Full Metal Lunchbox

 
It's 8AM on a Saturday morning and I should still be asleep.  But about an hour ago my two gassy pugs woke me up demanding outside time.  And I was too hungover to sleep anyway.

Last night I hung out at Konak with Jim.  Fueled by Wild Turkey I had a massive pool winning streak, assisted by my able doubles partners Axel and Artirez.

Now I'm hungover and contemplating what has to be done today:

1) Get back on my diet that I briefly went off last night by drinking to celebrate the 3 pounds I lost by not drinking so much.

2) Drink water and go back to bed.

3) Convince Sadie and Holly to stop farting so I can get some sleep.

4) Clean up my disaster of an apartment so Denise isn't scared away tomorrow.

5) Go running.

6) Lie around and watch TV.

Am I forgetting anything?

And what about you, gentle reader?  Are you forgetting something?  Have you signed up for the Shamrock Shuffle yet?  I'm having a party afterwards for anyone who runs or walks it.

Only 28 days to go!  See you at the starting line, everybody!




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UPDATE:  I just saw that the Shamrock Shuffle has sold out.  Leave a comment if you signed up and will be there.

 

Last night Jay and I ran along the lakefront.  It was my first time running by the lake this year and my first outdoor 5 miler since... well, a while.

Distance:  5 miles
Time:  46:05
Average Pace:  9:13/mile

We both ran a good pace, but I felt exhausted at the end.  I'm still a bit out of shape and I still have a ways to go if I want to beat my 8K PR at the Shamrock.





Last summer Jay and I met weekly for medium-distance runs, followed by dinner and drinks at Twisted Spoke.  It's a tradition I hope we can keep going again the rest of this year.. even though there are some big changes coming.  (Watch this space for future details.)

Two whiskeys and a buffalo chicken sandwich were all that it took for me to be passing out on the train.  I even slept through my stop and had to get off at the next one to take another train back!

Hopefully after a few more of these outdoor 5 milers I wont fall asleep so easily afterwards.

 
As my readers in the IT field know well, weekend migration projects are the worst time to be dieting.  So, of course, this past weekend's OPEX implementation was where I spent my first two full days back on Weight Watchers.

Everywhere around me I was surrounded either by junk food or people talking about junk food.  Finally I couldn't take it anymore so I ran to 7-11 and picked up the healthiest snacks I could find: Danon "Light 'n Fit" yogurt, mixed veggies, fruit cup, and a big can of Arizona Diet Green Tea.

These snacks really helped, and by the time we ordered lunch I was able to make the right choices because I wasn't panicy hungry.

Sunday at work was also similarly successful, and now it's Monday and I'm at home and not at all tempted by junk food.  I think I might be over my first dieting hump.

See you all at the other end of 19 pounds.

 
Today's post is about "oops!" and "doh!"

Oops, I gained weight again!  I'm now up four pounds from where I started!!  My own willpower has failed me, and I have re-joined Weight Watchers.  WW is highly effective, but is no fun.  Doh!

Oops, I hurt my hamstrings with the combination of stair master, lunges, and yoga.  Sitting down will not the be same for a while.  Doh!

Oops, I seem to have already spent my disposable "fun money" this month!  Ironically I've been too busy working long hours (for valuable overtime pay) to notice that I haven't been balancing my checkbook.  Doh!

Oops, I answered a couple of questions on the phone today that I wish I had answered differently, possibly costing me a good opportunity.  (I can't be more specific yet.)  Doh!

Oops, I'm having a hard time adjusting to Weight Watchers and have already used up almost all of my "points" for the day.  I have to go to the gym now in order to exercise and earn "activity points" so I can eat dinner without going off my new diet on the very first day.  But I don't want to go to the gym because that means going outside and it's cold!  Doh!

Oops, I have to go outside anyway because Sadie is demanding outside time.  She hates the cold even more than I do, but nature calls.  Doh!

Oops, I'm putting off my walk with Sadie and my walk to the gym by wasting time writing this blog entry.  Doh!

Oh, and I almost forgot...

Oops, I volunteered to work long days the entire upcoming three day weekend, starting before sunrise tomorrow.  Doh!

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Friday Night UPDATE:  Oops, I badly pulled a calf muscle while taking my shoes off after coming home from the gym.  Doh!

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Saturday Night UPDATE:  Oops, it looks like I'm not going to be able to fulfill my pledge to workout every day until the Shamrock Shuffle.  My calf muscle is still recovering and after a long day at work I fell asleep and only woke up after my gym closed.  Doh.

 
My recent lunch with Denise at Tiffin put me in an Indian mood.  So today's blog post will be a special Indian edition.

It's been a week now and I'm still managing to keep my pledge to exercise every day until the Shamrock Shuffle.  Yesterday was the biggest challenge to my willpower, because after it took me two hours to get home from O'Hare I didn't feel like trudging through the snow to the gym.  So I did something I hadn't done in a long time: yoga.

Last year JB was nice enough to give me my favorite of her yoga videos, which I dusted off after locating my yoga mat.





