Love Really is a 4 Letter Word

And that isn't a good thing. The panic came back. And this time it wasn’t a quick and painless resolution. Friday the weekend was looking so great, I booked my flight to visit my friends in Idaho, one of my best friends in the world, and person who I miss desperately, particularly now cause I know she’d be a big help/relief to me if she were only in town. I also had those Viking tickets, had determined my sister would be the one to come with me as even though we aren’t that close most times, we do have fun on the occasions we do hang out. I invited her to the game, she was going out with friends on Saturday for Halloween and invited me along and we all went out and had some fun, even though there were some issues going on in the back of my mind…finally ended up talking to L, to see if we could stay at his place since we were downtown, we hadn’t had plans for the weekend (which was part of the panic as we had had some issues but were working on them and suddenly things seemed weird again) but we got to his place and he and I started talking and a few hours later we were broken up…I was a little drunk and don’t remember every single thing we discussed, he was drinking as well, and some things that were brought up really should not have been, but it came down to some things that still I don’t get. While he had been talking longer term, and I was starting to believe it, suddenly he doesn’t see it working longer term and I still am left not knowing why. It’s only been 6 months, there are things you push through and work on, but the couple things I wanted he just didn’t have the energy to give…I guess the overall comes to he just doesn’t love me enough. What sucks is it took me longer to figure out, but I do love him, and it hurts and I’m feeling lost, after being so long out of a relationship and so happy with being single, and loving my life the way it was, I had this come to me, something I wasn’t really looking for, something I wasn’t expecting to find, and then it’s gone. I’m thinking of all the things we talked about doing, all the things that were in the works or talked about and all the little things that I’m going to miss…you know how it goes, the things you would’ve done differently had you known this was going to be the last time. I’m not even one for cuddling, but I want one more night to just snuggle in each others arms…and I know there were issues, I wasn’t getting what I needed/wanted from him that I wasn’t probably ever going to get, but now it doesn’t feel like it’s that important, I just want things to have worked out…and hearing from those close to me that I’ll find someone else, that I deserve what I wasn’t getting, that I’m a great person, etc…and you know what, I don’t want it. I don’t want to date again, I don’t want to get to know someone new, I don’t want to go through all the questions you have to ask, finding out the new things about someone else…I liked where we were getting to, the bit of history there and the more history we were building…and it hurts. Especially since my guard had been up for so long…it took time, but he wore away most of my guard and there was so much that now is lost. The idea of running Boston with him for fun the way we were going to, he was talking about an Ironman and the idea was crossing my mind…it’s all gone…

Appreciation is Sweet

So today I was really involved in something that got kind of high end...our president knew that I was involved in it and doing best to get things resolved and right now they are close...just a few minutes ago he stopped by my cube and told me he had a pair of Vikings tickets for Sundays game and would I like to have them...being a huge Vikings fan of course I said yes!!! What a great weekend treat! Now who comes with, L, my sister or my brother...will probably extend the invite in that order...

Wednes...Nope, Thursday

Wow, this week, after dragging on Tuesday has just gotten away from me. Thanks for all the thoughts on the panic. Breath in, breath out and it was worked through and resolved happily. So I'm happy about that. Workouts this week have been OK. I strength trained on Monday and did elliptical trainer on Monday night. Tuesday I ran 5 miles in gusting winds and yesterday I was off because of a chiro appointment and then a dinner someplace new with L. It was just a bar, typical menu, but we are both on a kick to lose some weight and he suggested a nice salad and they had something both of us were able to enjoy. Him a steak and me a buffalo chicken...both fairly healthy even!! I wanted to at least strength train yesterday but just didn't have time even at lunch because the day was just insane, finally starting to find some breathing room though and moving forward on a few projects. Hopefully I can strength train at lunch today (looking promising so far) and then a nice run outside on what might be a last night (read 65 for a high, sunny and no wind) for the year. I'm hoping to have a ticket booked to see one of my best friends in the world tonight too...would be going first weekend in December to visit her and her husband out in Idaho. I haven't seen her in almost a year and a half and she's one of those people that no matter how infrequently we see each other or talk on the phone, when we are together again it's like we just saw each other yesterday. I'm so excited to see her.

