Reassurance from the Ranks

Earlier this week I asked my children if I should continue to train for the Ironman. I am worried that I am spending too much time away from them, which is giving me feelings of guilt and depression. I asked them each individually and they both smiled and said yes. I asked again if they are sure and if they minded all those times I was out of the house training. Once again, they both said that I should train for the Ironman and that they didn’t mind that I was out training.

I guess these responses reaffirm two things to me. Guilt* is an emotion that you can only give to yourself and I must be doing something right with my children, because they aren’t feeling like I am abandoning them in pursuit of my Kona goal. This is much needed reassurance from the ranks.

Now since my children appear to be all for me training for the Ironman, would I be setting a bad example of I were to quit? It appears based on the comments I occasionally hear from my children that I am now expected to reach Kona. I’ve talked about Ironman and Hawaii for so long now, that this process has become part of our lives. I guess I am stuck pursuing it so as not to come off as a quitter.

Saddle Sore

I rode 61.7 miles today. The most remarkable thing that occurred during the ride was the realization as I passed mile 56, that I was 13 minutes past 3 hours into my ride. Now I know this is very early season, pre season in fact, but still I should have been able to ride 56 miles in under 3 hours. I am definitely feeling slower and older.

The next time I go out, I need to make a concerted effort to remember to bring my camera. Several times during my last few workouts, I missed opportunities for what I think would be a very interesting picture. Today, what struck my fancy was the long shadow my cycling body cast from the rising sun. The shadow must have stretched for 30 yards and I felt that capturing the moving image while cycling at 18 mph would have made a very interesting picture. I guess I will keep my camera right with my workout gear.

ST met me about 30 miles into my ride. It was clear that I was going to have a difficult time keeping up with him every time we hit the Prospect Park hill. We were soon joined by Robert, another friend and triathlete, both of whom dropped me for good about two loops of the park later. It was just as well. I was tired of trying to keep up the pace and preferred just to grind out my remaining 20 miles.

During my ride, I received a call from Brooklyn who was at the Manhattan Half Marathon. He asked if I was doing it. I didn’t even know it was today, but in truth I doubted I would have even if I’d know. I haven’t run a mile since my run last weekend. I couldn’t even walk normally until Thursday. Hopefully my last run won’t be my last run.

A couple of hours after my ride today, I went for a bonus bike ride with my children. This was very painful since I appear to be very saddle sore. I really must remember that wearing jeans commando style and bike riding don’t mix. Fortunately, we didn’t ride far and took lots of breaks.

Just Because it is Hard

I do certain exertional physical challenges just because they are hard. It amuses me to know that so few others would be doing what I am doing. Examples of this were my two journeys this past week to the Asphalt Green pool at 5am by way of my MTB. For some reason, I get off being the only cyclist, or pedestrian for that matter, traveling over one of NYC’s major bridge crossing.

The Manhattan Bridge at this time and conditions gives off the aura of a menacing post apocalyptic landscape. Dozens of sodium arc lamps cut through the darkness of night and form a forbidding line down a desolate path. The only companions you have at this time are the howling wind, sub freezing temperatures and the occasional thunder of a passing subway train. From this vantage point I can see hundreds of buildings with many thousands of occupants still sleeping in their safe, warm beds.

When I did this trip on Tuesday, it was my first since the recent transit strike. I was taking a chance that I would be allowed to bring my bike into the office, since I didn’t verify that the building where I worked would allow it in. For some reason, I suspected it could be a problem, which is why I didn’t ask for permission in the first place. It is better to ask for forgiveness afterwards than to do be told no outright.

The security guard of the building didn’t even hesitate a second after seeing me before he told me to get out of the building. I explained to him that I am a senior officer of one of the buildings major tenants. This was a stubborn fellow and he reacted to this information with as much concern as he would show a homeless person who wandered into the building. I asked him to speak to the building manager and his reply was that “He was too busy for me”. I told him I needed to bring it upstairs as I didn’t have a lock and had no choice. He said “Too bad, take it back home”. You would have though I wanted to bring in a dirty bomb the way I was being treated.

