The weather is getting nicer, the nature is getting greener (or otherwise more colorful) and the hours are still growing longer. What a time to be tapering for a race.One Week Away
I gotta tell you I've never been this worked up for a race before, with the exception of The Josh, and I'm getting antsy. I had a nightmare the other night where we couldn't find the start of the race and when we did I had forgotten to wear a shirt. The first two miles of my dream-race were substantially slower than my goal pace, to the point that I'd never be able to make up the time. I woke up in a panic.
The hardest part about the couple of weeks leading up to this race is that I'm supposed to be tapering, meaning running fewer, easier miles. At this point there's nothing to gain by running hard so you're just maintaining and trying not to get hurt. After busting your hump for months it's awful to try and hold back. Just today when we finished 8 miles up and over a mountain, or at least some wicked steep trails, with a two to three mile ass-hauling at the end, I felt like I could have done it again. I had to use great restraint to get in the car and drive home. The last thing I want is to run my race a week early.Out for a Spin
Yesterday I was scheduled for an easy 3-miler. The weather was perfect (despite the predictions) and I had just stopped to buy a new hat, some shorts and a shirt for the race when I got a call regarding a bike ride. Technically a bike ride is considered cross-training so I opted for that over the run. Plus my road bike was fresh back from surgery where she had a new crankset installed.
I made my purchases, passing up the race shorts with the 3/4" inseam (which I will be returning to buy after all) and was on my way. The ride went into the wind in both directions (figure that out) and we met a couple of interesting folks.
The first was a young woman out cruising the Berkshire countryside checking out roofs for her upcoming roofing project. We rode with her to a coffee shop slightly outside the range of our initial ride route, and headed back when she went to meet up with a friend.
On the way back, we ran into a guy who liked to ride fast. My counterpart doesn't have her summer biking legs on yet and we kept dropping her on the climbs. He didn't seem to care and just kept on pedaling. I should have let him go instead of leaving my friend behind, but I couldn't come up with a polite way to drop off. Don't worry, I felt plenty bad.
We stopped at another friend's house to admire his firewood pile (as instructed) which was not the 30' tower we were promised. I'd give it 15', but it was a letdown. I slithered through the post and rail fence to steal some logs while my partner in crime watched the horses (oh yeah, there were horses) to make sure they didn't come after me. For the record, animals larger than cats (and many the size of cats) scare me to death.
After leaving a note written in logs and placing a few on the lawn as a sign (and a close call with the big horse) we started to make our getaway when I noticed I had a flat. SHIT! We were going to get caught for sure. I had the tube replaced and tire almost back on the bike when the woman of the house showed up, busting us right there by the road. DAMN THAT FLAT! She was clueless to our intentions though, so I think we're fine.Unbroke My Brakes
Remember how my folding bike showed up with a broken brake? Well yesterday the new set of brake calipers showed up. It's a good thing the guy on the phone asked me what color mine were, because he made sure to send me a different color. Either way, these are way better than the original ones, being made of metal and all.
Last night I installed the new brakes, tweaked the rear ones that had been squeaking, swapped my mountain bike seat onto the folding bike, oiled the chain and called it a night.
If you haven't ridden a bike much, you should know that big fat wide cushy saddles (what cyclists call seats) are the worst. They're fine for a couple of miles, but after that they tear you up. Being used to a skinny, hard saddle I found the fat saddle rubbing me the wrong way. The mountain bike saddle is an improvement, and I hope it does the trick.
Well, I guess I had more to say than I thought. I could go on, but I'm sure I've already lost a lot of you. Peace out, y'alls.
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Sunday, May 18, 2008
This Weekend in Review
Friday, May 16, 2008
Lit Up from the Tit Up
Coot fans, I am sad to tell you that my trademark red hat is gone. I was riding to my Thursday Night Run last night and it blew off my bike rack. I should have known better than to not attach it better but it seemed so secure I didn't give it a second thought. When I arrived at the park it was no longer on the bike. I didn't just give up though...The Quest for the Cap
The entire ride home from the park I kept my eyes peeled for my hat. The first few miles were on a quiet back road, so I was able to really give it a good look. But once I hit the main road it was a different story. Riding with traffic kept me on the other side of the road, so finding it was a bit of a stretch since it very easily could have blown off into the bushes on the side.
This afternoon I went back out and ran the section of my road where I felt it was most likely to have ended up, which was also the section where I couldn't give it a good look-see from the bike. I ran out and back along the same side and looked as best as I could, to no avail. I have to concede that the hat is gone forever.
Tomorrow I'm going to head over to the local Sporting Goods Chain Store to procure a new one and treat myself to some new shorts for next weekend's race.OOOWWW!!
What I didn't mention about today's run/quest for the hat, is that it was raining. I wore a vest that mostly shielded me from the rain, but it's not really waterproof so I still got wet.
With about 2 miles to go I started to get that familiar nagging in the breastal region. I probably covered one of those miles with my shirt held away from my chest, but it was futile and the damage had already been done.
If you couldn't tell from the photograph, my nipple chafed a little more than what I would consider to be trivial. I've never had it bleed through the shirt before, but I guess there's a first time for everything. The only remaining question: Why only one nipple?
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Monday, May 05, 2008
Cinco de Mayo, Son!
Alright, I have a problem and I thought I had it under control, but I don't. It's not one of my regular problems, it's one that is fortunately secret to me, but today I'm going to fess up in the hopes that taking that first step will be enough to help me through it.I Want to Be Dave Chappelle
I was watching some YouTube videos last night of some of Chappelle's skits and standup performances. Whenever I watch even one skit, I can't help but to start using his delivery with my own internal monologue. The hardest part is that my whiteness prevents me from saying half the stuff I think. Not that what I'm thinking is derogatory, but Dave often uses what I'll call the N-word, which is not Kosher for a white boy like me.
Shit, can I use the word "Kosher" if I'm not Jewish? To be safe I'll call that the K-word from here on out.Sunday Long Run
Yesterday was a pivotal day for yours truly. I had my usual Sunday long run, but it was unusually long. Sure it was only a mile longer than the next longest run (excluding the one where I got lost as hell and did 5.5 extra miles), but what was beauteous about it is that I felt great and kicked the shit out of it.
As luck would have it, four people showed up which made my day. The weather was less than ideal, but since the route could be summed up with a a single solitary word: My Happy Place, it didn't matter what Mother Nature served up I loved it.
We ran the first lap at slightly above what I would consider a "conversational pace", meaning I could have gone faster and still held my half of a conversation. After that lap a few people headed for home while three of us headed back out again. The other two were only going to do a few more miles then head back, leaving me to finish the route on my own. No biggie. What I wasn't planning on was that the other two would be picking up the pace. We were cruising along when they turned off to head back. Amazed that I had been able to maintain that pace I kept up the same effort level (which would have been the same pace if the road would not have been so hilly) for the next few miles.
As my watch beeped signaling the end of mile 15 I was still about half a mile from the car and just an eentsy bit above it, elevation-wise. I used my powerful imagination to put another runner on the road ahead of me, giving me someone to pick off in the final stretch to the imaginary finish line. Well, that person got more than a mouthful of my dust, the poor bastard.
