| The best part about running. |
[Jul. 3rd, 2008|12:22 pm] |
The best part about running is getting to see new places at a slow pace that you'd never see. The last time we trained for the marathon, we ran several trails through D.C. and Virginia, all around Central Park in NYC, through several parks, along the river in Philly and up the steps Rocky style, and on and on, plus all through Chicago for the marathon itself.
So far this time we've done a bunch in Louisville, and I got to run all through Vanderbilt campus in Nashville, then the next day in Centennial park which has a full scale replica of the Parthenon built in the 30's. Today Steph and I ran through the burbs of Cleaveland where we had a stop over last night on our way up to Youngstown, NY (just outside of Niagra Falls) for the annual Burns Brothers Beach Bash which coincides with the beginning of Jen and Owen's cross country trip they're taking while moving from DC to LA.
Speaking of that I know now several people who will be living in LA so I've got to go out there soon. Jen, Owen, Brandon (Owen's brother), Jeff Bazarko, Jay and Julie (our old neighbors).
That's it. |
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| I fought city hall and won! |
[Jun. 30th, 2008|11:13 am] |
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So my car broke down June 15th at the end of my street. It ended up being the lift pump for fuel in the tank, which was a breeze to replace but cost $300. (It's accessed under the back seat, which just lifts up, much like Jody Barnes Audi battery in high school.) So I got out of the car and looked around and noticed it was stopped in a Bus Stop. I then pushed my car, by myself past the pole with the sign. So looking from the street, from left to right, it was my car, then a 2 foot gap, then a pole with a sign that said bus stop no parking with an arrow to the right on it. The next afternoon, I went to my car to get it off the street and found a ticket on the window that said No stopping/bus stop. Underneath that I noticed it said Photo Taken. So I went online and filed an appeal stating that my car was not in the no parking zone, and the ticket said a photo was taken, so they should be able to see in it clearly I was not in the bus stop. I got a letter a few days later saying it was dismissed! I'm pretty impressed how easy the city made it to appeal and how they reasonably dropped the issue. |
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| 20 Month update |
[Jun. 12th, 2008|07:36 am] |
So I haven't been here in quite awhile. I have thought about writing something several times, but it always seemed strange after such a long break. It finally feels appropriate because this post will relate to my last one. First, a quick update of the past 20 months:
Moved to Louisville
Got a new job
Got married
Got a cat
Had a lot of fun
Alright, back to how it all ties in. Before this week I have ran three times since the Marathon and each time was under three miles. That's three times in 20 months and one was just a few weeks after the marathon, so more accurately still, only twice in the last 20 months. Well we decided to do it again and this week started our official 18 week training. The important thing to note here is that before one is supposed to start this training, they should already be up to about 15 miles a week. I was averaging 3.6 miles per year. We also decided to bump up to the higher training level so that we can beat our time from 2006. It was 4:32 then and we're going for 3:59:59 this time.
To show the difference in the training schedules, last year started the first week with (3) 3 mile runs and (1) 6 mile run. This year starts with (2) 3 mile runs, (1) 5 mile run, and (1) 8 mile run. Don't forget at this point last time we had also been running consistently for about 3 months.
So Tuesday was our first 3 mile run and it surprisingly went very easily and I kept a good 10min/mile pace. Wednesday was our 5 mile run, and I was very scared. First, I was still tired from the run the day before. Second, the path we chose involved dropping my car off at work and then running home (I'll come back to this). So if we got tired or hurt or whatever, it didn't matter, we had to get home. Third, I had a long day at work starting at 7am after not so much sleep, then getting home at 6:30pm to take the dog out, then working another 2 hours at home. Finally, and most importantly, during our last training which was the first time I had ever ran consistently, it took us about a month to get up to 5 miles. It was a huge threshold and I couldn't believe it when we got there. We had probably ran 3 miles 20 times before doing it and it was hard, so to think I would do it on my second run this time around was almost unthinkable.
Well I was wrong, it wasn't that big of a deal at all. At first my knee hurt a touch but it wore off after the first mile and we breezed the rest of the way stopping twice to walk for about a minute each time. This is a good sign. I'm posting our route below. It was nice because Frankfort ave is a happening place, then we went through this amazing neighborhood with great houses and landscaping. Next was Cherokee park, which is always nice, then a quick jaunt home.
Now back to why we chose this route. I started riding my bike to work. I've wanted to do this forever, the only problem being I need a car at work to do work stuff. So we dropped it off, then ran the long way home. Now I have a bike here. Woo hoo!
