Oh. Hello.
You know, I've missed the blog. I spent some time the other night reading old posts and reliving some of those memories. Pretty nuts.
So I guess the most obvious question would be, "Why haven't you written if you missed it? Couldn't you just write and then not miss it?"
To which I say, that's a fair point.
I guess the most obvious answer is the dramatic lack of conflict from my life in the months since I last wrote. I typically like to write to exorcise, you know, feelings. And I mean, the desire to exorcise good feelings just isn't that strong, you know?
I'm 30 (I know right? What the fuck.), and I'm more content than I've ever been -- for a lot of reasons. The lovely Lola (aka Emily haha) re-entered my life last spring, and it's been a whirlwind of awesome since. The friends with whom I debauched previously are more settled, too.
In short (LULZ, yeah right, BG), writing things like, "Today I felt good," over and over wasn't as appealing.
And so I guess the second most obvious question would, "Why write now then?"
To which I say, suck on it and like it. I don't know! I just felt like it. Whatevs!
OK there's sort of a reason. One of the main things I wrote about was my weight-loss odyssey. Well, I'd like to restart it. When you're in a happy relationship, and you're content and satisfied, I think the natural tendency is to slide a little. You eat out a little more. You eat a few more cupcakes than you should. Etc. Etc.
Did I undo everything I worked so hard for two years ago? No, no, no. I put back a few pounds though, like you do, and I'd like to unput them back on. So I figured, why the eff not. It helped last time. Let's give it another go.
So what's the plan?
Well, I have a new job (HEY OH), and my office building has a full gym in it with treadmills, free weights, weight machines, etc. Free access to a full gym? Sold. I'm planning on three days of weights and three days of running. I'll stick to the treadmill for now because it's the dead of winter and PASS on running outside when it's colder than 50.
Sound good? Good.
And of course I'm hoping for plenty of pithy posts, containing too many sentences begun with conjunctions. Because that's how I roll.
Who knows -- maybe I'll even write something some of you find entertaining from time to time. But don't hold your breath, AMIRITE. I'm so rite.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? You know where to find me.
-BG
Showing posts with label kick ass. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kick ass. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Racing and Pacing and Plotting the Course
The end of this week marks the midpoint of training for the half-marathon. Feels like a good time to look at how it's been going.
If you don't already know, I'm running the Rock 'n Roll Half-Marathon in D.C. on March 17.
This is week 6 of training, and if I'm being honest, I haven't really been great about it. I didn't really keep to the mid-week runs during the first four weeks. Look, no excuses. I shouldn't have been so nonchalant about it, but here was my thinking: waking up at 5 a.m. to run was just so unappealing. Plus, the long runs were two four-mile runs and two five-mile runs. Well, I ran four and five miles, like, four times a week all summer and fall.
The point is this: I knew I could get out and run four and five miles without a problem. So I didn't feel the urgency to get after it as hard as I should have. And I did. I finished the first few long runs without an issue.
Well on Saturday, I ran six miles -- the longest distance since the first half-marathon nearly two and a half years ago. I knew the six-mile run was going to be the most challenging of training so far, so I knew I had to get my ass in gear and do the mid-week morning runs leading up to it.
See, the thing about training is it's not all about getting up to the distance and running further. Of course that's a large part of it. Another large part of it is getting your body accustomed to the wear-and-tear.
I was running between 15 and 20 miles a week between July and October, and I never experienced any injuries (that weren't related to softball haha). Once I started my job at the end of October, I really fell off the running wagon.
So you could say I was a little concerned about the six-mile run. It was entirely my own fault, but it is what it is. On a few of the earlier training runs, I experienced a little tightness in my right hamstring. That's a problem because that's what I injured during the summer of 2010 when I tried to train for a half-marathon.
The pain hasn't been nearly as bad, and I've been obsessive about stretching. And the pain has subsided as soon as I stop running or stretch it out, which tells me it isn't necessarily an injury -- it's just a little tightness that will hopefully work itself out as I continue to stretch properly and run more often. That's what I'm hoping anyway.
Well, I woke up on Saturday, walked Allie and stretched for the run. I mapped out a three-mile path so I could run to the turn-around point and come back, totaling six miles. I made it about a mile and a half when I felt the first twinge in my hamstring. I immediately stopped and stretched it out for a good minute or so. The next two and a half miles passed by pain-free, which is significant because almost the entirety of the path from mile marker 2 to mile marker 3 was the most ridiculous uphill stretch I've ever done.
That I was able to run the entire way up that hill without experiencing any hamstring pain is a huge reason why I'm so hopeful it's nothing terribly serious. At the top of the hill, mile 3, I paused again for another minute or two to stretch. I stopped to stretch once more at mile 4.5.
All told, I walked barely a quarter-mile of the six mile path and stopped to stretch for a total of maybe six or seven minutes. And I still finished the six miles in just more than 62 minutes.
Let's GO. That tells me my pace is pretty solid, and as long as I keep up with stretching and don't miss anymore mid-week runs I'm going to be just fine. What a relief. I'm really excited about not experiencing any lingering pain in the hamstring.
A year and a half ago, it hurt constantly -- walking, running (obviously), standing, whatevs. And the pain lasted for almost a solid YEAR. It was terrible. So that's why I'm concluding it'll work itself out if I'm responsible about the rest of training.
I really can't wait. I've been thinking about the first half-marathon more lately. What a fucking adrenaline rush. As I got closer to the finish line, with maybe three-quarters of a mile or half a mile to go, I could hear the crowd cheering. And let me tell you, that's exactly when you need to hear the cheers.
My legs felt like jelly. Well, I don't know that because I couldn't really feel them anyway. I'm honestly pretty surprised I didn't fall down because I tried to run a bit harder down the homestretch. And that's not really feasible when your legs are bordering on numbness.
Anyway. We're almost to the midpoint of training, and while I haven't been as on-the-ball as I should have been so far, I think I'm still on track. I can get it back quickly, and there's still plenty of time left to make the gains I need to make. CAN'T WAIT.
Let's go!
-BG
If you don't already know, I'm running the Rock 'n Roll Half-Marathon in D.C. on March 17.
This is week 6 of training, and if I'm being honest, I haven't really been great about it. I didn't really keep to the mid-week runs during the first four weeks. Look, no excuses. I shouldn't have been so nonchalant about it, but here was my thinking: waking up at 5 a.m. to run was just so unappealing. Plus, the long runs were two four-mile runs and two five-mile runs. Well, I ran four and five miles, like, four times a week all summer and fall.
The point is this: I knew I could get out and run four and five miles without a problem. So I didn't feel the urgency to get after it as hard as I should have. And I did. I finished the first few long runs without an issue.
Well on Saturday, I ran six miles -- the longest distance since the first half-marathon nearly two and a half years ago. I knew the six-mile run was going to be the most challenging of training so far, so I knew I had to get my ass in gear and do the mid-week morning runs leading up to it.
See, the thing about training is it's not all about getting up to the distance and running further. Of course that's a large part of it. Another large part of it is getting your body accustomed to the wear-and-tear.
I was running between 15 and 20 miles a week between July and October, and I never experienced any injuries (that weren't related to softball haha). Once I started my job at the end of October, I really fell off the running wagon.
So you could say I was a little concerned about the six-mile run. It was entirely my own fault, but it is what it is. On a few of the earlier training runs, I experienced a little tightness in my right hamstring. That's a problem because that's what I injured during the summer of 2010 when I tried to train for a half-marathon.
The pain hasn't been nearly as bad, and I've been obsessive about stretching. And the pain has subsided as soon as I stop running or stretch it out, which tells me it isn't necessarily an injury -- it's just a little tightness that will hopefully work itself out as I continue to stretch properly and run more often. That's what I'm hoping anyway.
Well, I woke up on Saturday, walked Allie and stretched for the run. I mapped out a three-mile path so I could run to the turn-around point and come back, totaling six miles. I made it about a mile and a half when I felt the first twinge in my hamstring. I immediately stopped and stretched it out for a good minute or so. The next two and a half miles passed by pain-free, which is significant because almost the entirety of the path from mile marker 2 to mile marker 3 was the most ridiculous uphill stretch I've ever done.
That I was able to run the entire way up that hill without experiencing any hamstring pain is a huge reason why I'm so hopeful it's nothing terribly serious. At the top of the hill, mile 3, I paused again for another minute or two to stretch. I stopped to stretch once more at mile 4.5.
All told, I walked barely a quarter-mile of the six mile path and stopped to stretch for a total of maybe six or seven minutes. And I still finished the six miles in just more than 62 minutes.
