keeping it weird

i am happy to report that september is off to a good start - i've wheezed my way through (modified) bootcamp classes and gone on a few (short) runs. i'm already ahead of august's mileage! (not that the bar was set high, ha). there is plenty of room for getting up early to run instead of snoozing until the last possible minute for work, but at least i can pretend it's getting cooler and less humid outside for evening runs.

over labor day weekend i drove up to asheville, nc to visit with the lovely amanda of runninghood (aka marathon mommy) and mr. runninghood who were visiting on a mini-vacation. the lexington ave arts and fun festival was going on, bringing out a unique mix of... characters. asheville hadn't gotten to them too much yet as amanda was still wearing a bra and shirt.

i would love to hear your thoughts as to what's going on here;

amanda spun a tale of suffering and oppression.

after browsing the festival tents we headed over to the laughing seed on wall street for a late lunch (yum) before eventually parting ways so that the 'hoods could get in their romantic sightseeing plans. (and house browsing, that's kind of romantic right?).

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pomp and circumstance

my fellow running bloggers,

yesterday, one of our own achieved a new level of greatness. one who had been dredging the trenches for months on end, but who had not let crutch nor boot slow her down. after a number of disappointing trips to various doctors, she finally found one who could help, only to be slowed down by health insurance denying her coverage to an expensive bone stimulating treatment. as all runners do, she persevered and not only won the battle with her health insurance, but also against her stress fracture.

ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor and privilege to bestow this diploma upon morgan of caution redhead running.

congratulations on your r2r graduation!

you are invited to attend the post-graduation party over at caution: redhead running.

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athlete's plate: saving the best for last

jason of life of an aspiring athlete fame has a fun and yummy weekly installment of athlete-worthy meals. he chose to create his last menu of 2010 around me because he knew he had to go out with a bang.

go check out my menu here! don't worry, only one recipe contains m&m's. this stuff is actually healthy and realistic.

(for more entertainment, check out the marlene edition and the potty-centric suar menu)

i have to nominate next week's featured blogger -- so leave a comment and i just might pick you. first athlete's plate of 2011, those are bragging rights! bribes are certainly accepted. (hey, it worked for me; thanks for the nomination marlene!)

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raise your 'ade

jillian laid out a challenge for this week's mbe to do a 2010 wrap-up in poem form and left the definition of "poem" wide open. since my original rap was a flop (only 27 views on youtube? not the viral takeoff i was expecting) i've taken a slightly different route this time.

disclaimer #1: i am well aware that i cannot sing, even though i was selected for an easter duet when i was 6 and a solo in the church play when i was 13. i attempted to doctor it as much as i could. please don't hold it against me.

disclaimer #2: i do not yet know how to upload to youtube without losing so much photo quality :(

in case you want to drown out my awful voice sing along:

right, right course turns right

i'm gonna lose my gu tonight

what's the dealio?

i love running so much

4am turn the radio up

time to rock and roll

morning running, makes me stunning

call me up if you are coming

don't be lazy

just get crazy

why so serious?

chorus:

i raise my 'ade 'cause i ran long

and ran a 5k

all my marathons, they will never be never be

anything but loud

making me a dirty running freak

won't you come on and come on and

raise your 'ade

just come on and come on and

raise your 'ade

run run love to run

green valley 10-mi was blazing fun

wish i wasn't nauseous

can't stop chasing the clock

i "ran" boston t'was more like a walk

then ran kentucky

dizzy summer; 5k bummer

three runs one night, burned some blubber

not enough though

still have fluff so

need to get serious

(chorus)

oh crap my gatorade's empty...

that sucks.

so if you're too school for cool

and you run like a fool

you should choose to let it go

'cause i always, i just always

run long on my own

so raise your

so raise your 'ade if you ran long

or ran a 5k

all my running nerds, we will never be never be

anything but loud

and nitty gritty dirty running freaks

won't you come on and come on and

raise your 'ade

just come on and come on and

raise your 'ade

---

special thanks to my blogging buddies for participating; i hope i didn't let you down.

one little tri jill
life of an aspiring athlete
my life with kettlebells
the running fat guy
caution: redhead running
runner's rambles
common objects and everyday events
age groups rock
run with jill
mission to another marathon

disclaimer #3: they are all awesome and should not be penalized for associating themselves with my grammy-winning vocals. in case you didn't get it, they were all "raising" their {beverage of choice}.

amber - 1 life

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runs with friends

i've realized lately that i don't talk about my daily runs much. i've tried putting thought into it, but mostly i feel pretty unbloggable on a day-to-day basis.

with the exception of this weekend of course, before terri (one of my longest blog-buddies) un-invites me from coming up for boston in april. terri came down to visit her dad me and in addition to being lazy/eating m&m's, we got to run together twice!

we got a late start saturday after a lazy morning and went out for an easy 5-miler in 50-ish degrees; a warm welcome for my boston friend. sunday's weather was not as nice to us as it steadily drizzled the whole time, but we got in another easy, gab-filled run. once back inside the house the rain stopped and the sun came out. go figure.

saturday 12/11 mid-day run: 5.02 miles, 45:41 (avg pace 9:06), 50*
sunday 12/12 am run: 4.5 miles, 40:58 (avg pace 9:06), 37*

three things you should know about terri:

1. she makes delicious brownies.
2. she is concerned about my heart-health and buys me dark chocolate m&m's.
3. she's a running-sandbagger, always talking about being slow, and then she waxed me up the last hill on our run sunday morning. home field advantage i think not.

disclaimer about jill's gift exchange: i have begun to procure gifts for my secret santa but i still make no guarantees you get it before the post office shuts down for christmas. course you won't know this until you get it and find out i was your tardy secret santa, but you've been forewarned :)

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opinionated?

brian of a runner's blog is looking for some feedback regarding running and online tools/community. i have no idea what for, but i know you are all looking for an excuse to slack off at work anyway.

you can visit his blog to give your input, or i've copied the questions here in case you're lazy and i'll forward them to him.

