Crossed the Line

I crossed a line this past Sunday. There was a NYRR race scheduled, a Marathon Qualifier which I needed to do if I am to get 9 races and I completely blew it off. I sat in my darkened living room at 5:30am and knew that if I didn’t get going I would miss the race and gone would be the opportunity to guarantee entry into the 2008 marathon. It was the first time that I purposely said screw it, I don’t need to do this. I crossed the line to the dark side.

Several hours later, after the sun came up and revealed a beautiful day, I got annoyed at myself for letting that happen. So for the first time in months, I dusted off my bike trainer and road in my basement for 2 hours. It wasn’t much, but at least it was something. I could tell by my elevated HR, compared to the effort I was putting in, that I’ve gotten completely out of shape in the month since I injured my leg and decided to take a training vacation. It was so depressing, it almost made me stop. But stopping would not be a way to get back in shape.

Yesterday, I went to the NYSC for the first time since joining over a month ago to do some strength training exercises. I used to be a regular in the club and a couple of the personal trainers recognized me and made a big deal about saying hello. I did an easy workout since I didn’t want to push too hard. I knew if I did, I’d be suffering pretty badly from DOMS the next day. It will take a few trips to the gym before my body gets used to it. After working out, I once again was feeling depressed as I realized how much strength I’ve lost over the past few months. You would think I am a virtual cripple by the way I am describing how weak I feel compared to when I was really in shape. I wish the workout had rejuvenated me and gave me a positive feeling. I guess I’ll start feeling better as the tightness in my waistband lessens and I start getting back in shape.

So far since I crossed the line, I am doing ok. For the first time in months, I woke up early enough to do a morning workout - One hour on the trainer. I easily kept my HR in the aerobic and my mind occupied by playing online poker and Full Tilt poker.

I Take It Back

I guess I shouldn't have felt so bad in regards to my previous post. My friend went ahead and got a matching offer for the person I offered the job to. He accepted the counter. Oh well.

Feeling Pretty Low

I am feeling like a piece of shit right now. I just screwed a friend of mine, someone I’ve been close to for over 13 years. Granted I did not intentionally set out to screw him, but that is the end result none the less. I used to work at the company where my friend is now. When I left that company, I went to their biggest competitor. There was a programmer there who I would have liked to hire at my new job, but I didn’t since I knew it would screw my friend.

Recently though, I was led to believe that this programmer was no longer reporting to my friend. I decided that if that was the case, then I had no reason not to pursue him. It wasn’t until I finished negotiations with this person, that he stated that my friend would be very pissed off when he told him. Evidently my friend was still responsible for the area in which this programmer worked. I was surprised and dismayed when I heard this. Needless to say my friend called me this morning to tell me what a low thing I did. I couldn’t argue with him. I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t speak to me again.

One of the things that were going through my mind when I decided to go after this programmer was how it would reflect badly on the manager to whom I thought he was reporting. I felt that my friend was somehow put in a lesser position by not directly managing the team the team that this programmer was a part of and by taking the programmer it would show what would happen by not trusting in my friend’s ability to run this team. Basically, to get the programmer, I had to make an offer that he would be foolish to turn down. Otherwise I don’t think there would have been any way in hell that he would have come over to me. My friend is a great manager, extremely competent, hard working and one of the best people you could ever know. I am deeply saddened to know that I may have ruined this friendship or somehow this will reflect badly on him.

Hypnosis

I am thinking of getting hypnosis. My drive to maintain any sort of exercise routine is seriously waning. I recognize what is happening to me. I fear I am at the start of a downward spiral to becoming out of shape and overweight again. I don’t want it to happen, but I am almost helpless in my effort to fight it. I have been through this before and know the signs. I am thinking that hypnosis can help me get back on course.

I supposed I am just depressed and frustrated that I can’t run. Everything was going so well and then my leg suddenly fails me. All I feel like doing is running. I really don’t have a desire to bike and swim right now. I went for a ride yesterday and within 30 minutes I was getting pretty bored. Granted I was just going around Prospect Park for the billionth time, but usually I can stay focused for more than 30 minutes. All I managed to ride was a total of 17 miles. Pathetic. To top it off, I am so out of bike shape, that they way I struggled to do those miles was even further depressing. I’ve got to get out of this state of mind. Hypnosis may be the key.

My Mistress

For the longest time Ironman was my mistress. She would give back to me as much as I put into her. It was a great relationship. One that I found fulfilling and rewarding. Lately though, I’ve decided to try out a new girl. Her name is Ultrarunning. She is a lot harder on the body than Ironman and I am afraid she has broken me down. My left leg is toast. Shin splints have gotten so bad that it is now painful to just walk around. Going up and down stairs is a killer.