Let's GO. That tells me my pace is pretty solid, and as long as I keep up with stretching and don't miss anymore mid-week runs I'm going to be just fine. What a relief. I'm really excited about not experiencing any lingering pain in the hamstring.
A year and a half ago, it hurt constantly -- walking, running (obviously), standing, whatevs. And the pain lasted for almost a solid YEAR. It was terrible. So that's why I'm concluding it'll work itself out if I'm responsible about the rest of training.
I really can't wait. I've been thinking about the first half-marathon more lately. What a fucking adrenaline rush. As I got closer to the finish line, with maybe three-quarters of a mile or half a mile to go, I could hear the crowd cheering. And let me tell you, that's exactly when you need to hear the cheers.
My legs felt like jelly. Well, I don't know that because I couldn't really feel them anyway. I'm honestly pretty surprised I didn't fall down because I tried to run a bit harder down the homestretch. And that's not really feasible when your legs are bordering on numbness.
Anyway. We're almost to the midpoint of training, and while I haven't been as on-the-ball as I should have been so far, I think I'm still on track. I can get it back quickly, and there's still plenty of time left to make the gains I need to make. CAN'T WAIT.
Let's go!
-BG
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Hooray Weather!
Finally!
Awesome weather has returned to the DC area! For the better part of the past two weeks, at least, it's been awful. Cold. Rainy. Cloudy. Dreary. Blegh.
But yesterday was different. Sunny! High temperature in the 60s!
This week, I decided to bump up my mileage for running. For the past month or so, I'd been running four miles on Tuesday and Thursday, and then running five miles on the weekend (whichever day I didn't have to wake up early for whatever sport was happening).
I figured it was time to up the difficulty and run five miles on Tuesday and Thursday and six miles on the weekend. So yesterday was the first weekday I was going to run five miles. When I woke up to walk Allie and felt and saw how excellent the weather was outside, I was immediately pumped. Already, "The Distance" was humming in my head, and I just couldn't wait.
And oh man. It was a fantastic run. I ran every bit of the five miles and finished in just more than 46 minutes. While nine-minute miles may not seem impressive, it's important to note I had to really bust my ass to finish ONE mile in nine minutes last year. Now, I'm running all five miles in right around nine minutes each. Miles 1 and 2 were in the 8:30-8:40 range because I was pacing myself to try to run the entire time. Mile 3, as I've mentioned, is a lot of uphill, so I'm slower there. But still. Clear improvement.
It's also important to note if I can finish my next half-marathon with nine-minute miles, I'll finish in under two hours, which would be a 20-minute improvement over my first race. Needless to say, I'm really excited with my progress so far.
And, again, finally it did NOT rain on a Tuesday. Seems like that's the first time in a month. We've only been able to play one softball game, despite the season being a month old already. Before last night, we were 1-1 on the season. We lost our first game -- a game we should have won, but we had a bunch of errors in one inning that allowed a bunch of runs to score. And we picked up a forfeit victory last week.
We had two games last night against the same team. Allegedly, according to Andrew, this team was previously undefeated. Well, we beat them twice, 8-7 and 9-8. Let's GO.
I am compelled to mention our team almost entirely the same team that went 2-13 in the CAN softball league over the summer. Well, we won as many games last night as we did in that entire season. But not without making it interesting.
The first game was tight throughout. We were winning 6-5 going into the bottom of the final inning. We were the home team for the first game and the visiting team for the second. All we had to do was hold them to win. Of course, they scored a run to tie the game.
In the bottom of the final inning, we loaded the bases with two outs, but a harmless pop up ended the inning. The top of the first extra inning, their first hitter hit a ball so far we didn't even bother chasing it. Home run. They were up 7-6. We managed to hold them there, though.
Then we finally came through and scored two runs in the bottom of the inning to win. Dale scored the winning run on a throwing error, which is something we're usually accustomed to happening to us. So it was nice to be on the winning end for once.
We led the second game by a decent margin for most of the game. We played solid defense throughout, and scored runs in almost every inning. One of the better games we've played in either league. Up until the last inning.
We were up 9-5 going into the other team's last at-bat. We changed pitchers for the last inning because he wanted a save haha. He then loaded the bases with no outs to bring the tying run to the plate. In his defense, he yanked himself from the game right then haha. He knew what was at stake.
Evan got a quick out, but we were still facing a bases-loaded situation with one out. A couple of hits and errors later, and it was a 9-8 game. They had players on first and second base with one out.
Their next hitter smacked a liner right at Brent at shortstop. He grabbed it and saw the runner at second off the bag. His throw was a little low, but Jen broke out a Mark Teixeira-like scoop at second, beating the runner back to the base and securing the win. What a finish.
We're 3-1! I can't imagine any teams being all that much better than the team we played last night. Also, the improvement we've shown since the CAN league is incredible! I knew it would happen, and I totally called it this summer. We have so many people who are such solid players; we just needed to play together more often.
I didn't have a great night offensively. A couple of hits, a run scored. Nothing noteworthy. But I played first base for the entire first game and 2/3 of the second game. Wow, I loved it. Like, a lot.
I loved joking with the opposing players when they reached first. I loved being involved in some way in almost every play. I was able to field a couple of grounders cleanly and make some solid plays with the pitcher covering first. I missed a couple of scoop opportunities, but I blocked a couple of others from getting through.
Although, I did come away with a nice bruise on my left index finger. Our infielders really have to throw it hard to first to beat the runners, and one time I felt a throw from Sean hit my finger inside the glove a little more directly than I would have liked haha. Aaand bruise.
Anyway, I'm totally going to campaign to play first base in every game I can. Loved it. Let's go Pack! Keep it rolling now!
So yeah. Thank God the weather has turned for the better this week. It's supposed to be LEGIT awesome throughout the weekend, too. It's going to be a HUGE next few days, tomorrow especially. Feel free to IM me and discuss it if you'd like. Suffice it to say, I'm pumped.
And then Friday, there are preliminary plans to hit one or more of our favorite bars downtown. Great success.
Saturday, flag football in the morning, and a ridiculous day planned because a friend of Katie's is moving away. Katie promised me the day, which includes stops at several bars, WILL end in dancing. GREATER success!
And next week? Whooooaaa boy. Raleigh on Friday night to go out for Mike's birthday. It's also Laura's birthday so she should definitely make it out, too. And then Charlotte for Kirk/Liz's wedding on Saturday? Wow. WOW. That's a lot of dancing potential. GREATEST success!
CAN'T WAIT.
-BG
Awesome weather has returned to the DC area! For the better part of the past two weeks, at least, it's been awful. Cold. Rainy. Cloudy. Dreary. Blegh.
But yesterday was different. Sunny! High temperature in the 60s!
This week, I decided to bump up my mileage for running. For the past month or so, I'd been running four miles on Tuesday and Thursday, and then running five miles on the weekend (whichever day I didn't have to wake up early for whatever sport was happening).
I figured it was time to up the difficulty and run five miles on Tuesday and Thursday and six miles on the weekend. So yesterday was the first weekday I was going to run five miles. When I woke up to walk Allie and felt and saw how excellent the weather was outside, I was immediately pumped. Already, "The Distance" was humming in my head, and I just couldn't wait.
And oh man. It was a fantastic run. I ran every bit of the five miles and finished in just more than 46 minutes. While nine-minute miles may not seem impressive, it's important to note I had to really bust my ass to finish ONE mile in nine minutes last year. Now, I'm running all five miles in right around nine minutes each. Miles 1 and 2 were in the 8:30-8:40 range because I was pacing myself to try to run the entire time. Mile 3, as I've mentioned, is a lot of uphill, so I'm slower there. But still. Clear improvement.
It's also important to note if I can finish my next half-marathon with nine-minute miles, I'll finish in under two hours, which would be a 20-minute improvement over my first race. Needless to say, I'm really excited with my progress so far.
And, again, finally it did NOT rain on a Tuesday. Seems like that's the first time in a month. We've only been able to play one softball game, despite the season being a month old already. Before last night, we were 1-1 on the season. We lost our first game -- a game we should have won, but we had a bunch of errors in one inning that allowed a bunch of runs to score. And we picked up a forfeit victory last week.
We had two games last night against the same team. Allegedly, according to Andrew, this team was previously undefeated. Well, we beat them twice, 8-7 and 9-8. Let's GO.
I am compelled to mention our team almost entirely the same team that went 2-13 in the CAN softball league over the summer. Well, we won as many games last night as we did in that entire season. But not without making it interesting.
