Shameless. Just Shameless

Day 1 of My Commitment to Getting Back in Shape:

• It was dark
• It was cold
• It was early
• It was Monday

Oh well, Mondays are always my day off anyhow.  It's that time of year again in Middle America where the weather turns dicey at best.  I was planning on getting up and getting this whole run thing in Tuesday morning, but the forecast calls for wind and rain.  No thanks.

How about Wednesday?

9 degrees at 6am and winds at about 12 mph.  Same response to Tuesday morning.  

But wait a minute....I have that gym membership.  That one pesky checkbook entry that chips away at my account on the 25th of every month.  Oh yeah, THAT thing.

Maybe, just maybe I could hit the treadmill just to get a run in. Oh, and then my wife wants to go Tuesday night for her class.  I can do some circuit training or shoot baskets.

Yes, my friends...this membership is either going to be a blessing or a curse.  One of my Top 3 Reasons list for joining was access to treadmills at crack ass o' dawn in the winter months.  Well, my friends, that time has come and my running tights, long socks, hat and gloves still sit in their spot just waiting to be used.  

Will this membership soften me up to the roads?  Will I ever run outside before daylight?  Time will tell. I wouldn't bet on it right now, though.

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Here's the "shameless" part (as in shameless plug)....I'm now a regular contributor to a Husker blog called Better Off Red.  I realize that 99.9% of  you could care less about All Things Husker, but I know my mom reads this and I think there's another Husker fan out there.  Regardless, my oddly specific writing is out there for another oddly specific audience.  In fact, in my first post, I even got a "you're an idiot!" comment.  

It's nice to know either Nitmos or Ian still reads my stuff.

Let Me Bask....

Last night's church basketball league stats for yours truly:

7 points (one of them a go-ahead 3 pointer)

2 rebounds

3 fouls

Elbows were thrown.  Blood was not shed.  Maybe next week.

My Night at the Gym...

...and other musings:

• Really appreciated the woman who waited at least 3 minutes for Rock Star Parking at the gym.  Admissible if it were raining, snowing, or sub 10 degrees out.  It was clear and 45.  
• I find myself subconsciously wearing running shirts each time I go.  Look at me!  I'm legit!
• There's a sign that reads "Please Do Not Stare at Others While They are Exercising.  It is Distracting to Our Members."  My wife and I concluded that there had to have been an incident to warrant that sign.  All I could think of was Homer Simpson when he said, "See Lisa?  Because of me they need a disclaimer."  *Note - that sign was posted BEFORE we joined.
• Our city's former Chief of Police is a member at our gym.  From all accounts, he's a decent and righteous man.  When I see him at the gym, though, it looks like he's going to kick my ass.  Hard.  We locked eyes for about .01 seconds last night and I thought he was going to kill me or haul my ass downtown.
• I know it's a really REALLY short track with only 3 lanes, but do you THINK you could carry on your convo without wandering between all 3 of them?  Some lady got pissed when I yelled "ON YOUR RIGHT!" after the 3rd lap of dodging them.
• The thing that I like about this gym is that it's not really a meat market.  Maybe it is and I'm just too damn focused to realize.  Yeah, that's gotta be it.  That being said, there are still those that have made it their mission in life to strut around the entire gym (both floors) without really DOING anything.  Quite comical, seeing as though the ones they're trying to impress seemingly have no interest.  See, THEY'RE WORKING OUT, Captain HGH.

I have to admit, I hit the treadmill last night when I should've probably run outside yesterday morning.  Regardless, my knee is feeling the effects of the Rubber Band of Doom today.  Yet another reason to hate the damn thing.  It was either that, or be constantly turning left on the 3 mile track and yelling ON YOUR RIGHT!  I need to get some goggles so I can go swimming.

Conventions Past

I'm back from 4 days in Kansas City.  The best thing that I can say about the trip is that it was fairly uneventful.  This is good considering we took 34 high schoolers (32 of them girls) and threw them into convention center filled with over 4000 OTHER high school students (many of them boys).  From what I could tell, no one got hurt.  That's always a plus.  We went down with 34 and came back with 34.  Teacher of the Year!

I managed to get a run in, too.  Since I'm slowly coming back, I thought I'd just kick out 3 miles and call it good.  Here's the deal, though.  We were in downtown Kansas City and I found pretty quickly it's not conducive to runners.  I looped around some of the non-descript parts of downtown and came to the realization that I really don't like downtown running.  Too many starts and stops and I have to watch out for that pesky thing called "traffic".  As I was starting and stopping, I looked back on my runs when I go to this convention.  A recap, if you will:

• Nashville - looped around the hotel.  The Opryland hotel.  3 miles...just to run around the hotel.  
• Philadelphia - Great run.  Did the cheesy (get it?  CHEESE-y?  Cheesesteak?  C'mon folks!) thing and ran to the steps of the museum, a la Rocky.  Then I realized I had to run BACK to the hotel.  Whoops.
• St. Louis - Ran to Illinois and back and around the Arch twice in a rainstorm.  Sucked, but at least there was a running path.
• D.C. - Unrelenting rain for 3.75 days straight.  The other .25?  We were busy going to the airport to go home.  Damnit!!
• KC - No real running trail/sidewalk to speak of.  