In any event, I am not one to back down from a challenge and I told them they had three choices, let me go up, call the building manager or call the police because one way or the other I am going upstairs. A second security guard finally called the BM, who allowed me up after I explained to him I didn’t know the restriction, I had no lock and if he would let me pass, I wouldn’t do it again.

I figured I would call the BM after I changed into my suit and settled in. However, the BM decided to pay a visit to my office and chastise me for giving the security guards a difficult time. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. The BM turned out to be a real BM, so I abandoned any hope of bringing my bike inside in the future. For revenge, perhaps I will visit various floors and stuff the toilets with great wads of paper towels.

Waste of Time

It is 5:50am, I've been up for an hour and I've done shit. What a waste of time.

Weekly Rundown - Global Warming Edition

Go Global Warming!!! I don’t know about you, but if the balmy temperature over this past weekend is a result of Global Warming then I am completely in its favor. It was a great weekend to get outdoors, one in which my daughter accompanied me on her bicycle while I did my long run.

I know Sheila from Chicago is hoping for Global Warming to take off. The warm weather is like Spring can’t hold itself back much like Wil. Unusual temperatures in the winter can make it hard to figure out how to dress. I went out with a balaclava, toe and hand warmers and thought I was going to melt. Shore Turtle however, caught the clothing thing right on.

Derek ran the Frostbite 10 Miler, which I felt considering the name and balmy conditions should have been cancelled due to foul weather.

Chelle appears to prefer running in solitude as of late in nasty rainy conditions. I know what she means, which is perhaps why she didn’t blog over the weekend – Too many people outside due to warm weather which ruined the conditions for peaceful rumination.

This weather is definitely out of whack, much like Geaux’s blog which appears to not be behaving normally right now. However, I am sure the weather and his blog will return to normal conditions soon.

Running Chick was able to resist the siren call of running in the warm weather to let her ITB injury heal. Personally though, I would have gone outside to ride a bike. Too bad it’s not warm enough to swim in the ocean.

Monday Morning Blues

Nothing gives me the Monday morning blues quite like coming off of a good weekend. Everything was perfect over the past two days. Great weather and lots of quality time with my children. Now I am faced with another Monday and a full work week ahead of me. I guess the bright side to this is that the weather today is completely nasty. If I had to stay home with my children today, I suppose we would have gotten cabin fever after a few hours.

My soleus muscles are very sore today. Plus my left shin hurts in a new place in a strange new way. When I walk down steps, the pain is in the front, above the bone after I plant my right foot on a lower step and bring my left foot forward. While my shin is moving forward a feel a dull ache.

I debated taking this morning off, but my coach had an excellent quote of the week in my training plan. It inspired me to get on my bike in a very subtle way. I didn’t do the workout as prescribed – strong effort, hard on hills – but at least I rode for an hour. I could have gone longer, but then I wouldn’t have had any time with my kids this morning and I would have been very late for work.

It is just as well that I head to work today. I need to go to an optometrist to get a new pair of glasses. The left arm of my frames broke late yesterday. It is now being held together by some Crazy Glue. I brought the tube with me, because it only holds for a few hours at a time. In truth, I am glad the frame finally broke as I hate it. The frame and lenses are 11 years old and out of style. I was only wearing them, because the two sets of frames I bought after these broke and were lost in a river respectively.

Right now I am riding on the F train heading into Manhattan. The crowded car I am in is being forced to listen to a religious sermon by one of NYC’s multitude of unstable individuals. I don’t quite get what he is saying, but he quotes lots of scripture and talks about how he has never killed anyone. I could argue with that as listening to him is killing me now. To the left is a picture of him. Notice he is violating one of the subways 10 Commandments - "Do not lean on the door". Perhaps he will go to subway hell for that.


I wish I could fake him off the train like I did to some crazy person many years back. I was with my girlfriend and her two friends from suburbia in middle New Jersey. I an extremely drunken fellow got on and started making very lascivious remarks and gestures to the women on the train. The highlight of this was when he walk up to a woman, thrust his pelvis towards her face, grabbed his crotch and said “I want you to suck my cock”. After this he started to walk to my party.