The first game was tight throughout. We were winning 6-5 going into the bottom of the final inning. We were the home team for the first game and the visiting team for the second. All we had to do was hold them to win. Of course, they scored a run to tie the game.
In the bottom of the final inning, we loaded the bases with two outs, but a harmless pop up ended the inning. The top of the first extra inning, their first hitter hit a ball so far we didn't even bother chasing it. Home run. They were up 7-6. We managed to hold them there, though.
Then we finally came through and scored two runs in the bottom of the inning to win. Dale scored the winning run on a throwing error, which is something we're usually accustomed to happening to us. So it was nice to be on the winning end for once.
We led the second game by a decent margin for most of the game. We played solid defense throughout, and scored runs in almost every inning. One of the better games we've played in either league. Up until the last inning.
We were up 9-5 going into the other team's last at-bat. We changed pitchers for the last inning because he wanted a save haha. He then loaded the bases with no outs to bring the tying run to the plate. In his defense, he yanked himself from the game right then haha. He knew what was at stake.
Evan got a quick out, but we were still facing a bases-loaded situation with one out. A couple of hits and errors later, and it was a 9-8 game. They had players on first and second base with one out.
Their next hitter smacked a liner right at Brent at shortstop. He grabbed it and saw the runner at second off the bag. His throw was a little low, but Jen broke out a Mark Teixeira-like scoop at second, beating the runner back to the base and securing the win. What a finish.
We're 3-1! I can't imagine any teams being all that much better than the team we played last night. Also, the improvement we've shown since the CAN league is incredible! I knew it would happen, and I totally called it this summer. We have so many people who are such solid players; we just needed to play together more often.
I didn't have a great night offensively. A couple of hits, a run scored. Nothing noteworthy. But I played first base for the entire first game and 2/3 of the second game. Wow, I loved it. Like, a lot.
I loved joking with the opposing players when they reached first. I loved being involved in some way in almost every play. I was able to field a couple of grounders cleanly and make some solid plays with the pitcher covering first. I missed a couple of scoop opportunities, but I blocked a couple of others from getting through.
Although, I did come away with a nice bruise on my left index finger. Our infielders really have to throw it hard to first to beat the runners, and one time I felt a throw from Sean hit my finger inside the glove a little more directly than I would have liked haha. Aaand bruise.
Anyway, I'm totally going to campaign to play first base in every game I can. Loved it. Let's go Pack! Keep it rolling now!
So yeah. Thank God the weather has turned for the better this week. It's supposed to be LEGIT awesome throughout the weekend, too. It's going to be a HUGE next few days, tomorrow especially. Feel free to IM me and discuss it if you'd like. Suffice it to say, I'm pumped.
And then Friday, there are preliminary plans to hit one or more of our favorite bars downtown. Great success.
Saturday, flag football in the morning, and a ridiculous day planned because a friend of Katie's is moving away. Katie promised me the day, which includes stops at several bars, WILL end in dancing. GREATER success!
And next week? Whooooaaa boy. Raleigh on Friday night to go out for Mike's birthday. It's also Laura's birthday so she should definitely make it out, too. And then Charlotte for Kirk/Liz's wedding on Saturday? Wow. WOW. That's a lot of dancing potential. GREATEST success!
CAN'T WAIT.
-BG
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
More Running, Warrior Dash and a Raleigh Trip
When I said yesterday that I planned on running four miles today rain or shine, apparently I lied. I ran FIVE miles today in the rain.
It was glorious. I could tell immediately it was one of those days where the run was going to feel really good.
"The Distance" cranked up (Reluctantly crouched at the starting line...) and goddamn it gets me hyped just thinking about it now. But I felt a surge of energy immediately. It was barely drizzling, but it quickly picked up to a steady rain about three-quarters of a mile into the run.
I really can't emphasize how awesome it is to run in the rain. I was on a straight and level path for a bit, so I just closed by eyes, put my head up and let the rain hit my face. So, so good. On the path I run, the second mile is a LOT of uphill. It usually wears me down pretty good, and I'll often stop and walk for a couple minutes when I reach my two-mile turnaround point.
But today felt different. I mapped out what the turnaround point would be for a five-mile run last year for my failed half-marathon training, although I was never able to run it. I remembered where it was though.
I hit the two-mile point today, and I was coasting, man. I felt not fatigue. I felt no soreness. I just felt good. So I kept going. I stopped to walk for two or three minutes at the 2.5-mile turnaround point just because it was the first time I'd really tried to push it to five miles total since my half-marathon back in Nov. 2009.
After that brief rest, I ran the rest of the way back, only stopping for red lights at crosswalks. Made it back in 48 minutes. Not bad at all for my first five-mile run in almost two years.
I've been talking to one of my sister's best friends in Florida a lot more lately. I met her and her husband when I was in Florida for vacation with my family last summer. Awesome people.
So we were talking last night about my 5K on Saturday and how awesome it was, and she asked me if I'd ever heard of Warrior Dash. I only very vaguely knew of it. But some quick research informed me that it is, essentially, a 5K for the mentally unstable. Naturally, I'm extremely intrigued now.
Check out that website and tell me that doesn't sound beyond awesome, and I'll tell you you're lying.
They do a bunch of locations, and depending on the course, it's between three and 3.5 miles or so. But look at those obstacles! Rope climbs over walls, wading through waist-deep water, rubber jungles, army crawling through the mud, jumping over flaming logs. Dude.
Plus! Look at the awesome viking/warrior helmet you get!!
I don't even have words. I simply must do this. So my sister's friend was talking about how she wants to do one on Dec. 3. If I can get my ass down to visit my sister that weekend, I will be running in the Dec. 3 Warrior Dash in South Florida.
And, oh yeah, they give you beer at the end of the race. Like I said, a 5K for the mentally unstable, and I happily count myself among them. I am so excited about the potential of running this. You don't even know.
I'm absolutely going to dragoon my sister into coming along to take photos of what I'm sure will be the most ridiculous finishing photo EVER of her friend and me. Oh my God. I need to do this haha.
On a completely unrelated note, the dog and I are looking to come to Raleigh the weekend of Sept. 16-18. I'm currently in talks with a kind soul who has offered to host us, but if there are any other volunteers who don't mind me and a well-behaved 5 1/2-year-old (i.e. not a puppy anymore) 70-pound border collie/black lab crashing for two nights, let me know! I will buy beer/dinner/something to compensate you for your troubles.
See, I need my NCSU football fix, and I don't want to wait much longer. Also, Raleigh friends, I want to see all of you. Even if I have to schedule you in 15-minute increments. I need it. It's been far too long for some of you.
You are on notice! Not this weekend, but the next weekend!
LET'S GO!
-BG
It was glorious. I could tell immediately it was one of those days where the run was going to feel really good.
"The Distance" cranked up (Reluctantly crouched at the starting line...) and goddamn it gets me hyped just thinking about it now. But I felt a surge of energy immediately. It was barely drizzling, but it quickly picked up to a steady rain about three-quarters of a mile into the run.
I really can't emphasize how awesome it is to run in the rain. I was on a straight and level path for a bit, so I just closed by eyes, put my head up and let the rain hit my face. So, so good. On the path I run, the second mile is a LOT of uphill. It usually wears me down pretty good, and I'll often stop and walk for a couple minutes when I reach my two-mile turnaround point.
But today felt different. I mapped out what the turnaround point would be for a five-mile run last year for my failed half-marathon training, although I was never able to run it. I remembered where it was though.
I hit the two-mile point today, and I was coasting, man. I felt not fatigue. I felt no soreness. I just felt good. So I kept going. I stopped to walk for two or three minutes at the 2.5-mile turnaround point just because it was the first time I'd really tried to push it to five miles total since my half-marathon back in Nov. 2009.
After that brief rest, I ran the rest of the way back, only stopping for red lights at crosswalks. Made it back in 48 minutes. Not bad at all for my first five-mile run in almost two years.
I've been talking to one of my sister's best friends in Florida a lot more lately. I met her and her husband when I was in Florida for vacation with my family last summer. Awesome people.
So we were talking last night about my 5K on Saturday and how awesome it was, and she asked me if I'd ever heard of Warrior Dash. I only very vaguely knew of it. But some quick research informed me that it is, essentially, a 5K for the mentally unstable. Naturally, I'm extremely intrigued now.
Check out that website and tell me that doesn't sound beyond awesome, and I'll tell you you're lying.
They do a bunch of locations, and depending on the course, it's between three and 3.5 miles or so. But look at those obstacles! Rope climbs over walls, wading through waist-deep water, rubber jungles, army crawling through the mud, jumping over flaming logs. Dude.
