Resolution Run, 2011 review

Yeah, so I haven't been blogging much. I'll see about changing that. That's a post for another day.

2011, December 31st. Last run of the year. Turns out, there's a local resolution fun run. Clock timed, which is new from the past (they really try to keep it a 'fun' run). This is the same track I did my last (and only) race this year, early on in my comeback (that time was 30:01).

The weather was a comfortable 44 degrees, and it must have encouraged a lot of people to come out, because the park was packed. I paid my cash, looked around to see who I knew, and I got ready.

 I came into this race with the following goals:
1) Finish. Healthy.
If I did that, it was a success.

2) Next goal was to beat my previous time.

3) Next goal was to go sub-27 minutes.

4) Final stretch goal was to go sub-25.


I haven't done any timings or anything like that this year. I've solely been running based on how I feel. I did dig up the Garmin for this race though, just for the sole purpose of dialing it back in the initial push, making sure I didn't go faster than 8:00/mile. The course is generally flat, but has a slight slope down in the first 3/4 mile. (And, since it's an out-and-back, a corresponding slope up in the final stretch).

I lined up, the gun went off, and away I was. The course was absolutely packed.. The path was pretty narrow until a mile into it, and I couldn't get into a solid groove until then.. Just a lot of people around. After a mile, the path got a little wider, and everyone had slid into the appropriate slots relative to one another (and most importantly, relative to me! :) ).

At 1.2 miles, I saw the leaders coming back at me. Damn, I was never that fast.. Looked like a trio of high schoolers. lol

Most of my running has been run-walk, Galloway-style. Today I felt really good, and just kept with it. At 1.5 miles, my breathing was consistent and, more importantly, sustainable. I thought about taking a walk break at the turn around, but just kept pushing. My pace had locked in around 8:30, and I was keeping it up.

Not much to report until the 2 mile marker, where I passed a guy I used to work with.. Fun, and I got a chance to catch up with him after the race. Looking at my watch at this point, I thought my stretch goal of 25 minutes *may* be attainable. I worked on keeping the same pace I was going for the uphill segments, and tried to speed up on the flatter parts. So I ran, and ran, and...

25:29. An outstanding performance. Most importantly, I ran the race I wanted to. I kept my pacing consistent, listened to my body, and arrived at the finish line and the end of 2011 healthy.


So, 2011. Over the past couple of years, I hadn't done much running at all. I did plenty of eating and drinking, and suffered the consequences of such a lifestyle. I did it to myself, I own that. It was one of those things I knew, but wasn't quite ready to face.

Looking at pictures from Mother's day pushed me over the edge. I started eating better, and started running in mid-May. Late in the summer, my wife started Weight Watchers, and after a couple of months of her doing that, I decided to join in too.

I now run about 3 days a week. Sometimes 4, sometimes 2. I try to cross train (typically via a workout DVD) to round it out to 6 workouts a week. The DVDs aren't perfect, but it is something.

At the end of the year, I'm down 46 pounds. I feel terrific. Food actually tastes better. My clothes now don't fit, and that's a good thing for once. I'm looking forward to buying new jeans and shorts.

I knocked 4:32 off of my 5K time, and can say I am running again.

I hope all of you had excellent 2011's, and I wish you all even better 2012's.

The stated point of the resolution run was to get people thinking about fitness and making new year's resolutions. I have made some, but...t hat is for the next post. Until then, keep on rockin'..

Running.. Finally

I saw a commercial the other day from Dick's, which said that May was "National Runner's Month". I said to myself, well, that's as good of a reason as any to get back into the swing of it.

So, late Saturday morning, I turned to Mrs. Raul and said "I'm going to go for a run.". She gave me a quizzical/surprised/amused look and said "Oh, OK". So, I got all ready, and out I went.

I got on my way and started trying to remember the last time I actually did run. I did pretty good after mini-Raul was born. Of course, I wasn't working at the time, and freeing up 50 hours a week really opens up the schedule. Once I got back to work, things started to go downhill. So, I was able to convincingly say that I haven't run in 6 months, if I was being honest with myself. I thought about adjusting that to say, 7 months, but, I didn't want to be TOO honest.

I guess part of why I didn't run was that I was just scared to. It had been so long. What would my fitness be like? What was going to hurt? Would I tire out after a half a block? Sure, there was the scheduling issue, just trying to get that run in. With the days being longer now, that's not as big of a problem. The weather issue is a lot better now, I can't complain about it being too cold. It got the point that it was just *me* holding myself back.

So, I did a little short of 2 miles. Threw in some walk breaks to go Galloway-style, but I got it done. All in all, I was really frickin' happy. I had a good amount of muscle fatigue, but that was my main problem. I truthfully did far better than I ever imagined I would.

The next goal... doing it again. And not 6 months from now.

Keep on rockin'.

Running and Rye

Man, it's been a week since I posted anything. I haven't even been around to all the blogs to even read them. Ugh.

So, I got back to work, and guess what? They want me to actually *work*. That is totally cutting into my blogging time.

In the same vein is that work is cutting into my running time. When I was off of work, I could go running in the morning (yeah, right), the early afternoon, the evening.. whatever I felt like. Now, when I get home, if there's time, I'm not beat, and the stars align, I might be able to get a run in.

On Sunday I got out for a run at least.. It was actually my first one in a whole week. Killer week. I had a stretch goal of doing 7 miles, but I hoped for 5. I wound up settling for 4.25, because shizz was just hurting. Left ITB was bothering me (note to self: foam roll more often. Of course 'more often' implies I'm actually doing it at all.. errrr). My right foot was bothering me. I just decided to shut it down a little early.

