It is ON

So our dear running friend, Topher, who apparently wins Sports Blog of the Year awards by writing once a month has challenged me to a showdown.

The challenge?  A 16 mile race this weekend.

The stakes?  One packet of souped-up Jelly Bellys.

Kids, this is high-stakes running.  I can not - strike that- will not lose to my running colleague from the great state of Kansas. Not gonna happen. 

The proof?  A photo of each of our Garmins with the times.  Fortunately, my Photoshop skills are excellent so this one is a done deal.

P.S. - I want the Jelly Bellys overnighted.  

The Season is Finally Here!

There's something to be said for tradition and college football embraces tradition like no other sport. Touchdown Jesus at Notre Dame, The 13th Man at Texas A&M, the police blotter at Miami, and The Sea of Red at Nebraska (see right) to name just a few. Every college has them and every college football fan holds their traditions sacred.

As college football fans embark on the 2008 season, we here at Running Off At the Mind will start our own tradition. With absolutely the minimum amount of research, I'll be making my fearless picks every Friday. If anyone would like to challenge me, make your own damn picks, link to my blog and I'll link to yours. You can include your favorite team and maybe this will give us something to do on Fridays. Good freakin' luck.  If I omitted your team and you need my Nostradamus-like prediction, leave a comment and I'll include it next week.

Western Michigan vs. Nebraska 

If the NU defense can punch the Broncos in the mouth early and often, this will be over by half. If not, the Huskers will have to hope that the offense revs up quickly and for 4 quarters.

NU 35 WMU 20

Iowa State vs. South Dakota State
Think you can win this one 'Clones? Probably, but it's not in my DNA to root for the pee yellow and crimson.

ISU 3 SDSU 2

Iowa vs. Maine
It's gonna be tough year for the Hawkeyes. Most of the team will have trouble shuffling around on the field in their orange jumpsuits, paper slippers, and leg shackles *rim shot*. It's Maine for godsakes. Win this, or I will never again admit to graduating from there.

Iowa 30, Maine 10

Kansas at Florida International
Florida International? Is it "international" in the same way that the International House of Pancakes is international?  I'm just curious.

KU 45 FIU 10

Colorado at Colorado State
As long as the National Guard is in place and the tear gas is at the ready, this will be a good game. CU has an absolutely brutal schedule this year. Darrel Scott runs for 300 in this one. Oh wait, he hasn't played yet? From the sounds coming from the Rockies, they might as well hand over the Heisman to him 4 years straight.   Or would that be 5?  Wait, I remember.   It took CU 5 downs to win a national championship.  I got confused.  

CU 28, CSU 21  and 500 arrests

Everyone have a great weekend.  GO BIG RED!

Photo courtesy of Lisa 

Neutered

What's more frustrating?  Having Blogger blocked completely or being able to view blogs and comments, but not being able to post a comment.  

What the hell am I supposed to do doing work?  Teach?  Jesus H. on a stick!

Here We Go

I signed up. 

Big thanks to Amy from  Runner's Lounge  She was generous enough to even offer me a free entry. I did not expect that at all. I think it was to shut me up. Wouldn't be the first time someone has paid me off to do that.

What the hell have I gotten myself into? 

Slip, Slide and Away!

*The following post is about a subject you're all probably tired of reading from me. Quite honestly, I'm getting tired of it myself. Nevertheless, these are the things that swim around in my head when I miss a long run....for the 2nd straight week.

Saturday came and went without me running my long run.

Sunday came and went without me running my long run.

This is not good, kids.

I sulked. "This sucks. I can't do this. If I can't even get up to run 15 miles, there's no way I can run the full 26.2. Maybe I'm just cut out for the half, 10Ks and 5Ks." and "26.2 miles is too tough. Maybe I'm scared to run the full marathon."

I schemed. "OK, when I get back from church, I can get into my running clothes, crank out 10 miles, get back, jump in the car, and go to my meeting. If that doesn't work, I can do it while the kids sleep, after I mow the lawn and before we have to go to my in-laws for dinner."

I negotiated. "Maybe this year, I'll just run the half in Des Moines, get a feel for the course, and then sign up for the full next year." or "I'll train for the Lincoln Marathon for next May."

I justified. "I never really was motivated to do this. There was probably a reason I hadn't signed up."

And then, a moment of clarity. I asked myself, "Why am I even doing this? Why a full marathon?" My answer: "Because when you ran the Lincoln Half, you wanted to be a marathon runner. You want to see just how far you can push yourself. Because you've never done anything like this before and you've never backed down on a challenge. Because you think you can do it."