Plus! Look at the awesome viking/warrior helmet you get!!
I don't even have words. I simply must do this. So my sister's friend was talking about how she wants to do one on Dec. 3. If I can get my ass down to visit my sister that weekend, I will be running in the Dec. 3 Warrior Dash in South Florida.
And, oh yeah, they give you beer at the end of the race. Like I said, a 5K for the mentally unstable, and I happily count myself among them. I am so excited about the potential of running this. You don't even know.
I'm absolutely going to dragoon my sister into coming along to take photos of what I'm sure will be the most ridiculous finishing photo EVER of her friend and me. Oh my God. I need to do this haha.
On a completely unrelated note, the dog and I are looking to come to Raleigh the weekend of Sept. 16-18. I'm currently in talks with a kind soul who has offered to host us, but if there are any other volunteers who don't mind me and a well-behaved 5 1/2-year-old (i.e. not a puppy anymore) 70-pound border collie/black lab crashing for two nights, let me know! I will buy beer/dinner/something to compensate you for your troubles.
See, I need my NCSU football fix, and I don't want to wait much longer. Also, Raleigh friends, I want to see all of you. Even if I have to schedule you in 15-minute increments. I need it. It's been far too long for some of you.
You are on notice! Not this weekend, but the next weekend!
LET'S GO!
-BG
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
5K Race Report and the Running Bug
Dude. Hell yes.
I killed my 5K this weekend. Like, blowed it up real good.
A little back story.
Last summer, I thought I wanted to run another half-marathon. Well, I did want to run another one, I just wasn't anywhere close to the shape I needed to be in. At all. I hadn't been running as much as I should have been, and I hadn't been keeping up with my diet, well, at all.
But I'm stubborn. So I took my fat ass (approximately 30 lbs overweight then) and tried to force it.
After two and a half weeks of running, I, predictably, hurt myself. I pulled my hamstring, and it was not good. It was still hurting me back in the spring when I first started playing softball. There was no way I could continue training without hurting myself worse.
The then-girlfriend and I found a 5K right in my neighborhood that was going to take place in early September, and I decided I needed to run it. I was so disappointed about hurting myself and quitting training that I needed something.
So we ran it. I ran the whole race, but not very well. My hamstring hurt throughout, but it's time to be honest with myself. The hamstring was not the reason for my problems. It was because I was in terrible shape. I was, quite frankly, fat -- at least 30-35 lbs overweight by then -- and there's no way I could have run a good race.
I finished in 32:06 (a 10:20 per mile pace). I was OK with it. I guess. I blamed the hamstring for the slow time. But we all know what the reason was now.
You may have heard, but I've lost, like, 40 pounds since April. I weighed in at 188 today (Boom.). What's up 180s? Haven't seen you in a while -- like five or six years, actually. Don't worry, I'm only passing through on my way to the 170s though.
So given my new-found fitness, I'd been looking forward to this year's Kentlands 5K for several weeks. I started looking up the schedule and registration in July, and I was just generally pumped.
Saturday finally arrived. I put on my Underarmour compression shirt, my newly purchased Nike running shorts and I could feel the adrenaline start pumping already. (Side note: it is stunning to me that I feel comfortable enough and, honestly, look almost good enough to pull off running in only an Underarmour shirt. I did NOT see that coming a few months ago. I'll take it!)
I wanted to push myself, so I got in line with the 8-9 min/mile pace group (I ran with the 9-10 min/mile pace group last year, and still couldn't keep up). I'd been running four miles a few times a week for a while now, and I could finish my first mile in just more than 8 minutes, but my pace slowed after that. I knew the adrenaline and race atmosphere was going to help though. I wanted to shave at least a minute off of each mile, so I figured finishing in around 29 minutes would be a good enough improvement for me to feel satisfied.
I started two minutes after the gun time (due to other pace groups starting before mine), and I was off. Maaan let me tell you. Races are something else. VERY easy to get addicted to it. When I hit play on my iPod and "The Distance" by Cake started. Whew. I got the chills. I was fucking pumped. I must have looked like a complete idiot air-drumming while I ran. Suck it.
The Kentlands neighborhood is pretty hilly. I walk Allie through it twice a day, so I'm very familiar with the roads. If I had to guess, I'd say at least a third of the race is uphill, including a lot of mile 3.
When I got to mile 1, the clock said 10:11, so some quick math told me I was doing pretty well on pace. I got some water, almost entirely missed my mouth because I didn't stop running and continued on.
The last third of mile 2, leading up to the clock was uphill. It was tough. I don't remember exactly what the clock said, but I knew I was still on a pretty solid pace. I stopped for five seconds to drink some water. I counted to five and took off again. There was a brief downhill period, but I knew we were coming up to the main street where I walk Allie. It was straight uphill for approximately half a mile.
Andrew W.K.'s "Party Hard" came on right as I hit the bottom of the hill, and I just said, you know what? Fuck it. Let's go. I pushed it. I pushed it like I haven't pushed myself in a long time on a run.
When I got to the top of the hill I thought I was going to throw up. And, strangely, it felt pretty good. Something about getting yourself to a point where your body is like, "please no more," and you say, "fuck you, let's go." I felt it during my half-marathon, and I felt it again for the first time since the half-marathon on Saturday. I want more, man.
The steep uphill climb led into a nice downhill break before the final stretch. I caught my breath as much as I could, and I prepared myself. When I hit the bottom of the hill, I was going to go all out through the finish line. I needed to make 29 minutes.
As I entered the homestretch, "Monkey Wrench" by the Foo Fighters came on, and I punched it up another gear -- well, whatever I had left anyway. I wasn't going to miss my goal because I didn't try hard enough or run hard enough.
I started seeing stars, and I was having trouble breathing by the time I sprinted across the finish line. But I saw 29 right there on the clock. Made my goal. Felt good, man.
Then the fog started to clear from my head, the stars started to dissipate and it hit me. Wait a second, I didn't start until two minutes after the clock started. My official time might be much better than that.
So I waited, and they posted the results. 26:57 (!!!). I broke 27 minutes. Man. LET. US. GO. I love everybody.
I found the official results online over the weekend. I somehow gained a second, but I'll take 26:58. My pace was 8:41. I love it. I'm hooked. I couldn't run ONE solitary mile in 8:41 a few months ago, never mind average 8:41 over more than three miles. I improved on my total time by more than FIVE minutes. I improved on my pace by almost 1:40 per mile. So while the total time may not be impressive to, you know, competitive runners, I think we can all agree that's some ridiculous improvement.
I was talking to my friend Lindsey about my 5K and the half-marathon she was about to run, and I mentioned something about another half-marathon for myself, and she said, "uh oh, you've got the bug." And it's totally true. The more you run, the more you want to run. Running in a real race makes you want to run in more races.
I found a half-marathon in Bermuda in the middle of January. I absolutely need to do it. I feel called to it and compelled to do it. Training would start in about six or seven weeks. It obviously won't be cheap, but if I can find a way to do it, I need it. If it's not that one, it'll just be another one. Maybe in the spring. I need to run another half-marathon now. I feel a competitive fire back in me that I haven't felt in way too long. I am fired up man.
I am in decent shape now. I can handle the training in a way I never could have before. I felt absolutely NO soreness after the 5K. I ran another four miles yesterday, and I'll run four more tomorrow, rain or shine. I can't wait to start training for another half-marathon again.
But mostly, I really can't wait to just get out and run some more.
"Reluctantly crouched at the starting line,
engines pumping and thumping in time."
Man, let's GO.
-BG
I killed my 5K this weekend. Like, blowed it up real good.
A little back story.
Last summer, I thought I wanted to run another half-marathon. Well, I did want to run another one, I just wasn't anywhere close to the shape I needed to be in. At all. I hadn't been running as much as I should have been, and I hadn't been keeping up with my diet, well, at all.
But I'm stubborn. So I took my fat ass (approximately 30 lbs overweight then) and tried to force it.
After two and a half weeks of running, I, predictably, hurt myself. I pulled my hamstring, and it was not good. It was still hurting me back in the spring when I first started playing softball. There was no way I could continue training without hurting myself worse.
The then-girlfriend and I found a 5K right in my neighborhood that was going to take place in early September, and I decided I needed to run it. I was so disappointed about hurting myself and quitting training that I needed something.
So we ran it. I ran the whole race, but not very well. My hamstring hurt throughout, but it's time to be honest with myself. The hamstring was not the reason for my problems. It was because I was in terrible shape. I was, quite frankly, fat -- at least 30-35 lbs overweight by then -- and there's no way I could have run a good race.