I think I need to get on the bike a bit more (all of you tri-people are inspiring), and do that to maintain some level of fitness for now, with a couple of runs a week. (Well, that's the goal, at least. Gotta have goals)


It is Tuesday, so I'm here with a new entry for Alky Tuesday...



This is Saranac's Rye Pilsener. (Yes, I know that's not a Pilsner glass.. I didn't feel like digging for one in the cabinet. Sadly, yes, I do have pretty much every glass type for different types of drinks)

I vaguely remember reading about a rye beer on someone's blog, but my 2 minute attempt to locate such a post came up empty. I had never had such a creation, and there was a pair of these in the Saranac summer sampler pack. (The same sampler pack that has the lemony Summer Ale that I previously covered. Oh, and yes, *that* was a beer that Mrs. Raul actually took to).

Speaking of Mrs. Raul, she was going to the grocery store yesterday.. before leaving, she asked me "Are there any beers you need?".

Brought a tear to my eye, let me tell you.


Oh, and speaking of the grocery store.. In the area I live in, there really isn't much. We just got a Sonic, and we're finally getting a Best Buy in October, just to show you what little is going on. There's one specialty beer store, but it's not terribly convenient to get to. However, the local Wegman's grocery store redid their insides, and they opened up a specialty beer section. They had always done pretty good by me before, carrying Brooklyn, Ithaca, and some other non-mass produced beers. Now though? I'm like a kid in a candy store there. But, that's where I get most of my beer.


Anyway, back from the two tangents.. I'm typically not much of a pilsner beer guy. They're just "ok" in my book. I honestly just chalk it up to the fact that I haven't had many good ones, and I really haven't spent the time to find some I like.

This one had a bit of a bread-like smell.. nice golden color, with lots of small carbonation bubbles. The taste was slightly spicy, and it really was quite tasty for a pilsner.

I think the description on the bottle sums it up quite well: "Rye malt adds dimension to what otherwise is a relatively simple brew." It's a basic beer with some additional flavor.

Certainly not my favorite beer, but quite pleasant out of a sampler pack. I'd have it again if offered it. It's a limited release, for those that are going to hunt it down.

I'm going to have to locate some more rye beers, just to try them out. Alas, we're coming into my favorite beer season, that of the Octoberfests and Pumpkin ales... the quest will probably be sidelined.

So, that's it for now. You know what to do.. keep on rockin'.

Boo

Guess who's back?

Paternity leave is over, the furlough is over, I'm back at work.

That also means I'm back at the blogs, too.. I'm waaaaaay behind. I didn't really read many blogs while I was away, either.

I did put some pics of the kid on Facebook, for those that are interested. I probably should get some more up, but I've just been kind of floating around, not really doing a lot.

Running has been going well.. I've basically kept up a schedule of running every other day, or with two days off, depending on my schedule. One time I had 3 days off, but that was the only time. Regular runs are 3.5-4 miles, and the long ones are about 6. Things are going pretty well. I did a 6.5 miler this past weekend, and it was, eh, ok. All kinds of things are creaky now, so I'm going to not go to that distance for a while again. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the ITB rehab.

I need to get back into biking.. do some cross training. We'll see if my wife lets me leave the house once I get back from work today. I can see her handing me the little guy and running away. hah.

But, yeah, I should be posting fairly regularly now. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Keep on rockin'!

Us strange runners

Not a lot going on lately. I've been keeping up with running every other day, and my leg/knee/ITB all seem content.

I did take an extra day off on Wednesday, but opted to do a nice lengthy hill walk instead of running. I've been wanting to do hill runs (I know, so weird), but figured that was a better approach to getting something like that in.

On Thursday, there was a hellacious storm that was going to come through. I proved, once again, to my wife that I am a nut, and went out anyway. The weather was hot and humid, and the wind was fierce. Big dark clouds on the horizon, dancing with internal light. A storm was a-comin'.

Of course, while out there, I saw another runner, and we gave each other the knowing nod & smile. I mean, what nuts would be out there with a thunderstorm on the horizon? Me and him. Us strange runners. (You know you'd be out there too.) He was a pro.. he had a Camelbak on. I saw that and was wondering, "Hmm.. what's in there?" I probably would have taken a sip, it was so humid out. (I could have brought my own, but alas.. I didn't.)

Other than that, the run went well. I lengthened my run time and was a bit more methodical in mixing in the Galloway walk breaks. It was a run one mile, walk one minute ratio. All in all, the run went well, and the pace was still pretty decent. I made it home, dry and un-electrocuted.



Has anyone tried the 'Tacos at Midnight' flavor of Doritos? (I know, not exactly healthy eating fare, but that's how I roll.) All I have to say is this.. they nailed it. Totally good taco flavor on a chip.

I tried the 'Last Call Jalepeno Popper' flavor, and it was ok, but not stellar. The taco flavor, though.. Wow. Really good. Definitely worth picking up a second bag. Takes me back to the days of eating at Taco Maker, which is no longer in our area (and hasn't been for years and years. :( ).

Alright everyone, have a great weekend. Keep on rockin'.

Lemony

I was reading an article about sponsored blogging. Here I am, just hoping for free beer and the like, and people are getting cash and trips to Hawaii. I need to set my sights higher.

