i made the final 20 mile run a fun one.

Yippeeeee!! one more tough we week of training and bring on the taper. i am sooooo ready for it. i give mucho thanks to the healing powers of the taper. And, laugh, in the face of temptation to run more miles in disbelief of THE PLAN, btw side bar here....my many college friends, i mean who actually, teach college.....D'y'know the greek word for the plan.....is.....Syllabus.

So next semester, please feel free to just put "THE PLAN" on top of your plans that you hand out to your wee little pupils, cause i'm starting to feel like,....well it's tough to put into words....i mean being an X generation guy, another sidenote to a sidenote, great band, rocking punk, Billy Idol and all. i'm hearing the college grads are now taking their parents to job interviews after college, and interviewing companies are letting them, and actually marketing to the parents to enlist their kids.

Hu'h How did this happen?

Can we just name this generation "our lamest generation" or maybe, "the guilt of the baby boomers"

Okay, i admit to being real far off the topic of my 20 mile run, which i didn't call my dad to ask him to for permission to cross some streets without holding his hand, i did it all by myself. Ain't i a big boy?????

But this is the kind of stupid crap that gets out, and then some yahoo in another country, that's being controlled by US interest, looks at the US and says "these friggin morons can't even raise their brats to think for themselves, yet they want control the, whatever i have that the US wants in hypothetical country, oil, bananas, oil, kiwi, oil, etc....pick one, maybe,.....Oil, well screw them!!!"

And so he gets a few buddies together and then a few more and then...Someone says ",hey, let's blow some stuff up", it's a Y chromosone thing, mostly we get out of it, with y'know bottlerockets or playing baseball with frogs from a local pond. Every neighborhood had one of those kids in it. Not me, mind you, but my neighborhood had one.

Anyway, i ran 20 miles, thought about moronic 20 something year-old teenagers and the idiot companies that see these idiots as leaders.

The was able to slippery slope myself into a rationale that this type of stupidity is a cause of terrorism.

And now a campaign issue, if i want to go to Canada and enjoy all the fruits of Windsor, i bet my canadian friends cuckle at that, i just want to have an ID and a Birth Cert.

Vote for Mike '08

We'll get homeland security, oxymoron alert..... cracking down on the real idiots who put our culture at risk.

Thanks for reading

A little self discovery is good for the sole.

i just need a moment here to do a virtual jump up and down in near ecstatic glee over a great 7 mile tempo run.

The plan called 3 miles at 7:49, and four miles of just running, no real pace indicated. No big deal, but i figured 3 miles at 7:49 would be a piece of cake, see previous post.

Does a 10k PR count if it's in a training run? Not intentionally, i hit some new speed record for me. i started with the goal of 2 miles easy run, 3 tempo, and 2 easy, to warm up, hit the hard stuff, and cool down.

Well, my warm up was right at 8 minutes, so i figured i'd just do the tempo workout begining mile 2. i know i always say stats are boring, but....miles 2, 3 & 4; 7:32,7:25 &7:35....

After 4 miles my time was 30:32, and the hard part was over so mile 5, 8:21. And i feel real strong, and it's requiring effort just to restrain my running from being fast. Don't misunderstand, i feel tired.... but strong. Plus i get new appreciation for those 7:11 paces that Nitmos seems to be hitting.

But, back to me, and my little tale. So 5 miles at 38:53, but mile 6, speeds back to the 8:01 a little faster and total time is now 46:54. Now i admit to being a little jazzed up looking at my distance for the .22, to complete the 10k. Per the trusty Garmin, i hit the 6.22 mileage at 48:24, beating out my time at the Turkey Trot.

Anyway, 7 miles, 54:58, the last mile was 8:04.

Let's bring on the last 20 miler for the training this weekend!!!!

Anyway, on to life stuff:

Thanks for all the support from everyone. i just received an email from my new employer that my new materials for studying will be arriving next week. There will also be a laptop, to log hours and provide online support.

So, i go back to school, it should be fun.

Since, Nitmos asked what he can do to help.... i'll be looking for some new clients, you may be on the list of prospects. We'll see how it goes.

Stepping away from lending has allowed me to compare the two fields, lending versus saving. In lending, i had to negotiate interest rates with my clients. The higher the rate, the higher my commission, so while i provided sound lending rates and advice, i financially benifitted by selling the highest rate. Which meant that i never made very much money per loan, ergo i'm out of lending.

i very much looking forward to see the difference with personal finance, with a savings emphasis.

oops sorry to be redundant there.

Anyway, mostly i wanted to update my running stuff with this post.

Thanks again for reading.

Where to Start????

Let's start at the beginning and go with a quick running/training update.

Last week was a great 27 miles. 3 runs of 9 miles, all easy pace. i'm still probably running too hard as my pace seems to be in the low 8 minute range, but the addition of some walk breaks after 7 miles, to hit a 7 mile hour seems to be working.

Again, i hope to train harder than the actual pace i plan to run in Traverse City. As always, the goal is to finish and enjoy doing so. But hey, the chance to maybe move into a starting corral for the Chicago Marathon is a great motivator. If not ready for a BQ attempt, how about a starting corral attempt, Babysteps baby.

Anyway, this week looks like a nice 8 miles yesterday, 7 miles with 3 tempo at 7:49 pace, piece of cake, and my last, final, 20 mile run until the big 26.2. That means Saturday will be my last run with the camel-pak for a while, as the following week has a long run of 12 and then the taper.

Now for the sake of my running blogging buddies, that's the running update, but how about real life?

Well, this is going to be a little while to get through so everyone, grab a soda, take a pee break or whatever you need to do. Cause, in breaking my rule about too long of a post, and for my great friends, who are also clients, i really need to go into detail regarding the complete break in my career path.

Last Wednesday, after a few months of interviewing and making some personal assessments of what i want to do, i have left the home financing business. This was a tough decision, since i have been involved in lending for about 8 years. But the time has come to move on, to advance, into an area that allows me to still develop new clients and business relationships, and in a way that further allows me to help provide financial advice.

