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

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

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

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.

"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

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

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

"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

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!

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

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

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

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

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....

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

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!!!!

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

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

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

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