I guess I'll stop my bitching

OK, remeber a couple days ago, was complaining about how I was supposed to rest for a couple days.

Well....Um....Huh...

Someone just got their training schedule for next month.

I take back everything I said.

I love the idea of a couple of rest days.

Evidently, training for back to back marathons takes running a several consecutive days.

And not just a mile or two.

Go figure!

My schedule for the next 10 days...

Fri - rest
Sat - run 26.2 * Olathe marathon
Sun - run 15 * Brew to brew relay
Mon - run 10 *Royals home opener
Tues - run 6
Wed - swim 1 mile and lift weights
Thurs - run 6
Fri - run 6
Sat - run 10
Sun - rest *at least I get Easter off

I know people who don't drive that far in a week.

But searching for a bright side, I guess I won't have to worry much about consuming a few extra calories at Taco Bueno next week.

BUENO! (crap) BUENO! (crap) BUENO!

Is it a dream or a nightmare.

I just heard an unconfirmed web rumor that a Taco Bueno is opening at 135th and Blackbob in Olathe tomorrow - three miles from my lab.

Sweet!

No!

Crap!

My heart is torn.

Since Monday, I have been documenting everything I have consumed (all the way down to the blow-pop I had on Tuesday). It's funny how aware you are of what you consume when you write it down. I hope to do this for two weeks so I can get a full nutritional assessment aka criticism) and see where my diet can be improved.

Because I am writing stuff down, I am trying hard to eat the right foods.

But with a Taco Bueno 10 minutes from work, I might as well throw my food diary out the window.

Or at least start a new chapter.

Two days of nothingness

I am about to tackle my longest training weekend in preparation for my back-to-back marathons in the end of April. I get to run a "training run" marathon in Olathe this Saturday and then will run approximately 15 miles of the brew-to-brew relay on Sunday.

Essentially, it is the inverse Goofy Challenge.

Amazingly, I think I am ready for it.

But, as Tom Petty once said, "the waiting is the hardest part".

As part of the waiting, I have had back-to-back rest days. Now anyone that knows anything about me knows the worst thing you can do to me is tell me not to do anything for 48 hours. I thrive on the endorphins that come from running, etc. When I rest, I get grouchy.

Still, I thought I did pretty good resting. Yesterday, the only I did that might be remotely considered "not resting" is play 2 hours of pretty intense tennis. Tonight, I trimmed all the shrubs in my yard and took down a 20 foot tall tree in my back yard (and fortunately, this time I took the tree out without the benefit of a chainsaw slicing my leg open resulting in some 20-odd stitches which did happen the last time I tackled a similar project).

So all in all, I think I have done a decent job resting AND avoiding injury.

Rocky Mountain High

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted.

Sorry.

Life has been happening.

Between March Madness, St. Patrick's Day, TNT fundraisers and a little family ski vacation to Beaver Creek, I just haven't had the time.

But that all changes this weekend. I am in taper mode for the Olathe Marathon and all I really have to do is watch basketball, clean my house and do my taxes. So that should leave me plenty of time to write about an incredible long and fun St. Pats Day and skiing in 60 degree weather.

But before I get back to the game, I need to know the answer to the following question.

If I run 6.2 miles in the mountains at 9500 feet, how many miles is would that equal in Kansas City?

Isn't it ironic

So we had our monthly TNT meeting at a local hostpital. There was another meeting going on in the room across the hall, also starting at 6. While putting up the Team in Training signs, the organizers of the other meeting commented that if they saw anyone looking lost, they would send them our way.

Naturally, we wondered how those nice ladies would be able to tell the TNT members from those going to attend their meeting.

And then we saw the purpose of their meeting.

Surgical Weight Loss.

Ironic. Just a bit?

Understand, I am one of several TNT runners that could afford to lose a couple dozen pounds. I said that when I first started running marathons. I said that when I trained for ironman. I am saying that now. Koach Karl is still hoping one day I find my "potential"

And I do know what it takes to lose weight. My problem is and always has been I like tasty food and Dr Pepper and the occasional beer. That being said, I have dropped 8 pounds since giving up (most) fried food and (most) soda over the past 3 weeks. I have also increased my physical output. I have even had my second tossed salad w/ cajun chicken breast in as many.

It's amazing how easy weight loss can be.

Losing weight is a simple equation.

Calories burnt > Calories ingested

It does take dicipline and the willingness to make changes for more than a month here and there.

Surgery shouldn't factor into the equation.

But evidently, this is the only solution for some people. I think its great that these people are taking what, for them, could be the first step to a healthier life.

What I don't understand is why that first step has to be having someone drop them off at the door instead of parking their car and walking the extra 50 yards across the lot to the meeting.

The Gym

OK, many of you know the part of training I like the least is working out at the gym.

Any time I am at the gym lifting, the only thing I can really think about is the scene in Fletch where Fletch F Fletch tells the two dectctives "Hey, why don't you guys go down to the gym and pump each other."

I laugh at the meatheads in the gym. And I mock them because I can. I just don't have any desire to do culs with 100 pound dumbells. Of course, they would probably say the same about marathons and triathons.

But at least I get to train outside.