Now this is a huge step. Not without some risks, but the rewards can be great, both financially and mental health wise.

From a mortgage lender standpoint, i really look to the great times of the refinance and housing booms as a negative. A few years ago let's see....i worked 70 + hours a week, and wrote more business than ever believed possible, and made more money than ever, but.....

i weighed 260 lbs. i never saw my wife or kids. walking up one, that's right one, flight of stairs left me winded.

i had decided that i was just going to be a fat guy for the rest of my shortened life-span. Adult diabetes was most likely a few short years, if not months away. i ate every meal at my desk and only left my desk to get more food, usually chinese take-out, and hit the bathroom.

Feeling like i only really had a few good years left before i started to truly fall apart, i began to give as much as i could to friends and family. If i was going to live unhealthily, i was going to enjoy it.

So, Pistons season tix's, yep....Concert tix's....yep, always spend big and take a loved one along to enjoy.

Life was good, and thankfully, the market shifted.....The refinance boom ended.....the housing market stalled and loans were harder to come by.....

As i sat in the office i began to take inventory of who i was. i actually had the time to consider some items....

Although my kids had a nice, comfortable life, i couldn't take time to play with them, or even have the energy anymore to do so.

My relationship with Fun Guv was miserable, and she'll agree to this one. We had contemplated splitting apart a few times, and never because of infidelity (at least, not me, who wants a 260+lb work-aholic??), but because of lack of real time together.

i missed....me. i had deteriorated so far from the person i had been, and the self image of myself, that i didn't recognize myself in a mirror any longer. i had been so busy being the mortgage guy, that i let everything important, everything that i had cared about, become second to writing loans.

The exact opposite of what led me to want to write mortgage loans in the first place.

So what happened....????

So today, 60 lbs lighter, significantly in love with my bride, involved in my kids lives, happy with my self and extremely, financially poorer,.....honestly feel the richest that i ever have.

This is the big thank you to my family and friends.... Although i owe so much to so many, and i am sure to leave people out, here goes.....

Mark....for being the friend, who has also struggled with diet issues and helping me see the difference between a low fat and low carb diet;
Mac and Gknee....for showing me 38 isn't too old to change careers
Tess...for actually telling me, and believing, i could get into better shape, by just running, even real slow
Brett...for our lunch discussions about family, and how the simple things are most important
Fun Guv....for not leaving me, or giving up
My ex-co-workers... who have shown me the real meaning of "friends are friends and business is business"

In a small way, mortgage lending is that last bit of old me.

This is one of those reflective post. i guess it really means to bridge the difference between a journal and my need to write. To have anominity and be honest and open.

For a few running bloggers out there, still reading this non-running so much post~ Thanks for sticking in all the way to the end of the post.

More to come on, i've gotten some free time as i am off work until May 21st. i need to use posting as a good excuse to get away from the ever increasing list of honey-do's.

Thanks for reading.

My Trusty Garmin:

Well, after a day, i went back to the Garmin and looked at a breakdown of the 18 miles on PCT.

i must admit i am very happy with the pace. For the first 12 miles we ran a very quick less than 8:30 mile. A couple miles were in the lower 8 minute range, at the beginning of the run.

Lessons learned: Don't go to fast. i started too fast. Had we kept a nice easy 8:50 first half and increased slightly, i think things would have been different. Better i learn this now, than at the Bayshore.

Monday was a good 9 miles, strong and slow, sorta. My goal was just to have a nice recovery, and work out any kinks left over from Saturday's run.

i achieved these goals and forced myself to a 8:20 pace. After 7 miles, 58 minutes had passed, since my marathon goal is a 7 mph pace, i opted to take a walk break until the one hour mark.

i restarted and finished the last two miles feeling great, and still on pace to continue as i had the first 7 miles.

It may be a new plan for the bayshore. Run my normal pace for 7 miles and if any time is left in an hour take a walk break. Of course without going too fast at any point.

After talking with Fun Guv, we have determined my goals for this marathon. She can be a great coach.

1. Finish, anything can happen in a marathon, just finishing is enough, considering this is only my second attempt at a marathon;
2. Enjoy the marathon, have fun, remember to enjoy the views of the bay, make whatever happens with the weather, an injury, any negative needs to be viewed with humor and make the best of any negatives to help ensure i still want to keep running marathons;
3. Run with my heart;
4. Break 4 hrs;
5. Break 3:50;
6. Break 3:45.

i've decided any loftier goals will have to wait for Chicago.

Sorry, no social-economic-religion, or other Vote for Mike '08, stuff in this post. Just boring running update stuff.

i'm just gearing up for a massive brain dump.

Thanks for reading.

Paint Creek Trail, Round II

O.K., maybe lifting a heavy sledge hammer and breaking up concrete, than moving broken concrete on Friday night wasn't the best way to prepare for a 20 mile run.

And maybe working in the patio, moving furniture and a basketball hoop, Saturday morning, prior to said run, again not the best way to prepare.

So Paint Creek busted my A$$ Saturday. What a shocker. Nitmos and i headed out at 11:30. The day was beautiful. No sun, no real wind, and of course, no shade, bummer the leaves aren't quite out yet.

Lot's of bikers on the trail. Lot's of bikers with their little bells ringing that they're on our left. i appreciate the politeness of the warnings, but the damn bells can go away.

My legs were sore, and just got worse as the run progressed. PCT is 9 miles each direction. So 18 and we figured we'd add another mile or two.

Nope. So although my pace was better than the first marathon, or even half marathon, i left a little disappointed with my performance. i may have been trying to add to an incredible week of training with a final HURRAH, that wasn't in the tank, that day. i did leave my best run, that day, on the trail, and i am happy about that.

Nitmos-you are the man, i swear, he hadn't even broke a sweat when we were done.