I started to gear myself up to shove him away if he got close to us and take whatever other course of action necessary to keep him at bay. Fortunately at this moment he realizes he is not sure where he is and asks “Yo man, how do I get to East New York?” Calmly looking him in the eye, I tell him to get off at the next stop. For some reason he listens to me and staggers off the train when the doors open. It doesn’t take long for him to realize I told him the wrong information, exhibited by the fact that he curses and turns around to head back into the train. Fortunately the conductor closes the doors right in his face before he is able to get back on. I should probably put these tales on The Subway Chronicles.

Monopoly

Definition -

1. exclusive control or possession of something; "They have no monopoly on intelligence"
   
2. dominance, ascendance, ascendancy, control — the state that exists when one person or group has power over another.
   

I’ve been thinking a lot about Monopoly. That could be because I played it with my children a couple of times over the weekend. That is an exercise in patience, arithmetic, deal making and decision making; all in an attempt to gain as many monopolies as possible to take control and win the game.

I suppose if you have multiple personalities that you have control over, you have a monopoly over yourself. That is what I am going to strive to achieve. While I do not believe I have multiple personalities in the classic sense, I do wear many hats that require different aspects of my personality – husband, father, athlete, employee, etc. If I have complete control over every aspect of my life, then technically speaking I have a monopoly on myself.

One thing I need to get control over is my running. I am suffering from wicked shin splints in my left leg and I need to make a change that will let me get the problem under control. I am a hard heel striker. My coach advised me to shorten my stride, which will hopefully cause me to land more towards my forefoot.

Starting out my run with a new form wasn’t the only thing that was going to be different today. My daughter decided that she was ready to ride her bike with me while I ran around Prospect Park. I was very happy and excited to hear this. She has said for a while now that she would one day ride alongside me while I ran.

It worked out as good as can be. She was able to keep up with me or stay ahead of me over the hills and 6.5 miles of riding. Absolutely no complaining and only one snack break. I asked her if she wanted to try some of my vanilla Hammer Gel. She did, but did not find it to her liking. She decided to stick with her bite size tortilla chips, while I downed some gel and a swig of orange Heed.

I was amazed at how fast the miles passed with her. I would have liked her to keep me company for longer, but I knew she was tired and ready to go home. We stopped at a local pastry shop for a well deserved slice of chocolate fudge cake. I dropped her off at home to enjoy it and I continued for the remainder of my run.

By now my soleus muscles were pretty sore. I went back to my old stride and my muscles couldn’t take the new form any longer. Now that I was alone, I decided to incorporate a trail with that had a long stairway built into it. It was very enjoyable and allowed me to get in a few extra hundred feet of climbing for my run.

In total I ran approximately 16 miles in 2:21:55. All totaled it was a perfect day all around. I had great weather (go global warming), great company and a satisfyingly completed scheduled run.

Two Thumbs Up for Global Warming

If global warming means calm 50 degree temperatures in the middle of a New York City winter, then I am all for it. It gets two thumbs up from me. It is great to be able to ride outdoors in January, rather than being trapped on the trainer in my basement.

Today’s great weather inspired a great ride from me. I felt as good as I can remember feeling in a long time. My power, cadence and heart rate were all indicating good numbers, which echoed the way I was feeling. If anything I had to concentrate on taking it down a notch instead of trying to spur myself to pick it up.

The only negative for the day was that I stopped my ride short from the amount I was supposed to do. For some reason I thought I was only to go 50 miles and when I clicked off my 51st mile I headed home. I feeling good enough to go more, but I didn’t want to push it. Turns out I should have pushed it, as I would have got in the 60 miles I was supposed to do. Hopefully, inadvertently cutting my ride short won’t ruin my upcoming Triathlon season.

Ride Stats:
Time: 2:55:05
HR: 145/163
Distance: 51.4
Cadence Avg: 99
Average Temperature: 48 Degrees
Power: 256/520
Pedaling Index (how round): 25/73
Left/Right Balance: 50/50
Calories: 2287

The Cup is Half Full

I could have looked at today as the cup is half empty, but I decided to have a more positive outlook. My day started around 3:45am, with my wife having a coughing and sneezing fit, which made it impossible for me to sleep. Instead, I chose to use her racket as incentive to get myself out of bed. She was infinitely better than an alarm clock.

I still wasn’t convinced I wanted to go to the pool this morning, but I decided to forge ahead. I took my daily dose of Race Caps, a Gurana pill and a pre workout shake and then moseyed to the bathroom. I took a nice little rest on the porcelain throne.

