"Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast, a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for natural land and the west; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still there... Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards."
-Ed Abbey
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Run Log 2/4-2/5
I decided to go ahead and post runs whenever I can in order to cut down on the amount of time needed in one sitting after a week or so in order to log them.
Monday 2/4 - 58:00 (7.5 miles)
Ran the first mile with the Monday night group at Fleet Feet. Nice and easy. I left the group at that point and finished up the last 6.5 on my own. Felt pretty good. Nothing exciting.
Tuesday 2/5 - 1:52:20 (14 miles)
Went to Shelby Farms in the afternoon to get in a good trail run. What a difference 19 hours can make. I felt like crap. It was 75 degrees and humid. Miserable. Despite the misery, I enjoyed two laps of the Tour de Wolf and then some to round it out. Rushed home afterwards to prepare for the impending Hurricane Bubba tonight.
Monday 2/4 - 58:00 (7.5 miles)
Ran the first mile with the Monday night group at Fleet Feet. Nice and easy. I left the group at that point and finished up the last 6.5 on my own. Felt pretty good. Nothing exciting.
Tuesday 2/5 - 1:52:20 (14 miles)
Went to Shelby Farms in the afternoon to get in a good trail run. What a difference 19 hours can make. I felt like crap. It was 75 degrees and humid. Miserable. Despite the misery, I enjoyed two laps of the Tour de Wolf and then some to round it out. Rushed home afterwards to prepare for the impending Hurricane Bubba tonight.
Is That Garlic I Smell?
The amount of pregnancy books that can be found at any bookseller is absolutely overwhelming. There's a title for every individual who might be or is pregnant. From the essential "What To Expect When You're Expecting" to "How Babies Wreck Your Life - A Loving Parent's Story", it's all there. The idea is to prepare one for any situation that might arise and thus create better parents. There's also the motivation of the author to simply sell books regardless of how pertinent the information is, but that's neither here nor there. The books explain the entire process in great detail. First trimiester, expect A, B, and C; second trimester, expect D, E, and F; and so on. With all this information at your fingerprints, how could there be any surprises? Well, there are surprises. Mine has come in the form of garlic body odor.
Let me begin by pointing out that I do not eat very much garlic nor do I wear it in an attempt to keep approaching vampires at bay. I enjoy the occasional garlic in Itlaian dishes and possibly some garlic butter if Papa John's is in order. Despite my low garlic intake over the years, apparently it has been enough to leave me with a cloud of garlic body odor that cannot be contained. The part I'm having trouble understanding is the fact that the only person who thinks I smell like garlic is my beautiful wife, Stacey. Now, in her defense, maybe my family and friends are trying to keep from hurting my feelings. "Man, did you notice Feb smells like garlic something fierce?" "Yeah, I did. Don't say anything though, he might cry." That's just one potential conversation.
The garlic accusations reached their height when I returned home from a run last week. I had a great run, a comfortable 7 miler through the neighborhoods. The thoughts of fatherhood, music, and a life of simplicity danced through my head as the endorphins made it impossible to keep from smiling. I entered the house from my run to find Stacey relaxing on the couch and watching television. Excited to see her, I approached the couch to give her a kiss on the forehead like all good husbands do. I might have gotten within three feet of her before she shot me the most horrified look of disgust I think I've seen. I smelt like garlic. Not just a clove of garlic, but the whole truckload. I guess the sweat permeated the living room with the pungent smell. "I can beat this" I thought. I rushed to the bathroom and took the most aggressive shower I'd ever taken. We're talking Ultimate Showering Championships here. I even took the time to wash and condition my beard. I decided to scrub until my skin burned or the scrubbie thing dissolved, whichever came first. I exited the shower pround of my efforts and beaming with self confidence. Our fathers have always told us to just do what the pregnant lady says. The books tell husbands to succumb to their wives bizarre cravings and irritants during pregnancy. I decided to get pro-active and trump them all. Show the world that we can do more than just give in, we can address these issues and build a better place to live for everyone...sorry, I was actually saving that for an award acceptance speech. Any award will do for those of you out there with award giving credentials. Back to the garlic. I returned to the living room with my chest puffed out and my chin held high. Now I would not smell of garlic and my wife would again accept me with a loving gaze. There was a pep in my stride as I entered the room. I leaned forward from about six feet out preparing for the kiss to the forehead. I had it dialed. This was gonna be great. As I approached her, something unthinkable happened. My wife looked at me with the very same look of disgust as she had just 30 minutes earlier. How could this happen? I smelt like a mountain spring, not garlic. I was defeated. Humbled. I ate my dinner at the opposite end of the room. Stacey could still smell me.
