The calories go in.....

The other morning at work a coworker who is on a diet but still loves to cook brought in a Tupperware container of chocolate chip cookies for the office. Nobody tell my mom, but his may be the best chocolate chip cookies ever. There must be double the lard or unholy deals with Satan or something involved. I briefly thought about not have one (a cookie at 8 AM??), thinking to myself, “What’s the use? I could skip my run tonight and not eat this cookie and be in about the same place.” These are the weird thoughts you have early in the morning when you aren’t quite all there yet, like one is a positive and the other a negative that cancel each other out. It is only after you have done the run at the end of a long stressful day that you remember to good brain juices and general pleasure at being in shape.

I had a great run tonight and then came home and enjoyed my wife’s totally yummy baked pasta and cougar cheese – life is good.

Running with a Goal Again

Now that I'm officially in training for an actual event (Hood to Coast '07) it seems easier to get out on the trail regularly. I find myself mentally fitting running goals in around the few murky mileposts I can see up ahead in the coming months. I'll probably do a few fun runs between now and then but the main goal has been identified. I hope to get the same legs as last year. Not only were they some of the least brutal but I would like to try competing with myself against last year's times. I know I can do a lot better this year.

Check out this cool site that DREW posted about - great for those of us who like something beside music to run to and are getting tired of an all podcast diet.

Where's LJ?

Target Acquired

I am stoked. Check out this quote from an email sent by a classmate today;

"So, I did not realize that you are a runner... Are you in training for something or just trying to get out there. What are you doing the last weekend in August 2007? Interested in spending 36 hours with some people you don't know who smell and taking cold showers in nasty high school gym class gang showers? It is a lot of fun. Let me know if you want to join our hood to coast team. We already have a name "10 is enough" - don't ask - but the team has a bunch of MPA students, past, current and future and it is a lot of fun."

Now I have raison de running (or something like that).

pooooossssseeeerrrrrrrrr

DSCN2504
Originally uploaded by gene_poole.

Yesterday we took the boys and went for a run on the dikes. Brisk, invigorating and all that healthy crap.

Scott Ran...

10 minutes on the paddle stepper today, followed by 30 on the eliptical, and then five more on the paddle steppers. Yeah for me. According to the machines I burned enough calories to equal a Whopper with cheese, or 10 shots of vodka, or probably about two of the huge steins I have for my home brew. Currently feeling the comfortable glow...

Not So Much

Hello Diary,

OK, the week is half over and not running yet... to battle stations! I made it to the gym at lunch time today and yesterday. Although I am enjoying the comfortable rush of good brain juices currently after a session with the stairstepper, I need to do the running.... this weekend..

Running!

Non-runners may not get this but then they probably won't come here anyway.

Today was the day the students all come back from winter break so it was hectic at work - manageably so this time but busy none the less. At about 4:30 I started to think about my exit strategy to go do my run. At 5:30 I had to literally sidestep someone in the door to my office and say that the work day was over, it will wait until tomorrow, etc. I got to the lake at 5:34. My usual circuit is 3.7 miles. I promised I'd be home tonight before 6 so my wife could go meet her friend for a little shopping (much deserved respite). So by the time I got to the lake, I figured I only had time for one section, which turned out to be the .57 mile section between a foot bridge and the Louisiana Street Bridge. It was darking, raining, and starting to get cold. I stretched out for 20 minutes at lunch today so I was still feeling pretty limber as I got out of the car. As I started out, I decided pacing myself was unnecessary as the distance would be so short. As I started around, I picked up speed and by halfway through the short run I was at full speed. It felt really good. There is no way I could maintain that pace for any distance but knowing I only had minutes left in the run allowed me to power through my oxygen and enjoy going faster and faster. I arrived home with time to spare and feeling quite refreshed.

Still on track

Didn't run last night, but worked out today at lunch and plan to run tonight. I feel good today. I want to stop people in the hall and say, "My arms and abs are tired right now because I worked out today. Yeah, I'm a good person..."

New Year's Resolutions

Well, the New Year is upon us. So far I have been really good and have run every day this year! I took a hiatus from blogging in 2006 and ended up stopping most forms of exercise as well. I ran once every week or two and hit the gym about as often. All this hard work left it’s mark in that I gained about five pounds. Nice!

So, New Year’s resolutions time:

• I will run three times a week throughout 2007
• I will make it into the gym at least twice a week this year.
• By the end of January I will have identified my next race and begun a training program
• I will be nice to pets, small children, old people and tulips