Las Vegas meets Hee Haw

...for dinner I walked over to Columbia Heights to eat at 5 guys. I'm not really sure why I did it. I'm leaving tomorrow and wont be in my apartment for over a week and wanted to make sure that all my food was gone. So I really didn't have anything in my apartment, so the thought became let's get go out to eat. That's what I did. I did the fifteen minute walk in the near triple digit weather and ate my food. On the walk back it soon became clear that it was going to be a got's to go situation. I guess I like to make things interesting on myself.

Tomorrow I leave for Baltimore for a flight to Nashville for the summit. I was looking online for places to run in Nashville and on letsrun I found someone who described the hotel that I'm staying at as Las Vegas meets Hee Haw. After doing some research online I found that this place is massive and fun times...oh INDEED! Hopefully I have a good times.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a new month and I'm ready for the next book that I am going to read in the month. In July I read The Sun Also Rises. This was probably my third or fourth time reading this book, but there were some points that I was able to get that I hadn't seen before. One of the main themes that I found in the book is masculinity, or better yet how one views it and a perceived lack of one. The main character suffered an injury in the war that has caused him impotence. While his injury has certainly caused a physical limitation to his manhood, there are mental and psychological impacts that factor in a lack of masculinity. I think most of the male characters suffer from some sort of confusion from masculinity. From Mike's drunkenness and debt, to Bill's wording of the Civil War, to Cohn's lost little puppy affection to Brett where we see the characters wondering like lost souls. While they may have a large group of friends, they don't appear close to each other and mainly use each other.

The far larger theme of being lost looms over the characters. The impact of the first world war has caused damages to the psyche that still haunts them. The reluctance to open up about shows that these characters represented those who experienced the first hand horrors of the war and how they dealt with them afterwards.

One thing from the book that I really would like to read more about is the anti-semitic language used against Cohn. Is this Hemingway's own views? Or the views of the character? Either way reading it now it seems awkward and known what happened later on, a big sore point in the book. Cohn comes off as a ninny.

The book I'm going to read for this month, is Running with the Buffaloes. A book that honestly isn't that great. But to me the first week of August is the return of cross country, when you can have mandatory practices. And for that reason is why I decided to read the book. It does a great job of detailing a first hound account of what happened everyday at practice and at meets, but it does a poor job of any analyzing of training or of Wetmore. The fact that it solely focuses on the men's team and ignores the women's team (who placed better at nationals) is a point that makes the book hard to read. I kinda wished that the author would say something along the lines of "you know three or four guys have a stress fracture, maybe you should change the training a bit". Sadly this doesn't happen. As a sports book it's not great, it's pretty bad when compared to other books that chronicle a team's season. But then again running books are quite poorly done.

Once a Runner is an awful book. It meander's around for so long. Character's come and go without any real reason. The indoor track season comes and goes. You think it will last a bit longer, but it doesn't. The running parts are great if you are a runner, but if your not then your lost. The end isn't that bad, but honestly if you've read that far then you'll want to see what happens. But that's a big if. And that really leads me to wonder what is worse: Once a Runner or the running subplot in Forrest Gump. In Gump it has to be the worst subplot in movie history. It does nothing to add to the story, it literally is a waste of time for the audience. You don't learn anything new from the character and it doesn't lead to anything significance. But that's for another day.

Taking the plunge

Finally I registered for a marathon. I went online and made the decision. I'm glad that it's taken care of because now I'm not all wishy washy when it comes to training. I think I'll start the twelve week block the week of August 21st. Until then I have a 5k race that I'm going to do in Charlotte next week.

The goal for Blue Points/Blue Shield is to try and run under 16:45. I'm not sure what next week will bring for running. I'll be in Nashville for most of the week and depending on how much fun I have will really determine a lot. I feel that with the heat that has been laying DC to waste the past week and a half, that my training has suffered a bit. I'm also sure that when I'm in Charlotte for a couple days that it will probably be 100 degrees the entire time. The workouts I'm going to do in Nashville will be some simple fartlek's. A 4 x 5 minute effort on Tuesday and then some 30/30's on Thursday. The mileage will go down a bit because I'm running a race, and then after that I'll take a down week and just relax and recover on my paid vacation.

For the marathon I have some specific goals. I would like to run around 2:40, but if I could hit 2:37 that would be nice. I would like to lower my marathon PR of 2:49:51. Hopefully that will be done with ease, but you never know and I'm not going to take anything for granted. I'll be pleased with running on roads that I'm familiar with and hopefully having people cheer me on (or throw rotten vegetables at me-I don't know). I haven't raced a marathon since Boston 2008 (I almost put ran, but then realized I paced two since then). One thing that really has got me filled with confidence is my long runs. I've been able to really hammer them out of the park and run them with relative ease. I'm probably going to max out at twenty four miles. Other than that I'm going to try and find some races to do in between then to get my legs a race underneath them.

As for running and teaching I'm not sure what is going to happen. During the fall the hours will be longer, almost ten hours at the school. And twice a month I'll be there for thirteen hours. Being on my feet all the time, I feel confident in the footwear I have. Well that's the daily update for today.

Later gators

Somewhat over

So summer school is over. And I cannot tell a lie. I'm sad that it's over. Really. Truly. I really want it to continue. I'm sad. I had a student bring me a chocolate donut today. On the second or third day of summer school he asked me what my favorite donut was and I told him chocolate. He asked me to spell it and I did and he wrote it down. Today he brought it to me. I was trying not to cry. I feel that I have a very good relationship with my students. It was sad that I wont seem them till the end of August. But I have a lot of work to do. A lot of work to get better. Some fun in Nashville coming up. Then some down time in Charlotte. Then some time in DC. Then back to work. Time to get on it.

Later gators.

Upbeat

Well it's another day down and one more day of summer school left. I really feel bad that it's almost over, kinda wishing that it wouldn't end. They wont come back to school for almost a month. I think one thing that I have done well is build up a positive relationship with the students. Usually there are twenty four students in the classroom, but it really doesn't feel like there's that many. Although there are moments when a big rush comes in, for the most part I think it's not so bad. Especially when you consider that there is another teacher in the classroom.

Today I lead my second morning meeting and it went a lot better than the first one (my opinion). I was able to engage the students better and made sure that they didn't get bored, because that's the one thing that I have to avoid. When I had the game at the end of the meeting that's when I realized that the game I used was a mistake and soon lost most of the student's engagement. Although my lead was out of the classroom at this moment, I didn't notice it and was flying solo. Other than that I feel that I am developing a stronger voice to communicate myself to the students, and I feel that I am taking the responsibilities that I know how. I feel that from my previous situations that I know where I have been and that I don't want to go back. So I feel that I have that going for me and I feel that I can only get better. I'm excited to see what will happen once the fall starts, but remain confident that things will work out very well for me.

