When Everything Goes Wrong but Ends Up Right

Caught "Red handed"!

I've had zero time to spew on my blog. I've quit my job, got another one, left a beautiful apartment to move into another somewhat nice classic old apartment but, in a building that's in the heart of what I like to call "Crack Central"!
 I've jumped from the frying pan into a really deep fryer. 
 During our move I was ripped off by workers in the new building. I had left some personal property in the new apartment and reminded the workers there to NOT! remove my stuff with their stuff. I got the yeah, yeah Senor which didn't give me any secure feelings about it all. I just didn't want to haul the stuff back again to the old apartment. (workers were supposed to be done the previous day)!
I ended up losing a all out jackets and all my running shoes, probably around $400 dollars worth of footwear.
After a 4 day runaround I finally reviewed the video and actually have the guy on tape carrying my stuff away! After confronting his Boss who got a bit snarky at me for being upset at "losing a couple of pairs of sneakers". (He doesn't realize that I'm in between him and thousands of dollars worth of contracts and work work with the new company).
I ended up losing a few day's of training for my Marathon at the end of this month but, finally got my paycheck and went out yet again to get another pair of running shoes.

I bought the shoes yesterday and without breaking them in just ran 22 miles with great success. No blisters or sore feet so, I guess aside from my nagging back issue, all is well and I got my last good long run before my taper period leading up to the Marathon on the 29th.
I focused today on learning to run through pain and to just make it go out my ears (as Scott Jurek would say). I was trying for a personal record to break my 2 hour mark for a half Marathon distance but just couldn't push it any harder without my back spazzing out on me. Also the beachfront roads and sidewalks were mobbed and caused me quite a bit of slowdown.


I'm very tired and sleep has been elusive in the last week. My eyes are beginning to cross right now so, I'll  catch up later.

I've Discovered The Kenyans Magic Bullet!

Eureka!!!







I've discovered what make's Kenyans so damn fast! While running today (I had planned on doing an easy 5.0) I   was listening to my Nano and had set it as usual to shuffle songs and just go. After warming up for two miles the Ibuprofen kicked in and the pain somewhat abated in my back.  I felt actually pretty good and just decided to pick up the tempo. A song came up with a very up-tempo African beat. Actually a song by the Brecker Brothers. It's one of my favorites. Suddenly my feet became very light. I miraculously felt very light and skinny but also joyous! I was flying...although only short lived, fortunately for me the very next song was a very slow blues...



I think I'll download some more African music tonight and try out a full mix on my next running day. 
Maybe I'll train for the next couple of months with this method and see what happens come the Bay To Breakers...
Who knows maybe I'll win a BMW!
.....................................................................


Work today was pretty mellow for a change and I was able to catch up on some odds and ends that have been left hanging for some time now. What's really weird though is that I've had job opportunities popping up almost everyday this last 2 weeks.
I really want to see how this new transition is going to pan out though. Ever though it's been quite difficult, I just don't want to make yet another move right now.

My Bee in the foreground, Gaga in the back...my kids in the park...

It's Like Riding A Bike

I'm a little behind on the blog update but, finally got out for a bike ride. It's the first ride since I've seriously begun running. I really noticed the accumulated fatigue in my legs. It was quite a struggle by the time I reached San Bruno Mountain and I was pretty much bonking towards the end of the climb. Not having any food in the last six hours probably didn't help much. My last ride up Mt. Diablo on Christmas Eve was easier than this ride.
I'm curious how the riding and running is going to co-exist.
By the time I got home I was pretty much done for the day. Sunday was a loss and I decided to try to make it a rest day. I still went to the gym Sunday night and got a good upper body workout with a bit of aerobic.


The job has been insanely stressful and has been beating me down mentally which is no help in trying to keep up my motivation...


Monday:
It's been my goal since I started running that maybe I could run a 1/2 Marathon in a months worth of training! Yes a lofty goal but I think a possibility. My aerobic capacity carried over from the cycling is where it needs to be so, that's not an issue. the punishment on the legs is what really had me worried. 


Monday was truly a ClusterFuck! I was in a pretty sad state of mind, feeling quite harried and getting a late start for my run. Trying to sink up my sattilites for my Garmin GPS is a real chore. I haven't been able to get it to an efficient process.
I kept getting phone calls and after close to 2 miles into my run I just went ahead and reset the Garmin and restarted the ride.
After about 3 or 4 miles I acutally started to feel pretty good so I just had it in my head to make an attempt for that 1/2 Marathon.
I was good up to mile ten when I started pushing my pace a bit. The last three miles were pretty horrible, especially the last mile ascending up into Russian Hill.
I finally made it but, It was definitely grueling! With the  2miles before I started my Garmin again It was more like 15 miles. Hopefully the next one will be easier. My pace was pretty slow. I never fully recovered from the San Bruno ride. I did another 10 mile run on Wednesday night and that was a slog too. Today I'm just taking the whole day off. I have too much to do with work anyway.



BTW, For those familiar with my blog, you may notice not too many pictures. I find it much harder to shoot the camera when running as compared to riding. I'll keep working on it. I've missed some really beautiful pictures in the last couple of weeks...