Last night, I ran 3.5 miles. I listened to a little bit of the Runner's Round Table podcast during the run. All in all, an uneventful run, but they can't all be exciting.

I tried something a bit different for today's Alky Tuesday entry..

I give you..



This is Saranac's Summer Brew. The beer is a lighter beer, with a light yellow color. The description of it is "a refreshing blend of lemonade and lager".

With a description like that, I figured, I'll give it a shot. Plus some guy at the grocery store was talking about it. Not that I should take beer thoughts from a random stranger.

Yeah, well, it's lemony. Damn lemony. Sweet lemony. Sweet, too. But 'sweet' not as in "Oh, an extra day off? Sweet!". No, sweet as in sugary sweet.

Truthfully, after the first couple of tastes, all you get is a sweet taste.

This may be a good beer for a non beer drinker. Once mini-Raul arrives, I've saved a bottle of this for Mrs. Raul. She'll be a good litmus test for this hypothesis.

It's an interesting taste, but not really to my tastes. It really doesn't taste much like beer at all.

I see it's in their 12 pack sampler.. That would be the way I'd recommend it. A 6 pack was an awful lot.


That's all.. looks to be a nice day today, so if I can find some food for my wife, and she's agreeable, I might try to go to a ballgame tonight..

Keep on rockin', everyone!

Long run, rest, all sorts of good stuff

Back from the weekend. What a weekend. Before I get into that, here's something interesting..

I took a page from Lacey on Friday.. I went and sent Jeff Galloway a friend request on Facebook. A few hours later, I got the confirmation message that he is now my FB peep! Woot!

So, going into the weekend, the plan was this.. Lamaze, all day Saturday. Probably some Father's Day shopping. Sunday, there was a Father's day get together with the extended family. (I think there were to be 5 or 6 Dads there.). The weekend was booked solid.

I was a little apprehensive, to be honest, just because it was filled up. I don't know.. I like to take it easy on the weekends, do some unwinding from the week. Having every minute more or less planned out just isn't very fun for me.

That was going into the weekend..

We started off the weekend on Friday afternoon with a trip to the doctor's office.

"How did that go?" you might ask..

Thanks for asking!

It went well, but it appears that Mrs. Raul is starting to develop preeclampsia. As a result, she now gets to see the doctor twice a week, in addition to being put on bed rest. He also indicated that if we get 3 more weeks, we'll be lucky.. Mini-Raul is coming soon, it sounds like. So, if my posts drop off, that may be the reason why..


(For those that are not in the know about preeclampsia (and I wasn't either), it's really not too big of a deal if you're being actively monitored)

So, bed rest took the plans for the weekend, and threw them out of the window.

As a result, we stayed home. I think I traveled within a two mile radius of the homestead all weekend.

Yes, it would have been good to see the fam on Father's day.. That kind of stunk that we missed out on that.

But, I must admit.. a weekend of staying home (minus a trip to the grocery store and a last ditch effort to get all needed supplies for the offspring) was absolutely wonderful. I feel bad my wife is on bed rest, but I *loved* just staying home. Loved loved loved it. I got to do some stuff around the house that I wanted to do, and I got to take it easy. My wife was armed with the phone to page me when she needed something, and life was good.

I went for a "long" run this weekend, Galloway-style. 4 miles done in the rain, and no ill-effects afterward. I took Sunday off, and am ready to go back out today.


Other than that, not a lot going on. You know what to do.. Keep on rockin'!

Skidmarks

Ah yes.. skidmarks. I left 'em yesterday.

No no, not these skidmarks. I left a set with my tires.

I was driving along, minding my own business, and I saw a dear bound up the hill near me, and jump the guardrail. Now, I grew up driving in the "country", and have had a number of close calls. I generally think I do pretty well in spotting them in the turf ahead, etc.

When I saw the deer coming, the thought ran through my mind "Ah shizzzz... Here goes my record for missing deer." I know my day is coming, as there are just so many out and about.

So, I slammed on the brakes, left a portion of my tires on the road, hit the horn, and waited to see what happened.

Inches. That was it. I missed him.

I honestly thought that I could have brushed him with my car. I got out to look later, just to see, not quite believing it. (I did see that I really need to wash my car, however. Wow. What slob takes care of this machine?)

(Coming home later, I got to see my skidmarks, and was all "Ooh, I made those".)


I did go for a run last night, and included my walking in the run totals and time for the first time. Before I get there, I'll talk about the run.

I was going along, again, minding my own business, and feeling great. 3/4 of a mile into the run, I hear a dog barking and making a bee-line for me. Oh, great.

I'm not an animal person. I never had a dog growing up, and I don't really know how to approach a situation like this. I don't know the dog's intentions. I'd prefer him to do his thing, and I'll do mine.

The owner just sort of stood there yelling his name, not really moving. So, I decided to do the "flight" choice of "fight or flight". Not that I can really outrun many of the creatures here on Earth. But, what are you supposed to do?

So, I hauled it, dropped a few vocal choice words toward the dog and his owner, and off I went.

No harm done. Except, it just really turned the run into a crap run. A skidmark run, if you will, since we're in the toilet on this post. After that, I just wasn't feeling the groove. Sure, my numbers were OK, but I just wasn't feeling it.

I punched out 3.56 miles at a 9:20 pace. That included the walking. I'm really surprised it really wasn't too much slower than normal.


All in all, two potentially disastrous situations avoided during the day. Not too shabby at all.

