..And the People Chanted His Name.....

Jonathan asked for some WWE like jabs during the "Thrilla from Mongilla" (I dunno...had nothing to go with "thrilla") Anyhoo, here goes...
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*The people chanting in the background...STROLLER..STROLLER...STROLLER..*

Now....the earth started the rumble, your house started to shake, and GOD himself came down and said "Jon"
*you say* but my name is Jonathan
IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS!!!!!
The Stroller Boy says, know your role and tighen your sneakers, cause he's gonna check ya into the smackdown hotel..IF YA SMEELLLLLLLLLLLLL, WHAT STROLLER BOY, IS Cookin'..(cue the music) ;-)
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I can feel it already Jonathan, you're going to put up more mileage than you ever thought you could in a month, aren't you! :-) Awesome! or "Just Bring It!"

Longest Run of the Year for Me!

Just a quick one tonight....Got a 9 MILE run in after work! Mapped out a 7.5 mile route, but took some alternate roads and ended up with 9 miles by the time I got back! WooHoo! 9:30something pace which felt nice and easy as I wasn't going for time at all. Total time was 1:26:32, not too shabby. Man, I'm feeling ALOT better about the 10 mile race in late July now!

Watch out Voice, think I'm going for 100 miles in June....... :-) And yes, I trust whatever mileage you put up, use mapmyrun or whatever, it's all good to me.

TK421, Why Aren't You At Your Post?!?!

Random Disney Thoughts Listening to MouseGuest, yeah I know I'm behind, and thinking that I really need to do more Disney dining! Have hardly been to any of the restaurants in the MG tourney... Got an ADR for Chef Mickey's in Nov. though, so slowly but surely... I'm hating the Star Wars chat on most of the shows to highlight SW-Weekends. Why? Well, cause I can't go!!!!! Total SW nut, but not the kind of nut that knows all the names....maybe like a level 3 nut....Almost called myself TK421 on the boards when I signed up! Okay, so maybe it's a level 4....

The DVC-hole-in-my-backyard project - A couple of great suggestions have come in from Deb and Rae on how to make my pool project DVC-like.... They suggested that I carve a hidden mickey into the concrete or something of that nature. Awesome idea, but will have to go in the concrete decking as it's a liner pool and I wouldn't see it in the underlying concrete base. I'm actually thinking of another idea in that we have one section of the pool deck a different color (almost like a walk of fame square) and do up a nice not-so-hidden Mickey there! Maybe carve in "Our DVC Property" under it....LOL Thanks for the ideas! I'll definitely post whatever we end up doing! Will post more pictures soon, they have most of it framed out now, and will be pouring the concrete base today/tomorrow. Just haven't been able to download the pics from my camera yet.

Training Update - Since starting to feel a little better, still coughing here and there, I've put in three consecutive days running (total of 11.37 miles). Feel pretty good, but still not 100%. Want to rest today and try a long (possibly 8 mile) run tomorrow as I'm working half day. We'll see what I actually decide, which I have to do prior to the run or it'll kill me mentally. Either way I'll get a run in. Saturday will be a rest day (you can get a head start Jonathan!)(uh, yeah, I can't read a calendar...thought June 1 was Saturday....so I'll be kicking off the challenge with 3.1 miles of fun), and Sunday I'm hoping to be a "Mike-Speed" day. I had mentioned on the boards about a 5k that I was pondering for Sunday. Well, this one is for the "Keane Foundation 5k" and has special meaning to me for a couple of reasons. Mainly, it's a run to raise money to build a sports complex for kids in the memory of Dick Keane. He had his life tragically shortened on 9/11 while spending his one day of the week working in one of the Trade Center towers (by that I mean he trekked to NYC once a week for meetings). He was my soccer coach growing up and someone that I had always looked up to. Tremendous teacher, not only in the way of soccer, but life lessons. To this day I live by those lessons and have integrated them into my belief system. Other reasons to run this one is that it's being held in my hometown and I just don't get back there all that much (despite being a couple of miles down the road). Anyhoo, I'd love to head back "home" and put up some Mike-Speed numbers, would feel really good. 9/11 was definitely an extra sad day as I lost a couple of other childhood friends as well. In any event, good run, good cause, good excuse to head "home" and test my training to date. :-)

