DC running plans....FOILED

This just happened this morning....

STUDENT 1:  Hey Raz, are you going to run while we're in DC?
ME:  (hesitant)  Uh, yeah.  Why?
STUDENT 1:  How long are you going to go?
ME:  (now knowing where this is going) Well, I was going to get a 5 miler in on Thursday and then probably 10 miles Saturday morning.
STUDENT 1:  What time are you going to run?
ME:  Probably about 6am.  Why?
STUDENT 1:  Well, my basketball coach wants me to do some conditioning while I'm gone.
STUDENT 2:  Yeah, my swimming coach said I should do the same thing.  What time are you going?
STUDENT 1:  Raz said 6am.
STUDENT 3:  You guys are going to run?  I should do that!
STUDENT 4:  Me too!  What time are we going?
STUDENT 1:  6am
STUDENT 5:  What days?
ME:  (now banging my head up against a wall) Thursday and Saturday.
STUDENT 1:  How long is it to the White House and back?
ME:  I don't know....8 miles, I think.
ALL:  Sweet!

Shit.  shit shit shit shit shit.  So much for a little quiet time from the little buggers.

I should've said 5am.

Either I let them run with me or they go off on their own and I've got to identify body parts hours later.  *sigh*

Is it Capitol or Capital?

In 48 hours, yours truly will be on a Southwest flight bound for our nation's capital.  Oh, plus 28 of my closest students.  It's the annual National High School Journalism Conference where 5000 of the top student journalists converge to piss off about 300 of the top journalism teachers.  Yeah!

The 2 things I'll check out when I get to the hotel:

1. What are the best running routes?
2. Is the hotel bar conveniently located and hidden from curious students?  Don't ever underestimate the location of the bar.
   

This is the 7 trip to the convention and the 4th city in which I have incorporated running into my itinerary.  A brief reflection if you will:

• Nashville - A surprisingly fun town.  I had relatively low expectations for Music City, USA, but the people were exceptionally nice and there was a lot more to do than listen to country music.  My run was around the Opryland Resort....one lap = 4.1 miles.  No kidding.  This hotel/compound was mammoth.  
• Philadelphia - Great city with a lot of history.  Duh.  We did the touristy stuff complete with sucking down more than one cheesesteak.  I had to do my run to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  There was a collection of Van Gogh's work that I wanted to see.  Ha!  I just wanted to run the steps a la Rocky.  Cheesy?  Hell yeah.  As cheesy as one of these bad boys:

mmmmmmm....

•  St. Louis - Blech.  That's the best thing I can say about this town.  There's one thing to look at and I ran around it about 5 times to get my miles in because I was competing in the Garmin Challenge.  You can read about it here, but here's a synopsis:  River wall on the left, dumps on the right, and a quick jaunt into East St. Louis, Illinois.  Ladies and gentlemen, The Gateway to the West! 

My hopes are high for D.C.  I've never been there.  Usually the first reaction I get is, "You've never been to D.C.????"  My response is, "No.  I though I was pretty clear the first time I made that statement, jackhole."  Some people.  But I digress.....

The weather looks good for a couple of runs.  I've packed the gear although I think the running tights are staying home.  I don't think my students and/or colleagues need to see all of that awesomeness so early in the morning.  Like I said, we're leaving with 30 and, if we come back with 28 or more, I'm going to consider that a win.  I mean, that's a 93% return rate.  I'd say that's pretty damn good.

Wish me luck!  I hope to post something while I'm there.  I'm clearing out the memory card so that I can get some good pics/evidence.

SSTIFY Friday

Nothing is stuck in my head save for a few pounds of mucus.  I'm battling a nasty head cold and I think that with a few forceful coughs and sneezes, all of it will break up and spew forth.

I hope that you're all reading this during breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

So, to review, nothing is stuck in my head and none of you are willing to help me.  That's right...none of you are willing to help me with my lack of a SSTIFY.  *self-deprecating rim shot!*

Never fear, I'll throw out an oldie but a goodie:


Weem-a-way, indeed.  Have a good weekend everyone!

Twitter Still Sucks.....

....as does my ability to write a complete blog post:

• Failblog.org and Facebook Fails.  I wholeheartedly endorse bookmarking these blogs.  They've kept me entertained for a few weeks now.
  
• Speaking of Facebook, I have my own personal policy about students (current or graduated) asking me to be their friend.  My policy:  No Way In Hell.  I got request from a student who graduated last year.  Funny thing is she hated me, hated my class, didn't do a damn thing in my class, and went out of her way to let everyone know (including teachers, duh) how much of an asshole/bad teacher I was.  Yeah, let's be friends now.  
• This week is apparently turning into Passive Agressive Week here at school.  One kid just sat and moped at me for 5 minutes while I was grading papers.  Didn't say a word...for 5.  Minutes.  I didn't think passive agressiveness had a sound to it, but it does.  It begins with a heavy sigh.
  
