Mike Has A Thought

2009-08-19T08:05:00.002-04:00

Well, here i am. I figure with some extra time on my hands to type away i would start writing in my blog again. It seems a lot has changed since the original thoughts behind having a running blog and the thoughts that occurred to me while running.

First, i believe i successfully changed careers, going from the banking world to finance. So far so good.
Second, i went from a novice-oh-my-gawd can i run a marathon to a guy who has ran 6.
third and last, after spending so much time worried about politics that i forgot to concetrate on the important things in the blog.

Well, let me say, there is plenty to rip on with regards to our left-of-center politicians these days and being a center type guy they're gonna get whats coming to them as well.

So i figure 2 maybe 3 posts a week, again mostly commentary on things a see and runs i do, with fun-guv throwing in a few posts about the family every now and then.

Thanks for reading

2009-04-13T18:19:00.003-04:00

OMG!!!!!

Sometimes I really wonder about my husband. I swear, he can get away with just about anything ~ you wouldn't believe the movies and/or TV shows that he introduces my family to...

Yesterday evening we went to my dad's house to celebrate Easter & Jimmy's birthday. We had a great time hanging out and visiting, my grandma was there too...most of our friends have met her, she's a fun lady to hang out with.

Later on in the evening, after Mack had made us all watch Twilight ~ Jimmy was the smart one and hung out downstairs playing the Wii ~ we determined that Desperate Housewives was going to be a rerun. Mike piped up that it was the season finale of Rock of Love Bus at 9pm so he promptly found VH1 on their TV and settled in to watch it ~ he loves the show for the train wreck that it is.

He explained to my grandmother that it was like the bachelor, but a bit more sleezy. Ya think? Grandma really seemed to get into it. It was very interesting to hear her take on everything...she was not impressed with Bret Michaels at all ~ she thought they should be competing for a far better looking prize! Of course the sleezy outfits and fake boobs didn't impress her either. She completely understood the whole train wreck aspect of it though.

In the last 30 minutes or so my father joined the gathering in front of the TV, so now I'm spending Easter watching the ultimate in white trash TV with my dad, my grandma, my step-mom and my husband....how can it be any better? My dad found the whole thing amusing too, needless to say. It truly did end up being one of those shows that's fun to make fun of with a group while watching.

Oh, but wait it did get better....

Suddenly a commercial comes on and I swear I died and went straight to HELL!!!!

What better crowd to watch this commercial with than your dad, your step-mom and your grandma????? We all died with laughter and I swear my face was beet red!

Guess this is an Easter gathering we won't soon be forgetting huh?

2009-02-23T12:38:00.003-05:00

Rent

Yesterday MacKenzie finally got to see Rent! She's been a huge fan of the soundtrack ~ I realized she has memorized every.single.word on that soundtrack (if you know some of the words, that's not necessarily a good thing!) ~ and had watched the movie countless times. Finally she got to do what she's been wanting to do for over two years (she became interested about a week after it left the Detroit area the last time it was here ~ she has her father's timing)...Santa brought her a ticket to yesterday's matinee performance.

She was in heaven and enjoyed every minute of it ~ and so did I it was great to see it again. Now she wants to be Mimi for Halloween next year ~ oh my!

On another note, same basic subject....where did simple theatre etiquette go? Granted, it was a matinee performance and there were a ton of high school aged kids there, the bulk of the audience ranged from about 15-30 years old; but wouldn't this be a great time to teach students about how to behave in public?

My first gripe....dressing for the performace. If I had a dollar for every kid in jeans & a t-shirt or hoodie, I'd have a nice little stack of cash, but add the number of adults dressed that way...I'd be rich! I mean seriously, come on, I'm not asking for formal wear, but maybe some casual dress pants & a decent shirt.

Second gripe...stay in your flippin' seat. You paid a minimum of $45 for the damn ticket...watch the show! I will say I was surprised, I expected more up & down from people, but there was one person that got up with only 2 songs left in the first act to use the bathroom (I assume, he wasn't gone very long). We were in the first row of the balcony so most movement didn't affect us, we had the main wide aisle between the mezzanine & the balcony in front of us, but of course this guy was sitting in the mezzanine right in front of us so his big fat head blocked us twice. There was another one that got up during the second act, but his cell phone rang and you know...gotta answer that ~ he better have been a doctor. The worst part was that it was during a time when Mark (Anthony Rapp, original Broadway cast member) was addressing the audience and he appeared to have noticed the movement up there.

Third gripe...don't text during the performance. This one really got me. Great everyone turned off their phones so no ringing during the performance, but hello, when you open your phone & start texting in a dark theatre, the light your phone gives off is a tad distracting. The far section of the mezzanine was empty, they sold upward instead of sideways it appears. During the first act it was empty, but handful of people moved down there for the second act from up top. I swear, one guy texted the entire second act. WTF??? Everytime he flipped open his phone my eye was drawn to the light. Very freaking annoying.

Fourth & final gripe...sit still in your seat and shut up! The girl behind me (wearing a hoodie & jeans) couldn't sit still. She pounded on my back with her knees & feet the entire performance. At one point my hair got caught between the seat & her knee and I almost gave myself a bald spot when I moved my head. Also, the girl next to her started to sing along to one of the songs. Uh, I paid to hear them sing, not you. Mack noticed it too so I turned around & shot her a look of death....she shut up instantly.

I don't want to sound like a theatre snob, but I thought most of this was just common sense/decency. I know, I know, there is no such thing as common sense any more. I just think that if you teach it young and don't give any other options, then gee maybe it will stick into adulthood. Just so frustrating.

We see the same problem at our middle school band concerts. I remember being in band in middle school and we lined up in the band room in our order. Walked into the gym (where the concert was held) silently; stood in front of our seats until everyone was there then got the cue to sit. We all sat quietly, set up our music on the stand and waited for the band teacher to start us playing. The parents sat quietly and listened and it was all taken very seriously as if we were at Orchestra Hall instead of the school gym. Mike had essentially the same experience.

Mack's band teacher...not even an ounce of that kind of respect for the performance & the adults behavior during the concert shows that. The kids all come in whenever they show up, chat, screw around, etc (heck, the first chair alto sax showed up to the last concert about 3 seconds before they were about to begin and had to dig a chair out of the back because they'd taken it away thinking she wasn't coming). The band director comes in cracks a few jokes to them, cracks a few to the audience and they start. The parents in the audience act accordingly, they get up and walk across the front of the stage in the middle of a song, they answer their cell phones and everything in-between. You should see Mike & I crawling out of our skin during the concerts. To top it off it'd be one thing if they played really good, but I've posted videos, judge for yourself... I'm not saying Mack is a prodigy, she needs some work, but she takes private lessons and sometimes I wonder if I'm wasting my money because she's stuck in that type of a program. Fortunately the HS band director runs a much better program (and I'm not saying that just because he's my boss!) and he agrees with our assessment of the MS band director, though I don't know if I can make it through another year of this til we get to the high school. But what can you do?

I guess I just answered my own question of where the rude behavior at the theatre comes from huh? I guess I can just do my part to teach my kids and bite my tongue and deal with the rest of the morons on the planet...so not fair, but what else can I do?

Sorry so long, thanks for reading!

2009-02-02T11:01:00.006-05:00

It's Official

Mike is registered for the Flying Pig in May. We signed up Saturday night just minutes before the entry fee went up $15! We like to fly by the seat of our pants around here. He started training a couple of weeks ago and from what I can tell, so far so good...'cept all his miles have been logged on the dread mill (and I got a nice electric bill to prove it). Yesterday he did take advantage of the nice weather and ran to my dad's house (about 12 miles steadily uphill the entire way with a huge elevation shift in the last 2 miles) to watch the Super Bowl. I keep telling him that the elevation shift is good training for the hilly Flying Pig.

This weekend he should be able to log some sunny miles while he's down in Bradenton, FL visiting his grandmother...he can't spend three entire days at the hospital, he'll go nuts.

2009-01-14T16:46:00.003-05:00

Alright, I have a confession....last night at 10:00 there was nothing on so we scanned the cable menu. Oh look VH1 is running Rock of Love Bus, lets check out a whole episode. OMG!!! What a mindless piece of crap. The little snippets we'd seen Sunday night now make tons more sense, but even Mike said that the Bachelor had more substance than this show. At least some of the girls on the Bachelor are educated and have held real jobs. I think the only one in this group that had some semblance of a job was the Penthouse Pet.

We both agreed that even the Tool Academy and True Beauty were better than this show...now that is sad!

2009-01-12T09:47:00.007-05:00

Yet Another Train Wreck...

Last night we found probably a new all time low in TV viewing choices. Sunday nights leave a bit to be desired on the TV viewing front and of course it's the evening that we most like to veg out in front of the TV before heading back into another hectic week.

Last week we checked out Confessions of a Teen Idol on VH1. Honestly we tuned in to see which "Teen Idols" would be on the show and stuck around to see what exactly was going to happen. We forgot to tune in last night, but did catch the last 20 minutes. When was Adrian Zmed a teen idol? Now Billy Huffsey...remember him from Fame? He was hot! Keyword there WAS ~ yeah, not so much anymore. Christopher Atkins is still looking good after all these years, though I'll admit I've never seen Blue Lagoon...I was too young when it came out and never went back and watched it. Though Mike fondly remembers him from The Pirate Movie...which unfortunately I've seen thanks to free On Demand movies.

Of course Sunday nights brings the obligatory Desperate Housewives, which we will both admit to watching. Though Mike says he'd prefer to watch Rock of Love Bus...he loves trashy women (and yes, I'm not dumb, I know what he's saying there) and of course this show is chocked full of them. We jumped back & forth during commercials and all I can say is WOW ~ I've never seen so many fake boobs before in my life! And seriously Brett Michaels...are you really loooking for love or just hanging on to those last strands of semi-fame and using it to sleep with every trashy woman on the planet? Puh-leeze

But the crowning jewel of Sunday nights TV watching had to be back on VH1 for Tool Academy. The guys on the show were literally tools. The worst part is trying to figure out why these dumb women are still with them trying to change them....why don't they just leave???? That was the ultimate train-wreck. Unfortunately, we'll probably be tuning in the next few weeks since there is nothing else on Sunday nights at 10pm...God help us. It appears that it will be running again tonight at 10:30 if anyone is interested in some serious trashy T.V.

Saturday night after our marathon of bad 80s movies (Mannequin, Licensed to Drive, Weekend at Bernies, Vacation, Doc Hollywood & Better Off Dead) we stopped on ABC and ended up catching the tail end of True Beauty being re-run. Of course we had to stay on it because Mack was sucked into the train wreck even though we told her who was going home. Aaaaarrrrrgggghhhh!

Thankfully I've got the Bachelor tonight and Biggest Loser tomorrow night ~ whew!

2009-01-06T10:58:00.007-05:00

Watching A Train Wreck....on TV

OK, I'll be the first to admit that I like to watch some questionable shows on TV. Never missed a season of the Bachelor/Bachelorette or Dancing with the Stars, will tune in occasionally to America's Got Talent and will linger longer than necessary on other mindless TV shows.

But last night I think we hit an all time low....True Beauty. It was on at 10:00 after the premier of the Bachelor and since I was working on scrapbooking and not really paying attention I left it on for background noise. Mike was ready to head to the computer and catch up on Facebook...he hasn't been there in the last 2-3 weeks. But then the unthinkable happened...it turned into a train wreck and neither one of us could stop watching the horror. Nothing like group of 10 people who think they are the hottest people on the planet tell you how hot they are for an hour during prime time.

When the show finally ended we both just looked at each other and questioned....they cancelled Boston Legal, a funny, topical, intelligent and sometimes irreverant dramady and put this in it's time slot? That has got to be the biggest slap in the faces of TV viewers. We don't need anymore "reality" TV and we certainly don't need this type of "reality".

I mean seriously...ABC already took away October Road a well written show with characters you could care about and that actually captured small town America pretty well. Plus, since it was cancelled after the second season (just after the writers strike) we were left with about 800 cliff hangers.

Now there's talk of Dirty Sexy Money being cancelled...what are they going to replace that with, a knock off of NBC's Momma's Boy? And no, we haven't watched a single minute of that train wreck. Also, Eli Stone is going away too... being replaced with another Primetime: What Would You Do? series. Seriously? This has been done to death as well...though I will admit, I'd like to see the obnoxious Americans in France....as they check out the Eifel Tower and debate if the one in Vegas is actually larger.

Honestly, I don't watch THAT much TV as this post makes it look like. There are just a couple of shows that I really enjoy(ed) watching and it's irritating and insulting when the networks pull them and replace them with mindless crap.

Just needed to get that off my chest...

2008-12-19T15:02:00.008-05:00

Happy Snow Day all you fellow Michiganders!!!!

Wow, for once the forecasters were right, we got dumped on with snow. We were all set here to laugh when we woke up to a light dusting...you know, what we usually get when they hype up the storm of the season for 24 straight hours. Not this time, we got all 10-12 inches!

This was our front yard about 10:00 this morning, there are two lit presents under that spiral tree...even when I put the lights on you can't see it.

The kids ventured out to play in the snow. Schubert loves to frolick in the fluffy white stuff.

Mack tried to shovel a path from the garage to the house with little luck. I just got back in from using our heavy duty, northern Michigan snowblower on the driveway and all the sidewalk. Corner lots suck that way. I also made a path from our drive way all the way down the block to one of Mack's friend's house passing 4 houses along the way. My Christmas present to them!

Once Mike gets home I'll send him next door to do the neighbors driveway, no sense in him missing out in some of the fun. We plow it every year for her, she watches our dog for weeks at a time...fair trade.

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In other news...

Wednesday night was Mack's holiday band concert. It was lovely....

Someone please get that clarinet a new reed...
You can't really see Mack, she's third chair alto sax, first & second chair are in the viewing way. (First chair showed up late for the concert so she's not in the pre-concert pic)

Everyone stay warm and safe...thanks for reading!

2008-12-18T21:38:00.002-05:00

Ok dear, i'll try to do this again

Well ladies and gents, my long over-do apology for thinking that maybe i abandoned this little cerebral exercise.

Maybe i did....abandon it, but as i have actually mentioned to some folks.

i tend to be a little political and rant-ing. i tend to be a tad sarcastic and although i avoid sexual topics, with occasional innuendo...and profanity.

i have a legitimate concern, that a prospective business contact could opt to google me. See how can i not use some aforementioned innuendo there?????

Unfortunately, it has happened while professional, very serious minded, fully licensed financial advisor Mike and little liberal, tree-hugging, psuedo-socialist, share the same body, a client has made mention of finding this little corner. Bummer....

So here's the deal.....

i am going to take the blog off the "public" list and just invite people to peruse it from time to time. If i have correctly synced up my Facebook....this should each new post should link to my profile....if this happens i may have to give up my computer-idiot monifer and upgrade to computer-handicapable (p.c. mike also shares this body and i try to avoid handicapped)

And so, because i can't truly censor myself, i'll give it a week or so and after the new year, make a brief change to the blog.

But.....i can give a brief running report...cause that's about all i have right now.

i basically had a nice jog, no stress for a time and no pressure to PR, BQ, insert random letters as appropriate, etc...

So, i chatted and ran, watched a Santa or two pass me. Drank Beer whenever offered and smiled through a nice relaxing run. Oddly enough, t'was (blatant Christmas reference, tis the season) only 20 minutes longer than my PR.

So really, why am i trying so hard??????

Anyway, i took the rest of October off, and that pushed my recovery into November and well maybe last week i started running again.

btw....3 miles is lot longer than i remembered. When did that happen???? Oh yeah when you took 6 weeks off. Doofus

So let's just move on...but

let's do some housekeeping. How much weight can a runner gain when not running for 6 weeks??? Apparantly, 15 to 20 lbs, so as i approached the, used to be skinny for me, but now feels enormous weight of 220, i hope to have squashed the bug at 215.

So there it is, i weigh 215 again, ergo new goals for the spring marathon and summer.

PR in a marathon, or a least do a half in under 1:40.

Loss weight, seriously though, really concentrate on a 180 number and getting there.

Do another Tri, and not panic-attack in the swim portion.

So there it is. Some difficult goals and while a plan is in place, it will be detailed in future post.

Now let's hit "publish" and see if my Facebook links up correctly????

Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas

2008-12-17T10:00:00.006-05:00

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Feliz Blabby Blah and all that good stuff...

Sorry for the lack of posting the past month, the holiday season has struck and contrary to Mike's belief Christmas presents don't just magically appear under the tree. Someone has figure out what to buy, where to find it for the best price and then brave the crowds and go shopping for them....lucky me!

But now the presents are all bought and wrapped and tomorrow I attempt to bake 7 dozen cookies for a cookie exchange (what was I thinking?). I'll be honest I opened up my cookie cook book that I've had for 13 years and never cracked open, looked for a recipe that I knew I had all of the ingredients in house for (I'm so the scoop and bake kind of cookie maker...love those tubs of cookie dough) and said I'll make those. Jam Thumbprints anyone? My mom made them all the time when I was a kid so I've enlisted her assistance, I've been told they're quite labor intensive ~ great. Hopefully my baking does not kill off the rest of the PTO board as they are who I am exchanging cookies with.

Last weekend we celebrated Christmas with Mike's side of the family. A nice casual gathering at his dad's house in Durand. It was actually a pleasant day...everyone behaved!

This weekend we have a birthday party on Saturday (who the heck has kids in December so close to Christmas?????) and we'll be baking & decorating our Christmas cookies that night. Gotta love the pre cut shapes with icing and sprinkles ~ thank you Market Day.

Sunday we're off to Greenfield Village to freeze our butts off and enjoy Holiday Nights with the Guilbeaux's. Our family looks forward to this outing every year no matter the weather. There seems to be something magical about the Village in the snow all decorated for Christmas...we'll ice skate, sing carols while riding in a two horse open sleigh, eat chestnuts freshly roasted over an open fire, visit Santa & his live reindeer and listen to our favorite story teller recite 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

A couple of spare days off to chill and then the hustle & bustle of family holiday celebrations. Looking forward to seeing those family members you only see about once a year...thank God for Facebook, we've been able to keep in touch a little better this year.

We're going to need a vacation after this Christmas vacation...3 months til Mexico ~ let's hope I make it!

Hope everyone out there has a safe, happy and healthy Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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Mike claims he's got a post brewing in his head...now that they've cancelled about 3/4 of his favorite TV shows, he might actually find time to come in here and post...we'll see ~ I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you!

2008-11-21T11:44:00.006-05:00

Well, we made it 7 1/2 years before a trip to the ER...pretty good if you ask me!

Yesterday Jimmy had a 1/2 day of school which forced him to come to marching band parade practice with me at the high school. Everything was going great, he played his DS in the hallway while we practiced inside and he ran like a madman all over the turf field, playing class clown while the band marched around the track two times playing the T'giving parade tunes.

We headed back inside when we were done and Jimmy being the little helper he was ran down the hall to the other door to let some kids in. Apparently the spring on that door is a little tight and it closed quickly on him and smashed his fingers in the door.

Of course it bled quite heavily. I took him back in the band room and ran it under water while a couple of my students found paper towel & band aids. We got it wrapped up and he held it tight while I drove him the 1 mile to the ER. Upon first look the Dr. Ass't thought it might need stitches, but after the x-rays to make sure he didn't fracture or hurt the bone, and we got it cleaned up it just barely wasn't deep enough for stitches.

So it's the probably the most expensive piece of medical tape and saline solution I'll ever pay for, but at least he's alright. Just a nasty scar for a reminder.

2008-11-12T09:33:00.003-05:00

Holy crap it's been a month since the last post. Sorry about that, things have been crazy hectic around here.

Mike is officiall addicted to Facebook...he spends most of his spare time cleaning up his patch and tending to others' patches.

Not much running has been going on for Mike, work has not afforded him that luxury too much lately. Between the economy and cub scouts there is not much time for anything else.

Last Saturday I attended my 20 year high school reunion. It was....interesting, yeah ,that's the word I'll use. I got to see a couple of friends that didn't show up at the 10 year which was great. It was nice to catch up. I don't speak to anyone I went to high school with on a regular basis. Occasionally I see a girl I went to school K-12 with who lived one street over from me...her son & Jimmy go to school together. On facebook I've caught up with another friend who graduated a year behind me...but other than that...nothing. I think it's mainly because I went away to college and no one I hung out with went to Central so we all drifted.

I have to say, after 20 years it's amazing how many of the cliques are still in tact. The girls seemed to have aged better than the guys, a lot of them got fat, and lost most or all of their hair. Mike says the girls didn't do as well as I'm thinking, once the lights came back up at the end of the night he got a little scared!

Overall the night was fun though. Got to dance to some great 80s tunes. Say hi to people I haven't thought about in 20 years. See all those senior pictures on the name tags and reminice about how we were able to get our hair to be THAT big. And drink waaaay super strong rum & diet cokes all night. What better way to spend a Saturday night!

LCN Class of '88

This is all that showed up out of about 250

Tracey, Laura & Me

Tracey & I went to school K-12, we stayed friends all the way through but she was a cheerleader and I was a band geek so we were mainly in different circles. Laura & I were BFFs all through middle school, but drifted a little in high school.

Sheila & Me

Another band geek friend

Dawn & Me

Dawn & I were in girl scouts together & our mom's were great friends but we drifted in middle & high school.

Thanks for reading...we'll try to be more regular!

2008-10-19T20:37:00.001-04:00

4:11:48

That's the official time...