Alas, with minor heavy heart, i have removed two no longer bloggers from my links:

And with great joy can re-add them should they ever re-join the running and blogging world of crazies again. Or just the blogging part as both seem to not have issues with running.

Maybe i do a post.....

"Mike's thoughts about successful blogging in a manner that doesn't cause you to become so engrossed that it takes control of your real life, to the point that the only way to control it, is to remove in completely."

So, i may go with a shorter title, but it's in the works.....

yeah, like i plan this crap.

Thanks for reading,

In NOT my usual tongue-n-cheek way;

i had decided to not post for a while, like a day or so, to allow my feelings about Va Tech to not take on a long winded, inappropriate blog post.

This is more due the some what cynical nature of the blog and satire. i try to type about my feelings and what i think about while running and although i admit to this not being the widest read blog out there, i have seen where people have stumbled upon it.

So we leave the tragedy alone, except....

i like this article

When purchasing the paper yesterday, i had two choices. One paper had a picture of the victims on the front page, another had a picture of the shooter.

i choose to read about the victims.

i wonder which paper sold more yesterday?

i wonder if the two front pages were an experiment by the newspapers. Since the two major Detroit papers are co-owned, each taking a left or right viewpoint, i'm sure marketing was involved to see which paper sold better should, who am i kidding, when, this type of tragedy happens again.

On a positive running note:

i ran my fastest 8 miles evah, wednesday. 1:02:46. i bested my 8 mile race around Mackinac Island by better than two minutes. Yay Me!!!

Hopefully, tomorrow i don't slow down the Nitmos too much as we run a 20 miler together. We're hitting the Paint Creek Trail, anyone want to join us, about 11:30. It should be a nice, sunny 57 degree day.

An apology:

Mea Culpa, for leaving the "Jeremy" video up a few days after the Va Tech Tragedy. It was put up a few days prior to Monday, when Bob made a reference to my stunning resemblence to Eddie Vedder. Back in my long hair, hippy grunge years, hey, the early 90' were very influencial to us X'ers out there. It's one of my favorite Pearl Jam tunes, and i forgot it was there.

Thanks for reading

And i wanted to add this real short piece....



Ha,ha, oh John you are so funny....cut it out, ha,ha...Oh god, i bet you and Ann Coulter in a room together must be a million laughs....

Yesterday was one of those fun training runs!!!

Finally, i had fun again while running. Yesterday, the plan had me on a 9 mile run. i went 10.

It finally was fun again. Oh sure, the wind was strong, but not cold. My run took me through my normal ten mile route, and although the wind slowed me down a little, i still managed a overall 8:18 pace.

My fastest miles were under 8:00 and the slowest an 8:48. Take a guess at the one straight into the wind.

i want to start a streak. It's calling me to try to go as many days as possible, but again, real life may come calling, and while my heart is calling me to run every day, my brain knows it's not the best thing to do for training.

Wow, this is dull post, so far. i guess yesterday's run was too good to have any negatives to rant about. i wasn't rained or snowed or sleeted on. No frost-bite. No almost being hit. Drivers were actually courteous, shocking. The sun was out. i ran a good distance at a time one minute a mile faster than my training plan.

Man, what a dull, but incredibly fun, run. i even lucked out on hitting the traffic lights without having to stop long.

Go figure, i throw an attempt to be thought-ful and provocative in the last post, yet no comments.

Let's go with a few other inconsistencies that make "Vote for Mike '08" the people's choice:

The current government doesn't want us to use less gas and actually conserve, although it tells us too. Reality is gas taxes create a huge revenue. If we actually, drove less what would be taxed to replace the monies?

Same thing with smoking. Although, we are told how bad it is, Smoking creates a huge revenue. That's why smoking will never be outlawed, and probably why pot is; anyone can grow pot, where would the tax revenue go? It is a weed afterall. i'm not saying pot should be legal, just why tobacco is.

We should be wary of anyone who is willing to take a pay cut for power. This reminds me of the Springsteen lyric;

poor man wanna be rich,
rich man wanna be king,
and a king ain't satisfied 'till he rules everything.

i think we've gotten a bunch of wanna rule everythings out there, and they're winning.

Egads, what a dull post!!! i need to just stop it.

Thanks for reading

Another Training Post?

maybe...since i didn't train at all last week. 4 miles total distance, was actually the least amount of running i have done in months.

i have every intention of re-committing right now. Today, i see 4 weeks of hard training, the 2 week taper, the marathon.

If things go well, i may be able to complete a run with Nitmos. We're looking at a 20 miler this weekend. Details will be worked out as the week goes.

Vote for Mike '08:

Well, i suppose i should address my main campaign issue. i am tired of inconsistent leaders of a supposed free world. Let's go with an easy one....

Pro-choice vs Pro-life

being a shades of gray, not black and white, person, i wonder, ponder....think. see blog title for reference

Isn't this really two arguments? Isn't the real questions Pro-choice vs Anti-choice and Pro-life vs. Anti-life?

i believe i am the only candidate that can tell you... i am both Pro-choice and pro-life.

Let's try a tougher, made for campaigning, drudge it out, of the closet , every 4 years issue....

Gay Marriage,

traditionalist would have us believe that the traditional marriage, one man/one woman, is a foundation that should not be messed with....

OK fine,... and i won't even mention the number of times Jesus addressed this in the gospels, for the religious right folks out there, but it looks like a round number, i mean it is a round number, big enough hint??? never mind...the number is 0 times...(maybe it really wasn't an issue then).....

...let's go back to the traditional value of marriage;

Since the romantic notion of marriage is relatively new and in contrast to the traditional value of marriage, we throw that non-traditional marriage notion out.

Since marriage is about aligning families, we go back to that. Marriages are now all arranged by fathers and many times husbands and wives now marry without ever seeing each other.

Also, traditional marriages are where daughters are offered as a peace offering to align warring nations and create a large community of peace.

O.K. that was easy we all seem to agree on marraige now, let's move on to a tougher issue.