Alright, that's all for now.. keep on rockin'!

Running, thoughts on Galloway, Guinness

Running over the weekend went very well. I did two 3 mile runs, with no discomfort (apart from my calves, which are just plain out of shape now). The only interesting thing I saw was a policeman who had pulled over an old lady for presumably speeding.. (I'm familiar with the stretch and know my time will come, given that I speed through there twice a day).

The problem with that was that it's right in front of a known large abandoned property. I sometimes cut through there for my runs, but recently some "No Trespassing" and "Posted" signs had gone up. With the law right there, I figured I shouldn't risk it, even though the odds of him leaving his vehicle were low.

The Galloway thing seems to be working for me. I spent some time on his page and poking around various forums on the Interwebs, and my main problem with his plan is my own mental hangup.

I had always told myself, "If I run a marathon, I'm going to run the whole thing". Now, I read about his plans, and I'd be walking in it. That's purely a mental block on my part. There's no shame in walking part of a marathon, and who's to say I'd be able to run one myself? It's not just the marathon, it's races in general. I'm sure I could go through a 5K doing 100% running with little or no ill effects, but what about a 10K? According to him, that would be a no-no.

But, maybe I'll continue with his plan. I'm going to start including my walk time in my mileage calculation and see what my pace really is. I'll keep track of total distance covered, and see where I am.


And, without further ado, here's today's Alcohol Tuesday entry. It's beer, but I'll try to include a couple of tidbits for you non-beer drinkers. (And maybe I'll grab some wine for next week.. )

Today's entry is Guinness, the 250th anniversary edition.

First interesting tidbit for non beer drinkers: in 1759, the man, Arthur Guinness, signed a lease for the brewery. The interesting part? He signed it for 9,000 years. Not only that, the annual fee is £45. That's a man with some vision.



The above pic shows two glasses, one a good pour, the other, well, not so much.

The astute Guinness drinker will now say.. "What? You're not drinking it from the bottle?"

Indeed not. This was the first thing that I noticed was different in the 250th anniversary edition. There is no rocket widget in the bottle.

Second tidbit for non Guinness drinkers.. The bottles and cans typically have a 'widget' inside of them (a rocket widget for the bottles, a ball for the cans). This is so that when you drink from the bottle, you get a consistency similar to a draft pulled for you at a bar.

The beer itself had more carbonation than the standard Guinness. I'm not sure, but maybe the nitrogen aspect of the carbonation was removed (also explaining why the widget disappeared).

Compared to a standard Guinness, this was a little more malty. Also, disappointingly, the somewhat smoky flavor that exists in regular Guinness was not really present in the anniversary edition.

Change the carbonation, add the malt, and remove the smoke, and you've got yourself a stout which is OK, but not great.

The anniversary edition will run you about 10 bucks for a 6 pack of bottles.

My take on it is this. I'm glad I tried it, but I'll go back to the regular Guinness. (The 250th edition will only be around 6 months or so, anyway)

Ah, if only I was as knowledgeable about something more useful than alcohol. Oh well. :)

Keep on rockin!

Snuck away

I snuck away for a few days from this here blog. lol.. I'm back, fret not.

To recap, on Tuesday, I went for a run, and I got 2.9 miles in. It was probably the most humid run I've had since last summer. Wow. It wasn't particularly hot, just humid.

Wednesday was a rest day (legitimate!) and I went out to the local ballpark. It was an absolutely perfect night to take in a baseball game. There's really not a bad seat in the place (cliche, I know), but we upgraded (unofficially) our already really good seats just a bit and sat near a couple other people we knew for a view like this:



(Does this count for Foto Friday?)

Like I said, a beautiful night for it. If I could do that every night, I probably would.

Thursday I had severe motivational issues and wound up taking the day off from work, after not a lot of arm twisting from my wife. It was a quiet day around the house, but I did go for a run, and finished a whole 5K. I felt no knee/ITB issues during this, nor do I feel any after-effects today.

My ITB feels pretty solid right now. I'm going to keep the Galloway thing going, and try to keep all my runs around 3 miles for the next week. After that, we'll slowly increase the mileage and see what happens.


Anyone have any plans for the weekend? I'm not really sure what all is going on, but it's the weekend, and that makes it great, no matter what.

Keep on rockin', everyone!

Running and Mint Juleps

Last night I managed to get away from work before the rain came. I managed 2.5 miles, with minimal issue. It was a pretty non-eventful run, but I did frighten a groundhog. (Felt a little bad about that. :( )

Today my knee feels a bit tender, but I've been very very lax on doing my leg exercises. Need to get on that. In the end though, I'm definitely feeling better about this ITB, and I'm glad.


And, without further ado, I bring us to today's Alcohol Tuesday entry, the mint julep! It would have been ideal to do this the Tuesday before the Kentucky Derby, but alas, I was out of town. So, after all 3 legs of the triple crown are over, I bring you this entry. Better late than never!

The mint julep is a drink that really isn't that complicated to prepare, yet people are afraid of it. Don't be. I bring you instructions, complete with pictures, to make a killer drink.

Here's what is needed:



We need fresh mint, some extra fine granulated sugar, a little bit of water, ice, and some Kentucky bourbon whiskey. In addition, you'll need either a muddler or a spoon, a cup or glass, and optionally a measuring device such as a jigger.

The cup I use is an old-school traditional mint julep cup. It's pewter. As a side effect (one that is desired), the cup frosts up as it gets cold, due to the ice. If you go to Churchill Downs, you'll get a mint julep in a Collins style glass, just a taller and more narrow glass. Anything works, of course.