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ky/louisville/339473273249 |
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| Sweet Home Chicago. |
[Oct. 26th, 2006|06:48 pm] |
Stephanie and I, along with our DC friends Jen and Owen completed the Chicago Marathon this past Sunday. It was awesome. Below is a copy of the email I sent to my coworkers about it and a picture of us crossing the finish line. Stephanie got the exact same finish time as me. Owen ran with us until the last 3 miles and did about 5 minutes better. Jen took off from the beginning and killed us by over 30 minutes.
Oh, also for the first few miles everything (buildings, trees, bridges, etc) was soaked from the ground up to 3' high with urine from all the people stopping to pee. Needless to say, I have never seen so many people peeing before in my life. It was awesome. I peed on the back of a port-a-pot.
All,
In case any of you are interested I finished the 26.2 mile Chicago Marathon this past Sunday in 4 hours and 37 minutes. During that time I walked for a total of less than one minute and stopped for one bathroom break. This is by no means a great time, but I am very satisfied to have finished it at all especially since I have never been involved in running before March of this year. My personal goal was 5 hours which I did much better than, so again I am very satisfied. My right knee is a little sore, but besides that there were no problems along the way and I think my knee will be fine by the end of the week.
It was a really great experience with 33,000+ other runners and around 1.5 million spectators cheering you on. I will answer some of the most common questions I get below, but if you have any others, feel free to ask.
The longest distance I ran before the race was 17 miles.
The winner finished in 2 hours and 7 minutes.
The official world record is 2 hours 4 minutes 55 seconds.
I ran a total of around 350 miles over 18 weeks to train for the race which usually consisted of 2 short runs 1 medium run and 1 long run per week.
During this training I had the opportunities to run all the way around Central Park in NYC, the entire 45 mile W&OD trail from Purcellville to Alexandria (in separate pieces), the Mount Vernon trail from Mount Vernon to Arlington along the GW Parkway, the Schuykill River Trail in Philadelphia, and through Fort Niagara park in Niagara Falls, NY.
It took about 13 minutes just to get to the starting line after the gunshot.
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 9th, 2006|08:28 pm] |
Gaming
I am a gamer reborn. Growing up I was a hardcore gamer, at least as much of one as you can be as a kid. It was everything. Starting with the NES I had a controller in my hand most of the time through Freshman year of High School. I was good enough to be challenging to anyone I played at any game.
All of a sudden, sophomore year I just quit. It wasn’t cold turkey, but it was very rapid. With quitting my skills declined and these days I am usually embarrassed to pick up a controller. I have doddled a little with some of the big name games, but haven’t mastered anything since SNES. Well my friends, that has all changed now.
I am officially jumping on the Wii bandwagon. I just started reading about it a few weeks ago, but am now at the point of having physical cravings for the damn thing. I broke out the Dreamcast with NES emulator to start getting my calluses worked up and also to get Steph excited. So far it’s working. I may end up getting a gamecube if I can find it cheap enough to get a bit of a head start on my new collection of games.
I really hope the Wii works out as much as the hype surrounding it. I want Nintendo to do what it did with the NES and have EVERYONE playing the thing. I want EVERYONE talking about it. I want it to be fun, and most importantly I want to be good.
See you in the arena.
Running
So, if you don’t know Steph and I are running the Chicago Marathon October 22nd. Feel free to come hang out, or just send us some support.
Thanksgiving
We had a turkey in the freezer from last Thanksgiving, so this past Sunday we made a full on, complete Thanksgiving dinner. It was awesome. All traditional dishes were represented totaling probably 20 different things. I was in charge of the Turkey and Stuffing, while Stephanie did 10 lbs of Mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, fake turkey, meatless gravy, and maybe a few other things. We also had corn, green bean casserole, rolls, lots of appetizers, brownies, pumpkin pie, cookies, potato cheese casserole, cranberry sauce, a ham, pasta salad, and other things I am sure I have forgotten.
Soup Party
The “Soup Party” is coming up the second week of November, so be prepared. Start planning your soups now. |
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| My Life |
[Jul. 12th, 2006|11:50 am] |
I can never think of anything worth talking about in here, so I'll just show you what I am up to. If you want to know more, just ask.
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| Houseboat Trip |
[May. 31st, 2006|01:26 pm] |
So I wrote an email about the houseboat trip Steph and I just went on last weekend, and figured I should share it with everyone. Here it is.
"The houseboat trip was amazing and there is only one section I don't remember. Steph went down to the lake Tuesday and camped out with her mom, brother, and his ladyfriend Tuesday and Wednesday nights. I left work Wednesday at 3 and got on the road by 4 for the 350 mile solo drive to Johnson City, TN where I had my free hotel (thanks to points made for work) stayover. I got to the hotel around 11pm and got a free upgrade to a super king suite with a big plasma screen and all kinds of stuff. Too bad I didn't really enjoy it, because I went straight to bed. I planned on getting up at 4am and getting on the road at 5 to get there by 9 to meet up with steph's other brother from the same mother. (They all have the same mom and dad, I just wanted to rhyme.) So I woke up at 3:15 to pee and just went ahead and showered and got on the road. The water never got warm, so the shower really sucked.