Monday's Rest Day
After the longer Long Runs, my training plan gives me a rest day. They do point out that "rest" can mean "cross-train", so I took advantage of the warmer weather and went for what would be an ass-kicking 35 mile bike ride. For the most part it was very casual, at a very conversational pace. However, the route would take us across three town lines (and back) meaning there were 6 Town Line Sprints, which I swept.Back at the meeting spot we shot the shit for a few minutes then I decided it was time to hightail it back home. The sun had already set and it was getting D-A-R-K. I still had a bit of a ride to get home, so I cranked out an ass-whooping of a 7 mile all-out effort. I wasn't wearing my heart rate monitor (HRM), but I'm sure the display would have read "One at a time, please" or "Lance, give Old Coot his HRM back".
Happy Birthday, Kittens
In a coincidence that I won't explain, my cats' birthdays are both today, Cinco de Mayo. Okay, I'll explain...Who the hell ever knows their pets real birthdays? I never do. So I figured they were probably born at some time in the spring, and what spring day do people usually celebrate without exception but 5/5? When I picked that date I couldn't imagine a time when there wouldn't be a party for the cats to enjoy. As we all know, I don't party down like I used to so it's really just business as usual for my buds. I give them extra attention in the form of slaps, wall smashes and the kind of petting they can feel, where their eyelids end up higher than their eyeballs. In reality that's probably better for them than a bunch of drunks hooting, hollering, and running the blender until all hours.
Happy Birthday, boys.
P.S. K-word Dill Pickles. That shit is funny, son. Uhn!
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Get the Whole Story Here...
Friday, April 25, 2008
One Helluva Day
Cooterinos and Cooteristas, I had one hell of a day. I am absolutely pooped, and not from what you're probably guessing. It all started when I played hookey from work...People Watching for Breakfast
I had breakfast this morning with a friend of mine and we sat out in the sun drinking our coffee and watching all the people. Not too shabby.Holy Oke!
Sorry, that heading might be a hair lame. After breakfast meant a trip out to the Holyoke mall to check out iMacs at the Apple store. I've been eyeing the iMacs for some time now, partly because I'm somewhat of a sucker for cool looking electronics, but mostly because I am sick and tired of Windows-based computers and their penchant for suck-assery.
I originally thought I'd get a laptop again, but after marinating on it for a few days I felt that the iMac was more up my alley. It's small, as in not a big ass tower and CRT monitor, yet has more power and a bigger display than a laptop. The next question to answer was whether I needed the 20" or the 24" model. That was the real reason for going to the Apple store, to see the difference. It's a good thing I did, because the 24" jobber was way too big for what I need.Trader Joe's is the Bomb
A drive all the way to Holyoke calls for a stop at Trader Joe's for some quality groceries. I loaded up a cooler with frozen goods, and a few more bags with the remainder of my sundries. I'll be eating like a king for weeks now. Well, a king who eats veggie burritos.Then I Pulled the Trigger
When I got home I was absolutely whooped from spending the whole day out in the sun (minus the hour or so I was in the stores). I gathered up all of my energy, plus some Trader Joe's brownie bites, and ordered a refurbed iMac. It'll be here next week!
After the heavy day of spending I had to rassle up enough energy to run 7 miles. I had to do 10 yesterday, most of which was on trails, so my gams were beat. I'm glad I forced myself to get out there but I'm also happy to be back home.
The next question: smoothie or veggie burrito?
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Goodbye to a Friend
Our friendship lasted only a few weeks but in that time I had really grown attached to my new friend. We spent all of our free time together, poking fun at each other, laughing, eating meals and enjoying the leftovers. Alas, the world was not ready for a relationship like ours and we have been forced to go our separate ways...Who is this Friend?
This friend about whom I am writing is my Speed 'Stache. The ridicule at work turned from friendly laughter to outright vicious jabs. Jokes that could have been taken as just that, jokes, were followed with "but seriously, it has to go" leaving me to think that maybe people not only didn't like it, but were offended (or threatened) by it. Then there was the half hour "you'll never find a woman..." monologue this afternoon where I could only defend myself with "yeah, but no other facial hair configuration seems to be working either".
So friends, I have decided to bid the 'stache adieu and go back to the little boy clean shaven look. That is, until I go a few days without shaving and start back in on the Power 'Tee.
For those of you saddened by the loss, I'll leave you with this. The Speed 'Stache did not live up to his name. In fact, today was the nicest day of the year (or one of the nicest) and my track workout was pretty sorry. I dug deep looking for the power to push through the workout but the 'stache had his mind elsewhere and the pace slowed to a miserable glorified jog. Maybe he was already getting ready to leave, or maybe he was just not cut out for such a finely tuned athlete. Whatever the case, we won't be working or playing together anymore.Not Leaving without a Photo Shoot
I set up my camera on my desk and fired off a few dozen shots, looking for one that would capture the 'stache's true essence. I found out that he was also a curious, caring, in-your-face kind of mustache that has simply been misunderstood.
Inquisitive Mustache
'Stache Tweak
In Yo Face! Mustache
And that's the end of that chapter (wiping hands).
Little Boy is Blue
The 'Stache Met His Maker
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Get the Whole Story Here...
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Tuesday Night - Pow Pow
Cooterinos, I'm hollering at you one more 'gain and let me tell you, things are looking up for The Coot. Grab a glass of milk and some cookies, plunk down in your favorite easy chair and let me spin you a yarn.The Painting Project
It's been a long, nasty battle against the funkiness that was my spare bedroom. I've been looking at it in it's Kilz Primer White anti-splendor for so long that I didn't realize how bad it really was. What's funny is that this was the first room I touched a paintbrush to before I even closed on the house. Almost 6 years later I'm finally taking that God awful flat white(ish) room and making it into something I might enjoy looking at. And enjoy it I will.
As of tonight, I have the ceiling and walls painted, the trim scraped (it had some FUNK on it), nails from the old shoe molding pulled, holes - from where I nailed the window trim back up after replacing the windows - filled, and all of the trim primed with good oil based primer. Sherwin Williams makes some nice paint, but the shit doesn't come cheap.
Last night I got into a groove and got the trim all prepped, then started in on priming it. On the last bit I had, just one window from completion, I found I was getting sloppy. I stuck the brush in a plastic bag, covered the pail and called it a night. When I looked at the clock I realized I had been working on that room for damn near 4.5 hours. No wonder. Midnight is well past my weekday bedtime.
Tonight I finished up that last window (God bless you oil paint for not getting funky like latex), put all of the outlet covers and switch plates back on, cleaned up the primer/brush/pail and called it quits. I thought about getting into the last step - painting the trim with real paint - but decided by the time I was all cleaned up then set up for that it would be late again. It'll have to wait a few more days.The Speed 'Stache
Tonight was Track Night, and I put the Speed 'Stache to work. I'm starting to think I can't blame donating blood anymore, but maybe the blame lies in staying up late last night and breathing paint fumes all evening. Wherever the fault should lie, I still wasn't able to run quite at the level I'd like.
This week was 4x1 Mile, meaning 4 intervals lasting 1 mile each with recovery in between. I tend to do 1/4 mile recovery because that's one lap on the track. Don't forget the warm up and cool down. Tonight ended up somewhere in the vicinity of 7.5 miles, about par for speed night.
As usual the first lap was my fastest, and as I settled into an appropriate pace I found myself fairly consistent. That was nice, but I was consistently slow.