Also I had the weirdest calls coming to me the last couple of days. Some job headhunter person, no idea where they got my number, but regardless, it's been kind of annoying (I haven't been around to answer it, but they leave a message and say they are sending something to my email account and so far I've seen nothing and these calls are coming on my cell phone) as I know my resume isn't out there, in fact, I don't want it to be because I honestly like my job. I like what I'm doing, I like what I have as options and opportunities and how the duties keep growing. I enjoy the people I work with too...it's a nice feeling. Finally, this job and my last job were both that way and in a day and age where job dissatisfaction is up and where I've been extremely frustrated by jobs in my past, to the point of being miserable in some, I like that I'm finding places that are making me happy...

Panic?

I went for the run on Sunday night on the track at Bally's. It helped, a little...at least during the run it was feeling good, was even kind of fast (at least for me lately) so maybe the 11 laps to a mile is a bit off? Anyway, regardless, it gave me the release I needed that night. However, I'm still stressing. Things are still not quite right and I don't know what will get them there. Well, maybe I do know and am not ready to admit that yet, or maybe accept that is the better word. There comes a time you know what is necessary and still you might not want to go there, you think that maybe if you wait enough the thing you're waiting for could happen, maybe, right? Time is important. So is patience. But when you've given all and asked for little, and still don't even get that, you have to wonder.

Sometimes the anticipation is worse than the actual event too.

Grey Days

I miss the sun...it was out yesterday, it was actually a really nice day, it's too bad some personal other things kept me from fully enjoying. I attempted an 8 mile run, and completed it, but I hadn't slept well the night before due to some messy things in my life right now and while out trying to do a bit of shopping I was just scatter brained...came home, did the run, but it felt very difficult and was quite slow from what I had been running. I went to a friends house then for a birthday celebration. We were then supposed to go out to the bar, but I bailed with a few others prior to the bar as I just wasn't feeling up to going out. It's gray today and a cloud of sadness and hurt hangs over me...and I don't even know why except that I don't know what is going on...and sometimes not knowing is worse than the knowing...anyway, I did get some cleaning done today but that's about it. No workout, which I should've done and still could but not sure I feel up to it...maybe I'll go to the gym though. I really do need it. Maybe I'll feel better after a nice run and some strength training...

Weights, Chiro and a Gym?

Well, I managed 18 miles last week and most of it feeling fairly good. The glute hasn’t been complaining too much, I ran 4 days including back to back on Saturday and Sunday. 6 on Saturday and only 3 on Sunday as I didn’t want to push more than 18 miles. The 6 went fine and this weekend I’m hoping to get 7 or 8 for a longer run, just slowly building back up. I’ve been the chiropractor 3 times now and bought a package (my insurance doesn’t cover it cause they are out of network doesn’t health care stuff suck?) to make things a big cheaper so I’m set for going at least another 10 times and will evaluate after that what I might do. I had my evaluation to go over my x-rays and such as well yesterday and was given got exercises along with a breakdown of all that is out of wack. Apparently I've done something to get my low back on the left side out of form...the muscles are tight and pulling on things, getting my hip out of alignment and shortening my left leg, all this led to my glute tightening up and pulling wrong and hence the tight hurt feeling in my glute. The right side is down and out of wack a bit due to overcompensation (love all my technical terms?) :) of course. All pretty much what L had suggested might be wrong. So now I have the area for him to work on and get loosened up and between that and the adjustments things should be back to normal soon I hope. Actually I had a pulling sensation on my IT band, and when I saw the chiro last night my back had something that was twisted weird...so we are working on that and my upper back where I have tightness as well (where all my stress goes) so all this should help...I’ve done 4 miles on Tuesday with a friend, no time yesterday for yoga due to meeting friends after the chiro appointment so hopefully I can get that in tonight after a quick run (might do a short one at lunch and again after work, once inside and once out more on that in a second).