Since that evening, the garlic smell has come and gone. Fortunately I don't always smell like garlic, just sometimes. I continue my attempts to change the way men approach pregnancy but I think I've come to a sobering conclusion. In the future, when a young man asks me what to do about his wife who's expecting, I'll simply answer, "Do what the pregnant lady says".
Let me begin by pointing out that I do not eat very much garlic nor do I wear it in an attempt to keep approaching vampires at bay. I enjoy the occasional garlic in Itlaian dishes and possibly some garlic butter if Papa John's is in order. Despite my low garlic intake over the years, apparently it has been enough to leave me with a cloud of garlic body odor that cannot be contained. The part I'm having trouble understanding is the fact that the only person who thinks I smell like garlic is my beautiful wife, Stacey. Now, in her defense, maybe my family and friends are trying to keep from hurting my feelings. "Man, did you notice Feb smells like garlic something fierce?" "Yeah, I did. Don't say anything though, he might cry." That's just one potential conversation.
The garlic accusations reached their height when I returned home from a run last week. I had a great run, a comfortable 7 miler through the neighborhoods. The thoughts of fatherhood, music, and a life of simplicity danced through my head as the endorphins made it impossible to keep from smiling. I entered the house from my run to find Stacey relaxing on the couch and watching television. Excited to see her, I approached the couch to give her a kiss on the forehead like all good husbands do. I might have gotten within three feet of her before she shot me the most horrified look of disgust I think I've seen. I smelt like garlic. Not just a clove of garlic, but the whole truckload. I guess the sweat permeated the living room with the pungent smell. "I can beat this" I thought. I rushed to the bathroom and took the most aggressive shower I'd ever taken. We're talking Ultimate Showering Championships here. I even took the time to wash and condition my beard. I decided to scrub until my skin burned or the scrubbie thing dissolved, whichever came first. I exited the shower pround of my efforts and beaming with self confidence. Our fathers have always told us to just do what the pregnant lady says. The books tell husbands to succumb to their wives bizarre cravings and irritants during pregnancy. I decided to get pro-active and trump them all. Show the world that we can do more than just give in, we can address these issues and build a better place to live for everyone...sorry, I was actually saving that for an award acceptance speech. Any award will do for those of you out there with award giving credentials. Back to the garlic. I returned to the living room with my chest puffed out and my chin held high. Now I would not smell of garlic and my wife would again accept me with a loving gaze. There was a pep in my stride as I entered the room. I leaned forward from about six feet out preparing for the kiss to the forehead. I had it dialed. This was gonna be great. As I approached her, something unthinkable happened. My wife looked at me with the very same look of disgust as she had just 30 minutes earlier. How could this happen? I smelt like a mountain spring, not garlic. I was defeated. Humbled. I ate my dinner at the opposite end of the room. Stacey could still smell me.
Since that evening, the garlic smell has come and gone. Fortunately I don't always smell like garlic, just sometimes. I continue my attempts to change the way men approach pregnancy but I think I've come to a sobering conclusion. In the future, when a young man asks me what to do about his wife who's expecting, I'll simply answer, "Do what the pregnant lady says".