The Voice v. The Stroller...guy..uh..dude...er..boy - Looking forward to the June challenge, feel rejuvinated in that a little competition is always good for drive/motivation! Talk about a great sport, Jonathan has picked this challenge up and seems to be really pumped for it! I'm glad for that as I think he'll feel like the little extra motivation will propel him to his first race, 5k or whatever. I know we ALL want to see that so we can cheer him on! For me, well, I've got a short attention span, so if I don't challenge myself I might end up settling down a bit. That would be a huge mistake as I haven't run 8 miles in one outing let alone 13.1! I'm not sure if Bryan is planning on posting something on the website or what the deal is, but I'll make sure I post my numbers here on a daily basis, as well as take screen shots of my runs (downloaded to the Garmin utility) for posting. All about the Accountability.... At the end of the day, I think Jonathan and I will agree that we're both winners :-) (No participants trophy for you though, Jonathan ;-b...lol!)

Congrats!!! - To Mike-Speed for his 1:44:44 in the Buffalo Half Marathon, simply awesome! Heath for surviving the holiday weekend! Nando on a mahvelous interview!

LeeeeEEEETTTSS GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLE!!!

Finally was able to listen to the AATM podcast this afternoon while walking over for lunch today, and was pleasantly surprised to hear one of my e-mails being read. Except, I almost forgot about THAT e-mail...The one I wrote after hearing my voicemail to the AATM show after hearing Jonathan was leaving the show. Curse you iTunes!!! Yeah, my iPod only got 27 minutes of that show so I didn't realize that Jonathan "came back" at the end of the show. Okay, gotta admit, it was pretty hillarious and I'd have played that clip too! So perhaps the challenge should have gone out to Bryan. ;-) Anyhoo, yep, I challenged "The Voice" and I'm stickin' to it! Have you guys seen the mileage this guy has been putting up lately? Jeez! I've got to start crankin' up the mileage if I want to win this one! Here's the deal, I did for one reason alone....competition....yeah, it's sometimes a nasty word, and people get all bent out of shape at times. However, if I'm right, I'm sure Jonathan got a huge grin when thinking about accepting the challenge. Anyone who's put themselves through the torture of law-school has got to have the competitive gene! :-) Besides, I'm hoping it'll give us both that little extra motivation in our training for the month, see, a win-win! What do you guys think?

Nothing new on the big hole in the backyard, or as I've dubbed it "My DVC Property"...ya know, since we decided to build a pool instead of buying DVC.... They were supposed to come out today to get the framing going, but it rained here this morning so my guess is that they took the day off.

Training update: Took the better part of a week off from running due to the illness that I've been battling through for almost three weeks, but got outside yesterday. Ran 5.23 miles with no ill effects on the lungs, and actually came through at a much quicker pace than I anticipated (9:25/mi pace I think...). Lungs felt good, still a little cough here and there, but good overall. Shoes were fantastic! So glad I finally went and was properly fitted! Not sure I'm going to get a 10 mile run in prior to the end of the week as planned, but that's okay, gotta take care of my lungs first. June is going to have to be a big mileage month! Hopefully my boss won't decide that I need to spend more days couped up in a hotel for another training. Not only is the air quality horrid, but they keep strict time, so there's not much time to do anything but eat and check my mail. Not to mention all of the break food....cookies, chips, ice cream bars, carrot cake (love carrot cake!), huge pretzels......aaarrrggghhhh! ;-)

The Hole....

Just wanted to post that picture of the backyard that I've been promising.... What a lovely hole.... :-)

Sick and such...