I finished in 32:06 (a 10:20 per mile pace). I was OK with it. I guess. I blamed the hamstring for the slow time. But we all know what the reason was now.
You may have heard, but I've lost, like, 40 pounds since April. I weighed in at 188 today (Boom.). What's up 180s? Haven't seen you in a while -- like five or six years, actually. Don't worry, I'm only passing through on my way to the 170s though.
So given my new-found fitness, I'd been looking forward to this year's Kentlands 5K for several weeks. I started looking up the schedule and registration in July, and I was just generally pumped.
Saturday finally arrived. I put on my Underarmour compression shirt, my newly purchased Nike running shorts and I could feel the adrenaline start pumping already. (Side note: it is stunning to me that I feel comfortable enough and, honestly, look almost good enough to pull off running in only an Underarmour shirt. I did NOT see that coming a few months ago. I'll take it!)
I wanted to push myself, so I got in line with the 8-9 min/mile pace group (I ran with the 9-10 min/mile pace group last year, and still couldn't keep up). I'd been running four miles a few times a week for a while now, and I could finish my first mile in just more than 8 minutes, but my pace slowed after that. I knew the adrenaline and race atmosphere was going to help though. I wanted to shave at least a minute off of each mile, so I figured finishing in around 29 minutes would be a good enough improvement for me to feel satisfied.
I started two minutes after the gun time (due to other pace groups starting before mine), and I was off. Maaan let me tell you. Races are something else. VERY easy to get addicted to it. When I hit play on my iPod and "The Distance" by Cake started. Whew. I got the chills. I was fucking pumped. I must have looked like a complete idiot air-drumming while I ran. Suck it.
The Kentlands neighborhood is pretty hilly. I walk Allie through it twice a day, so I'm very familiar with the roads. If I had to guess, I'd say at least a third of the race is uphill, including a lot of mile 3.
When I got to mile 1, the clock said 10:11, so some quick math told me I was doing pretty well on pace. I got some water, almost entirely missed my mouth because I didn't stop running and continued on.
The last third of mile 2, leading up to the clock was uphill. It was tough. I don't remember exactly what the clock said, but I knew I was still on a pretty solid pace. I stopped for five seconds to drink some water. I counted to five and took off again. There was a brief downhill period, but I knew we were coming up to the main street where I walk Allie. It was straight uphill for approximately half a mile.
Andrew W.K.'s "Party Hard" came on right as I hit the bottom of the hill, and I just said, you know what? Fuck it. Let's go. I pushed it. I pushed it like I haven't pushed myself in a long time on a run.
When I got to the top of the hill I thought I was going to throw up. And, strangely, it felt pretty good. Something about getting yourself to a point where your body is like, "please no more," and you say, "fuck you, let's go." I felt it during my half-marathon, and I felt it again for the first time since the half-marathon on Saturday. I want more, man.
The steep uphill climb led into a nice downhill break before the final stretch. I caught my breath as much as I could, and I prepared myself. When I hit the bottom of the hill, I was going to go all out through the finish line. I needed to make 29 minutes.
As I entered the homestretch, "Monkey Wrench" by the Foo Fighters came on, and I punched it up another gear -- well, whatever I had left anyway. I wasn't going to miss my goal because I didn't try hard enough or run hard enough.
I started seeing stars, and I was having trouble breathing by the time I sprinted across the finish line. But I saw 29 right there on the clock. Made my goal. Felt good, man.
Then the fog started to clear from my head, the stars started to dissipate and it hit me. Wait a second, I didn't start until two minutes after the clock started. My official time might be much better than that.
So I waited, and they posted the results. 26:57 (!!!). I broke 27 minutes. Man. LET. US. GO. I love everybody.
I found the official results online over the weekend. I somehow gained a second, but I'll take 26:58. My pace was 8:41. I love it. I'm hooked. I couldn't run ONE solitary mile in 8:41 a few months ago, never mind average 8:41 over more than three miles. I improved on my total time by more than FIVE minutes. I improved on my pace by almost 1:40 per mile. So while the total time may not be impressive to, you know, competitive runners, I think we can all agree that's some ridiculous improvement.
I was talking to my friend Lindsey about my 5K and the half-marathon she was about to run, and I mentioned something about another half-marathon for myself, and she said, "uh oh, you've got the bug." And it's totally true. The more you run, the more you want to run. Running in a real race makes you want to run in more races.
I found a half-marathon in Bermuda in the middle of January. I absolutely need to do it. I feel called to it and compelled to do it. Training would start in about six or seven weeks. It obviously won't be cheap, but if I can find a way to do it, I need it. If it's not that one, it'll just be another one. Maybe in the spring. I need to run another half-marathon now. I feel a competitive fire back in me that I haven't felt in way too long. I am fired up man.
I am in decent shape now. I can handle the training in a way I never could have before. I felt absolutely NO soreness after the 5K. I ran another four miles yesterday, and I'll run four more tomorrow, rain or shine. I can't wait to start training for another half-marathon again.
But mostly, I really can't wait to just get out and run some more.
"Reluctantly crouched at the starting line,
engines pumping and thumping in time."
Man, let's GO.
-BG
Monday, August 29, 2011
Accountability and Affirmation, Baby Part 4
I mentioned this briefly last week, but it warrants repeating: 2011 has been one of the most challenging years I have ever faced.
Almost everything that could go wrong has gone wrong and in spectacular fashion. For the first few months of the year, I let it all get to me. It was awful. I felt awful. I didn't want to do anything. I didn't do anything. Again, awful.
Since then, however! World of difference! The way I have lived since mid-April is the reason I can't really say this is the worst year. It hasn't been THAT bad, really, aside from, you know, one glaring thing. And the job situation.
In the end, I have my health. That's more than a lot of people can say. Not only do I have my health, but I'm healthier and in better shape than at almost any other point in my life. And oh boy have I been working on my health.
So! This morning, after walking Allie but before running my four miles I weighed in at 190. AFTER the run, I weighed in at 188, but running four miles will lead to some water weight loss and not actual weight loss. Still, it's pretty fucking amazing to be within shouting distance of the 180s, which I have not seen in at least five years. Especially considering I was within shouting distance of the 230s just a scant four months ago. *Shudders*
Anyway, I will say I'm officially 190 now. Incredible. I'm only 10 pounds away from the goal I set for myself. I've lost 37 pounds! That's ridiculous!
When I really started to get going with this, my friend Mike told me I'd get down to my goal weight and then not want to stop. He went through a similar weight-loss at one point, and he said he ended up losing another 20 or so pounds after reaching his "goal."
Well, I have to agree. Don't get me wrong: I am super pumped about everything -- the way I feel, the way I look, how great I've been at watching what I eat, how I've been able to keep up with my gym routine. Great success. But I still have eyes. And I can look down and see what's still remaining. I've still got 10 pounds to go before the goal weight, but I might want to go another 10 or 15 below that. We'll see!
So here's my belt. Four months ago (and for a couple months before that), I was regularly using the second-to-last hole on the right (i.e. from needing a bigger fucking belt). Now? I'm on the last hole on the left (i.e. from needing a smaller belt)!!
And I'm going to need a new belt soon! This one is still OK for now, but there's room to spare when it pull it all the way to the last hole. Maybe I'll make my own hole there before I buy a new one. But you know. BOOM. Feels good, man.
You know what else is awesome? I'll tell you. Do you know what an Adonis belt is? Well, you know the muscle lines that begin right at the hips and slant down and inward? I HAS THEM. Well, I have the beginnings of them haha. In my life, I've never seen these on myself before, so this is pretty huge breaking news.
It's when you see visual evidence like that that reminds you why you're doing this -- nothing better. I've talked about it before, but it feels like a shot of adrenaline. It is AFFIRMATION, BABY. You know you're doing something right, and it's worth all the work and discipline. My God is it ever worth it.
One of the regrets I had was I never knew what my body fat percentage was. Well, this weekend I finally bought a scale that also calculates body fat percentage. AND I found a formula online that calculates body fat percentage based on your body mass index (BMI). Well, the website where I track everything, sparkpeople.com, has a handy tool where you enter your height and weight, and it tells you your BMI.
So using the formula, I figured out I had a body fat percentage of approximately 30 percent when I was 227 pounds. Now, I have no way of knowing how accurate that is, but as a ballpark starting point, it'll do. What that means is 30 percent of my body weight was fat. Gross. Man.