After I finished my bathroom business, I found myself dilly dallying ferociously, but at least I was still getting ready. About this time, I felt a migraine headache coming on so I popped a couple of Excedrin – the wonder drug when it comes to curing headaches. My wife then came down from our bedroom since she couldn’t sleep, so I took the opportunity to delay my departure to the pool some more.

After a few minutes of talking, I was fully dressed with my coat and hood on and she was ready to go back to bed. At this point, my headache was in full bloom, so I took a bonus Excedrin pill. I closed my eyes on the couch for a few minutes and then got annoyed at myself and left the house.

About a mile after leaving my house, I made a right hand turn through a stop sign. It was still very early in the morning and I didn’t even come close to making a full stop. My heart almost stopped though when I saw the flashing lights of a police car through my rearview mirror pulling me over. I thought for sure I was being pulled over for not waiting out a red light a block earlier.

Being in the cup is half full frame of mind, I was grateful for the fact that I was pulled over for the stop sign instead of the red light – a much more serious offense. The officer asked for my license, registration and insurance certificate. I gave him the first two items, but I couldn’t immediately find my current insurance card. This turned out to be a blessing, because it gave the officer an excuse to write me up for a missing insurance card, instead of the stop sign. Now at least I have a way to beat the ticket; again a half full cup. Also the time it took for the paper work to be completed gave me enough time for the Excedrin to fully kick in and get rid of my headache.

After parking my car and walking to the pool, some maniac decided to make an illegal turn by gunning his car in reverse into a driveway for maneuvering room. This driveway was the exact place I happened to be standing. Fortunately it is my cup that runneth over and not my body. The car missed me by just inches. The driver didn’t even pause to issue an apology. Where are the police when you need them?

Finally in the pool, I entered a 50 meter lane that was occupied a bunch of people that looked to be pushing the age of death. It was the least crowded lane and really my only choice. This actually worked out well, since I was able to throw in the occasional sprint to pass these slower swimmers. It made for a satisfying swim workout.

The rest of my day from that point on has gone pretty good. I got in a nice 10K treadmill run, with limited shin pain. I think I will stick to my weekday runs on a treadmill to allow myself a softer surface in a warm environment. My shin definitely hurts more when I run in temperatures below 40 degrees, especially on the cold and frozen surfaces.

After I finished my run, I had less than 20 minutes to shave, shower, dress and move my car. I skipped the shave, showered quickly, threw all of my belonging together is a large sweaty pile and dashed for my car. I made it with plenty of time to spare. Too bad I didn’t use that extra time to brush my teeth before I left, but at least I have all of my teeth to brush later.

Up, But Not Convinced

Ok, I am up and ready to head to the pool, but I am not convinced I want to go. I guess I'll find out after I do my swim.

Change the Music

Its time to change the music. My brain keeps playing sad songs and it is time to start infusing it with something more positive and upbeat. This morning I heard in my head songs by Pink Floyd such as “Wish You Were Here”, which is always a major downer for me. I get so depressed hearing Floyd that I find it hard to live. Next I heard Destroyer by The Kinks, which while is a more upbeat song, is about suffering from paranoia. While I didn’t feel as depressed as I heard this in my head, I started to feel very nervous and jerky. I guess it also didn’t help with it only being 5:10 am and 27 degrees. It was cold and dark which suited my mood.

I am not sure which song I need to hear to pick up my spirits. I think I will skip Metallica’s One, a song about someone who has no arms and legs. While this does have a very good beat, with my the way my left shin has been feeling, I am wondering if I wouldn’t be better off hacking the damn thing off and putting on a prosthesis. I found some nice models here.

I don’t know what song I heard in the shower today, but it was along the lines of not being able to go on and wanting to quit. This describes my run this morning. I was scheduled for 8 miles after an 80 minute bike ride. I managed to run for 12 minutes before I had to stop. I just didn’t want to continue and my shin was really hurting. Even if my shin wasn’t hurting, I would have stopped. I just didn’t have anything, physically or mentally to continue pushing forward.