Apologies for the silent treatment as of late, been at an off-site training and have had little access to the internet. Also, still trying to shake this cold...feeling a bit better tonight though. Will have to see how I feel tomorrow whether I get back to running again. Come to think of it, probably should have sat out the race last Sunday, but what can ya do. :-)

Hopefully I can catch up on some work by the time we get back from the holiday weekend. Speaking of, hope everyone has a relaxing and safe holiday weekend! Nothing much going on here, just try to relax a bit, catch up on some e-mail, and perhaps watch a little baseball.

Pool project started, very large hole in my backyard at the moment, VERY large! I'll post some pictures over the weekend. Also found a bunch of surprises that my builder buried for us as well....not thrilled about all the garbage that was found, but I suppose it is what it is... Called the town, hopefully they will watch him a little closer now...

Anyhoo, have a grat weekend!

How to support someone you don't "know" 101

Some great blog activity as of late has got me thinking... OUCH, it hurts, make it stop!!! Whew, that was rough. Anyhoo, Jonathan sounds little frustrated and I think I know partly the reason why.. He pours his personal life onto a blog page about a very sensitive subject (for anyone) and is a target for both positive and negative feedback. While it's nice to receive those "at'a boy's", it can be both beneficial and crushing to see critisism. It's like c'mon people! I'm working hard here and making myself accountable! Now, I think he gets the fact that the critisism is coming from big fans of his and his program. Also, that everyone who comments probably feels a little bit of resonsibility to help push him along when he posts neutral or negative results. However, it can really hurt and sometimes get you down, even if it was coming from a close friend or family member. What we've got here though is a forum where we all "know" each other, but not really. We're bound by a black and white mouse (hmmmm...there's one for the books), not rooted in long term friendship based on experiences (realize that this is not true for some of you). So yea, my guess is that it stings a little bit when you feel it's coming from someone who doesn't "know" you. Like, man, why are you burning me for a day or a week of not hitting my target when the overall body of work is outstanding! Hey, I get it! Makes complete sense to me and he's got a right to think that way given his track record.

I'm glad he brough this up on his blog cause I think we all can get a little caught up in our on-line community at times and just need to have a little perspective when posting for each other. Not saying that we shouldn't be critical, but just being careful that we're not critical like "Mom, this casserole sucks!"..... LOL! Of course MOM knows you love her and will take it with a grain of salt. So here's to moving forward not only in our training, but our T.V. relationship building as well. I'm sure we'll grow alot more over the year, and take giant leaps when getting together for races and meets. Keep up the outstanding work Jonathan, can't wait to see you all fired up at that start line come January!

Oh, and you guys can tell me I suck or to shut up whenever you want! :-) I'm still in disbelief that I can actually run more than a mile to tell you the truth...running pure competitive nature at this point...or so people tell me...I was once called "A competitive bastard" while playing pool after a Sox game last year...Of course I did ask if that was a good thing or not...he said it was...whew!

So what was I talking about? It's all a blur...gotta love bloggin'... Some comments: Love the Snowy Tundra blog! Why the heck didn't I have it on my blog link list? Keep up the good work Cab-fan!; May take a second day off from running as I still have this chest congestion..ugh!; I've printed a poster and hung it in my office, and it reads "Mike-Speed" LOL and yes, government IS too large...in general...; No, this blog has abso-oot-ee NO redeeming value whatsoever!; Tough weekend for eating, thinking about pulling out my dreaded WW tracking sheets again....but we'll see if I can get control and stay at my "maintenance"; Pool project being moved up to start this Friday, can't wait to have a giant hole in the backyard....Will DEFINITELY post the pictures as it happens though. You can share in my pain/joy...hopefully more of the later...