Feeling good again

So I've been thinking a bunch on the heat and what that has done to my energy level. It got really bad on Thursday and lasted until Sunday. I've been thinking that through those four days that it completely wiped me out physically. (It probably didn't help that I was emptying my system all Sunday night) That physical fatigue really lasted throughout the beginning of this week. Every morning when I wake up I feel as if I barely got any sleep, and my runs have been a struggle to even get started. It probably doesn't help that I'm up for twenty minutes and then start my run in pitch black.

But those are really mere excuses. I can probably do some things smarter, I can make sure that I hydrate well. I can also make sure that I cut down on my mileage when the temperatures are that high. Monday when I was feeling awful, I didn't eat a lunch and crashed big time in the afternoon. I think that I am slowly recovering to get that feeling back where I'm better. I'm hoping that's the case.

Work is actually pretty good. I'm not that fatigued at all. After work is when I start to get a little low in the energy level, but I feel that I am a high energy individual during the day. One thing that I try to do is smile all the time and bring a lot of positive energy. Of course I'm still learning a lot about myself and about others. It truly is something that is really amazing to be apart of, and at the same time something that is challenging but in a good way. I feel that this is something I want to do for some time. I like the environment that I am in, and I like the respect level that I feel the building fosters. I try to bring a lot of positive energy and some humor in the building. To all of my Charlotte friends this may come as a surprise but most people here view me as the conservative dressed individual who is pretty strait laced. It was at the campus bbq where it was mentioned that this was the most casual dressed they had seen me. Well I guess at the summit things will change!

At the beginning of August I'll be in Nashville for a sponsored summit, that looks to be very informative and a lot of fun. I'm hoping to meet a lot of people, listen to the different ideas that are presented to me, and learn a lot. Of course their might be some fun, but I really want this to be an opportunity for me to learn and grow.

Other than that I have two more days of school. Then nearly ten days of vacation, which I will take a bit in Charlotte. My connecting flight from Nashville lands in Charlotte and I was thinking why not just stay in Charlotte instead of going to BWI. So that's what I'll do for a couple days and then head on back to Charlotte. It will be my last times in Charlotte before November, so I'll just look to relax and have fun.

Feeling Better

I've been feeling a bit lethargic and tired the past couple days. I got sick Sunday night and that carried over to Monday. I didn't pack a lunch on Monday because at that time I didn't want to see any food. Cut over to Monday afternoon and I was crashing. I ate some snack and some mac and cheese. I went to bed at 8:30. I woke up this morning and didn't feel that great. I went for a run and felt awful again. I had no energy. Instead of going out anymore and doing a workout, I turned back and went home. Now I feel a ton better. Getting a good review at work certainly helps out. Almost done with summer school. Can make it work for a couple more days. Hopefully I write some longer post, but don't hold me to it.

Also I finished my July book, need some suggestions for a book for August.

Tired

Yep that sums it up. Going to bed now.

Founding Farmers

For my birthday I went to dinner with my sister and her boyfriend to Founding Farmers. It was pretty good. I had the ribs, oh so delics, the meat was so tender it literally dripped off the bone. It was probably the closest I felt to a primitive hunter. MEAT TASTE GOOD. I had some fries and a pea pasta salad as my two sides. We had an appetizer, which was cornbread, CORNBREAD AINT NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. I really liked how spongey it was. It was warm, some nice corn kernels in the middle. I especially liked the butter-honey that went with it. It was sweet and not that bad. For drink I had something that for the life of me I can't remember. It was an English ale, that was a bit sweet. Imagine a Guinness wasn't a stout but more like a sweet honey drink. It might be close to a Paddington ale. It wasn't that bad. For dessert I had a deep chocolate milkshake. Was it good? Oh you bet! It was very rich. I liked the top which was a cold whipped cream with chocolate dripping on it. It was very rich. In the car ride back to my place it became very dicey straits. Would I make it in time? It was very close. Now I realize that the milkshake was a bad idea. A very bad idea. Hopefully I'll feel better. But right now I feel like I've been hit with a ton of bricks in my stomach.

Staying in on a Saturday

Weekend nearing completion. Got almost all of my agenda taken care of. Should take about 1-2 hours tomorrow. Looking forward to one more week of work, then a trip to Nashville. Excited about going to a place that I have never been before. Continuing to improve on things. Continuing to improve on the things that I do well. Fun times ahead. Tougher times ahead. Stay positive is the way to go.

Do not past go, do not collect bail

Ah so another week down in the books, one more to go for the rest of the summer. Feeling good about things, feeling that I have a better grasp on things. I'm gonna keep this short and sweet. More things to work on, more things to get better at, more things that I have realized that I thought I was doing ok but can do better. Feeling better everyday. On to the next week!

Toki Underground

After work today I went over with some colleagues to a ramen noodles restaurant called Toki Underground. I would call this step 1 where I could channel my inner Anthony Bourdain. It was a small place with maybe 20 chairs. We ended up getting some dumplings for an appetizer and then I ordered the chicken noodle. Did I look clumsy with chopsticks? Perhaps. Did I eat/slurp my noodles? Maybe. Did I down the broth? Oh you bet! I've always been a picky eater but now I'm trying new things and thought why not try this out. It sounded good and it was a good opportunity to talk to those who were going through similar experiences that I was going through.

One mistake that I made that was not at work was my attire. I wore my corduroy pants. The mistake was that this was one of the hottest days in DC. I think the heat advisory was well over 100. I was sweating after leaving dinner and walking home from the metro station. But overall it wasn't that bad because I wasn't the only one suffering.

When it came to running I tried to do a workout this morning. When I walked outside it was immediately hit me how bad the weather was. It was warm and humid. It felt nasty. It didn't help that I tried to do a workout. Mile repeats. I had a lot of anxiety for work today and I could never really get comfortable running. I did one stride and couldn't calm myself down. I ended up walking back to the start line and went into my workout. I hit the first mile in 5:25, after a 400 recovery of 2 and change, I started the next mile. I hit the 400 in 82, but mentally I just had to much on my mind. I was extremely disappointed with myself for this. I really need to relax and not worry about things so much. I really don't know why I do it so much, but I do. I am more ashamed that I gave up so easily. But there's another day and another time to grind to shine!

Like the angel...