Hmm, maybe it was the people who just had to walk 5 abreast on the track, almost forcing us off into the grass, or the gobs of other people who insisted on taking the inside lanes even though they're out there for fitness, not time. You can't get a good feel for consistency when you're constantly changing lanes. Yeah, that's my excuse. I wished there was an appropriate way to ask the people not to use the inside lanes if they're walking and talking, but it's a public track so I bit my tongue.
One of the good things I noticed tonight was that my severe long run the other day did not seem to have any ill effects on tonight. I was a bit sore at the beginning, but that faded away within a lap or two. In fact, once I got into the third interval I was in the zone.
Lastly, I usually end the final lap before my cooldown with an all out 100m kick to the finish line. Tonight I decided to take it a step further and start my kick at the 200m line. When I crossed the finish line I was huffing, puffing, and on the hairy edge of booting. If a mosquito had farted on me I would have lost my lunch, but I eventually got over it and the the post-run euphoria hit. I think 200m will be my new thing.
That's it, it's bed time. Sorry Ab, still no 'stache picture. Maybe when I finish painting the spare bedroom and take pictures of that I'll getcha something. Suffice it to say that it's killer.
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Jesus, Mother of Joseph!
Yeah, I know it's supposed to be Jesus, Mary and Joseph but Jesus Mother of Joseph is funnier. Anyway, I' sitting here drinking my coffee trying to muster the energy to type and I gotta tell you, it's not easy. Allow me to egg-splain.Hancock/Richmond 12 Miler
This morning I set out at the crack of 9:30 to meet up with some folks for the Sunday long run. When I arrived at the meeting spot it was very clear that those folks wouldn't be joining me. I waited the obligatory 10 minutes just in case, then headed out.
The route I picked started at the Hancock Shaker Village, headed west, then south through some back roads into Richmond. From there, many of the roads are dirt which this time of year feel like running on sponges. It's a nice treat to the joints to have such a soft surface and the dirt roads themselves tend to slow traffic, which is light anyway.
Oh, did I mention I had two sore knees, a snug calf and a shin threatening to splint (is that how one gets shin splints?). And my shoulders and sides were sore from painting. My plan was to head out, see if any of the above became an issue and turn back around if they were. If not, I'd push through for an easy 12 miles. Within a half mile or so everything smoothed out perfectly.
My first complaint is with the weather. Accweather still claims it'll be sunny and 50 today, but so far it's cloudy and 40. I expected to have it warm and clear up, but that never happened.
Aaaanyway, at just shy of 8 miles I was supposed to hang a left onto Dublin Rd. I'm not sure if my brain said "Hell no, it's uphill to the left. I'm going right." or what, but I went right. At this point I should be cruising in until the end on Dublin Rd. with only a slight zig zag on Sleepy Hollow Rd.
Part of the problem I would have from here on out is that they don't label both streets at intersections, so you have a 50/50 chance of finding out which street you're on and which one you're turning onto. Add in that they change names frequently and some streets don't exactly go straight through intersections and someone like me who's navigationally challed to begin with is doomed.
So there I was cruising down Dublin Rd. dreaming of the stack o' hotcakes I would soon be enjoying when I hit the end of Dublin Rd. Shit! I headed right, decided that was wrong and turned back the other way. Eventually I came upon a kindly woman who informed me that Dublin ended where we were, and that I should just head back to Rte 41 and take the non-scenic route back so I would be sure not to get lost. I agreed.
Following her directions I came across Dublin Rd again. Hmm, I pulled out my route notes and saw my error from before, turned the correct way onto Dublin and away I went. Now I'm home free, I thought to myself.
Wrong-o! I came upon another intersection and the road signs informed me that I was on Sleepy Hollow, NOT Dublin (and failed to tell me what I was crossing). Shit! Fuck it, I knew what was at the other end of Sleepy Hollow, so I went that way. Worst case I would have to stop at Bartlett's Orchard, eat a muffin and call someone for a ride.
Okay, so I was back on familiar grounds. I gambled and headed down a road named Summit Rd., which I had been on earlier in the morning, but at the other end. I knew that if I just stayed on this road I would be able to find my way back from there. Well, unless it was a different Summit Rd.
A few miles down the road I was back on Dublin (I needed a map to show me how that all worked) and heading towards the car. There were a few mirages that looked like the end of the road, but they were just there to test my willpower and inch me towards the edge of sanity. The last mile or so was up a huge hill, and at this point I was ready to be done. I was cursing like a drunken sailor at inanimate objects, saying things like "I hate that tree stump!" and "Who left that god damn shovel there?" It wasn't pretty.
As I approached the driveway I passed a sign reading "Hancock Shaker Village Parking 400 feet" and was ecstatic. I actually said "God bless you, 400 foot sign" as I passed it. As I turned into the driveway my GPS watch read 17.25 miles. If my math is correct, that's 5.25 miles further than I was supposed to go. Jeezum Crow!
The good part if there is one, is that aside from some belly grumblings at mile 14 (which I suppressed by telling my stomach that was only making things worse) I did pretty well until the last little bit. My form was good, pace was pretty much even, and my muscles held off the cramps and knots I could feel a-brewing. I tried an ice bath to help with recovery, but I was already so cold I couldn't stand it and only lasted about 15 seconds. I guess I won't be walking tomorrow.
Moral of the story, draw a map in addition to the route notes.
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Saturday, April 05, 2008
It's a Lazy Afternoon
Cooterinos, it's a lazy blah-zay afternoon here in Newe Englande. The weatherfolks said it would be warm, sunny and calm which means you can precisely rule out the possibility of it being any of those three. As it turns out it's cool, cloudy and windy. Check.The Multi-Function Room is Underway
The last two weekends I successfully put off working on my spare bedroom slash yoga studio slash computer room but this past week I got down to business.
The ceiling took a few coats of sky blue, and is looking sharp. I've been to Sherwin Williams and found a few colors that I think will work well in there. I was originally thinking of a chocolate or cappuccino but then thought better of it. Yeah, they're neat colors but it would be really dark in there, so I'm going with something closer to an extra-light coffee. To the good folks at Sherwin Williams it's known as Camelback.
The new light fixture went up without too much fanfare. I gotta say, it looks a hell of a lot better than the two bulbs I used to have just hanging from wires. Prior to painting I had done most of the work and all that was left was to actually wire it up and tighten the screws. I'm still a little worried about the fact that there's 120V between the hot and return wires when the switch is off, but I have my theories (ground loop current). And really, I didn't make it any worse than it was so I'm not going to sweat it.
Mostly, my motivations right now are to get the room back to normal so I can start practicing yoga again and get the house back together. I have the contents of that room strewn all over the place, and if my house wasn't already a mess it's really a mess now.
After I finish blogging I'm gonna head out and pick up the paint. I even have a color picked out for the hallways; God bless ye, motivation!Tender Foot
We all knew it could happen, but I thought for sure I was being careful enough not to get hurt. Well, at the moment I've got what feels like the beginning of a case of shin splints and some sort of foot ailment. My calf on that leg is tight as all get-out, so I think if I just put an effort into limbering it back up (see, I need my yoga back) I'll be back in business. I've got my weekly long run tomorrow so I'd like to be feeling good by then.
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Speed 'Stache Results
Last night included a track workout at our friendly neighborhood highschool. There were tons of people there enjoying the first warm day of the season (it stayed in the 60s until somewhere in the middle of the night), including some mildly decent lookers who were probably jail bait.Just Get to it Man!