Race report to follow by Mike himself (once he's able to get off the couch). He has lots of great things to say about this race and definitely wants to share them.

2008-10-13T09:41:00.002-04:00

We're still alive!

Sorry no one's been around lately...Mike has found a new on-line obsession...Facebook! I swear he's become addicted to it; any spare moment he has is spent there. Find him on there and ask to be his friend, he'd love to throw some octopi at you or pass you a round of drinks...he's good at that.

In other news....

The marathon is now less than a week away, and not trying to speak for Mike (but I will, sort of) he's not ready for this one. Personally, I think he'll finish, just not with a BQ time. He's had absolutely no time to get out and run. Almost every night the last 2 weeks he's gotten home from work between 8:30 and 9:00...it's fall, it's getting dark at 7:30 now. Plus he's mentally exhausted when he gets home, this whole stock market ride has him on his toes all day long. From what I've been seeing, he's just not really feeling it right now either. Plus, we still don't have the Garmin fixed, I'd send it out but he's got all that info stashed away somewhere. Hopefully he'll get out of this funk, the stock market will knock it off and running Mike will be back at it in full swing.

We'll see if Mike can come on and offer up his pre-race feelings...

Until then, thanks for sticking with him (all two of the readers left)

2008-09-22T16:55:00.003-04:00

Mike hasn't really been around much the last two weeks, hence the lack of posting...again. Where has he been you ask? Working.

But I'm fine with that, because look what all that hard work has earned us...

A week in Mexico!!!!! Yes, next March the two of us will depart dreary Michigan and head to Neuvo Vallarta, Mexico to the Grand Velas Resort ! The best part is it won't cost us a thing. Check out this place...it's awesome!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love this new job? And how proud I am of my dear husband who has been kicking butt in this new job???

He had to earn X number of points in a time-frame and then we got to pick from a list of 17 different trips as a "reward". It's by far not the most glamorous trip in the list, but for the first one we want to keep the outside the program expenses in the affordable range so this one works ~zip line over the tree tops is on our must do list while there. Plus we've talked to others in the company that have gone there before and they say it's one of their favorite trips.

Now, some out there would say...hmmm, so when I invest with this company, this is what they do with my $$? Actually, no. It's part of his commission package, they just hold it aside and dangle it as a sort of carrot to build the his business. If you earn it...have fun; if not...hope you get it next time. Which I do hope he gets it next time because we're looking at a trip to Egypt with a 3 day Nile River cruise involved in it.

Do you think it would be tacky if in his sales pitch he'd say something like...."Please invest with me, my wife wants to go to Egypt" ? Yeah, probably not a good idea. But Mike is doing awesome with this job and loving every minute of it so if we do go to Egypt ~ BONUS, but if we don't that's fine too, there will be other trips. He has the chance to earn two each year.

I guess it's time for me to hit the pavement. Want to look good in my bathing suit on the beach!

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In other news:

From what I can tell, marathon training has been going well. Work & cub scouts has kept him pretty busy, but he's managed to squeeze in some running time. I can't believe the Detroit Marathon is less than a month away already. I will be working the Expo on Saturday morning in the race packet pick up department. I've got the 9am- 12:30pm shift so the family will be down there checking things out and then we'll grab some lunch in the area. We're thinking Pizzapapali's ~ Mike has always wanted some Chicago style pizza before the big race...never seemed to get it while in Chicago!

Thanks for reading and as always I'll try to get Mike to sit down and post again soon. Dancing with the Stars starts tonight so you know where he'll be the next 3 evenings!!!!!

2008-09-08T19:10:00.009-04:00

Fun Guv wants me to posts about things like......

ok, first a small story, i heard this one a few weeks ago and wish i knew who the original author was but....

....little boy and his grandfather are walking along a beach after a high tide. As they walk, the boy picks up starfishes that the tide had washed up on the beach and flings them back into the surf.

The grandfather asks the boy ",what are you doing?"

"I'm saving the starfishes," he replies.

"but son, there are thousands of starfishes washed up on the beach. You won't be able to save enough to make a difference."

The little boy nodded in agreement and the two continued their little walk.

A few minutes later, they came upon a starfish on the beach. The little boy stopped and thought for a moment. He picked up the starfish and threw it into the surf. He looked at his grandfather and said.

"It made a difference to that one"

No. Let's move on from the story. back to what Fun Guv wants me to post about.

See this story reminds me of a few things, like how we reap what we sow....

Fer'instance....is it irony or poetic justice that a lawmaker should spend years of their life devoted to the notion that abstinence should be the only birth control method taught in school and wind up with a knocked-up teenage daughter???? What difference can another teenage pregnancy make?

and let's get going on "America First". What does this mean???? Apparantly, it doesn't mean buying American things...like maybe cars. As a crazy McCain child, adult not teenage, goes out and buys a Toyota cause well, it's a hybrid. i think some hybrids are made by american car companies. But what difference can one car make????

Anyway....on to the cool thing lately....Thanks Great Lake Running Gal, for the pictures of yours truly finishing up the aptly named "This Sucks" leg of "Dances with Dirt"

Let's give a brief report on the race. i ran three legs of the 100K relay. i was given leg 2....Butt Kicker.....a brutal narrow pathway up and down an impossible number to count hills. Open areas filled with poison ivy and lot's of ducking of tree limbs. Except for the one i didn't duck from, only to wind up with a bruised forehead and scratches on my right eyelid. one trip on a root, with a fun roll, and one run through 5 inch depth mud pit (no problem) on this nasty little 4.5 mile run.

Then came leg 6....i wanted the bog and i got the bog...."This Sucks" 5.7 miles long, with a teasing first 3.5 of nasty hills, from the dry, unshaded tops to the humid, muggy valleys this was a long antipication to....

Bog One....slightly above my knees in depth and about 15 feet across. i took a step and fell face first in. This one was the shallowest but also the thickest to get through. Maybe it felt that way being the first....

then a shuffle through some woods to....

Bog two....slightly above my waist, i little wider and like trying to walk through pudding, only with mosquitoes and nasty stagnant water smells.

Then a quick wander through about 3 inches of mud for a couple hundred yards to, the big one....

Bog three.... This one had a little bit of a back up, as a few people were trying to gingerly enter on my right side. So i went left and took a big leap on the side and ended up....in chest deep bog. Thank gawd my feet hit solid ground as i sank. This was the oddest feeling, it was real thick but a was able to work through the quicksand-esque pit. Amazingly, as it got shallower, like waist deep, the bog was thicker and harder to get through. The dig up the side to get out of the bog was essentially a crawl.

Then, boom out of the crap and on to a nice little unshaded, flat trail, to finish up at a local school. Just enough time to allow the mud to bake in on a sunny day!!!!

It may have been the most fun, i've ever had!!!!! Notice the "white" socks and "white" running shoes. There's even mud in my teeth.

My last leg was Leg 12....Vertigo....dry, weird....but...extremely hilly. Too hilly to run down the steep trails. It was mostly a run up, with a little skip down, while using little trees to help slow me down and balance. This last one was 3.5 miles, and even though it was dry...it was still fun.

So our team finished it 10 hrs and 31 minutes.....We all crossed the line together and recieved some awesome finishing medals....a couple pizzas and a 2 liter of coke.

"Dances with Dirt" is the most fun i have ever had at the running event and no single blog post can do it justice.....

If you ever get a chance to run a portion of this baby....do not hesitate to go.

Thanks for reading.

2008-09-02T13:13:00.003-04:00

Aaah...the sound of silence!

They've gone back to school...now it is time for me to spend my long peaceful days eating bon-bons & watching soap operas. Ha! Like I have time for that, there are funds to be raised for the school and colorguard uniform pieces waiting to be cut out.

I can't believe how quickly the summer just suddenly ended on us this year. It just didn't seem like it was time to go back, but alas it was.

7th Grade...can you believe it?

2nd Grade

We spent the last 1/2 week of summer doing a little more camping. I left Wednesday with my mom and the kids and headed back to Yankee Springs. It was a nice relaxing 4 days, though it's kind of weird not having the big group that I'm used to when camping. Lauri, Hunter & Grace came by on Saturday for a little bit to hang out too, which of course was fun.

The first night (and each night afterwards actually) I made the fire all by myself

We hung out and roasted marshmallows

This time Jimmy remembered his fishing pole and check out the bass he caught! Bait was pieces of hot dog. It was so big they couldn't reel it in (we didn't have a net) so they asked a guy passing by if he'd help them out. Jimmy wouldn't touch it, but he had to have his picture taken with it. Where's Cookie when you need him, that could have been dinner!

The beach was extremely crowded...duh, Labor Day weekend...but that meant there were tons of kids to meet & play with.

As usual, Jimmy took a nap on his towel. It wouldn't be a week spent at a beach if he didn't do that at least once. All that digging & swimming takes it right out of you.

Now it's time to get ready to head to Pickney for another short camping trip...Dances with Dirt is this weekend. Maybe afterward Mike will do something completely unusual and post on his own blog and tell all about the experience....stranger things have happend you know!

Thanks for reading

2008-08-21T18:15:00.004-04:00

Wow, who is this strange bunch?

Thanks to Lauri-O for digging up this gem...circa 1991. Sadly, Jimmy did not recognize his father in this picture....and Mack is a bit freaked out by the length of her godfather's hair!

I'd be remiss if I didn't wish my wonderful spouse....you know, the drip to my chinese water torture* a

Happy 40th Birthday

*Ha! got to use it before he did!

2008-08-20T10:44:00.011-04:00

Now that is the boost I needed!

Since Mike has been too busy to post you guys are stuck with me...again!

Last night I was at colorguard rehearsal chatting with a couple of the parents. Now as the years go on I am getting closer to the parents ages than I'd like to think about. These particular parents will still be around with their youngest, a senior, when Mack is a freshman in the guard.

Long & short...we were chatting about the upcoming trip to Cedar Point the band is taking and if I was going to go. Unfortunately, it is the same weekend as the Detroit Marathon so I can't. I mentioned that my husband is running his 5th marathon that weekend. They were impressed and asked how old he was or something to that effect. I boastfully said he'd be 40 on Thursday (tomorrow). Again, impressed they said wow...you're only like 31 aren't you?!!!!?

Needless to say I had to pick my jaw up off the floor! I thanked them profusely for the compliment but then let them know I am 38. His turn to be shocked.

I have to say, that little exchange ~ it made.my.night!

In other news...

Big huge thanks to Dad & Cheryl, we had a great time on Mackinac Island. The kids are still talking about it and can't wait to go back.

We chose the Shepler line because during the summer months they offer a ride under the bridge on their 10am run to the island. It was great...not a view you tend to get of the bridge every day. They slowed down and gave you a lot of history and building facts.

Jimmy got over his fear of the ferry ride and actually enjoyed it. Though he found it to be a little chilly.

We stayed at the beautiful Windermere Hotel. Can't beat the view or the relaxation factor sitting on that porch with a book or just enjoying the company and meeting new people.

We did the obligatory bike ride around the island. Jimmy did great considering he's on a smaller bike and has to pedal twice as much as the rest of us. The kids loved stopping and playing in the rocks. Jimmy, being the avid collector of rocks had to bring a few home with him.

Jimmy got himself a rifle and proceeded to guard us everywhere we went the rest of the week. He even had to take it into the fort with us. While at the fort he got the hat to complete the outfit.

After the fort Mike & I took the kids to the sites in the middle of the island. It turned into a 2+ hour hike without a map (thanks Mike). Fortunately we have a good sense of direction and another tourist came by while at Sugarloaf and loaned me his map to get our bearings, and a way home. While walking through the woods Jimmy took the lead and protected us along the way.

It was tough getting on that ferry and heading back home.

Now it's time to get ready to send the kiddos back to school ~ YEAH!!! But first the kids & I are taking one more small camping trip with my mom. That should be interesting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mike got his assignments for Dances with Dirt on September 6th. He will be doing 3 legs:

*Butt Kicker~ Abyss and Death by Mosquitoes areas are good opportunity to sprain an ankle. Nasty decline & climb in middle followed by Butt Slider should make ankle swell doubl in size

*This Sucks~ Swamps can make it hard to get legs out of the earth. Plain old wicked, only the best get to run it.

* Vertigo ~Couple of nasty downhills that may give you vertigo. Portions of nice trail, road and hill climbs, off trail running and a flat ending. Mountain climbs and butt slides in middle. No rivers but some wading thorough high grass. Open area can be brutally hot.

Gee, that sounds like fun doesn't it?

I'll see if I can get Mike to sit down and post his thoughts soon.

Thanks for reading

2008-08-06T18:54:00.002-04:00

I'm getting too old for this....

I can't believe that after 2 1/2 years away from the insanity that I am back teaching colorguard. What was I thinking???? Last spring I ran into the band director from the local high school (1/4 mile door step to door step from the house) at Meijer and he asked me if I'd be interested in coming back and running the colorguard this year.

I had to get back to him, even though the time commitment was far less than it was when I was there last. They are not doing competitions, just one for the heck of it, only Friday night football games. After some family discussion and temporary misplacement of my brain I accepted the position.

Fast forward to this week. We are having a pre-camp at the school...8am - noon for the whole band and 1pm-4pm for the guard and percs. That is 7 hours of high school drama and the equivalent of doing aerobics in a steam room. Seriously, Monday and Tuesday was about 92 degrees in the shade and muggy as all heck. Just standing still you broke a sweat. Of course due to shrinking school budgets the air conditioning is not on in the school so it's almost hotter in there because at least outside there is the occasional breeze.

So far the week's gone pretty good. We're doing a Doors show~ the music is enough to make you want to gouge your eyes out...just ask Mike, he loves it when I write the work at home and have to listen to it over and over and over ~ go ahead click the link and take a listen. Mon & Tues we had to work at the pace of spin for 15-20 minutes, take a 5 minute water break...it was hot and we were all dripping with sweat.

In the afternoon session where it was just guard & percs we took a brief break around 2:15, went inside for a potty break and found the band room empty. The percs had left??? One of the girls texted one of the percs and found out their instructor let them go early, they had nothing else to work on . Nice. Now how the heck do I keep my girls there going over the same 2:05 worth of work over and over and over?

Tuesday after beating the dead horse to a bloody pulp I let them go a little early so I could have some time to write the 2nd song's work for today.

I just can't believe how much energy this crap takes. How did we ever do it? This is only pre-camp too, next week is band camp from 8am - 9pm all week. (Un)fortunately I won't be able to be there since the family is taking a little vacation on Mackinac Island with my dad & step-mom. Looking forward to a relaxing week on the island! I'm going to need it.

On other fronts....

Mike will probably post soon to lament his back to basics running since his Garmin crapped out on him. He called their tech support and the battery is D.O.A. He can pay $99 and ship it to them and they will send him a refurbished one....not sure if we're too happy with that since it's not even 2 years old, but what can we do? Going for his training runs has been a terrible experience for him because he has nothing to pace himself on....can you believe it? How did he ever train pre-Garmin?

Eh, well....

2008-07-31T10:08:00.003-04:00

Wow! Who knew?

Obviously those of you who are runners must... I got up this morning at 8:30 (which is early for me) and rode my bike ~ actually Mike's, mine has a flat front tire ~ to the library. I took the scenic route back so it was about 4.5 - 5 miles total. I had some movies on hold that I thought I was supposed to pick up yesterday and I wanted to get there before they pulled them off the holding shelf and thought I'd get a little exercise along the way.

Now I'm all showered and feel great with all this extra energy. Someone remind me of this tomorrow when I'm laying in bed not wanting to get up....I need motivation to keep at it. I do have my 20 year reunion coming up at the beginning of November...I'll have to put some sort of picture or something in a prominent spot to keep me going. Mike badgering and bothering me has the opposite effect ~ makes me just want to keep sitting on my butt!

Off to use some of this energy for good!

2008-07-28T20:00:00.002-04:00

New Triathlon Equipment.

fresh from a week of camping, i can answer the "will i ever do a tri again?" question with a definite "most likely"

i was even given some new equipment to train in.

...with a little PSA thrown in

and this was the fun we had without beer.

thanks for reading

2008-07-15T11:54:00.003-04:00

Just have to put this out there. This guy was on Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show which Mike & I watched last night. In the special features his stuff had me crying. I'd love to see him live...

2008-07-15T10:08:00.007-04:00

DUCK!

Sheesh! I got in trouble yesterday for not posting about the darn ducks.

Dunno, maybe this baseball banquet I'm organizing all by myself that's being held tonight for 650 people got in my way. Sorry!

So....ducks....with all this build up from Mike I hope I don't disappoint

Watching those swimmers head out into Anchor Bay was like watching salmon swimming upstream...all the splashing and thrashing was kind of amusing. That picture of the bouys by the way was taken from the end of the dock with no zoom....about 20 yards in front of where the actual start line was. It was as daunting looking in real life as it appears in the picture.

It was a windy morning so the waves in the bay were a little rough and from what Mike said there was a bit of a current so going out was a struggle. We watched about 10 or so people not even make it to the first bouy. The power boat came by and dropped swim noodles in the water for them. Before the boat headed to them Cindy looked out and said Hmmm, those people don't seem to be going anywhere....I guess that's when the boat noticed too.

The swimmers were starting to make their way back to shore. We heard some people yelling to the first few out that they were only about 5 minutes behind their projected time and they should make it up on the bike. Right then we truly realized how rough the water was.

While the swimmers straggled in we noticed a mama duck with her 2 babies swimming around just off the beach. Some of the brilliant spectators started yelling at her to move out of the area, she'd get run over; like she understood. That just caused her to turn and start heading out into the water, into incoming swimmers. All we could imagine then was someone in their swimming zone reaching out a hand and hitting a duck...that would not be a pretty sight.

Suddenly mama noticed the incoming swimmers and started to swim to the right...into more swimmers and then left...into more swimmers and a sea wall. She panicked and started for shore. The whole time the babies were with her until she suddenly made a turn. One baby followed, the other went the other way. At this point...screw the swimmers we were worried about that baby. It kept diving under the water for long periods and coming up 5 feet or so from where it went under. Being under the water was even more scary cuz then we couldn't even warn the swimmers to it's location. Mama was safely off to the side freaking out, spreading her wings and squaking. Baby surfaced next to the sea wall and then wound up going under the dock and way out of harms way. But mama had no idea where baby was. Again, the spectators started yelling to her that baby was on the other side of the dock...again...do you think she understood?

Apparently we are a short attention span crowd because the ducks were forgotten when one guy got about 15 feet from shore, tried to stand up and almost face planted in 2 feet of water. He was white as a ghost and didn't look too good. He kept struggling to get above a kneeling position in the water. I went to one of the teenage volunteers and told him to get medical help. As he stood there not quite sure what to do a couple of spectators waded in and brought him to the beach. He wound up being taken away by ambulance. Mack stayed back and monitored the situation for us while we watched Mike head off on the biking leg of the tri.

There you go, the story of the ducks. I told you it wasn't a huge deal.

2008-07-12T12:01:00.022-04:00

"Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man..."

Can a call myself a Tin Man?...Iron seems a little far-fetched right now.

Well, i did not drown, Woo Hoo!!!

Who knew horses could swim. I was jokingly called aClydesdale again, by my swim coach....remember whose husbands butt i kicked ;). Hey she called me a clydesdale, and i was able to correct her that while a Clydesdale is a beautiful animal, i prefer the no-nonsense approach of the Draft Horse.

She appreciated the distinction, as her daughter is starting equestrian stuff. but.....

Back to me.

Here i am at the start. Downtown New Baltimore, city of fish-flies, and Anchor Bay in the northern part of Lake St Clair.

The only known festival celebrating...an insect, but their apperance is a symbol of a living lake.

speaking of lake, bay, whatever...

1/4 mile seems a lot farther when laid out on end in a lake, bay, whatever...There are 4 buoys in this picture. ouch

and here i am waiting, looking at the buoys and thinking....

"just don't be the first guy to wave for help from the lifeguards"

big horn sound aaaaannndd. we're off!!!

Fun Guv called it a bunch of salmon swimming upstream. i stayed to the back....like it was intentional, ha....but i was very surprised by the contact in this part of the sport.

26 minutes later, after one major panic attack, and a bunch of little ones.

It was a long walk, saunter to the bike/run transition area

i brought some G2, took my time and went back to the standard, socks, shoes, shirt, helmet,

aaaannnd, Go..

It was basically a nice bike ride. 11 miles long, it took 39 minutes. i got to see some interesting things in regards to traffic, and "man vs auto" moments but overall nothing odd so....
\

It was admittingly nice to pass some people on the bike portion. After being one of the last out of the water, notice the empty bike racks in previous picture, i was happy to feel a little bit athletic. Also, after watching the number of people thrown "noodles" in the water by life guards and a few broken down bikes and accident bike victims, i was happy to still be on my feet.

Speaking of that, now here we go....my area....the run...3 miles piece of cake, eh?

i mean really, look at the confidence here. where was this an hour and 7 minutes ago??? i like this picture for a couple reasons. One, i'm actually running. proof, finally that yes, both my feet are occasionally off the ground at the same time. Two, i look thin in this picture due to clever choices in attire, (Oprah was right). Three, i'm still smiling. and Four, thanks to clever photo skills, Fun Guv caught me with a decent size fold/bulge going on. This is real trick photography, and thanks to all the people saying "Eeeeewww" to themselves right now. heehee...made ya look

As for me....i'm gonna start looking for an aircraft carrier at nearby Selfridge Base from which i can shout "Mission Accomplished"

yeah, i know....Selfridge is an Air National Guard base, and there are no aircraft carriers in Lake St Clair. Got it....