On a really happy note too, I got home and my Bowflex weights had arrived yesterday. Remember they were supposed to be filled in 3-5 days and shipped 7-9 days after that? I ordered them either Thursday or Friday last week from buy.com. Had notification on Saturday that they had shipped, I tracked on Monday and saw nothing, but on Wednesday they were there…talk about an awesome day!! They are very cool too. They adjust super easy and have a nice comfy grip. Not having worked out with them, but for anyone not wanting to buy a ton of weights, I’d highly recommend them. I’m also probably going to be joining Bally's. Not the greatest gym around my area, but I'm getting a pretty good deal that figures to about $17 a month andit has a pool and indoor track (11 laps to a mile) along with equipment and a few classes that might work in my schedule (not as many as another gym in the area, but again for the price and I don't use classes that much anyway)...It will be a nice alternative in the winter and not overly expensive, convenient to work and a nationwide membership so if I’m traveling and can find one I have other options too. I’m checking it out at lunch today and most likely will sign on. Can’t beat the price vs other options in my area for $60-70 a month…

Also looks like I now have a pace bunny for Twin Cities next year. A friend has kindly offered to pace me to my time goal (to be announced after training has commenced and is going well)…that makes me happy too. Between one on the course and L on the sidelines to carry water and such for me, I should really be able to pull the run provided I get the training in!!

Running Again

Alright, so I finally got a week in that might actually constitute a running week and be on the way to getting myself back up to what I had been used to all year. I ran Monday and Thursday last week, 4 and 5 miles respectively, at around 9:10 pace both of them...I did my yoga on Tuesday and took Wednesday off to recover from that along with having the chiro appointment. Friday I didn't get my yoga in that I planned, but oh well. Baby steps right? Saturday I did 6 miles even after being out partying like a rock star a little too much on Friday...it was an OK pace and things were feeling OK. Still a little tight through areas, but hopefully it will eventually go away. I then did an easy 3 miles on Sunday after the Vikings win to just keep things loose and knowing tonight I won't get a run since I have a chiro appointment. I feel good for the week and managed to get 18 miles in. That's the most since my 25K over a month ago. I'm not 100% yet, but working toward that and have a chiro appointment tonight that will give me my assessment, exercises to do and an adjustment I'm so looking forward to. I'll also go again, hopefully on Thursday and keep moving toward good final results.

I've put a training plan together to get me into running form to run a slow marathon in February too, even might have lined up someone else to run it as well. We'll see what happens. I already have one friend I plan to run slowly with...

New Toys

They are ordered...will be on the way in 3-5 days according to buy.com and I got free shipping so 7-9 days delivery (but seems sites always say that and usually it doesn't take nearly that long). So within 2 weeks my new toys will be here and I'm so excited to get back to some sort of weight training. I might need to somehow find a way to have a weigh bench at some point too, but for now I do have an exercise ball and that will be good to at least use to a degree. I couldn't pass up the deal. I found them for $120 on Amazon with free shipping, $100 on GNC.com with free shipping and $100 on Buy.com with free shipping...but if you haven't used Google check out you can use it and get another $10 off so for $90 I have them being shipped to me...Exciting stuff!

I managed an OK run last night too. For the first time in a long time I wore my Garmin and had a 5 mile run in 45:41 which is an OK pace, all things considered. I probably could've gone faster, I wasn't too winded and it is not a flat course by any means. Overall I was happy with it. I was too sore to attempt yoga last night, that Tuesday night workout kicked my butt on sore muscles, but at least this morning I'm feeling much better so I'm going to do the strength session tonight, then will plan maybe a 6 mile run tomorrow for a "longer" run, since tomorrow is the better day of the weekend. I'm hoping for a short easy 3-4 on Sunday for a 4 day running week. Might get an hour yoga session in too on Sunday. I do really like the yoga DVD I have for strength and flexibility, it's Rodney Yee, and there are two workouts, each about 20 minutes which is about a perfect session, I can always add to it if I want more poses that aren't covered since there are a number of poses I've enjoyed in classes. One thing I'd really like to find though is a good Power Flow Yoga DVD. Does anyone know of one? I used to love Power Flow class when I was a gym member and felt it was a good workout...particularly when I could get up at 5:30 and do the workout before work...nothing like feeling so good about yourself in the morning...I used to be on a good schedule to run in the morning and know that by next summer, to meet some of my goals, I'm going to have to do that again, but for now, I'd like it if I could get up, at least to start, just 2 days a week and do my yoga in the morning before work...it's only 20 minutes sooner...one of these days I'll try it. Means getting up at 6 instead of 6:30...I can do it...I think...