You didn't come here to hear about the jail bait and old ladies in big ass sweaters wearing cheap knockoffs of French perfumes at the track. Ladies whose perfume was so strong that the 30MPH wind couldn't usher it away fast enough. In fact, I think I hacked up a chunk of perfume this morning.
Well, as I mentioned yesterday it was the maiden voyage (is there a masculine form of maiden?) for the Speed 'Stache in a real speed situation. I was doing 800m intervals (twice around) with one lap (400m) recovery in between. My plan had me doing 8 sets, which when you add a mile warmup and cooldown ends up being about 32 laps or ~8 miles. The speed 'stache would take care of the 800m intervals and I would have to do the recovery, warmup and cooldown laps. It seemed like a marriage made in heaven.
Well, I don't know if I was still feeling the effects of my blood letting last week or if I was dehydrated from only drinking coffee all day, or if my belly was unhappy with the peanut butter sandwich I ate right before running, or if maybe the Double-Ess just needed to blow out the pipes, as they say, but I was dogging it.
My first 400m was right on the money, but the second was way slower. The idea is to be consistent so the next set I took a little off the first lap in the hopes I would run the same pace the second. Nope, slow again. Finally I decided if I was going to be able to run the full workout I'd have to slow it down even more, which was way slower than I wanted to go. It worked though, and until I started getting full body cramps in the second-to-last set I was pretty consistent.
The steady 30MPH wind made it slow on one side, and there were some booties that were very distracting every few laps, but I managed to do 7 of the 8 prescribed sets. All in all, I can't say I was disappointed with my performance though. It was the first real track workout of the season and also the first day above 43 degrees since last fall. I actually felt like heat was a factor; how absurd is that?
Oh, but my kick (or the Speed 'Stache's kick) for the last 100m of the last interval clocked in around a 4 minute mile pace (for 100m, not a whole mile). WHAT! That shit is fast. This dude was sitting on the bleachers with his son and I'm sure all he heard was hoo, hoo, hee, hee, hee, hoo, hoo, hee, hee, hee as a handsomely mustachioed train flew by him, snapping his neck.
PlacaTAN!
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Procrastination at it's Finest
Let's see... Last weekend I was supposed to take my full three days and repaint (or paint for the first time) my spare bedroom/yoga studio/computer room. Well, I successfully managed to not do that. Fast forward to this weekend and I got so far as to take everything off the walls, patch any holes or spots that needed filling, cleaned the cobwebs and spider nests out of the corners, and rendered the room utterly useless. Now I'm rationalizing not working on it for another day.Drive By
One day last week some dickless pieces of shit shot my house up with a paintball gun. Considering I keep to myself and pretty much keep my karma account in the black, I have to think these were some dumb ass kids with nothing better to do and not someone with a beef against me personally. Either way, I have to clean the shit up and it's annoying.
The dickless pieces of shit were clearly aiming for my windows because there are two straddling one window, one that hit the frame of a window and the fourth hit my storm door, mashing paintball shit all in the screen. Those fuckers better not let me catch them doing it again. I think I'll put some rocks on the front porch just in case.January in March
Here we are at the end of March and we got a snowfall the other day to make it feel like January. I went xc skiing for what I think will be the last time this season and the conditions were as perfect as the guy at the ski place said they would be.
They hadn't groomed all of the trails, so we ventured off into the wooded trails sans guide. It wasn't long before we were completely lost and I was getting tired. We came out of the woods into a clearing and took a long, carefree, ride down the virgin tree-lined driveway. At the end of the driveway was a sign reading "End of Marked Trails". Damn, we had to go all the way back to the top and try another way.
Well, by the time we made it back to the Visitor's Center we had covered 7.2 miles of trails and I was dogged. My arms felt the worst from having to push up the hills and push to slow down the hills. I was wicked tired and could have eaten a horse.The Group Run that Wasn't
After skiing I went home, had a light supper and passed the hell out. Hours later I awoke, realized I had never turned my phone back on after skiing (there's no service out there so it kills your battery) and there were several messages from people asking what the run was for the next day. Somehow I have become the Sunday Long Run leader, which is not my intent.
In case anyone else is interested I post my Sunday long runs on our group's running site, and while it is nice to have company, if nobody shows up that's fine too. Being out on back roads in the sunshine is a nice place to get lost in your own head and do some personal reflection. If people do show up, it's nice to have company to while away the miles. It's a win-win situation, really.
Last night I saw that people really wanted to know what my plan was, so I stopped what I was doing, planned out a route, posted it, texted the people who had called to let them know, then resumed my evening's chores.
A little background information: Planning a route is not just about having the right number of miles. We need a convenient place to meet, ample parking, a route on non-major roads, relatively small hills (since most people had run a race yesterday), scenery, familiarity, shelter from the wind and a convenient breakfast place in case we decide to grab something to eat afterwards. Dirt roads are nice, but not if they're gonna be icy or muddy so temperature and recent weather are both important too. It's no small task to put all of that together.
Then this morning all but two of the vast herd of runners decided to do something else. Well, it was their loss. Our route was great and personally I had a great time. The sun was shining, the traffic was non-existent and the conversation was just right.
As much as it may seem like I'm complaining, I'll continue to advertise the runs and if only two or three people show, so be it.Just... Can't... Paint
All I have to do tonight is put one coat of paint on the ceiling in my spare bedroom. One coat, that's it. It's a rectangle too, so I don't have all sorts of wacky angles to deal with. But for some reason I just can't get motivated. GAH!
Maybe after dinner...
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Blood Letting
Since my last post, there hasn't been a whole lot going on but I'll fill ya in on what excitement there has been. Fasten your seatbelts, it's about to get rowdy-rowdy in heruh.Set Back by a Pint
Monday evening I went in for my bi-monthly ritual blood-letting. They re-confirmed that I have not since 1977 been given money to live in Europe (for time adding up to 3 months) with anyone infected with Tuberculosis as a result of living in Africa, sharing needles for drugs not prescribed by a doctor while receiving a tattoo and/or body piercing.
The three people ahead of me in line were sent packing, so I started to worry. I could tell when I came in that they had low iron, but who am I to tell someone not to donate? As it turned out my iron was perfect, and if my lifestyle is only good for one thing, that one thing is giving my blood to others.
As usual, the nurses on staff were tired when I got there. Now don't get me wrong, they were professional, friendly, accurate and efficient. On paper this was the A-Team of blood-letters. But I could tell they were not in the mood for small talk after a full day of agreeing with people about the weather, how busy they were that day, how good those cookies smell (the Otis Spunkmeyer fresh made joints), how hard it must be to resist them, and so on. Nope, these ladies (yeah, they were all women) got to business without the chit-chat.
My one complaint is that they had the newbie "take me down", meaning get the test samples, crimp the tubes, remove the needle and so on. While she was a little shaky on the order of operations what I found the most unnerving was the way she wiggled the needle around during the whole process. I thought for sure it was going to bust out of my arm sideways spraying blood everywhere and leaving them no choice but to burn the building down and amputate my right arm on the spot. Fortunately I made it out alright, had my snacks and went about my business.Oops, This is the Setback
Okay, so that wasn't the part about being set back. Last night I headed out to do my hill repeats (that means run up and down a hill 8-10 times) and the first thing I noticed was that I had NO OOMPH in my body. A side effect of donating blood is that it reduces the ability of the remaining blood to deliver oxygen. If you've ever run any distance, you probably understand the importance of oxygen.