After the halfway point my run turned....unispired.

It was hot, humid, and really, i was just doing this for the fun and i thought.

"Take a walk, enjoy this, don't set the bar to getting a PR, if you ever do this again, tooo high."

So i walked through the water stations, and chatted with guy in my age group and we rounded the bend. One more corner and the finish.

i had mentioned that my wife would cheer me to go faster and if he wanted to keep up, but he was pooped. Sooooooo.....

At least i wasn't last in my age group. Actually i was 4th from last.

But, i finished, had a good time, and feel super re-invigorated for a good Detroit Marathon train.

Time on the run, 31 minutes, funny eh?? It was a tough overall event.

So there it is...a quick, timely, race report.... with pictures. Soon Fun Guv will throw in her experience, hopefully she blogs about the family of ducks ripped apart from each other by the incomming swimmers. Screw watching the race....the real action on the pier was concern if the momma duck and the ducklings would ever reconnect.

Anyway, i will post after taking some time and reflecting on whether i want to "tri" this again.

Oh yeah, official race times gooooo here

Best guess, 1:39:46

Thanks for reading

2008-07-08T18:46:00.002-04:00

Well, there we go ladies and gents...boys and girls.... i always wanted to start a race this way. Toe-ing the line and waiting for the gun to sound as i lift off into an early lead.

Ok, here i am at the 26th annual Pickerel Festival 10k event. It is a beauty for us slowpokes out there. My first year, i was second in my age group, last year although faster in time was a third place finish.

This may be my last sub 40 year old race, so i was going for the gold.

Guess what????? Third group down on this picture, it says Male age group 35-39, place #1 Michael Passmore.

Later an update was printed with the other runner in the age group, he got the silver. (He's a good friend who's wife has been helping me learn to swim for this weekends tri)

OK, yep it's a small race. When the 5k runners and 5k walkers moved up to their start line, y'know a 10th of a mile in front of us, i heard one 10k'er say...

"Guess, we all get a medal today"

...and the obligatory "Steers" at the finish. Notice the "impressive" 49:25...7:58 pace. but Jimmy was there "4" to cheer me on the victory.

After winning my age group, i wanted to take a minute here to officially retire from the 35-39 year old, male age group. i'm taking my game to the masters level.

Thanks for reading

2008-07-05T09:41:00.002-04:00

As per Fun Guv,

It was nice to actually see how the Garmin can be used to help when lost in the woods. Four of us from the summer regional went running and....well the trails aren't as well marked as we would have liked and we found ourselves running in the Betsie River trail and not the trail managed by Crystal Mountain.

Quick use of the Garmin and although our 6 miler became a 9 miler. Which kinda sucked for the non-marathon..."6 miles seems long but not too bad" guy in our foursome.

Anyway, back to the expaining my views on "I am Legend". On the surface, a vampire story...with a little zombie stuff thrown in. The real depth of the story is it's evolution theme. The idea that change is a constant and there is no absolute. Our hero's legendary status is due to his ability to walk through the daylight and kill off the vampires as they slept. To the vampire nation which becomes the majority, he is a legend, and feared, and eventually destroyed out of that fear and misunderstanding.

Now, let's compare to the most recent movie version. In which our hero saves humanity, by developing a cure, for this vampirism.....except....nobody seems to ask the vampires if they want to be cured. Even though the vampires show human traits, like organization, communication, intelligence and love, because they are different than the 3 people not changed, the vampires are ill and must be cured.

To draw just one conclusion to today's world, look at the "normal" American opinion of the Muslim world. Many fears and misunderstandings are present, and this is considered a "middle east" religion. But what happens when the majority of Europeans are Muslim????

just something to think about...

Anyway, next week is the Tri...i'm a bit nervous due to the swim, but i should be ok. it's just unchartered waters for me (sorry couldn't waste the obvious pun)

Tomorrow, is my annual run and the Pickeral Festival, in glorious, downtown Algonac....don't blink....It will most likely be my last run in a non-masters division.

thanks for reading

2008-07-01T09:49:00.010-04:00

Well we're back from our first summer regional. I can definitely say that a good time was had by all.

Thursday morning we headed up to Crystal Mountain where we would stay for 3 nights. As we approached Cadillac it finally dawned on Jimmy the direction we were headed and he asked how much longer until we got to the Hampton Inn. We had to explain to him that where we would be staying was much nicer than that. When we got to the resort they gave us our room number and told us where to go to get there. Much to our surprise it was a 2 bedroom condo! When we walked in the door the first words out of Jimmys mouth were "Dad, this is no Hampton Inn!"

Mike had a meeting shortly after arriving and I had to join that meeting a little after that so the kids got to spend a little time in the pool. Any time both Mike & I were in a meeting (they had a little spouses meeting Friday morning, more of a get to know the other spouses type thing) and when we had the awards dinner Saturday night the company provided Kids Camp where they had a great time and got to know other kids their age.
The pool area was a lot of fun and we got to spend all day Friday and most of Saturday just hanging out, playing and working on our tans.

Mike & Mack took some time and did the rock wall climb too. Mack never made it to the top, her fear of heights got the best of her, but she gave it one heck of a try and got about 3/4 of the way up.

After Friday night's dinner we were supposed to have the Crystal Coaster to ourselves from 7-9pm. Unfortunately Mother Nature decided to let loose a nice little drizzle right at 6:55. We were informed that the course became unsafe with even just a little bit of water on it due to the felt brakes on the sleds which become essentially inoperable when wet. The good news was they allowed us to use the coaster all day Saturday instead.

It took a lot of convincing to get Jimmy even onto the chair lift. I had to promise he'd go down with me (for some reason he just doesn't trust Mike in these situations...hmmm imagine that) and we'd go slowly down the mountain. He cried the entire ride up and still had a fit at the top. I told him there were 2 ways down walk or ride (at one point we had to do the walk because it started raining about 1 minute after we got on the chair lift so we had to ride to the top and then walk down the hill in the pouring rain...what fun that was!). The girl at the top was very helpful and had Jimmy sit in the sled by himself and showed hime what it was all about. I got in and off we went...after about 10 feet Jimmy was squealing with excitement telling me to go faster...go figure!

We rode it two more times before the rain came. Even though it only lasted about 5 minutes they had to hand dry the track off so it was about another hour before it reopened so we headed back to the pool. Jimmy was chomping at the bit to go back to the coaster, he kept his eye on the ski lift from the pool area and let us know as soon as it started to run again. We went down 3 more times and each time Jimmy kept pushing the lever to go faster and faster. He told me on the way down that this was the "bestest day of his life". He still has the wrist band on in case we go back there he can ride it again!

Believe it or not, in between all the fun, dinners and lunches provided Mike did learn a lot in his meetings and now he's at working putting all that information to good use. He also got a chance to go for a run two of the mornings. I'll let him post about that...the 6 mile run that turned into 9 because they got lost...and the Sunday morning hang over run.

I have to say this company is awesome. There were 79 FAs there this weekend with their families (approximately 70 +/- kids) and we got the chance to get to know quite a few of them. From people that have been with the company 20 years to some that are still in the study mode that Mike was in last summer/fall. Mack has a couple of new buddies that maybe she'll be babysitting soon, two little boys that live nearby really attached themselves to her. She also made friends her own age, of course they live on the other side of town.

Next years trip will be Mackinac Island where we will be taking over Mission Point Resort. The kids are already looking forward to it.

2008-06-18T21:06:00.007-04:00

3....oh, it's a magic number
yes, it is....
it's a magic number

it takes three legs to make a tripod
or to make a table stand
it takes three legs to make the journey
to become an ironman (ok a little writers embellishment, there)

Anyway....let's get to the Tri training.

The last few weeks have been busy with getting ready for the New Baltimore, MI triathlon. The distances are a little odd

.5 mile swim
11 mile bike
3 mile run

Don't look for it online anywhere. In the internet, this tri does not exist. Yet to the 225 participants this tri is a little gem. Of which, i think i am one of those participants. See, the only way to register is to go to the NB activities center and get a registration. Then deliver this registration with a check to the NB municipal offices. (not the same building)

Then you train and wait to see if the check actually clears prior to the race day. Your receipt of registration. Now is this old school registration or what.

I've been told this is a nice event, but with nothing to judge it by here's what i know. The wife of a chiropractor i know has done this one for years and loves it. An eye doctor i know was hit by a car last year when a NB policeman had a car pass the route in front of him.

So reviews are a bit mixed, eh????

The training.

NB has a muni pool about a mile from the office. So i have been a fixture 3 times a week. A couple real tri-athletes....i.e. training for full ironman types....have been helping with my lack of technique. Week one a swam some 16 lengths...400 yards (.25 mile) and thought i would drown...Week two...24 lengths...600 yards(.375) better, i can know breathe correctly and actually use my legs.
This week....32 lengths....tri distance....better technique...controlled breath....a little breast stroke for rest...a little backstroke for rest....just do the distance....and i feel the difference in my abs. (i don't actually have abs, i think it's more just one...ab)

great but a tri is three(the magic number) things, what about the biking and running?

Well, here's a funny thing....Today i biked 11 miles and ran 3...to get a feel for the race...usually i do two things a day, swim/bike, swim/run, bike run....Today was bike/run....11 miles 43 minutes and 3 miles 23:30.

I gotta say, this has been fun. Mile .25 of the run, i seemed to develop a golf ball in each of my calves.....they went away by mile .75.....this was new.....

I also can't believe how numb my feet get after 10 miles of biking...Then try to run 3 fresh miles on numb feet, with golf balls for calves.

One morning...i got up early...ran 6 miles....went to the office....11:00am swim at the pool(24 lengths)...after work...rode bike 5 miles to Jimmy's little league game, coached, and rode 5 miles home.

Next day was a rest day.

Per Therese, thanks my friend, next post....an analytical critical discussion of "I am Legend" and why the most recent movie strayed so off point from the 54 year old story.

Thanks for reading

Three Is A Magic Number lyrics - Blind Melon lyrics

Three Is A Magic Number Video - Blind Melon Music Videos

Music Videos by VideoCure

2008-06-17T21:42:00.007-04:00

Man, this was a great band. This is the only thing i can find of my favorite and first Ska band. Yessir, sitting in Tom's Foolery, fall of 1987 to watch Lansing's own.

What a great bar band. Whatever happened to them? i wonder

Well, why is this here? Well, Fun Guv found an old cassette of these guys, and since my car somehow has a cassette player, i've been rediscovering the joys of reggae and ska.

Bad segue....this allows me to go from (bop) harvey to Bob Marley and the "Legend" album, somehow forced into making the title for "I am Legend" fit the oddly titled, somewhat similar-to-the novella-it's based-upon movie.

As i enjoyed the movie, i decided to read the story....and to my amazement....found the entire point of the book to be lost. It actually fits well in todays society, cause our hero in the book, learns to live, and maybe die, (not to give anything away) with the knowledge that change is inevitable. As what is "normal" changes for humanity, he has become the "scary monster" the new humanity fears...hence the title...I am Legend.

The movie has so much resistance to this concept, that it is completely ignored. And the title is used in a forced Bob Marley freedom fighter reference.

....But really what does any of this have to do with my blog???

Well, here is my struggle. i'm having a hard time blogging about the things i would like to. Cause oddly enough....hypothetically enough....i could post an opinion about politics, or war, or gay marriage, or anything and a client or prospective client could happen upon my site and being upset with an opinion could view this opinion as representative of my employer, and bam!!! employer fixes that problem.

So my solution is to use Fun Guv as my little helper. She can actually work my opinions into her own post, and this allows me to rant. She can feel free to keep posting about her new camper.

I can keep posting about amatuer athletic endeavors.

Which means, and this may be getting a little ahead. Fun Guv is way early beginning to plan a 4 day weekend in Cincy next year. A little camp at King's Island campground, a little King's Island, and a little big run around the town known as The Flying Pig.... I think the new camper sleeps 7 or eight....

btw....anyone notice Fun Guv's feminine touches already???? pictures in the sidebar. Wow!!!!

Thanks for reading.

2008-06-15T12:07:00.008-04:00

Sorry, I'm going to interrupt this running blog with one more camping post....

We're getting a camper YEAH!!

Yesterday we went to another dealer to check out their offerings and they had a 2007 Starcraft Centennial (which appears to be their top-of-the-line) pop-up camper that had just come in. It was sold last year to a 70 year old couple with all of the whistles & bells. They used it once and it was too much for them to handle. So they came to this dealer and traded it in for an ultra-light travel trailer.

This bad boy features a slide out, A/C, built in stereo system w/CD player, microwave, oven, stove, small grill that hooks up to the outside, 2 king sized beds, hot water heater, outside shower (still don't get why/when you'd use that, but let's go with it), huge 2 level storage trunk, tons of storage space inside, oh and push a button and it's up...no cranking. The couple even put some carpeting in there - which I may take most of it out...the thought of kids, sand and carpeting are not a pleasant one...I will not take a vacuum camping with me.

We put a deposit on it so I could think about it today. I think I'm done thinking...it's ours. I will call first thing in the morning and start the paperwork process.

The dining area

The kitchen area

Vanna showing off the outside grill

Now I'm looking into booking another week of camping...thinking 8/22 - 31. Somewhere close so Mike can come up with us and spend the weekend and then go home & work, then come back up to help pack up. I'd love for him to stay the week, but someone has to work and earn money to make these payments! Algonac has 3 acceptable sites (read, close to bathroom and level)available as of this morning, he could possibly commute to work from there. As long as we're getting the thing, we might as well use it. Anyone want to join us?

2008-06-14T11:06:00.002-04:00

Where do i go from here???

Well, now that the Bayshore is behind me and i can look forward to next months Tri and 10k on the schedule a few final thoughts of the Bayshore...

It's a fast race. It get's great reviews for the views of the water, and it is rolling. But the runners of this race tend to be a little quicker. Ergo....

6 hr time limit. Take one of Michigan's biggest resort communities, add Memorial Day weekend and try to be on the marathon planning committe who trys to keep a major tourist-tee area, shut down any longer.

It has ok viewing areas, but the people there to root people on are not fans of marathoners. They are fans of their families, who just happen to be running. Once their families pass, guess what...they go to the finish line.
Once their family member finishes, guess what...they leave, cause it's tourist-tee town.

So, i gotta give this race a big thumbs up. No expo...who cares this is a little 3000 person race(1/2 and full runners), no prize money and no elites.

Fan support, not really...being a non runner for all the time i grew up in Traverse City, i gotta say i never heard of the race, it's only promoted by runners. But great places for your family to come out on the course and watch you.

It's inexpensive..really a resort community could cost more to run, and the race could be much larger, but as their website states...intentionally this race is kept small and registration typically closes a few months early. They bus the 1/2 marathoners out to the start, top avoid conjestion. They provide a wonderful technical shirt. A very nice finishing medal. The course has ample water, gatorade and Gu available.

What more could a person ask.

Now, in a brief personal defense of my hometown marathon.....

well, no i don't think this extremely public forum perhaps the best place to throw anybody under a bus. Please return my phone call.

Thanks,

2008-06-12T21:14:00.004-04:00

The Bayshore Marathon Race Report. (finally)

OK, here are the good and bad and real ugly...

Let's start with the good.(also known around my house as the first half)

As was the original plan, i started a little slower than i had been training and i hoped to hit the halfway point around 1:43 ish. See what is in the tank and go for a BQ if i could. Per the race mat, my halftime was 1:43:02, at a 7:53 pace.

Great, right where i wanted to be. Close enough to keep thinking about a BQ, and i felt tired but not so bad. Great pace, but a few really quik moments in the first half may have hurt me in the long run.

Another great stat...i was called a clydesdale around mile 5...Not really intended as a negative from the runners i came upon who looked over and said.

"hey, we're running with a clydesdale" Really, now sure i'm a big guy but more on that later

And the real stats per garmin:

Mile 1 7:45
Mile 2 7:36
Mile 3 7:39
Mile 4 7:34
Mile 5 7:45
Mile 6 7:54
Mile 7 7:49
Mile 8 7:48
Mile 9 7:58
Mile 10 7:48 total elapsed 1:17:35 fastest 10 miles evah!!!
Mile 11 7:58
Mile 12 8:00 (are you starting to notice a trend here????)
Mile 13 8:09 elapsed first half 1:43:02

See this was great, best 1st half, but obviously i was slowing down. In part to conserve energy, i did make a conscious decision to slow a little but....

The Bad...or the second half

Not so good, mentally i was ok, but really....being a large guy and being a little quicker than most at this point leads a lot of volunteers to say encouraging things like....

"great job, big guy" or "keep it up, big guy" or "looking good, big fella" at seemingly every water station. I get it!!!

I am a large man. and i get that the volunteers are trying to be encouraging but....

for christ sake after a while, i'm beginning to think it's surprising and unnatural to be running given my bulk.

But back to the bad...2nd half 2:06:19

again the bad stats

Mile 14 8:19
Mile 15 8:23
Mile 16 8:29
Mile 17 8:38
Mile 18 9:52 saw nitmos here and knowing that i had lost a BQ attempt here started to walk, and walk, and walk....my goal was to not break stride until i saw Mr and Mrs Nitmos...thank them for encouraging me and continue on, but i just wanted to quit. but no....after a few hundred yard, Nitmos was next to me running with me a pacing me to no longer BQ, but to just finish...
Mile 19 10:14
Mile 20 10:16
Mile 21 8:53
Mile 22 10:02
Mile 23 11:02
Mile 24 11:51
Mile 25 9:36
Mile 26 9:03
Mile .2 3:09

Total time 3:49:21

i promised Mack and Jimmy and Allison that if i didn't have a BQ, i would grab them and the three of us would cross the finish line together. So in my most painful finish, i had Mack in one hand and she had Jimmy struggling to keep up in her other. Allison was in a port-a-potty line and missed it, but....the moment was still nice. Then....the finish line, and refreshments...also known as....

The Ugly

It's funny how the body can react after being pushed to it's limits. After getting a finishing medal and having my chip removed, i went to the line for refreshments. Some ice cream a banana, some water and stuff.

As i stood there, i quite honestly lost control of my bodily functions and my bladder unloaded itself right there in line. Nothing i could consciously do to stop it....hell, i didn't know it was happening until half way through, then i looked down. Weird thing, no other runner even flinched. Then...the tunnel vision set in. "Well, this is weird" i thought to myself, as i began to shake, just a little. I figured, a banana would help, and as long as i stayed calm i would be ok...so i looked at the runner right behind in line and said.

"if, i fall over, will you get someone. i think i'm ok, but i'm getting a little wobbly"

"do you need someone now?"

"no. i think some food will fix it, but just in case"

"ok"

Well, i did not fall over and some food helped, and taking my shirt off and hanging it from my waistband hid the pee. So i felt better, grabbed the kids, and headed off the grab a shower.

Real Ugly.

Well the shower helped and after getting dressed sat down in the hotel room and asked for a few minutes to sit before heading back to watch Lisa finish. i guess my five minute little rest turned into a half hour snooze, cause next thing....

"Mike, get up. Mark just called and Lisa's not done yet and it's been 6 hrs"

"Crap...check with the medical people, we're on our way." Adrenaline can be a funny thing. To see me move for the next few minutes, you swear looking at me you couldn't have been able to tell i'd just run a marathon. Boom....shoes are on and we're getting the brood of kids together, a running for the elevator to head the 2 miles to the finish line.

Mark calls a few minutes later and she's found and fine and finished.

But, in true Steers spirit...i was not there to cheer on her finish.

For that i am truly sorry.

....but the beauty of an 18 year friendship, is that within 6 months these little gaffes have a habit of turning into stupid running jokes (sorry bout the pun there...totally unintentional, and not at all avoidable)

Anyway, after that.

A great cookout, catered by the Nitmos clan with a few drinks, dogs, burgers and hopefully a rather enjoyable evening by all.

Housekeeping Stuff

i hope a fresh look will keep me more engaged.

also, Fun Guv is now a blog member and no more phantom post from her (cause after 13 never dull years of marriage, continuos years at that....i still think the sun shines out of her butt)

i'm going to be less random, i have a few things to post about soon, then a slightly adjusted direction, again part of the decision to end the blog and start over was part of a fresh start.

Since the Bayshore is done...next post will be some final thoughts on the Bayshore Marathon, and the next thing, and then a post on the new rules for the blog (and i may ask for some advise on this one)

Thanks for reading

2008-06-11T22:54:00.004-04:00

"Nothing Great was ever Achieved without Enthusiasm"
-R.W. Emerson

i used to have this quote on a poster as a kid growing up. i guess, it has always stuck with me and i have used it to help push me. i've always been the kind of guy who let his enthusiasm push me. i'm a good cheer leader and i admit to trying to leave things better than how i find them.

i am making some changes to the blog and it seems now is a good time.

Now quite honestly, if a few people are curious about this little blog, well...truthfully i have been thinking about why i write it. And more importantly....why continue...

After all, work, kids, spouse and training...not in that order....have controlled my time ...also charity, and boy scout den leadering, and rotary, and little league coaching, and....small wonder this doesn't get anytime.

Soooooo,

Fun Guv has asked me to keep writing and i will keep trying, i promise to do a race report tomorrow with all the great and ugly stats and a reflection on the day.

Also, i brief update on the Tri-training....and

the next big and little races in the plan, and will i try for a Bq in the next big run???

