Last month, I set a goal of burning 20,000 calories in August. I did it. Two days ago, I realized I was under 50 biking miles short of 400 for the month (100 per week average... that's a good milestone). Never mind I was fighting off some sickness or allergy and couldn't even work (took a half day today)... I did it. Smart? Nah. Driven? Yes. Dumb? Yes. The monthly totals...
26.94 miles run. Fewer than last month. I really need to work on this, but biking is eating a lot of time. Highlighted by a 20:46 5k in the start of the month and lowlighted by a walking effort at a 4.5mi race.
402.75 miles biked. Previous best was 232.95. I really redefined myself as a cyclist this month (instead of a runner). I've picked up a few miles per hour on all my rides; 20mph for a 30-miler is not much of a task (when I started a few months ago, 16 was a task). This distance would have gotten me to Boston.
3 miles in the pool. I lost a lot of time here due to a back injury that kept me sidelined for a good two weeks.
Total calories burned? 24,331 or 7lbs. I lost only 3lbs or so and didn't eat particularly badly so my body fat percentage has likely taken a dive. My previous best month was only 19k calories in August of 2008. The biggest thing? I accomplished my goal of losing 11lbs, which I set in the beginning of May... I ended up losing 13 instead
I really need to get to the gym more next month... I lost of a lot of strength due to the back injury... At $15/visit last month, it wasn't very economical.
Next month? No goals other than not putting any weight back on. I'm traveling for approximately half the month and will be out of town every weekend... Mileage numbers will tumble, but what can ya do? I've worked my "butt" off (literally) for the past four months; time to vacation and reward myself.
Ungh... Was so close to hitting the 175 mark and then this weekend happened. BBQ on Friday night, which included a couple beers and far too many chips... Beer Garden on Saturday night, which was again a few beers and a sandwich at 11pm... Delhi Dhaba Sunday buffet on Sunday afternoon, which turned painful... Damn me. Scale shows I added two pounds... WHAT HAVE I DONE!?
I sabotaged myself... that's what I did.
Going to put in a good eating effort today and tomorrow, and hope I can pull the weight back off.
I think I'm getting sick to boot... Michael, good job at taking care of yourself... idiot.
No joke. No, I don't think it will change my outlook on religion. Yes, I hope to learn something. No, most religious folk have no idea what's inside it, but they believe, and that's all that counts in the end, right? That's just so darned convenient, eh?
Starting with the gospels of Mark and Luke. If I still have interest after those, I'll soldier on. My iPad says this thing is 8000 pages... Unf!
Yesterday marked the two-week mark since I last saw/killed a bug in my apartment. Over the past few months, we've come a long way; I was killing 10-20 in the first few weeks.
I had some traps out, and I had maintenance come in to spray, but I have to think me squishing them incessantly is what did the trick.
The previous tenants of this place must have been slobs... I leave plates in the sink (no dishwasher) for days at a time and it wasn't enough to keep the buggies going. I cringe to think how disgusting they must have been.
Eating dinner with the parents last night, we were discussing a family friend who had been rained out of a session of golf and received a rain check to make it up.
Made me wonder... That's a much more fitting use of the term than at the grocery store or K-Mart (where I think I first heard it as a child). So I had to look up the etymology...
The quick: it's from baseball. When a game was rained out back in the day, you'd be issued a rain check. Nowadays, with the fancy barcodes and all, you just have to show up with your existing ticket. Silly technology...
The friend league draft is complete. I'm working on putting together a work league, but it doesn't seem to be panning out; too many nerds
This year, we decided to make it a keeper league. We'll hold onto two players after the season, which will be in lieu of our draft picks from their round +2 (a guy I kept from the 3rd round this year eats my 1st round pick next year). I chose a VERY young team with this in mind.
Out of the hat, I got the 2nd spot in the draft. Normally, I hate being on the end, but I've never drafted so early/had a guaranteed good player. I didn't want Chris Johnson because historically nobody has a good season after running as much as he did last year... so AP fell into my lap... I can't complain.
This league is 1QB, 2RB, 3WR, 1W/R, 1TE, 1K, 1DEF so you really need a lot of wide-outs.
Overall, the draft seemed really shallow. We all agreed that after the 5th round or so, there were very few players of interest remaining.
As you'll see, I took A LOT of gambles, but I also drafted pretty smart with not picking a QB until late (unless you get one of the top 2, they're all the same), and the same with the tight-end and kicker position (I have yet to even get a kicker... will wait to see if anyone gets injured in the preseason).
Adrian Peterson (RB)
DeSean Jackson (WR) - Hoping he has the same chemisty with Kolb as he did with McNabb.
Greg Jennings (WR) - I see a huge year.
Michael Crabtree (WR) - Huge gamble.
Arian Foster (RB) - Huge gamble.
Vincent Jackson (WR) - Huge gamble.