Iraq

Well, i admit this is a hard one to settle. After all, we have two sides looking to gain political power in Iraq. On one hand, we have the Sunni's, and then the Shi'ites on the other.

i guess traditionally speaking, if only a leader had two daughters that could be used, in the traditional sense, in arranged weddings to help bring peace to all parties. A nice large wedding would be nice, and the new sense of traditional family values could bring peace.

Twins would be nice to ensure a feeling a equality.

Too bad, we don't have a traditional family values leader, with twins, willing to sacrifice said family members to bring the peace.

Are you folks out there getting the metaphorical use of marriage vs war, traditional vs non-traditional values, and stuff? .....Please don't tell me you only been taking this in, on the literal level.....not to mention a world leader un-willing to ask his own children to fight for a war, that he has no problems asking other parents to encourage their children to sign up for....

Vote for Mike '08

Thanks for reading

Go Wings!!!!!

O.K. the obligatory, move on from scandal and redirect to sports stuff, damage control to the campaign is complete.

"Vote for Mike '08" moves forward....

remember to mention campaign slogan....

"i can't do any worse than anyone else!!!"

Back to running, this is a running blog???...

This is turning into my worst week ever for running. It's the weather and other life stuff getting in the way. Mostly the weather.

i knew to expect a cold winter, and mentally i was good, but....c'mon now, it's April 12th and it rained, hailed and blew winds at 20+ mph yesterday.

So i missed yesterdays 8 mile, speed workout. Saturday is a 20 miler, but i have a meeting all morning for Rotary and i bartend that night. Maybe i'll get it in Sunday???

But that'll take all my weekend time, and i need to be a little bit of a father too.

After a little personal debate, i have added another bayshore marathoner to my list of bloggers. Ken is a bit of a blogger-of-a-blogger, but he looks like an experienced runner and newbie's like me, need to find as many as seasoned runners as they can.

i also noticed that Ken appears to be an east-sider, it's a detroit thing, this may be a potential training buddy.

i've 4 more weeks of hard training to hit for the bayshore, then the taper.

thanks for reading

And now to add to the scandal...

Here are the few more pictures I promised.

Mike & Scott circa 2004. It's 3:12am ~ think they were drinking?

Mike & Scott NYE 2005

Mike & Scott NYE 2005 trying to make it a threesome with an unwilling Drew

Mike with a still not so willing Drew NYE 2006 ~ sensing a trend here?

And now the probably most damaging picture to his whole campaign....

What the hell are you doing??????

Now I'm sure Mike is probably totally thrilled that I have access to his blog!

Love you honey ~ Fun Guv

Scandal Rocks the "Vote for Mike '08" Campaign Trail...

But first a running update.....

...and a Happy Easter wish and a late happy Passover wish...

...or why michiganders don't do winter marathons.

It snowed here. Yep, in the midst of true Tiger spirit, i also called off a run/game due to cold weather. After the week priors 80+ days, see picture of playing in the street trying to help Mack play tennis, we were back in the 26 degree area with wind chill in the teens. Of course blizzard conditions too, and not the yummy DQ treats either.

So my 30 mile planned week became 21. i'm okay with the change, and i did try to go 16 saturday. After 7 miles, at a 9 minute pace, in the 20 mile pace wind, and 100 yards of visibility from snow, and almost being hit twice, i quit. i wasn't tired. i was cold.

i'm not even going to try to make up the miles. i'm just going to move on...

Movin' On

Scandalous as it may be, my friends and earnst-while campaign supporters have rocked the campaign with your favorite candidate in unflatteringly, sexists, photos...

To bring everything out in the open. Yes, potential voters, it's true...

...i'm a boob man.

Here i am, a true, honest candidate. To prove it, i'll even help to bring to a close; the scandal.....

The evidence...






i also like beer in the morning. Great evidence to also...why i run, (and LISA, too). Animal once wasn't completely gay, i mean gRay....when were those short shorts ever in fashion




But, there's more.... in a photo named "never change" by the recipiant of attention...




So yes, i like boobs...and admit to many other pictures of similar nature.....

....and just to show that i am an equal opportunity boob man.







what's a little twist between friends? Notice Animal is a little gayer, a mean gRayer, damn you freud, but he does seem torn between me and the lovely Miss Tessmacher, sitting at our left. Notice clever placement of his left arm and "WATER" bottle, Damn you Freud

So there you are. The first scandal of the "vote for mike '08" trail.

Thank goodness i haven't had to address the number of pictures taken of me kissing people not named Fun Guv. But somehow she's always the one taking said pictures

Thanks for Reading

Interview with an Animal, Part 3

The final two questions. This is rather interesting. i had completed the post once and due to idiot use of internet, me, i lost the post prior to saving it as a draft. So here i am writing it a second time. It's just a little rant out of frustration.

Anyway, yesterday the snow started again, yippee...

So my 7 mile run turned ugly. The wind was strong out of the west and the run took a little longer than normal, but i still finished in under one hour, the good. The bad was the cold, and wind chill was back. The difference in stride length in the cold, is quite a shock, but i managed to finish in good shape. The ugly, my calves, man, playing tennis with Mack the day before really gives them no rest.

Anyway on to the next question:

What three things do i enjoy most about camping?

it's tough to narrow this down. Camping, for me, is the one time a year, i can really relax on vacation. It's just the lack of a clock. i don't wear a watch ever, but camping means no cell phone, no schedule, no special sites to see.

It's also a time to spend with kids, and acting like a kid. Cooking on an open fire, roasting s'mores, the smell, the open air, being outside, getting caught in the rain, trying to dry out after the rain. i love it all.

Exploring nature trails, showing the kids how to find salamanders under old logs, getting lost in the woods.

Hanging out in the beach, enjoying the water, the sun

Having a beer

The three best things have got to be:

Spending time with the family
Spending time with friends, who are closer than family
Spending time, being a kid again, if only for a few innocent days

If you could take back one stupid thing you ever did, what would it be?

