Friday, November 25, 2011

Happy Gastric Recovery Day!

Ah yes, the day when a slice of pie is a socially acceptable breakfast, and a volumetrically
 attractive option to a typical meal.  "A whole bowl of cereal?  Are you nuts?  That can't possibly fit in here.  Now a slice of pie on the other hand..."  Same calories at a fourth of the space; thank you, density.


My breakfast was actually two leftover crescent rolls and a coffee, not because I don't consider the traditional a good idea, but because I'm gearing up for a run.


I ran yesterday, too.  When I announced to some friends Wednesday night that I would be running in the morn I was assailed with disdain and shunning.  "You're going to go running on Thanksgiving?  I'm pretty sure that's un-American."  My Americentric response back was, "Yeah, but if I go running in the morning I'll be hungrier and then I can eat more."  That seemed to assuage their McCarthyism.  However, while that statement is true, my reasons for running were much more sinister: I just like to run.


We know from previous posts that I don't always want to go run, and some days I make myself go run, but most days I genuinely enjoy it, and I rarely regret running after I get back.  Doing the better part of eleven miles enhanced my holiday not because I felt better after doing it, nor because I felt less guilty about having two Thanksgivings (Goncus at noon and Wolfe at five), but because I had fun roaming about the countryside.


I would like to mention something before I am again accused of being mentally challenged.  Eleven miles in the grand scheme of things is not all that far (ref. http://schizorunnia.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-land-distance-record.html).  But something I forgot to mention in that post is it's all about the pace.


Running three miles all-out is much harder than running eleven miles at the slow plod I was geared at yesterday.  At least physically, anyway.  Mentally it may take some adjustment, but at a certain point you can run forever if you just slow down.  Because I was more worried about enjoying myself yesterday than getting in a good workout, I didn't stress over my speed.  I went at a completely comfortable pace; the only moderately painful part was the hills in the last mile that are an unavoidable consequence of running from the in-law's house.  See the diabolical cul-de-sac:



View 2011-11-24 08:18 in a larger map


And now that my small breakfast is digested and this post is done, it's time for some more.  If I find anything exciting, I'll let you know =)




Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Still running!

Hello, sports fans!  I'm still alive and still running, thanks mostly to a milder than normal autumn here in northwestern Ohio.  I've never been psycho enough to gear up all through the winter to run outside, but we'll see if I do that this year.  It doesn't snow that much around here usually (and sadly), so it might be possible.


I'm not running quite as much throughout the week, instead splitting off some of my time to go lifting, but I'm still getting out for some long runs every 1-2 weeks.  This weekend I did a ten-miler.  Around thirty minutes in I did something I haven't done for a long time; the infamous Vibram Toe Snag.


After dislodging my toenail from the hole I opened up I assessed my situation and, since it didn't hurt too bad and it wasn't bleeding, decided to do the last hour.  Of course, at around the sixty-minute mark I looked down and saw this situation, which I photographed when I got home:


Again?  I just washed these!


Doh.  Close ups for your viewing pleasure:





Oh well.  At any rate, I gave them a wash, sewed up the hole a bit and then slathered it with that stuff that dead guy used to sell:


Requiescat in pace, Billy Mays.