....and where this blog is artistically headed, and why

2008-06-06T13:30:00.005-04:00

Sorry!

I've tried to get Mike to sit down and post, but shockingly, he won't listen to me. I feel like this is going to turn into my blog soon, but I don't run, and my name's not Mike so I think it would be all wrong.

He's heading up to a neighbors cabin right by S Higgins Lake State Park. They 2 guys are going with the 2 boys for a weekend of boating, fishing and swimming....sounds like fun. Mack is going to her grandparents house for the weekend which leaves me here, alone, with the dog YEAH!!!!!

Actually, I had already signed up for a 14 hour crop at a local scrapbook store for Saturday, so I will be there all day with a friend and my mom. But I still have tonight and most of Sunday for some peace & quiet.

I guess this is the long, roundabout way to break it to you....Mike won't be posting anytime in the next couple of days. I swear I will keep working on him and get a post out of him soon.

2008-06-04T21:35:00.003-04:00

Quick update....

This evening we headed back up to the RV dealer so the rest of the family could see the camper choices. Upon 2nd look (and possibly because they moved it inside and when you looked out the window you saw wall instead of sky) option #2 feels a quite a bit smaller than I remember it being yesterday. Now we're really leaning more toward option #3, though if it were up to the kids we would get #2...or actually option #4 ...

but that would require a new, bigger car which is NOT an option...but man, you can throw a party in this one, it's huge!

I'm going to keep looking. I will not give up. I am armed with a list of 5 other local dealers that I will investigate tomorrow or early next week...plus I told Mike I would call and get a price on option #3 since I neglected to do that yesterday ~ oops!

2008-06-03T18:48:00.007-04:00

Well, since Mike's not going to post anytime soon, I will. He opted to take the time we would have spent at Jimmy's baseball game tonight that got rained out to go for a run instead. How dare he!

So, I'm going to ask for a little help and advice

I went camper shopping today. This weekend I got the go ahead to and buy the family a camper. This basically came after the realization that our Cubmaster and his family rent the exact same camper that we do from the exact same place (they had it last weekend when we went up to hang out for the day). Now Mike can't wrap his brain around sleeping in the exact same spot as someone he knows...so I finally get my camper.

While I started out looking for something used I found out the exact model we've been renting, but in a 2008 version (the fabric colors may be the only thing different) is really not too much more than any of the used campers I've been looking at. This one comes with an awning so the free one I've been using the last few years can be retired, duct tape and all! Here's the floor plan:

Now while at the dealership I also decided to take a peek at what they call the "hybrid style". I came across this little beauty for only a little more per month than the above model.

Isn't it cute? But it gets better, here is the floor plan.

Yes, it has a bathroom (though I'm not in the market for cleaning out a camper toilet so it would be only used in extreme emergencies...and no poopin' in there either EVER!). It also has a stove, an oven, a microwave, A/C, an antennae jack and an AM/FM/CD stereo with outside speakers. What more could I ask for?

Here is the link to some interior pics

http://www.travelstarrv.com/travelstar_sport_highlights.html

There is also the option of going right down the middle with this floor plan in a pop-up style.

I don't have to make a decision right away. All of these models are in-stock and can get to me pretty quick. I think I'll take Mike up there in the next couple of days so he can see them for himself.

So, I know someone out there still reads this blog. I'm looking for some feedback. Please! Help me help Mike make the right decision!

2008-05-28T19:08:00.004-04:00

Nope, it's just me...Fun Guv

Just wanted to stop by and let everyone know that Mike is still alive, he did survive the marathon last Saturday. Unfortunately real life has gotten in the way of him posting his recap.

The Bayshore Bandit caught on film...

**Photos compliments of Running Fit. Unfortunately these are all I have since our dear son knocked my camera to the cement minutes after arriving at the finish line area and broke it.

After travelling home on Sunday, he spent all of Monday doing yard work and readying the pool for the summer. Too bad Michigan can't figure out when summer will actually arrive, these October feeling mornings in May have got to go. Tuesday he toiled away at the office and then came home just in time to head out to coach Jimmy's baseball game. Tonight he's meeting a client and I don't expect him til after 8:30, not sure if he'll jump on then or not. Tomorrow night holds another baseball game (and the Lost season finale...ugh!), Friday night a middle school band ice cream social/fund raiser, Saturday an all day boy scout activity up at Metamora State Park (we should be camping the whole weekend with the rest of the Pack, but who has time for that?) So maybe Sunday when he's done cutting the grass again he'll sneak on and give a race report.

Or, maybe I'll sit him down and force him a little sooner than that...though the Pistons & Wings play again tonight don't they?

2008-05-19T19:36:00.006-04:00

Taper Madness...

First things, Tange wanted to know what I was going to do to gear up for the big run this weekend. Only way a Steer can gear up for the big game, and that's by listening to this.

That said...the obligatory goals for the weekend. After running a 22:02 3-miler today

1. Get a PR
2. Run fast, real fast
3. Finish
4. Get a BQ, could be a reach, most running calculations indicate a 3:30-3:35 finish time. Oh well, still a PR

Coach says the goal is to hit 20 miles in 2:30 to BQ. could be a stretch, but I'm still not sure what the adrenaline of the day will bring. Today's short run was 3 miles, first at 7:36, second at 7:22 and third at 7:07. I seem to be pretty quick.

Anyways, that's all for now. Dancing with the Stars start in 15 minutes and I love Cheryl. Followed by the new Bachelorette, which isn't my first choice, the Bachelor is, but I still watch for Fun Guv. De'Anna seems/looks nice until she opens her mouth. Oh God! I know her name...I swear I'm not gay. But I did watch the season she was on the Bachelor...only to be jilted at the final rose ceremony.... It was the most dramatic rose ceremony ever.

By the way, did anyone see Def Leppard perform on Dancing with the Stars: The Results Show a couple of weeks ago? Man those guys are looking old. (now you know why I don't update here very often)

And maybe, during commercials I'll get to flip over to Vs. and watch the Wings.

2008-05-11T22:26:00.002-04:00

Sorry bout the rash of posts lately...

but i had to throw todays stats for the last 12 miler before the bayshore

mile 1.....7:58 cu 7:58
Mile 2....7:54 15:52
mile 3....7:43 23:35
Mile 4....7:40 31:15
mile 5....7:43 38:58
mile 6....7:45 46:43
mile 7....7:44 54:27
mile 8....7:51 1:02:18
mile 9....7:51 1:10:09
mile 10...8:02 1:18:10
mile11...8:14 1:26:25
mile 12...8:12 1:34:37

1:34:37....not bad for a blustery....rainy day

it was a big circle, 3 miles into the wind, 6 not, 3 into the wind at the end.....serious pickup in wind at the end.....rain started to fall at mile 6.

My personal goal for this run was 1:36:00, i just wanted to finish a major long run under a 8 minute pace.

Now the taper can begin.....i have every other day runs scheduled for the next two weeks until the bayshore.

With the exception of wishing i was a few lbs lighter, and really i have no one to blame but me, i think i am ready.

thanks for reading

2008-05-11T09:46:00.002-04:00

Ah yes, a ribbon cutting picture. Notice i inluded Fun Guv, as it's a family team effort. Chamber pictures of the grand "re"-opening, with a county commisioner and a township trustee assisting with cut.

One democrat and one republican, as i reach across aisles and bring both sides together in a common photo op. Vote for Mike '12, i think i just needed more time to make vote for mike '08 a reality.....

First, find a minister.....then do background check on minister.

Anyway.....Happy Mom's Day.....those of you who can call her up or give her a quick hug, should.

thanks for reading

2008-05-09T21:21:00.004-04:00

Say, it ain't so!!!!

two posts in a single week. Stop the insanity!!!!

But i had to throw some new stats out for the coach, regarding my speedwork today. Yeah, it was a day late but i did it.

8 miles, 1 warm up, 1 cool down.....in between....

4 miles @ 7:05 with 1/2 mile jogs.

1st mile....6:36....whoa, slow down speedy. Waaaaaay too fast......fastest mile evah!!!!!

2nd mile..... 6:54......that's better, but still i'm working 11 seconds too hard

3rd mile.... 6:52.....neighbors watching me do my little 1&1/2 mile loop through my little neighborhood are starting to give me either.....a) an odd look or b) they know me an like to shout things like "Run, Forrest, Run" as i smile and wave, with a bitter "ha ha" under my breath, or mostly the youngsters 3) try to run with me.

4th mile....6:46

Now a couple nifty things....even though this was actually my best speed workout ever, both in actual speed and recovery, and general feeling good when done.....i think the wind affected my time and i could have been quicker. Fun Guv's right....i can never be happy with what i have....i always want more.

Anyway, one more long run of 12 miles and i'll feel like the taper is truly begun. Even though last week was the final 20, i guess i always look at the final double digit length run as the start of tapering. I guess that will be Sunday.

Anyway, it's been a week and still no photos from the chamber of commerce's and my re-grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony. Sorry...i promise as soon as possible they'll be here.

Let's see if a can find anything about our local mayor to post here......

maybe some back story....

Happy Mothers Day!!!!

Thank Gawd, Kwame and his mother are both....SUPERDELEGATES....yeah, wonder why i'm hoping the Michigan Democrats aren't seated at the convention????

and really, i can't forget about Steve Wilson

one last thing.....totally different....anybody else have that stupid "Freeeee credit, report dot com" jingle running through their head.

thanks for reading

2008-05-07T20:00:00.002-04:00

20 miles later.....

ran a fun 20 miles on Sunday. Great day and on a route i had never done before. Left the house and only took my garmin and mp3 player.

Stopped for water around mile 11 and a quick gatorade at mile 17. total time 2:49....that includes total walk breaks of 12 minutes.

Now, here's what not to do after a 20 miler....Do not go and sit in for two hours watching Iron Man, great flick by the way....and yeah....comic book fanboys out there....definitely worth the "Ferris" moment at the end of the credits....

Back to the point.....about 20 minutes into the movie the cramps started to set in. Both legs, from the ankles to the tops of the hamstrings....major charlie horses.....oh the humanity!!!!

And yeah, not like i can stand up in the crowded theater to stretch.....Nooooo, i gotta stretch out, by making my best.....congressman-picking-up-a-quickie-in-the-next stall...sit down stretch.

Christ, the things i'll do to get outta mowing the lawn.

Also, Tuesday was an easy 7 miler at a 7:48 pace.

Guess, i'm done as Fun Guv wants the computer again.....Go figure after being gone all day, i get to scarf down a pb&j and have about 15 minutes to throw a post together before getting booted.....i'll never get to any political sarcasm.....

thanks for reading

2008-05-03T14:39:00.002-04:00

Well here i sit, at the computer after not running my 20 miler yet.

It's 2:40, Saturday, and the day has gotten away. Turns out Jimmy had Little leauge, opening game today at 10:45. It's supposed to rain, with thunderstorms, and tomorrow will be sunny, yet cooler.

Soooo.....

Tomorrow will be a great morning to head out on my final 20 miler of the plan. i should be ok.

Thursdays run.....in honor of the 5 year celebration of "Mission Accomplished" was a great 7 miles. Consistent and all under marathon pace of 7:41....

Total time was.....53:11...pace 7:36.....so while not as quick a pace as Tuesday, it was more consistent.

What to do for the long twenty???? Per Coach Nitmos....i'll go slow and easy....try to stay under 3 hours but not push for more. I still have three weeks to do that and no reason to risk an injury while overdoing a long run.

Thanks coach!!!!

He also has me thinking about marathon planning and what to run with. In the past, i've run marathons with lots of food in my pockets. A bunch of Gu's, some sports beans, a Carb bar, etc.... and always finished with some still in my pockets.

For the Bayshore...i'll take three GU's with me. Expresso Love, baby, 2x the caffeine.... one before the start, and at the 7 and 14 mile mark. Around mile 17 will be a Gu station with water so i'll grab an extra to keep in the pocket for the final 10k push.

i swear these boring stats posts will end. i had a great open house, grand re-opening for my office with local chambers, rotary friends, networking friends and elected officials. Great pictures of the ribbon cutting will be coming soon.

Plus, i've started to prepare for training in a local sprint tri. i've found a swimming coach.....plus "Dances with Dirt" relay prep (i may currently be the fastest runner on the team, scary).....and the eventual "underwater" mile of the international Detroit marathon. Maybe coach and i can pace each other to 3:10 times?

Thanks for reading

2008-04-29T22:04:00.002-04:00

A chance????

Well, as things go i had a good last week of runs. It was a cut-back week, three slow runs of 9 miles and as things go my slow time seems to be a consistent 8:00-8:15 pace and that's how my rans went.

Saturdays run turned into Sunday morning. 9-10:30 am-ish, followed by....coaching Jimmy for little league.....followed by.....riding our bikes to practice.....coaching the entire team for an hour or so ....ride the bikes back home....walk the dog with Fun Guv for about 2 miles.....ride the bikes to the high school and play tennis with Mack....

busy day....i need to get back to the office for some time off.

So with Sunday's 9 miles....the week will be

Sunday....9 miles...done
Tuesday....8 miles
Thursday...7 miles, with three sub 7:30 miles for tempo
Saturday....20 miles, the final 20 of the training plan

So i gotta take a moment to brag cause.....

8 miles......1:00:28.......7:32 pace

....and for those keeping score.....pace to BQ.....7:41

but was it consistent? you judge...

Mile 1....7:25
Mile 2...7:30
Mile 3...7:38
Mile 4...7:29 1/2 way....30:02 ( no negative split today)
Mile 5...7:33 5 miles....37:35
Mile 6...7:39 new personal 10k best here.....under 47:00
Mile 7...7:44 a bit of a bummer, but in the wind and had to slow slightly to jay-run a busy road
Mile 8...7:29

Total time.....1:00:47 plus one second to turn off the Garmin.

Nothing is even close to this run as i have never ran this fast this distance. And only one mile was above marathon pace.

and of course my weight is still 200 lbs....any thoughts on going low carb for the first two weeks of the three week taper to quickly drop some lbs?????

Knowing of course...so many things in a marathon are out of my control...at least i feel the things i can control are being taken care. Mother Nature can be a biatch.

Thanks for reading

2008-04-22T20:04:00.002-04:00

OK, i get it.

life, work, running got in the way of posting again.

Those of you interested, you may like to hear that i have had a exciting week of training.

let's go back in time to a week from today.

Last Tuesday, my fastest 9 miles ever. 9 miles/time.....1:10:29 pace is a nice 7:50/mile....best part was the slowest mile was my first. A wonderful afternoon run with a cool fast time and a negative split.

Thursday, a not as fast 8 miles. Not even an attempt to go fast, just nice and steady. Honestly, i think i still felt the affects of the earlier 9 miles. Still, a fun run for the day....time 1:08:08....a slow 8:27 pace....and really it felt slow, weird eh?

Saturday....with renewed energy about not caring about pace, or time, but just the distance...Saturday was a slow 16 miles....lot's of walk breaks and a full 2 liter camel-pak sooo....2:23:22 for a 8:58 pace.....

Monday....back to a little speed....start slow and try to make every mile a little quicker....9 miles....started at a nice 8:29 mile and ended with a quick 7:46 mile; total time....1:13:48.....big negative split here....over a minute diference as my last two miles were the quickest in the run.

There is a week in my runs....7 days, 4 runs....distance 42 miles....

Weight...still at the 200 lb area.....maybe i'm more of a camel myself, carrying my reserves as i go, and not so much a horse.

Anyway, fun guv wants the computer now so maybe i'll get a chance again in the next week to post again.

Thanks for reading

2008-04-14T20:03:00.002-04:00

Good Luck (o'the Irish)

Run Strong....

Beat Lance....

Good luck to the Steers next week in Boston

McTange and O'Nitmos, hope to see you there whenever i get old enough to have my current time qualify, age wise.

Have fun and enjoy the moment, and let's hope the weather is a bity nicer than last year. OK, it's official, i'm a running geek as i can remember the conditions of previous races that i haven't been involved with.

Anyway on to today's reprise of the weekend run. Coach...i burned out. The weather blew and after spending two hours in the rec pool playing with the kids i set out for my 20 miler. Against the wind, tired and bundled up and wearing the 2 liter camelpak.

it was rough and although my time was decent, i was miserable for the last 4 miles. And so, unlike previous posts of success, i'm gonna wallow in self pity and keep the bad news to myself.

Anyway, it's been a long day and it's time to wallow in the train wreck known as "The Bachelor" Fun Guv has me hooked on it

Thanks for reading

2008-04-13T08:28:00.003-04:00

i'm a clydesdale.

Well, maybe more of a draft horse.

As i keep moving forward trying to get a few minutes faster for the big run in a few weeks, my girth keeps getting in the way.

Fer instance, i seem to have able to break the years long cycle of smoking and running.

Now, non-smoking runners out there my poo-poo the idea of an early morning smoke before heading out the door for a long slow run, but my friends, you're missing out.

Well, not really.....but, what's this got to do with horses?????

Great question, thanks for asking. See smoking did one thing.....it surpressed my appitite. Which really......before running i had at one time ballooned up to the 250-260 range, and smoked too.....what the hell was being surpressed, eh????

Today, i sit at the not-so-ballooned 200 lbs and once in a while i'll manage a weight of 190, usually during the taper. So, i aknowledge, that, yes, quiting smoking led to a bit more eating of late and my weight is more than it should be but....

i realize, i'm still kicking ass,( obtuse horse pun) and had some killer speedwork Thursday. 8 miles with four under 7:15/mile- with 800 meter jogs between.

Go figure, the winter is kicking in for one last hurrah around, so while doing my laps around the local school track, the temps started to fall and the wind picked up, and a little mist, turned to drizzle, to outright downpour.

....but still the draft horse had a job to do. Mile 1 of speed 6:47 ok a little fast and may have affected the rest of the miles......Mile 2 of speed 7:05 .....Mile 3, 7:10 (are you seeing a pattern)......Mile 4, 7:14 (and yes....speed is a relative term to all the quarter horses out there)

This weekend is a 20 miler.....when?, again great question....it's Sunday morning. Yesterday was a complete pile of work and family obligations. Today is Jimmy's 7th birthday....so off the the local rec center for a school friend swimming party, after a cubscout park cleanup, which i head for as soon as i hit "publish post".

Alas, it's 9:25 and i need to leave at 9:30...no time for topical banter

Thanks for reading

2008-04-08T18:40:00.009-04:00

Tagged, i'm it!!!!

Great.....thanks coach, for tagging me with the oddest game of blogsphere yet. Let's see if i can summon a muse to give me a 6 sentence memoir.....

"He didn't fall outta the tree"

Which, thanks to Arcane, is more and more appealing. Although, with all the scratches from fallen and snagged limbs a person could think i'm a leper given the current appearance of my hands.

Well, let's try a running update, yesterday was 4, just 4 miles. And per the online plan, at a 9:07 pace. Well, if four 9:07 miles equals 31:12 i did OK. Actually, i am a little upset about the time as it's a 7:48 pace.

two things....it's not the 7:41 marathon pace and it's really not the 7:30 pace i was shooting for. Mile three killed and it was windy and i shouldn't have had a big dinner before running, and ....blah, blah,blah....who cares, i didn't get it done.

This week i have some speed work planned, and a 20 miler this weekend.

Movin On.....

i gotta admit to feeling a little hypocritical regarding the chinese olympic games.....

fer instance....i'd like to visit China, see the wall, pandas, lead paint&toy factories, etc.... but....

human rights is a issue and since we, as a country, have made such a big deal about freedom and all in the middle east....maybe we, as a country, hypothetically speaking....could have some concern over the far east.

i mean that's why we went to war right???? Freedom for the oppressed Iraqi's.....evil regime.....dirty bombs.....wmd's......getting even with the guy who laughed at my dad....

Anyway, back to me. Personally, i've decided to boycott by not attending this summers olympic games in person. That's right...none of my hard earned american rebate (really, this may sound self-centered, but let's take the extra cash to solidify social security, i mean someday i'd like to be 67 without thinking "oooooh, i bet it would be nice to be getting a nice check, but nooooooo i got a rebate 28 years ago") will be spent in China.

Who's with me??? (i mean after the stunning support of the "vote for Mike '08" campaign, who wouldn't? i'm a grass-roots kinda guy....or bud....or maybe leaf......just no stems or seeds)

And speaking about human rights.....Segue prepped.....

Once again "the man" is positioned to bring down a young successful black man!!!!

Sure, i coulda picked a more flattering picture, but here's my promise....

if i ever have a mugshot taken, i'll post it online, but until that day......

Anyway....where to start???? am i even allowed to, cause admittedly, i'm a white guy...

but, from a human rights perspective.....

the mayor of the city to which my little suburb is in the community of is a black man.

as is....

the previous two mayors of Detroit.....

the majority of citizens in Detroit....

the three ex-Detroit police officers; who sued the city, won the case, and then settled for 8 million

the prosecutor, who brought the perjury charges against the mayor for allegedly lying under oath (although, technically a woman), and

the 30-some local ministers using skin color as a rallying point to defend the mayor, except...

everybody involved seems to be of the same skin color, except for the mayors attorney....

He's a white guy.

At least things in the motor city are never boring.

Maybe someday the Tigers will win a game and i'll take my mind off local politics

Thanks for reading

2008-04-06T13:42:00.002-04:00

"Hang in there, baby"

i'm not sure why, but this seems to be stuck in my head from a childhood spent in the "70's"

As you may see we caught our little RJ. Just one....about a year old and lot's of fun.
Kids being what they are wanted to keep her as a pet.

