Here we are, 9pm on Wed and I think about my desire to break the once-a-week blog habit. Then I realize, if I want to blog more (change), I have to do something about it. After all, blogs don't write themselves. Change doesn't just come by itself.
Today my brother made an observation of me. He said that I "value willpower". I had never thought of it that way, but it made a lot of sense when he said it. Not that I've always valued willpower, but I think recently, in the last few years, I have come to. As as a direct result, I admire people that I perceive as having willpower. That might mean any number of things, from someone in a work situation that goes against the grain because they know it is right, even if they might cause waves. To someone who has recovered from addiction. To someone that doesn't swear or watch R-rated movies simply on principle.
Studies have shown all sorts of interesting things about willpower, the one I read about most often, being that willpower is "like a muscle". (see How to Boost Your Willpower) The more you use it, the stronger it gets.
Pushing your heart rate at 180-190 bpm for 42 minutes requires an insane amount of willpower. Either that or just an insane amount of insanity. Either way, running is the way that I give my willpower a boost as well. Forcing myself up at 5am when I'm already running on empty and tired... again, just flexing those willpower muscles.
So why is it, I can't stop myself from eating chocolates from a co-workers "help yourself" stash. Or why do I find myself drinking that third cup of coffee when I really don't need that much caffeine. Or why do I eat all the remainder of the frozen pizza that Andrea and Megan don't eat, when the 3 pieces I had were already enough.
I'll tell you why. Because there is limit to willpower. The studies have shown that too. And each day as I exhaust my supply of willpower on so many other big things, and maintain my levels of self control with so much else, that little mini Hersey's bar doesn't seem all that bad.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
10k race of awesome
This once a week post shit is getting old. Finding it hard to come up with any time or anything to post about. I suppose that happens when my entire life right now is only about my family and work. And since I can't post about either of those things... Well, at least I have my running.
Over time, running has become my primary, if not only, form of stress relief. I still find some solace in video games, but by and large, running is the better of the two in terms of the ratio of hours spent to amount of stress relieved. Another interesting fact is that the amount of running I do and the extent to which I push myself harder is usually directly proportional to the amount of stress I'm currently under.
I had a 10k race today. To say I've had a lot of stress recently would be quite the understatement. So this morning I set out with a goal to run pretty damn hard. Leave mine, and everyone elses stress out there on the road. And I did. Here is a mile by mile recount:
Mile 1: Started 3 rows back from the start. People didn't stop passing me until mile 1 was over, and I was doing a 6:30 - 6:40 pace.
Mile 2: At 1.77, I passed someone, the first of maybe 4 or 5 total. No more people passing me. Still feeling pretty good. Race is early, starting to doubt I can keep this pace up. Heart rate is already pushing "hard" zones.
Mile 3: Little harder now, wind picked up on the far side of the lake. Had to push to keep my pace up. Keeping pace with 120 lbs, 5'4" woman wearing TCRC (Twin Cities Running Club) shirt.
Mile 4: The "not quite done, but damn I need to quit" mile. Mile 4 is always the hardest on my 10k fast races. I came damn close to slowing down multiple times. Pushed through each time. Finished 1 second faster than mile 3. Passed woman wearing TCRC shirt.
Mile 5: Wind at my back again, that helped alot. Heartrate now in the "danger" zone, staying at basically maximum heart levels (220 - age = maximum HR). But no way I'm slowing now, not after coming this far.
Mile 6: The home stretch. Time to book it now. Nearest person in front or behind me, well over 100 feet. With no one around me, I already knew the announcer would say my name. That old bearded guy that announces every race. Wonder what his name is?
Finished way better than I had hoped or set out to. 42:32, average pace of 6:46. My GPS watch said I traveled a total distance of 6.29. Enjoyed a banana, bottle of water, then ran another 5 miles. Couldn't help myself, it was just too nice out.
Over time, running has become my primary, if not only, form of stress relief. I still find some solace in video games, but by and large, running is the better of the two in terms of the ratio of hours spent to amount of stress relieved. Another interesting fact is that the amount of running I do and the extent to which I push myself harder is usually directly proportional to the amount of stress I'm currently under.