1) What online tools do you use now?

2) What online tools would you like that you don’t have access to now?

3) What is the biggest obstacle to your experience as a runner online?

4) With regards to running, what is your favorite type of content to view online?

5) With regards to running, what kind of content is missing online?

6) Do you have any other comments?

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everything's bigger in texas

whoops, wrong matty. but let's admire my mistake for a second...

ok.

a few weeks ago, i was emailing with my pal matty and casually tossed out an offer to guest blog. i appreciate his sense of humor and light sarcasm in his daily bloggings and thought cha-ching, free entertainment.

i don't entirely remember who found who first, but i did get a ton of wedding-planning ideas and inspiration from his beautiful wife, sara. it was weird-but-cool to find out two blogs i read are married; it's a small, blog-world!

so without further ado ...


I would like to say, “Thank you” to Ms. Lindsay for allowing me to post on her site today. In many ways, my writing on her blog is the equivalent to a coffee shop leaving a mason jar on the counter with a little sign reading, “pay if you can”, or a bank allowing people to enter and exit the vaults at will. She is trusting me to leave her establishment better than I found it and I hope to do so!

Lindsay has built a site that’s as much fun as it is scientific in that she has the innate ability to generate her own running stats from one week to the next, from the current season to the previous one, and from the make and model of what she was wearing this time this last year to what she’s wearing today. She makes a very compelling and confidence-boosting case for her being a runner, inspiring other runners, who go on to inspire other runners. I worry that I’m that JV to her varsity, the Jr. Bacon to her Quarter Pounder with cheese, the Hobbes to her Simba.

My name is Matt Bradford from the blog, Matty, Run, Run. Lindsay has been an amazing reader of mine since I started “following” her six months ago (mind you: not that kind of following, I live in Texas she in South Carolina), and so I asked her if I could, please, write a couple paragraphs for her blog allowing her to go that extra 30 minutes on a run, or to allow her that little extra time to kick off her heels and relax your feet as I woo you and your readers into a blissful running/meditative state.

If you were to ask me, “Matty, what are the themes of your blog”:
I would say, “Over at Matty, Run, Run, I’m a Scorpio and sometimes a Cancer (my birthday falls in that strange in between); I am in the midst of attempting to qualify for the Boston Marathon for my 18-34 age group, my PR is 3:13:52; my wife and I are getting ready to have our first baby in February and the woman who took our ultrasound said that our baby is already endowed with a “Texas-sized pen*s” (though we’re not sure how long that will last); I love music and running news; and my brother has a once weekly advice column where he answers everything from how not to be the “weird one” in your running group, to what to drink on your run.

If you were to ask me, “What makes you interesting and worthy of time on my blog reel?”:
I would say, “Define: Interesting. Is it the Dos Equis man? Or, is it the Old Spice guy? Or, is it this Russian man jumping onto cars and getting into fisticuffs?

I’m all three of these men rolled into one mildly handsome, often poorly put-together and unassuming package. Love me.

Again, I want to thank Lindsay for this fantastic opportunity to parade myself and therefore my blog in front of you all. I do hope you’ll stop by for just a bit and check out the wares. I hope that you have a fantastic week!
-Matty B.


matty's running his second marathon this weekend (he just ran his first in late october, typical nutty runner). go visit and wish him luck!

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more cowbell

a sweet tribute to rick, made me tear up in my cubicle at work today.

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no day but today

last friday josh and i were walking through garden ridge (3 acres of house crap) and i looked around at the endless supply of stuff. it made me think about all the resources that were used to make it all, and what a waste of money it is. ok, not all of it is a complete waste - the wicker baskets can be handy for organizing and they have rugs, but the majority of the merch is crap. the sad part is there are people who actually buy this stuff and fill their houses with it.

seriously, who needs a faux-metal knight? maybe i should have a giveaway.

after i heard about rick passing away, i had the typical thoughts that come in times of emergency - the meaning of life, how we tend to lose sight of the 'bigger picture' as we get caught up in day-to-day activities... it did not make me want to go to work this week, that's for sure. i've wondered if i have been uplifting and encouraging to any of you, the way rick was for me and many others. i certainly hope so.

i've thought a lot about rick and our friendship since sunday. i still can't believe i'll never get another note or email from him ever again. a couple times i've found myself wanting to share something with him, and then realizing i can't. i certainly can't imagine what it's like for his family. it's kinda crazy how close we can become through our blogging and running! it makes me want to scoop each of you up in a big hug.

tuesday i was reminded again about living life to the fullest when i came across this post from the happiness project. though it is four years old, i still found it relevant. it is a reminder to use all the "special" things we are saving for a "special day". you'll probably never end up using them if you continue to wait. i'm sure we are all guilty of saving certain running clothes for race day only - why don't we treat ourselves to our 'good' gear on non-race days? i'm guilty of doing this in many areas, from cute stationary to kitchen gadgets to underwear. so what are you waiting for? whip out those "special" things and enjoy them today.

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rick the marathonman

at 10:11am this morning, while watching the chicago marathon broadcast and reading over a few blogs i learned that my dear friend rick passed away yesterday. i am in complete disbelief - he wasn't an old fart and he's a runner! runner's are healthy!

rick and i met at the new york marathon, he was concerned for me that morning like he was my own father. we grew as friends over the past two years through our running, blogs and good ol' facebook. he was a wonderful friend (and fellow mets fan) and i miss him incredibly.

run in peace, rick.

(thanks jill, for letting me know)

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