Let it Stop, let it stop, let it stop

12/30/08 (Day 4): 10 miles (10min/mi). 1pm-3pm. Listened to 2 episodes of "Wait, wait, Don't Tell Me" podcast, which is always a dangerous proposition (laughing while running on a treadmill). Slept 4 hours last night, and am going to nap next.

This snow is driving me nut-so. Does it REALLY have to snow twice every week? It makes my commute a living hell. The only consolation is it tends to snow Monday night/Tuesdays, and I've been getting off early most Tuesdays so I at least miss that afternoon hellish commute. I have shoveled my driveway a gazillion times, a chore that my poor fingers and toes don't enjoy--they turn ice cold within about 10 minutes, even with my $35 Cabela's brand gloves.

RR is finishing my garage, insulating and sheet-rocking the remaining wall and a half that wasn't done when I bought the house. A couple more coats of mud and I'll be able to park in the garage again. A week parked outside during 20 degree weather is better than the 3 weeks I parked outside last winter in the coldest of the cold spells as my garage was then the workshop for staining and finishing all new trim and doors for the house.

Voila!

12/29/08: 10 miles (10min/mi). Started at 4am and out of the gym by 6:10a. Listened to 2 episodes of Dave Ramsey podcast and half of "The Story" (about the relationship between a former frat kid and his former frat house cook). Slept 40 minutes last night. Why? Because I haven't been to sleep before 2:30a in a week and half. I knew if I went to bed I'd NEVER get up at 3:30a, so in order to not have to be so tired getting up, I just didn't go to bed. I also was watching a borrowed 2nd season of "The Wire" (good show!). I did sleep between 3:05-3:45a. First 6 miles were so-so, then I had my startling revelation (see below) and my last 4 miles were great.

12/28/08: 10 miles (10min/mi). Started at 7:30a and out the door by 10p. I had been at the tanning booth before running and used some "tingle" lotion that works by bringing all your blood to the skin surface (or something like that). I was a red, overheated mess BEFORE I got to the gym. Listened to 2 episodes of "The Story". I thought the episode entitled "Feeling the Pinch" would be about bank/financial stuff, which I enjoy, but instead it was about the Maine Lobstermen feeling the "pinch" of the economy. Good listen regardless. Slept 7 hours the night before, the least amount in a week.

12/27/08: 10 miles (10min/mi). Started at 1:30p and home by 3:45p. Slept a good 10 hours on my couch the night before (purposefully, as it's not as comfortable as my bed and I didn't want to sleep 12 hours by accident and waste the day). Also went back to the gym at 12:30a that late night with RR and did a upper body workout (bi's, tri's, and chest) and am lucky right now that I'm able to undress.

I couldn't quite figure out why some days at the gym I feel just great on the treadmill, and others are such a struggle. Some days I cruise along at an easy 10min/mi and do 10 miles no problem. Other days I am able to get 10 miles in only by stopping and really NEEDING a break every 2 miles. Those are the days that I am panting, unable to catch my breath, with heavy legs.

Well, I figured it out this morning, and it's very simple. There's a giant fan in the ceiling, and if I'm running on a treadmill underneath it, all is well. The treadmills on the other side of the row, well, I'm suffocating. It must be really poor air circulation under those.

I am thinking my next goal will be to run 10 miles every day. In my mind I find that to be a fairly reasonable goal. 10 miles can be done in under 2 hours, and i could budget 2 hours of time including a shower. And 2 hours a day at the gym is reasonable, right?

(Maybe... but if I'm working 18 hours that day and commuting 1.5hrs, maybe even 2 hours isn't, but I'm not going to think about that right now).

A co-worker, when asked about this potential goal, doesn't like it. Her plan? I should run to Fargo, do the Fargo marathon with her, and then run home. That's dreaming too big for me: I can't afford the time off from work (a week each way, I think).

Update-- I need a sponsor

Well, I did my 9 miles on no sleep on Tuesday, worked until 3:30p, got home, shoveled, and went to bed.

My alarm went off at 2:45 on Wednesday and I said, NO WAY, and slept for 2 more hours. Worked (6:15a-5p) and then did my 10 miles.

Because Thursday was a 2 job day, I had no choice but to do the miles in the morning. So less than 8 hours after I got off the treadmill the night before, back I was at it, doing my 11miles (before work at 6:15a).

I ALMOST didn't run on Thursday. I started getting a sore throat sometime early Wednesday, and by the end of the day my voice was getting pretty hoarse. I took a bite of my toast on Thursday morning and was met with intense pain. I don't have any interest in getting myself sick, and I hesitated, but decided to do the run.