After I ran today, I stepped on my scale. Body fat percentage today? 22.5 percent. I've cut 7.5 points off my body fat percentage in four months. The American Council on Exercise has a guide for what a person's body fat percentage should be. For guys, obese is 25 percent and up. Average is 18 to 24 percent. Fitness is 14 to 17 percent.
Obviously, when I started, I was firmly in the obese category. I mean. Yikes, you know? I've moved myself down into the average category now, so that's awesome. Ideally, I'd like to get to 15 or 16 percent. After the past four months, I think I could get down to the athlete category (6 to 13 percent), but that just doesn't seem like much fun. I'm Italian, man. I gotta eat some fun food every now and then.
If I can get to the fitness category, I think that'll do just fine for me. But we'll have to see how it goes, of course. If I get down to 175, 170 or 165, and I'm happy with how I look and feel, then that's cool, too.
So yeah, it gives me another metric to use to track my progress, and I'm thoroughly excited about that.
Also, I've taken to running outside again. I've been sticking to the treadmill for a variety of reasons. But Saturday, when we were getting the outskirts of Hurricane Irene, it was so pleasant outside. A cool breeze and a cool, light rain. It felt so good. It was ideal for running in the rain, which is something I've found I quite enjoy, unless the temperatures are in the mid-50s like for my half-marathon.
And I did. I ran four miles on Saturday evening, and it was the single most enjoyable run I've had in a long time. It just felt so damn good. Also, last year, I ran a 5K in my neighborhood. Like, I could walk to it. Well turns out, that 5K is this coming Saturday. My friend Laura was talking to me about wanting to run in a 5K in her hometown, and it reminded me of this one. So I registered for it!
Now, since I've been running on a treadmill for a few months, I figured I should run outside for a little while just to make sure it's not a shock. I ran four miles on Saturday and four miles today, and I'll run another four miles on Wednesday. Then I'll take a break and just wait for the Saturday-morning race. CAN'T WAIT.
A couple other things:
Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who stops by and takes the time to read, send me messages or post comments. I love each and every one of you for it.
-BG
Almost everything that could go wrong has gone wrong and in spectacular fashion. For the first few months of the year, I let it all get to me. It was awful. I felt awful. I didn't want to do anything. I didn't do anything. Again, awful.
Since then, however! World of difference! The way I have lived since mid-April is the reason I can't really say this is the worst year. It hasn't been THAT bad, really, aside from, you know, one glaring thing. And the job situation.
In the end, I have my health. That's more than a lot of people can say. Not only do I have my health, but I'm healthier and in better shape than at almost any other point in my life. And oh boy have I been working on my health.
So! This morning, after walking Allie but before running my four miles I weighed in at 190. AFTER the run, I weighed in at 188, but running four miles will lead to some water weight loss and not actual weight loss. Still, it's pretty fucking amazing to be within shouting distance of the 180s, which I have not seen in at least five years. Especially considering I was within shouting distance of the 230s just a scant four months ago. *Shudders*
Anyway, I will say I'm officially 190 now. Incredible. I'm only 10 pounds away from the goal I set for myself. I've lost 37 pounds! That's ridiculous!
When I really started to get going with this, my friend Mike told me I'd get down to my goal weight and then not want to stop. He went through a similar weight-loss at one point, and he said he ended up losing another 20 or so pounds after reaching his "goal."
Well, I have to agree. Don't get me wrong: I am super pumped about everything -- the way I feel, the way I look, how great I've been at watching what I eat, how I've been able to keep up with my gym routine. Great success. But I still have eyes. And I can look down and see what's still remaining. I've still got 10 pounds to go before the goal weight, but I might want to go another 10 or 15 below that. We'll see!
So here's my belt. Four months ago (and for a couple months before that), I was regularly using the second-to-last hole on the right (i.e. from needing a bigger fucking belt). Now? I'm on the last hole on the left (i.e. from needing a smaller belt)!!
And I'm going to need a new belt soon! This one is still OK for now, but there's room to spare when it pull it all the way to the last hole. Maybe I'll make my own hole there before I buy a new one. But you know. BOOM. Feels good, man.
You know what else is awesome? I'll tell you. Do you know what an Adonis belt is? Well, you know the muscle lines that begin right at the hips and slant down and inward? I HAS THEM. Well, I have the beginnings of them haha. In my life, I've never seen these on myself before, so this is pretty huge breaking news.
It's when you see visual evidence like that that reminds you why you're doing this -- nothing better. I've talked about it before, but it feels like a shot of adrenaline. It is AFFIRMATION, BABY. You know you're doing something right, and it's worth all the work and discipline. My God is it ever worth it.
One of the regrets I had was I never knew what my body fat percentage was. Well, this weekend I finally bought a scale that also calculates body fat percentage. AND I found a formula online that calculates body fat percentage based on your body mass index (BMI). Well, the website where I track everything, sparkpeople.com, has a handy tool where you enter your height and weight, and it tells you your BMI.
So using the formula, I figured out I had a body fat percentage of approximately 30 percent when I was 227 pounds. Now, I have no way of knowing how accurate that is, but as a ballpark starting point, it'll do. What that means is 30 percent of my body weight was fat. Gross. Man.
After I ran today, I stepped on my scale. Body fat percentage today? 22.5 percent. I've cut 7.5 points off my body fat percentage in four months. The American Council on Exercise has a guide for what a person's body fat percentage should be. For guys, obese is 25 percent and up. Average is 18 to 24 percent. Fitness is 14 to 17 percent.
Obviously, when I started, I was firmly in the obese category. I mean. Yikes, you know? I've moved myself down into the average category now, so that's awesome. Ideally, I'd like to get to 15 or 16 percent. After the past four months, I think I could get down to the athlete category (6 to 13 percent), but that just doesn't seem like much fun. I'm Italian, man. I gotta eat some fun food every now and then.
If I can get to the fitness category, I think that'll do just fine for me. But we'll have to see how it goes, of course. If I get down to 175, 170 or 165, and I'm happy with how I look and feel, then that's cool, too.
So yeah, it gives me another metric to use to track my progress, and I'm thoroughly excited about that.
Also, I've taken to running outside again. I've been sticking to the treadmill for a variety of reasons. But Saturday, when we were getting the outskirts of Hurricane Irene, it was so pleasant outside. A cool breeze and a cool, light rain. It felt so good. It was ideal for running in the rain, which is something I've found I quite enjoy, unless the temperatures are in the mid-50s like for my half-marathon.
And I did. I ran four miles on Saturday evening, and it was the single most enjoyable run I've had in a long time. It just felt so damn good. Also, last year, I ran a 5K in my neighborhood. Like, I could walk to it. Well turns out, that 5K is this coming Saturday. My friend Laura was talking to me about wanting to run in a 5K in her hometown, and it reminded me of this one. So I registered for it!
Now, since I've been running on a treadmill for a few months, I figured I should run outside for a little while just to make sure it's not a shock. I ran four miles on Saturday and four miles today, and I'll run another four miles on Wednesday. Then I'll take a break and just wait for the Saturday-morning race. CAN'T WAIT.
A couple other things:
- I spent much of Sunday downtown with Matty P. We went to lunch at Chipotle and then saw Harry Potter 7-2. Loved the movie, but I'm a big HP fan. At Chipotle, for the first time ever, I could not finish my burrito. I ate two-thirds of it, and I just couldn't do any more. My stomach is shrinking I guess, right? Hell, I'll take it. I do find I just don't feel the need to eat anywhere close to as much as I used to. Who loves it? THIS GUY.
- Sadly, what was once my favorite T-shirt for just hanging around the apartment or running errands has now become rather billowy on me. I'm shrinking, and the shirt is too big now. I'm running into this problem a lot more often lately. #humblebrag
- Tattoo update: If you've stopped by my Facebook wall, you've seen a multitude of friends expressing support for getting the Italian translation of "Let's go!" (Andiamo!) as my next tattoo. I spoke to my friend who is fluent in Italian, and she said the Google Translate version of "Keep calm, and carry on" is technically correct, but because of the phrasing, there's really no way to capture the meaning exactly. See? This is why I asked someone who knows the language. And you know what? I don't hate "Andiamo." My Raleigh friends and I say "let's go" all. the. time. It's an expression of excitement, optimism, glee and just generally feeling really fucking good. And honestly, it's much more my personality than "keep calm, and carry on." Like I said last week, nothing is imminent. Just thinking things through.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who stops by and takes the time to read, send me messages or post comments. I love each and every one of you for it.
-BG
Monday, July 11, 2011
Weekend Update!