I don't have any photos of myself doing yoga, but it looked something like this.

I was feeling rusty and only made it halfway through the routine, but I still got a terrific workout.

I understand now why so many runners rave about yoga, and I plan on making it a regular part of my exercise routine.






Then last night for dinner I had a bunch of Indian food I purchased from Devon Avenue.  It was out of sight delicious and I was happy to see that I ended up with plenty of leftovers.  The best part was the fresh paratha -- moist and spicy!  I'll definitely be going back to that particular grocery store!

Now, I know what you're thinking: Isn't this blog supposed to be about running?  Indeed it is, so let me now take this opportunity to add one new entry to my fantasy future race calendar: the New Delhi Marathon.  This event, considered by some experts to be the world's fastest marathon course, is likely to attract Budhia Singh, who at four years old is the world's youngest ultra-runner.  (Now that's an age group that Shea will never place in!)




And finaly, in the spirit of Valentines Day, here is an excerpt from the love poem "Look to this Day" by the great Hindu poet Kalidasa.  It is dedicated to my dearest Denise, to whom I said a sad goodbye yesterday.

For yesterday is but a dream
And tomorrow is only a vision;
And today well-lived, makes
Yesterday a dream of happiness
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

To you, Denise, I say thank you for a wonderful yesterday, and a better tomorrow to come.




And to the rest of you, keep on running!

 

Well, folks, it's winter alright.  The hands are dry, the cars are crusted with salt, the lips are chapped, and the second round of credit card bills is soon to arrive from the holiday season.

Around this time last year I would generally stay indoors on cold weekends like this, content to medicate myself with bad cable TV and venturing outdoors only for emergency portions of Harold's Fried Chicken.

But not this year.  These days I have something to prove.  (Prove what?  To whom?  Why?  I dunno.)  And prove it I shall, if for no other reason than that there never seems to be anything good on TV.

As my irregular readers (Yes, you!  You are irregular.) know I am on a quest to exercise every day for 45 days leading up the Shamrock "drink flat beer in the cold" Shuffle, and I am pleased to report that so far I have been keeping my promise.

Here's what I accomplished today..

Distance:  2.5 miles
Time:  25:07
Pace:  10:03/mile

I know that's not much, but my humble self is still getting re-acclimated to running outdoors.  So I am building up distance very slowly.

Here's a satellite map of today's route:

St. Boniface Cemetery is a great place to warm up the muscles that first mile, and the funny tombstones make for a good distraction.  Also featured on this route is Chase Park, where I hope to do speed work someday if/when the snow ever melts.

Tomorrow I'll hit the gym with Denise, who is currently 20 miles away taking the Elk Grove police exam.  Wish her luck everybody!

And best of luck to all of you intrepid runners out there!  Keep it going!

 
If my blog posts these past few weeks have been any indicator, I've surely lost focus on my running and have instead allowed myself to become distracted.  I suppose that happens to a lot of us in January/February (the evil months) but now I feel like I've gone too far off course.  If it doesn't look like I've been running much lately, it's because I haven't.

It's time to get back to business.

So for me, as you dear readers are my witness, between now and the Shamrock Shuffle there shall be:






No more sports.

(Football is over, college sports don't count, and baseball is an ice age away.)













No more of my leftist political rants.

(Four more years!)












No more complaining about my job or the people I work with or our top-secret mission.

(My work friends are all quitting or getting fired anyway.)











No more drinking.


Ha, ha!  Just kidding!  Of course there'll be drinking, but only after...











Daily workouts!

That's every single day, without exception, between now and my first official race of the season.










That's right, folks, I'm going to engage in some form of exercise every single day for the next 45 days.  If I'm tired or injured or busy on any given day, then I'll at least take a nice walk or do something to keep my muscles loose.  But on most days I plan to either go to the gym (which for chrissakes is only three blocks from me) or run outside (as soon as the mercury crosses my tolerance threshhold of 25°F).

I've allowed myself to get distracted.  It's time to get back to business.

 
Oh, well.  So much for the Bears this year.






Here, in one of several second half game-losing moments, Rex Grossman fumbles the ball.








Anyone think he'll be starting for us next year?



Now for some peace and quiet until Cubs season.

 








--
UPDATE #1:  Jay made it through all 12 bars last night, though he stopped drinking complete beverages after bar #9. We're all proud of Jay, and we wish him even better success at next year's Superbowl Pub Crawl!

UPDATE #2:  To all the people who think the Bears are going to lose: You have been saying that all season and so far you have been wrong.

 





Sadie likes to steal my spot on the bed as soon as I get up from my afternoon nap.







No other pictures to show off.  Life has been uneventful everywhere except for work (where no cameras are allowed).

This weekend should be more interesting.  Tomorrow night I'm coaching a friend through the end of the world series of unnecessary drinking.  I'll be pacing him as he staggers from bar #9 to the finish line at bar #12.  Look for me at Delilah's around 9PM Saturday if you want to observe this spectacle.

Then on Sunday there's some kind of football game.