible weather continued yesterday. More rain and incredibly strong winds kept me to a 3 mile run yesterday, but for some reason I completed the run in like 26 minutes, which is really quick for me. Usually I run a little slower in the rain, but not yesterday, so thats cool. Then this morning, the rain stopped, the sun was out, but the wind was pretty violent but I still got 4 miles in early this morning.

There is a lunar eclipse tomorrow night, and the Vanderbuilt Museum just got this huge ass new high tech telescope so they are having a party. I think I'm gonna go. Then on Thursday night, there are two move theaters on Long Island that are showing a documentary called "Spirit of the Marathon." It's only being shown for one night, so I'll probably go check that out too.

Speaking of marathons, I gotta get back into distance running. I would like to run 2 or 3 full marathons, and maybe 2 or 3 half marathons by the end of this year. I was checking out some marathon lists, and I think if I start a 10 week training program, I could be ready for the Providence Marathon on May 4th. May 4th is also the Long Island Marathon, but after running in the Long Island Half Marathon the past two years, I've come to the conclusion that it's probably the worst course in America. And from what I hear, Providence is a decent town, so I think I should be able to pull it off.

Freekend

Even though I haven't really had a job for the past three weeks, I still consider myself to be one of those "working for the weekend" types. I say this because none of my friends really do anything during the week, which is understandable because they all have real jobs. We are in our mid 20's after all. So during the week it's mostly just beating Nick and Tommy in Madden, and the occasional trip to the bowling alley to beat Nick and Tommy at on the lanes. But for the most part, the week is kept low key, until Friday, when Happy Hour rears it's beautiful head. This past Friday, after a nice 6 mile run for me, we chose to go to the Nutty Irishman to see The Jumpers, who are the best cover band in the tri state area. I have a great story about them that I will share sometime this week, when I feel the time is right. I think the best way to describe Friday night is by using a simple math equation, and it goes like this: Plenty of cheap booze + an awesome swing cover band / Mike + Sean + Nick x hot little babies = A real bloodbath. I even fell down on the dance floor. Good Night.

Saturday, I was up at a disgustingly early time for a Saturday, so I took advantage of the nice weather with a 8 mile run. Then, I went to Blue Point with Torey, Martine, and Martine's friend. Blue Point is the greatest place in the world. I am convinced. After that, I went to go see Kris Roe, the singer of the Atari's, play at Backstreet Blues, which is actually called Vibe Lounge now. My friend Terence opened, and I really enjoyed his band. You should check them out here. The show was pretty cool because Kris Roe played the entire "Blue Skies Broken Hearts..." album straight through. It was acoustic, but it was still pretty cool. I used to be really into the Atari's, and Blue Skies was always my favorite album, and while we are it, "San Dimas High School Football Rules" is my favorite song. Not of all time, clearly, but off that album at least. But it was a good time, my friend Danielle was there, and it's always nice to see her.

Then today, Sunday, I worked with Tommy on a shoot for the game show "Bet the House." I met the Maytag Repair Man, and I believe that he is the greatest actor of our generation. I'm not joking either. But it was a really long day, and it started to rain at like 7, so I only got in about 1.5 miles just a few minutes ago. Kind of a waste, but whatever. I feel good about it.

Now I'm sitting here watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition and trying not to bawl like a little baby, eating some sunflower seeds, and will probably be retiring to my quarters in a minute. I start a new job tomorrow. A real job. With benefits and all. I've been calling benefits "benny's" because it makes me feel cool. I'll write more on the subject tomorrow or Tuesday probably. Not now though, because they are about to move the bus and I have a lump in my throat.


Miles run this weekend: 15.5 Year to Date: 108.5

BTW: This time last year, I had run 113 miles at this point. But that was including the Disney Marathon. I'd say I'm on a pace to surpass the 1200 from last year for sure.

Happy Thursday

I guess posting a rain blog yesterday worked, because today was sunny and beautiful. In case you didn't know, a rain blog is just like a traditional rain dance, but we're in 2008, no one dances anymore. And there might not be any Native Americans either for all I know. Anywho, it was real nice out today... a tad blustery, but otherwise a real pleasant day. Maybe it had something to do with it being Valentines Day, but I doubt that. In honor of Valentines Day, I was gonna attempt a 14 mile run, but then I realized I hate Valentines Day, so I went out for a 14K instead. It was nice to get out for a longer run today after two days of crap weather and only a few miles each day.