Nothing. i tend to not look back and wish i had done things differently. i really like to reflect on the past and use errors to make new choices but i wouldn't change a thing.

Let's say, for sake of argument, i was able to change my departure from Traverse City. Well, although my relationship with Allison would be better, i wouldn't have my relationship with Fun Guv, or Mack, or Jimmy, or my friends that i hold so dear. The distance would be too much.

i wouldn't have been able to follow my current career, and would not be the man i am today. Not that this is nessecarily a good thing, but it is who i am, and i think i like myself.

So, i try to reflect on the stupid things with the same joy as the smart things, which is good, cause the stupid things outnumber the non-stupid.


Recent reads revisited


Ironic, but with the last answer i would like to add another book that greatly affected me. Based solely on the book itself




The most significant anti-war book ever written.

Try reading this little bit from it. Scary



Banned during WWII, because of fear that it would prevent young men from enlisting.

The movie was used in the "One" video. Although the movie is difficult to find, directed by Trumbo, it does ask the question?

"what is democracy?"

"i guess it's got something to do with young men killing each other"

As powerful as the Metallica video is, the movie is ever more so.....but even that pales in comparission to reading the book, written in the voice of an extremely disabled WWI vet.

Thanks for reading, too bad, my original lost post was better

Interview with an Animal, Part 2

....but first, yesterday was a 7 mile run. Nice weather and since the Tigers lost, a good way to not dwell on a terrible beginning. Let's just say that yesterdays run was windy, but being shorter than the 20 miler, i was still going to try to pick up the pace a little. i finished about 55:45 for about an 7:55 pace.

The wind took a bit out of me at the end and the beginning was a little tighter than expected. Overall it was a good work out. I dare say, i may threaten to break 1:20 for a 10 miler this year.

Anyway on to the next interview question(s):

What's a book (or an author) that had a huge impact on your life?

How do i narrow this down to one? Authors, geesh...Hemingway, Eliot, Byron, Blake, Thomas, Shakespeare, Sagan, Rice, King....

Books....why settle there? What about short stories, and poetry?

What about the ancient plays of Greece "Sing in me, oh muse, and through me tell the story"

A more recent read with a huge impact was "A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey. Not so much for the book itself, although the style is interesting, but more for the way James was treated by Oprah. Fun Guv and i were in the studio audience at the taping of her show about this book.

James explained throughout the 2+ hr taping for the show and the Oxygen Network additional 1/2 hr segment that the book was a fictional account based upon characters he had met. Things were extended and embellished for the sake of drama in writing the book.

Yes, he had a drug problem and yes, he was an alcoholic. The book was based upon notes he had taken in rehab and the characters were based upon people he had met but the book was a memoir and not an auto-biographic account of his stay in rehab.

Of course after watching the show, none of that footage made the cut for the 40+ minutes of actual show. After watching the Oprah episode, mostly just to see if we were caught on camara, i was amazed by how the book was portrayed. It was completely different, and all should praise Oprah for showing us the book.

Poor James Frey...after the smoking gun got hold of the facts, and Oprah had Frey on for a live interview he was destroyed for misrepresenting the book.

Nothing was ever said about how the editing of the original show truly misrepresented the book.

Mr. Frey took the heat, and never threw the Oprah show under the bus, but only a few hundred people, if that many, from the original taping remember the way he portrayed the book honestly on that day.

....next question Dr.

Is it harder to run a shorter distance and really push yourself, or a longer distance at a comfortable pace?

It's totally way harder to run a short distance and push. These are the runs i reflect on my Garmin more. These runs have goals greater than just finishing. These runs force me to push harder and shorter. There is no time for walk breaks, or seeing the sights. These are work.

The work, though, allows me to really enjoy the long runs. It's a Yin/Yang relationship. The long runs are fun, filled with water and breaks, some food on the run. It's a much more enjoyable training run, but the enjoyment is due to the hard work done in the shorter faster runs.

Therefore, i find enjoyment during the faster runs as they allow for more enjoyment during the longer ones.

Emotionally, i can find great reward in a short fast run. These are the runs that establish training PR's. These runs can be euphoric with speed. Nothing is better then running 7 miles under an 8 minute pace and then hitting the last mile under 7:30.

Two more questions to go

Thanks for reading

Interview with an Animal, Part 1

Well, the good Dr has decided to try a new pseudo-blogging tag game with an interview format. He has decided to pass on a few questions for me, and as my not-so-much-running-blog, running blog wanders into a few other areas, i will be taking the next few posts to answer his 5 questions.

Secretly, it's a marketing ploy to keep bringing you back to the blog. Setting up more hits, ergo stroking my ego.

Alas, prior to answering the first, shockingly insightful question, a running update:

Last week marked the return to a 30+ mile week in a loooong time. 39 miles. Sunday, 3 miles with aforementioned Dr, Monday 8 miles, Wednesday 8 miles and Saturday......20 miles.

No runs cut short, good times....figurative and literal

Garmin has all the boring stats, but the best numbers....20 miles under 2:51. Pace 8:31....i may be able to hit the 21 mile 3 hr goal for the bayshore. It may actually be a whole hour before Nitmos runs away from my visual identification. Really, why am i concerned about watching his ass for a whole hr???....not sure myself, but it's just stuck in my head like a Sanjaya rendition of a Kink's Tune

So Saturday, i run south then east until.....i ran out of land. Damn you, Lake St Clair!!!!! i was almost to Canada. If a huge body of water isn't enough to tell you to turn around and go home, than what is????? And really, where else in the US can you run South to get to Canada???

Camel-pak bladder=2 liters, empty at same time as run ends.

30 miles this week should be a piece of cake.

Movin' On... to the highly anticipated answer to the first interview question.... and for some, the first interview question....

You get to spend the weekend at Camp David with any U.S. president, living or dead; who is it, and why?