Sometimes I need to stop and just think. That's probably what's kept me sane. Also I believe there are other things that have kept me from freaking out. I keep hear about people crying one day after work. I think if I was doing this a couple years ago that would probably be the case, but now I know certain things. One thing that has really got me very interested is the psychology of the way I am seeing them interact and how they handle different things. It's quite interesting to witness this first hand. At the same time it's very serious work knowing that I'm one of the first who get to work with them first. I have to keep a positive attitude but at the same time I have to be consistent and firm. It's a line that I want to hit by the end of the year. I still have that good feeling whenever I leave work, and I always hope that it continues. I can't really put it into articulate words how awesome it is to walk to work in between 6th and 7th street and see the Jefferson Memorial a couple miles down the way. The street is flat and you can see straight ahead. It's the little things like that that make me want to say for years to come and give me a smile before I get to work. Maybe it's seeing how the students grow and seeing them work on something, it's how they interact with others, and how they turning into a great group (no matter what they do). I guess one advantage I have (other than being as old as Kent) is that I know where I have been and never want to go back and wash dishes at The Fillmore, when things got tough, ever again. I may not run as fast as I will every be able to, but I feel that honestly there are more important things than running. It's still a part of me, but there is already so much more than putting one foot ahead of the other (relatively) fast. Maybe that's me. If you have a different view on this that's fine. I have a training schedule, I have goals, but it's not something that I model to T.

I'm trying to think if there is anything more exciting to talk about. Other than leading the read aloud, where I have thrown down a rather weird voice and a British accent, things are going smooth. Tomorrow I lead the beginning of the class for 15 minutes. I'm comparing it to stand up, and hopefully it goes better than when I actually did stand up. I probably will not sweat as much as I did that one time. I probably will make some mistakes, but I'm thinking that I'm get the main messages across. My one goal is to not run out of time. That would be somewhat embarrassing. I think also tomorrow night I will go out with some work colleagues and eat at some noodle place. Then for the weekend I'm not really sure. My birthday is Sunday, but honestly I think the weekend will be mild seeing that my circle of friends is quite low up in DC. Oh well I can't stay up past 11pm on a weekend, gotta be able to get my long run in!

A work in progress

You know what you never hear about?

A troll that lives on top of a bridge, and who is always happy!

You always hear about a troll that lives under a bridge, and who is unhappy.

Well let me tell you something-

I know of a troll that lives on top of a bridge, and who is always happy.

His name is Fabrice. He lives on top of the bridge that sits on top of Connecticut Avenue.

He likes the Seattle SuperSonics, the complete series of Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place on DVD, and calls cheese fromage.

Fabrice was an unusual troll.

He did not like to complain.

He did not like to push others.

He did not like to scream.

Instead he liked to smile.

He liked to share the bridge with others.

He made sure everyone was able to drive safely on the bridge.

There were other trolls, trolls who lived underneath bridges, who were always unhappy.

They would see Fabrice.

"HEY WHY DO YOU ACT LIKE THAT" is how the other trolls talked. They did not talk, they yelled.

Fabrice would politely wait then responded to them "I act like this because it makes me happy. And I want to do anything that makes me happy".

The other trolls would yell, spit, scream, and cry in ways to distract Fabrice.

But no matter how hard they tried, they could not make Fabrice unhappy.

He was truly the first (and only) troll that lived on top of a bridge and was happy.

Illustrations: done in stick figure (maybe?possibly?perhaps?)

Ch-Ch-Changes

As I start the second week things are still going smoothly and I'm fitting into a routine that is keeping me sane, and making get ready for each day. Each day presents a new challenge that I'm ready to tackle. Each day is a new opportunity to see how things unfold and to give me a clue on what to do. I feel that right now I am pleasantly pleased with how things are going. It's some of the little things that make the day special and right now I'm filled with them. I really hope that this confidence shows up in the way that I interact with others and how I conduct myself in regard to body language, but I feel that those areas are getting better as the days continue.

I guess one reason why I'm so glad to be doing this is that I know what the alternatives are. I know what it's like not to have this, so I make sure that everyday I'm prepared to the gills. I make sure to remind myself what it was like for a year and that I don't ever want to get back to that place again. I feel that I have been given a second chance and will continue to develop what I have been given and give it out to those around me. I still want to stay true to myself but I want to make sure that I get out of the comfort zone that engulfs me. I feel that this is something that will continue and by this time next month will be different, by 2 months it will be different, and by next year I'll be different. Can you call it maturity? I'm not really sure, but I do feel a seismic change in my personality that I sometimes look at myself as a different person. I'm not really sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I know that there are certain things where I'll stay true to myself and yet there will be some instances where I've changed. I guess it's taken some time, it's probably a little to late for some people's opinion, and I probably could have done things differently in the past. But honestly, and while it may seem rather cold, those were learning experiences. I just have to keep on doing what I do, I guess.

I'm keeping myself grounded. I still feel that I have a lot of work to do, so I'm sure that I'll always be busy.

Rockville Twilight 8k: Relax

I've been sitting back, resting, and lying about my place and thinking over the race from last night. I guess I could say the one word that comes to my mind is disappointment. I had a goal of running under 27 minutes and didn't come close to running it. But at the same time I have learned to put things into prospective and realize that there are certain positives to take out of this race. As I was doing my run this morning I remembered that I had been only seriously training for this race for about three weeks, so to run 5:30 for 5 miles after three weeks isn't to shabby. Also (and not to use this as an excuse, but to point it out) while the temperatures were in the high 70s/low 80s giving an appearance of it feeling cool, the humidity was out there and I'm sure the dew point was in the upper 60s. I'm not sure what the dew point was but after doing an eleven minute warm up, I was already sweating a bit. As this was a new race in a new place I wasn't really sure what the course was going to be like. I had been told the race was hilly, and while compared to what I've raced in Charlotte it wasn't that hilly, but looking at my garmin stats three of the five miles there was a net climb over a net descent. With that being said this was the fastest 8k that I've run before, and looking over the many positives I'll take this result and go forward. After this pity party of sorts let's go to the new and improved running diary!

6:30 am This is my sleeping in time now. Ah geez! I went to bed the night before at 9:45 because I was just to tired. Waking up at this time I walked around my place and got ready to do an easy shake out run.

7 am Ran a nice 4 mile shake out run. If my friends in Charlotte were doing the 4 miler well why not do one myself. The morning was gorgeous this morning. In the 60s nice breeze made it feel cooler. Opted to wear a long sleeve shirt. It felt good. Ran just under thirty minutes.

8am After eating breakfast see that I received a text message from my sister last night. Apparently I didn't hear it at all. It was at 10:15. I then realize that I am an old man in that I slept through the message. I had the phone on vibrate and it was right next to me. That must be sign 1 that I'm getting old.

9-11:30 am I decide that it would be a good time to relax and watch the tour and the open championship. It was at this time that I took a nap. It was probably a thirty minute nap. It was also a nap where I fell asleep in my nice relaxing chair. It was an old man nap.

11:45-12:45 pm As with my usual custom for a pre race meal I needed to get my shells and pasta from Harris Teeter. The closest one to my place is off the U Street metro. I ended up taking the metro and then walking to just under a mile to HT. Let me tell you about this HT. You have to walk up stairs to get to it! But they didn't have my meal. Instead I bought some spaghetti for lunch.