Truth is, I’ve never pushed my training for this long. I’ve trained in the past for endurance type sports, but never for this long. The longest I’ve gone prior to this go around was just over 3 years. This is my 6th year for this go around and is completely new and uncharted territory for me. I know am starting to sound like a broken record as I keep complaining about being depressed, tired and not wanting to go on, but I can’t help it. It is what I am feeling. I wonder how many people reading this blog will actually remember what a broken record sounds like. Humans of the modern age do seem to outlast all current forms of technology. I just have to see if I can outlast myself.

What a Difference a Day Makes

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday the temperature in NYC reached 57 degrees and this morning the temperatures reached 27 degrees with a -2 degree wind chill factor. It snowed over night and the ground has a nice 2 inch cover of snow and ice. I love this kind of weather, even more than I like foggy weather.

Adversity brings out the best in many of us and adverse weather conditions bring out the best in me. One of the things that contributed to today’s harsh conditions was the salt spreader truck roaming around Prospect Park. It would shoot salt out of the back and the force of the pellets hitting my legs would sting something awful. I have several red dots over my thighs and calves of both legs from encountering this orange beast many times over the course of my run. You can see the salt coming out of the back of the truck.

The temperature wasn’t the only major contrast over the past couple of days. My run today was absolutely spectacular compared to my foggy day run. I knew it would be good the moment I took my first step. I felt calm and relaxed and my legs moved with fluidity that I haven’t felt in a while. I knew I would easily get my 12 miles in and I wondered if I should try for more.

Soon into my run, I met my friend Chris. We quickly fell into a steady conversational pace. I kept exclaiming how beautiful the conditions were, but he was not convinced. He saw a nasty, cold and windy winter day, while I saw amazing winter wonderland conditions. We talked about various things, which included complaining about our wives. I think bitching about one’s spouse is almost a universal thing to do, at least when it comes to athletic spouses complaining about non-athletic spouses – or maybe it is just a guy thing to do.

Chris kept me company for my middle two laps. For my 4th and final lap I turned up my radio and simply enjoyed the scenery. Music sets the mood and the tunes on the radio were making me feel very upbeat. I finished my run feeling like a million bucks and looking forward to many more days like today.

Foggy Days

I woke up this morning with a very foggy head and splitting headache. So I took a couple of Excedrin and went back to bed. Usually, the caffeine inside the pills wake me up, but I was so tired this morning, that I fell back to sleep for another 3 hours. By the time I roused myself out of bed I was way too late for me to make it to the pool.

Part of the reason why I was so tired, was due to a Cibbows meeting last night that saw me arrive home past 10pm. We were discussing the swim races we have planned for this summer and targeting various companies to sponsor the races. By getting to bed so late, I missed my swim this morning, literally because I was too tired from talking about swimming.

Even though I was tired and woke up late, I still had time to do my run. It was a beautiful foggy day, so I grabbed my camera to take some pictures inside Prospect Park. I love the way everything looks when it is heavily foggy. I wanted to immortalize this strange warm and foggy winter we have been having. The conditions this January have been more San Francisco than NYC. This suits me just fine as I can’t take the cold anymore, but love the fog.

Unfortunately, I didn't run well. I just didn’t have any form or pace and the run was a struggle. So I just shuffled along, looking for some decent opportunities to snap a picture or take in the surroundings. Since I was already outside, I may as well have enjoyed the scenery. Here is a picture of Prospect Park's lake and the next photo is a picture of me looking way too serious.

Renovations

I’ve done some renovations to my blog as you can see. I now have an Ironman USA Lake Placid countdown clock, as well as relocated my Feedblitz subscriber button. I’ve added more stuff to my profile to tell fans a bit more about me.

Credit for the Ironman countdown clock goes out to “Bolder in Boulder”. His blog contained helpful helpful instructions for how to put it on my page. Thank you very much. I also snagged the code from his page to display the weather. Now everyone can see what sort of day I am training through.

I am also debating on using my domain name runnyc.com for the hosting of my blog, rather than relying on the runnyc.blogspot.com address. My original thoughts concerning runnyc.com was to make an Athlete’s community website, but the time and resources to accomplish such a thing is taking much too long and costing too much to do so. I think I may abandon that plan and just use the address for my blog. Much like Wil of Through Th3 Wall, just started doing with her blog.