Good start, eh? i guess the obvious answer would be Al Gore. If only that were a possiblity, but due the obvious fleecing over the americans eyes that, God Forbid, the votes in Florida were, let's say... actually counted, or the number of people denied their right to vote actually got to vote. Good thing the Supreme Court threw in their non-partisan opinion and FOX news did a great job a fair and balanced reporting...

If i was just looking to party, well i guess having a cigar with Slick Willie would be nice....JFK would be fun just to hear about Marilyn Monroe...

Assuming, i wanted to talk to a president, who i considered honest and a boon to humanitarian efforts, i would have to say....




JIMMY CARTER

What a great man. Perhaps the most under-appreciated president. He restored faith in the office after the most criminal adminstration, up to that point, in american history.

A devoutly christian president, who believed in seperation of church and state.

A man who negotiated peace, at Camp David, between Egypt and Israel.

Helped establish and actually works on Habitat for Humanity.

As a "Lame Duck" president, negotiated with Iranians to peaceful release of american hostages. Again, he showed humility and did not demand the release occur during his remaining last weeks as president to claim the victory personally. Although, he most likely wanted the release to happen sooner, his give-and-take style allowed the Iranians to feel some victory. The hostages were released the same day he left office.



A target for right wingers, who used his honesty as a sign of weakness.



What a great man, if not a great president.



Thanks for reading

O.K. enough of the hampster dance nonsense. Sorry 'bout that, just a blast from the past. But moving on to more fun things...

and i think this has made the rounds, but it's just too funny to not share.



Anyway, where have i been?

Well, i was off last week at Rotary PETS training for three days in K-Zoo.

What's PETS, well now here's a fun thing... President Elect Training Seminar. Yep, so not only am i rotarian, i also was elected the new President for the club. My social conscience knows no boundaries.

Just another example of my Vote of Mike'08 qualifications.

So, i've been gone and there may be little droppings about the great international work rotary does to eliminate Polio, and provide clean water; not to mention the local rotary clubs work within their respective communities.

Movin' On....

Due to Saturday being a Rotary Day, i missed my scheduled 20 miler. This sucks and i think i will make it up on this Saturday. This week is a scheduled 7 mile step back weekend. Well, i don't think i can step back anymore then the 20 becomming three last weekend. So, let's do it Saturday or Sunday.

At least then i will only be 7 miles behind for the two week total. i really need to focus as i seem to be cutting things too short. In reality, i am so far ahead of the first marathon plan, but i want to get a better time, so i am trying to keep my focus.

With the weather, finally, shifting, i ran Monday in the 80 degree day. Yippeeeeee!!!!! And, of course ran tooooooo fast. Nothing Painful, just a real fast, for me, under 8 minute pace, four miles followed by 4 at 8:20. Piece of Cake. Today's 8 miles will be a little slower, i promise myself.

So what else is new........

Well, Fun Guv and i have been watching documentaries lately. It's not been intentional, but so many good ones have hit our library lately. We saw;

An Inconvienient Truth , about bad spelling: Al Gore can be witty, who'da thunk it? Very candid, and i confess to being an Al Gore fan, if possible. Funny topic lately over lunch with a buisness partner was my friends firm disbelief in global warming. But ask for any true data,...well my friend didn't really have anything but right-wing opinion. At least Al had some facts.

When the Levees Broke, could be Spike Lee's greatest work. Wow!!! if you didn't see the HBO special, watch this. It's heartbreaking, honest, powerful, and loooooong!!! Too hard to watch in one sitting. Thank gawd, Spike broke it down to different Acts.

The US versus John Lennon, well this one really goes back to the video at the top here. But the nice back story, truly draws parallels to todays involvement in Iraq. Funny to see protestors 30+ years ago carrying signs to end the war, and bring the troops home or "Support our Troops". i think history has spun that protestors were anti-troops, not so. This documentary really brings home the paranoia created by using phrases like "homeland security", to gather support. The soundtrack is cool too. Ms Tessmacher, shame on you for not seeing this yet.

This Film is not yet Rated, ahhhh censorship, ...as american as apple pie. Want to see how the ratings board represents a cross section of Americana??? Not for the kids though, cause really this film avoided the voluntary ratings board, ....kinda. Lot's of deleted scenes from movies with original NC-17 ratings, that later received R ratings. Not for the folks out there who dislike violence, accurate depictions of sex, and/or marionettes defecating on each other.

That's it for now. As usual, i had a ton of other things i wanted to rant about, but..... another time perhaps.

thanks for reading

Aaaah, the classics!!!!!

Or more like a new spin on a classic.

Don't we all remember our first "joke" website?

A big hearty welcome to MIR!!!!

So in my curiousity about finding other Bayshore Bloggers looks like i've stumbled upon MIR. This is a serious runner. Check out the times for her races. Great Job!!!

And a hearty, thanks!!!, and shout out to BOB for the inspiration to try to link up other marathoners running the same race. Albeit, a wee bit smaller than Chicago. You da man.

Sorry no direct links just check on the sidebar stuff. You'll find Bob and Mir.

Saturday was a great day to run, but a little bit cold and windy here. But no snow, unlike this morning( that's another topic), and i set out as prepared as possible for an 18 mile run. i had....

Trusty Garmin ( and promised myself to go slower this week),

MP3 player,

Camel-pak, with...

2 liter of water

extra batteries

4 dollars

drivers license, in case of disaster, i had ID

4 pieces of leftover pizza from kids dinner the nite before

Cell phone, with Fun Guv's cell number ready to hit send, again in case of disaster, next of kin can be notified quicker, or what hospital to meet me at.

Brand new running shoes

Mack's Purple hat- see picture of me

long running pants, no shorts yet

Groovy Chicago Marathon jacket. So people know i mean bidness

i swear i look like a Borg when i leave the house on long runs (Star Trek Geek)

Anyone else ever feeling this way????

OK, maybe the pizza was pushing things, but i had no Gu and well, what if i needed carbs????

i blame the Dean, ultra marathoner for the idea.

