Some of you know me well, some very well, some only a little.
I think that even the folks who know me a very little know that I'm happiest when occupied. I'm also very content when striving for seemingly unattainable goals. That said, I typically have a couple side projects going in my life.
- Most know that me and Lisa (the wife) have another kiddie on the way - a boy! We are due late January 2009.
- All of you know I'm running the NYC marathon on Nov 2nd.
- All of you know I'm soliciting donations for my favorite charity right now :)
- Not many know but, I also am finishing a basement room (previously an unfinished work room) into a full-on bedroom for guest - because the 4th bedroom will become babies room and we still need a guest room.
ON that subject - I've been able to do the demolition of what was in there previously, framed the room with 2x4 studs, replaced a window with an energy efficient one, relocated all the wiring and also partially insulated (as of yesterday).
While running provides some level of stress relief and balance, doing home improvement provides somewhat of an artistic outlet as well.
Not sure why I'm sharing this with the world per se - guess I'm just overly proud of what we are accomplishing as a family lately (I say this because both my son and daughter and also my wife are helping build this room).
busy, busy :)
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Each time there is something new....
Each time I think about running these days I dread the next one... It's getting harder and harder to get motivated as I get towards the end of my 18 week training schedule (which was preceded by something like 12 weeks of half marathon training if you remember..).
That said, each time I drag my sore muscles and bones onto the nearest road or trail something new happens.
Generally I see something that stops me nearly in my tracks (like the beautiful afterglow of the sunset in the west over the Rockies tonight - very orange and black :). Other times I run faster than I expected up some hills I used to think were tough and gnarly - again just like tonight.
Mostly, the outcome of each run (that only seems like something new) is the stress relief or balancing effect it has.
For instance, I sat in a meeting at work today that just went on and on and generally frustrated me to no end because it seemed very much pointless. Add to this the fact that the stock market dropped another 500 points today and you have the makings of a distracted father of 2 (soon to be 3!) - at the very least.
Tonight I ran a 6 mile loop starting at home and figured I would suffer dramatically from border-line intense soreness (lactic acid build-up) in my calves. Umm, not so much really... I ran something like a 9:30 minute mile throughout.. (my race pace is a 9 minute mile)... weird, but very good. Also, I noticed that I'm running the hills faster and with less effort even. Then there was the sunset.
Problems solved for the day really. All the stress melted away on the run honestly.
And yes, the sunset literally stopped me in my tracks at the end of my run as I was cooling down :)
Ever dread going out to run? From runners I generally hear that 99% of the times they dreaded it and still found a way to go out and run, it was worth it when they came back with more energy and less stress.
That said, each time I drag my sore muscles and bones onto the nearest road or trail something new happens.
Generally I see something that stops me nearly in my tracks (like the beautiful afterglow of the sunset in the west over the Rockies tonight - very orange and black :). Other times I run faster than I expected up some hills I used to think were tough and gnarly - again just like tonight.
Mostly, the outcome of each run (that only seems like something new) is the stress relief or balancing effect it has.
For instance, I sat in a meeting at work today that just went on and on and generally frustrated me to no end because it seemed very much pointless. Add to this the fact that the stock market dropped another 500 points today and you have the makings of a distracted father of 2 (soon to be 3!) - at the very least.
Tonight I ran a 6 mile loop starting at home and figured I would suffer dramatically from border-line intense soreness (lactic acid build-up) in my calves. Umm, not so much really... I ran something like a 9:30 minute mile throughout.. (my race pace is a 9 minute mile)... weird, but very good. Also, I noticed that I'm running the hills faster and with less effort even. Then there was the sunset.
Problems solved for the day really. All the stress melted away on the run honestly.
And yes, the sunset literally stopped me in my tracks at the end of my run as I was cooling down :)
Ever dread going out to run? From runners I generally hear that 99% of the times they dreaded it and still found a way to go out and run, it was worth it when they came back with more energy and less stress.
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