For 2 weeks, I've missed my long run and it could be the best thing that happened to me.

p.s. - you may have noticed a new profile picture. This should indicate 2 things:

1) We got Photoshop on our laptops.

2) I'm in full-on college football mode! Be prepared for a Husker preview and some bold predictions!  

Please try to control your enthusiasm.

Tired and Weary

At 3am, Little RazZDoodle thought it'd be cool to wake up. No screaming, no crying, just had a conversation with himself. He even went so far as to try to invite me into the convo.

"Da da" and "Uh Oh" were the predominant talking points. Good parents would get up and check things out when a 13 month old says uh oh.

I am not one of those parents.

See, he figured out that when he says that, we usually come running to see what the "uh oh" is about. I figured that since I didn't hear a thump, crash, or snap, he was just messin' with us. I was right. After about an hour of early morning playtime, the little guy settled back in. I looked at the clock, set it for an hour later, and skipped my run. More like postponed it until tomorrow. If this keeps up, my training could be spotty at best. Not good times.

Many of you are aware of my love for all things electronic and shiny. With my iCal looking like a stick of Fruit Stripe gum (4 year old in soccer and dance this fall PLUS my work schedules), it was time for me to upgrade from a written planner to a PDA. More specifically an iPod Touch. Calendar, contacts, AND I can put some videos that I've produced and show them to clients at the touch of a button. I'm probably going to wait until September to do it, cuz apparently Apple is upgrading it and the new version should be out by then. Geeky? Let's see:

Am I a geek?
-I have a blog, subscribe to at least 30 blogs
-I know what an RSS feed is
-I have a Twitter account
-I know that Apple is upgrading the Touch and I actively look for what those upgrades will be

Oh yeah. Big time!

Check out Runners Lounge (www.runnerslounge.com) today. Great topic about Middle Mile Syndrome. Since this is my first time dealing with this syndrome, I'm enjoying others' insight. Nice to know it's not just me right now!

P.S. - College Football season is a week away and I'm pretty jacked. I want to do a weekly Friday post during the season, but I'm stuck as to what I should do. I've thought of:
-Predictions (including all of our favorite teams/alma maters)
-Forum for taunting (which I'm all for)
-Guest blogger/college football fan

If you can think of anything, I'm all for it!

Breaking Through!

WARNING - Another obscure movie reference:

A blind and deaf newspaper vendor stands on the street corner and gets hit with a stack of papers.

Vendor:  I can see!  And I can hear!  But who am I?

Johnny Dangerously was a pretty awful movie.  Oddly enough, there were some quotable quotes.  This one jumped to mind when the powers-that-be released the Blogger shackles*.  

I have access to Blogger again, but I have nothing to write about.**

Ran 5 miles today.  The first time I've done that during the week.  4.25 was my ceiling Mondays thru Fridays.  I never figured I'd have time to get more than that in and be able to get ready for work.  Must've been my lightning fast new shoes.

*We've been having a lot of internet connectivity issues this week.  A little background on our school:  Everyone has a laptop.  Kids included.  All 2200 of us.  I'd go into that discussion more, but it is what it is.  Connectivity is kind of an issue when you've got kids and teachers actually working online.  Anyway, they found out that part of the issue was the new web filtering service they paid big bucks for.  Don't know how or why, but we're back to our old filtering system.  Karma wins again!

**Not like that has ever stopped me before.

I Feel Shame

Day #2 of being locked out here at school. I'm perservering and, unfortunately, I'm being productive.

Remember the scene from Office Space where Peter is talking to the Bobs? (I'm paraphrasing a bit)
Bob 1: You've been missing a lot of work lately Peter.
Peter: I wouldn't say I'm actually missing it, Bob.

That's kinda how I felt about missing my long run this weekend. The alarm went off Sunday morning and I just simply turned it off. Didn't even think twice about it, really. Of course, anywhere I went the rest of the day, I saw people out running. I had a hunch that it was bound to happen. The only thing I was really concerned about was the slippery slope that can follow. To ensure that didn't happen, I made it a point to get out there this morning, bang out some miles and get back into some sort of groove. Mission accomplished!

Just a few notes from this weekend:
-The downtown area of Des Moines is pretty cool. Mrs. RazZDoodle managed to score us tickets to meet 2 chefs from Season 3 from Top Chef. CJ and Dale. Pretty cool guys. Dale went to University of Iowa about the same time that I went there. Mom RazZDoodle took the kids to the Science Center (another very cool place), so everyone was happy! Sorry Tom, Amy, and Nancy, it was a one-day trip. Otherwise, I'd have met up for a run!

