I have sent in my application to attend a photo workshop in August in Fort Collins, Colorado. I have to wait for confirmation before I know whether or not I am in, and then I must put down a $50 non-refundable deposit (which for some reason I lose if they cancel the workshop which seems like a load of crap to me). The inclusion of this workshop with my trip to Colorado for the Colorado Invihashional means that this will be my one “big” vacation of the year. I will use my remaining (and far too few for my seniority) vacation days for long weekends such as the annual Black Sheep Black Rock Mountain camp out, a trip that I will be taking to Nashville to see The New Pornographers and Okkervil River, and my annual camping weekend in Summerville, Georgia to run the Twisted Ankle Half Marathon.
Read Along With Me
Today’s passage from Notes To Myself.
I constrict my vision and disregard my opportunities when I strive. I cannot receive from the unknown when I grasp. Nothing exists for me until I see it. There is little I can do about my feelings, but awareness removes the edge of myopia from my wants.
To all who have helped me — Thanks.
Giving It 125%
This weekend saw me actually complete both scheduled runs. On Saturday I lumbered around the neighborhood for four miles. The lasting effects of the flu hampered my ability to breathe, and therefore run. I was none-to-optimistic when I thought that I’d have to give a 125% effort the next day in order to complete the nine-mile run that my schedule was telling me that I had to do.
One of the “nice” things about planning my day around my training run is that I get to choose when and where it occurs. Since I had planned on doing nine miles I tried to find the flattest route available to me, following the railroad tracks along Dekalb Avenue. As I prepared for my afternoon departure I found out that yesterday’s Wheelhopper hash was starting in Decatur. I had a sick sense that at some point I’d be running over their trail, and I was more correct than even I could imagine. Four about three miles I followed their trail, all the way into the On-In where I added water to my far-too-concentrated Gatorade, chatted for a second, and then headed back toward my car. Running into the hash broke up the monotony of the run nicely. My run was slow, I’ll blame the last remnants of the flu with the fact that it was the first time that I covered nine miles since last May.
ITP Flickr Pic
File under: Random Crap
This scooter was carefully parked on the campus of the University of South Carolina. I just assumed that this was the way it was parked after coming home drunk — perhaps I am projecting myself onto the situation.
The Scale Was Nice, I Hope The Waist Follows
I hopped onto my scale this morning to see that I am down to 194.5 pounds. While this pleases me, I only wish that the fat distribution would change so that it’s not all concentrated around my waistline. Just call me pear-shaped Paulie.
I Want To Play A More Pure Scrabble
With my constant losing in Scrabulous I think that I have figured out why the game frustrates me; it’s the double / triple – letter / word scores. There is no reward for building longer words (unless you use all seven of your tiles) and the luck of having the letter ‘X’ when you have an available ‘I’ and are near a triple letter or word score skews the outcome of the game. Meh. I’m sure that it’s just sour grapes.
And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – fair
Current Music – listening to the “Sound Opinions” podcast
Website Of The Day – If you are looking for shoes or handbags online you should check out Endless.
Exercise (b)Log – Saturday: running, 4 miles; Sunday: running, 9 miles
Monthly Foot Mileage – 54.4 miles
Monthly Wheel Mileage – 0 miles
Monday Morning Weigh-In – 194.5 pounds
Mode Of Transportation To Work – My car / service van (took the Jackmobile in for an oil change)
Monthly Marta Rides – 0
February Goals
1) Run no fewer than 75 miles
2) Ride Marta no fewer than ten times (five round-trips)
3) Read at least one book
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
First – congrats on the 194.5! That’s awesome! Keep it up.
Second — since you’re obviously not going to go to the doctor (seriously, dude. Doctor time is long past!), I’ll resort to medicine tips instead. Go get yourself some Mucelex-D and you’ll be breathing much, much better. You can get it without a prescription, but they keep it behind the pharmacy counter so the kids aren’t using it to make meth or whatever they do with it. A not breathing Paulie = a dead Paulie and though, ultimately, it would help with your weight loss goals, I wouldn’t recommend that route.
I may give that a shot, thanks. I feel a lot better today than I have in the past week. I really think that this flu is a long-term clear out, that’s what I’ve been hearing from everyone who has had it.
Congrats on the weight loss!!!!!
So, did you stop by the on-in when just the hares were there? Allan said they tried to run over you are some point on the trail.
I stopped at the on-in briefly. I added water to my Gatorade and talked to a couple of people who had come in (Martha, NFHN Brad, Little Willy, and Tailgunner). I heard more people coming in I decided that I should take off before I drank a beer. I still had five miles to cover. 🙂
I saw Allan and Wil (and someone else who I didn’t see who it was) and Allan did try to run me over.
I also saw Timmy and Donna, near Agnes Scott. And, I saw Pippi about four miles later! Did she ever make it in or did the hares go get her?
Paulie, F.Y.I. I tried to run you over but was too tired and failed!!!!
It obviously wasn’t because I was running too fast. 😉
Nice work on the weight numbers… while you managed to get your training done, I was not. But I have to say the shed conversion is coming along nicely and most of the wood pile is now stacked.
Did you know there are scorpions in Georgia whose sting can that produce allergic reactions in dogs? Ask Satchmo… or the vet.
-FP
Yeouch! Poor Satchmo. He’s so low to the ground too, are there special boots he can wear to avoid future encounters?
Tracy (aka Black Box, a recent transplant from Cincy) was the 3rd.
Pippi did finally make it in, we still don’t know exactly where she went “exploring”, and why…. the trail was marked fairly well. She called Jack*ss (or he called her), he got annoyed & confused by the conversation, and said not to worry about her.
hey Steve – did you catch the scorpion, so you can teach Satchmo to avoid them in the future?
Ha Ha, I think Pippi was on trail when I passed her by. I was tired and becoming delirious at that time however.
Not that I’m aware of… I think moving the wood pile caused the creatures to come out and Satch was the unlucky receiver. He loves going to the vet, not!
Full suspension mountain bike=$2000.00 Cost of the Wheelhopper Hash= $7.00 JackAss giving Pippi directions to the end via cell phone=Priceless
Willy, I wasn’t even there but I laughed out loud at your recap. I can only imagine what that sounded like. Priceless!
Good going on the weight loss! Have you changed your diet any, or all just running?
Black wood scorpions in GA won’t kill ya, but they hurt like a biatch!
I haven’t changed my diet much except for the fact that I am usually so beat from working out that I eat and drink less. I also think that my spat with the flu has curbed my intake as well.