Well, today, Friday. I guess this is it. No miles for me today. I started coughing overnight, my throat still hurts, and I'm a little stuffed up. I slept for 10+ hours, and again, since I have no desire to get myself sick, I'm not running today.

My legs feel fine, and if not sick, I know I could go on.

I enjoy this goal, and I think for the rest of the month I'll try to run the miles if I'm healthy and if it isn't going to mean no sleep at all. I'll keep trying, but the part time job really means I can't sanely complete this goal. The part time job means I have a couple nights a week that I can only get 3 hours of sleep, and running 15-20 miles day after day instead of sleep just really won't work.

Thanks for all the support of my commenters; I appreciate it!

Additional goal info

This info will be in a slightly mottled form as I'm running on no sleep. Literally, actually.

My Tuesday is a continuation of Monday, that began with a 8 mile run started at 3:45am, an 11h work day, straight through a blizzard to the part-time gig (arrived late due to snow), and then we were so busy we were kept late (until 2:45a!), back into the blizzard and horrible roads. Since I have to be back at work today at 6:30a in Plymouth, I'm going to head out to do my 9 miles now.

To answer a few questions:

--I rejoined Lifetime Fitness, so I'm running on the treadmill there. I could run outside, but I can't stand the cold and am really not that eager or willing to do so. MAYBE on Christmas Day if the gym is closed and I'm still reaching for my goal.

--I'm doing 10min/mi. Usually fairly comfortable for me, but considering my lack of training this fall, not as easy as I'd like.

--I don't have my own personal t.v. at the gym, so I listen to my ipod. Sometimes I listen to music, sometimes to podcasts. Yesterday I almost fell off the treadmill laughing at Denis Leary on "Wait, Wait, Don't tell Me".

--There is no pool at work, although this was discussed. My thoughts were if they were to have a pool they should keep it secret from me so I am unable to consciously/unconsciously choose the outcome.

--I have no idea how long I can keep it up. Physically if it weren't for work I could probably do the mileage. Realistically with the time commitment, who knows.

--Half a dozen people have asked me or insuated that I of course won't run my miles on Christmas Eve/Day, to which I respond, of COURSE I'll run. I'll have the 24th-28th darn close to completely off of work, so I can easily find the time to run the miles if my body hasn't given up on me. It's 29th-31st that worries me, when I have to work many hours while running 5 hours a day? I don't know.

No less than 4 co-workers asked me today if I had ran. And now that I'm running again, I get to return to the typical comments I get from people who don't really know I run... "You ran HOW many miles before work today?!?? WHAT time did you get up?" And of course, "I don't even want to DRIVE 'X' miles"!

That's the end of the update and I'm heading back to the gym (9miles). I work all day Tuesday and then will come home and sleep until Wednesday I'm sure.

December goal

I got the idea in my head a few days ago that in December I'd attempt to run a mile for each day of the month that it was. For example, today, on 12/6, I ran 6 miles. I made the mistake of mentioning the idea to quite a few co-workers, so now I'll have a harder time giving up.

Realistically, I don't know if I have the time or the ability to do it, what with my pretty pathetic training amounts of the last few months. But I'll give it a try.

Days 3-6: Ran 3 miles the evening of the 3rd, 4 miles the morning of the 4th, 5 miles yesterday before working the afternoon, and 6 miles early afternoon today. So far, so good. For some reason yesterday's 5 miles were tough and I thought that I was in for trouble; if I can't even do 5 miles without struggling, how would I get later in the month? But today I did 6 without struggle, so we'll continue on.

Feed my Starving Children

Last night as part of a work Holiday party we went out to volunteer for Feed My Starving Children. We spent about an hour bagging up meals that are sent to missions. The work was fun, although I attribute that more to my co-workers than to the actual "fun quotient" of the work. We also got to sample the food when we were all finished, and the vast majority of my group thought it was disgusting. I didn't think it was too bad. The meals are made up of a chicken flavored nutrient powder, dried vegetables, a soy product, and rice. I might look into going out and volunteering there again.

To know the truth

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Atlanta musings

I've been going through books like there was no tomorrow, what with audiobooks at the part time job. Over a 3 day period I listened to both "Culture Warrior" by Bill O'Reilly and "I am American and So Can You!" by Steven Colbert. Very interesting juxtaposition, as the latter is essentially a parody of the first. And you know what? I liked BOTH of the books, taking the first seriously and having a jolly good time listening to the second.