Chiro and Other Things

Last night was my first appointment with my new chiropractic place. I signed up for an initial assessment, x-rays etc while at Twin Cities Marathon Expo with a place that has people that are runners, in fact the doctor I saw is herself a runner and has the marathon bug…she has run 6, including Boston, so that tells me I’m with the right person! I told her my goal was to run next year to get that qualifier and that I need to get everything worked out and will be running a hard half or two early next year to get the preferred start coral for Twin Cities next year. Getting to the office, they have massage chairs to sit in while waiting, nice, then I went into the room, had x-rays (of which I’ll get copies next appointment), and a muscle scan that shows where you are most tense, gee, surprise, I was tight on low back and upper back (I always run tight). After that they used the muscle stimulator thing to loosen me up, along with a heating pad, then while waiting for a massage table I was laying on a water massage bed (or I could’ve sat back in the massage chair), I had the first adjustment, which my sacrum cracked so well on each side, then upper back and one other area in my neck that I hadn’t known was tight but she found and adjusted on one side, hopefully next time I’m relaxed enough to let it happen on the other side too…Anyway, overall a good visit and I’m going back on Monday to get the x-rays, all assessments and results along with exercises to do that will help get everything back in place. L is back next week too to work on me with massage so that should help everything get back to normal I hope…

Also, new excitement…I’m pretty sure I’m going to get those Bowflex weights I posted a couple messages back…they are $150 on Bowflex’s site, plus $50 shipping…I found them on eBay for a bit cheaper and then Amazon for even cheaper and free shipping, then on another place or two for even better than the others…In fact I think I might get them shipped for $60-80…can’t pass that up. They are nice in that they adjust from 2.5 up to 20 pounds in 2.5 pound increments, at most I’d maybe eventually want a couple of 25s, but in lots of working out, I never have used more than 20s really for most things…so I think this will be good for me. Cheaper than the 50 pound ones by a lot and I think much more useable for me. Plus they take up very little space…nothing like eight sets of weights in one set that can hold at 20 pounds…I’ll slowly build up my little home gym…just need the space to have it all out and set up on a regular basis.

I wanted to run after my appointment last night, but have adjusted my schedule because it was fairly late when I got home and I thought maybe I should hold off one more day. Tonight I’m going to go for 4-5 miles, then I’ll run both Saturday and Sunday and then not again till Tuesday. I got my yoga flexibility DVD out on Tuesday and did it, 25 minute workout and I felt things stretching. I’ll eventually add more poses on my own, but it felt pretty good, except the relaxing pose at the end, my back was tight and couldn’t relax, was feeling a little uncomfortable so I cut that part short, but the rest went well.

Current focus:

• Running back up to 20 miles over the next 2-3 weeks
• Yoga for more flexibility and strength back to 2 times a week at least
• At least during the week keeping track of food in Fitday.com for the next two weeks to get a base on where to start moving forward on my eating

Twin Cities

Who would’ve ever thought or believed that October 7, in Minneapolis, could hit 80 degree temps and 87% humidity…I really felt for the runners out on the course talk about a painful run. I walked out of my house around 10:45 to go and try to watch for the few people that I did know were running, I got to mile 23 at 11:30 (after a quick stop at the farmer’s market for some apples) and saw one guy that I know, but doubting that he remembers me I didn’t say anything, then I was watching for a friend that I had planned to surprise and run a couple of miles with, but didn’t see her, and found she wasn’t too far behind the guy I saw, so that was a bummer to miss her and the run as she was kind of hurting then and I would’ve loved to have helped with the pain. At the same time I was getting updates from MNFirefly as her boyfriend Josh was going around the course…he did finish and got his medal, but with very little support since they cancelled the race, being short of water…I feel so bad for the runner’s out there.
Considering the time and training that goes into a race like that,
it’s really hard to not be able to finish what you started. I guess
there was a reason I had this stuff going on that kept the
motivation from running Twin Cities this year. My plan is to run
it next year. I have friends from around the country that are
going to run it as well hopefully and I’m really looking forward to
a fun time…anyone reading this, this is a call out…fall marathon
next year, why not do the most beautiful urban marathon? It’s
really well run and organized, just a little bit of a hilly course toward the end, but we’re runners, we can deal with that right? How about this for my new bumper sticker. It pretty much says it all. Oh, and that's me on my trail run last week...finally got it posted.