1:15-2 pm Eat the spaghetti and cook the take and bake bread. Is there any other bread that's better to make than the take and bake bread? I think not. It's also at this point to say that when I was working at Harris Teeter I use to work the bread kiosk from time to time. I can't tell you how many free samples I would eat there, but let's say it was anywhere from 2-3 loafs.

2-5:30 pm Not a whole lot going on here. I watched some tv and then tried to take a nap. The nap went alright, but it wasn't that great of a nap.

5:30-6 pm I get ready to go to the race. Get all my things that I need. Got that, check! Got that, check! I make my way to the metro station and find that the train that I was going to take just leaves as I make my way down the stairs. Total bummer. The next train will be coming in fifteen minutes, total bummer!

6:25-7:35 pm The amount of time that I spent on the metro. The Georgia Ave/Petworth train came at 6:25, then I had to transfer over to the Red line at Chinatown, which it seems that they were doing construction. That meant there was roughly 1,000 people waiting for the trains on one track. One train comes by and I get on and realize they are going in the opposite direction that I want to go on. I jump off in time and then wait a couple minutes and get on the train I need to. I end up standing for most of the train ride and sit down for the last couple stops. I start to feel a bit of motion sickness, but nothing to bad. It was a reassuring sight to see the sun again when we get into Maryland.

7:35-8:15 pm I arrive at Rockville and take the quick trip to the expo. The race is near the town square, which is very nice. A bunch of restaurants, a movie theater, basically a really nice place to spend a Saturday night. Also it's packed. The stores and restaurants are packed. I get my packet. I notice that I get a dry fit shirt. Looking over at the festivities I realize that this race is a step above anything I've ran in in Charlotte.

8:15-8:30 pm Did my warm up. My garmin was acting up a bit and couldn't find a signal for awhile. I ran the first part of the course, which we ran twice. I come back from my warm up and put my bag in the bag check. This race has a lot of people in it. It's crowded. I'm hoping to run well.

8:45- 9:15 pm The race goes off...and immediately I'm way off pace. I was stuck behind the elite women and a bunch of scrubs. I look at my watch and see that I'm running 5:59 pace. It was at this moment where I started to press a bit and move to my left to find a space to move up. After moving up I see that my pace is 5:25, which I figure is going to be where I need to be. I don't check my watch again till the mile marker. The first mile had a small hill in it that I knew about, it also had a downhill right after it. The mile marker was just after the downhill and I hit it in...5:09. Well that wasn't what I was hoping for. Oh well. Also I should note that I'm probably in 25-30 place with a 5:09 mile.

The next mile we turned left into some neighborhoods, and let me tell you about the crowd support IT WAS MASSIVE. People were out in full force. The lines of the streets were packed. It was truly awesome. The second mile had the longest hill and the closest thing that it reminded me was the hill on Morehead, but not as long. I got to the second mile and it was 10:43. I actually felt good and was running well. I wasn't tired at this point. On the third mile we repeated most of what we did in the first mile. At the water stop I ran under this mist stream because I was sweating bad and was over heating. At times I was running by myself and at other times I was with people. One thing that I need to work on is to suck it up and run with a group, consequences be damned. I hit the three mile mark at 16:16.

The fourth mile was one that was probably the most out there from the spectators. We ran through parking lots going back and forth. It was at this point where I told myself that I had to catch three people and not get passed. I almost got this goal, I passed two people in the last mile. The fourth mile I wasn't feeling that great, but I still was positive and was flashing a smile. I hit the four mile marker at 22:06. At this point we were on the last mile. I knew that we stayed on the main street for the last mile. I figure ok it was time to start moving. I picked up the pace and realized that I stuff in the tank. I kinda used certain points in the course when to really pick it up. But I got confused and started to really pick it up earlier than when I should have. It didn't really cost me anything, other than not catching the guy who was in front of me with the truly awful stride. But I was able to drop a couple guys at the end and finished the last .97 with a 5:11. I finished with a 27:22. That's what my watch said. I'm taking that to the bank. My garmin measured the course at 5.04. Oh well. I was spent after the race, I probably could have ran a bit faster. I was a bit disappointed after the race, but I knew that there was much more important things going on with my life, and that honestly this wasn't going to get me down like it did after Twilight. I have another race lined up time to get to work on that race.

9:30 pm Did my cool down in my flats. It was slow and barely 3/4 of a mile. I got my stuff from the bag check, got some free food, and then walked back to the metro station. I got a free lemonade, but it had zero calories which meant that it tasted like crap. I ended up not finding a place to get something to eat and made my way to the metro station. I had at least an hour ride on the train, I was not looking forward to it.

9:54-10:55 pm Got on the train and was glad that I was able to find a seat. I was sending texts to Emily, which was good. Although some thoughts were going in my head. A) I hope I don't have to go to the bathroom, B) If I do have to go, where would I go?, C) Why is nobody sitting next to me? I looked in the glass and saw that I looked like death, I also realized that I smelled really bad and that when I got up from my seat it was covered in sweat. I am a disgusting person.

11-11:45 pm I ended up taking a shower. I was going to eat some chicken strips, but I was to tired to make them, so I just ate a bowl of cereal. I was tired and after I ate it I went to bed.

In looking back at the race when I was walking back to the metro station I realized that running really does show a person about life. And for me I need to find a balance and relax. I started to flip out a bit on the train going there, thinking I wasn't going to get to the race on time. I got way to impatient in the first mile and it cost me. I think that in order for me to go forward I'm going to need to pick my spot when I need to push it, and at the beginning of the race is not it. Maybe in the second mile? Also I realized that I might need to change things up a bit in training.

But I also looked and really want to focus on the positives. I never gave up and quit in the race. I competed as best as I could. I never totally broke my stride. I like how I ran the last bit hard. I like that I was able to bounce back in this road race after Twilight. I like how I was smiling during and after the race. Also I like how I enjoyed this race. Maybe it's work or maybe it's a change of scenery but I'm feeling good. I do realize that right now I'm only three weeks into some training and that three or four more weeks I'll be in better shape. This race was a good indication of where my fitness is. It was a summer night race and those are tough mentally and physically, but I feel that I held up well and can only see myself getting stronger. I'm working on things and feel that I'm getting better. On to the next race.

Rockville Twilight 8k Result

27:22. 8 second 8k PR. Lot of things to gain from this. Lot of things to learn from this.

It is what it is.

More later...

Week 1 down

One week in the books many many more to follow. Time to rest up. Race at 8:45pm tomorrow. Pay day today.

Need to work on: Patience, Understanding, Confident Voice, Reviewing materials so it becomes second-nature, acting independent, being firm

Having fun one day at a time

Karma Kramer?