I had a 10k race today. To say I've had a lot of stress recently would be quite the understatement. So this morning I set out with a goal to run pretty damn hard. Leave mine, and everyone elses stress out there on the road. And I did. Here is a mile by mile recount:
Mile 1: Started 3 rows back from the start. People didn't stop passing me until mile 1 was over, and I was doing a 6:30 - 6:40 pace.
Mile 2: At 1.77, I passed someone, the first of maybe 4 or 5 total. No more people passing me. Still feeling pretty good. Race is early, starting to doubt I can keep this pace up. Heart rate is already pushing "hard" zones.
Mile 3: Little harder now, wind picked up on the far side of the lake. Had to push to keep my pace up. Keeping pace with 120 lbs, 5'4" woman wearing TCRC (Twin Cities Running Club) shirt.
Mile 4: The "not quite done, but damn I need to quit" mile. Mile 4 is always the hardest on my 10k fast races. I came damn close to slowing down multiple times. Pushed through each time. Finished 1 second faster than mile 3. Passed woman wearing TCRC shirt.
Mile 5: Wind at my back again, that helped alot. Heartrate now in the "danger" zone, staying at basically maximum heart levels (220 - age = maximum HR). But no way I'm slowing now, not after coming this far.
Mile 6: The home stretch. Time to book it now. Nearest person in front or behind me, well over 100 feet. With no one around me, I already knew the announcer would say my name. That old bearded guy that announces every race. Wonder what his name is?
Finished way better than I had hoped or set out to. 42:32, average pace of 6:46. My GPS watch said I traveled a total distance of 6.29. Enjoyed a banana, bottle of water, then ran another 5 miles. Couldn't help myself, it was just too nice out.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Enough about Casey, all about me!
What my blog is actually for! Problem is, not much about me I want to talk about these days (and I'm not the only one). Family life is getting far too personal to go on and on about, and of course, the proverbial blog taboo topic of work. My social life has dropped to zero (by choice of course). So what else is there? Not much... I suppose I can always fall back to random incoherent philosophical psycho babble.
I feel like I am at an interesting point in my life. Not the typical crossroads, because there are no choices per say. But a specific point none the less. I don't exactly want to label it "the beginning of the end" because that is much too harsh, but it slightly encompasses the over arching thought.
Hmmm arching... Maybe the better analogy is that I feel like I am rising over the crest of a roller coaster. Everything up until now has just lead me to the top, and now it's time to start the fast and furious down hill. And it's a crazy, scary, fun, exciting time. But before you know it, the ride is over. There are parts of me that wonder if I'm going to spend the next 20 years on a crazy roller coaster of emotions, trying to figure out how to be a better parent, only to look around and go, oh, ummm, so... that was quick.
20 years SOUNDS like a long time, but is it really? Next month, Andrea and I will have been married for 10 years. It sure as heck doesn't feel like 10 years. (is that a good or bad thing?) So 20 years doesn't seem all that long. Here is a random list of things I'd predict over the next 20 years:
I feel like I am at an interesting point in my life. Not the typical crossroads, because there are no choices per say. But a specific point none the less. I don't exactly want to label it "the beginning of the end" because that is much too harsh, but it slightly encompasses the over arching thought.
Hmmm arching... Maybe the better analogy is that I feel like I am rising over the crest of a roller coaster. Everything up until now has just lead me to the top, and now it's time to start the fast and furious down hill. And it's a crazy, scary, fun, exciting time. But before you know it, the ride is over. There are parts of me that wonder if I'm going to spend the next 20 years on a crazy roller coaster of emotions, trying to figure out how to be a better parent, only to look around and go, oh, ummm, so... that was quick.