Twin Cities Marathon Expo

Last night I finally got the night out I needed. It was an unintentional night. I went to have a drink, my roommate and a friend stopped by, I convinced roommate to drive me home and then had a few more, we stopped at another bar I like and haven’t been in since our county had lightened the ban to allow some places to still have smoking, but now with the statewide ban, it’s non-smoking again…anyway, we closed the bar and then sat up talking till about 4…yowsers…And true to form, I woke up, at 8:30, a.m…yeah…so not fun when you go to bed at 4, but oh well. I got up, took some ibuprophen for the headache and then showered and head to the Marathon expo. Even though I’m not running the marathon tomorrow, I like the expo just to see things and this year it was just as fun as it normally can be. I got two new sports bras, which was the intent of the trip, chatted with someone at MDRA (Minnesota Distance Running Association) booth and passed on L’s card as she was interested in lactate testing, ALMOST bought a few things for winter running that were on sale, but opted out of that, scoped out the scene because I discovered it really isn’t that terribly expensive for having a booth down at the expo and it might be good for L’s business for next year, so figured out what he’d be able to set up…then I talked to a chiro that specializes in runners, or at least works with a lot of runners, I explained my insurance situation (namely that my insurance is set at a high deductible that I’m going to change and get treatments for after Jan 1, yeah, love dealing with insurance and insurance related stuff) and they have a deal setting up to get information and treatment thoughts to patients along with X-rays for $20, so I set up an appointment with them for next Wednesday and we’ll go from there. I do know that my insurance plan covers this place and had already considered talking to them anyway, so that worked out. Also found a place for strength training that sounds interesting, but even more expensive to do on a monthly basis than a gym, although you can do one on one personal training through it, so it’s a thought…came home to take a nap and was not able to sleep, so I have just been chilling…did go for a short 3 miler that felt OK, except for the hangover that’s still lingering…so while my roommate and a friend of hers are going out and plan was we were all going to go out tonight, I opted to stay in and will probably go to bed early…

Tomorrow I’m going down to watch the marathon, at least for a while. We’ll see how things are all feeling, but I imagine I’ll wake up and feel like going. I do want to cheer at least for a while and Vikings aren’t on tomorrow (thank God they have a bye this week), I really feel for the runners though…it’s going to be a hot one. Right now it feels more like August than October…was supposed to hit 85 today and I bet it did and it’s very humid…anyone out there after even 11 is going to really start hurting…

The Smell of Autumn

Last weekend I did some shopping. I’m not a big shopper but I had a couple of coupons and needed a few new clothes so I went to the mall for a bit. One of the coupons I had was to Yankee Candle. I’m a candle freak really, it's a sickness. I have a TON of candles and I just keep buying more, I can't seem to burn some of the ones I have (some are scents that are no longer made and if I burn them they will be gone) AND I had just bought some candles from a friend that sells Partylite, but still I had this coupon and it was a good one, buy one get one free on the big jar candles…that never happens. They have buy one get one half off sometimes, but never buy one get one free on anything…so I had to go.