I know I missed a post on Friday. That's my bad. I was actually in the process of writing a post that I planned on putting up just before I left to go downtown for my softball game.
It stormed something serious Friday afternoon though. I was planning on leaving to go to the game around 4:30ish, so I was writing feverishly to get it posted before I left.
The problem with writing quickly is the autosave doesn't catch as much as if I take my time and add a little here and there. I'm usually pretty good about stopping to save pretty frequently while I'm writing, but I was just trying to finish so I could leave.
Then the power went out.
It came back a few minutes later, but when I logged back in to Blogger, most of my post had not saved. I got so disgusted that I just closed the window and left for the game. I'm sure you know what that's like. You write so much, and then something happens and you lose it. You just get frustrated and don't even want to finish.
Well that's what happened on Friday.
Anyway, since I wrote you a novel on Wednesday when I described how watching (500) Days of Summer, like, 15 times can help put some perspective on a break-up (which I went through not too long ago), I figured I would keep it short and sweet today.
So here's a brief, general life update.
The past week has been pretty busy with working out and job interviews. Excellent news there, that's for sure.
I'm now going through the process with three more places, which I will not name here for fear of Google's revenge. Two are PR firms downtown and the third is a place not too far from my apartment. I feel good about all three initial interviews, and they all are still interested, so we'll see how it goes.
On the health and fitness front, I still ran and lifted last week, but I backed off the intensity a little bit on account of a ridiculously sore muscle in my back. That seems to have paid off since I'm no longer feeling any discomfort. Today, I went right back to it. I upped my distance to 3.5 miles today in an effort to work up to running four miles a day on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, starting next week.
HOWEVAH. If you've been keeping up with my progress, you know I've lost 25 pounds over the past few months. And now, the really super excellent news is after running and walking Allie today, I stepped on the scale and saw 199.5!! Now, I know that was some water weight, but I haven't seen under 200 on the scale in two years. Feels good, man. Feels good.
Won't be too much longer before I'm back under 200 for good. Let's go.
In other news, the softball game I was so excited about on Friday ended up being rained out anyway. Fail. We haven't had a game in a month! And the cruel thing is the long lay-off came after our first win of the season, which has no doubt killed off the momentum we managed to collect in our 20-4 ass-beating of South Carolina.
In true N.C. State fashion, we can't even win right. *sigh.
Oh well. We still met up at our bar to hang out. After games, the bar has $10 pitchers, but for rainouts, they do $8 pitchers. So that was great. I easily killed about a pitcher and a half of beer. And then, I have to say. Evan, you sir are a dangerous man with your affinity for shots of Jameson.
That didn't stop me from having two of them, but my God. I swear I could still taste the Jameson on Sunday night. The metro ride home Friday night is by far the closest I've ever come to breaking my streak.
I was pretty convinced I was going to need to get off the train at one point. And then I had to cab home from the metro station at like 1:30 a.m., and then cab back the next day to get my car. Good lord.
Sunday was pretty great. I went to the Nats/Rockies game with a friend from the softball team. The Nats lost, which is the first time in six years that the team I was rooting for lost a baseball game I've attended. But the Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez was absolutely dealing. He had a perfect game heading into the fifth inning!
I was actually kind of disappointed when the Nats broke it up in the bottom of the fifth because I would have loved to see history like that. Anyway, the Nats ended up losing 2-1, and we headed out to a bar for the rest of the night.
I was most decidedly taking it easy after Friday night because oh my God no thank you. But it was a good time. It's always good to get out of the apartment, you know?
Sunday was all about some rest. And the U.S. women's soccer team. Because holy shit. What a win, man. And also, Hope Solo. Yes, ma'am. Marry me immediately. She's pretty kick ass.
Anyway, brief update and all, so I'm out. Softball game on Thursday at 6 p.m. at 14th St. and Constitution! Come watch us hopefully kick some ass!
-BG
It stormed something serious Friday afternoon though. I was planning on leaving to go to the game around 4:30ish, so I was writing feverishly to get it posted before I left.
The problem with writing quickly is the autosave doesn't catch as much as if I take my time and add a little here and there. I'm usually pretty good about stopping to save pretty frequently while I'm writing, but I was just trying to finish so I could leave.
Then the power went out.
It came back a few minutes later, but when I logged back in to Blogger, most of my post had not saved. I got so disgusted that I just closed the window and left for the game. I'm sure you know what that's like. You write so much, and then something happens and you lose it. You just get frustrated and don't even want to finish.
Well that's what happened on Friday.
Anyway, since I wrote you a novel on Wednesday when I described how watching (500) Days of Summer, like, 15 times can help put some perspective on a break-up (which I went through not too long ago), I figured I would keep it short and sweet today.
So here's a brief, general life update.
The past week has been pretty busy with working out and job interviews. Excellent news there, that's for sure.
I'm now going through the process with three more places, which I will not name here for fear of Google's revenge. Two are PR firms downtown and the third is a place not too far from my apartment. I feel good about all three initial interviews, and they all are still interested, so we'll see how it goes.
On the health and fitness front, I still ran and lifted last week, but I backed off the intensity a little bit on account of a ridiculously sore muscle in my back. That seems to have paid off since I'm no longer feeling any discomfort. Today, I went right back to it. I upped my distance to 3.5 miles today in an effort to work up to running four miles a day on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, starting next week.
HOWEVAH. If you've been keeping up with my progress, you know I've lost 25 pounds over the past few months. And now, the really super excellent news is after running and walking Allie today, I stepped on the scale and saw 199.5!! Now, I know that was some water weight, but I haven't seen under 200 on the scale in two years. Feels good, man. Feels good.
Won't be too much longer before I'm back under 200 for good. Let's go.
In other news, the softball game I was so excited about on Friday ended up being rained out anyway. Fail. We haven't had a game in a month! And the cruel thing is the long lay-off came after our first win of the season, which has no doubt killed off the momentum we managed to collect in our 20-4 ass-beating of South Carolina.
In true N.C. State fashion, we can't even win right. *sigh.
Oh well. We still met up at our bar to hang out. After games, the bar has $10 pitchers, but for rainouts, they do $8 pitchers. So that was great. I easily killed about a pitcher and a half of beer. And then, I have to say. Evan, you sir are a dangerous man with your affinity for shots of Jameson.
That didn't stop me from having two of them, but my God. I swear I could still taste the Jameson on Sunday night. The metro ride home Friday night is by far the closest I've ever come to breaking my streak.
I was pretty convinced I was going to need to get off the train at one point. And then I had to cab home from the metro station at like 1:30 a.m., and then cab back the next day to get my car. Good lord.
Sunday was pretty great. I went to the Nats/Rockies game with a friend from the softball team. The Nats lost, which is the first time in six years that the team I was rooting for lost a baseball game I've attended. But the Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez was absolutely dealing. He had a perfect game heading into the fifth inning!
I was actually kind of disappointed when the Nats broke it up in the bottom of the fifth because I would have loved to see history like that. Anyway, the Nats ended up losing 2-1, and we headed out to a bar for the rest of the night.
I was most decidedly taking it easy after Friday night because oh my God no thank you. But it was a good time. It's always good to get out of the apartment, you know?
Sunday was all about some rest. And the U.S. women's soccer team. Because holy shit. What a win, man. And also, Hope Solo. Yes, ma'am. Marry me immediately. She's pretty kick ass.
Anyway, brief update and all, so I'm out. Softball game on Thursday at 6 p.m. at 14th St. and Constitution! Come watch us hopefully kick some ass!
-BG
Monday, January 18, 2010
Doin' the bull dance; feelin' the flow. Workin' it; workin' it.
It's been a good several weeks for me. As such, here are a few things I'm pretty pumped about.
1. Hockey is fun: I went to my first Washington Capitals game yesterday. A guy at work had four tickets and gave me two of them. So Rachel and I happily attended. Man, hockey is SO much more fun in person than on TV. I enjoy hockey on TV, don't get me wrong. But it's a completely different experience in person.
The crowd was NUTS, and the Caps are actually, ya know, good. So that helps. And I gotta say, Ovechkin is just unbelievable to watch. The things he does -- he just makes everything look so easy. The Caps won 5-3. When the Caps score five goals in a home game, everyone in attendance gets 10 free wings at a restaurant in the area.
Here's the best part: the fifth goal was scored by Ovechkin on a penalty shot. Co-worker Conor (the guy who got the tickets) said it best: "It was like being in the Roman Coliseum with 18,000 people all standing, all knowing what was going to happen and all screaming for blood. It was AWESOME."
And it WAS. He scored on a sick backhanded move, and the place went berserk. Really, really excellent. I will be going to more Caps games, for SURE.