5K-a-palooza

Looks like some of you have already posted the results from the various 5/10ks run today. Mine, well, didn't feel good running today. I've had this lingering chest congestion/cough that apparently was a little more than a mere annoyance. Breathing was pretty hard due to this (remember, I'm asthmatic). However, I was able to get into somewhat of a groove by 2mi and finish fairly strong. Not exactly "Mike-Speed", but it was in the back of my mind :-) Ended up finishing with a 26:13, MUCH better than the 5k I ran back in March (31:38) but a little slower pace than the 3.5 miler run a few weeks ago. No worries, glad I finished and thinking about what I can do to improve. Can't wait till I can get the new shoes out on the track for some real running, that'll help I'm pretty sure.

Well, gotta run (no pun intended) and tend to the kids! Hope everyone else had a great race day overall! Congratulations Deb for finishing your first 5k and on beating your time goal as well!

Ahhh, the Feel of Shoes That Fit...

Simply amazing how good your feet can feel when wearing the right shoes. Yep, went and check out a new shoe shop, and was not dissapointed. Given the bad experience I just had, I was a little skeptical walking in, but from the get go they sold me a pair of shoes even before trying on a pair. Great customer service, asked all the right questions, analyzed everything that needed to be...well...analyzed. Was a toss up in the end between a pair of Saucony and New Balance. Went with the New Balance 768's. Mixed reviews on-line, but I've been wearing them all day around the house and so far so good. I suppose that's why they say that shoes can wear incredibly different for different feet. Just never actually had a "fitting" for shoes I suppose...Almost couldn't resist joking when she told me I'm an over-pronator..."yeah, well you smell funny!!" Okay, no, I didn't say that, but was thinkin' it. Corny to the core baby!

Also, got me a cool new iPod as well. Bought a 1GB shuffle yesterday with the 50 dollar gift card that I get from work for being in their walking program (talk about easy money!). This thing is perfect for running! All I need is my workout playlist, so the 1GB is more than enough, and it clips right on to the shorts or shirt. Sweet deal.

I'm ready for the big 5k tomorrow morning, hope to get some good pictures but not sure what to do with the camera...gotta figure out a good place to stash it, otherwise I'm going to be running with it....which probably isn't a good idea. Still thinkin' about feelin' the need for "Mike-Speed" :-)

Good luck in your events tomorrow, T.V.!!

The Right Stuff...

Picture - My Sam, and his sister Shadow. Just got caught up on Jonathan's blog and realized he has a mirror image of my cat! Too Funny.

OOOoooooooooOOOOOO. So, I'm working from home today and watching the NBC morning show. That was my first mistake. They typically have live music acts on Friday, and who's the feature this week? New Kids on the Block? What the....Didn't they turn into the BackStreet Boys or something? I just had to laugh watching this train wreck! LOL All the 30-somethings standing there, screaming in the pouring rain....Listening made me think "wow, these guys are like N'Sync, but without the (dare I say it) "talent". Alllllllrighty then! (and WHY do I have Weird Al in my head all day now..."You got the white stuff...baaby, in the middle of an OR-E-OOoooo"

Enough of that though. So I'm dubbing this weekend "Race Weekend - Team Voice Style" since almost all of us have a local race. I'll be looking for those results folks, so git 'em up early! ;-) Also, let us all know how you feel, how was the experience, wha't did you like/not like.... Somehow, we gotta get Matt to a race prior to the 1/2! Not sure how we can help you, Matt, but you gotta do it!

On the school front, yea, I'm done and all that.. but got an A in the last class, so that felt good. Looking back at my grades, from 1993-present, it's funny how it looked like a scatter plot prior to 2004, and then all A's afterwards. Funny how getting older will give you a much better perspective on education, and grades for that matter.

Off to the shoe shoppe today for a return. Going to get fit right, or will move on to the next store! In the meantime, my Nike's are feeling great, just need to make sure I don't cram the toes at the end of the shoe. Next race being as flat as it is, it shouldn't be a problem. UPDATE: It's official, I'm finding a new shoe shop.... I returned the shoes, the owner didn't really say anything...so I went on about how I'd like to find another pair or perhaps even order the Nike's he suggested last time... He kinda walks away and says "well, let me know if you decide on ordering 'em" So I said "Yeeeea, suuuure, I'll uh, well, I'll think about it" Then I walked out and will not be returning, needless to say. So, I'm going to ask the work running team folks where they go, and give that a try. These guys are competing to win in any of the events they enter, so I figure they probably have some good suggestions. :-) I'll keep y'all in the loop!