Monday, February 4, 2008
A Blog By Any Other Name...Is Still A Blog
I’ve felt motivated to start a blog since I initially set up this site in October of last year. Unfortunately, my motivation stopped at having to actually put my words to screen. How does that happen? For starters, I realized that my life or musings on life couldn’t possibly be interesting to anyone outside of myself and potentially the man sitting in a plush leather chair repeatedly asking “Well, how does that make you feel?”. Honestly it makes me feel like the hourly rate he’s receiving is a bit extravagant considering all he can come up with is “How does that make you feel?”.
Initially I figured this would be a great way to create accountability for my run training. After a lackluster year in 2007 of poor races and a DNF (Did Not Finish for those of you out there who don’t have to deal with ridiculously haunting all CAPS acronyms), I had the idea to announce my training and racing to the world so that I would have someone to answer to. Surely my family and closest friends would read my blog…or not. I began to feel slightly guilty for the self-serving nature of my blog intentions but soon realized “Hey, if not for myself, then for who?”. You know what I’m sayin’? Despite the brilliance of the accountability idea, I simply couldn’t get anything going.
Life Log December 2007…still unmotivated…losing fitness…losing interest in school…have an amazing, beautiful wife…have a wonderful family…have the greatest friends a guy could have…WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
There was no problem. Just an enormous amount of self-pity and doubt. There are times in life when we go the darkest that it hands us the brightest flashlight that can be had. My flashlight came in the form of the announcement of my wife’s pregnancy. Yeah, that’s right, pregnancy. I know. I nearly threw-up also. Oh, you didn’t feel that way. Must of been something I ate. The idea of fatherhood got me jazzed about things. I mean, come on, a kid. I’m not so naive as to not realize that the sleepless nights, mustard packet diaper explosions, and shrill cries will be a pain in the ass. But I like to think that our little bouncing bundle of joy will make it all worthwhile.
This all brings me to today, February 4,2008. I decided that my blog can serve a twofold purpose. First of all, the blog can serve as a means to communicate to friends and family the process of me becoming a father. I see it as a way to document and remind myself of the amazing life I have. Secondly, it can serve as a forum for me to share my running goals,training, and experiences. There is something incredibly gratifying about talking to others and yourself through the written word.
I look forward to the coming months and am excited about the changes slated to take place in 2008. Thanks for reading and take care of yourselves. I’ll talk to you all soon.
Initially I figured this would be a great way to create accountability for my run training. After a lackluster year in 2007 of poor races and a DNF (Did Not Finish for those of you out there who don’t have to deal with ridiculously haunting all CAPS acronyms), I had the idea to announce my training and racing to the world so that I would have someone to answer to. Surely my family and closest friends would read my blog…or not. I began to feel slightly guilty for the self-serving nature of my blog intentions but soon realized “Hey, if not for myself, then for who?”. You know what I’m sayin’? Despite the brilliance of the accountability idea, I simply couldn’t get anything going.
Life Log December 2007…still unmotivated…losing fitness…losing interest in school…have an amazing, beautiful wife…have a wonderful family…have the greatest friends a guy could have…WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
There was no problem. Just an enormous amount of self-pity and doubt. There are times in life when we go the darkest that it hands us the brightest flashlight that can be had. My flashlight came in the form of the announcement of my wife’s pregnancy. Yeah, that’s right, pregnancy. I know. I nearly threw-up also. Oh, you didn’t feel that way. Must of been something I ate. The idea of fatherhood got me jazzed about things. I mean, come on, a kid. I’m not so naive as to not realize that the sleepless nights, mustard packet diaper explosions, and shrill cries will be a pain in the ass. But I like to think that our little bouncing bundle of joy will make it all worthwhile.
This all brings me to today, February 4,2008. I decided that my blog can serve a twofold purpose. First of all, the blog can serve as a means to communicate to friends and family the process of me becoming a father. I see it as a way to document and remind myself of the amazing life I have. Secondly, it can serve as a forum for me to share my running goals,training, and experiences. There is something incredibly gratifying about talking to others and yourself through the written word.
I look forward to the coming months and am excited about the changes slated to take place in 2008. Thanks for reading and take care of yourselves. I’ll talk to you all soon.
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