Run to Win

I got to thinking today about the structure of how I want the training log to work when I write it. A feature that I definately want to have is a place to keep comments in a journal type fashion about the workouts themselves. When I was in college, that was the best part of the training logs the few of us that kept them had. We did not really care what the workouts were; we were running between 85 and 105 miles every week and the details were just that: nothing special. The journal aspect, such as Fuzzy swimming in the goose pond, or Cam shucking his shorts to chase camel cow, or the famous “We can’t get any wetter than we already are” run, those are the things worth remembering.

So, if there is a comment section to make comments on the run, and it is going to be labeled as a journal section, why not keep them seperate with a mere mechanism to combine them? I am just getting into the blogging, but I can see this as a powerful medium. A lightweight journal/blog with its own RSS feed for each user: that could be a nice feature.

Just a thought that I am toying with. If I do decide to run with it, I have to decide if I am going to put a full engine there to be used, such as I have for this blog, of if I will home grow a solution. If I use a precanned solution, then I will have to make sure I stay on top of security updates and that it fits seamlessly into the workout section (which will be the focus of the website). If I home grow the solution, then I will be severely limited in options. Which may or may not be a bad thing, depending upon how I want to go about it.

This bears considering. What are your thoughts?

I tried a new pair of shoes for this evening’s workout, the Asics DS-Trainer X. The jury is still out a little on whether I like them. We ran a Baxter Woods workout, which is basically a 600 meter down hill trail followed by two sharp turns and a 200 meter uphill, making for a half mile repeat. Normally when I run that workout, I prefer something with spikes in the bottom of the shoes to help grip the trail, especially down at the bottom when I have to turn. Tonight was no exception.

Ignoring the lack of grip, which no training shoe is going to have, I rather liked the shoes during the speed portion of the workout. They are definately lighter and have a different feel than the 2090 series. During the warmup, however, I felt as though I were pronating a bit. Whether that is because I was tired from this morning’s swim workout, or just getting used to the new shoes and haven’t broken them in yet, I am not sure. I did not notice it so much during the cool down.

I am going to give these shoes another shot, and I at least should be able to use them for some of my shorter races if not for the marathon. I don’t know that I necessarily need to buy new flats and spikes quite yet, and may wait until next year to do that.

We finally got around to kegging the light beer and brewing up another light beer. The “Morning Light Ale” that we kegged is the traditional recipe, basically. The one that we brewed today I played with a little bit. The base is the same, but I used the Tea Masala that Andy brought back from Africa in it. Basically, it is a bunch of dried herbs and weeds that you are supposed to put into your tea. I used it for the last 2 minutes of the boil and then filtered it out after the cold break. I was thinking to only use a quarter or half a teaspoon, but Erin wanted to use a full teaspoon (or 2 or 3…). We went with 1 teaspoon. We will probably bottle it perhaps that first weekend in June, whereupon we are thinking of brewing an octoberfest that we would age over the summer.

If we do move, however, that could prove to be a bit sticky. Maybe I will have to rethink doing an octoberfest and just hold off on brewing one of those until next year.

The leg that I pulled on Tuesday felt fine this morning, but my right leg was feeling a little funny. By the end of the run it had been stretched out though and was okay. I felt tired during the run, though; not tired as in exhausted physically, but tired as in sleepy. As though I could close my eyes and take a nap (while I was jogging). That seemed a little odd. I did try running with my eyes shut for a bit, but I figured that that was (a) not too smart no matter how good I am at getting around blind and (b) far too likely to allow me to actually fall asleep. Very strange.

I ran fairly slow, and I think once June rolls around I need to start bumping my mileage up a bit. I do not want to stop lifting for at least 6 more weeks, which will bring me up to July, so I will have to find some other way to fit it in. I may have to start doubling my workouts to make it work, as I do not want to stop swimming either.

The problem with assumptions is that they are not always correct. Something to always bear in mind no matter what you are doing, but something to especially bear in mind when dealing with humans and money. After all, what use is money without humans?

I was asked to run a report today, and due to my own faulty assumptions about the data that I was looking at, I was led to discover another faulty assumption. Funny how that works. I was looking up the commission history of one of our affiliates at work, and I noticed there was no data about what they had been paid for the past 8 months. The last two months makes sense, since we pay quarterly. But, last quarter of 2004 and this past quarter should have been paid, and had tihs past quarter not been paid (which was feasible) then at least the 2004 money should have been.

The faulty assumption that was discovered was that the historical data had never been backfilled. So, we need to reprint all of the checks, because otherwise we’d be double paying our affiliates for 4th quarter 2004. I am sure that they would have liked that, but the company accountants and owners certainly would not have. Luckily, nothing had been stamped or mailed yet. Envelopes had been stuffed and labeled, yes, but they hadn’t been sent.

That’s the joys of switching to new systems. You find these little glitches. Thankfully, our track record seems to be that we notice the glitches before they cause us (or even worse, our customers) any real problems. So it goes.

But what was my initial faulty assumption? Oh, that the affiliate that I was looking into belonged to one company when it in fact belonged to another (I work for four). So, had I not thought that it should have been paid, I might not have noticed the bad data since the other company is not technically on the new system yet. Fancy that?

Tuesday morning I went in to work early (around 5:30), and wound up doing my workout in the early afternoon instead of first thing. Tuesday evening I spent the night out on the town with my girlfriend, and while I was walking up the stairs at the theater my leg gave out.

Initially it felt as though my knee was bothering me, but upon further inspection, I think it is actually my calf. Both calves are sore and tight, and the pain is behind and below the knee.

I did not swim yesterday, and decided against running. Today I spent my warmup on a stationary bike instead of the treadmill, but I did my upper body workout that I had had planned on my schedule. I am going to swim tomorrow and take Saturday off in the hopes that I can run on Sunday for 8-10 miles or so.

Hopefully I will be fine by tomorrow so that Saturday I can take the 300 pounds in cinder blocks in my bedroom down to the shed. It would be nice to free up some space.

I rather like the name of that…the Whizzinator!

Onterrio Smith was caught last month at an airport with vials of powdered urine for his Whizzinator. Basically, it is a prosthetic penis designed to thwart drug tests. Smith has already been suspended twice in the NFL for substance abuse (not to mention being kicked out of school in 2000) and he has only been in the league for a year.

He does not seem too swift; he is going to get caught using (again) and is going to lose a year due to suspension. You would think these people would learn; if you are going to use illegal substances, why not wait until your career is over? What would he do if he couldn’t play ball anymore?

Of course, he probably has enough money to just sit around and smoke for a year or three anyway. At least he does not look like as much of a chode as Ricky “I used to play professional football, but then I got high” Williams.

Freddie Mitchell was released by Philly on Friday, and he is already running (well, still running) his mouth off. He was quoted a few times in the Denver Post, stating how he would like to play for Denver, Washington, Tampa Bay, or Tennessee.

“[Denver's] Jake [Plummer]’s a Pac-10 guy. I have always been a big fan of Jake’s. It’s literally never over with him. I know he will give receivers second and third opportunities to make a great play.”
Because obviously Mitchell is going to need those second and third opportunities.

“One thing I have learned is that what goes on in the team, just keep it in the team. The thing about it is, I can’t let my past relationships affect my future.”
I find this especially humorous, given his allegations about having to call the plays for Donovan McNabb in their loss in the Super Bowl.

The guy doesn’t even bother to get to know his competition. He may make a nice catch now and again, but he has yet to do anything that makes it seem like he would be worth having on a roster.