Category: Running

Got a quick 5 miles in before the SOX game tonight. I was watching the coverage of the Masters on TV as I ran and I was amazed at the renewed interest in the game since Tiger came back. Regardless of what you think of him, he is good for the game. I don’t particularly care about his personal life and will pass no judgment on what he did or did not do. He is there to entertain us and he is proving the even after his time off, he still can.

Did a quick 5K today after being sick for over a week. Boy did that feel good. My lungs were still a bit sore from the flu but not enough to make the run unpleasant.  I can be so hard to put the shoes on but the feeling of the full on sweat is so worth the effort. That reminds me of the old 70’s classic Smokey and the Bandit. ‘I only take my hat off for one thing’ as Burt would say. When it comes to running, I only put my Asics on for one thing.

I felt really good tonight during my run, until I started paying attention to what was on the TV. I usually tune into something that does not require sound, like a basketball game and then listen to my tech podcasts at the same time. Tonight my daughter was on the couch watching the Travel Channel and there was a show on profiling the 10 best sandwich shops (according to them).

As the show progressed, a common theme was becoming very apparent. Every one of the shops was serving WAY too much food, so much that is was actually sickening to see. One of the sandwiches that they profiled consisted of an omelet made with half a dozen eggs and a full pound of bacon between two thick pieces of sourdough bread. It was so big that it was impossible to pickup although everyone they showed tried to do it.

The saddest part was all the clearly obese kids and adults that were stuffing that thing into their faces with no regard for what all those calories and fat were doing to their body and their future. The sight was so upsetting that I almost had to stop running as I was getting sick to my stomach. That is not just a metaphor, but I actually felt like I was going to throw up on the treadmill. I decided I did not want to ruin my run by stopping so instead I just looked straight ahead (the TV is a bit off to the left) and I only resumed watching once that particular show was over. Here I am trying to get/stay/be healthy and the shops who don’t care are being glorified on prime time TV.

I think instead of making such a big deal out of shows like the Biggest Loser, how about giving some props to the people who put in the time every day to not get fat in the first place. Is it easy? Hell no. Is it worth the time? Hell yes.

Felt a bit sluggish today but it is probably because of the crap I have been eating. The girls are in Denver for a VB tournament so it has been just the boys and when it is just the boys we tend to do a lot of take out. It all tastes great but I end up paying for it on days like today when I try to increase my mileage. They come back tomorrow night so the food binge will be over by then and we can return to normal.

6 miles tonight. I did a little speed work trying to increase my overall pace. I did three 2 milers trying to keep the pace under 8.5 minutes per mile. I know that sounds slow for you speedsters but I am working my way back to better endurance and a better overall time.

5.5 miles tonight. Felt a bit better than my last run as I got a good night sleep last night (the new pup did not make a peep). We are going to change his name so this evening I started on the research for that task. More on that tomorrow.