-I got to scope out a little bit of the marathon course. Think maybe we can level out some of the hills before October 19th?

-We went to the Top Chef thing with a friend of my wife's. She's volunteering at the marathon and said she'd cheer me on. Hmmmm....

-My mom talked to someone in DM who competes in triathalons. She said that she's trying to qualify for Boston and that she's going to run in Detroit because Des Moines has too many hills. The hell?

-The following hit me somewhere between Des Moines and Omaha:
If I'm not running in this marathon, then why the hell am I training so hard?

-WalMart at 3pm on a Sunday is insane. Why the hell did I even attempt to do any sort of shopping in there? I was getting overloaded with all of things that I could post. If I had the time and the server space, I'd give you everything. Here are just a few observations:
-The couple who parked in the handicap spot with no discernible handicap. No limp, no slow shuffle, nothing.  Apparently, not having morals is a handicap.
-The 75 year old lady with osteoperosis that had 5 trashy novels in her cart.
-The 50 year old woman with tube top and short shorts. If she was younger than 50, the years have not been good to her AT ALL.
-The cart collision involving a 12 year old brat skating around in his Heelys or knockoff Heelys (I'm going with the latter). The best part was was that I could see the accident developing.
-Pot Stickers are cleverly hidden in the "snacks" aisle. Ling Ling brand. Could we be a little more stereotypical?
-Edimame is nowhere to be found.  Shocker.
-The WalMart greeter clipping her nails.
-The WalMart cashier checking her texts while finishing up our transaction.
-The gay biker couple. One with a Sturgis t-shirt, the other with a Bob Seger concert shirt.

-Anyone know how to repair a sink? I managed to disassemble my kitchen strainer before realizing I was missing a tool. No we have half a sink and Mrs. RazZDoodle is none too pleased and is worrying about a flood of biblical proportions.

-After my run this morning, the top part of my ankles hurt a little bit. Don't know if it was the surface or the shoes. I tried out New Pair #2 this morning. I hope it's not the shoes. I don't want to go through picking out new ones.

That's all for now. Hopefully, this lockout ends soon.

Locked Out

So in our school district's infinite wisdom, they have decided to block a whole slew of websites. Blogger and YouTube being 2 of many. I can understand YouTube. There's a lot of irrelevant crap on there for school. Funny as hell, but irrelevant. Blogger is curious. Actually, every blog writing site is blocked. I find that pretty ironic seeing as though one of our distrtict goals is to improve student writing. I even seem to recall sitting through at least 2 meetings (4 hours each) discussing it and that blogging/journaling is an effective strategy. Hmm....

YouTube access would be nice seeing as though I teach video production. YouTube has pretty much made my DVD/VHS library obsolete. Thank god for hulu.com

So a big, sarcastic "thank you" to the powers-that-be on that front.

As I tell my students, "Find another way." It's either that, or "Go Fetch Me More Coffee, Freshman! Now! Move! MOVE!" Ahh, I love the first day.

I digress. Skipping morning runs has been a little too easy for me to do this week. Apparently, the little RazZDoodles are shaking off the effects of that shot of Jack Daniels before bed. That can only mean 2 things:

1) something is wrong
2) their tolerance is up.

Last night, both kids were up for some reason and, being great parents that we are, I stayed in our bed while my wife played zone defense. That worked great until she had our 4 year old come into our room and wake me up. Ugh.

I've gotten 2 runs in this week. One was after school, another was shortened from a planned 5 miler to a 2 miler and then there will be one today after school. Life happens, huh? I really hope that after this week, I can get myself back to a "I actually have to go to work and earn a paycheck" routine. *shiver*

At least I get to christen a new pair of kicks tonight. runningwarehouse.com (not a shameless plug, but I'm willing to say very nice things about their site. *wink, wink* *nudge nudge*) had my shoes for a smokin' deal (*wink, wink* *nudge nudge*) , so I received 2 early birthday gifts. Big thanks to Parents RazZDoodle for those!

That's about it for now. This anti-blogger.com stance has me being more productive and attentive to my students' needs. *another shiver*

Hopefully, this will be rectified soon.

Trying out Twitter

If anyone is interested, I'll be Twittering away our first day of school.  

That is all.

It's Been a Year????

I love Running.