Also, remember the accident a few years back where a survivor was hospitalized for a month before it was realized it was not who they thought it was? Very tragic. I listened to the book "Mistaken Identity" and was entertained (in a most compassionate way).

Also I listened to the book Blink and it was absolutely GREAT! It was recommended to me and I dutifully put it on my to-read list and I loved it. I was enthralled by certain sections and after finishing it, almost started from the beginning again. Stew: if you liked "Stumbling On Happiness" you should read this one, too, as it covers similar ground surrounding how a person's brain works.

I'm reporting to you from most lovely Atlanta, where I am until next Tuesday for a work conference. I enjoy most of the classes I take, although admittedly some more than others.

Homeless Joe told me that someone was threatening to kill himself from jumping from some window of my hotel. Sure enough, there was a cop out front, but I saw no potential jumper, nor any evidence of a successful jump.

My room was upgraded for me beyond any possible reason: I am in a 2 bedroom apartment suite, so yes, even though I am only 1 person, I have two double beds from which to choose. I also have 2 full bathrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, and in case I have subjects coming to beg for something, a separate sitting room as well. It's almost too much room.

More leaves, treadmills, and money

I finished my leaf project in 3 hours today before going in to pick up some hours at my part-time job.

Final tally was about 7 hours and 8 big lawn and leaf bags.

I think I'm going to start a compost pile, something I'd been considering for awhile. So, in the corner of my backyard I dumped the equivalent of 2 big bags of the pulverized leaf material as a start. I think I'm going to try to find a couple of pallets from a local store of some sort to create a couple walls. In addition I am going to try to mow mine/RR's lawn one last time to collect the grass clippings to add to the pile. When I'm going to do this, especially with the dark evenings, I do not know. Most likely will work Wednesday night at ptj (part time job), get up Thursday a.m., mow, make sure I'm packed, maybe head into work for a few hours, and then I have a evening flight to Atlanta for a work meeting, not getting back until next Tuesday.

PTJ is good, as I get a lot of podcast and audiobook listening in, and the work is easy (simple data entry). It's nice making a little extra money to pay off some of my debt.

At work co-workers and I will sometime chat about the economy. I find it interesting that while most everyone I talk to is bemoaning the fact that they are upside down in their mortgages, I actually have 2 houses that are both worth more (based on tax value) than what I owe on them. I'm holding firm on my belief that the economy will turn around and my homes, purchased low, will have been good investments.

I do have a pile of credit card debt, mainly important house stuff (like furnaces) as I've always been good with money and have not been prone to impulse spending or getting way out of control. (Except, as I told V last weekend, I probably didn't NEED to buy the 43" television the day before my annual superbowl party [to which you are all invited] to make sure the Nightman was completely satisfied with the party).

I have 12 credit cards, but I used to have way more. Right after high school I used to collect credit cards, applying for as many as I could and getting all the free t-shirts. I even had a card in the name of my friend Nora's dog Bonnie (see my last post to read about Nora in my first webpage from the late '90's). After I received the card in her name, I started getting credit offers for her. Eventually Bonnie passed on, yet I still got credit offers--for a dead dog.

The media warns of being careful of cards cutting credit limits. Not mine... I've had 2 cards in the last two weeks raise my credit limits. Fine by me, because my credit score will improve because I'll be using a lower percentage of my credit limit.

As far back as high school I used to tell people I was good for the economy: I always enjoyed working and making money, but I also enjoyed spending it.

When my old treadmill finally died, I bought a new one, cancelling my gym membership and justifying it saying my treadmill payment was $0.08 more than my gym membership. So I had a nice treadmill and committed to turning my garage into a workout room of sorts.

Problem: Treadmill is additional debt. Also, I wasn't using it because either I was getting home WAY too late from ptj and didn't want to wake my renter, or I was exhausted and going to bed early. There was no way to force myself into a routine.

So, I sold the treadmill. Posted it on craigslist and had it sold (with only a slight loss) within a few days. It felt really good to turn that money around and pay off the card it was on.

Now I have no treadmill and no gym membership. I have considered just running outside for free. Well, again, because of ptj, I don't feel secure running around Coon Rapids at 3am (whereas yes, I would go to the gym at 3am). So now I'm considering joining Lifetime again, as it is 0.25 miles away from my house.

I may also try to run outside at least one weekend day a week, but we'll see about that.