So there I was running up the hill for the first time, about half the effort that I usually put forth and my legs just wouldn't respond. My breathing was LABORED and my heart rate was approaching 100%. It was a strange feeling to know in my head that I could go faster, but my legs would not do what my head was telling them to do. If I really pushed it just got worse until I felt like I would puke at the top of the hill.
Okay, I realize this post is about a week old and rotting in my Draft Box, so I'l end it here and start another for today.
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Don't Get Your Hopes Up
Alright, I've been badgered from urry urrngle about blogging but that's not why I'm writing. I just watched a Woody Allen movie and I'm all tensed up and thought this would be a nice way to unwind.
Editor's Note: The Old Coot gets into some shit here, so if you don't like foul language or hearing the truth about stuff, please point your web browser elsewhere. The rest of you, come on in.But For Real
A couple of weeks ago I started to get the feeling that I was losing creative control over my day-to-day life. You remember when Dave Chapelle turned down the $50M contract and fled to Africa? Well, it was a lot like that only it was free and I just stayed home.
I won't get into details, because to most people it would only come across as whining. And what does a swinging bachelor like me have to complain about anyway? I have nothing but free time, right? Right, that's the problem right there. Why shouldn't I do one more thing I don't want to do? It'll make someone else happy, and I have no real reason not to.
Yeah, well that culminated in a near breakdown. I was literally on the hairy edge, ready to snap at the next person who so much as asked me if I wanted free money. I was closing in on being late to my Thursday Night Run (which you know I love) and the guy I work for said "So you working this weekend?" (which you know I hate). I looked him right in the face and laughed at him, but he wasn't laughing. He suggested I speak to the manager about some sort of alternative compensation. You see, overtime has been squashed as part of a company-wide re-evaluation of our work-life balance, so now we have more crises and nobody wants to put in any extra effort. HEY, ASK THE SINGLE GUY! HE'S GOT NOTHING TO DO!
I told him I was in no way agreeing to ever work overtime, but I'd speak to the manager because it seemed important to him, like there was more to it than having me work a few extra days each week. I was right, there was an agenda and it wasn't necessarily for me to work any extra but rather to get the message to management that nobody wants to fucking work for free.
Then I missed my run and like the bitch I am I stayed later than everyone else (for free) and finished up something I knew would be negated by an arbitrary high-level decision first thing Monday morning.
Fast forward to Monday morning - my work was not only for naught, but I had to undo it.
Whoa, I guess I went into detail.But That Was Weeks Ago
Yeah, so I've been spending a lot of greedy, selfish, introspective time with the most understanding person I know, no god damn body. I gotta tell ya, it's been great. I do whatever I damn well feel like doing, whenever I damn well feel like doing it, and if someone doesn't like it that's too bad. I don't accommodate!
I don't get into the eggstra juicy details on this here blogge for obvious reasons. I'm sure if we all took a step back there'd be something about ourselves we don't want published on the internet. What I will say is I have really been enjoying this break; man did I need it.So What's New?
Well, I've started training for a half marathon in a couple of months. It's a three-month training plan that goes against every fiber in my running body. My fibers all say "Run as fast as you can, as long as you can, then criticize yourself and push harder tomorrow". But the guy who wrote this plan has me taking "easy" days - slow, slow, slow pace for short distances and only one speed work day a week.
The first few weeks were tough. Getting yourself psyched to run 4 miles (sorry, that's a short distance) in the 34 degree blowing rain is tough. If I'm going to run in the cold and wind and rain it better be for 10+ miles, dammit! But I'm sticking true to the plan and it's paying off handsomely.
The most notable feature of this new style is that I'm not sore anymore. I kind of forgot what it was like to not walk around in agony every day of my life. You get used to a certain amount of pain and just deal with it, but it turns out you can be a real runner and not have all of your muscles, tendons and joints ache every day of the week. Huh, who knew?So You're Running Less? Then What?
Well, with all of my extra free time I've been practicing yoga. I'll wait while you laugh.
Yeah, so on top of all the other non-masculine things I do why play the y-card? Because I'm freaking selfish, remember? If you haven't tried yoga, and I don't mean take a class because some chick you like is going, but actually tried, you should. It just makes you feel good.
I actually get up early and spend some time with a few sequences that uplift me for the day. It's easy to keep going once you've started too, because at the end is not a big chocolate cake you're dying to eat but on the contrary, work.
And then after one of those weak 3-milers on my schedule I take an hour or so (no clocks, that's my rule) and go through some poses. After that a nice 9:00 PM supper, brush my teeth and hit the hay. All that leaves no time for blogging.
So there you have it home bizzles and home grizzles. I have a few unposted rants, but I think this one will make it through editing and publication.
P.S. Oh man, I finished up my taxes today and it feels great. I'm so lazy about that, but now that it's done I just have to sit back and wait for the cash to roll back in. Oh, and by finish I mean I still have to e-file but that's Monday after I print out all 283 forms for my records.
Now for bed, I have to run in the morning!
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Wednesday Rant Day
For those of you who aren't lucky enough to live here in New England, let me tell you about the weather we've been having. February is after all, the most depressingly cold and wintry month of the year. Well, not this year. We had a string of two days below freezing this week, culminating in one of the finer snowfalls I've seen in a while. Of course, I was out running in said snow storm because that's why God gives them to us, just like thunderstorms.That Soft White Blanket
Well, after my run last night (which was fantastic), I tried out some yoga moves on my new mat, bullshat on the computer for a little while, had some supper, and retired to bed. Throughout the night I could hear the sweet tinkle-tinkle of Snow Day-causing snow bombarding my bedroom windows.
This morning I awoke to an NPR money-grab and hoped they'd pause to at least tell us that the schools were closed. They did not. I'm not in school, but if they're closed I consider work closed for me. By the time I was up and moving, it was clear that at least my road was perfectly fine so I got dressed, had breakfast and headed out to shovel the driveway.
At some point during the morning, the sweet tinkle-tinkle of the snow turned into the not-so-sweet tinkle-tinkle of rain. By the time I got out to shovel it was raining pretty good, and the snow was far from light and fluffy. The end of the driveway where the plow puts it's mess was truly back-breaking.
As it turned out, the schools were closed today but there's no way I'm wasting my vacation to sit at home for a Rain Day.Speaking of Running
Yesterday afternoon I received several pleas to plan a run. I weighed the various needs of the people pleading for a run, and posted the resulting activity on our group message board. The plan was simple: meet at a specific place at a specific time, and we'd determine the route based on how good everyone felt.
Well, I headed out 20 minutes early to run to the meeting spot. As I arrived at the predetermined location (3 minutes late, but 7 minutes before the standard 10-minute grace period ended) I saw one car and no lights on in the house. I rang the doorbell anyway, thinking maybe they were in there and just about to leave. The single set of footprints leading away from the house convinced me that the occupant had already left. Hmmm.
With 5 minutes to spare, I wrote the name of the road I'd be running on the windshield of the car and waited in the cold wintry snow. After the 10 minute grace period was up, I left and proceeded to do my own run at my own pace, lost in my own thoughts. I never did see anyone else, but I'm sure they were out there somewhere.
When I got home, there were two messages on my voicemail asking where I was. They didn't know how they could have missed me and claimed that they even went by my house (but I noticed they left no footprints), noting that it looked dark. Since the reason they "missed" me was that they didn't bother to wait (which was very obvious to me), I didn't feel it was all that important that I return the calls. Those calls would be followed by concerned "I just want to make sure you're home alright" calls, which went unanswered because I was busy with my yoga/IM bullshitting.