I tend toward the buying the “fresh” smelling candles, you know, anything with ocean, rain, sea, waterfall in the title or the very light floral scents (in particular rose, if it's a good classic rose scent). They did have one that was called Autumn Leaves and I really don’t have any “fall” scented candles, so I smelled it…and while it was a nice Autumn orange, and had colored leaves on the label…it just didn’t smell “fall”. It had a pine overtone, and that right away turned me from it so it kind of had me thinking about Autumn smells. Autumn is not about pine…when I walked outside for lunch yesterday, I took a deep breath and smelled…I don’t know what, but it is not pine. It's clean, the smell of the humidity gone from the air, the freshness of the leaves, the clean scent of the earth (we’ve had a lot of rain and you can smell it), maybe even smokey smells from bonfires, but it’s definitely not the pine overtones that were in that candle. I thought about this the whole time I was running, and I even brought my camera and took some pictures that I promise I’ll try to upload over the weekend. I was thinking about what kind of scent should’ve been the stronger one and I just couldn’t come up with it, it was there, I was smelling things, but nothing quite clicked…until I got home. I had my camera still and needed a couple of new pictures of my house, so I took them and walking around the building when the scent of apple cider came to me from somewhere (probably my mind, but you know, I still smelled it)…then it clicked. The overtones of the candle should be apple, along with everything else of course, but this is apple season. Leave the pine for the winter/Christmas scents, because that is what you think of at that time of year, fall is about apples, bonfires and earthy tones.

Gorgeous Day

Today the weather report was saying a chance for thunderstorms. Mostly tapering off by noon...so far we haven't had any rain. Hopefully the chance has passed too becaue it is absolutely gorgeous out. Sunny, no clouds, very light to no breeze and upper 70s...it's one of those days that comes along in mid-spring to early fall, before summer's humidity hits and when the sun is fantastic feeling, even if it is upper temps to some people...yep, today is one of those days. I was out at lunch. I almost didn't come back. I just hope that it stays till the end of the work day. Another 2 hours and I'm out of here and heading home for a run. In fact, I have everything with me...it's almost tempting to make a jaunt through Highland Park on my way home instead of running at home...hmm...I think I have my garmin, at the very least I have a watch of some sort, if I head out and back for 20 minutes each way I can know it was a little over 4 miles...heck, 18 minutes each way would give me about that, even on the hills...what a nice thought. Outside, on trails, softer turf...I think it's just what I need.

Yesterday was nice too, but it was windy. I had to take yesterday off, still being good like I have been. Saw L last night and he massaged some stuff into my leg to try to loosen it up more. It's medicated lotion, along the lines of IcyHot but much higher end. Anyway, when he worked on things most tight pain areas were only about a 3 or 4 at most (he asks what it is painwise on a scale of 1-10), one spot (and what I think is causing my tight hamstring) was a 7 or so, but the rest felt fine, even areas I thought might be bad weren't as tight as I thought...so I'm excited. Progress might be still going on. Now I need to work on the weights, that's for Monday (or maybe this weekend), losing the weight I have gained and focusing on getting a nice base to build on starting in December or so. I have posted a tentative 2008 schedule...we'll see how ambitious I am.

Run and a Weight Room

I braved the rain and didn’t melt! OK, I am one that likes running in the rain, just not when it’s cold. It wasn’t terrible yesterday though. It was about 62 I think when I took off, so I had on shorts and a long sleeved tech top and maybe should’ve gone a little lighter weight top or a shorter sleeved one as I was a bit warm, but pushed the sleeves up and I was OK. I went out for 3 and opted instead to turn it into 4 when things were feeling alright. The sacrum was still feeling a little off, but not enough to cause any issues. Still a tight hamstring, a little tightness on the knee and at one point I thought my glute was going to start talking to me, but thankfully nothing came of it. I got home, stretched, iced my knee, used the roller, stick and sacro wedgy and then relaxed for the night, House was on after all. I was feeling some tightness still later in the evening, and before bed opted to take 3 advil and an advil PM to help with the way it was feeling. Basically I wanted the left side of my sacrum to crack, and nothing I could do would get that feeling away. Advil PM is awesome though…I was tired anyway and it just kept the soreness at bay so I could sleep…and for the first time in I don’t know how long I even managed to sleep through the night, not even one time getting up to use the bathroom!! This is an amazing thing for me as I drink so much water it’s always at least one time in the night…