As far as bourbon goes, you'll want a Kentucky style, to be authentic. I'll typically opt for Knob Creek or Maker's Mark. Try to stay away from something really dirt cheap.


(One more side note.. You may note the mallet in the picture above. It will come in to play, but may not be necessary for you.. )



First up, take a teaspoon of sugar, and put it in your cup/glass. Then, follow that up with a teaspoon of water, enough to dissolve the sugar. This is the part of the recipe that is "to taste". If you want it sweeter, add a bit more.. less sweet, add less, of course.

You could use something like simple syrup if you have some on hand.



Next up, pull out 4 to 6 mint leaves. Put them into the sugar water, and gently muddle them. You only want to bruise the leaves, not crush them. Bruising the leaves will release some of the oil in the mint.. If you wind up crushing them, you'll pick up some extra flavors that are not becoming to the drink. You can use a muddler for this if you have one, or I just use the back of a spoon.

Stir the bruised leaves around in the sugar-water solution and let them sit for a few minutes, letting the flavor seep out.



Next up is the ice. You're going to want to use crushed ice for this drink. While I absolutely love my fridge, the one thing it can't do is make crushed ice. Hence, the need for a mallet.

After banging away on the counter for a bit, you'll be left with some crushed ice:



Crude, but effective.



OK. So you fill your cup with the crushed ice. Pour a jigger (1.5 to 2 ounces) of bourbon in the cup. You'll note that this settles and melts the ice a bit. You'll want to top the cup with some more ice.

Finish this off by retopping the cup with bourbon, garnish with a sprig of mint, and you're good to go!




That spoon I included in my julep is peer with my cup. It actually serves as both a straw and a spoon, as the handle is hollow. Really killer. So you can sip, stir, and have something fun, all in one. :)

Alright everyone, that's all for today.. Enjoy responsibly, and keep on rockin'!

2 Years?

Wow. I've been running for 2 years. Looking at my log, I realized that on Friday, it was my 2 year anniversary.

Of course, how did I honor that? By not running. All weekend long. Way to go, self.

I mean, really, wtf is up with that? Ugh. Schedule and laziness got in the way. (More of the latter, if I really wanted to be honest with myself.)


But, 2 years. Wow. I laced 'em up thinking I'd give it a try, and I've actually stuck with it.

Highlights from the year were my first 5K, which I ran with my running buddy. The other highlight was running 15 miles (during which I realized I really need to learn about fueling). Epic. The only injury I had in my second year was another case of ITBS, which is all due to poor muscle balance, poor flexibility, and the main contributor of "too much, too soon". My high point in mileage was in January, where I punched out 99 miles for the month. Had I been more alert, I would have done that one extra mile.

Training went really well this past year, apart from the last few months. The summer and fall had a decent amount of mileage, and I really ramped it up over the wintertime. I didn't really enjoy running the indoor track that much, but I made sure I got to the gym 4 or 5 times a week.

I think back.. uhm, a lot of years. Back in the 7th-8th grade timeframe, I ran cross country for a season, and it just didn't agree with me. I ran track for another season, and I didn't agree with it.

What would have happened had I kept running? If I had actually worked at it? If I had 15 more years under my belt of running, where would I be now? (Oh, wait.. It's more than 15. Hrms. 17. 18. Something like that)

Of course, at such an age, I didn't have the mental strength to run. It hurt, and that was it. Hurt='stop and walk'. Or, at the time it did.


Anyway.. goals for the next year are to make sure I don't do too much again too soon. I'd like to run a couple of 5Ks this year, along with a 10K which usually crops up around here in October. If my ITB stays really really good, I'll toy with a half marathon in November. I think I'm throwing my marathon plans out for the year. I had toyed with rolling down to Philly, but I should really make sure that I'm strong enough to do it.

My main goal will be to get back up to the 20-25 miles a week I was doing over the winter time, and try to maintain that sort of quantity. With the little one coming along soon, I don't know how I'll do as far as keeping a schedule.. (that's another reason I'm going loosey-goosey on my goals right now)

I'm going out tonight, rain or shine. And that's that.

Keep on rockin'.

NRD results, Marcy

For National Running Day, I made sure I got out there. The weather forecast was not what I predicted. Not at all. In fact, it was pretty much ideal running conditions. Slightly overcast, probably in the 60s.

I kept with my run some, walk some approach, and banged out 2.75 miles. Furthermore, I went longer before mixing in the walking. Today, the knee/ITB feels fine. I think my stretching and muscle toning regimen is starting to work a bit.. whoo hoo! Maybe I'm on the mend..?

So, I take my whopping 2.75 miles, and I donate them to Mel. You go girl!

And, for those of you who don't know, today is Marcy's last day. A sad day for all of the blogosphere. While I can't write true sentiment like my bro G did, I'll share my two cents.

Marcy's blog was one I thought where all of the cool kids hung out. I lurked there for a long long time, pretty much from near the beginning. I have no proof of that, as I was shy and lurking. (Not stalking, just lurking, mind you)

I always enjoyed reading her stuff, but with her massive blogroll and number of active commenters on her blog, I figured she'd never never notice me, never mind swing by here. And, yet, here she is. She's funny, entertaining, and a really nice person. (And if I were better with words, I could come up with better adjectives)

Happy Birthday Marcy.. it's been fun. Hope to see you around.