Another problem: I spend 20+ hours per week at ptj listening to audiobooks/podcasts. Can I really train on a treadmill at the gym and listen to it MORE? Any ideas for a small DVD player I can balance on the treadmill so I can watch my shows? Or maybe not balance, but somehow prop in the book holder?

My first webpage

Check out my very first webpage. I'm stumbled upon the link a little bit ago and am shocked that it still works.

I believe it was made in 1997-98 time period and I worked on it for about a week before never touching it again.

Leaves

For my b-day present (back in August) I asked my parents for money to buy a leaf blower/sucker mulcher. I finally got the opportunity to use it this afternoon.

In between my yard and RR's yard is a HUGE sugar maple (legally it's HIS tree, but it drapes my entire side yard). It's because of this tree that during the summer months I'm unable to "monitor" him from my bedroom window into his living room. Note: I don't do that and wouldn't do that even without the tree. The tree provides a lot of shade that probably brings down my summer cooling costs.

The roots are very close to the surface, making it tough to mow around. The roots also make it difficult for grass to grow, so it's not that big of a deal. It also drops a ton of leaves, and as the leaves inconveniently for me drop during fall hunting season while RR is away, I have taken it upon myself to "deal with" the leaves in both our yards. Again, this is his entire backyard and my side yard, my front yard (another big sugar maple) and my backyard (2 sugar maples--one in my backyard and the other one just over the border in my other neighbor's yard).

Last year I raked. And raked and raked and raked. I was sore and had blisters all over my hands (well, honestly I think it was only one blister, but it hurt and was in a poorly located spot). I had big paper bags from Home Depot that I dutifully filled, one after another. When all was said and done I put 20+ hours into the project and it took 25 of the big bags filled twice. (How did I do that? Eforce took me and my leaves to the Anoka County compost place to dump the first batch).

This year I decided to try the blower/sucker thing and so far so good. The most frustrating part is the extension cords; I have to be very careful else I pull out a connection on one of the 3 cords. Yes, I could have gotten a gas powered machine, but I think that would have been tougher to maintain through the years.

The blower part is fantastic. I VERY quickly blew all the leaves into multiple large piles. The vacuuming is slower than blowing, but I believe faster than the bagging by hand. Also much less physical work. The machine also mulches the leaves down to (advertised) 1/16th of their original size. I tend to believe the advertising because when I dump the bag the leaves are close to dust.

I am halfway done or so in about 4 hours and have 5 big lawn and leaf bags filled. Talking to my mom tonight I think I may start a compost pile in my backyard and may just dump the leaves I take care of tomorrow into a pile.

Annual Halloween Hayride

Today's the day Van and Tim hold the hayride through their yard to scare and entertain their high school nieces and all their friends. I've agreed to help out and told them I'd be over around 2p, which will be problematic as they live 1h5min away (thank you new hwy 212) and it's currently 1:30-ish.

I'm dressed in two layers of black clothes and have a piece of black velvet to drape around me. Word has it that I might be the corpse lying in a grave, reaching my arm out at the appropriate time. There will be THREE chainsaw wielding lunatics this year, but I don't think I've been upgrade to that choice role. Last year I hung out by the fire with the kids who, at 2 and 4 yrs old did not need much convincing that the ride would be too scary.

I guess last night Vanessa had her mom invite over all her church lady friends for dinner, and not to mention that they were going to be the dress rehearsal hayride riders.

What has Diane been reading/listening to?

"Me Against My Brother": I can't find my original blog on this book, but I think during my first review I couldn't remember the title. Well, the title came to me. This is a book I really enjoyed that I read in Wyoming last summer (2007). It tells about a journalist's experience in war torn areas in Africa.

"Into the Wild": Listed to it on audiobook. I loved "Into Thin Air" and this was written by the same author and tells the story of a 20-something year old who walked into the wilderness to live off the land. He wasn't successful, dying within 5 months or something. Not as good as "Into Thin Air" but worth my time. My favorite part of the book was when the author Jon Krakauer was telling the story about one of his close calls on the side of a mountain. I guess the book is a movie now. Have not seen it.

"The Innocent Man": LOVED this book by John Grisham. Listened to it on audiobook. The whole book was read in such a way that I guessed it was nonfiction and found out for sure during the epilogue at the end. I'd definitely recommend this book, about two men who were wrongly convicted for a rape/murder and spent years in prison/death row before DNA evidence exonerated them.