250 miles and a new full tank of biodiesel (picked up in knoxville, tn) I got to the campsite (which was really nice) around the time everyone was waking up. We hung out for the day and had some fresh caught trout for dinner. I took a nap out on the water in steph's folk's pontoon boat. Then we spent that night at the campground.
We (steph, her brother and gf, and me) picked up the boat at 9am and the rest of the crew of 14 showed up around 1pm. Once everyone arrived we tallied up the alcohol at probably 20 cases of beer and exactly 50 bottles of booze. That first night I was pretty hammered by 6pm and passed out for three hours. The hour leading up to that is what I don't remember. I got back up for a few hours, but still made it an early night.
The rest of the trip was swimming, tubing, wakeboarding, grilling, eating, poker, and plenty of drinking. Everyone had a great time and lots of funny things happened, but nothing that would work on paper. I busted out about 5 bad jokes straight which everyone liked. These included the two sausages, and the three wishes jokes.
So by the last night we noticed we were fairly close to finishing the alcohol so that became our mission. We were all out of mixers so we started making hooch. Mixtures of alcohol with whatever fruit we had onboard. It turned out delicious. We didn't quite make the goal though, we ended up with 3 bottles 1/4 full and a full bottle of long island iced tea mix, and 1 bottle of rum left over. This still worked up to well over a bottle a day per person plus beer, and a few of the girls weren't really drinking too much.
Stephanie and I made the big drive back yesterday leaving Tennessee at noon and getting home at 10pm. It was a gorgeous and quick drive right along the mountains most of the way. We of course stopped back by the B20 pump in knoxville to keep filled up on the green juice.
Now I am back at work, and all morning I have been swaying like I am still on a boat."
There's that. |
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| Craigslist scammers are idiots |
[Mar. 2nd, 2006|09:32 am] |
So I put a ad on craigslist. Below that are all the responses I got in under 12 hours. Geez.
Hello,
I was searching through craigslist and found item and developed a good interest in it.I will like to make a quick purchase on the item cos i will like to used the item as a gift to my nephew that stays outside the US.he is really going to love it.My payment method is USPS online payment(MONEY ORDER).but i dont know if you can accept payment through that method.If you will kindly get back to me with the full name and address of where you want the money order to be mailed out to so i can proceed with payment.I will take all the shipping responsibilities i have an account with fedex and i will like the item to be shipped through my fedex account.So you wont need to pay any shipping cost cos all the shipping cost will be billed to my fedex account.So once the payment has been approved and you have recieved the payment approval confirmation,I will want the item to be shipped out immediately cos of its urgent need.So plz get back to me if this is ok with you.
PLZ GET BACK TO ME WITH A PIC AND THE CONDITIONS OF THE ITEM...AND INCASE YOU DONT UNDERSTAND MY PAYMENT METHOD .LET ME KNOW SO I CAN EXPLAIN FURTHER
I saw your items you pasted on the sites,which look nice to me and i will like to know the condition ok items and the last price ok..
Thanks...
Hello seller,
My interest caught your posted item. i like it and i will like to know maybe its in perfect condition and works fine.i also love to know how long you have been using it or have it. Please let me know fast so we can continue on the transaction.
Hello Seller,
Good day,I would like to know the nature of this item,please I want you to
be faithful in it and get back to me soonest because this item is needed
urgently.
Thanks
Dear seller,
complement ,i came in contact with your item which you display in
CG and am interested in buying the item from you.
I want to know may be the item is still in good working condition and
still has original packing,if so i will like to buy the item from you.
Again,i want you to know that i want it sent to a friend who have
been very nice to me during a visit to his place.
I will like to tell you that i will be paying through
United state postal service [USPS].The USPS will send to you an approval and
confirmation status as at when the payment is made.
After which i will arrange FedEx [Red Star Express] to
come and pick the item .
Conclusively ,i will want you to please send your name and the full
address where the payment will be made to .
Thanks in anticipation.
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| Good times! |
[Feb. 8th, 2006|03:17 pm] |
Alright, here is the financial update. Debt is reduced to $55,131.15. I didn't think I would see this so soon.
Daily interest is down to $5.36. Hopefully I will get a big tax return and get things even lower. We'll see. I need to come up with a way to get people to help me pay off the debt, like the milliondollarhomepage kid. If anyone wants to donate, let me know.
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