Alright everyone.. keep on rockin'.

Running, Drinking, Tao, Pooh

How's that for a title?

Last night, I went out and did my pseduo-Galloway thing while I work on recovering. I dare not jinx it by saying too much, but I did get 2.5 miles in.

Don't forget, today is National Running Day!¹



I plan to get out there, dodging the lightning bolts that are supposed to be coming down this afternoon. Should make for an interesting time.

As far as Alky Tuesday goes, yes, I'll be keeping this theme going.. It appears to be reasonably successful, and I'm planning to mix more things in than just beer. (Next week is the construction of a good mint julep, for instance.. I have the pictures ready, even. :) ). I know a couple of you wanted a beer Thursday as well.. I'm not opposed to it, and I'll try it for a bit.. not sure how long my waistline and my wallet will handle it, but I'm willing to give it a go.

So.. on to TFH's 'Literary Wednesday'. In order to have a quality post for you, I took the time and finished my last 15 pages before work. Yes, I'm willing to do that for all of you. (yeah, ok, so I'd be willing to do any semi-reasonable thing before work, just to delay that)

Today's entry is...
The Tao of Pooh.



Laugh if you want, but this is probably the closest I'll get to what TFH intended for LW. This book was not only great, it was one of those books that gets you thinking and does something for you.

I'll preface this by saying.. I don't know a lot about Winnie the Pooh. Sure, I know who he is, and can pick him out in a crowd. But, I've never read the stories. Similarly, I don't know a lot about Taoism. It is a philosophy which intrigues me, though (and always has).

The book is written to use the two themes (Taoism and Winnie the Pooh) to explain each other. Now, you might say, that's just silly, and it can't work. But, it soooo does work.

The book is funny, cute, and really deep. To really take away everything from this book, I'll need to read it again (and probably will at some point). The book uses various excerpts from Pooh stories to explain Taoist concepts, and various extracts of Taoist texts to talk about the characters in the 100 acre wood.

It's written as the author talking with Pooh about different concepts, and then jumps into story fragments to back up the point. Truly a fascinating read. It's a quick read, but I think you'd need to read it multiple times to get everything out of it.

Not having read other Pooh stories, I was laughing while reading it. ²

Alright.. that's all.. ³

Don't forget to get out there and do some running today, everyone.. keep on rockin'!

---

¹ I didn't know it until I saw it on FB a week ago. I guess FB is good for something, after all. :)
² That didn't work out so well while proctoring a test, but, well, that's their problem. :P
³ I see why G does these footnote things.. They're pretty nifty and fun

Weekend running and the avatar

Well, I went out 2 days this weekend. Both days I left my knee strap at home, and tried a different approach to my running. I took up a Galloway-style approach.. I'd run .5 or .6 miles, then walk a block or so. Repeat. That *seemed* to keep the ITBS at a manageable level. I also stuck to flat routes, and I limited my runs to 2.25 & 2.5 miles. (The running part was those numbers, I don't count the walking).

The other thing I did was to pick up my pace a bit.. (mixing in walking allows me to run fast for a short period of time.. lol). I think that causes me to run more on front part of my foot, and it doesn't hurt the ITB as much. I know running faster leads to more injuries, so I'm hesitant to keep with this aspect of my weekend runs.

Today I feel pretty good, and I'm happy about that. I think I'll just go for a walk today and not try to push it to 3 days in a row.

Props to joyRuN, who correctly identified my avatar's origin. It's from Doctor Who.. It's a 'Dalek'. Wikipedia has a lengthy article on them here, because what else do sci-fi people have to do, but write detailed articles on Wikipedia? The long and the short of it is, it's an "evil alien race".

I really didn't know what to choose for an avatar, so that was it. I'd put pics up, but then people from work might stumble across this, put 2 and 2 together, and that just wouldn't be good.

That's all for now... I need to find something for tomorrow's alky Tuesday entry..

Keep on rockin'!

Blogaversary!!

Welp, it's been one year since I started this little blog. (Well, it's really tomorrow, but I don't really blog too much on the weekends) This is #260 of my posts over the past year. Wow.. really? That means I have a rate of 5 posts a week? Wow. As XC2 said, employee of the month. Well, really, I guess employee of the year.

Well, like most of you bloggers, I started a blog saying "who would read my writings?". However, over time, I've slowly built up a little "fan base". I find it really incredible, and I'd like to thank all of you who stop by here. I've made some good friends doing this, and I hope that continues on. The blogosphere is a really great community.

The reason I started blogging was that after I started running a couple of years ago, I went to Google and searched for something incredibly silly like "beginner runner tips" or something along that line. One thing led to another, and then I found a series of running blogs. I wound up lurking on the blogs for pretty much a year before starting my own.

(As it is, I still read a number of blogs that I lurk at.. haven't come around to posting, or don't post regularly).

So.. in honor of all of you, my readers, is there anything you'd like to read on here that you don't? Anything you want to see less of? Stuff you want changed?


On to running.. last night, I got in a humid 2 miles. No Garmin on me.. just wanted to go out. I think I'm not really sold on the whole running with a knee strap. I noticed that I felt my knee cap sliding around a bit (something I'm intimately familiar with, having a scorching case of patello femeral pain a few years back), and I figure that's due to my quad not having it's full control with the strap in the way. I think I'll try my next run without the strap, just to see how it goes. If I'm not better soon, I'm chugging my butt over to the doctor. It's been long enough. I'm tired of this.