Inside sucks. Give me sun and fresh air any day.

Face it. Lifting weights is boring. Running on a treadmill is boring. The eliptical is boring. Why anyone would want to spend 10 minutes, let alone an hour at the gym on a day like today blows my mind. Swimming is only fun because there is that built in danger of drowning .

Today was sunny and 70. It was a little breezy, but other than that, it was perfect. It was perfect for running, biking, taking Shiner to the dog park, spending a couple hours on a patio at the local bar and grill with friends, and, well, going to the gym.

I managed to squeeze in a 3 mile run and a 2 mile walk in the dogpark. I even let Shiner get in the lake. Then, after eating a big healthy chicken salad for dinner (which I am sure will be blogged about again tomorrow after my 4 miles of hills), I forced myself up to the gym for a 1/2 hour of fun and exciing lifting dumbbells over my head and crunching my abs together repeatedly.

And speaking of abs, this brings up my burning questions of the night. Do crunches make any one else out there in blogland fart?

4: Major League

note: This was supposed to be the second of my 6 favorite baseball movies, but after serious consideration, I decided although The Naked Gun has more than 20 minutes of "baseball" time, it really can't be considered a "baseball movie", Major League thus gets bumped up to the number 4 slot.

At one time, Major League was my favorite baseball movie. But I think this is a movie you can watch too many times. Most comedies are like that.

And I think I saw this movie too many times growing up.

Still, it has some of the greatest one-liners of all time. We know them. We love them. We laugh when we hear them. We still quote them.

"How's your wife and my kids"
"You put snot on the ball?"
Let me get back to you, will ya, Charlie? I got a guy on the other line asking about some white walls."
"You may run like Mays but you hit like shit."
"Too high. It's too high."
and on and on and on.

Honestly though, what makes this movie is Harry Doyle, played by major league announcer and comedian Bob Uecker. The man was great. I still laugh at many of his on-field descriptions. He is as funny in person as he is on the big screen.

And even though I may have seen this movie too many times, I still find myself stopping on it as I flip through the channels.

Coming or going

I try hard not to complain about work because I really do have a good job and not many people can sit around drinking beer at happy hour with co-workers talking about that "cirrhotic liver we rocked on the other day".

I was supposed to work with a liver tonight but it missed the plane.

So now I have to work tomorrow. This isn't a bad thing, but I was looking forward to a day off tomorrow. I kind of need it.

Lately at work I don't know if I am coming or going. I get to the lab and there is some new project or problem that is waiting on me. Some of these are my responsibility, others because I have the knowledge to solve the issue and the rest because no one else really knows what to do with them so they appear on my desk.

I then get to prioritize. And I suck at prioritizing because there isn't anything I can't do and I love the multi-tasking and having all sorts of deadlines and pressure building and nothing beats the "look at what all I accomplished" feeling during annual reviews.

Only what do I do when a particular project isn't going the way I anticipated?

I delegate (of course) and make it someone elses problem.

I only wish it were that easy.

Nope. I swim.

Why?

Because there is nothing else that I know of that isolates you like being in a pool swimming laps. There is no TV to watch. No i-pod. You can't really spend your time chatting with the girl in the lane next to you.

Nope.

It's just you and your thoughts.

Today, I spent 50 minutes in the pool thinking about this experiment that is making my life hell.

Did I come up with that brilliant solutions to solve the lab issue?

Nope!

But it sure made the 1.5 miles I swam tonight fly by.

The good, the bad and the ugly

Yes, I admit I stole the theme of this post from Bold, but this is about the only way to describe my 1o miler today.

The Good: I ran 10 miles today (actually 10.6 miles, but that last 0.6 miles really isn't important and I don't know why I am even stressing that I ran 10.6 miles and not 10 miles).

It was good because the 10.6 mile run this afternoon came after a 10 mile run yesteday and 1.5 hours of racquetball this morning. So my legs were tired. I really didn't have a lot of energy going into it and I finished averaging an 11:47/mile pace. Considering the hills on the course, having to stop and wait at intersections and that I was slowed the last 2.5 miles by balancing out the need to poop with speed, I was pleased with the results.

The Bad: I chose a hilly course. Lamar seems much flatter when I am in my car driving to Chipotle. The run from house to Roe Park takes me into the Indian Creek watershed so, not only did I have to deal with the hills on Lamar when running towards the creek, the return run was mostly uphill.

The Ugly: And this is super-ugly. I have never had chafing issues with runs under 12 miles until today. And these are not your run of the mill, just a little inconvenient pain chafing I am talking about. It is the stinging to the point where running water over these areas hurts so much you choose not to wash the area with soap while in the shower sort of chafing. I won't go into detail about the exact area that chafed because I try to keep this blog PG-13, but let's just say I am currently sitting on the area that chafed. And it hurts.

Water, water, everywhere...

OK, so during the first day of my soda-free in KC month of March, I did a little calculation.

In order for me to get the same fullness and satisfaction from water as I do from my beloved Dr. Pepper, I need to drink approximately four times as much water.

I really don't think I can afford to spend that much time going to the bathroom at work.

Does anyone know where I can pick up some of those extra-duty diapers that crazy NASA chick was wearing?