As stated above, I do not celebrate Valentine's Day. I only capitalize it because it's proper English to do so. Now I'm not going to give you the old I hate Valentine's Day because it's a holiday made up by Hallmark to capitalize on idiots excuse, nor will I admit that I hate Valentine's Day because I am a single male and just jealous that everyone else is blowing half a paycheck on taking their darlings out tonight. By the way, nothing says "I love you" then some saturated fat and slutty lingerie. I don't celebrate VD (properly abbreviated if I may add) because of what it does to people. It just causes more and more stress for people who really don't need it. I will always remember two years ago, on February 13th, I was playing hockey and I hurt my foot real bad. The pain was so severe that I could not sleep. At about 1am, I decided to get some IcyHot for my foot. I went to the 24 hour Walgreens in my hood, and I kid you not, I saw 35 grown men frantically tearing the shelves apart looking for the last pieces of chocolate and the remaining overpriced stuffed gorilla that says "I go ape for you." Every single person looked miserable. I overheard one dude say to another "I fear the wrath of my wife." These men were not going home to their precious dolls to say "I love you babycakes. Happy Valentines Day, lets cuddle and watch Cameron Diaz movies." No my friends, these poor bastards were going home to say "Woman, I just waited on a line for 50 minutes to get you these flowers that are almost dead, and this stupid cow that says 'you really moooove me'. Don't you dare forget about Steak and BJ Day." *

So there you have it. Valentines Day just causes misery for most people, and I hate misery, therefore I hate Valentine's Day.

* For Steak and BJ Day, I will take my steak in the form of a chicken burger or vegetable lasagna.



Miles Run Today: 8.7 Year to Date: 106.2

stupid rain

I had an appointment to donate blood platelets at 11 this morning, so I woke up at 8 to get a quick 4 miler in before I had to leave. When I woke up, it was torrential downpours everywhere. The stupid rain melted the stupid snow, which was nice, but I didn't feel like getting cold and soaked first thing in the morning. So being the gambler that I am, I decided to forgo the morning run and hope that it would stop raining sometime during the afternoon or evening. So I went and donated some platelets, and I actually got two free tickets to the Bronx Zoo for donating, which is very cool. By like 2, the rain was just as strong as it was in the morning. I feel like The Sun hasn't been out in like 3 weeks. So I kept stalling my run, I watched Beerfest, did a few things, then around 530 I was just like "ok, just go out and run. It's only water." So I went out, and to my surprise, it was only drizzling, and it was like 50 degrees. It felt good to run in my shorts again. I only went out for like 3 miles because I kept getting landsharked, and the roads were slippery as hell.

Watching the Roger Clemens Congressional hearings today, I realized that this country is still as divided as ever. Every single Republican at the hearings were attacking Brian Mcnamee, and all the Democrats were going against Clemens, albeit not in the same capacity the Republicans were calling out Mcnamee. Watching the hearings, it is clear that Roger Clemens, the Southern boy who has ties to the Bush family, is guilty of using some kind of illegal stuff, but the Republicans wanted nothing to do with him and everything to do with accusing Mcnamee of wrong doing. It's crap like this, and about 250 other things, that annoy me about the two party system we have in this country. Thats why I'm proud to be a registered Green Party member. Whoever winds up with the Green nomination (right now its Cynthia Mckinney, but we all know Ralph Nader will be the eventual candidate), will have my vote. I know they won't be the next President, but at least I know that my vote will go to a candidate that stands for the most important issues (see below), and not to someone else who is going to further split this country.

10 Key Values of the Green Party

Grassroots Democracy
Social Justice and Equal Opportunity
Ecological Wisdom
Non-Violence
Decentralization
Community Based Economics and Economic Justice
Feminism and Gender Equity
Respect for Diversity
Personal and Global Responsibility
Future Focus and Sustainability


Miles run today: 3 Year to Date: 98.5