...it was such a nice day today. I could feel it when I was out running on the track this morning. I want to say it was in the low 70s, but there was a nice gentle breeze that made it feel 10 degrees cooler. It was such a nice day! I ended up doing a track workout, a workout similar to one that I did before the Bulldog 5k, where I was able to get my PR in the 5k. Looking at the two workouts I was in a bit better shape than what I did today, but I'll take today seeing that I started at 5:30 in the morning. It wasn't that off from the times that I did in April when I felt that I was in tip top shape. I'm not really sure what I'll run on Saturday night. It's reassuring that there wont be any pressure on me, seeing that I want to finish in the top 30. I kinda have figured that there will be some studs running and that it wont make much sense to run the first mile in the low 5s. I figure a mile time around 5:20 sounds about right.

Surprisingly I'm not really having any anxiety about this race at all. Combine being busy with work and what goes on there, and this race is just an escape for me personally. Now I need to find a race for August. What to do? I go to Nashville in the first week and then I have 10 days off until there is more PD, then we the regular schedule on the 25th. Hmmm I have been looking for races up here that fit in that time frame. If not then I'll just train through the weeks.

Today I ran outside at 6:30. It really was a nice day later on. I ended up smelling all the good smells of someone barbecuing. The smells of that and running on U street changed my mind when it came to dinner. I was going to cook some pasta, but after smelling the food I made up my mind that I wanted a burger. So after I got done running I walked to a place that was nearby that had burgers. I must have missed it on the other side of the street because I passed it and ended up in Columbia Heights. Luckily I found a 5 guys and the fixed me.

As I was eating my food a homeless women approach me, out of all the people in the restaurant, and asked me to give her anything. I asked her what she wanted and she said a burger. I was a bit hesitant to buy a burger seeing that they were 5 dollars and that the line was 6 people deep. I decided to give her the rest of my fries. I was a bit sad to give her my food, because I was really hungry. I finished my food and walked back to my place. For some reason I felt a bit hard on myself for being such a d-- for not sucking it up and just buying her a burger. I don't know why it bothered me, but I could have just done it. I thought maybe I did a good deed and gave her the rest of my fries, but my stomach indicated it otherwise. I realized that eating 5 guys after refraining it for so long is bad news (and maybe drinking soda after a long lay off is bad news as well). I ended up getting the dreaded stomach ache. I guess that's karma for me.

These pretzels are making me thirsty

Well I'm trying to figure what to write here or what to talk about. I'm a little undecided mainly because right now my mind is reaching a blank. Today wasn't bad at all. I'm remembering to keep the positive energy at all times. I did have to catch myself take a deep breath and put on a smile, but all in all it went pretty well. It was a full building today, so the little ones were here and at the beginning there was some crying on the other side of the hall, but after a while you kinda reach a zone and block those things out.

I feel everyday a growing confidence in leading the class, next week I take on my first responsibility of leading the morning meeting. Where we will probably go over classroom rules and procedures. Right now I'm working with my lead, who is awesome. I feel that this is something that I am learning as well as I can. There's never a feeling where I feel overstressed or waiting for the clock to tick to 2. Although I will have to say that at 2 I am feeling a sense of relief that I will be able to eat soon! But as with all things there will be ups and downs and everyone is staying positive and I hope to contribute to it. Like last week I was putting name tags on the desk and it was pretty frustrating. It was a THESE PRETZELS ARE MAKING ME THIRSTY moment. So I stopped what I was doing, walked down the halls, got some water, went into another classroom, found a nice purple hat, asked for permission to use it, and wore it the rest of the night. It was my calm down hat and it provided some comic relief. After three days things are good to go.

As for running it's a bit getting use to waking up at 4:45am to go out and run about 20 minutes later. I'm still getting adjusted to it. Tomorrow I'm going to sleep in till 5:15 and then do a sharpening workout for the race on Saturday night. I figure I'll almost have 60+ hours of recovery so I'm hoping to go a bit harder tomorrow morning. Another day of feeling good. Feeling like I'm making a difference. Feeling like this is a good thing.

Later gators.

I'm gonna tell you what I like about Tuesdays

...I think I have previously wrote or maybe I said it to someone (I hope someone) that most days of the week have a certain feel to it. Mondays-UGGGHHH WEEKEND OVER NOT FAIR, Wednesdays-WEEKS HALFWAY OVER, Thursday-TOMORROW IS FRIDAY WEEEEEEEE, Friday-START THE WEEKEND, Saturday-OH BOY!, Sunday-AH MAN THE WEEK IS ABOUT TO START. But Tuesday, well Tuesday doesn't really have a feel, does it? It's like a lump in the week where you really can't say anything bad or good about it. It's the Switzerland of the days of the week. I never know how to feel about it. It kinda gets an eh type feeling. I guess the only good thing is that the next day is Wednesday.

Another day went by, still here. One of the best advices I've gotten so far is to remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Oh how I am keeping that in mind. I feel that I've gotten better at being organized and have all my ducks (or ducklings?) in a line and know what will be going on where and at what time. It's so reassuring to know this and not have to worry about anything. Learning what works and what doesn't work. What is the right thing to do and what needs to be reinforced are just some steps on the journey. I've gotten positive vibes from co-workers and at the same time have been able to receive feedback and learn how to work with this feedback.

I went and ran on the treadmill tonight. It wasn't fun at all. It was hot in DC. A dry heat. No real humidity, just warm. Maybe in the upper 90s. I probably shouldn't have ran because I didn't do a great job of hydrating today. I need to work on that. But as I was running a couple thoughts came into my head (and this was only after 2 days) a) how lucky I am to be working with who I am working with (proper English?) and b) how much I enjoy doing this. It's some sort of joy that honestly I haven't felt in such a long time. It's something where I doubt that I'll get a sense of dread going into work. That's how positive I feel right now. But I have to be grounded and know that I'm going to be tested along the way.

Positive Panda

Day 1

Well it happened. I was able to survive. Were there moments of thoughts racing through my head? Were there a couple moments when I had to take a deep breath? Was there a moment where I thought "Woooaahh"? YOU BET. Was there a moment where I felt overwhelmed? No.

As for first days, it is what it is. In a couple days things will be better. In a couple months things will be better. It's about improving everyday, realizing that mistakes are going to happen, and move on. That's kinda what I figured. It's a six hour day, but it's a constant six hours. The psychology and thought process are things that intrigue me. It's one of those things that until you see it happening you can't really define it. But I'm glad that I'm doing it. I have to say that I'm not broken down. I'm still waiting to get back and go again. It's a way to get better and in a way it's a challenge. And I know I don't back down from a challenge. It's also a big puzzle where I'm trying to figure out where all the pieces go.