• I ran 3 miles this morning at an 8:15/mile pace.  I was gassed.  What the hell?  There's no WAY I've lost that much fitness in 3 weeks is there?  
• I'm off to Washington D.C. next week for a journalism convention and I'm researching running routes while I'm there.  We're staying a little north of The Mall.  Rock Creek Park south to the Mall looks like my route.  Is it safe or am I going to be another Chandra Levy?
• About D.C. - we're taking 28 kids.  Our goal is to return with at least 26.
• I don't know why I do fantasy football.  I think I get way too invested in it.  I mean, consider that on Sundays, my life is hec-GODDAMNIT CARSON PALMER!   HOW DO YOU HAVE THE GAME OF A LIFETIME LAST WEEK? HOW?????  I need another hobby.

Odds and Ends

Twitter sucks.

I'm a geek.  I'm pretty sure that's been well-established, but I'm not buying into this phenomenon.  Oh, I've tried to, but it just isn't the same.  The popular complaint is, "Why would I want to know about how you went to the grocery store?"  Of course, these are the same clever philosophers that inundate my Facebook account with farming/mafia/jeweled crap that is even making Facebook annoying.  For me, I'll stick with emails and blogging, thankyouverymuch.  I'll stick with my version of Twitter: Bullet Points!

Some observations from the weekend:

• Well, at least Nebraska's special teams can score.  This weekend's game (vs. Oklahoma) could be brutal.  Thank God it's on prime time.
  
• Hawks....9-0.  "Nuff said.
• What's the cutoff age for trick or treating?  12?  I think if "-teen" or "-ty" is attached to your age, you should hang up the plastic pumpkin.   It should be the same age as when you stop bringing your glove to a baseball game.
• I supervised the kids and their trick or treat exploits over at a friends house this Saturday....complete with a fully stocked rolling cooler.  The best part?  We weren't the only ones! It was like a neighborhood block party for the kids and the adults.  Who the hell said that chocolate and booze don't mix?  I'm on my way to Parent of the Year.  I can just feel it.
  
• After my long run on Sunday, I open the door to a naked 2 1/2 year old wearing only his socks and running shoes.  "Run, daddy?  Run?" Ah, kids....
  
• I cannot stress the importance of stretching and hydrating oneself after a long run, people.  I neglected to do both this weekend and I felt like I got hit by a truck.
• I'm convinced that Starbucks is slowly shrinking their drinks.  And I'm not happy.

That's it for now.  

SSTIFY - The Antichrist is Still a Good Babysitter

I'm pretty sure the Bible states that Barney is actually Satan.  It's probably in Leviticus.  I never got around to that book in my Saturday night Bible Study, so...yeah...Leviticus.  Oh well, he's still a better babysitter than I am.  At least the purple Beelzebub can keep my kid still for more than 30 seconds.

My son is obsessed with Barney.  I can deal with most of the kids crap that's on TV.  Thomas the Train?  Fine.  Sesame Street?  Long live Ernie and his "roommate" Bert.  I can even live with the 4 guys from Australia that wear brightly colored shirts and have a knack of getting songs jammed into adults' heads.  Not only that, but their net worth is that of a 3rd world country.  Ladies and gentlemen, The Wiggles!

So KidDoodle2 and I are watching The Wiggles one morning and he (my son) is pissed off.  I mean Pissed. Off.  Barney is nowhere to be seen.  I tell him I needed a break from that overly animated, cherubic piece of purple felt and the brainwashed kids that follow him around like some sort of deity.  His response?

"Watch Barney!"

As we're having this argument, this week's SSTIFY entry comes on the show.  KidDoodle2 is mesmerized and, for 3 minutes and 34 seconds, he forgets about Barney. The following is not a Wiggles Original, but it should be recognizable....even for the youngins who read this blog.

These guys creep me the hell out.  Especially the purple one.  He's a narcoleptic on the show.  Just falls asleep for no reason.  That's his "thing".  Really?  REALLY?  My God...this is what we're teaching our children.  There is a female dancer in this video, however, that should be more prominent in the show from here on out (:47 in, on the left).  That aside, I still can't get this damn song out of my head.  Here it is:


Good luck to Laura and Lam this Sunday in New York!  For everyone else, have a happy and safe Halloween everyone!

Redemption?

Remember when I said that ROATM was going to be more about running?  Yeah, I don't pay that much attention either.  I suppose me flipping off my laptop camera is going to be as varied as it gets. With story deadlines looming, though, I'm bound to either snap or write about it.

With KidDoodle 1 being sick today, I find myself with about 6 tabs open in Firefox....most of them dealing with running. Before you question my parenting skills, she's watching Dinner Impossible:  Sesame Street.  She's content, so leave me alone.

Anywho, I still have that personal asterisk floating around my one and only marathon.  I think, I THINK that it's time for redemption.  According to McMillan's running calculator (thanks B.o.B. for adding another tab), I could run a marathon in 3:49:24 and a half marathon in 1:48:46.

Well, that would be impressive, wouldn't it?

The Lincoln Marathon would be the race for me to do it, too.  It's a flat, fast course and it's a well-run race.  In fact, it's one of the best race experiences I've had.  The drawback to all of this is training in the winter. 'Round here, that sort of thing s-u-c-k-s.  Ice, wind, cold rain, etc. equals a few treadmill training runs.  Ugh.

So there I have it.  Lincoln Marathon.  It's out there.  It's a possibility.  I just need to move back to Phoenix to do my training.

P.S. - I want to thank everyone for sharing in my pain in yesterday's post.  My administrators are looking into it.  Thanks.  So.  Much.