I ignored this herpes sore of a problem for as long as I could. I decided that the problem has gone far enough when I found myself grimacing within the first half mile of a run the other night. I can’t stand this problem. It is just something that won’t go away. Just like herpes. Maybe I can get rid of the problem through amputation. I participated in a spirited discussion the other night about whether a below the knee amputee has an unfair advantage over someone with a full leg. The reason being that the artificial leg is lighter and more aerodynamic. If I go that route, I will be sure to keep my leg and not lose it like the fellow in one of my recent blog postings.

I suppose I should start riding my bike and swimming more often. I just can’t get myself to go. I fear that I am starting to get fat and lazy again. My clothes are starting to get tight on me. Now that I can’t run, I just want to stuff my face while sitting on the couch and watching TV. That’s such an easy thing to do. It’s amazing how I have resisted that lure for so long.

It Comes Back to You

Many years ago my wife and I (girlfriend at the time), rode our bikes from Miami Beach to Key West and back. On the trip back to Miami, I stopped on the side of the road to take a piss. When I looked down, I found an addressed envelope that must have been blown out of a car or something. I picked it up and later mailed it to the recipient when I returned home to NY. If I hadn’t stopped at that exact spot it most likely would have dissolved away by the elements. I sent it anonymously with a little note stating where I found it.

Well today I received a letter at work containing an envelope with a banking receipt that I had lost. I remember coming home and thinking I lost it, but I didn’t give it much thought and quickly forgot about it. Until today when it showed up in my mailbox, with a note attached telling me where it was found.

I guess there is such a thing as Karma.

Volunteering

So I volunteered for the first time at a race. I chose a long one in the 6 Hour-60th Birthday Run in Sunken Meadow State Park. I afraid it would be awful and boring just hanging around for 6+ hours to help out, but I actually had a decent time of it. There were plenty of volunteers so my responsibilities were very light. About all I did was direct the runners on the trail during the first two loops, and even that was well marked by an arrow on the ground. I mostly read my book (The Road, by Cormac McCarthy) and would encourage the runners when they passed my way. The only other thing I did was to help move some picnic tables and to load some equipment into a truck. The toughest part of the day was trying to stay warm early in the race. I was starting to get very cold just sitting around.

After the runners passed me a couple of times, I headed back to the race start/finish area and ran into some friends from my office. They were there to check out the scene and we chatted for a while and watched the runners go by. After chatting for a while, I saw my friends Larry and Willie come by and I quickly changed into my running gear to do a few loops with them. This would be my first run in two weeks and my first test to see if my leg was healed. The first loop I did with them was at a nice and easy pace. However on the second loop, Willie started to run on a flat section of the course as if he had an angry mob with torches chasing him. Larry and I asked him what he thought he was doing when he finally slowed down. It was definitely too fast of a pace for my first comeback run. Fortunately after that little burst of speed, we settled down to a more civilized pace. After running 4 loops we took a bathroom break and I had to decide if I wanted to go any further. I felt some twinges in my leg, but I went out for one more loop. I wanted to run at least 10 miles today. My leg was a little sore afterwards, but nothing really too bad. I am not sure if I’ll run tomorrow. Other than my leg, I felt pretty decent and felt like running 6 hours. It was frustrating to have to stop.


While I was cooling down I hung around the people timing the race. We were commenting on the leaders and I would call out the times to my fellow Hammer Nutrition athlete Byron Lane. Byron was running several minutes behind the leader and I would let him know how much time he had to make up. After a while of hanging around the timing mats, I grabbed my camera to take pictures of the people I knew in the race. I got some good shots of Larry and Willie. Here are all of the pictures.

During the time I was running, I couldn’t help think about “The Road”. For some reason I felt fortunate to be running along a road that was green on all sides of me as opposed to a barren, ashy, burnt up landscape as described in the book. I couldn’t imagine living in a world as described in “The Road” and counted myself as fortunate for not being in such a situation. What would have been the point in living in such a situation? Hopefully we won’t have a nuclear war anytime soon. If you ever read the book or have read it already, you wouldn’t have to guess what I would have done while I had two bullets left in my gun. It would have been the most merciful thing to do.

Anyway, the day was as pleasant as it was long. Everyone was appreciated for the help I provided and I got my Service Requirement Form for the Vermont 100 Miler filled out. At least that is out of the way. Now I just have to hope my leg gets healthy enough to run in it.

The Road, The Mold and PT

The Road

So I am reading this book called “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy. It was recommended by my friend Todd. I don’t think I’ve read a more horrible book. It’s not the writing that’s bad, it’s the story. It’s about a father and son making their way through a post apocalyptic world and their struggle to survive. It’s thoroughly depressing and definitely not something that I should be reading. I don’t know if I should put it down or continue through what I am sure is to be a brutal ending. Just reading the pages is enough for me to want to down a Xanax and run for the anti-depressants.

The Mold

My wife and I own a condo in which we rent out. Our tenants had a leak underneath the kitchen sink and didn’t notice it until the floors were ruined and mold had set into the sheetrock and other areas. I had to have a company that specializes in mold remediation come in to remove the toxic material. Fortunately it was regular mold and not the black mold that everyone is in fear of.