It wasn't until recently, though that I really began to do that. Sure, we'd hang out for awhile. I'd buy Running some clothes, gadgets, etc., for Running but we really never had that extra spark. I'd read about others that would miss running on their off days. Not me. I was pretty content on my off days. No pangs of loneliness. Nothing.

I'd like to tell you that there was a specific moment that I started to love Running. That'd make a great post. Lately, though, I can't wait to go out for a run. Long run? More time for me to run and see what we're made of. I think Running and I have a solid foundation. That is, unless injury or apathy sets in, and then "we'll need to talk."

Today marks the one year anniversary of Running Off at The Mind. It all started when I was listening to Phedipidations during a long run. Steve Runner was going on about how cathartic it was to blog about running. I thought I'd give it a try. I still thought it was ludicrous that people would want to know any of my mundane thoughts and observations.

Who woulda thunk it?

I'd like to thank everyone out there that's read and/or commented on the silly, mundane, embarrassing happenings that have gone on in my life this year. I try to make most of my posts about running, but sometimes life gets in the way and I have to vent or make a pithy observation. At the same time, I've enjoyed reading about so many great people that have the courage (foolishness?) to tell me about your runs. I enjoy all of them. I may not comment as much as I'd like, but I'm reading 'em!

All of you out there have given me tremendous motivation to go out there, get the miles in and fall in love with running.

*raises glass*

Here's to another great year!

Hot and Spicy

As many of you know, I'm a pre-dawn runner. I run early for many reasons, but the main reason is to avoid the heat. I hate it. I really do*. I even go so far as to snicker at the poor suckers that run in the afternoon. I usually roll down my window and lob ice cubes at them.  That, or I'll roll down my window and tell them that my a/c is too damn cold.

Why would you punish yourself like that when you can run when it's not as hot? Duh.....remember first grade weather class?

Daytime = sun = hot
Nighttime = no sun = cool

So you get my point. Well, now I get to enjoy an afternoon 4 miler today. Our 4-year-old was up in the middle of the night due to some storms and our 1 year old decided it was time to wake up at 3:30am.  

Can I tell you how excited I am for this run?  I'll load up with the fuel belt, gatorade at the beginning, middle, and end.  I hope my shoes don't melt.  Hopefully, I won't be a puddle with a Garmin floating in the middle.  

Wish me luck.

*the ironic thing is that I lived in Phoenix for 2 years.

Two Fer...a Race Report

I have read the smackdown/battle/lover's quarrel between Viper and Vanilla with great amusement. I have held off on commenting and it seems to have paid off. While their accomplishments are cute, I don't seem to recall them running 2 races this weekend.

On the same day.

Within 2 hours of one another.



That's right, fellow runners. A race report 2-fer:


I started out with Nancy's 8 on the 8th Virtual Olympic Race. It was a beautiful morning for it. Normally, I don't like to try things out for the first time at a race, but I strapped on a fuel belt. One bottle for this trip and that seemed to be enough. I guess there are virtual volunteers manning the water stations, too. I headed north on the road, which I'm sure is USATF sanctioned, right Nancy? It was quite the international experience, too. Along the race, I saw people of Indian, African, and Latin descent. I'm sure there were some Kenyans, but they probably finished before I did. And don't even get me started on the Dutch. I finished in decent enough shape, but I still had to do more. A victory lap, if you will. 2 miles to soak in the cheering and the worshiping. It was a sight to behold.

Official Time - 1:05:16

My next race was a 5K. I purposefully ran my 8 mile race on the same track as the 5K. How smart am I?



Only 30 entrants (inaugural race), so it seemed to be promising. I've never finished in 30th place in any race, so I was pretty sure this would be my best finish, provided I didn't DNF (double negative). My hopes were up until I find out that there were some heavy hitters in the race:

• The current record-holder of the Omaha Corporate Cup Run and the Omaha marathon.
• 3 members of Team Nebraska (elite team).
  
• Do they sign up for every damn race possible just to win it? Really guys? You're that competitive? You're like Kramer beating kids in karate.
  
• Both of our school's cross-country coaches.

The race was fine. I took it pretty easy. Training for the Virtual Olympics took everything out of me and I let that be my excuse. I snuck in comments like, "Boy was it nice here earlier this morning." and "Hey, I saw that guy when I was out here earlier. I think it was around mile 7." and "I just ran 8+2 miles this morning. You're a slacker."

Subtle as a runaway train.

So there you have it, folks. I sincerely hope that those 13.1 milers had a good time (pun intended) running their little ONE race. I must now try to go and fit my ego through the door.