I am also attempting to renovate my mind (brain). Or perhaps it is more of just an early spring cleaning (this statement seems oddly déjà vu, I am going to have to see if I wrote something like this before). I need to clear out all of the negative thoughts and emotions that have been weighing me down as of late and rediscover my drive, focus and passion. Much like a house is reborn and beautified after all of the years of stagnant old paint has been scrapped away. I need to know down a few mental walls and open up the space in my mind.

To that end, I got a jump on my training this morning. This is in spite of the fact that I got in late last night after I night of bowling and drinking with my coworkers. The bowling was fun, but I definitely felt like the old man of the group. It warmed my heart though to know that while they were most likely sleeping it off during the twilight hours, I was awake and in my basement pounding out an 80 minute bike followed by a 40 minute run – All before 7am. The workout was immensely pleasing and for some reason I had no trouble with my get up and go this morning.

So I will continue my renovations. Hopefully – no strike the hopefully – More good renovations will soon come on my blog and my mind as well. I may as well try to have a positive outlook – its such a happy color, but very tough to apply.

Struggling Along

Via Email to coach@slb-coaching.com
--------------------------------------
Neil -

I rode for 80 minutes today on the trainer. I did the workout almost as you prescribed. For some reason, I couldn't hold form for the 1 legged drills for more than 2 minutes, so I stopped it at the 2 minute mark for each leg. I repeated this 3 times. I kept my heart rate low throughout. You can see exactly how the workout went from my attached Polar file.

I say struggling along in the subject line, because I am battling a major case of depression ever since the start of the New Year. I haven't felt right since I backed off from my training when I developed Bronchitis again. Tomorrow should be a telling day as it is the first sort of big workout day - Bike/Run/Swim. Hopefully, I won't be too tired around noon, as I am speaking at a real estate industry conference. Hopefully also, I won't make a fool out of myself. I am sitting on a panel and the subject matter is "Innovative Broker Strategies". I have no fucking idea of what I am going to say, but I usually react well under pressure.

I am not sure if I am still sick with Bronchitis. Every now and then I cough up some phlegm and it is slightly discolored. It is coming more from the back of my throat, rather than my chest. Maybe, I am just possessed by an evil spirit. Most likely that is not true, but thinking the worst possible case and finding out that is not true should prove to be a major relief when you find out the cause is something less insidious.

The Exorcist

The Exorcist was on cable TV over the weekend. I remember when I saw it the first time. It was in 1973, I was 8 years old and my parents thought that it would be a fine movie for me to see. What a wholesome family movie! For years afterwards I would have trouble standing by the foot of a bed as I was afraid that the possessed girl’s hand would reach out from under it and grab my ankle.

I feel like I could use an Exorcist now though. Maybe illnesses in its various forms are small demons that infect a person. Could an Exorcist cast the demons away? Could an Exorcist get rid of the voice in my head that tells me to stay in bed and get more sleep?

I definitely raged an epic battle to get out of bed this morning. I was so warm and comfortable. I felt like I was being held down on the bed by a demonic force. Once I got up though, the demon lost its grip and I was able to do my workout. Granted my battle was nothing like poor little Regan Teresa MacNeil’s (the possessed girl in the movie) and for that I am thankful.

Blue Mountain Reservation

For a change of pace I went off-road mountain biking today in the Blue Mountain Reservation up in Peekskill. It was a good workout, but I have to admit that my mountain biking skills are a bit rusty. I guess it didn’t help that my MTB is held together with a little more than rust, doesn’t have clipless pedals and never even heard of suspension. The bike is practically from prehistoric times, compared to the mountain bikes of today.

I set off for the trails at 6am this morning under the cover of darkness. The plan was to meet Ben and Erik from the Asphalt Green Triathlon Club by 7am and to start riding soon after. Erik had a very nice Seven mountain bike, with front suspension and disk brakes, whereas Ben had a mountain bike that was literally separated at birth from mine. Unfortunately for Ben, the freewheel on his rear wheel gave out within 20 minutes of our ride. It was a problem I encountered with my MTB two years ago and since corrected. Ben had to walk his bike back to his car to go home, while Erik and I continued on.