What's everyone else up to? I feel like this month is a fairly mellow training month...maybe we need a more exciting challenge for next month? Not sure what that means, but something that will spur some discussion, maybe competition, I dunno...

Terrific Tuesday

Picture: Junk Boat (hope I've got that right) from harbor in Hong Kong. Love how they teeter totter through the harbor while all of the various power boats zoom by. Kinda how I feel my half-marathon training is going :-) However, they may be slow, but we all know that slow and steady wins the race! other than that, it's just a pic of a cool lookin' boat from one of my favorite international trips.

Feeling great today (mentally), not sure why as I'm still draggin around this cold.... I figure, why question it! Thought I was going to rest last night and not run, but did the opposite. Ran 3.1 miles on the treadmill. Why? Well, after posting and reading the responses to my shoe quandry I decided to give them another shot (and just couldn't wait, quite frankly). They felt a lot better to tell you the truth, but I have decided to return them. The heel is great and outter foot has very good support, but I'm still feeling "flat" in the ball of my foot region (area below the big toe). No issue with 3 miles on a treadmill, but I fear that when I get into a 5-10 mile run on pavement that it'll hurt my feet. So I'm going to head to the store on Friday and figure this whole thing out.

In the meantime, my other shoes only have around 200 miles on them, so they'll have to carry me through the 5k this Sunday. Snowy Tundra Mike has given me a huge inspirational lift with his AWESOME time turned in at his 5k last weekend, and I'm going to give it a little extra this week to see what I can do. Not thinkin' I can catch ya Mike, but will be thinking about ya when I hit that 2.5 mile mark and need to pick up the pace :-) That's what I love about Team Voice, there is someone on the team that we all can look to in order to challenge ourselves! So dig deep folks, you'll feel great when you know you've given it your all and furthered your training for "the Big Race" next January!

Weather is great here in southern CT today, wish I brought my running gear to work! However, probably not good to run 4 days in a row, need the rest for my lungs (and feet...). Three weeks till they start work on our backyard pool project....should be fun having the whole yard ripped up by machinery....at least I won't have to mow the lawn! LOL

Bump in the Road

Hey all, apologies for being absent the past couple of days. The sickness that I've been carrying around for about a week is starting to get worse. Felt fine last week, was able to get in my normal runs without incident. Well, I'm having a hard time walking of stairs today so it's a day off from running for sure (wish it was from work as well!).

New shoe update: I've run in the new New Balance 767's, but I'm not impressed. They feel flat, almost as if my feet are just wrapped in canvas or something, little support. I typically hate Nike's, but the ones I've been running in feel like a supportive platform for my feet, just too short! I think I may head back to the shoe shop and have them order the Nike's they had me try on. The reason I didn't do this to begin with is cause it felt a little weird (the one he had me try on) in the ball of my right foot. However, they were size 13 (one size too big). He just wanted me to get a general idea of the feel to see if I wanted them. I'm guessing that the ones in my size would work out better. I never realized how difficult it was to pick out shoes! Always just bought them off the rack (clearance at that!) and went... Okay, so I never ran for distance, or at all till Feb of this year, so that's probably why I never developed issues. With the shoes that is, mentally, I'm a mess. :-) Got the 5k coming up this Sunday and will probably just use the shoes I've been running in. Says it's a flat course so my toes should be fine, but we'll see.

Well, school is officially over! Woohoo! At least for my B.A. that is. MBA starts in the fall, and work wants me to get my business analysis certification, so I suppose the education really never stops. Which is good, I enjoy class for the most part it's just the time committment that's killer!