I wouldn't say I was pissed, because I can even imagine the conversation that led up to me getting left behind. They probably thought "oh, we'll just head towards his house and meet up where we meet up", not thinking that there were many different routes I could have taken and I could have been on foot or in the car. Hell, I could have been coming from the complete opposite direction if I had to run errands on my way. And as it turned out, I was perfectly content running by myself. I just would rather not have to make plans for everyone else only to have them not wait for me.
BAH!
Well Cooterinos, I think tonight is going to be another bike roller night, followed by some yoga. It's either going to be rainy or icy out, with neither being preferred.
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Monday, February 04, 2008
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Hey folks, this weekend was a real trifecta as far as quality goes. There were good things, there were bad things, and there were ugly things...The Good
On Friday night my running group had a private Spinning class at a local gym. For the low, low price of $2 each we got to have our asses handed to us for an hour straight. For many of us, this was our maiden voyage into the world of Spinning classes, and it proved to be quite the exciting time.
At 6:00 we were all huddled at the entrance signing waivers. Most of us are not members of that gym (or any gym for that matter) but they allowed us to come in to take this class as a special favor to the woman who set it all up. The class started at 6:00, but the general rule for our group runs is that there's always a 10 minute buffer in case someone's running late. We assumed this was true for the Spinning class, which it was not. The class was supposed to START at 6:00, but we all got there at 6:00, had to check in, change, warm up, etc. Fortunately it was a laid back crowd, so nobody minded.
As far as Spinning classes go, I can't comment on the relative quality of it since it was my first time. I can say that it was a hard 60 minutes and I was amply tired afterwards. Not too tired to sit in the sauna for 20 minutes, but pretty tired.
After the class (and subsequent sauna visit), we headed next door to Spice for dinner. They have three different eating venues with very different menus and pricing schemes. We opted for Medium Spice, which was still rather steep but the food was good and we had a good time.
On Saturday I was scheduled to usher at The Colonial Theater for a Creole Jazz Serenaders show. I wasn't sure what to expect, but with Jazz in the name it was bound to be at least tolerable. With the exception of the freezing cold job I had (standing in the unheatedest corner of the building waiting to push a button) and the freezing cold seat I had (why was cold air blowing on me the whole time?), the show was great.
They played for about 2 hours, mixing in songs that highlighted the various influences in New Orleans' music. The musicians were tight and played extremely well together. I could have used some accordion or possibly a cow-bell, but they had an upright bass, and I love me some upright bass.The Bad
After the Spinning class and following dinner, I went home and first-things-first, plunked my ass on the couch and petted the cats. Apparently while doing so, the weight of Vinny on my legs combined with having my feet up on the arm rest caused me to hyper-extend my right knee. Yes, I hyper-extended my knee while laying on a couch, petting a cat.
Saturday I went for a run, hoping I would just run it off after a few miles but that did not happen. It didn't get any worse, but it certainly didn't get any better. I had already planned on running the Superbowl spread in miles (12 pt spread = 12 miles) on Sunday morning, but I had to bag that because of the knee. I couldn't put on or take off socks, tie my shoes, lean over or anything without major discomfort.
Damn it! First the shin splints for a week, then the cold for a week, now a freaking hyper-extended knee from laying on the damn couch! The anti-running gods are laughing at me from on high.
What I can say though, is that the core workout from Bicycling magazine has been doing wonders in keeping me positive. It involves some stretching, which seemed to help the leg (how can you stretch out something that's injured due to over-stretching?). I'll probably ease into a run tonight to test the proverbial waters, and reassume my full-blown training regimen if all goes well.The Ugly
The Patriots sucked ass last night. End of story. Congrats to the NY Football Giants, you deserved to win that game.
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Friday, February 01, 2008
Can I Please Go Out and Play?
Alright folks, here's my problem. As I'm sure you recall I was injured last week and couldn't run. Then, once recovered, I went out and overdid it on Sunday but in a good way. The next thing I know, I have a cold. What you need to know folks, is that I don't get sick so I refused to let this get me down. It got me anyway.Down for the Count
Monday night I was feeling a little chilled but it was manageable. I had a slight scratchiness to my throat but otherwise was symptom free. Tuesday was slightly worst, but the sore throat was akin to something you'd have after a good loud argument or a riotous softball game. I went to bed early in the hopes that I'd just sleep it off, but at 3:30 in the morning I found myself still awake, watching the minutes tick by.
I figured I'd have to take the day off from work because no matter how I felt, I was bound to be tired at 6:00 AM so I dialed up ye olde managere and told him I wouldn't be in. By about 4:30 I was finally able to sleep in the recliner until I was rudely awakened by my alarm clock upstairs at 6:00. Sonofabitch!
Off I traipsed to shut that damn thing up, whereupon I collapsed onto the bed fully clothed to sleep until the morning. Hmm, that humidifier worked some magic.
My Wednesday off consisted of napping and brief periods of reading. I've been working on Stephen King's The Stand, the unabridged version. First of all, it's about a superflu and is not something you should be reading when you potentially have the flu. Second of all, the damn thing is like 1100 pages long. I'm over 500 pages deep at this point and I've barely made a dent in that epic tome.
Editor's Note: Despite it's length and untimely reading, The Stand is a freaking great book.But Anyway
So what the hell do you care? Not much at all. The reason I'm telling you all of this is because while I've been sick I've been stuck in the freaking house. I can feel myself getting slower, weaker and fatter by the second. I've been doing a core workout I found in this month's Bicycling magazine, but there isn't much in the way of a cardiovascular workout there. What I really want is to get back out and run.
Well, last night I attended my Thursday Night Run and it felt great. Yeah, I was a little sore at the end but I felt good, fresh and raring to go. My watch and headlamp both died, with the former causing a good deal of uneasiness on the unplowed dirt roads of Dalton. I thought for sure I'd be recovering from a sprained ankle this morning, but I made it through unscathed. Can I keep going outside to play now?
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Monday, January 28, 2008
The Last Third of the Weekend
Well, it's Monday again and it's a long week for us here in the old Powerpoint factory. Burned by the way I was treated after giving up my entire Saturday last weekend, I worked none of this past weekend including our Friday off. That was my first full weekend off in a long time, and it was killer. You already heard about my Friday and Saturday, but here are some eggstra tidbits for ya.Hawthorne, not Hawthorne
You may recall that I had some trouble with shin splints last week. On Saturday I test drove the ol' legs and was happy to report that they seemed to be back in action. Yesterday after other plans fell through due to nice weather (is that possible?) I planned a nice 10k run in Lenox. The guy I was meeting up with wanted to keep it to no more than 10k, and I didn't want to risk re-injuring the leg so that was perfect.
We met up, and started in on the route, quickly ignoring the cold wind settling into a nice, conversational pace. I had taken a look at the route on a map right before leaving, and set my GPS watch to alert us if we went off course. Somehow we ended up missing a turn, adding almost 5 miles to the route. Allow me to explain...
When I read the map, I made mental notes like "Take this road to the end and turn right" and "Stick to the main road at this fork". What my mental notes failed to capture is that the Town of Lenox had a very limited budget for naming streets, so they stuck to about 5 names and just reused them. Around mile 5 we missed the turn from Hawthorne onto Hawthorne and ended up going about 2-2.5 miles too far on the wrong Hawthorne. To my chagrin, we had to doubling back. Confusing? Yeah, it is that confusing.