If I learned one thing today, it is that I am not ready for Xterra racing. I don’t have the feel for the trails like I used to have. I suppose I should have insisted on going to a trail system that wasn’t so technical. The Blue Mountain trails were very rocky, icy and slippery from many leaves. Really, though, I am going to blame my less than perfect riding skills on the bike. My brakes barely worked and riding in pedal cages just sucked.

We spent about 2.5 hours rolling around the trails. It was excellent cross training, but I would have liked to put in a few more miles. Hopefully, I’ll do another MTB ride in a couple of weeks with an upgraded bike.

Babies First Blowjob

I am shocked and dismayed over reading (here, here and here with a picture) about the practice of metzitzah b'peh; basically the sucking of blood from a babies penis after male ritual circumcision (aka mutilation). To make matters worse, several babies that underwent this procedure developed Herpes as a result and one of the babies even died from complications.

I’d be royally pissed if I found that my first blowjob came from a smelly, disgusting rabbi. I would be in a homicidal rage if I found out that a sore on the tip of my penis was from a rabbi who did the procedure with a herpes infected mouth. I question why the practice of circumcision (although I do like my aftermarket conversion) is even continued to this day and think it is an abomination to clean the wound like with a bacteria and virus infested mouth.

All of this begs the question of course, how did the rabbi get herpes in the first place. Exactly where has he been putting his mouth to acquire the virus? Truly we live in a Sick, Sad World.

If such a thing happened to me, I wonder how my life would have been different. Would I have been too shy or embarrassed to pursue a mate and lived an abstinent life? Possibly, I would have taken that pent up sexual frustration and concentrated it on pursuing athletics. I certainly would have had more time to do so, since I never would have had a girlfriend, wife, and kids. Maybe, that is the secret to some of the best athletes in the world. They have an STD and they use athletics as a means to take out their sexual frustrations and aggression.

Crack Addict

I am so freaking nervous and depressed today that I can’t stand it. I feel like a crack addict about to rip off a liquor store in order to get enough money for his next fix. I suppose the drug I am coming down from is called endorphins, those mood regulating chemicals that circulate through your body.

I’ve taken two days off from in an attempt to recover from Bronchitis. During this time my mood has decidedly taken a downward spiral. I guess the lack of exercise has allowed my endorphin levels to drop and I am feeling the effects of withdrawal. Taken from the Wikipedia website, exercises that are most likely to produce endorphins include running, swimming, cross-country skiing, bicycling, aerobics, etc. I wonder if there are any studies that show people going into black holes of depression and despair from lack of exercise.

The thing about depression is that it is hard to get motivated to exercise. The endorphin rush is like a raging fire. However, the endorphin fire is difficult to start when you are too depressed to exercise. It’s a nasty catch 22.

New Year's 2006

I was planning on writing a year end summary of my training and racing for the year 2005 and possibly my goals for 2006, but I got preoccupied with a project that had the hallmarks of an endurance event. The project took me a couple of hours everyday day over the course of a week to complete. It was tedious, tiresome, frustrating and only marginally rewarding. I used up all the time I had for writing in the pursuit of this project.

I stuck with it, because I pretty much had no choice. My children expected me to complete it and I couldn’t leave it unfinished. Basically, I built the Empire State Building from the Landmarks of the World Erector set.

This is a toy with a recommended age of 8+ years old. I would love to meet the 8 year old that would have been capable of following the instructions and displaying the dexterity to complete such a thing. My fingers were rubbed raw and my patience on edge as I tried to build this thing in time for the New Year.

I finished it on New Years Day and we capped it off with a miniature King Kong. This was very fitting since we all saw King Kong at the movies the night before.

I was hoping to begin 2006 with another strong week of training. However on New Years Eve day, I woke up with the feeling of Bronchitis in my chest and the occasional hacking up of green goop. This is very annoying. I was finally getting my training back into gear and I just hit another bump in the road. There is no way you can train through Bronchitis, unless you want to make yourself sicker. I did a ride on New Years Day, but by the end my chest was starting to feel very congested. I probably should have taken off.

I hate when I get sick and have to miss training. I get all out of sorts and start to feel depressed. It is not how I want to start the New Year. Then again, maybe I am just depressed because I have to go to work tomorrow after a week off and it reminds me from when I was a kid and had to go back to school.