But with all things I know that things will not always go smoothly, and that I need to remember the positives when I have negative thoughts. I've got one day down, about 179 left. Well let's do this!

One thing that is not relative to this post, but something that I have mentioned once before is the trash that I see on the streets or sidewalks in DC. As I was leaving work and walking to the metro I saw one kid just dump all his napkins on the sidewalk. Then as I was just about to get to the metro I saw this guy just drop his 7-11 cup, when a trash can was 10 feet away! I really don't know what to say. I guess people just dump there trash wherever they want. But as someone that lives in the city I just am dumbfounded when people do this. Just throw away your trash.

Another rant is that of course today has to be in the upper 90s, I ended up walking to the metro where I sweated through my shirt and pants. Of course the escalators weren't working so I had to hike up the mountains to get off the station. Other than that it's been a good day!

The Enchiladas made us sick, but that's ok

A day that has seemed like it's gone on forever. It started with a 5:30 wake up. Since I'm still staying up to date with how everyone is running in Charlotte, I've been paying attention to the weather, the humidity, and the dew point. Having read how stifling and muggy it is, I am somewhat blessed that in DC it's not that bad. I checked the dew point for my area this morning and it was 65, I'm not really sure how bad that is, but it didn't feel anywhere close to what Charlotte is like this time of year.

As for the run, it started out pretty well. I went onto the C&O trail to get some miles on the gravel. I kinda realized that the distance that I was running was going to be catching up to me when I had to turn around. At the 9.5 mile mark I turned around and realized the daunting task that was ahead of me. To give a description of the trail it's like Old Bell, if Old Bell was 5-10 miles long. It's just flat and straight. I took comfort in knowing that I had the canal on one side of me and the Potomac on the other. At least it was something different. I wasn't feeling great, and what I like to think is a small breakthrough is that I soldiered on. I really wanted to take a long break or hope that there were cars that would cross my path, but it never happened and I eventually was able to muster what I had left and got back to my place. The route that I take isn't that bad, and the trails provide much more scenery than what I get in Charlotte. After the run I took my first ice bath in a long time. I think I'm going to make it a Sunday tradition.

After doing some core and stretching I was very much in the mood to get some brunch, but after getting dressed I realized I really didn't want to walk half a mile to get some food. So I decided to stay in and make some pancakes and scrambled eggs. At the same time I was walking the tour de crash. Even though most of the riders are probably doing some sort of cheating, I'll still watch it regardless. After the race was over I decided to take a nap. I woke up at 1 and was going to read the lesson plans I received, but on a whim checked to see what was up with the soccer game. Needless to say I watched a pretty good game and while I wasn't thinking as clearly as I could, coming up from a nap, I was enthralled by what I was watching.

Some other highlights included a half hour fire alarm in my building, where myself and the other residents waited outside till the fire department came. Nothing really remarkable happened, so we went back inside. I figured that for my Sunday dinner I was going to try cooking up the enchiladas I bought a week ago. I put them in the oven and was a bit disappointed by how small they were. I took about 45 minutes to prep them and 5 minutes to eat them. Not my mom's enchiladas, so if anyone has any suggestions for a Sunday dinner for me to cook I'm open to it.

Going to get a good amount of sleep in, probably going to disregard watching Leverage and Curb tonight to do some last minute prepping. But tomorrow is going to be fun and excited. I would like to say that I'm nervous, but I don't feel it right now. I kinda have the impression that I'm an actor onstage preforming. But what I'm doing is something that is important, so I'm not diminishing it what I'm doing. I guess that's the analogy that I'm looking for. I am glad that I can leave at 4 tomorrow and don't have to worry about being there till 8 or 9.

This past week has lead to some eye opening revelations about myself and really how much better I can be at a lot of things. I've been thinking that this pd was something that I should have done when I was coaching. For the school to help me out and for myself to work with my assistants. It's something that could have been done in half a day, but it's something that provides cohesiveness, structure, and clearly expressed expectations. When I got handed the head coaching position it was like, here you go. No training in how to deal with anyone, no training in how to deal with conflict. I could coach the sport, but there were so many other little things that go into it. We did have a meeting of all coaches at a bar, but I felt that it was something that was a waste of time, and really glossed over things. I feel extremely confident in myself when it comes to returning to coaching that on the side of managing the business side I'm better prepared. I also feel that being away has given me a new perspective when it comes to learning new training styles, so I'm hoping that eventually that will come back. And it hit me today that right now in Asheville running camp is starting. One day I'll be back there. That's what I'm telling myself. I've got a lot of things to make right and I'm repairing them one day at a time.

The blog post isn't in reference to my dinner, but a line from a song a Bouncing Souls song. The same song that I took to title this blog!

At base camp

Tardiness from yesterday. I got home and was in no shape to write anything constructive. It was a day that I thought would be a bit stressful but actually wasn't that bad. But I am aware of what lies ahead and that I'm going to be doing things that will be foreign at first, but hopefully every day I'll improve on what I'm doing.

On the running front I've seen some improvement on my development. I'll probably be repeating this on multiple occasions, but running is going to become one of the outlets for me. It's going to give me a chance to be outside (when I'm not running on a treadmill) and I'll have a specific time to be by myself. Although I do realize that eventually I'll find a running group to run with, but in my area I'm not really sure who runs out here. The Thursday morning track workouts are nice in that there are other people out there, but nobody can really run my pace. I received a compliment from one guy that I was fast, and it was reassuring but I kinda want to get pushed and hopefully at the race next week I'll meet some people who I can run with. I guess one downside of not having a car is that I can't just go out and drive and meet someone at a place like I did in Charlotte.

The other news in running, aside from being relatively heathy is that I'm probably going to register for the Thunder Road Marathon in November. I had been hesitant to register, not because I don't want to run it, but mainly because my work schedule hadn't been finalized. I really didn't want to pluck down money for an entry fee and airfare and then have to cancel or eat it. Luckily Veterans Day is the day before the race and I have that day off. So I'll be off to Charlotte that Friday morning or maybe even Thursday night! Having run the course multiple times I know what lies ahead of me. It will also be a good chance to see some people who I haven't seen in a long time. Also it will save me some money in that I don't have to get a hotel room. I'll sleep in comfortable environment and I'll be able to see my dog again! I kinda have a goal in mind, but I'm going to have to be able to adapt to what I'm running (and my work schedule) in the next couple months.

Tomorrow will be a day where I'm going to prep for work and try and get ready to the big challenge ahead of me. There are certain things I know what to do and certain things I don't know what to do. I'm going to be learning as I go along, so I'll try to be a sponge and soak up information as best as I can. But I just have to reassure myself that even though this will be hard, I got this.