I'm looking forward to the weekend.. I don't think we have any plans (I haven't verified this with Mrs. Raul, so I'm 99.99999% sure I'm wrong, and there's probably something really important going on). It was only a 4 day week, which is certainly better than a 5 day one, but I still like to leave work. Something tells me that even if I got down to a 1 day week, I'd still be exuberant at the end of the lone work day.


Thanks again.. keep on rockin'!

(and, an extra one for you, G, keep on rockin'!)

Running, biking, scotch

Over the weekend, my running buddy came home for a few days.

She and I went and did a couple of workouts. First was a 2+ mile run with some good sized hills... We did mix in some walking in addition to the 2 miles, so it was a pretty lengthy excursion. The knee felt pretty OK, but I wouldn't want to do too much more than that.

The next day, we went for a nice little bike ride, a little over 5 miles. Thankfully, I didn't have any incidents and come home with any broken bones, unlike the last time she and I rode together. This was the first time I pulled out my bike after I got it tuned up, and I was really pleased with how well it rode. The tune-up was definitely worth the money. (Plus, I have brakes now!)

I must say, I really missed working out with her. While I do like the solitude when working out, I really do enjoy her company, and the time really flies by. So, if I had to choose, I'd certainly choose having her around for the workouts. Plus, it's really good having someone that will drag your butt outside and make sure you work out on those days where you really just want to phone it in.


And now... Today's alcohol Tuesday entry is....



Glenmorange's 12 year 'Port Wood Finish' scotch. It's a single malt scotch that during its final years of maturation, is put into port containers for aging. This allows it to pick up some of the characteristics and flavors of a port, while retaining its scotch-ness. (What else would you call scotch-ness?)

In an effort for full disclosure, this is the scotch that got me into scotch drinking. It was a Christmas party with a very kind and generous host, a drinking buddy, and a bottle of this. (Unfortunately, the host only had about a single glass, and there was confusion the next day on how my buddy and I got home. Props to Mrs. Raul here for not killing me, as it was really a party for her and her co-workers)

Anyway..... The scotch has a somewhat rose tint to its golden color. The smell is slightly fruit-like, in the vein of cherries. A first sip is pretty dry. As you taste it, you start noticing more and more flavor. There's a very faint underlying smoke taste, but there is also the port taste. In some ways the port taste reminds me of Courvoisier cognac. (I'm no cognac expert, though. Nor a scotch expert for that matter)

The scotch itself is... pricey. So, it's definitely designed for sipping, and for special occasions. One could argue that it's not for a newbie scotch drinker, due to its price and complexity. However, I'll argue the opposite, saying it's a good way to get into scotch.. a 'gateway scotch', if you will. It worked for me.. (Of course, there are very few drinks I'll turn away from)

Hmm.. After doing a bit of research this morning, it appears that this scotch is discontinued, and has been replaced by the 'Quinta Ruban' variety (of which, people seem to prefer the Port Wood Finish version). Oh, this is disappointing. Plus, I robbed you all of a good review, because this is discontinued.. I guess I'd rush out and get a bottle if you are at all interested. lol. I'll have to do something else later on this week to make up for this.

Alright everyone, keep on rockin!

LW and whatever else I can come up with

We'll start with my Literary Wednesday entry for today.....



War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells.

Now, it's not that this book moved me or was highly inspirational, it's just what I've last read (as with all of my LW entries).

This book was truly captivating. I saw the piece of crap they called a movie with Tom Cruise based on this book, and the book just blows it away. If you haven't seen the movie, don't. Read the book. Wells does such a good job in describing how the character feels, what he is going through, his confusion and amazement about what is going on. It's not a terribly deep book, but it is greatly entertaining. Well, I suppose you could go on that it is a deep book, with Darwinism and things like that. I really try not to get that involved with stories. It's hard to believe that this was written in 1898.


As far as running with my strap on (oh! and again!), it was.. different. I bought a strap that appears to have been designed for "below the knee" rather than above, as you would normally use for ITBS. Due to my uber-awesomely muscularly legs, it was a tight fit, but it did fit. I found that after about 3/4s of a mile, I'd need to stop and slide it up and re-adjust.

I *think* running was easier with it on, but I'm viewing this as a stopgap solution. I can't fart around with this forever. I'm going to stretch and do some rolling (of my leg, of course), and hope that gets it all fixed up. I wound up doing 2 miles and shutting it down. Today it's not too bad, so I'm "cautiously optimistic" about my running.



The whole stopping to readjust thing worked out well, because I got a little break too. I've also come to find that where my hamstring attaches to my azz is probably the crankiest part of my body right now, too. That whole 'Moons over my Hammy' of Denny's is the spot.


Lesse.. what else? Oh, I cleaned up part of the DVR by finishing off what was left of a TV series... The ol' 'Prison Break' show is no more. About fricken time, as it jumped the shark 3 seasons ago. :) Really, it would have been awesome as a mini-series, even a long mini-series. But nooooo... we had to go get the 'government conspiracy' plot line out.

Good series, interesting idea. The ending, well, it was OK. Not sure what I wanted, but they pretty much punted and wrapped everything up in a package in 10 minutes. Now, I'm down to 3 shows that I watch.

- Rescue Me
- Stargate (on hiatus, until the new series comes out)
- Doctor Who (also on hiatus)

That's it! I've been cutting back on my TV watching, and it's starting to pay off. I basically have a rule "no new shows", and as they drop off, I'm good to go.