Anyway, 18 miles became 16, cause they were two miles due north straight into the wind. Good enough, the Bayshore is 69 days away (yippee, i win) per countdown and what's two miles at this point? "Why it's simple rationalization, " says evil don't ever cut a run short voice?

Sorry no other stuff, or rants, but my brain has been filled with NCAA basketball stuff, although i do need to find out why so many of the newspapers carrying Ann Coulter's column just dumped her?

OK fine here it is

What a maroon...i can see why she's not a big fan of being politically correct. But good to know she can lead our armed forces in a pinch.

What a great representative of the quality U of M education available somebody sing "Hail to the Victors" Next thing they'll do is revoke AA, D'oh. Alas, the plight of the poor white americans, we've had it so hard through out history.

Maybe rehab is in her future.... it worked for "The Patriot" and "Kramer"

Thanks for reading

First Post Revisited:

Saturday, March 11, 2006

thanks to anyone who happens to stumble upon my blog. It started innocently enough as i was responding to a blog from a friend, who i am running a marathon with, regarding how she is writing a blog to document the training for said marathon. (Actually, it's the chicago one on Oct 22) I ended up creating a blog to respond.So what the hell? let's give a go and if anyone ever looks at this great. If not then o.k. too. It's sorta like a internet keroeke... kariokkee... kareoke.. for all the unpublished writers and most likely a few published writers to just babble.Which brings me to my point, or close enough to something to call it a point. Random thoughts, babble, just junk and maybe not some junk will be my topic du jour, or du bi-weekly, du whenever. etc. 'till next time
Posted by Mike at 10:16 AM

Well there it was and here i am. A year has passed since i wrote this note. i should have known it right from the start. Seems i'm not alone in the voyage of self-discovery, wanting to achieve more and push farther than previosly thought possible. (thanks, Sting)

i guess as i look back and occasionally read old post to see where i've been, i am pleasantly surprised that i have consistently improved the context of the blog. Somethings have changed, like the appearance, the counter, what i have done with development as a runner, etc.... but the consistent development of my voice, which is still developing, has been fun.

Anyway, nothing too witty to say about an anniversary, except, like most in my life, i'm a day or two late in doing anything about it.

Running Stuff: Maybe this should be health stuff, as i am beginning to really enjoy cross-training? i ran 2 miles on Monday. It was a unique occurance for mileage in the plan. Go with it. Except, Mack wanted to run with me. So i did my two, and ran a third with her at her pace. 12:00/mile, a couple walk breaks but not bad. She's still wanting to do a 5k this summer.

Last night was speed work. 7 miles total, with 3 1600's @ 7:32 pace with 800 meter cooldowns between. A couple miles getting to and from the track and, voila 7 miles.

This was the first real test and, with the wind and rain, i was set up to fail. i didn't. The 3 times were all under 7:30, or right at 7:30 (like the third and final). a few moments required a final 100m sprint, or what could have been called a sprint, and i think i came the closest that i have been yet to puking after a hard run, but it's in the books. No more running at the track for 2 weeks when i attempt 4 1600m's @ 7:32.

Other Stuff:

Soooo General Pace thinks homosexuality is immoral, indecent, whatever.... "i mean, i'm sitting here on the bench....i mean i'm sitting here on the group W bench, cause you want to know if i'm moral enough to join the army after being a litterbug"-- paraphrased for Alice's Restaurant

Cause our army has been asked to behave soooo morally.



Thank God, this soldier isn't gay. That would be immoral.

* btw...i sure this isn't the way all our soldiers behave, and this is not a "don't support the troops" moment. ...but just like a few extremists make all muslims appear scary to some people, a few moments like this can make all US troops appear scary to others

Thanks for reading

Monday Quick Hitters....

Running stuff:

Ran 29 miles last week. Too much as i made up 6 miles missed the previous weeks. i ran Sun, Mon, Wed & Sat; 6 mi, 4 mi, 6 mi (tempo 4 @ 7:50, total for 6 8:03 pace) & 13 miles (shoulda been 16 miles, oh well)

Lifted weights on Tues, and had tennis lesson on Friday, with about 200 crunches at least 4 times this week, i'm starting to feel a little better about my fitness and looking better ( i mean, i only have one direction to go) -shameless plea for sympathy.....

Running Lesson for the week, do not follow a tempo run with a long run and go out toooooo fast. Ooops, a couple contributing factors to the shortened long run, or just lame rationalizations: went too fast, dressed too many layers for spring heat, extra weight of 2 liter camel-pak, sore calves from tennis.

Part two of lesson; Burnout potential increased. i have to remember to enjoy the training and enjoy the next marathon. If i get too hopped-up on the idea of running a marathon in my home town, i could create a bad experience and a crushing emotional defeat. Relax, trust the training program, follow your own advice.

Non-Running:

Vote for Mike '08 (part 1).....Does anyone still think we did not go to war for economic reasons or that class warfare is not being waged in the good ole US of A? Bushco wants another 8000 troops to surge (escalate the war) on top of the 20000 already asked for. Same week....Haliburton decides to move corporate headquarters to.....drumroll......Dubai. Ta-daaaa!!!
(picture Drew Carey making hand gestures a la "The Aristocrats" while saying Dubai, wait...didn't you see it?)

(part 2)...FBI admits to abuses in the following of the Patriot Act, what a oxymoron of true patroitism, which led to 20,000 + (admitted) wire/phone taps of American citizens. we didn't see that one coming either...next thing....no weapons of mass destruction will be found, ...it's crazy....

(part 3)... this one leads into a little religion so i apologize, but....reading through the Bible, i have noticed that Jesus (fairly central character in the New Testament, and the Koran btw) tells his disciples, those who are not against me are with me. Rough translation, most likely, not a direct quote, a few thousand years and all....but the meaning is totally opposite of Bushco's "those who are not with me, are against me" mentality.