Kevin Kolb (QB) - This was actually an auto-pick. I ran out of time. I wanted Flacco or McNabb, and I could have gotten them much later, but it could have been a lot worse than Kolb.
Jets (DEF) - This goes against everything I stand for. I typically get a new DEF every week depending on their matchup, but I was really disinterested in all the remaining players.
Jerome Harrison (RB)
Visanthe Shiancoe (TE) - Really happy with getting him this late.
Josh Cribbs (WR) - Huge potential upside. David was really angry I took him.
Donnie Avery (WR)
Sam Bradford (QB) - Yes I did. Keeper league. Could be a dirt cheap keeper next year.
Chris Chambers (WR) - I've had him a few times. Nobody respects him.
Todd Heap (TE) - Always good to keep solid TEs off the waivers.
Vince Young (QB) - Assuming Bradford doesn't do squat this year.
Thoughts? Overall, I feel pretty good. I have a lot of gambles, but I also have a lot of sure things in case they don't pan out.
In Week 1, I'm predicted to put up SOLID numbers and win without even adding a kicker.
Not only do I play a mean game of Risk, but I also have a coworker from "the place." I was shoot him an e-mail today and found myself using the name of "the place," but wanted to get the proper usage.
As most of you know, I need to know how everything works, and am also a grammar nazi... This can probably be summarized best as "I like to be right." I look A LOT of stuff up. Today, I was faced with using "toward" or "towards." I always use "toward," but I didn't know why, or if it was even correct.
Working with quotes - Aside from myself, I rarely come upon someone who uses punctuation around quotes correctly.
I'm assuming everyone reading my blog already has a grasp on "your vs. you're," "their vs. they're vs. there," "its and it's," "too vs. to," and "affect vs. effect" so I won't bother with links to them. If you don't, please stop reading my blog; we can't be friends
On my ride this morning, as I passed many a bike commuter, I began thinking about commuting... And how I don't know anybody who has it better than me... And how some folks spend more than an hour each day just getting to and from work. I used to be one of those folks, but never again... Unless someone pays me way too much to do it. I've done the math...
So I was thinking about those poor folk who haven't come to the same conclusion as me... And I realized that two pairs of them actually live together and work either in the same building or very close to each other, yet all drive separately. That's right... WTF? I've asked them about it before, and it's because their schedules don't always align.
I like math...
We'll figure 30 miles = $15 per person per day ($.50 is the government rate). If you drive together, you save $15 on 200 days of the year. That's $3k in savings. Ouch.
We'll figure an hour commute (sometimes less, sometimes more, sometimes far more) = 1 hour per person per day. If you drive together, you save 1 hour per day on 200 days of the year (I consider sitting as a passenger a lot more enjoyable than driving... your mileage may vary). That's 100 hours each. The average person is awake 16 hours per day. 200/16 = 12.5 full days that you're wasting by not driving together.
Now I understand that you may think having to wait around 15 or 30 minutes here and there when your schedules don't align is a pain, but is that pain really going to be equivalent to $3000 and 12.5 [shared] days? I don't think it comes even close.
And then there's the whole green aspect, but let's not even tack that on. Let's just leave it at... I'm a big fan of using less oil and having one less car clogging up the roadways.
So... What would you do with 6 free days and $1500?
Well... If any race this season warrants the "Race:" title, this would be it.
What was going against me:
Went to bed way too late.
Didn't even want to run the race as there was no glory to be had; even if I performed well, the series championship, which I've won each of the last three times it's been awarded, was all based on another runner showing up... And he did...
Followed my race on Saturday with one of my longest rides ever on Sunday.
Giant blisters from Saturday.
Still sore from Saturday (ran in my "Free" shoes, which really tire your feet on uneven surfaces).
Ate light all day; trying to lose a couple pounds.
Helped setup the race for 2.5hrs beforehand.
I haven't run 4.5 miles in 11 months.
What happened:
Did a warmup and knew I was in trouble.
Started well, but knew I was in trouble.
Got through 2.5 miles, but knew I was in big trouble.
Then the water stop came and stop I did. For a few minutes... I had no energy in me... I have been having this feeling in all the 5ks I've done this summer, but with the knowledge that they'd be over in just a few minutes, I've been able to soldier on. Knowing I had two miles left? My brain turned the engine off.
Then I walked for about 15 seconds... I've never walked in a race.
Then I slowly jogged in for a final time of... I don't even know, I was really not interested. I think about 38:00? Roughly 8:26 pace. Edit: 37:26 (8:19 pace, a decent pace for a regular run at this stage for me).
I walked... a first for me. I feel ashamed, but know I shouldn't as I'm not even training for running, and I had plenty stacked against me today. But hell... Embarrassing. Extra embarrassing because a coworker had come out to cheer me on at the finish (Thanks anyway, Josh et al!)... I wish I hadn't started, and will know better next time.