Go figure, i have bleedin' heart liberal kids, who wanted to be sure Pestman would release her to the wild (or nature center a few miles from us), rather than making a cap outta her.

Anyway, feeling inspired after an incredible 18 miles through Paint Creek, running into GLRG (and throwing her off her mojo), i felt it was time to takes dead limbs off our Maple Tree.

Not sure if Fun Guv realized the amount of time i spent climbing trees as a child but it's a little like riding a bike.....i just need to stick to slightly thicker branches.

Anyway back to running....18 miles with a 2 liter camelpak on.

Tuesday was a crappy weather day...so 5 miserable treadmills miles and Thursday....

Thursday rocked.....

7 miles....53:59....no lie...after hitting the Garmin timer a few seconds later, i went back to look.

Now, Nitmos really pushed me to get a 53 to stay on goal. i figured i was 15 seconds off marathon pace...to BQ, i need 7:41....thursday was 7:43.

So close

Thanks for reading

2008-04-01T15:17:00.003-04:00

A New Roommate????

We seem to have a family of racoons living in our attic. Isn't this nice??

BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare

Some random interent pictures, freely available for connecting so its not my house but....you get the idea.....

Dammit, well the pest control guy (Let's call him "Pestman") is heading over now, so soon we set traps. i saw the head of one of the critters last night as it taunted me from it's perch inside the vent with it's head sticking out of the house just watching me.

bastard!!!!

Anyway, back to running, cause that's what i do...

i had a great week of runs....

after Tuesdays intentional negative split, i figured to run a nice 8 miles again on Thursday.

again, it snowed, but not to be dampered, i ran within my abilities but with a little edge and finished 1 minute quicker than tuesday.

Saturday was a 7 miler and that ended up at a 7:48 pace. Still a little bit quicker.

Big kudos to Nitmos....we spoke earlier and he is saying the things i don't want to hear....making me do the things i don't want to do....to help me get the results i want.

Keep pushing me!!!!

This week is again a couple 7 mile runs and a saturday of 18 miles. Well, my plan has 16, but it could be a good day to run Paint Creek Trail....a pre-marathon tradition of running. This run will be with Brett ("Hit-Man"), first time marathoner and Steer....gotta pay it forward, eh?

Anyway, work is good, running is good and the family is good...not really in that order.

While typing this....Pestman set a trap for our little RJ....While setting the trap, our furry tennant stuff his/her head up to the vent and laughed at me while Pestman set the humane style trap.

Maybe...we can post our own pictures of the ordeal....and RJ.

Thanks for reading.

2008-03-26T19:52:00.002-04:00

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

2008-03-25T12:59:00.002-04:00

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!

2008-03-03T20:56:00.003-05:00

"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

2008-02-23T22:19:00.004-05:00

14 miles and a cloud of dust.

Well it was a great day for a long run and outdoors to boot. After the morning business meeting and 40 mile drive home, i returned home around 1:00 pm fed myself and the kids lunch of salami or peanut butter sandwiches.

Then i fired up the Garmin, after leaving it on the charger all last night, checked the batteries for the tunes and headed out. Temps were around the mid 30s and sun was shining. Wind blew a little and after two weeks of not running outdoors....

...i started too fast.

At the four mile mark, i was at 31:00 minutes, with a nice showing of my normal one mile warmup and a few sub-8 minute miles. Then i turned into the wind the wheels fell off my plan of having a fun, easy run.

Ugggh, too fast. i ended up at 2:03:00 ish. Somewhere around an average pace of 8:45.

Truthfully, not terrible. in addition to the wind, i had some icy conditions and although i never fell, and only broke stride once, at the 13.1 mile mark to celebrate a 1/2 under my waaaay early training belt, i never had a good stretch going either.

Could it have been a combo of the wind, the ice, the chill and the lack of a good stretch when running on the treadmill?

At least, i have nowhere to go but up, and 13 more weeks of training. It's not like the marathon is in two weeks from today, right???

Another minor bummer. i had to run the 14 miles relatively close to home as Fun Guv was at work. But at least it was not the treradmill. Additionally, i noticed a difference in the fact that when i make long runs going far from the neighborhood, the stoplights seem to provide some excellent recovery breaks. Not much of this happening with a lot less lights and i really felt a difference.

Now on the the first cut-back week of the plan.

and now a favorite bit from a favorite "Woody"

Whew, i made a whole post with no political rants.....

thanks for reading

2008-02-21T19:32:00.002-05:00

Ooooh Yeah!!!!

Now that's funny....

Oh boy, it's gonna be a long time 'till November.

Anyway...back to running

Officially, i registered for the Bayshore last night. So it's on!!!!!

Monday, ran 5 miles. it was supposed to be an easy 5 but.....39:12

Wednesday, ran 5 speed baby speed workout..... 39:00 even

mile 1 8:15 warmup

mile 2/3/4 .....22:35 total

mile 5 8:10

Saturday an easy 14. No really, nothing is easy about 14. Weather is looking sunny and mid 30's (short weather)

Speaking of best laid plans.....i have to bail on the 14 miler with Nitmos. Looks like a need to be home Saturday for a business meeting at 8:00. Dammit!!!!!

Anyway, thanks for reading

2008-02-18T18:45:00.006-05:00

Ok, no new cheesy movie lines, no stupid 80's flashback lyrics and dumb movies.

not this post...

this is a rant!!!!

i gotta get this out before tonites run. cause it's just an easy 5 miler, which i'm sure to take faster than the plan, but that's ok....

here's the setup, and quite honestly i've been waiting for something like this.

Ok, Allison goes back home today. We had a good 4 days as she had mid-winter break. i meet her stepdad in Midland, about 2 hours from home. Being that "the market" is closed today, i could work. Y'know meeting and greeting talking about "the market" and stuff. i use the time to drive the 5 hrs total, including a quick lunch and get home.

The nice thing about a teenage daughter, even when they don't live with you, is that they like to play things cool. So after a few minutes of trying to have a conversation, i let her drift off in a little nap as i drive. It's a fairly dull drive can't really blame her. So i figure to listen to some talk/news radio to keep up with events.

...But nooooo, i end up listening to an entire 3 hr episode of RUSH. and i ain't talkin' bout the Canadians

of course, i realize this is playing with matches here, but as i want to appear well versed on the conservative platform, as i become engaged in conversations with coworkers. Big difference here....always co-workers.....never clients or referral partners....to many things can go wrong.

So the Big L starts pontificating on the problems of the democratic party and uses, not once, but twice in a 3, wait soak it in... again....a 3 hour program....

The democrats are so screwed up that Hubert Humphrey received the nomination in 1968 after winning absolutely ZERO states through the primaries....now this is a paraphrase not a complete quote, the content is accurate.

i guess i have a new example of the fact that correlation is not indicative of cause-and-effect relationships. See, i used to like a shark attack correlation example, fer instance;

most shark attacks occur in warm water, ....by that correlation, does warm water cause sharks to attack??? Not really, most people don't swim in cold water.

See.... There could be other factors in play with regards to shark attacks. The two items, shark attacks and warm water, correlate, but one does not cause the other, so let's use the same logic, or lack thereof.....to Rush's example

Hubert Humphrey won the democratic party nomination in 1968 after not winning any states primary, hmmmm....i must say, Rush does make a good point....in thinking about this, i can think of no other factors that may have contributed to HH receiving the nomination. At least nothing worth mentioning while making his point...

nothing at all....

nothing like, oh i don't know.....

The assassination of the democratic frontrunner, uhhh anyone...anyone....??? say his name with me...

Bobby Kennedy.

is there, just maybe, a chance this tragedy may have led to Humphrey's nomination, or perhaps Mr. Kennedy's popularity may have led to HH not winning any states. Could these be contributing factors????

This scares me on so many levels: one, the intentional rewriting of history; two, that sooo many dittoheads won't do the math themselves and use the example while trying to promote the conservative platform; and three, that given the recent and unfortunate, redundant example of gun violence no mention of Bobby Kennedy was made.

okay, it's off my chest.... back to the treadmill tonite....and back to the regular musings of this blog later....

thanks for, letting me rant and, reading

2008-02-16T12:11:00.002-05:00

12 miles on the treadmill,

and a little 80's flashback

i gotta admit, yet again to being a huge "Rocky" fan. Number 2 on my lists of things i want to do with regards to running is.....

Finish a good run by taking on the stairs at the Philly Library....in ugly grey sweats and all.....no raw eggs though. we can skip that.

As long as i gotta run on a treadmill for a little while, why not watch something to help me through the tough miles

yeah, just try putting that in the DVD player and not picking up the pace just a little....

Yeah i know this takes few minutes and really my blog isn't intended to be running movie reviews, but hey this is the stuff that's getting through these tough beginnings of training and realization that with Fun Guv working...i need to be closer to home more, so some long runs will have to be in ther basement.

A quick shout-out to Brett, longtime Steer, the basketball version and new runner.

He's setting out to run his first marathon at the Bayshore. Go figure, he's nervous, but just keep trusting the plan and "KEEP MOVING FORWARD"

ain't nothing like your first time

Thanks for reading.

2008-02-13T22:11:00.003-05:00

"Though his body says stop, his spirit cries...never!!"

Ok, Dr Animal, knock this one out!!!

a quick running update, with a little local weather thrown in.....After lasts weeks, odd February T-storm, which immediately froze due to minus wind chill, followed by two dumpings of snow, a couple things have happened to the local roads and sidewalks.....They may or may not be plowed, snow blown,...whatever.....If so, three inches of ice,...if not, lot's of snow...So to the Dreadmill, i go....

Monday, an easy 6 miles on the plan....reality, was 6 miles/48:27, roughly 8:05 mile

Tuesday, worked until 9:30 pm, no real crosstrain, unless you count helping people brush snow of there cars after a little seminar i attended. At least i got a nice meal.....seminar???not so great....let's just chalk it up to learning about how to not present financial ideas to prospective clients. And i learned how many people go out on stormy nights without the proper cold weather mittens, hats, scarfs for such occasions.

Wednesday, due to new 4 inches of snow, see previous paragraph, speedwork on the Dread.....1 mile 8:20, 1 mile 7:20, 1/2 mile slow jog, 1 mile 7:30, 1/2 mile slow jog & 1 mile 8:15, total time 40:20

12 miles on Saturday, could be a new dreadmill distance record for me, cause i think the snow will be here a few more weeks, the the plan is for a little bit of crosstraining, thursday, friday and sunday....mostly core stuff, but as little lite upper body work....

i wish i had a scale to keep track of my weight, but Fun Guv took it to work for a little weightloss competition with "the girls" there. So no updates here. Belt is feeling less snug on tightest setting...that's all i got.

Movin On

i wanted to comment on the state of the election, As i tend to think of myself as an occasional political satirist, with no real forum to express myself, other than here. And since in many cases, i feel i may be preachin' to the choir...a la Huckabee (now there's a presidential sounding name, for the shallow side of the gene pool) Really, the references to Hanna Barbarra cartoon hounds...or award winning beagle analogies would be nerve rackingly redundant.....Maybe he can have a pink panther running mate......

but i digress

i guess, being a michigan thing, our little democratic primary, along with florida's is not supposed to count....And all the major players agreed to keep their names of the list. This was intended to show commitment to the process, but.....playing politics like she can, somehow the name Hillary Clinton appears on the ballot, along with some other real minor guys, and a "None of the Above" option.

"None of the Above"....how great was that....because even if i wrote in "Obama" or "Edwards", my vote would have been nullified. So here's the deal, i've already not voted for Hillary once this year.....if pushed to it, could i avoid this again????

Is the enemy of my enemy, my friend??? Since i really think the far right conservatives don't like McCain, Mr. Bomb-Iran, himself....where does that leave me????

Friends have already threatened an intervention if i continue down this road....but really, if Rush, Sean, and Anne don't like the guy.....how bad can he be????

But really, i should like the Clinton's.....Notice how they are always refered to in plural...It's never the Obama's, or McCain's, or Romney's (could of been lot's of "Big Love"-esque jokes there, but...noooo, go ahead quit) back to the point....

i mean i love thinking fondly back on the platform that drove people to vote for Bill, and his famous thumb. It was a platform based on change, it wasn't about experience, it was time to change. Time to bridge gaps and reach across the aisles. It was time to "Don't Stop Thinking about Tomorrow". It was a time for newer, younger ideas....Man, i wish there was still a candidate with those ideas.

So Bill and Hillary, i'm sure you're big fans of my little blog here....a little advise....taken from your own uplifting choice of cheesy pop songs to inspire me to vote...

"Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone"

Lastly, look sure it's long but hey, i rarely get to post. "Lost" is on tomorrow and it'll most likely be another week before i get to this.

At Rotary Today, we had a guest speaker by the name of Larry Nevers visit and talk about his experiences as a Detroit Police Officer. He actually wrote a book about it "Good Cops, Bad Verdict".

As President of the Club i had a chance to speak with Larry and his wife a few times, prior to today. He even gave me a copy of his book to read, and quite honestly it's an interesting read.

First thing, when i spoke to Larry, he asked if i had heard of him. "well, yeah", i replied ",you sound familiar but i can't remember why, help me out"

"Do you remember Malice Green?" was his response.

Wow, y'know after meeting him and talking to him candidly about the night Malice Green died, his trials, and time in maximum security, i gotta wonder about City of Detroit politics, from the early Coleman Young days to the current fiasco with Kwame.

This is an amazing story in a city still scarred from riots nearly 40 years ago.

thanks for reading

2008-02-10T20:35:00.000-05:00

A circle can't fit where a square should be

one week down, 15 to go...

piece of cake, right?

Well, maybe but as business goes, i managed to fit in all the runs this week. Wednesdays 5 miler was on the treadmill, alas, but good time at 39:16 so at least i fit a 5 miler in under 40 minutes. It's been a while since i ran so fast. well fast for me

Saturday was a 10 miler, also on the treadmill. For no more reason than it just makes sense due to Fun Guv's work schedule. Winter icy running is not the best time to be out. Even running through the neighborhood can be treacherous given the icy walks...so i spend the most boring 90 minutes possible trying to enjoy watching "The Goblet of Fire" while running 10 miles in place. Kids feuding with each other upstairs the whole-hearted time.

i really hope the weather is a little better , read, warmer, next weekend as 12 miles are on tap. But Allison is visiting so again i will most likely be trying to squeeze the 12 miles in while trying to hang out with the eldest.

Tomorrow i need to do 6 miles somehow, well indoors again as the temps are in the negatives with the wind chill. So unlike last years winter training, this year i have no excuse and will be running on the treadmill.

How soon till spring???

Anyway, moving on....still staying with running....

i seem to be at a point where i need to redo my mp3 player cause the tunes i've been listening to are a little stale...
Any thoughts???

I was thinking of going with an more 80's hair bands sound and not so early 90's grunge, the cheesy stuff seems to be a little more upbeat.

Isn't this a total guilty pleasure????

Eddie Vedder never wrote a song this happy feel good, don't get me wrong, i'm a huge Pearl Jam fan, but.....

Big shout out to Nitmos, who is contemplating pacing me for a final portion of the Bayshore to help me BQ.

In the immortal words of my PS2 after ripping through "Cliffs of Dover"

YOU ROCK!!

thanks for reading

2008-02-05T17:01:00.000-05:00

i'll have to try harder to stump the man!!!

Rock on, c'mon click it!!!!

my latest guilty pleasure of a truly terrible but.....i gotta admit to laughing through the entire movie.

no really...

why is this funny????

it just is

2008-02-04T19:33:00.001-05:00

"Y'know it ain't easy when you don't know what you want....

...what do you want?"

Since i only have about 20 minutes to type and two fingers typing is real slow, just a few quick moments

-marathon training for bayshore starts today.....per the plan to your left here....i ran a easy 6 miles at a 8:40 pace. a little quicker than the plan.....

-i promised myself i would engage in this marathon plan, i seem to be blessed with an ability to run a good time marathon while treating myself like garbage, let's see what happens if i really apply myself?

-Super Tuesday, egads....where to start....did slick willie equate South Carolina voters to black voters voting for Obama just for the sake of skin color???? Did Hillary really just shed tears to get a sympathetic female vote???? Maybe i really should have declared myself a candidate???? Well at least the GOP is tackling the issues...

- speaking of the GOP, after listening to talk radio for a week, i still can't figure out how the bunch of slave keeping, agnostic, adulterers sat around the continental congressional table asking themselves "what would jesus do?" before writing the constitution. i mean other than the "hey, there's ten commandments, let's number rights to ten. It'll help citizens convert to the metric system"

time's up gotta go....wife is at work, kids got homework, i have some honey-do's, maybe we'll see a movie before it has to be returned, try to take 5 minutes to update on Wednesday with the results of the 5 mile, 3 miles @ 7:59 pace, or maybe wait and update next after the bayshore (sarcasm again, really)

any thoughts about the source of the quote to title this little entry???? See my answer Wednesday, ...no hints from Fun Guv

thanks for reading

2008-01-30T12:49:00.000-05:00

Hello, Fun Guv here. Since Mike has been too busy with work and everything else to post in almost a month I figured I'd pop in here really quick and try to make up for it...just don't expect too much, he's the writer/creative one in this relationship.

First, the job:

So far so good. He's been putting in a ton of hours and he hit his first goal a whole month early (yeah Mike!). That certainly means he can't/won't let up in the pursuit of new clients. Actually he is out there today in the -10 degree wind chill and high winds...it's got to be about 30-40 MPH out there...door knocking! Now that is dedication.

Second, running:

He's still been putting in the miles most nights he's home. Monday he was able to go for a nice, enjoyable 7 mile run outside. He loved it. Not sure about times, but he was quite happy when he got home. Otherwise he's been hitting the treadmill faithfully. Marathon training starts for him again in a couple of weeks ~ he'll have to fill in the details on that ~ he's planning on doing the Bayshore for his spring marathon.

Finally, family:

He's actually had a little time here and there at home to vege out. Mainly though with the kids while I still work my crappy part-time job. They've all been kicking butt on Guitar Hero III ~ Jimmy is always up for a battle. He's also taught the kids how to play poker. Jimmy is completely obsessed with it now. On the way home from catechism last night Jimmy explained the entire game to me, how to check, how to bet, when and why to fold, and all the possible winning hands you can have. Just wait til he's old enough to hit the casinos!

We've been doing the whole extra-curricular thing too. Jimmy's cub scout meetings, Mack's band concert (that was a treat to the ears!), tennis lessons have started up again ~ exciting 2 hours for us every Friday night at the tennis club, and friends birthday parties (Mike attended both last week and hung out and chatted with the moms as I had to work during one of them).

I promise I will try to get him to sit down at the computer and put down his own thoughts...I know there is a lot brewing up there inside his head. Though it may be a few more days, he's got a Chamber of Commerce function tonight and of course the new season of Lost starts tomorrow - can't miss that!

2008-01-05T16:21:00.000-05:00

The house is normal again.

The lights are down and put away till Thanksgiving '08. Yippee!!!!

i gotta say i am bummed to learn it appears a blogger/spammer jumped on to my comments area from the last post. My apologies, if anybody saw this. Truthfully, i am not afraid of a little advertising and would gladly promote anybody's legitimate relationship based work/career/business as somebody bitten by the self-employed bug....fer instance check out the little "linked in" button but....

just tell me first and let me decide if i think it is appropriate.... like....

need a flute player for a Jethro Tull tribute band????....i gotta guy for you.

Anyway, back to the lights, i love how the house feels bigger without a tree in the middle of the largest room in the house.

and speaking, err, typing of houses. Rarely has my blog drifted into humanitarian thing, but as a rotarian it is soetimes hard to explain what Rotary International does and why me, an self-admitted liberal joined what is commonly preceived as a business persons lunch group...

Please take three minutes, and this will help explain....

Unfortunately, the video doesn't go into details about what is in the box other than a 10 person tent. Water purification tablets, blankets, tools, multi-fuel portable stove, utensils, even small books and crayons for children are included, the actual box itself is a great storage unit and is also water-tight.

Shelterboxes are used worldwide regardless of political or religious views. Where a need exist, even in the Untied States after Katrina to provide relief while people waited for their FEMA trailers.

Anyway, back to the more cynical stuff later and maybe a post about fitness.

Thanks for reading

2007-12-31T19:02:00.000-05:00

it's official...

i'm old, or boring as this will be my first NYE in god knows how long at home, with the wife and kids just watching a movie or playing some GH III with the family and watching the newer, greener ball drop.

i am now, officially...my father.

But all is not lost as i did manage to squeeze in a little over 900 miles running for the year. i feel pleased being able to look back and see the distance. Even with almost two months sidelined, i did ok and hitting 1000 miles is do-able but....i don't feel the need to keep track so anally for this year.

Looking back on a post from last year, i think i did a few things right...

i went for a midnite 20 miler and got that ultra-marathon feeling, by running when most up so late are finishing off last call at a local watering hole.

i took my ever expanding banker/finace career into a new and exciting direction.

i quit smoking,... again. This time it may stick....other than being the occasional have a smoke with Animal on increasingly rare days (as i have been designated the friend to have a smoke with now and then...) i haven't bought a pack in months. and while i may wax poetically about having a smoke, in truth, it would taste terrible as my tastebuds seem to have been awakened from my own tar induced comatose state. As i can no longer order top-of-the-line thai food and claim to enjoy it, hot does nicely....thank you

OK, sure i'm a little heavier than i would like, but tipping the scales at 205-210 is just temporary thing. What's an extra 10 lbs after quitting smoking.