I Signed Up...

...for the inaugural Back to School 5K.  It's a fundraiser for our school's cross country teams. That, and I signed up for the Omaha Corporate Cup Run (10K).   Now who says I can't commit?  Huh? 

Since I have temporarily lost the ability to compose a single thought at length, I'm reverting to bullet points.

• I've been mired in little meetings and other things these past few days.  Ordering equipment, sitting in on meetings about how to incorporate video into curriculum, blah, blah, blah.  I fully expect to work on my stuff the day before classes.
• I signed up for Twitter, though I have no idea why.  I can't imagine anyone would want to know what I'm doing between blog postings, but maybe it'll grow on me.  Just one more thing for me to be unproductive at work and at home.  Besides, wouldn't you want to know my thoughts within my thoughts.  Mind blowing!
• I have an issue with Runners World this month.  Specifically, the article about what to do after a long run.  I like how they figure we have hours to kill after our long run.  30 minute ice bath, 15 - 30 minute nap, couple snacks.  Really?  I don't think my kids or beloved wife would let that happen.  Another example of RW thinking that my entire life is dedicated to running.  I like the 'zine, I really do.  I usually plow through it in one or 2 sittings.  Lets just throw a dash of reality in there.  
• So I've bought 2 GUs, 1 Cliff Shot, and something with Hammer in the title.  I'm going to try this carbs on the run this weekend.  Now all I need to be concerned with is hydration.  I've had the following suggestions:  - 1) buy a fuel belt (seems to me there'd be too much sloshing around and chafing) 2) plant H2O bottles along the route before you run (I get up at 5am to run.  I ain't planting bottles).  3) run a route that has drinking fountains (that means I'd have to get in my car and drive somewhere to run.  An unusual concept for me.)
• I think #3 may be an option.
• Woo hoo!  My department head, who was a 3-time state champion cross country runner, is going to lend me one of her fuel belts.  A test run to see if it works for me.  She also has a Camelback, so I might try that, too.  I don't know how crazy I'd be wearing a backpack full of water while running, but who knows? 
• I'm going to give props to my local running store, Peak Performance.  Hands down, the most helpful retail people I've ever dealt with.

Well, time for another meeting.  This one has something to do with proper use of our laptops.  Hmmmm......

Short Run....

....actually a short post, but don't you love how I make it relative to my demo?

Who loves meetings?  I do!

Who loves meetings talking about the next meeting?  This guy!

Who loves meetings that have no relativity to my courses?  Me!  Me!  Pick me!

And that'll be my 2nd day back at school.  I actually can't wait to get the kids back.  It'll cut down on the meetings.

The posts may have to be cut down a bit for the next few days until they let us "work in our rooms" (read:  catch up on blogs).

Big anniversary next week and I can't figure out how to celebrate.  I'll explain later.

Pushing Past Apathy

Wife: So you're running tomorrow morning?
Me: Yep.
Wife: 12 miles? At 5am?
Me: Uh huh.
Wife: When was the last time you ran 12 miles?
Me: Uhhhhhh.......the half marathon in May.
Wife: And you're going to run with someone you met on the Internet.
Me: Well, not the way you put it.
Wife: Have you spoke with him before?
Me: Like verbally?  Technically, no.
Wife: Where are you supposed to meet him?
Me: Not really sure, but I have a general area.
Wife: *rolls eyes and sighs* Kiss your kids goodnight and tell them you love them.

And that was my Saturday night.

After my long run on Sunday, a few things became crystal clear:

1. Runners are a tight-knit community. I didn't even think twice about meeting this person for a 12 mile run on a Sunday morning. I had to get my run in, he was a fellow runner, it made perfect sense. I had the good fortune of running with Tom, one of the founders of Runners Lounge.  This guy has such passion for the sport, not to mention a tremendous amount of wisdom.  And he's got the miles to back it up:  Boston, New York, Chicago, Des Moines, etc.  I learned a lot about training, motivation, and hydration in just a short 2 hours.  
   
2. Running with a partner is much more motivating than I thought. Running with someone and carrying on a conversation made the miles go by a lot faster.  It was great to bounce ideas off of someone who is so knowledgeable and passionate about running.

So 2 firsts for me:  meeting someone in this wacky Running Blog Community and having a running partner that didn't have a bib number.  

I may be a little closer to actually signing up for the marathon.  At the very least, I'm past my apathy phase and have a whole new appreciation for this crazy thing called running.