2. I have a huge TV now! I keep forgetting to take pictures of my set-up. Here's what I've got:
-55" Samsung HDTV, 1080p, 120Hz, 100,000-to-1 dynamic contrast (hollaaaa)
-1,000-watt Samsung surround sound system with built-in bluray player and wireless rear speakers
YES. SIR. I still need to get an HD cable box from Comcast (we'd just been running it from the wall downstairs) to really take advantage of the HD capabilities, but my God bluray is excellent. Fire and explosions are bordering on life-changing experiences on bluray high-def.
I now have five bluray movies: Star Trek, Terminator, Terminator 2, Gladiator and Goodfellas. Very cool. I also got a Wii just so I could get the new Super Mario game. And it is also excellent.
Xbox360 games look unbelievable when you actually take advantage of everything the system can do. I am a FAN.
3. Skiing! Sometime in the next few weeks, I'll be going skiing for the first time ever! I'm so excited. Someone at work is organizing a day-trip on a Saturday for co-workers and significant others. Rachel has been skiing before, so hopefully I can get a few pointers.
Basically, I'm planning on spending most of the day on my ass and/or back. I feel like that's really the best-case scenario for me. I'm not exactly known for my coordination to begin with, so adding skis, snow and mountain to the mix isn't likely to improve matters. Whatevs. It'll be excellent.
4. CHICAGO!!! So here's the deal: Rachel's sister lives in Chicago and goes to DePaul. Technician sports editor emeritus Tanner is living in Chicago while he works with Americorps. Yeah, they live like four blocks away from each other. Crazy.
I don't know that it's ever taken LESS to convince me to do something, but Tanner goes, "Whoa come visit!" And I thought to myself, "Well why the hell not? What exactly is stopping me from doing this?" I asked Rachel if she'd like to go to Chicago (of course she did, she loves the city), and we booked our flights last night!
We'll be flying to Chicago on April 9 and coming back April 11 -- a nice little three-day weekend. I've never been to Chicago, so I'm extra pumped about it. HOLLA.
Like I said, doin' the bull dance; feelin' the flow. Workin' it; workin' it.
1. Hockey is fun: I went to my first Washington Capitals game yesterday. A guy at work had four tickets and gave me two of them. So Rachel and I happily attended. Man, hockey is SO much more fun in person than on TV. I enjoy hockey on TV, don't get me wrong. But it's a completely different experience in person.
The crowd was NUTS, and the Caps are actually, ya know, good. So that helps. And I gotta say, Ovechkin is just unbelievable to watch. The things he does -- he just makes everything look so easy. The Caps won 5-3. When the Caps score five goals in a home game, everyone in attendance gets 10 free wings at a restaurant in the area.
Here's the best part: the fifth goal was scored by Ovechkin on a penalty shot. Co-worker Conor (the guy who got the tickets) said it best: "It was like being in the Roman Coliseum with 18,000 people all standing, all knowing what was going to happen and all screaming for blood. It was AWESOME."
And it WAS. He scored on a sick backhanded move, and the place went berserk. Really, really excellent. I will be going to more Caps games, for SURE.
2. I have a huge TV now! I keep forgetting to take pictures of my set-up. Here's what I've got:
-55" Samsung HDTV, 1080p, 120Hz, 100,000-to-1 dynamic contrast (hollaaaa)
-1,000-watt Samsung surround sound system with built-in bluray player and wireless rear speakers
YES. SIR. I still need to get an HD cable box from Comcast (we'd just been running it from the wall downstairs) to really take advantage of the HD capabilities, but my God bluray is excellent. Fire and explosions are bordering on life-changing experiences on bluray high-def.
I now have five bluray movies: Star Trek, Terminator, Terminator 2, Gladiator and Goodfellas. Very cool. I also got a Wii just so I could get the new Super Mario game. And it is also excellent.
Xbox360 games look unbelievable when you actually take advantage of everything the system can do. I am a FAN.
3. Skiing! Sometime in the next few weeks, I'll be going skiing for the first time ever! I'm so excited. Someone at work is organizing a day-trip on a Saturday for co-workers and significant others. Rachel has been skiing before, so hopefully I can get a few pointers.
Basically, I'm planning on spending most of the day on my ass and/or back. I feel like that's really the best-case scenario for me. I'm not exactly known for my coordination to begin with, so adding skis, snow and mountain to the mix isn't likely to improve matters. Whatevs. It'll be excellent.
4. CHICAGO!!! So here's the deal: Rachel's sister lives in Chicago and goes to DePaul. Technician sports editor emeritus Tanner is living in Chicago while he works with Americorps. Yeah, they live like four blocks away from each other. Crazy.
I don't know that it's ever taken LESS to convince me to do something, but Tanner goes, "Whoa come visit!" And I thought to myself, "Well why the hell not? What exactly is stopping me from doing this?" I asked Rachel if she'd like to go to Chicago (of course she did, she loves the city), and we booked our flights last night!
We'll be flying to Chicago on April 9 and coming back April 11 -- a nice little three-day weekend. I've never been to Chicago, so I'm extra pumped about it. HOLLA.
Like I said, doin' the bull dance; feelin' the flow. Workin' it; workin' it.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sooo I did it.
As you probably know, last weekend I ran my first half-marathon. I started training on Aug. 10, and I worked all the way through the race day on Nov. 1.
The training guide said not to set a time goal for your first race, and that finishing should be enough. Yeah, right. I know me. I set a goal, albeit a modest goal -- two and a half hours. It's not really that fast a time -- it's an 11:30/mile pace. But I didn't want to push myself TOO hard. After all, the most I'd ever run in my life up to that point was about six miles, but I only did that once. Other than that, the most I ever did was three miles.
I woke up at 5 a.m., got to the starting line a little after 7 a.m., and I was off. My official time was 2:19:51, almost 10 minutes better than my goal (or 45 seconds faster per mile). It rained the whole time, and it was cold the whole time...haha. Frankly, it's a miracle I did not get sick. Running in shorts and a T-shirt in temperatures that did not rise above the low 50s and RAIN.
But hey, nothing in the world can compare to the surge and the rush when I turned the corner and saw the downhill road to the finish line. I sprinted the home stretch. Well, it felt like sprinting to me. Actually, I don't know what it felt like. I couldn't feel my legs at that point; I was just forcing them forward.
I stopped for a few seconds at two water stations to drink some water, and I tried to drink a cup of sports drink while running, but I think I ended up just pouring it down my shirt. Otherwise, it was a good race. The course was pretty difficult, I think. Lots of hills, so I'm glad my regular training route included a pretty big-ass hill. I felt prepared for it, and I experienced no pain until later in the day.
For the next few days, I seriously considered going up the stairs on all fours and sliding down the stairs on my ass like we did as kids. I made it though. The pain is gone now.
A former co-worker of mine ran her first half-marathon and marathon recently. She started a blog about it. But the theme of her training was "Pain is temporary; pride is forever." I can tell you right now, I'm addicted to the feeling of crossing the finish line. Three months of training, two-plus hours of running -- it's all worth it to feel the rush of crossing the finish line.
I will run another one. Probably not in the next 12 months, but we'll see how I feel when summer rolls around. I can already feel the change in one way: it feels funny taking the week off from running. I'm actually getting an itch to run. I never imagined that would ever happen.
So either this week or maybe next week, I'll get back out and run three or four miles four or five times a week, just to keep in shape. I feel like this is the best shape I've been in in several years, all thanks to the training -- running four days a week, weight training three days a week and I added 400 crunches per day. Let's just keep it going.
I'm also thinking about doing P90X. My roommate has the DVDs and said he'd allow me to borrow them. It would give me something to do as far as working out goes during the cold months when I probably wouldn't enjoy running around outside. If I do that and it works for me, I'll post some before and after pictures. They're pretty ridiculous, so I hope to have some news to report there. We'll see!
For now, I'm just so incredibly proud of myself for actually sticking to the training for three months and running the whole race. Oh yeah! I ran EVERY STEP of the race, which is significant because I could not complete a training run during the previous three months without walking some. But last week, I didn't stop to walk once. I just kept going. I surprised myself.
So yeah. I'm just really proud of myself for doing this. I never thought I'd ever run ONE half-marathon, and now I'm actually excited to run another one. You better believe I hung up the medal I got for finishing. I wore that thing the whole day afterward.
I'm rambling now. IMAGINE MY SURPRISE. I'll just stop now while I'm ahead. I'm just really happy with myself. :-)
LATER!
-BG
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