Don't let the name on the map confuse you, it's not called W Hawthorne in real life. Once I was on Hawthorne I knew I would just keep going until I hit the end, which was in fact true, had I known I wasn't already on it. Either way, the run turned from 6ish miles to almost 12; not a good idea on a questionable leg.Mom's Airhorn
Saturday night I was chatting with my mother, who was telling me about all the things she got done that day. There were errands, laundry, arrangements for things, etc. Then she said something that sounded like "I got some more airhorns". In my mind, I pictured her putting away the last bit of laundry, pulling and airhorn from her pocket and yelling "LAUNDRY'S DONE! Piaaarrrooooowwwwwnnnttttt". With that image firmly in place in my head, I was happy with my understanding.
Well, she continued on about how they really do work and that she hasn't been sick since she started taking them. "Oh, AirBorne?" I asked. To my disappointment, she said yes.
That's too bad; there's nothing funny about AirBorne.
Okay, there you have it. Peace out homies.
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Mid Weekend Update
Cooterinos, let me tell you about my three-day weekend thus far. Yesterday I awoke at 8 am after a long night of Dude's Night Out, fed the cats and took a nap on the couch until 11. Okay, so Dude's Night Out consisted of dinner, a game of darts and a couple games of pool. There was no debauchery, no run-ins with the law (unless you count the parking "note" M-to-the-C got) , nope it was simply a night out with the dudes.It's Getting Wette in Herre
Yesterday morning I was lounging with a crossword puzzle after an exhausting breakfast when HECOW called with a plumbing emergency. He was pretty sure that water wasn't supposed to be dripping from the downstairs bathroom ceiling, and needed a hand keeping water on the inside of a couple of pipes. Well, I wasn't getting anywhere with that puzzle and some human contact wouldn't kill me, so I loaded up the Lesbacy with my plumbing gear and headed over.
By the time I got there, HECOW had determined where the problem was. "Yup, right there where the water is spilling over the top of those pipes you cut." I confirmed. The real problem was that the shutoff valve only half-assing its one purpose in life: to shut off water, and water was trickling ever-so-slowly. After some time we were able to get the old one freed and the new one went it almost too easily. Hmm, I hope it's not dripping.
After that, we decided that maybe those pipes should be capped (please pass the 1/2" plug sweat). This was the perfect opportunity for HECOW to learn how to sweat pipes. If the new shutoff held, these caps would see no action so there was little likelihood of failure. It was no professional job, but I think he learned the technique.
By the time the first one was on, he already had the smoke detector going off. ECOW solved the age old problem of smoke detector noise by removing the battery and we were back in business.
End result: the new shutoff opens and closes and the caps in the upstairs bathroom keep the water in the pipes and out of the ceiling. Check and check.
Note: HECOW splurged on shutoffs with bleeder valves, something many people cheap out on only to wish they hadn't when they need to get the water out of the pipes to fix something. Well done, HECOW.Saturday AM
This morning I awoke at a more reasonable hour. I put my new el cheapo vacuum to use in the kitchen, mopped the floor and, inspired by HECOW's plumbing, fixed the handle on my kitchen sink. Let me set the stage for you...
Several years ago I replaced the kitchen sink (amongst many other things), and had a bitch of a time getting the hot and cold water handles on properly. Over time they loosened up to the point where you almost had to hold the base still while you turn the handle. That's fine for me because I know how it works, but anyone else who uses it cranks the hell out of the handle because it doesn't feel like it's turning off. Well Cooterinos, today I took that damn thing apart (no small task), packed the base with plumber's putty like I should have done three years ago, reassembled it and PLADOW! it works great. Check and Check.Off the Injured Reserve List
Monday night I had that overuse injury sideline me for a few days. I was worried it might be a stress fracture, so I really laid off it. Today I went out for a couple of miles to test out my recovery. I even told myself that no matter how I felt I had to keep it to 3 miles MAX! Sho nuff, it felt pretty good and I finished the run at 3.02 miles. Perfect. I'm probably going to ibuprofen it and maybe do some stretching just to make sure it's properly healed, but I think I'm good to go.
For those of you who've wrestled with shin splints (Abbey, are you listening?) the one activity (besides rest) that has twice solved the problem for me is so simple you'll think I'm lying. You sit in a chair with your foot off the floor. A recliner works well for this. Moving just your foot (from the ankle), write the letters of the alphabet in the air with your toes. I did this a couple of times a day and the results are amazing; the pain and swelling is gone in next to no time. There's no test, so if your toewriting is poor the benefits are the same.
Ideally, one should do this regularly to prevent shin splints, but history has shown that I won't. I am not proactive when it comes to my own health and well-being.
Well, hopefully I'll holler at y'all on the morrow.
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Back in Effect
Hot Damn, it's been a long time since I hollered at y'alls. I'm sure you've been wondering why that is, and I'll tell you. It's because I didn't feel like writing for a while. Simple and plain, so deal.New Languages
This is just a head's up for anyone who has noticed that Blogger is now available in Hebrew, Arabic and Persian. While the rest of Blogger might be available in additional languages, we here at Old Coot Productions believe that our stories, rants and informative monologues can best be appreciated in their native language, English. With that in mind, we will not be publishing in additional languages.Feline Update for Bizarro
Dear Bizarro Todd, please stop calling my house to ask about the cats. Please stop sending singing telegrams as a cover to get me to open the door so you can look in and evaluate my cats' health (the doorbell scares them anyway). And for God's sake please stop hanging upside-down from my roof trying to sneak a peek in the front window. And I know that was you who snuck in dressed as an ottoman while I was out running. I don't even own an ottoman, and when you ran out of the house you dropped your Old Coot Fan Club membership card, complete with photograph, signature, social security number (that you wrote in yourself) and blood type (again, why'd you write that in there?). You can expect a phone call regarding the new metal roof you're having installed this weekend, paid for with the home equity loan I took out against your house.
Since you're relentless I'll tell you that they're both fine. Nano reeks of cod liver oil and Vinny's arm is still shaved. Ha ha, shaved arm.Hot Damn, It's Cold
Well, I started writing this yesterday when it was colder. Now it's not so cold. I double-dog dare Mother Nature to pick a freaking season and stick with it. For example, during winter months maybe we could have winter-like weather. Then in the spring months it could be spring-like. Then, well, you get the point.
The reason I started this is that Monday night I went for a long run (out by the Pittsfield airport and back) and it was 10 degrees. That shit is cold, on the strength!
The cool part is that I did get to see a private jet come in for a landing right above my head. And I mean RIGHT ABOVE my head. The runway looks like it's no more than 1000' from the road I was on (South Mountain Rd.), and the plane could have been brushing the tree-tops for all I knew. The damn thing was CLOSE. You can go ahead and be jealous, I don't mind.
Well, that's it for today. Latros.
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Weekend Update
Cooterinos, it's Sunday night and I'm gonna take a few minutes to rap at ya. I'm not going to lie, I had a great weekend. I'm sure there's something I can rant about, but it's gonna take some real thinking to come up with it. Oh, I just thought of something. I'll get to it in a minute...Take it Up a Notch
Allow me to set the stage for you. I was out on Friday night, enjoying the brisk Berkshire air on an easy 10 miler. It was supposed to be a short run, but anything much shorter is hardly worth suiting up forTM.