So what for next year, from a endurance standpoint....

Well, as stated before, i'm looking forward to running in the Bayshore again. More on that in future posts as that an immediate planning goal.

Do a Tri, or two....this means a little time in the water. Swimming seems like a great way to cross-train during off days from marathon training, right????

Dances with Dirt, a can't believe i have been invited to join a team

Run the Detroit Marathon. destination marathons are great, and yeah i've heard mixed reviews of Detroit. The up side.....the bridge to Canada, the underwater mile, mostly flat....the down side, a reputation of not being the most scenic route (except the bridge), not having enough water at the water stations (which i seem to have experience in...See Chicago), and fine... Detroit doesn't have a great reputation in general. Than again neither does Flint but the Crim seems to draw ok.

Anyway, more to follow when i get a better chance to post without the time constraints of watching the ball drop.
Thanks for reading

2007-12-23T18:50:00.000-05:00

WOW!!!!!

NOT OUR HOUSE BUT A FEW MILES AWAY.....THOUGHT I'D SHARE.....

MAYBE YOU PREFER TO SEE THE VIDEO....

NOTICE THE SUSPENDED IN AIR WITH FISHING LINE, FOOTBALL IN THE CHRISTMAS FOOTBALL FIELD...NOTICE ANTLERS IN HELMETS

2007-12-23T17:56:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas!!!!

Typically, this will be a hectic few days but after an afternoon spent watching the Lions squeek out a victory, and most likely losing my fantasy football championship weekend, a few thoughts.

i watched yet another episode of Triathlon, this time a 70.3 1/2 iron man in St Croix. How is this interesting to watch??? i'm not sure but i think the road to Iron Man is a long one. First the lingo gets me confused....folks like me are called "age groupers" instead of just amatuer. This is the first change.

After checking out the lingo, i also noticed that i can't just seem to sign up. There seems to be a membership and some qualifying stuff. Honestly...i can train for anything but.... paperwork??? This is why i am a salesperson, i have an assistant for paperwork....this is not a big time ego comment, just an understanding of my strengths and weaknesses. i can do the "big picture" stuff and follow a plan and hit goals, but i'm not so much on the organization....ergo me and Fun guv', we balance each other....she's the yin to my yang.....i should probably leave my yang outta the blog post, eh??

So i will do a Tri....i have one picked out close to home... a "sprint" in New Baltimore this summer. And yes....a did the math for an Iron Man....i figure give me 3 hrs to swim 2.4 miles....best guess......but...a 16mph pace gets a 7 hour/112 mile bike ride....so figure 10 hours in and i have 6 hours to finish a marathon....it's just a matter of breaking the large event into smaller managable pieces. That's not to say some heavy duty training is not involved but.....

i am using the same math for this years planned 40 miler. Which may occur earlier than planned depending on Tange's visit and if he chooses to join us. OK got a crew...and folks to join for a few miles or so, or ride along on a bike....we're good there, always room for more but so far...things are good. 40 miles, five miles an hour and 8 hours or so....boom 40 miles.....it's not i'm planning anything else for the day. Running a 12 minute mile could be the hardest part for me (ok...weee bit of ego there, you got me), but it's the distance not the time.

But moving on to more important things....like marathon's. Well, actually...the Bayshore, as it looks like there may be 5 Steers there. Maybe 6 if i can strong arm a certain new mommy i ran with last weekend into signing up for the 1/2 or 10k. 10k would be good, cause than the Steers would be represented in each run.

But more to the point....the logo.....big thanks to GLRG, and the poll is in no ways binding, how to put it on a tech shirt and where to leave ample space for a bib, and of course.....what about our names on the back????

i'm still trying to achieve balance between; home, work, running, life and updating the blog (not to mention my blog mojo, so thanks to the friendly emails to update this thing) More on blog mojo....

i've said this, or typed this before, but to risk a long blog.....my idea to document an attempt for a BQ failed miserably after a minor injury.....so what can focus on???....random thoughts seem too random and although i believe the blog has a pace and diction, feel, mood that is honest to myself....but

i want more

i have come to realize that a few people, some who read this blog and many more who don't, have been inspired (that feels like too strong a word, but a less ego-trip inducing one escapes me, but no real ego moment) to push themselves through running, or changing a career, or approaching life differently...due, in part....to my successful (so far) reshaping of my body, through running and the changes it has brought to me.

So from those convesations....i'm trying to find a meaning to the blog....and not every post, but an occassional one....without dumping the whole thing and starting over.

So if i seem a little disconnected, my apologies as i look for a deeper, but not too deep, meaning. (whatever that's supposed to mean) - - - with occasional oxy-moronic slips, and bad punctuation...let alone spleeing.

Where was i again?? oh yeah.....

Merry Christmas!!!!!

And just due to the size, a seperate post of just pictures from a house near us.....Danny Devito watch out...you might be able to see this one from space....No flash used and pictures taken at night.....

thanks for reading

2007-12-18T20:09:00.000-05:00

Ran a Great 4 miles with the lovely Miss Techmacher saturday morning...she's in there somewhere.

Anyway, with the Lions playing so bad lately, i've had a good chance to flip around the channels on Sunday afternoons and well.....

i've decided....after watching the "Versus" network...formerly "OLN", .....four words i want to hear after my name....

"you are an ironman"

Not sure when, or exactly how, but see what happens when a person googles "ironman"????

Thanks for reading....

2007-12-13T18:42:00.001-05:00

Happy Holidays!!!!

Don't send a lame Starring You! eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

or........

Don't send a lame Starring You! eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

yippee!!!!!!

Fun Guv's going to leave me for using her picture, she likes to avoid pictures

thanks for reading

2007-11-28T17:15:00.000-05:00

40 on 40

i truly need to credit this gem with the orignator of the Steers moniker. Thanks Tange, no really, thanks

He sent me an email about his endeavor to try for this on his 40th and so i joke about it with GLRG, and Voila...

a challenge has been issued, well not so much a challenge but a chance to try for it.

Why not??? After all, like i'm gonna let a trumpet player do this to me, a bone. It's a band thing.

Since we both turn 40 within days of each other a couple rules:

We need a support vehicle, no running with camel-baks.....sig-other(s) can follow and meet with water and gu... and god knows what else a person needs when running a marathon and a half in one day.

We can't do this on the day of the summer BBQ, 'nuff said there

Friends and family are encouraged to join us on bike or foot for a couple or hell, all the miles, except those manning the support vehicle, what do ya say, Nitmos, got a few miles in ya???

And there may be more rules to follow and maybe even an idea of a route. Like an area downhill and going from west to east the whole time, to take advantage of prevailing winds, that's using my noggin!!!!

The Bayshore.....is looking like an event to debut the Steers Long Distance Project jerseys at....if they exist by that time. There may be 4 steers there....2 halfer and 2 fulls....a maybe a 5th if i can sell Kim COG, to sign up for the half and recruit her into the SLDP. SWEEEEEET!!!!

Dances With Dirt!!!!!!

Welcome to the dark side of running.
Weak, wimpy, treadmill running pansies who are afraid to get some dirt in their shorts need not apply.
Expect to be scratched, muddied and bruised by the beauty of this unpolished gem.
Expect to get out near the edge where life is full color.
Expect a day that leaves you knowing you are fully alive, awake and crankin' on all cylinders.
Expect insanity, stupidity and nirvana.

Amazingly....i have been invited to join a 100k existing team for DWD next fall. If this works out...i will get to run 2 legs of this monster. un-effing-believable.....

Somehow, the story of me withstanding the heat in Chicago and finishing impressed a few people on a team and when they had an opening....my name came up....no pressure here, eh???

Anyway...thanks for reading....and i think i may be due for a political tirade....after all.....looks like Obama might win in Iowa. The guy looks like a runner and is also struggling to quit smoking right now!!!!

2007-11-27T16:39:00.000-05:00

About Last Night......

What a nice evening for a run. i had a client meeting in the evening and arrived home around 8:00, Dancing with the Stars be damned....i was going for a run.

It was great!!!! The days rain had eased into a steady downfall of white fluffy snow. Y'know the kind of snow that just floats; no wind; no rain, just a light dusting on the ground. i was in heaven.

i really love this time of year. Not enough Christmas lights on yet, but thats ok. My neighborhood allows for a simple route that lets me get an easy 3 miles in without ever leaving the subdivision. Since Fun Guv was still at work, i was able to pass by the house a few times making sure the kids were fine.

3 miles, or 23:56, later...workout done.....and i was still able to watch the second dances of the finalists. Still not gay....not sure how....but guilty pleasures are exactly that....guilty.....kinda like the ABBA on my mp3 player....nothing beats a tempo run to a swedish blond chick, and her wing-girl...

C'mon click it!!!!

Anyway back to the point. As i ran through the sub, i remembered times growing up and how much i knew about my neighbors as a kid. Y'know when everyone knew each others names. Like the Davis's across the street, or the Craven's (whose lawn i mowed), the Rice's, Gauthier's, etc.... With people who would smile and wave in that old soooo1970's way and with a goofy smile. People who didn't mind telling my folks when i was seen acting like a moron, or were given my parents permission to corporal-ly punish me (the ultimate embarrassment), but mostly people who i liked and at least seemed to like my folks and through osmossis....me.

Well, truly today, know a lot of my neighbors and they know me. Across the street are Tim and Jackie, who moved into the house the Jackie grew up in, as her mother has had a few bad years. Across the other side (we live on a corner lot), is Tony, retired and lives alone but friendly enough. Next to Tony is Jerry and Ginny, 30's no kids and Jerry has 7 screws holding his back together after an accident a few years ago, Lucky to be alive...let alone walk.

Next to us on one side is John and Shelly, again early 30's, but kids....had a few tooooo many adult beverages with them this summer and learned all about how Shelly was a homecoming queen in high school, a little embarrassing for her and John as Shelly's folks, also a bit of a party-ing crew, loved to talk about her time as a high maintenace high schooler. Lot's of Fun , and fellow Billy Idol fans. One Saturday, sleeping with the windows open, Fun Guv and i were awakened to the Kareoke Stylings of MONY MONY at about 2:30 am

Gotta watch the cussing....the kids read this.... y'know????

Anyway....on the other side is Lynn.....Looooove Lynn..... and our occasional Friday nite Happy hour(s). Well....the happy hour(s) started innocently enough, but none of the neighbors join us....so usually it's Mike (ME) and Lynn, drinking until one of us is ....done.....and Fun Guv enjoying the talk with her Diet Coke.

Well, i guess as i ponder sociatal changes, and risk this post getting as long winded and tiresome, as if written by a college professor...of music, i know that many of my other neighbors only know me as that weird, ex-hippy guy on the corner, who runs a lot.

i wonder how much of my out-going nature and desire to know the neighbors, is a leftover from growing up small town northern Michigan??? Most people i talk to while knocking on doors, plain ole'cold-calling, part of the new job and a definite, take-a-person-out-of-their-comfort-level meet people and shake their hands, never seem to know anybody they live next door to.

Once i met a nurse, who had a nursing student living next door, neither knew the other person, and i introduced them. Not my neighbors, just people i met door-knocking.

Where was i going with this again???

Thanks for reading

2007-11-25T16:51:00.000-05:00

Well back by popular demand, a running post

It's been a good few weeks of running around here. i am starting to use the treadmill a little bit. With Fun Guv picking up extra hours at work and my new career, i must admit to finding the DREADMILL to be an easy way to log in the miles, of course a working TV and DVD or good sports game helps.

Anyway....looks like i am hitting my favorite time of year to run. The early winter around the holidays, what a fun way to stroll through the neighborhoods; a lite dusting of snow, a crisp dryness to the cool air, and of course, the Christmas Lites. I even have a totally dorky looking Red-n-Green Christmas colors oufit to wear. Not quite the GLR Chick's little running shirt but to each their own, right? Like i could pull off the red and green look with a shirt on?????

On to a borrow Post Race Marathon Report:

Tange sent me this little gem after his outstanding showing at Richmond, sorry no pictures.

Mike,

I still have a ways to go to get to 2:57. Kim saw the pics tonight and asked what I was doing with my hand.

I told her “Steers running club” she just rolled her eyes. I like the ones were both my feet are off the ground.

Here is a mini recap of the race If I haven’t sent it to you yet.

I ran my first half just as planned (no miles faster than 7:30 miles and split the half in 1:39:00. It was actually 1:39:04). Then around mile 15 I hooked up with 3 guys who started picking up the pace around mile 18 and I ran my fastest 10k of the race from mile 20 on. 6 of my fastest 8 miles were after mile #18 including my fastest mile of the day, a 7:10, to finish the race. I thought I had a 3:20 in me, maybe a 3:19, but no way I thought I had a 3:16:30 in me. Before that race, I thought the negative split marathon was just fiction, or people just slacking off for the first half then getting serious in the second half.

Richmond is a great course, decent crowd support and if I guy who hasn’t seen a hill in 4 months can do the rolling hills of Richmond, anyone can. The course starts out going due west for the first 4 miles before any turns, so that helps out a lot in not having to weave around people and keeping the 26.2 mile race a 26.2 mile race and not 26.7 miles.

Nice job, Tange!!!!

Moving to other running things, i'm going to try to stop taking my good fortune for granted. At least from a running stand, i tend to forget that i have dear friends who can't run at all due to medical issues, while i tend to whine about my pace being off a couple seconds from one week to the next. And some of these people are folks who would like to run a little.

That said, i have picked a spring marathon to train for, or maybe it picked me again as the Bayshore seems to fit into my schedule perfectly, with another runner or two i know doing it. What the heck??? Let's enjoy the training, enjoy the race and try to run the best race i can run on that particular day.

Anyway that's a long way off. There will be plenty of time to keep posting about running and stuff i think about while running in the next few months. I think i have worked out a decent work/life schedule finally.

We'll see

Thanks for reading

2007-11-21T17:43:00.000-05:00

i promise to again return to posting thoughts about running....it is a running blog, right??? or was....but right now...a favorite Thanksgiving traditon, and not the whole song....just a minute or two....

Go Lions!!!!, i love Favre and all but really who isn't a Lions fan on Thanksgiving. If you time the turkey coma right.....you can miss the whole second half!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanks for reading

2007-11-17T22:24:00.000-05:00

From the mouths of babes, or

Strange Handwriting on the Wall, or

What Jimmy drew on the back of a paper placemat while waiting for food at a local restaurant.

In his words....as told to his mother...and grandmother....

The American Flag, dead people, lots of blood.

Is he ready to sign up for Young Rebublicans yet????

Well, Fun Guv needs the computer for some auction thingy so i'll just end here.

thanks for reading

2007-11-16T21:00:00.000-05:00

All great stories start with a well written sentence.

That's not to say this is a great story but as i have been away from updating for various work and running related reasons let me at least be comforted with the fact that at least today i am putting digits-to-keys again and enjoying some time to dump out some thoughts....

Random eight things....

Not sure about the task...as i haven't really read or typed in a while and my brain has turned to mush, i seem to have been "tagged" with a task of posting of 8 random things...if i post eight....well...not quite random in preparation eh?

But to move on....sorta random

Superman....y'know the illegal immagrant who wears his underwear as outerwear

i've always been a big fan....and while big blue tends to not make a good impression on the big screen the ideal of Superman....why???

Well, Superman represents Americana, yet the character was created by Canadians, Toronto was actually the inspiration for Metropolis, well nice idea but really Supe's inspires me because of the nature of man. In his case...

Absolute Power does not corrupt absolutely

In an odd way i associate Superman to my grandfather, the two are intertwined as my grandfather died during the death of superman story-line from 1992.

Now, this is not meant to be a melancholy post....it's just a reason why for ten years i collected every Superman comic i could get my hands on. So i guess maybe there are two reason i tend to idolize Superman.

Anyway....as the posts rambles on.....my dear friend, Scott, actually listened to me one day when i mentioned putting together a mix CD of popular songs with Superman references in them. And so for my birthday, a year ago he gave me such a CD. With a nifty little bit of a cover to the jewl-box and everything.

As i listened to it today...i realize the thought that went into the gift and, while the songs aren't quite what i would have picked, i don;t think i have ever properly thanked him...So....Thanks!!!!

Moving on from this, or with this....or something....i think it's is again time to update the look of the blog..... maybe another revamp of the appearance will inspire me to type more often. This post has been tedious and yet it's more of a rustiness, with some familiarity......y'know, that feeling of re-hooking up with an old girlfriend after a year or two apart....familiar yet.....the exact words escape.....hmmmm. Well that's the tedious part again.

Moving on to another random thought....and i realize i haven't read any other post in a week or so, but ....isn't quoting yourself redundant??? Like referring to yourself in third person.

Mike thinks as Mike types this post that Mike's an ass, not really mike's...i mean....my usual diction, eh?

Congrats to Tange, sometime stalker, as he nailed his last marathon and finished in 3:16:something. Great Work!!!! (how's that for a random statement??)

Let's get back to the man crush.....

Saw the Boss last week. remeber when i used to post regular about stuff? He is the man!!! If i could pick one person to shake hands and gush about how much i admire his work....it would be his....

Actually, this features two of my favorites...honestly they could have been promoting clubbing baby seals and i woulda jumped at the chance to see these two on stage together.....

But, for last weeks show....great show....great new album....if i wasn't such a big fan, i would have been bummed cause it was definitely not a greatest hits style show. Great set list....but again not the hits.

And just cuz Jimmy hasn't been on a post in a while

That's my boy!!! Dancing with the Stars???? watch out, this kid is ready to mambo!!!!

Thanks for reading, if you stuck around long enough to see if i updated.....

(Thank goodness for GLRChick, to send me an email once in a while to update a post)

2007-10-21T09:04:00.000-04:00

A little Starbucks research for a friend.....

Well one week down and 16 more until i head back to St Louis for the final step in my training. The difference this week folks is i opened for bidness. So it's been a few days of walking door to door, timeblocking phone sessions to stay in contact with people i met through knocking on doors, and client meetings.

Friday was an entire day of meetings, not with clients but with the region of Financial Advisors in the area. So Saturday i made up for the day with two client meetings and a little marketing in between.

Needless to say, i haven't had much time for other things.

but i have a new website.

Anyway, back to the post as i notice a friend has mentioned she should buy Starbucks as she's always at said coffee place. Well Compliance prevents me from making a recomendation here, but here's some public knowledge stuff.

Anyway, it may seem i have a dull job but not really. Although the long days seem to keep me from running or blogging or blogging about running and reading others blog about running, or just blog for the sake of things....i really like the idea of building a new bidness.

Since, i would now be unemployed had i stayed in the mortgage bidness, since my old office is closing in a week and all the loan officers were let go last week.

But really....last Monday the bottom of our hot water heater decided it didn't want to be part of the hot water heater any longer and struck out searching for it's own independence...... which sounds great except for the water left to freely pour out of the bottom of said water heater.

Three inches or so of water through the basement....not so much a good thing.

But i have a new hot water heater now. Should be good for at least ten years.

But luckily this emptying and drying has really allowed me to look back on things i have hoarded over the years and why. If i ever get a chance to post again before the freshness subsides, i'll try to mention what i have found.

thanks for reading

2007-10-14T10:55:00.000-04:00

We have met the enemy and it is us....

This has been a few days in brewing but honestly i gotta put the blame on the fiasco in Chicago on....

the runners.

As i watched the race from the inside, and never ran out of water at any waterstation, i realized that somewhere between me and Great Lakes Running Gal, there was a lot of water being taken. Too Much....

i actually felt like i was abusing the system cause for the first 1/2 i took one gatorade and one water at each pit stop. Looking at my Garmin i ran a good run for the first 16 miles. i knew my bodies limitations and felt like i understood the heat. For the first 14 miles i kept very cloe to my 7 mile an hour basic plan. i gave myself a walk break after 7 miles of 1:30. My 14 mile mark was around 2:05 but i took another walk break at the halfway point.

It was here that i started to notice a distinct change in the mood. This is where i noticed the number of discarded pace bands on the pavement. This is where a toe on my left foot gave me one of two problems.

1. keep running and it feels numb no pain, but the running....and at a marathon of all places
2. take a walk break and feel the white hot pain...what was this???? Should i stop and join the incredible masses of walking wounded, or not walking, under the medical tents....what if they lance a nasty ass blister and won't let me continue???? And really there are some folks under the tents with some REAL issues...i mean, really....i have a toe that hurts.

Anyway i swear i never missed water but somewhere around mile 19 there were tables set up with water, but no volunteers. That was weird.

Chinatown....wasn't this on the race course somewhere? i seem to remember it from last year....oh wait there it is.....yup.....marathons are a lot longer than remembered when you run them.

mile 23-24....heading north...with sun beating down on my back....i look up and see a marque for a little church with the time and temp....98....well, i think to my self, that's in the direct sunlight.....WAIT A MINUTE....I'M IN THE DIRECT SUNLIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!. i think about taking a walk break here, and do.

mile 25......Marked wonderfully with two of Chitowns finest....Standing in the middle of the street, saying something like....

"The race is over"
"Please Walk the rest of the way"
"The race is over"

Over....was it over when the germans bombed pearl harbor?"

Well, this really to me explains a lot about the oxymoronic implications of.....POLICE WORK.