Tonight I’m taking the night off running again, but I think I need to do something. I might actually get some air into the tires of my bike and take it out. I just need to do something about my weight and how flabby I feel like I’m getting. I haven’t done any strength training since April or May, and that’s bad. I HAVE to get back to something. Unfortunately I’m not currently a member at a gym, and my best gym option is so expensive…I need to do some more research on that I guess though. I know there are things that I can do around home, but I’m just not disciplined enough to do much at home…and I don’t have enough stuff to do things either. My hope is still to get my house sold (reminder to self, need to get together with my realtor and get it re-listed, since that would help in selling it!) because my dream for my new home is a workout room. I will only buy something that has a room that I can dedicate to working out. I want to decorate it in some running theme, I’ll have bookshelves for my running books and magazines, all my marathon paraphernalia (like my top 10 reasons to run a marathon and Chicago marathon posters), medals and such from high school into my new hardware…then of course the workout stuff, treadmill, maybe a bike (or a trainer with a bike on it) and of course weights and other stuff…one thing I want is these:

They are adjustable from 2.5 to 20 pounds. I will probably need to buy 2 25s and I should be set on weights...I should just buy them now and have them...hmm...wonder if anyone is trying to get rid of some on craigslist or ebay...of course I also want a bench then too, but I can wait on that...

To run or not to run...

…guess we’ll see what happens with the weather. Part of me isn’t really feeling like it anyway, and right now it’s a downpour. I’m leaving the office in a few minutes and it could be done raining by the time I get home, but it’s just not warm enough that I want to run in it the way it is…sigh…wish I had gotten in a run over the weekend as I wouldn’t feel quite as compelled in that I HAVE to run today. I’m also feeling like something is “off” in my sacrum right now. I had a day where it felt like the right side needed to crack, today it feels like the left…I’m just being a baby I think though. I should just do it regardless and I’ll feel much better.

I'm so looking forward to the Twin Cities Marathon this weekend. Mainly for the expo. I love their expo. It's nice without being too large. Marine Corp by far had the best deals, but Twin Cities is still a nice one, full of great running deals. No good speakers that I could see listed though for this year. No one I've heard of at least. Anyone out there that reads that might want to meet me down there on Friday or Saturday, I'm leaning more toward Friday but haven't fully decided yet.

Smoking Ban

Ah what a wonderful day. October 1, 2007, the day Minnesota became state number 17 to go non-smoking. Yes, yes, I realize I’m advocating more government intervention, and government taking away individual businesses rights telling them that they can’t allow smoking, but frankly I’m sick of being told by smokers that if I want to go out (and not just to the bar, but to a lot of restaurants too) I either deal with it or stay home, because there have not been other options until the smoking bans went into effect. I just see it that MN is a state of around 4-5 million people, statistics say there are about 800,000 smokers…so, that equates to about 20% of the population that are happy that bars allow smoking…hmm…is that the majority? Even when I’ve been out in places that allow smoking, I always thought it seemed there were more people not smoking than people that were…just an observation. Since Minneapolis itself passed a ban, I have only been to bars that are non-smoking unless at my parents where there wasn’t an option (now, yippee, there is no more) and just a couple of weeks ago I was at a Country Kitchen restaurant that actually still had a smoking section, and it was bad, even though we were in the non-smoking you could still smell it. It’s such a happy day.

Last Friday, I managed to have a good run again. I went 4 miles. I had only minimal tightness in the hamstring, a little fuss from my knee but nothing too major. I stretched and did things after to keep feeling good, used my foam roller and stick and was a little around bed time, but not bad. I didn’t get a run in on Saturday or Sunday for various reasons, but am hoping to get one tonight. We’ll see. I have a phone conference at 5:30, if I go home and take the call there, I could technically get a run done and still make the call, but part of me is thinking maybe I should take the call from the office…although….now thinking about it, I think I have clothes in my car…and my Garmin…and it wouldn’t be a big deal for me to sit at my desk and take the call after a run….hmm….maybe THAT’S what I’ll do. Then, if I really wanted to, and if the call doesn’t take too long, I could make it to yoga class at L’s studio…although that would be really pushing it and I wouldn’t be in yoga gear as I don’t have that with me….hmm….yoga might have to wait, but I might be jumping into that class later, or, even better, the yoga for runner's when it starts up.