Still Reading the Bible:.....Scary moment of truth in Bible as i read it.....In Luke, if interested....Jesus cast out some demons and townsfolk ask...

hey, wait a minute how do we know you're not Beelzebub, and you're tricking us by casting out your own demons to gain our loyalty? Again, most likely not a direct quote, you get the gist.

Jesus responds in his very wise manner that a demon casting out other demons, would hurt their, the demons, cause. i like this passage as it shows the power of inclusion vs the destruction of division. Jesus even makes mention that a demon would divide with phrases like.... "those who are not with me, are against me"...wait.... sound familiar?...something reads deja vu -esgue....probably nothing, just ignore the feeling...it'll go away....

Yep, i'm breaking my rules for too many topics and too long of a post....massive brain dump going on here.... i mean the dump is massive, not so much...y'know...my brain.

Washington Twp: Ok... really i'm shifting gears here and not so much tongue-and-cheek, anymore. i've been watching a ton of stuff on a local, incredibly sad, tragic and horrifying murder in Washington Twp. As i have mentioned, this is thing i read about a lot, and so close to home, very scary stuff.

Essentially, although i guess this has made national news, husband reports wife missing after 5 days, she commutes to Puerto Rico, not unheard of. He gets a lawyer, doesn't share bank records with police, but he's seems to be enjoying the public eye....tv interviews, pleas to help find wife, etc....

A couple weeks go by, and friday night news breaks in with a search warrant for the home. Now really, the entire eastside metro detroit area is watching for breaking news on this odd case. People are divided on it, to this point....

...but Saturday morning, news reports wife's torso, is found in garage. Now this is all alleged and rumor, cause i want to stay impartial in case called to serve on the jury. Husband works at his dad's tool and die shop. Appartantly, his car was seen there at 4:00 am morning after the murder (why that was not reported to the police baffles me). After the horrific dismembering, body was disbursed throughout local park, and with recent snow covered. Husband goes back to retrieve torso, to avoid it being found by search parties going through the park a week prior to the search warrant. Essentially, everything else was small enough not to notice.

Husband disapears but, thank God for morons, uses his ATM card in northern Michigan and is found wandering a state park. No shoot out, and no attempted suicide (or a real lame, try to freeze to death, attempt).

So, my point, thoughts, whatever...what could have caused this? At what point does the social factors kick in? Is this a socia-path at work? Economic? Is a man whose own insecurities, with a more successful wife, the big issue? Tool-n-Die shops are hurting in this area, could work pressure play a role? Media coverage? Has this Peterson-like coverage, been due to the white upper middle class-ness of the case, while poor, and/or minority murders are ignored by the media? Was the husband given a bit of a free pass in the court of public opinion for the same reason? Up 'till the search warrant.

This isn't a sense to grasp a rationale for the murder, or justify anything. Obviously, a woman, and mother was killed, in home, allegedly, by her husband, while her children sat a few rooms away. And, we can be thankful, this didn't turn into a murder/suicide, with children as victims as well. My heart and thoughts go out to the families of both wife and husband, as both families are devastated, and to the children. 400 people showed up at a candlelight vigil outside the home recently. I believe people really do care, but.... and there's always a but with me.

Shouldn't we be just as upset about the thousands of US lives lost since the occupation of Irag? Or the estimated 650,000, dead civilian (men , woman, and children) iraqi's?

Still Reading? i think i'm done, whew...that was painful.

Thanks for reading

what's 3 more minutes? watch me.. well not me, more the metaphorical me the video, a la "Alice in Wonderland" y'know "drink me"

6 weird things about me....

but first a quick training update. i missed a 7 mile training run on Wednesday. Not something i do often, but my Rotary Club had a dinner meeting with 5 other clubs. Since i had a responsiblity to be there early to sell 50/50 tix, i missed my training run.

So do i make it up; over the next few days add a little here and there, or say "screw it" and move on?

Anyway, 6 weird things about me... thanks Animal

1. Right Angles.... not sure why, but everything on my desk is at a right angle, or 45 degrees, which i equate as a derivative of a right angle, cause two 45s make a 90.

2. i love Diane Keaton, and not entirely in a "love her work" way, but i've always thought she's incredibly attractive. Even at the tender age of 61, she looked HOT at the Oscars. LA-DEE-DA.

3. i like to use the word....Jujune. Why??? After watching "Love and Death", a Woody Allen movie starring....Diane Keaton; she used the word. We, me and roommates, had no idea what the conversation was about and had to look it up (pre-internet). Not very june of us.

4. i love to read Hemingway. This stuns me. i think his work is homophobic and racist, but i still enjoy the simplicity. Hemingway's stories about north Michigan capture the feeling of being there and i have read the Nick Adams stories over and over. There's such depth behind the simple sentences. i think i've read "The End of Something" a half dozen times throughout my life. No big deal as it's a short story. Every time i get a different feeling, in relation to my own life. No other writer has done that for me.

5. Serial killers fascinate me.... i've always had a morbid curiousity with Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Zodiac, Green River, etc.... i've read more stories on these "people" than i can remember, or even the names of all i have read about. Then Fun Guv exposed me to Ann Rule and the books she has written of true crime. The thought process of a social-path, or lack thereof..., the lack of empathy, the egocentric nature.... More on that, maybe, in another post.

6. i have no desire to meet or find out who my birthparents are.... This is a bit odd for the non-adopted folks to imagine. While i am thankful my birthmother choose to give birth to me, i am also thankful she opted to give me away. Most adoptees are portrayed in movies/TV as people who want to find out their history. i've met other adopted people who have met their birth parents and it never goes well. i prefer to keep Pandora's Box closed in this case.

Anyway, as it took me too long to update this post, as i had to filter out the really weird things about me, just to get to the palatable ones, don't expect another long delay in posting. i have a week of training to update (for those interested) and a preparation for a big one year anniversary of blogging.

Sunday is a 4 mile run in Detroit. It's a little pre-St Pat's thing, any body want to join me? Starts at noon. Anyone....anyone??? Registration is at old Tiger Stadium....

Thanks for reading