"The World Without Us": I had considered purchasing this book to take to Wyoming with me last year, so was pleased to find it at the library on audio book. Well, I just couldn't handle listening to it; my mind continually wandered off before I got through the first CD. I'll have to check out the actual book to read, as I still find the book's premise interesting.

One last trip

I'm heading up north for one last fall trip. Not camping, but staying in the same cabins we were at over Memorial Day. I'll definitely update this blog when I get back to town!

Wild Home Opener

Tonight is the Wild's home/season opener and I'm taking my dad to the game for his b-day as I have each of the last 7 years or so (every season except the first when I didn't have tickets and the year of the lock-out when we didn't play). We're going to eat at Matty B's, otherwise known as the restaurant that is right next door to the parking ramp.

Book review: Last night while working I listened to "Into the Wild" on audiobook. My review? It was so-so. My favorite part of the book was when Jon Krakauer was talking about his own life and the story about one of his climbs in Alaska. I was expecting to enjoy it as much as I did "Into Thin Air", but I didn't. I think its grade suffered a bit in comparison.

I have a new job I'm working part-time to make a little bit of money. It's data entry and super easy. The best part about it is I can listen to my ipod or CD's. I've listened to a pile of podcasts I've downloaded and went to the library yesterday to grab some audiobooks.

Camping Trip--Aborted

I'm still alive. I just haven't been doing too much that's interesting and worth blogging (not that that has stopped me before). I started a new part time job that keeps me entertained some evenings during the week.

Last weekend we had big plans for our end of the year camping trip up to Jay Cook State Park. In a couple weeks RR and V will be leaving for WY to go mule deer hunting and will come back to 5 solid weeks of MN hunting. Me, being a freeze baby, have already started curling up inside my house, avoiding the winter.

Back to Jay Cook: we drove past it on the way up north purposely choosing to head to Two Harbors to set up deer stands first. We knew that it was possible that the campground might be full when we returned, but we weren't worried; we'd just camp at Banning or Moose Lake State Parks.

Sure enough, arriving at 8:30p we found the campground jam packed. We got to Moose Lake about half an hour later to find the campground empty except an odd 50-something year old man. He asked us a random question as we stood outside the deserted ranger station, filling out the campground self-registration. He pulled up next to us again when we reached our campsite, asking another random question/statement.

We set up camp (tents, sleeping bags, the whole works) and attempted to get a fire going. We'd had to drive in to town to buy wood that was ended up being green, making it tough to get the fire going on a night that really needed a fire to warm it up.

Meanwhile... the odd 50-something started acting... freaky and odd.

The campground was empty except for him and us. There are 2-3 different loops containing a total of about 30 sites, none that were in use.

Between 9p and 11:30p this man performed the following loop: Drive slowly around the loop we were in, pass our site, stop, back up slowly, sit for 30 seconds, start driving, and disappear. 15 minutes later he'd repeat it. 15 minutes later AGAIN, he repeated it. But he started stopping longer and longer near us. Finally, at 11:30p he stopped, backed up, turned his lights off, on, off, on, and then pulled into the site right next to us where he apparently decided to set up camp.

The Fab 4 had a meeting and decided this guy was WAY too strange for us to camp next to in an empty campground. We had not seen a ranger all night, and decided it wasn't worth it. We packed up and left by midnight, arriving home just after 2am. It was a 14hour trip: our shortest, most expedited trip ever.

Admiral Barky

My last trip to the library I brought a list of books that were on my "to-read" list; unfortunately the library only had one of about 10 of them, so I wandered up and down the aisles and picked out about 5 random books.

"Shadow Divers" was one of my random finds. The dust cover started out by saying: "In the tradition of Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air..." and I was hooked. I loved "Into Thin Air".

"Shadow Divers" was a very interesting book that did keep me interested the whole time. I know NOTHING about deep sea diving, or wreak diving, or any sort of diving. I have no interest in EVER diving. None. Zero. The thought of doing it scares me (whereas the idea of climbing Mt. Everest enthralls me). Both are actually quite dangerous, but diving is a sport I don't ever want to do.

That being said, this was a really good book. I learned a lot about diving. I learned a lot about U-boats (well, not a lot. Nothing specific. In fact, it'd be more accurate to say I learned a lot about all there would be to learn about U boats). I really like submarine movies, especially depth charges. And the "ah-OOG-a, ah-OOG-a" siren that goes off right before the captain yells, "Dive! Dive! Dive!" And how about that American Express card commercial that takes place on the sub, highlighting how you can have any picture you want on your card, even "Admiral Barky" the dog of the sub captain. That's great.