20 years SOUNDS like a long time, but is it really? Next month, Andrea and I will have been married for 10 years. It sure as heck doesn't feel like 10 years. (is that a good or bad thing?) So 20 years doesn't seem all that long. Here is a random list of things I'd predict over the next 20 years:
- I'll have at least 2 or 3 different jobs
- I'll have to buy at least 2 new cars
- We'll probably move at least once, maybe twice
- Hopefully we have at least 2 big family vacations
- There will probably be too many funerals
- I won't be able to retire (and I won't win the lottery)
- I'll have played at least one, or will be playing, an MMORPG
- I won't be able to run as much, if at all
- I'll have a TV back in my house
- I won't be blogging anymore
Saturday, July 11, 2009
All About Casey
I realized I've been sort of light on the news/pictures about Casey, so I thought I'd take some time today and get a bunch of stuff just about her up. Some pictures to start, with the grand prize at the bottom.
Let's see, today she is 6 weeks 5 days old. She is getting bigger every day, but once again it is so hard to tell when you see her every day! Some other milestones she has done: rolled over from her stomach to her back, she smiles in response, and visually follows Mom around the room.
As far as her temperament goes, she is not ever SUPER grumpy. She has her moments here and there, or when my brother babysits. :-) But for the most part, she is easy going. She sleeps very well, and over night is only getting up one time. She usually is asleep by 9 or 10, wakes up once at 3am, and then again at 6 or 7am.
Another aspect of Casey, that Andrea might get upset I start blabbing on about, is that she breastfeeds well. We haven't had to use hardly any formula since she has been home (a handful of ready-to-eat bottles). And the ironic thing is, Andrea stocked up on oh, I don't know, 3-4 month supply of free formula samples. She just collected them through various means, and now we haven't touched a single one. Granted the year is early, and we might start using them more past the 6 month mark. But for now, Casey is doing completely well with just Mommy goodness.
The hardest part about Casey, is just that she needs that basic attention as well (of course). And Andrea gets torn trying to divide her time during the day between the girls. At some point, they both demand her attention and something has to give. It's a hard situation. Andrea might get mad I'm posting these thoughts, but there you go. I see Mom's out in public with 3, 4, or even more kids, and I have absolutely no clue how they do it. We have hard enough time as it is trying to keep Megan near us in parking lots or not running away from us in the grocery store. I'll stick to the challenges of my two girls, I have a feeling it will be more than enough.
And finally, a few videos. I've embedded the better one, and there is a link to another one at the bottom.
Casey & Megan
Let's see, today she is 6 weeks 5 days old. She is getting bigger every day, but once again it is so hard to tell when you see her every day! Some other milestones she has done: rolled over from her stomach to her back, she smiles in response, and visually follows Mom around the room.
As far as her temperament goes, she is not ever SUPER grumpy. She has her moments here and there, or when my brother babysits. :-) But for the most part, she is easy going. She sleeps very well, and over night is only getting up one time. She usually is asleep by 9 or 10, wakes up once at 3am, and then again at 6 or 7am.
Another aspect of Casey, that Andrea might get upset I start blabbing on about, is that she breastfeeds well. We haven't had to use hardly any formula since she has been home (a handful of ready-to-eat bottles). And the ironic thing is, Andrea stocked up on oh, I don't know, 3-4 month supply of free formula samples. She just collected them through various means, and now we haven't touched a single one. Granted the year is early, and we might start using them more past the 6 month mark. But for now, Casey is doing completely well with just Mommy goodness.
The hardest part about Casey, is just that she needs that basic attention as well (of course). And Andrea gets torn trying to divide her time during the day between the girls. At some point, they both demand her attention and something has to give. It's a hard situation. Andrea might get mad I'm posting these thoughts, but there you go. I see Mom's out in public with 3, 4, or even more kids, and I have absolutely no clue how they do it. We have hard enough time as it is trying to keep Megan near us in parking lots or not running away from us in the grocery store. I'll stick to the challenges of my two girls, I have a feeling it will be more than enough.
And finally, a few videos. I've embedded the better one, and there is a link to another one at the bottom.
Casey & Megan
Monday, July 06, 2009
Running Update... part 2?
Translation: I don't feel like blabbing on about other stuff going on right now, because it's too private and I refuse to whine about it. If you want to know my thoughts about the difficulties of Casey + Megan, you'll have to ask me in person. I've always believed, even when it was just Megan, that Andrea had the tougher job of the two of us. So what does that mean now? Her job just got twice as hard and mine is still the same stupid day job. Not fair if you ask me.