Another week of living in the capital in the books, another week of mileage in the 80s, no new injuries to speak of (other than a small teak in my left quad). Let's see what I'll be saying next week. A busy week of exciting new things and prospects. Oh yeah a night time race where there will be Kenyans and nearly every stud in the DMV area! Well let's hope for a top 30 finish and somewhere in the 26:40-27 minute range.

Later gators

Broken Heart, I want it back

This is pretty late. I've been up since 5:15, maybe going to sleep as soon as I get done writing this. Tomorrow is another day of getting work done. Running in the morning is a must since it wont get done at night. Fun times tomorrow night!!!! My comcast internet wasn't working today, I was getting pretty frustrated and was about to punch someone or a hole in the wall, when I decided to restart my modem...and VIOLA it works. Last night as I was going home on the metro I overheard the conversation between two guys. From what I can tell it seems that one of them broke up with their wife/girlfriend. I couldn't tell what was the relationship, but it ended badly and he was joking about it.

Today at work we were listening to different songs and how they displayed what type of emotions or what we thought when we heard them. The second song started to play and I knew from the first chord that I had heard this song before. I couldn't identify it at first, but then I heard the lyrics and knew what band it was. It was The Casualties, the song was Punk Rock Love. I was thinking about that song all day and what feelings I felt. I remember saying something about the summer initially when I first heard the song, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. When I cut the grass I would listen to my ipod and this song was on it. But it also produced a much deeper memory for me. I think it was sometime in sophomore year of college when I got dumped and was feeling pretty lousy. I use to walk around the streets of Raleigh at night by myself. Why? I don't know. It really never made sense. I would just leave and go for a walk. For some reason this song came into my head when I would walk those lonely nights. The song never resonated with my life, but for some reason it would pop up into my head.

Yeah it's time for bed.

Come Back

Hey now! I think as I was writing last night at this time, I was really dragging and to be factual I was actually in bed at this time. Now I'm feeling a bit better, got some pep to my step and am ready to get somethings done and then maybe go to sleep. When I woke up this morning I knew that I had to get my run in now or it wasn't going to happen. I was dragging a bit and didn't feel all that great, but I got it done and then was able to get a good breakfast. I wasn't feeling that great at the beginning of work, but it wasn't until lunchtime that I got my energy back. Then going back and working till 9 I was pumped. It reminded me after my last leg of Blue Ridge. It was at that point where I was super amped up, even though I was exhausted and hadn't had any sleep. I was able to stay awake for about 3 hours afterwards, and then crashed. So I guess tonight is heading that way...

One thing place that I walk by on a regular basis to work is Fasil Ethiopian restaurant. I've never had ethiopian food, but why not have some now. It seems like something that looks good. And who knows maybe I'll run fast! I'm not really sure what else I have to say tonight but I've got somethings to get done, work on my core, stretch, and then bed!

Getting old

I'm going to say that today will probably be a preview of things to come. I'm basically out of communication for most of the day. So if anything noteworthy happens, I probably wont hear about it until I get home. I got back around 7:45 and saw the news about the trial. Well I'm glad I don't care and never got personal invested in it. But today also showed just how much work is required to be doing this. I'm going to have to do a better job of managing time and making sure that I don't fall behind. I fell that I'm taking care of everything pretty well, but still need to assert myself when the time comes. Another week of PD and then Monday is the big day. Excitement, nerves, pumped up, anxiety all fit in my head. I'm probably going to go to sleep about now. I'm going to hold off on the foam roller for the night and from reading a bit. I'm 35 pages in, but I'm sure that there will be times when I can get things done. Oh boy! Oh boy!

Life as a Loser

-What are you doing today?

-Oh nothing, I celebrate Bastille Day!

...usually when you tell a joke the one thing that you hope happens is that it lands, because there is nothing worse than having to explain why you thought what you said would be humorous. It's moment's like this where you say to yourself, well at least it keeps you grounded.

Ah yes so that's how my early part of the day went. Working for a couple hours fixing things up and finalizing things tomorrow. Things are starting to get done, and I'm starting to get a bit excited/nervous at the same time. I think being naive is something that I have carried around from time to time, I do realize that what I'm about to do is going to be difficult. Although for the first three weeks I'm not sure that of what exactly I'll be doing. I think it's watching and observing, which isn't that bad. Hopefully I can get things under control. One thing that I have noticed is my public speaking. I can do it find with people who aren't my own age, but when it comes to people my own age I start pulling a Colin Firth and stutter and get all flustered when the situation arises. It's something that kinda bothers me from time to time. Because honestly I have (what I think) the words that I want to say, but they bounce around and I get all confused and they come out in a jumbled mess. But I'm hoping that with practice will make perfect.

After going to Shaw and doing some work for three hours I was pretty exhausted. I'm still not think that I'm getting enough calories into my system. I made some scrambled eggs and a bagel, watched some tv and then took a nap. I woke up around 6:50 and knew that my building was having a communal get together at 7. I made my way up there. As I didn't know anybody at my place I was standing (I would say cooly) against the wall, another resident came up and stood there as well. We ended up talking for a couple minutes, and then all of sudden she left. Well that can't be good. Did I have food smeared across my face? Was there a piece of the salad stuck in my teeth? It didn't appear that way. Well that is another interesting factoid.

Sometimes I think about what I am doing and how awesome it is. Sometimes I think that this is not the easiest way to go about things. The hours are going to be long, the stress will wear on me, but I have to take it one day at a time. I can't look forward to a break, because then it's just hanging on. It's something that is much more than that. I have to have a plan where I can come in with my head held high and be full of confidence. I can't fall back onto old habits. Right now I'm still treading water, and shortly it will be the swim part. Here we go!

Greenberg

...there's a scene in the movie "Greenberg" which I can safely say that I can relate to right about now. The character, played by Ben Stiller, is house sitting for his brother. His niece throws a big party, where all her friends show up. The Ben Stiller character, Greenberg, kinda has some social awkwardness tendencies kinda feels out of place with all these younger people. It takes some time for him to relate, and by time I mean he starts to do lines of cocaine. Well I was over at my sister's boyfriend's place tonight and I can say that it was just like that scene from Greenberg, minus the drug use. I quickly realized that I was probably five years younger than everyone else, and that while I don't mind drinking alcohol, it's nothing something that I was really looking to do. To drink to get drunk. SORRY BUT I'M SAVORING THE TAST OF THIS FINE DRINK.

Maybe it's the fact that in Charlotte I hang out with people who are active and exercise, so seeing people smoke was foreign to me. I'm not trying to judge, it was just something that was a shock. Sometimes you kinda realized who you are and who you are not. And you can fake it for as long as you can, but eventually your true colors come out and that's where you feel comfortable. Now at this bbq I did have two tall boys of PBR, which apparently was nice to hear that one of my bosses noticed this was all I drank at one of the happy hours. Sometimes I guess the way you project yourself is how others define who you are. It's something that might not be intentional, but it's something that I have to be more conscience about.