Alright all.. you know the drill. Keep on rockin'

Running, finger shoes, AT

Last night, I set my Garmin on the windowsill, let it find the satellites, and promptly went out for a run without it. So, it was a run a little under 2.5 miles, pretty uneventful. I'd call it a light hill workout.


My brother in law sent me two articles over the last few days. Both deal with these 'finger shoe' things.



First up is the guy that wrote the 'Four Hour Workweek'. He claims that running barefoot or with these shoes is better than running in sneakers. The basic idea is that your foot arch is designed to handle and return energy properly, and by using sneakers, you're hindering that.

Similarly, this article talks about sneakers and says they're a big honkin' waste of moola. It goes on to say that no sneaker has been shown to prevent injury, etc etc.

What do you guys think? I've heard that running barefoot or with a minimum shoe is the way to go, but that's just from various articles or nuggets on the Internet.. hardly a reliable source.

Honestly, if there was a closer place to try on a pair of Vibram shoes, I think I might give it a shot. Yes, I'm that crazy. My feet are so wide though, I just hesitate to order something like that sight-unseen.

I think having a minimal shoe like these VFFs would be ideal, because you're pretty much running barefoot, but if you step on something that might cut you, etc, you can skate by (hopefully) uninjured.


And now.... in my effort to "theme it up" (read: make sure I have content on Tuesdays), I give you.... AT! Also known as "Alcohol Tuesday". Perhaps you had something tasty over the weekend. Perhaps you can't imagine why Friday is so far off. Feel free to join me in celebrating Tuesday!

The first entry for AT is for Denise, who I left out of my shoutouts before traveling. Sorry girl!

When I previously discussed Chimay, I had sampled the red label and the white label. I figured, "That seems like a decent assortment."
Well, she went and asked if I had tried the blue label.

Well.. no, I hadn't. So, I went and picked up a bottle.



Daaamn. That is, without a doubt, the best variety of the 3. Chimay makes Belgian style beers. (I'm learning to appreciate the good ones more and more. Yeah, I may need extra study time on them.. all for the sake of research)

The blue label is marked the "Grand Reserve". It packs a decent punch, being 9% ABV, and pours a nice dark color. It's got some nice malt and caramel sort of flavor. The beer is incredibly smooth, and it leaves you wanting more. Certainly not a hoppy beer. This rolls to the other end of that spectrum.

The other two Chimay varieties were good, but wouldn't make a standard rotation in my fridge. This one will.

My bro G correctly noted that the big problem with Chimays is that getting a bottle is going to set you back a bit. Yea.. one of these is going to rock your wallet about $10.

A very good beer if you want to try a Belgian style.


Alright everyone.. keep on rockin!

Back to running

So, my running posts have been lacking lately. Not many of them. This corresponds, sadly enough, to real life. Not a lot of running going on.

I'm attempting to turn the corner. I've determined that pure rest just isn't doing a lot for my IT band. (I sure gave it my all, though).

As it stands today, I can run about 2.5 miles, and then I start to feel "it". Capital IT.

I can foam roll with minimum discomfort, so I'm guessing that I've just got some sort of muscle imbalance or something along those lines. *shrug*

While traveling, I got in a 2 miler, which was pretty awful. After I got back, I did a 2+, which was "ok".

Yesterday I did 2.5 total. I was planning to do 2 miles, but got a little sidetracked. I had a mile and a half "warmup". About this time, I got to the entrance to the nearby high school, and I said to myself, "Self, go check out the track." OK. So, I did. I'd never been, and it's pretty darn convenient, really only being about a mile away.

Niiiice track. Way nicer than ours was. It's along the lines of the college track that's not too far away, but really not convenient to get to. Only downside is that it's on top of a hill and it was damn windy. I wound up doing some blistering 1/4 mile repeats. 3 of them, all of them under a 6 min/mile pace.

Afterward, I did a little more running, but felt IT acting up, so I called it a day and walked home.


So, I've seen references to the IT band straps. I've wondered, does wearing them just kind of "hide" the problem? Are you not fixing it, and you're just slapping a temporary workaround on?

In the mean time, I'm working on doing some leg exercises and doing some stretching/rolling. Don't know what a "normal" amount to do is, but I'm going to up what I was doing (meaning, I'll do more than 2 minutes 3 times a week or so). My old plan just wasn't working.

Furthermore, I know I can't run long distances (sniff), but I'll keep doing these 2 milers and see where I get.. My fitness level has been slipping from where it was in February, so I really need to stay on top of this.

As far as other stuff.. let's go bulleted list style:

• I still haven't decided on getting a FB page or not. I'll let you know.
  
• Travel went well. Good to see the fam. I'm now back from the land of "y'all" and its plural "all y'all".
  
• Hitting the road at 3:45am sucks. Bad.
  
• Went out a couple of times at night while I was there. Big cities are SOOO much more happenin' than where I live. Wow.
  
• I haven't been out that late in years.
  
• One of the places I went had this line dancing to modern hip-hop/etc music thing going on. I was kind of regretting I ditched all of those high school gym classes where they went over that stuff.
  
• Got myself served some 'Knob Creek' in a plastic cup. Classy.
  
• I actually did some situps for the first time since completing the 200 situp challenge the other day. Way to make it a habit, Raul. Way to go.
  
• I'm about half caught up on blogs and email. I'll get to ya all.
  
• Go Celtics!
  
• Keep on rockin'......