Instead of another 6am run on Friday, I was able to do a noon run. It felt much better, even if it was a little warmer. I did another 9 miles at a slightly faster pace. I'm not sure how many more races I'll do this year, so far I've signed up for another 10k and a 25k. I'd like to do the TC 10 Miler, but it's by lottery. (that reminds me, I have to go sign up right now!!)
Sunday morning I wanted to do a longer run, I'm gearing up for a long distance goal this year. I'm thinking about trying to do 20 miles at the end of the summer with a friend. I could probably do it right now, but it's hard to find 3 solid hours for something like that.
So I wanted to mix it up for Sunday, so I mapped out a completely new 16 mile route. It was so different, I even had to bring street directions along in my pocket. The first part of my run had me going through an area of expensive lake front homes. Probably in the half mil to 2 mil range. Was interesting going through there. Other then that, the rest of the run was pretty straight forward. I think I'll do a couple more of these this month, and shoot for the 20 miler sometime mid to late August.
Instead of another 6am run on Friday, I was able to do a noon run. It felt much better, even if it was a little warmer. I did another 9 miles at a slightly faster pace. I'm not sure how many more races I'll do this year, so far I've signed up for another 10k and a 25k. I'd like to do the TC 10 Miler, but it's by lottery. (that reminds me, I have to go sign up right now!!)
Sunday morning I wanted to do a longer run, I'm gearing up for a long distance goal this year. I'm thinking about trying to do 20 miles at the end of the summer with a friend. I could probably do it right now, but it's hard to find 3 solid hours for something like that.
So I wanted to mix it up for Sunday, so I mapped out a completely new 16 mile route. It was so different, I even had to bring street directions along in my pocket. The first part of my run had me going through an area of expensive lake front homes. Probably in the half mil to 2 mil range. Was interesting going through there. Other then that, the rest of the run was pretty straight forward. I think I'll do a couple more of these this month, and shoot for the 20 miler sometime mid to late August.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Running Update
You may have noticed the return of my running log side bar. Recently I learned that the web site that hosts free exersize logs, Buckeyeoutdoors.com now has a new feature. It plugs directly into the software I already use to track my running with my watch. With a button click, I can upload my runs from my watch. Slick.
Before going back to work, I had 2 weeks of long runs thanks to the summer camp/morning day care we sent Megan to. Now that I'm going back to work, things have been tougher. My evening runs until 6pm are not that feasible right now, because I am needed at home after work. So I've been running at very odd times, 5:45am, 6am, 10:45pm, etc. Basically when everyone else is sleeping.
This morning I finally managed to wake up extra early (5am) so that I could get ready and get a 9.4 mile run in before 7am. Running 9 miles before 7am is not that easy. As soon as I started out, it's like my entire body laughed at me, saying "Heh, funny joke." Once it realized it was no joke, it basically starts to plead and beg for me to stop. Go lay down, sit down, do anything but this. You're tired, not fully hydrated, and you're muscles have so little blood flow that every step makes you feel stiff and sore. Eventually, somewhere around mile 3 things finally started to loosen up. The cool weather helped things too.
Looking forward to my run tomorrow. 6am, should be 60 and sunny!
Before going back to work, I had 2 weeks of long runs thanks to the summer camp/morning day care we sent Megan to. Now that I'm going back to work, things have been tougher. My evening runs until 6pm are not that feasible right now, because I am needed at home after work. So I've been running at very odd times, 5:45am, 6am, 10:45pm, etc. Basically when everyone else is sleeping.
This morning I finally managed to wake up extra early (5am) so that I could get ready and get a 9.4 mile run in before 7am. Running 9 miles before 7am is not that easy. As soon as I started out, it's like my entire body laughed at me, saying "Heh, funny joke." Once it realized it was no joke, it basically starts to plead and beg for me to stop. Go lay down, sit down, do anything but this. You're tired, not fully hydrated, and you're muscles have so little blood flow that every step makes you feel stiff and sore. Eventually, somewhere around mile 3 things finally started to loosen up. The cool weather helped things too.
Looking forward to my run tomorrow. 6am, should be 60 and sunny!
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