They may not have running trails downtown, but at least they have BBQ.  And good BBQ at that.  Next year is Minneapolis.  I fully plan on running through their intricate tunnel/skywalk system.  Kind of like a hamster in one of those little playthings.  I'm not up on my pet rodent accessories, so excuuuuse me.  Maybe at the end, I'll get a pellet or a quick spin on a wheel.  Fingers crossed, gang.

What's That Noise?

After a trip to the gym and yet another stellar performance on the court (0 pts., 2 rebounds, 1 foul), I was encouraged by how my knee felt.  Funny thing, though:  there's an odd clicking noise/feeling in my left knee.  So, after a trip to WebMD and Cool Running, here's what I've found:

WebMD:  It's either Runners Knee or I need a titanium replacement

Cool Running:  It's Runners Knee.  Put some ice on it and take some ibuprofen.

I'm going to go with Cool Running and hit the road for the first time in 2 weeks tomorrow morning.  It's either that, or I spend 15 excruciating minutes on the elliptical again.

**KC Update** - Looks like the safest running route for me to take is to the hotel's fitness center*.  Really, Kansas City?  Minus points and I'm not even there yet.

*Credit that statement to either Adam or Mark.  I can't remember and I'm too damn lazy to look for it on my Twitter feed.

Wait for it.....

This whole writing thing is like running.  Once you start hitting a groove, things go pretty easily.  Getting it cranked up again after a layoff however, is pretty slow-going.  Yesterday's post?  Not great, but it got me back into the swing of things.

So here I sit, with cursor blinking trying to get the creative juices going again.

Wait for it.....


Wait for it.....


Nothing's flowing.  Maybe if I take a quick walk around my part of the building (insert "hard-earned tax dollars at work" comment here)


Still waiting....

Nope, I got nothing.  I must admit it's nice to see some of the ol' gang either commenting and/or writing.  Kinda makes this thing fun.

I need some sort of outlet right now.  No running, actually having to TEACH this year (gasp!), and the general craziness that everyone has in their lives has me looking for an outlet.  Hopefully, writing/blogging can be that outlet.  Wish me luck.

I may have some material early next week as I get back on the court on Sunday.  I'm taking Viper's advice and am going to throw elbows.  It'll be for the good of the team.  Oh, and we go on our annual national high school journalism conference later next week.  I'll have some material there, for sure.  Still need to find a downtown Kansas City running route where I won't get molested and/or killed.  Easier said than done.

Have a good weekend everyone!

So, Yeah...

Let's just jump into this like nothing has happened between us since my last post.  Now....where do I start?

1. I joined a gym - My wife had joined a gym this past summer and I had toyed around with the idea of it.  It had all of the amenities.  It was small - both a plus and a minus - and it was pretty affordable for all of the things that we got with the membership.  I haven't been a "gym guy" for quite awhile, but one thing struck me.  Why the hell would you bring your cell phone with you while you work out?   Seriously, how good is your workout going to be between Facebook posts and "OMG!" messages?  Oh, and I'll wait until your done texting your HGH guy so I can put on the 15 lbs weights for my reps, OK Brutus?
2. I ran my relay - Again, it was a lot of fun AND the weather cooperated with us this time.  In fact, it got a little toasty in the afternoon, but we hydrated well.  Oh, how did I do you ask?  I sucked it.  Big time.  It can't be good when my running mantra for the last 2 legs was "I undertrained."
3. I got hurt because of my relay - Running 3 tempo runs in one day, totaling 13 miles and continually jumping in and out of the van without stretching will do that to you.  Lesson learned?  I'm a moron.
4. Rehab sucks - I'm on a self-imposed rehab assignment.  I'm 99% sure I have runner's knee, so I'm trying to still exercise without pounding the pavement.  Let me just say this:  I'm a runner.  I am not a pretend cyclist, stair climber or cross-country skiier.  
5. I signed up for a basketball league - I do a few things well:  run, golf, teach, drink beer, eat and write.  There is one thing that I don't do well:  play basketball.  So, of course I decide to sign up for my church's men's league at the prompting of one of my so-called friends.   Why you ask?  Who the hell knows?  Not only that, but my "friend" convinced me that I'd do better in the under 35 league because I was probably in better shape than most of the guys (I'm 38).   Here's what I've found after 4 games:  I still suck at basketball, but I can hustle up and down the court.  Yea me.  Nothing like being first one on your end of the court and you miss an easy jumper.  Now I'm the wiiiiiiide open guy for every offensive series.  Wonder why?

That's about my last month in a nutshell.  Blog posting/reading will be sporadic at best.  I'll spare you the grim details, but the words "budget cliff" and "value to the district" are not uncommon in these parts.  Keeping myself below the radar by actually teaching.  Who woulda thought?