Anyway, we spent over $1,500 to have the moldy floor and sheetrock removed and carted away. However that is not what the company we hired did. Instead of hauling the debris away and properly disposing it, they drove 3 blocks away from the condo and dumped it next to a fire hydrant where I guess they hoped NYC Sanitation would cart it away. Little did the employees of this company know, that the fire hydrant they dumped this stuff happened to be across the street from the house in which my family lives. At first we just thought some inconsiderate bastard had dumped some household trash. It wasn’t until the next morning that my wife passed it and realized that she was looking at the flooring that was removed from our condo. Needless to say we were a bit pissed off.

I called up the company and the representative that I arranged the mold removal with said that he was in shock when I told him what happened. Supposedly, the workers who dumped the debris are to be fired. He sounded sincerely contrite, but I’ve become a skeptic in my old age. I guess I’ll never really know whether this was standard operating procedure or just a one time case of workers being lazy. They had to travel back to Long Island to dump the stuff and I guess they didn’t want to make the trip from Brooklyn.

Physical Therapy

I started physical therapy on my leg this week. It has been going well and my leg is starting to feel better. I’ve been so bummed out about not being able to run. It’s been two weeks since my last run and 3 weeks since I’ve injured it. I think it is finally well enough for me to attempt my first easy run tomorrow. I’ll do it at some point in the day that I will be volunteering at the Sunken Meadow 6 hour run. I really wanted to be doing this race, but I guess it is just as well that I am not doing it. I want to do the Vermont 100 miler next summer and part of the requirement to do that race is to volunteer for 8 hours or longer at another ultra event. I guess everything happens for a reason.

Webby Connect Conference

I am on my way back home from another business trip. I spent the week at the Webby Award’s Webby Connect Conference listening to all that is new, exciting and the future of the Internet. It was held at the St. Regis Hotel in Dana Point. The hotel and conference were excellent and I am very glad I went. The conference covered a variety of topics and had many good speakers. The 3 keynote speakers included Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post, Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney and Vinton Cerf, one of the founding fathers of the Internet.

I arrived early enough on the first day to get a swim in the ocean. It was great to be back in the Pacific on yet another trip to the Left Coast. I used my wetsuit, although I probably could have gotten away without it. The water was clear and a cool 67 degrees. I could even see fish swimming along the bottom. I only swam for a half hour. My leg injury was bothering me when I kicked and I didn’t want to aggravate it.

The conference was a joyful mixture of compelling content mixed with pleasurable activities. During the first day of the conference, the sessions ended early. As part of the conference, it was arranged with the hotel for everyone to take surf lessons. Unfortunately, the wave weren’t conducive to surfing, we all wet Boogy Boarding instead. It was a lot of fun. I spent almost 3 hours in the ocean, comfortably in my own wetsuit. Everyone else had to borrow a wetsuit from the hotel. After Boogy Boarding, I then went to the hotel’s lap pool and swam around 2000 yards.

The activities for the next night of the conference included dinner followed by an open bar and a Trivia contest. Everyone was broken up into teams of 4 and we played to win a Wii, Ipod and other great prizes. Our team didn’t win anything though, but it was still a lot of fun. That was about it. The conference ended around 12:30pm the next day and then it was time to zip over to the airport. I had an uneventful trip home. While flying I entertained myself with a great book I am reading called “Busting Vegas”. I highly recommend it.

End of the World

I found this on the Internet. Pretty funny.

Just Another Entry

So the other day I am walking to the subway after work and I pass the Subway sandwich shop where I will occasionally get lunch. Normally it is hustling and bustling, but today the windows were closed and a sign was out in front saying that it has been closed down by the Board of Health. That makes me feel so good as I just ate there the other day. I wonder how many roach bits I consumed.

I also took a ride in a taxi that has been outfitted with the GPS device that all the cabbies have been complaining about. I have to say the thing is great. You have a small computer screen in the back of the car that shows exactly where you are. It also has a TV that plays channel 7 all day long. You can get sports scores, restaurant and hotel reviews. You can also get a check on the weather and pay by credit card if you want.

This morning I took a private taxi to JFK. I am on a business trip once again. The ride to the airport was awful. I had a female driver and her driving made me sick. She would speed up when she saw a yellow light, only to stop short when it turned red. All the stop and going made me nauseous.

Yesterday I went to the doctor to have my leg checked out. It was the quickest $200 that I’ve ever spent. The doctor spent all of 5 minutes with me. Unfortunately, he didn’t take my insurance. I did get an x-ray though. The doc says I have excellent bones. My diagnosis is most likely a slightly torn adductor muscle with the prescription for recovery being about 3 weeks rest and physical therapy. The worse part about being injured is not being able run while I am away. I’ve gotten to enjoy my wandering around while running in other cities.