On the running front, something that is getting a bit ridiculous is that once again I got bit by some sort of insect and got a swelling from it. I guess my allergic reactions have gotten to the point where no matter what bites me, I will get a reaction. It's getting increasingly dangerous to the point where I might have to go to the doctor to see what I can do to prevent this from becoming a serious problem. I would rather not die while running on a trail by myself.

Tomorrow is the 4th and hopefully it will be something that will be neat to see in the nations capital. I'm going to be going into work for a bit tomorrow, I'm not sure for how long, but I'm getting ready for the year ahead of me. I don't really consider it that much of a dedication, but rather something that I want to get out of the way. Also my lead is going to be there and I feel the need to help her out, because I really don't have anything planned for the early part of the day.

Cultured

I'm going to give today a perfect grade. It was nothing short of a rather relaxing day, doing and then folding laundry. Then ironing my work clothes. I was able to watch the beginning of the tour and the women's final on tennis. One thing that I like about the tour is how it reconnects to me the feeling that it's the month of July. It harkens back memories for me of watching the tour during the month. There was the time I watched a replay of it with Death* at running camp in 07. It was the first time that I really hung out with my roommate that week and I knew that this was a guy I need to hang out even more!

*Not his real name.

But the tour also allows me to maintain on my learning of the areas where it's been held. It's a refreshing course on history. I'm able to stay up to task on certain areas that I'm not sure if I know well. Also the fact that I can view in HD helps out a lot. The fascinating shots of the European countryside is another reason why I enjoy watching it.

The title of this post comes from the fact that I just got done reading the Washington Post (WaPo for short) and let me tell you, other than being the only individual who reads an actual newspaper on pages and not on a computer, that the writing is top notch. It's always humbling to read something someone writes and go, damn that's really good, theres no way I could do something like that. I noticed the language and the way the individual authors wrote their stories that I was getting something a bit better than the Charlotte Observer. Not to say that Charlotte is a stuck in the mud hillbilly type of town, but the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia area) is a higher media market, and thus attracts those from the upper echelon. I guess if you want to make a name for yourself you go to the place where your voice can be heard and where a mass audience will read your voice. I also don't think it hurts that Woodward and Bernstein wrote for the WaPo either. With that in mind I feel a certain sense of enlightenment right about now, although I wonder how much of my mind is turning to mush from the repeated viewings of Inception on HBO. I've probably watched bits and pieces of the movie about 10-15 times right now. It's a movie where I can watch it at any point and immediately get hooked.

With all that being said it's looking like another relaxing day, filled with a long run. I've explored the area a bit and will try out the C&O Trail tomorrow. I'm glad that this area is so conducive to running. I can go out from my place and within a half mile be at a trail. I really don't have any excuses for slacking off in training, aside from my job getting to the point where I reach a breaking point. But I have found methods to prevent that: reading and writing daily. Withe the abundance of trails I have areas to go out and just do my long run. I haven't reached the point where it gets boring, which was the case from time to time running at McMullen, McAlpine, or any of the roads in Charlotte. Right now I'm feeling good about a lot of things, but know that I have to be grounded in my approach. There's going to be a lot of obstacles that will in front of me, and I have to handle myself in the appropriate light. I feel that I have mellowed out a bit in the past couple years, and that I'm no longer tightly wound up. I still am super critical of myself and am already replaying instances where I fudged up. Also my interactions at some points and ways in which I could have handled it differently have come in to play. But other than that I'm getting into a groove. I'll probably have to wake up earlier in a week, but that's not to terrible. I just need to reinforce a line from one of my favorite movies:

"Everyday in everywhere were getting better and better"

Chief Inspector Dreyfuss

Although I don't really see the irony that this line was said in a mental hospital by someone who was put there because he tried to kill Jacque Clouseu. Of course putting "does your dog bit" doesn't have the same ring.

Exhaustion into Smartness

I guess right now I have to say that the new B-Mac Mansion is in it's infant stage. I'm thinking after living in my place for nearly a fortnight that it might be time to hang up some of the framed pictures YOU CANNOT DENY THE FIFTH PLACE FINISH AT GREEKFEST FRAMED PHOTO and my old basketball flags (hipster quota taken care of). After a couple days of working it's slowly come to a conclusion that there are certain that I need to do a better job of on a personal level.

I kinda realized after I got home that I really do need to eat a lot more than what I am eating right now. FATTY WANT FOOD. I packed a turkey sandwich, yogurt, pretzels, pineapple fruit cup, and water. But as soon as I came home I realized that the energy was severely lacking. Of course it may have been due to the fact that I got a ride back from a co worker and we got stuck in terrible soul crushing DC traffic which zapped all energy from me and I became a total zombie. Maybe. But I have realized that I have probably lost some weight. I guess a change is that I'm eating a lot more healthier, as the goal that the students will need to see me as a role model for healthy eating (they get healthy snacks) . So I've been buying loads of fruits, some vegetables, and not really any junk food.

And that leads to how I was feeling this afternoon. We drove by a 5 guys and oh how I got a craving for one of those burgers. I started to get the feeling that I f-- it I'm getting some bad for dinner. But after thinking about it, it really didn't make that much sense to do that. Walking to my building I go by a Wendy's, and I didn't even flinch when I went by it. A frosty does sound good one day, but I knew that this wasn't that day. I ended up making some spaghetti which wasn't that bad.

Another thing is that I feel that very slowly my running is coming back into respectable shape. I have a race in two weeks. I'm not sure what I will be able to run, but I'm hoping that I can get back some of my mojo that I've been missing. I've been running well and consistent mileage for the past month. I've been smarter when it comes to stretching, improving flexibility, and taking the steps to reduce injury. One of the steps is that I'm focusing on my gluteus medius, which I found I have a weak right one. It's a lower ab muscle. After runs I do some exercises to strengthen it. Also I have been more focused when doing my core. CORE!! Hopefully this will lead me to running faster.

Another interesting aspect of where I'm working is that I'm one of two gentlemen there. One thing that I'm going to have to take advantage of is making sure I coordinate my colors together in regard to my shirt and pants. THIS DOESN'T MATCH I KNOW NOT WHAT YOU MEAN. I already got some rave reviews of my work shoes that I wore today instead of the boat shoes that I have been wearing. I like these shoes because they provide more support for my feet, and they look a bit more professional. Other than that I really don't have to worry that much about my skirt length, wearing spaghetti straps, or finding a dress for the gala we are attending in August.

I'm not really sure what my plans are for this weekend outside of watching the Tour, the Championships, and watching fireworks. Maybe I will go out with some people that I have meet throughout the week, but that's up in the air. I'm still kinda getting use to where I'm am. So it just depends on what happens.