So let me see if i understand??? i'm 1 mile from the finish, and you are directing me back to the finish/start area, where all my crap and bride is. Because the race is over. Well if the race is over, why am i here and i want to get going than so maybe to hurry things up i'll jog a bit of the way....ok???

And so i begin the last mile of my last chicago marathon for a while. It was so surreal. i got to the finish in a fairly uneventful manner except for the mass which prevented me from crossing the mat without waiting for a few seconds.

Funny observations:

At time of 3:30 i figured Nitmos had been done for a few minutes
i still beat Oprah
i got to finish....i feel tremendous empathy for those who didn't get to finish. But that's not me. From my experience, the marathon was well run. There was plenty of water, but i was through the gate less than two minutes from the start, so a lot could have happened afterwards.
i was stunned to hear about waterstations not having water, after seeing as much as i did.

Not so Funny:
As disappointing as it was to hear of a runner dying....it unfortunately wasn't too surprising. It's extrenely tragic

Sorry no pictures maybe later. This has been a difficult post to put together because the emotions are still lingering over the RunChi. But, and it pains me to say this....The experience, for me, was a good one.

thanks for reading

2007-10-08T22:38:00.000-04:00

Wow, it was hot!!!!

hi there, just a quick little post to thank everyone for the thoughts and well wishes prior to and after the Chicago Fun Run!!!!

Or.....

Chicago Marathon of the Living Dead.....honestly it was like walking through a zombie movie.

As i am in St Louis for a week of opening business, the full report will come shortly. Maybe a few days....hopefully by then my aching toenail will have fallen of and i will have some new brundlefly-esque condition to report from the "fun run"....

....but a small tidbit or two....

while shuffling towards the finish line, i heard an announcer say "slow down the marathon is over....today is a fun run"

for the record....nothing about this ordeal was "fun" except the bizarre people watching and all the bananas a person could eat through the water stations, and....

the extra few seconds added to my time due to the number of people bunched up at the finish, i figured i new my time and hit my garmin. waited for the crowd to shuffled forward and sauntered through the mats while holding the Steers victory symbol above my head.

btw....recovering from a marathon is a lot easier when a person walks 1/2 mile out of every two miles for the final 10k....you can do the math.

more to come

thanks for reading

2007-10-06T15:18:00.000-04:00

OK here we are....

Egad, i feel pumped but man it's effing hot here. and humid....

new plan for tomorrow, run fast to finish early and beat the sun. To steal a quote from Out-of-shape-guy Mike...."i'm thinking 2:15" should beat the sun.

Speaking of....i ran into Mike and Barb at the Expo. So while i will be missing the post run party, it was nice to chat and wish well to each other.

Pre-race jitters, you bet.....good luck to all Chicago and Twin Cities Runners i have stalked and been stalked by....

i wonder if i'll get a pre race 5:30 am post in this marathon????

Thanks again to all the friends and family i think about when running..... Trust me...it's a long ways....i have a lot of time....if you think you are on the list....you are....

Let's hope i don't wilt in the humidity.....

thanks for reading

2007-10-03T20:40:00.000-04:00

OK, it's official...i'm excited!!!!

Bring it, Chicago...you are gonna be my biaaaatch again.

And why???/ why the chance of heart. Cause i'm feeling the need for speed again...finally two runs of under 8 minute paces. Finally, a nice 3 miler yesterday at 22:41, ok not the fastest i have gone but each mile was faster than the previous, and today a great 5 miler at 49:00/ 7:48 pace.

Now, really i'm not talking about a bq or anything, but i think i may surprise myself this weekend. i think i have an outside chance to.....dare i type it?....a....fear not......just type.....PR??

Why not, weather should be good and i'm not even taking throwaway gloves with me...

but on to more important things like young boys and rockets.....Jimmy is a Tiger Cub this year and what a great way to relive childhood memories.....through your own child....without the nasty baggage of ugly childhood memories.

Now, while i do not, and most likely will not be donning a boy scout uniform as Den leader, what am i thinking? But the other den leaders do...and truthfully grown men wearing boy scout uniforms is a little odd. Sorta like baseball managers wearing the jerseys. i mean really picture Pat Riley pacing the sidelines of a heat game in a Heat uniform. weird eh???

but, moving on Jimmy had rocket launch day and man was it fun.....i think he had a good time too!!!! Except for the yawning part.

Oh yes the count down and the fun of hoping that the ignitor was correctly installed.

With cloud of smoke....yep...all things are good and i sure hope the parachute opens cause it may be an early day if it doesn't....

....yep it opened. yippee!!!! a rocket for another day!!!!

Anyway thanks for reading

and thanks for wishing me luck this weekend.

2007-09-29T08:58:00.000-04:00

Man Crush part 2

Take a moment to check out the new single.

Man, finally a song that ask the question......"Is anybody alive out there?" If you've been to a live show you know what i mean.

Man, i really love the new stuff. The hard part for non-bruce fans is well, that a lot of these tunes will be sound fantastic live. i have a bunch of "live" cd and all the studio ones (actually, i'm missing one, but it from the non-e street band two album/one release fiasco)

Guess which ones i listen to most.

okay, he talks a little in concert, but not as much as rumored.

Fun Guv loves to watch and point out that only at a Springsteen live show, do men dance in the aisles. Honestly i never noticed, as i did my white-guy-concert-bobble along to "Badlands" many years ago. But her observation is absolutely correct. Funny thing how "badlands" live at her first show turned Fun Guv into a fan.

She is my "Mary"

Thanks for reading

2007-09-28T10:34:00.001-04:00

We have our tix for the show.

Now i just heard the album....

way cool stuff!!!!

Aaah yes, man crush

want to hear it for yourself?

the new album, a preview

Now, the chance to load this sucker into the mph3 player and listen to it while running the marathon???

that's exciting....nothing like a little Bruuuuuuce to get the blood pumping!!!!

and why bruce, cause at a very tender age i was exposed to Rosalita and i can't remember by whom or how, but Rosie's always been the tune.

As Bruce and the band previewed some stuff on the Today show, i had to watch. Man, was the Today showunprepared...better idea only book Bruce...let him just play and stop looking like idiots as you try to move to other things like... diet ideas, needlepoint....but he just keeps playing....Meredith and Matt...what a couple of tools!!!

thanks for reading

2007-09-27T18:48:00.000-04:00

EVERTHING MUST GO!!!!!

Huge Liquidation Sale!!!!!

We gotta be crazy.....

Make an offer, historic office building for sale. built in 1879.....

Gotta move it real quick, current owners to consider all serious bids....

Aaaah....Michigan....Let's recap.....

To help promote voters to elect a Republican Governor, the republican michigan house and senate opt to repeal the Single Buisness Tax.....cutting taxes paid by well....businesses.....and the business owners like this but....

...to not scare off voters, the same house and senate propose no plan to replace, cause that would mean higher taxes to the people who actually vote, the.....i believe....10 billion in revenue, but.....

act surprised when the state has run out of money a year later.....

....but let's not talk politics, as the republican senate leader kills every bi-partisan solution, cause he wants to run for governor next election.....but i just saw him on the evening news begging the governor to not shut down the state...

but in reality people only care if.....they can't buy lottery tickets, booze and the casinos have to shut down!!!!

If the people from Myanmar want democracy and we seem to be the country who tries to bring it those who want it.....why haven't we invaded there???? At least the citizens of that country are willing to help stand up for democracy....

.....how close to China is Myanmar???? They could bomb our new troops there with lead-based painted bombs....that would be bad. Maybe we should stay in Iraq.

And, i don't care where the leader of another nation is from....dammit, if he or she is a sovereign leader and wants to visit the UN, let him....and if he wants to lay a wreath at ground zero....maybe take it as the olive branch that it could be....why does the entire country seem so damned happy to keep Iran an enemy....

i saw Colin Powell speak once about when Yuri Andropov, during the end of the USSR, Mr. A looked at the distrust in Mr P's eyes, threw his head back, laughed and said "you need to find a new enemy, cause we're not it anymore" Okay a paraphrase....

i mean would trade between the US and Iran be terrible.....next thing i'm be supporting opening trade with Cuba....i must be anti-american. It's just another country our business owners could send jobs too.

Movin on to running....i gotta admit to no real excitement with the big run in Chicago. It could be taper madness but mostly, i just want to go, have a nice morning run and go to St Louis on a business trip.

On the plus side....i have my 2 rooms, $29 a night, downtown, 5 blocks from the starting corral, verified yesterday. You would think that would be enough to gather a carpool with another runner, from the metro area (perhaps the one who is using the other room, with her girl crush, alas their tender weekend be cramped)....so dear Fun Guv doesn't have the long drive home alone after i board a plane at Midway, but....c'est la vie (mock french...more anti-american propaganda) Man, nobody has a sense of humor anymore!!!

Anybody looking to carpool??? But i'll try to give the Steers salute as i cross the finish line

thanks for reading

2007-09-24T12:30:00.000-04:00

Start slow and then taper off....

Well, as the entire marathon training program has been a bust due to a couple un-foreseen issues, i must admit to enjoying my last 20 miler for a while. i figure, since i really didn't train too hard a 20 two weeks before the marathon will give me plenty of time to recoup prior to the big run.

i gotta admit i feel good. My leg is still about 90% and it's still tight but not uncomfortable to run on and although i don;t plan on setting a PR in Chicago, or going for a BQ i think i will have a good time...and so the goals for Chicago '07...

1. Finish, sounds dumb but honestly this is actually more important than having fun. So much has been wrapped around my work schedule and this marathon that if i don't finish, i will feel like i let so many people down who helped organize a schedule to get me from Chicago to St Louis, a day later than i am supposed to be there.

2. Have fun....i worked hard to gather starting in a corral. i want to enjoy the feeling. i ran my 20 in just under 3 hours and felt real strong the last 2 miles. In many ways this was the strongest 20 miles ever, not due to time but the way i felt when done.

3. Beat Oprah...don't ask me why but i just like the sound of it.

4. Race the best race i can race on that day. Lord knows the unlimited positive and negative factors that may exist in two weeks. i could slip fall and give myself a concussion to running with the wind at my back the entire time in 50 degree sunny, dry conditions. If i stay honest with myself and my abilities i should enjoy the day.

Short and sweet but that's the goals, no time goals (other than Oprah), more of a zen feeling of the day...and i almost forgot...

Keep Moving Forward!!!!

Not sure why but as different songs come through my MP3 player while running certain songs become a soundtrack theme...This marathon seems to be Kid Rock's "Somebody's got to Feel This/Fist of Rage." It has seemed to inspire to fight through the injury and force myself to keep trying.

But let's move....

As my Frother, his term, invited fun guv, me and kids to meet his new daughter, we were treated to returning to CMU to attend band-day. That great day of inviting local high schools to the big university for a chance to play at a college football game, recruit potential new students, and give the marching band a week off from preparing drill and tunes....the introduction

but even better his rousing technique of wielding his little conducting stick a la Hermione trying to make a feather float in first year classes at Hogwarts. Just play along a recite Levioso, every 8 beats.

Followed by the rousing hair flips. Rock on!!!!

Or as Fun Guv says....picture Mickey Mouse trying to control of those brooms. Stay with it for the BIG FINNISH.

Honestly and it all seriousness. Congrats Scott!!! Thanks for inviting us to go. i can think of no honor greater then being asked to conduct the CMU Marchings Chips!!!!

Hey, i can count to 4, when do i get a turn???

Thanks for reading

2007-09-20T09:38:00.000-04:00

OK i hate to admit this but lately my mornings have been spent at home preparing for a day of prospecting new business. So as i prepare and catch up on some paperwork, i admit to a guilty pleasure of watching a little Good Morning America in the morning.

As my regional leader suggest writing a little each day, i'm going to force the muse back to me by taking his advice and trying to do so in this format. But after having a little white noise provided my GMA i gonna go off a on a completely different arena than i have in the past. Cause....

i gotta admit to a little sympathy for Britney Spears.....ok, sure....i watched the VMA's and yeah...what a train wreck...but c'mon...

No having a beer for 12 hours prior to seeing her kids???? Sure sounds great, we gotta protect the children and i'm all for that but...wait a minute...

i enjoy an occasional beer in the evening, and Oh my God....my kids are in the very next room. What will they think???

Or, no using of illegal drugs prior to seeing her kids... This is dumb, because by definition the drugs are....illegal. So is the court saying using illegal drugs, if she isn't seeing the kids, is OK. How can a court make this ruling???? The drugs are il....ergo not....legal.

Now sure, i agree, again, be redundant...i'm all for protecting children but....if i slippery slope this logic...what happens to stay at home moms, or dads....who may want to have a beer while watching a game on TV and maybe the kids are at home????

and really if the courts are really going to get involved with personal demons to protect our children, shouldn't we all just get in line????

Free Speech.....moving on....i gotta say that, and i'm really a liberal guy....that yahoo who caused the disturbance with John Kerry should consider himself lucky he only was Tasered!!! What an idiot....not really a free speech issue. Yes... make your point, but then to create a disturbance, and have to be asked to leave, and yeah, i watched the video, to resist arrest???

See...in a demonstration regarding free speech, don't move!!! don't talk!!!! if the police, dps,whatever escort you out...go with them.or....

you might get tasered....duh

what a moron...oh yeah, and maybe be aware of the climate around the country regarding safety concerns at universities due to Va Tech.

Fer instance....while traveling and using a public restroom in an airport...don't say things like "Man, i just dropped a bomb in there, whew, toxic" when exiting the restroom. It may be misconstrued by the authorities.

Just a little thought or two. And i haven't even had a moment to put some time into OJ's moromic misadventure. Maybe there's just too much crap in the world to actually post about?????

Thanks again

2007-09-19T22:29:00.000-04:00

The big 200th post.

at least if my counter is correct. Truthfully while i find round numbers interesting and i thought about making a big todo and recap of the past near two years of running for at first, weight-loss, then to see how far i can go, but am opting for otherwise....

But first things first....i think i'm back to about 90% of where i was pre-injury. i type that as i ran for 15 miles on Sunday morning and, while not quite the 20 i should of done i figure this week is a good week for a 20. In many ways this training, or lack thereof, has been a "see-how-it-goes" train, and while i intend to taper the last 2 weeks, i think i haven't done any of the muscle damage normal training would drain from me...so a shorter...less taper in the taper, taper.

To follow the 15 miles, i hit 7 yesterday and seem to bee quite comfy at a 8:30/pace. So i think i will finish in Chicago, and if i was forced to pick a time goal, i would think perhaps 4:15 is very do-able. As with the Bayshore, i use a 7 mile hour as a benchmark. Well i haven't done a lot of work but my 14 mile point was 2:01 from Sunday, but i make no claim to be able to continue to 21 miles after three hours.

This is the fun part about loooong running. See, to me the mental part is more fun than the running. The planning, the mental conditioning to run a smart race. There is an internal part of running with a strong gut that means so much more to me than the physical work.

i must take a moment here to mention how i seem to have lost my blogging muse. Or perhaps she has abandoned me. i admit to have lost my focus while developing my new career. Or better typed....focused on other things like starting my own business.

i'm actually 2 short weeks away from opening....after the months of study, followed my intense weeks of market research and training, and learning the logistical things like actually opening accounts and preparing presentations completely different than presentations i have done in past....i'm going to open shortly.

odd. Cause a big part is going "then what???"

i truly feel like Ralph Macchio from the Karate Kid movies....y'know i've waxed the cars, painted the fence, sanded the deck...but now i'm going to a tourney and man i don't even know what belt i should have on.

To draw a real life comparision...it's a lot like training for a marathon. i was given a training plan, and told if i just follow the plan i will finish and enjoy the trip. Well, i am hitting the taper portion of training and i feel like i should be hitting longer miles, while everyone who has ran this before is saying to trust the plan. i need to just trust the plan.

At least in moments when i start to stress out, i have this little guy to keep me laughing...

what a ham...dancing to the music from his gameboy...while watching himself in the reflection of our picture window.

it's the stuff that keeps me moving forward when i get tired.

thanks for reading

2007-09-10T22:07:00.000-04:00

Back in the saddle.....

This could be a hopeful sign as i ran 15 miles over the weekend. Now sure i stretched it out over a couple days...5 sat and 9 sunday, but it felt good.

i think the stress of passing, lifting....helped lift my desire to run.

Thanks, thanks and thanks to all the great comments of support to the running and non-running bloggers out there. and yep Fran...feel free to gather advice as i will most likely never be licensed in Canada....somehow it's still another country. wacky!!!

Anyway, to openly respond to my little grate lake running chick.....i mean, conservative right-wing in general to the other professionals in my chosen field. Typically, as in the past in banking and lending roles, i was the odd liberal out. So in no way was my comment in the last post in reference to the actual readers of my blog.

So let's just say in the world of finance, i expect the same. Although there are some Earth friendly strategies gaining ground in the field. Mostly, i now will be representing the investor/stock holder....who may not care if jobs are sent overseas as long as the bottom line is a larger yield.....gawd, i'm already getting more boring, i know...i always was.

Anyway...this is the 199th post so the next one will be a biggy. Perhaps a brief reflection on where i was and where i am. oooh great, another yawner....

Additionally, as i am still working to build my own section of the professional universe....i apologize to everyone for not being able to keep up as diligently with those i stalk....i try...but seriously the 75 hour work weeks are already crimping my running style.....life style...parenting time....i swear it'll only be another few really tough weeks. Cats in the Craddle and all. Maybe another odd video.....found this on You Tube...real funny stuff.....

wow...i just typed for a few minutes and said absolutely nothing.

thanks for reading

2007-09-07T14:32:00.000-04:00

i passed

73%

Funny how somehow going from a failing 69 to a passing 73 makes all the difference in the world.

It's a 100 question exam. 2 questions one way and i'm short of getting licensed. 2 questions above the required 71% and i studied too hard. Not really.

But, huge kudos to my bride, the nefarious Fun Guv for putting up with my ugliness this week as i got cranky and studied all week. Why...just to get an extra 4, just four more questions right to become eligible to be a fully licensed investment professional type person.

Truth is, i can't really do anything yet as the license will not be activated for 3 more weeks, but it's done. and now to concentrate on more important things like running the marathon. oh yeah and learning to run a profitable business.

Thanks to all for the good thoughts about the test.

Another big question???? Can a liberal-minded mind exist in a world of capitalist, and mostly conservatives(?)??? Well, this should be a fun new career, eh. How many republican dinner parties will i find myself invited to now????

Maybe, i can concentrate on GREEN, investing??? Or hometown....state....USA products. Wouldn't that be patriotic???

Thanks for reading

2007-09-06T16:47:00.000-04:00

Aaaaah, the joy of a new first grader on the first day of school or....Pee Wee Herman as a child. You pick.

Woo, slow down...what's this two days in a row of back-to-back post. Well back by popular demand, namely Kim asking for a political rant, i felt inspired...but first...there's always a but first right????

Tomorrow morning i sit for a second attempt at the Series 66, Uniformed Combined State Law Exam. Sounds scary as i missed the first attempt by 2 questions. Quite honestly, this test sucks. It was written by lawyers and dammit can they ever just write a simple question??? appartantly not.

Wish me luck and think of where i will be at 7:30 tomorrow morning. Please Gknee, you've been a good luck omen to me.

Also...Terese, call me, since she reads this little thing once in a while, i want to discuss the merits of the Deathly Hallows, and not ruin an ending for anybody waiting for the movie in 4 or 5 years.

But on to political rants.....

VW has appartantly decided to pull out of Michigan. Basically, their office in Auburn Hills, home of the Palace, home of the Pistons and a soon to be Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show ('nother topic/'nother day), it's purely administrative for the US operations and employes about 1000 folks. They're heading South....

So our Guv, is again scramblin' to try to keep another company from pulling up stakes and promising the world if they (VW) stay in Michigan. Just like she has been trying for the past 6 years, as companies have been heading away from Michigan.

Now right-wingers out there... love to blame the unions and love to blame the high wages companies pay to michiganders. Right-wingers love to blame our liberal governor, who is best served as a little junket representative for bridge runs (kidding, wink wink...nudge, nudge).

So, thinking about it....which i do,, and this is just a little thought, but....i'm ready for the governor to grow a set.

Next time a company pulls out of Michigan, i want her to call up the CEO and offer to help them pack. If they want to go elsewhere then go. Tired of paying high wages....go see what you get when you move everything to China....right Mattel???

The entire industrialised economy, of the world, is based upon the inventions of Henry Ford (albeit, an antisemite and ealry on supporter of Hitler, not without faults, but...) and the development of the assembly line. We did it. The mid-west work effort defines the state of Michigan.

Companies want to leave to cut cost...go!!! everybody gets what they pay for. Good luck getting people in the South to work mandatory 7 days and double shifts cause production picks up. That's what we do here.

Cheap labor will mean cheap product. So governor, ...please,....as a salesman for the past 8 years i've realized that you can't be everything to everyone, and there is a value to the work ethic inherent to the midwest. It may cost more to stay here, but the risk of moving to a cheaper work force may prove costlier.

That's a winning mentality. The idea of placating every company with tax cuts who threaten to move without them is loser thinking. i guess when i hear folks wish a business person ran things, maybe they want a salesperson in reality.

just a thought

thanks for reading

2007-09-05T14:26:00.000-04:00

Keep moving forward!!!!

That's been my mantra for the past year or so. Just keep going and as i approach the Chicago marathon i realize.
...i'm not ready.

And even as i try to blame circumstances beyond my control, i realize i have lost a bit of my running mojo.