Really good book I'd definitely recommend. I want to watch the Nova special about this true story (did I mention it's a true story?).

I told you so! Treadmill day 91

I ended up with a surprise day off due to the plumbing emergency my doctor had at her house, causing her to cancel clinic. I wanted to go golfing, but the pounding rain says no.

Yesterday I was talking to a co-worker about the upcoming Whistlestop Marathon less than 3 weeks away, which I'm 90% likely to do. I mentioned to him that I really had not been training for it. "Are you going to?" he asked, to which I replied, essentially, when you're 3 weeks out, what you see is what you get. Not totally true, but good enough of a response for a lay person. Then he asked if I was in shape enough to just go out and run a marathon without training at all. Yup, I replied.

I'm guessing I'll finish Whistlestop in 4:30 or less, which isn't too shabby for not training. I'll probably go out and aim to break 4:00 and fail, coming in around 4:15-20.

Back in the fall of 2006 into 2007 I liked to tell people that I wanted to be fit enough that with a day's notice I could run a marathon in under 4h. And at that point I could. I ran Boston without training in 3:54 in April of 2007.

Anyway, today with my expanse of free time I decided to see what I could do. I was aiming to run a marathon on my treadmill in under 4:30.

I came close, finishing in 4:43. I would have made my goal had I eaten any breakfast (had not) or if I had fueled along the way (did not). This lack of fuel also became part of my personal challenge today--to see how well I could do running a marathon I didn't train for on no food.

How did that go? Well, got to about mile 18 before I really started to not like it. Kept up my 10min/mi pace through 21.36 miles, when I stopped the treadmill. You think running a looped course is tough, that it can be hard to pass your car every mile, or 2 miles, or 10 miles and decide to keep going? Yeah, well it's that much more mentally tough on a treadmill, where all you have to do is push "STOP" and you can be in the shower 3 minutes later and asleep on your couch in 10. I restarted the treadmill and did a tough last 4.84, keeping my running pace going for 0.30 of a mile at a time followed by a 0.20 mile 4mph walk. But I finished. And I finished almost 6 episodes of "The Shield".

Recap: Total of 150 treadmill miles. What a nice round number. Good thing I didn't give up at mile 21.36.

Feel the Burn

We had a great weekend in the BWCA (hiking, not canoeing).

We left Friday early afternoon and headed up through Two Harbors to Bear Head State Park. We got there rather late (7:30p), set up camp, and relaxed by the fire.

On Saturday morning before the rest of the group was up, I explored some of the park's trails. I walked a 5k loop with the NorthStar Trail Travelers Volksport group because they were there. The gentleman I walked with told me if I had enough energy I could walk the 2nd 5k loops they had, but alas, I had to get back to camp.

We hiked the Angleworm Trail that started 1/2 hour north of Ely. The weather was perfect: 65-70 degrees during the day and down to about 35-40 overnight. The leaves were just beginning to change.

The trail around the lake was advertised as 12, but we're guessing it to be closer to 16. We hiked 4.5 hours in on Saturday and 4.5 hours out on Sunday, all with 40lb packs (or so) on our backs. (Anyone want a way to feel like the Superior hiking trail races are EASY...? Wear a pack for a few hours of hiking before the race starts and your feet will fly over the trails!).

My legs have that pleasant sore feeling they get when I really push myself, and it feels good.

Treadmill Day 81-87

My goal this week was to finish Season 6 of "The Shield". Ha!

Saturday, Sept. 13: I started the 1st episode and got about 10 minutes into it before I realized that I really didn't feel like running. So I stopped.

Sunday, Sept. 14: I had PLENTY of time to kill on this rainy afternoon that wouldn't allow me to golf. But I realized I still didn't feel like running, so I got stuff done around the house and watched 3 episodes of medical mysteries on TLC.

Monday, Sept. 15-18:Do you really want to hear the excuses why I didn't hit the treadmill at all? They involve a new renter moving in and me not wanting to keep her awake, going to a play that my co-worker is in, making a screen window, applying for part time jobs, packing for the boundary waters, and reading.

Friday, Sept. 19: Leaving for the Boundary Waters tomorrow morning for a hiking/backpacking trip. I think we're going to hike Angleworm trail.

Recap: Total of 123.8 treadmill miles. 0 miles for the week.

Whistlestop Marathon is still my intention for October 11th, although I'm woefully untrained.

My goal next week will be (again) to finish Season 6 of "The Shield". That's about 8.3 hours of running.