Start with a well written first sentence and see where it goes.

That was my mantra when i would start a writing assignment in college. This is not some weird collection of college memories or thouoghts but just an attempt to write a new post.

i have so many experiences over the last few weeks.

Where to start? the end and go back.....

yesterday was perhaps the greatest 8 mile run of my life. 1:04:56.....nothing special about the time. It was an attempt at a negative split....the first 4 miles were 33 minutes, perfect.....the last 4.....31:56....with my last mile being the fastest.

Finally, the weather seems to have broken and i was able to enjoy a mild early spring feel in my step.

Prior to that... a miserable few weeks of dreaded treadmills....and perhaps the worst ever running experience in my short fun filled running life....

....After a terrible storm i had to fly one final time to St Louis for training. The flight sucked and the landning was even worse. Like the pilot missed the start of the landing strip and had to lock up the brakes extra hard to stop the plane. i've never felt like i was wearing a seatbelt for any real reason on a plane until it actually kept my from being catapulted into the back of the seat in front of me. anyway....

Due to the storm the next morning, i had 18 miles on tap, in the little workout facility in our hotel. i made it 12 before noticing that my socks were turning pink from the little bits of blood running down my sweaty legs. Given no body glide and the extremely humid conditions of a little hotel gym area, the fact that i chaffed my legs wasn't a surprise....

....but i like to try imagining the surprise on the face of the houskeeping person, and the thoughts through whoever happened upon the bloody towels i left in the used towel bin. The rest of the week in St Lou was spent indoors, in training...minus a small early evening run.

So the first half of marathon training has been rough. The next few weeks will get better and i admit to being pleasantly surprised with last nights run.

Movin on:

Huge thanks to the Fun Guv's ghost writing as i haven't really been able to get to the keyboard....the real bummer...i haven't been able to keep up with the other blog's i read...

this afternoon i learned....

Animal's a liberal, duh.....misguided a little, but with a great heart
GLRG....passed a big test and i haven't been able to congradulate her yet
Nitmos...uses footnotes, has inlaws who still drink blatz....a has a coworker who farts as much as i do ( at least my office is private, with walls and a door)

Anyway.....i'm still a liberal.....but i swear....if the Michigan Democratic party pulls a "mulligan" on the great primary fiasco....i'm going to plug my nose and willingly, protestingly, and with pencil held in my middle finger....

Vote for McCain

that's only if Michigan yells mulligan....and if i have to dodge sniper bullets on the way to the voting booth.

and if i get the opportunity to post again before the trial, maybe a post about Kwame (trial, scheduled to start in June.... i might just make it, in time)

thanks for reading, waiting, whatever

Hello, Fun Guv here. I figured I'd better guest post before he has a month gap between posts.

Just a little update...

From what I've seen/heard running is going well. Had 20 miles on tap for last Saturday, but as we've all either seen or gathered Mother Nature has a beef with the state of Michigan and she dumped another 3 inches of snow on us Friday night. So it was off to the treadmill. From what I've been told he only made it to somewhere between 12 & 13 miles before he was ready to hang himself so he called it quits. Of course about an hour after that he looked outside and all of the snow on the sidewalk had melted so he could have gone for 20 outside. Oh well, maybe this weekend.

The new office is shaping up. He's been doing a little interior designing, trying to make it homey and comfortable. We have to work on pictures and placement since he just threw stuff up on the wall to fill all of the nails that were left behind. To say there is no rhyme or reason is an understatement. Yesterday I brought him out a nice (fake) plant for the lobby and we got a coffee table & coat rack put in there today. Now if we can just find a very inexpensive leather (or vinyl) sofa he will be happy - I hope.

Doing well on the client front too. They seem to like him and everything seems to be moving forward in a positive way...

Other than that, we're just waiting for spring to be sprung so we (I) can get some outdoor projects done. Now that I'm not working again I'm hoping to get a lot done ~ as a matter of fact I'm avoiding patching the hole in the drywall right now by sitting here typing; stairwell needs to be painted. I ditched the job at GW...too many nights and weekends, not enough pay....plus Mike's gig is starting to take off and he needs me home with the kids so he can focus on his job...sounds good to me!

I'll see if I can tear him away from the TV one night this week and give his own update. Dancing with the Stars is on tonight and that is a guilty pleasure of his!

"you sit around gettin older
there's a joke here somewhere and it's on me"

well, as another week plus has passed let's go over the past 4 runs.....

monday and wednesday....7 miles each, on the lovely treadinator...yay, good paces both runs about an 8:10 pace overall,

Saturday...6 miles, again on the treadinator, but a little skip in my step as i hit an 7:52 pace for an overall time of 47:12. i may be getting a handle on this indoor running, as i watched "Clerks II", and "Attack of the Clones"...sorta

Today....windy and rainy but outdoors and in shorts no less. temp's fell from about 40 to 30 while running and the rain has since turned to a little snow. but...outdoors again and smilin' all the way. i had 4 miles on the plan and ran them in about 7:55 pace....it was 31:40ish per the trusty Garmin soooo.....

given the marathon....which is closed registration, but i am verified as a registrant...nearly 3 months away....how am i doing??? please pipe in you BQing steers out there.

Movin On (literally)

i received word today, sort of an offer, to take an office for a financial advisor who has resigned. It's called an office in transition. Tomorrow is the first time, i will be meeting my new staff over the next two and trying to make myself at home in the new location.

While my original plan was to open a new office, i am very excited to be moving into an established branch. The short term goal was to achieve a branch and a staff. This gives me 3 days to prepare before....

Friday/Saturday.....regional, southeast Michigan regional with all the local bosses and such
Saturday...jump on a plane around 7ish and fly to St Louis, for another fun filled week of training....including office in transition training
Sunday...run 16 miles around the suburbs of St Lou
Monday-Friday.....lots of training (work stuff) with little bits of training (marathon stuff)

So anyway i may be a while before updating again.....but rest assured....Fun Guv is more than capable of filling in with a guest-ghost post.

So i got a call from a friend and co-worker from West Virginia last week asking me "whats up" with Detroit's mayor....Man, what a train wreck...so at least i have something to talk about over a beer next week.

....but, i think i need to get another post in prior to leaving, as tomorrow is a big day in the political arena, and maybe i'll need to get stuff off my brain.

thanks for reading