So anyway, we were splitting up at the end and going our separate ways when we starting trying to plan some things for the weekend. The idea of xc skiing came up and I entertained it, but wasn't really excited. It's one of those things I have to do once to remember that I like it, then I'm all about it.
Saturday afternoon we headed up to Notchview to use their perfectly groomed trails and enjoy the warm early January weather. They were predicting temperatures near 40, which was a real improvement over the 0 we had two days earlier (refer to picture above). Sho nuff when we got there I knew a whole bunch of people up there and the conversations all went like this:Oh wow, hey! I didn't expect to see you here. Are you just getting here or finishing up? Yeah? How's the snow? Oh, great. Yeah it looks perfect out there. Do you skate or ski classical? Yeah, me too. I don't think I'm coordinated enough to skate (a round of chuckling). Alright, good to see you. You gonna be back tomorrow? Yeah, I might too. We'll see how my legs feel after today. It's my first day out this year (another round of chuckling).
Then, you saw someone else you knew and the conversation repeated itself.
The skiing was almost ideal to boot. It was 32 degrees, perfectly groomed, no ice, no rocks/dirt exposed, no wind, the sun was shining. Ahhhhhh. We did about 5 miles before I had to head in for cocoa while the rest of my crew did another quick mile. I was a little tired from the run the night before and was getting the low blood sugar cranks, so I had to quit early.Yes, No, Wait Yes, No
I won't smear their rapidly improving name, but I volunteer at a local theater from time to time. It's a nice way to get to see shows for free and help out at the same time. My only beef with the place is that they typically give me about 12 hours' head's up when I'm scheduled to volunteer. That means I get the call in the morning for an evening show, clutch!
Well Saturday I heard via the grapevine that I was scheduled to be there at 7PM. [sarcasm filter]No problem, my weekend nights are always free.[/sarcasm filter] Not only was I not scheduled to be there according to the calendar they gave me, but there was no show even listed. I was assured I had to be there, so I adjusted my schedule, busted my hump to get ready to go, dug up some old black sneakers because all of my dress shoes are at work and sped off to get there on time. Eeeewrong!
When we pulled into the parking lot it became readily apparent that there was nothing going on. The theater was all black and the lot was empty. So we grabbed some dinner at a local eatery and went home where I looked the damn show up online. They didn't even have it listed on their website. However, the city's website had the show listed, so those fuckers are busted! I would really like to just stop helping out, but I do enjoy free shows.Mountaineering, Runner Style
This morning I met my running crew for a snowshoe run up in Greylock Glen. As it turned out, this was the same route we took the first time I ran with them (sans snowshoes), so it was also a trip down memory lane. If you've never run over a mountain for two hours in snowshoes, you can't understand the feeling. Sure, it's tough as hell and you're literally drenched in sweat at the end but it's also a very peaceful experience.
We ran up and then back down the mountain, over streams, down ravines (and up the other side), pet a dog, had snowball fights (AKA ambushes) all under the guise of exercise. What could be better than that?
Afterwards we had breakfast at a little diner, which I love to do, and I had the Lion's Share of coffee to wash down my pancakes, eggs, bacon and homefries.
Awww, honey dip!Binners on the Mend
My cat Vinny is almost completely on the mend now. He's his usual punk self and is currently curled up inside my bathrobe in his typical burrow-cat style.
The second best part (after the fact that he's healthy again) is that they shaved his arm for an IV or something. I'm sure he doesn't care, but I've been busting his balls about how ridiculous he looks. "Dude, what's up with your arm? You must have no self-respect with a shaved arm like that."
Ahh, it's good to have the old Vinny back again.
Over and Out,
Old Coot
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Merry Christmas Eve Eve
Merry Christmas Eve Eve! I was awoken this morning by some off-key Carolers throwing snowballs at my bedroom windows. It took me a few minutes to figure out what the hell was going on and when I looked out the window I saw it was some of my running buddies taunting me for bagging that morning's run. I had my reasons.So... Wiped... Out
Before I start my complaint about being so tired I'm going to acknowledge that there are probably people out there who work harder than I do and have more responsibilities than I have, but that doesn't mean I can't be tired too.
Last you probably heard form me I was working OT trying to get our project caught up and at the same time stack that paper. I've been going full steam ahead towards those ends taking only Sundays to get my beauty sleep. That might help explain why I bagged this morning's run. Yesterday as I sat in the dark office by myself I think I was officially burned out. I couldn't get much done, and what I did do wasn't all that good. I did however, manage to clean the coffee makers.
Sprinkle in a 3 or 4 dozen miles of running a week and it's a recipe for burnout if I've even seen one. All work and play makes Old Coot a tired boy, plus a poorly fed boy at that. I've been eating like crap, which I'm sure only exacerbates the problem.December is National My Car Maintenance Month
As I'm sure happens with everyone, I wait until way past the last minute to tend to car maintenance. For example, I need new tires. I've known about the tire situation for some time so it's not a surprise. I also know which tires I want and where I want to get them. I even have money earmarked for the job, so you'd think it would be a no-brainer. Wrong-o.
Late this week I finally got up the gumption to call the place and make an appointment. As luck would have it I have to wait a week to have them put on, which pushes my annual inspection closer to the wire.
Did I forget to mention that my inspection is up this month? And if you guessed that my current tires won't pass inspection, you guessed correctly. So there's an obvious order of operations here: tires, then inspection. Having a tire appointment of 12/28 makes it tough to get the inspection done before the 12/31 deadline.
Every 3,000 miles or 3 months, whichever comes first... Well, I finally got my oil changed yesterday; a job I absolutely hate to pay for because it's so easy to do myself. It was only 3,600 miles since my last change so there was no concern there. But it had been 6 months since my last change, and we all know oil breaks down whether you're driving or not.
The good news was that there's a new place not too far from my house that got me in and out in about 10 minutes. They even threw in a "free" car wash, which I'm sure is rolled into the exorbitant cost of the oil change. I seized the opportunity to have my car washed, a task that sometimes only happens every 6,000 miles or 12 months, whichever comes first. Shuffling Off to Buffalo
Like the nicknames every kid you meet thinks they invented, every person who asks if I'm "Shuffling Off to Buffalo" gets a kick out of being so creative. But the answer is, yes I am going to Buffalo for Christmas.
Since my family celebrates Christmas in a different manner than the American Media Conglomerate would like you to celebrate it (by spending 2 months' salary on diamonds and other month's salary on other crap) gift giving and receiving are not the highlight of the trip. In fact, we'll probably have a nice low-key day filled with coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper and perhaps some Scrabble. It'll be perfect. I even have a new Yankee Candle for my mom (does that count as a gift?), to give the house that familiar Christmas smell in the absence of a freshly butchered tree.
The second highlight of the Holiday week is the Annual Bartley Party, which is now a fundraiser for PUSH. What started out as an annual meeting of high school alumni at the Bartley homestead has turned into quite the celebration. I love going because it's filled with about 15 years' worth of alumni from my HS, and other like-minded folks. It's the one place we get to meet up and see what everyone has or has not been doing over the last year. Oh, it'll be sweet.
Well, my laundry is dry. Time to fold, set another load in motion, and hit the mean streets of P-field to run a few miles. It's 45 degrees today, and you know what that means. SHORTS WEATHER!
Over and Out,
Old Coot