See, the little leg injury really started the ball rolling. The more i tried to force a good run, the more pain. The more pain the less i wanted to run.

The new job has taken control of every aspect of my life. And being an admitted obsessive/complusive, not as much time to run. Little excuses like it's too hot, i need to study, my leg hurts, i have to finish the Harry Potter book or my head will explode.....kept me of the not so beaten path of training....

Well, here i am....no much studying left for work....i finished the Harry Potter book (worth staying up 'till 4:00am to finish)...my leg seems fine...my weight is still the same as the end of the Bayshore Marathon.

No more excuses....well....one....after the Chicago Marathon i need to catch a plane to St Louis for another fun filled week of training (starting Monday at 8:00am)

Kind of a bummer, as i will not be able to truly enjoy the afterglow from a good run...better to scramble towards an airport and try to make a plane...yay!!

But, i run, and i figure any training plan is garbage now. Any thoughts for a BQ....gone. Can i finish...i don't know.

This is in no way a cry for pity or encouragement. It's just reality. i haven't properly trained and i know it. i hope in the next few weeks i can put on some decent mileage, take a shortened, but smart taper, and run 26.2.

It will be painful. It will be the hardest race i have ran. It may break me. i may not finish.

But, i will keep moving forward!!!!

congrats to my friend LISA and her fun run across the Mack Bridge.

Watching, or rather, hearing that Michigan lost Saturday meant nothing is respect to watching the extremely moving opening of the college football season through the eyes of VT students, and players. ESPN did a great job in not hyping the moment but letting the pregame just unfold for us. i truly believe nothing brings a campus together like a college football game. Additionally, the fact that Va Tech players enter the field to "Enter Sandman" is phenomenal!!!

Yesterday i ran 8.50 miles, longest run since the midnite 20.....this was more at my pace, at 7 miles the leg flared up a little.

thanks for reading, and understanding that i haven't had the time or motivation to keep up a running blog when i'm not really running.

2007-09-01T15:54:00.000-04:00

on to a completely different subject and mood fo the day:

i don't ever want to find myself shedding tears while watching "college game day" on espn again....

2007-08-30T19:46:00.000-04:00

Aahhh yes the Steers to what do we owe the name of our beloved moniker too???

but first

if you think this secene is funny....you are on your way to steerdom

or perhaps if before a big game or a big run you like to listen to music to gear up like....

well...this might make you a steer as well.

but maybe you prefer a little bit more cerebral comedy

again, you get the point. And if you understand the meaning of the word

JUJUNE....you're in.

Because waaaay back in the late 90's there was a residence hall on the campus of Central Michigan University named Tate Hall. Up on the third floor was "Hell", i lived in Hell. Along with roommates, Tange, Piss-boy and Alki, i was Luki. (Tange, now a regular stalker of this blog, and commentator).

Tange, ran swam and biked
Piss-boy, a business major and dip addict
Alki, drank a lot
Luki, well i slept a lot, 2 time resident hall "skipper"

But we all played pick-up basketball, and when intra-murals came out we and others in the hall needed a team name....so the story is rather dull, but we went with steers cause the Bulls were still getting beat up on by the Pistons back then....and....the definition of a steer in a dictionary is....

a castrated bovine

try to say those words out loud and not giggle or snicker a little. So Steers became the name and till this day exist.

As Steer players have some and gone, fer instance, Nitmos....brother of King (who lived in Hell) have both been members of Steers basketball teams.

And so the name lives on.....sometimes in odd ways....The Steers, Da Steers, AAA Steers (for higher alpha placement and earlier games)

So the secret of the Steers moniker is out. And all are invited to become members of the new Steers Running Team. Maybe.... Stampeding Herd (sounds like a Marshall thing, maybe not)

Now as i have gotten a little older on wiser...the idea of joining a team named after a castrated bovine seems oddly enough.....appropriate????

Lady Steers??? welcome to the group, but what the hell are we supposed to cut off of you???

Steers Team must do's.....listen to Def Leppard prior to a big game, recite Caddyshack and laugh at Woody Allen movies....and this is not required but a good idea to understand the mentality.....

watch the movie "Eraserhead" one time and try to explain it. Good luck with that one

Thanks for reading

2007-08-29T20:56:00.000-04:00

In an effort to post a thought about as the Animal updates his blog, i figure an update is due.

first things first; sorry to not have an update following the 20 mile midnite run. It's been so long and i figure LISA's site covered it and moved to the CRIM and beyond, but a quick little 3:04 am snippet from the night....

...with a little song thrown in....

But since i have been not really updating and am using videos to take up space to avoid typing any real thoughts...let me say i loved my 10th annual 30th birthday party....next years midnite run will be a 40 miler in anticipation of the big 11th 30th party.....funny math for the Germans also know as Kim and Uwe who brought me my favorite beer as a gift....and i'm drinking one now...yep it's....

oooh the alcohol abuse.....but why WARSTEINER?????

three magical little words GERMAN PURITY LAWS

See the germans made it a law that only four things can go into beer around 400 years ago....oddly enough one of the things that can go into the making of beer is.....

wait for it....

...water. oh my god....what can the other three things be....

barley....malt...hop extract....

isn't that truly amazing????? look on the bottle for ingredients and that's what appears.

Cause life is too short to drink cheap beer. thanks guys

The party had beer from canada and germany, and vodka from the ukraine much fun was had by all....so.....

LET'S PLAY MEXICO

Moving on to a little snippet from late in the evening

long distance on the phone with Zack in Utah....

must have been the vodka

thank goodness Kim was there to open the vodka bottle as i had trouble....

open the european style bottle....

again good thing Uwe was distracted

a good time was had by all. How am i going to do this again next year after running 40 miles to commemerate the event. And who is going to join me for this one????

Maybe we can get shirts.....like.....STEERS RUNNING TEAM shirts. Something like a running with the bulls but more of a running with the steers. With individual names so marathon cheerers can root for us. Maybe even a "bib-goes-here" spot for bib....duh.

...and of course the official steers "rock on" wave to other runners gesture...wait for it...it's only another minute long....

you mess with the steers and you'll get the horns....

thanks for reading/watching....whatever

das-be-danya....i can barely spell english...how did you think i would spell this???

later.....

2007-08-18T03:17:00.000-04:00

confessions of a half-night runner:

Mission Accomplished

20 miles under cover of darkness.

More to follow

2007-08-15T21:51:00.000-04:00

Well let me tell you how much fun i am having.

Meet me in St Louis never rang truer than when 100+ sales people meet to get trained on how to be better sales people.

This may be the most intense, yet educational experience of my life.

More on the later but first:

This week's 20 miler is gonna be great cause the temps will be lower than the 100's the weather has been here. Yesterday i ran 3 miles on the dreadmill at 5:30 in the morning before hitting a shower and training all day. Then a classmate asked me to join him for a run of 3 miles after class, in the gawd awful heat. yippee!!!!!

Hottest day of the year....let's run.....

Sorry to be brief but i just wanted to assure everyone that i'm still here having fun and looking forward to the big 20 miler this weekend.

Thanks for reading

2007-08-12T15:51:00.000-04:00

Today was my first ever run west of the Mississippi river.

The plane ride to St Louis was thankfully uneventful and the last day has been spent getting to know my fellow classmates. All in all, this is quite fun.

But after breakfast this morning i figured it's time to get back to training. What a wonderful place to do it at. Except, i really am not acclimated to August in a more southern climate. When i headed out from the hotel, temps were in the high 80's and it was 10:00am.

Wow, this is hot, but being an easy run, i went real easy. Guess what....

No leg pain. My strides were conservative but i figured on about 10 miles would be fine.

The hotel sent me towards a park which has a path which encircles a lake. It was new territory and i admit to being excited. But the run to the lake was about 2 miles. Then 4 miles around the lake and i took about a 2.5 route back to the hotel.

There really are some hillier areas here then i was used too. The return trip had stairs to climb. 220 stairs. And since the temps had risen a lot, i was a bit pooped.

y'know that so hot you feel chills feeling? i had a little of that so i stopped a lot to chat with many of the numerous folks on the trail.

Go figure, i met a runner finishing up his first of two 20 milers before his first marathon. i guess the Lewis and Clark marathon. Sounded fun. He looked in great shape to finish in his 4 hour goal. Of course i cautioned him to be wary of sudden gastro-intestinal issues that may occur while marathoning.

Maybe it's just me but i seem to be comfortable with ALL running topics with other runners. Well, he didn't seem offended so no harm no foul.

Looks like i have found a partner or two to run some shorter distances in the evenings this week.
No one wanted to join me when i said i was going about 10 miles, but there are so other runners here. It could be fun.

Looks like i may get to experience one of my New Years Resolutions soon. Of course i called my great lakes running bud, L*I*S*A to tell her of the beautiful course around the river. and yes i called my wife when we landed to tell her i made it to MO ok.

As Lisa has agreed to help be a rent-a-husband on Friday prior to the 10th annual 30th birthday bash. She may just stay over, go with Fun Guv to pick me up at Detroit Metro and go for her 20 mile run in the morning prior to the party.

i suggested we leave at 11:00pm, due the 20 then be well rested for the party Saturday afternoon, instead of running in the morning. i quest to experience the feelings i.e. thoughts of an all-nite-runner, albeit not quite the whole night is a curiousity.

It could be the start of a new tradition for the 2nd annual running of the 11th annual 30th birthday bash, next year.

Egads, well the hotel pool is calling so i will end this little post with something completely different....or how i ran when my leg/back problems were bad

thanks for reading

2007-08-10T16:46:00.000-04:00

84%

That's the score. Yippee. i passed my State of Michigan Life and Health Insurance license exam.

So, on one hand i am a bit bummed that two erroneous answers now have me studying again to attempt the Series 66 Investment Advisor Law exam to be fully licensed, but i am still on track for opening my own office....

Tomorrow, i head to St Louis, MO. You bet this is looking better after passing todays exam.

Somehow, my leg doesn't hurt so much and my back feels tons better. Any relation?????

Enough work stuff, as next week will be fairly intense, let me get back to the streak....

Day 4....maybe it should be a rest day as it was the worse start in a while to get the pseudo-normal stride. Eventually the pain subsided and it turned into an almost pleasant 3 miler. The running through some pain has brought an old, borrowed mantra

"run till you can't run, walk till you can't walk, crawl till you can't crawl"

It's not so bad that i crawl yet, but i will somehow find a way to finish my next marathon.

Which being a little less than 2 months away still seems far enough away to prepare for, but....

i have opted to ponder more the WHY i run as the idea of a BQ diminishes. Given that this has been a terrible training experience, can i walk, limp, hobble, slither away from this marathon knowing that it may be slower, yet still satisfied with the fact that it will be my third in a 12 month interval???

i think i can

Now, the plan today is to end the streak at 5. So i plan to run a little today. For the record, i count a run as 2 miles or more. Why 2????

It goes back to stupid CMU days when keeping track of how many days in a row a person went drinking. 2 drinks counted as plural. ergo... drinking. Same logic applied to running

so running less than 2 miles is one run while 2 or more is running. (Yes, this is a blatant attempt to win the hearts of the running stats folks out there)

Why don't runners get tattoo's of there favorite shoe logo like bikers with HD tattoo's???

Nice segue to Lisa's decision to not get the could-be-chinese for Tyler tattoo. Go with an Aerosmith logo with Tyler Joseph replacing the band name script. i think that may be the idea to go with, as Animal will be getting a KISS something inked into his saggy man-boobs, and he wanted to go along.

Which really is the segue i wanted to get to Cranial Flatul...just call it brain fart, it's so much easier to spell

Since you will never throw away the parenting books....consider this. Think of parenting kinda like changing a poopy diaper...See this helps cause you're changing a lot right now. Now infant poopy diapers don't start all rank and unbelievably hideous. They start out small and not nearly as stinky as they'll get later. Cause if you had to start with a two-year olds mess nobody would be able to adjust. See, you and the poopy diaper evolve as the poopy diapers get nasty and nastier. By the time you're changing poopy diapers of a two year old...you can almost do it an the dinner table between courses.

Now Roz is just an extension of the poopy diaper....See, first you hit the basics...food, cleaning, health, sleep. That's it. And if you think you love this blob of flesh now...wait till you get a real smile, not one you think is a smile...the walk in the room and her eyes light up....man, it's a killer...

But back to the point....as Roz's needs change, i am sure your instinct's will kick in. Relax....she won't be asking if she can go out on a date for years...and when she does, you'll be ready then, without having to consult a book on what to expect from your teenager.

So this turned into a long winded post about advice on ignoring advice on parenting. Am i being redundant or Oxy-moronic???

And thanks Gknee for the well wishes, you seem to be my exam day good luck vibe

Thanks for reading

2007-08-09T15:57:00.000-04:00

A stress free one mile.

This is good news as yesterday, during my 3 mile run, i was able to stretch out and get to old groove back.

It brought back that great feeling of a good run again. Even if it was only one mile, it was back. Now, if it doesn't happen again today, i'll be bummed. Alas, fear will not paralize me, i will try to go again a short distance.

On the new job, things have been going about the same as my running. Tomorrow i sit for the State of Michigan Life and Health Insurance License Exam. 150 questions, 70% to pass. i have passed three pre exams this week with scores of 74%, 82%, & 80%. i think i am ok for tomorrow.

Too bad, i scores a 69% on my first attempt at the investment advisor law exam, Series 66. i missed a passing score by 2 questions.

Let's hope for the best. i pass tomorrow, then go to St Louis for a week, (any good running areas there???), come home late Friday night, and drink beer the next day (more on this later in the post). Start my market research and planning while sneaking in some study time to prepare to retake the series 66 exam.

Piece of Cake, Right????

O.K. next little tiny issue. Next Saturday, the 18th is the 10th annual Mike's 30 birthday-slash pool party. i will be leaving Saturday the 11th for the gateway to the west, and coming home Friday the 17th, arriving at Detroit Metro at about 8:30 pm. Since i am unavailable to assist my lovely bride next week.....she needs a rent-a-husband.

Now of course for those of you who know the Fun Guv this will not be a surprise but....She'll need someone who is good at following direction. Or at least as good as i do (so the bar is set real low)....to help prepare the homestead. Any takers??????

odd observation: i received an email from Fun Guv's uncle, i get a lot of emails from him. Y'know the generic joke emails of funny pictrures and movies.....but this one was odd pictures of....PLANE CRASHES...ooooh for christ sake!!!!

Anyway, i'm off for another short run tonite. The streak is currently at 3 days, tonite i go for 4.

Thanks for reading

2007-08-08T19:08:00.000-04:00

What we've got here is.... failure to communicate....

Well, let me say the running without a GPS for the past few days has been enlightening. Now, i will be returning to the GPS soon enough. But being injured, and i think being able to start running again, i am having a better time listening to the clues ones body gives them, when not having these bodily clues argue with a per mile pace.

i have decided to streak for a few days. Meaning that since i am doing a lot less miles at a time, i'm going consecative days now. Yes, i am sure i need more rest but...i've put on about 8 lbs through this, and the reality of hitting 200 lbs is a benchmark i am looking to avoid. Weird thing is i can actually feel the added weight.

Not that failing to communicate has anything to do with my running blog, but actually to yet another disappointment in the incredible saga of realizing how a man can ignore the son he choose to adopt 30 some years ago.

Yep, this is a fatherly-son vent. As i have stated before, sometimes i need to remind my father he has a son. i guess i needed to do this last Saturday. Let me set the stage.....

At my Grandmothers 90th birthday party, the summer version for those of us unavailable to go to Florida back in April, my father had the nerve to tell me i do not call my grandmother enough. Now my anger could be an indication that he hit a nerve with me that i realize i don't call her enough. This may be true and coming from anyone else....i would have listened, but for Christ sake...

My grandmother's 90 birthday was in April. i could not make the party in Florida. So i called her the next day, knowing everyone would be gone and without calling the day of said party, we would be able to enjoy a lengthy pleasant conversation.

Which my grandmother and i did. Which even included an explanation from me as to why i did not call during the party. She was busy with other family and i thought it rude to call the day of. Plus being 90, i figured she would be exhausted the day of the party.

Anyway, back in April my sister tried to lecture me that i didn't call. Cause she had left the morning of the day i called and was unaware that i did call. Since my father left the same morning, he too, did not know that i had called. But he decided to wait until the next time we spoke, yep, almost 4 months later, to lecture me that i do not call my only grandmother enough.

Now being the spiteful man i am, i always call my father on his birthday to wish him a happy birthday. Sometimes i send a card. Sometimes i even use the excuse to ride my motorcycle. It's only an hour away. And visit for a few hours.

Apparantly, from my fathers perspective, i made him look back by not calling. Cause, she received a lot of calls that day. Which in hindsite i should have lied and said that i had tried but the line was busy.

So when i lambasted my father in a quiet-yet very stern manner that his argument held no water coming from him. That he couldn't pick the last time he had called me to wish me a happy birthday, and i could tell him all the most previous dates i had called him. That he hasn't bothered to speak with or try to see his grandchildren since December 23. That even though we only live one hour away, they never have been over to our house for a family dinner, because i got tired of asking and being told they couldn't attend because of church functions. Very Christ-like eh????

Please let me vent more, whose blog is it???

My father had no idea i have changed jobs. i had the opportunity to tell him of the change when i called him prior to the Bayshore, but figured why bother. i didn't need the lecture about changing jobs in addition to being told he wouldn't be in Traverse that weekend. i was hoping he would be in Traverse that day and might like to attend. i guess thinking he might call after the race to see how i did was hoping for too much. Hell, my sister lives there and she couldn't bother to attend, but she did offer to let me drive the 20 plus miles out to her house from the Bayshore to visit.

Another little vent, even though my sister knows i write a little blog, and Fun Guv has the link on her email signature, my sister has never read a post.

i wonder if my father thinks i don't call enough, where the hell he thinks i learned it from.--- " 'Cause the new jobs a hassle, and the kids got the flu but it was sure nice talking with you, dad"

Am i the father or son in this song??? At least, the dad in this song called once.

Thanks for reading, my self therapy, sorry if it's a little dis-jointed.

2007-08-05T10:26:00.000-04:00

This is one of those forced moments to blog

It's hard to explain why, but i think i understand how a person can let a blog, and really let a Running Blog, become tedious. For the last few weeks this has become so for me.

So no, this isn't one of those moments where the author sends out a fond fairwell, a final thanks, and moves on. It's more of that internal why has this become so. After all, this started as a way to express those oh-so-introspective moments of running. The 5-plus-miles-from-home-zen and the way that my life has improved through getting into a less than round shape.

And, while i type awaiting the muse to grant me quick fingers, with better accuracy, and a moment of clarity. Which truth-be-told exist....it's more of a how and wording, and do i risk letting real feelings out, not just thoughts????

Somehow my little corner of Blog-land has morphed into a statistical wasteland. How many miles do i run, how fast, what are the goals, how i use speed work to gain an extra precious few seconds per mile, and on and on....

i like to look back on the greatest Detroit Lions coach of my lifetime, so far, i hope for a better one....Mr Wayne Fontes, who said after his first lions victory, as an interim coach, on his way to finishing the last 4 games of the miserable season which produced the great draft ability for Barry Sanders. It's not too late Barry, come back..., in which the Green Bay Packers dominated every aspect of the game, except the final score...

"STATISTICS ARE FOR LOSERS"

And so, that's may be why my little blog has become boring, to me and i assume others. It has/had taken on a life that wasn't me. Which if you know my rules for the blog, is a big no-no as i aspire to be truthful.

An oddity in this observation is that while taking so many writing classes on my stellar way to an average English major in college, is that i struggled with the aspects of technical writing most.

So my lesson is learned. As i strayed away from what i loved about running and writing, both passions suffered. To the point that my injuries have me upset about the possiblility of not finishing the Chicago Marathon. My obsession with stats may have been a contributing factor to my injury and so...

I AM A LOSER

So i'm gonna right this ship now......

SING IN ME, OH MUSE....AND THROUGH ME TELL THE STORY

i like to think that all members of the X generation who grew up with FRIENDS, oh the irony, have their own infamous 5 hypothetical free romps in the sack with famous people. Y'know the freebies from marital/significant other wraith. A great sorce for fantastical discussions and while if i was to ever meet Diane Keaton in person, i am quite sure neither she, nor Pamela Anderson, Terri Hatcher, Jessica Alba, or Reese Witherspoon will feel an uncontrollable urge to get to know me, at least in the biblical sense.

Alas, with little fanfair, someone's getting booted today...no... not Diane. Ms Annie Hall is a permanent fixture, as i watched "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" at waaaaay toooo young an age, and as a newly hatched duckling becomes imprinted with the first moving object it sees as a mother, so she has been imprinted as the sex symbol for me.

It's Terri Hatcher. Sorry, although they may be real, but they haven't been spectacular in years. And fine...i'm a pig, but it's my fantasy world and aren't i allowed a little piggishness????? Besides, i'm sure Ms Hatcher is not sitting home sobbing about not being on this list.

But in my new era of enlightenment. And to balance out the ying to Pamela's yang....finish your own joke here

i am pleased to announce the newest member of the Mike's 5 Freebie's

man....i'm such an idiot, if only i had this idea earlier i could of replaced one woman with all the Dixie Chicks....wait that's a totally different type of fantasy.....and a little twisted, buuuutt...hmmmmmmm

But, God this is so sexy

Sorry, i just got lost in a thought, oh well could-ah, should-ah, would-ah

Thanks for reading