Weather looks cold this week here in CT, lovely, my neck is going to freeze up on me again....Problem from whiplash I sustained in a car wreck back in 1993. Whenever the weather shifts 5-10 degrees in a day or so, my neck muscles freeze up. It's not easy being green...;-)

Hope everyone else on T.V. is doing fab, I'm sure I'll get out to y'alls blogs todays at lunchs times. I do have to procure myself a T.V. shirt soon so I can wear it at some of the races on my schedule...get some pictures to put up on the blog'n site.

2 Days...

Two days, but really...I sent in my final paper and filled out the course evaluation, so as it was so eloquently said in Don't tell Mom the babysitter's dead...."The dishes are DONE man!" LOL

As with everyone else, it seems, I've been auditioning different shoes out. Think I may have found a good long term pair, but will need to break them in a little prior to claiming victory (or for the Stewie fan's "Victory is Mine!!" Sorry Rae, I know you don't watch Family Guy, but Mike and Matt seem to like it ;-)

Thanks for the well wishes in the 5k, although I've actually got another week to go prior to that one (the 18th). My wife...no wait...I really should be using her name... Lorraine keeps telling me that she almost doesn't want me to run with her, which of course makes me WANT to run with her! LOL Thought it might be reverse psycho-mo-whatchamacallit but I honestly don't think she wants me to. Oh well, so much for trying to be nice. On my 5 mile run the other day I checked my 3.1 time just to see what I should shoot for, and it was right around 27min so maybe shoot for 26? I dunno, it's all new to me. My last 5k I put up a 31:34 or something, so the speed is definitely not something I've figured out yet. Hey, I'm not complaining at all. Really happy that I've stuck with this and making as much progress as I have. It feels good! :-) Now I really want to get some longer runs in. Hoping to get an 8miler in Sunday perhaps, but we'll see. Yea, I know it's mothers day, thus the "we'll see" :-)

On a Disney note, we got our ADR's today for our November trip. Breakfast at CRT and Chef Mickey's. The CRT reservation is prior to park opening, which I've heard is a good thing..we'll see. We'd do more, but staying off-site and do alot of meals at the house. Anyhow, I'm looking forward to Chef Mickey's after hearing alot of praise.

Heath - Hope your surviving the weekend with the little one ;0) I learned that with one, you find it's fairly enjoyable....when you have two, it's like "oh my god, when are these kids going to bed, I need a beer!" LOL

3 Days...

Got a great 5 mile run in (44:35), inspired by Heath's 5 miler yesterday, and feeling pretty good. Feet have been stable and everything else seems to be fine (whatever that means).

Still have my research paper to edit and send in, but waiting for tomorrow (working from home)...don't want this to linger into the weekend.

Other than that, have two sick kids on my hands, fun fun, but making it through anyhow. Suppose it's a great excuse to catch up on all the DVR'd Go Diego Go...or so my daughter seems to think... LOL More of a Little Einstein's or Backyardigans fan myself ;0)

Hope to have a much more interesting post tomorrow!

4 Days...

Okay, well, it's 4 days but all I really have left is to hand in my revised research paper (which I'll probably do tomorrow). Not as good as I thought it would feel, but I tell ya one thing... I WILL be enjoying some champagne this Saturday night to mark the occasion. Although, just when I thought I'd have some free evening time, work has signed me up for business analyst classes, woohoo...so basically I'll have catch up on work those nights where I have all day classes. The fun never stops, lol! It's all good :-) I'm still happy about the 29 flat in the 3.5 miler! ha!

Speaking of races, I've got a week and a half till my next 5k. The wife is running in this one with me, her first 5k since she ran cross-country in high school so it's a big one for her. I've told her that I'd run with her the whole race, but she "gave me permission" to go all out and try for a good time.....The question is, do I listen to her? or say "nah, that's okay honey, I've got plenty of other races".... What do you guys think?

Watching Mulan with my daughter right now, never seen the whole thing till now...catchy music...

No pic today, I'll look for something cool out of the archive for tomorrow. Thanks Mike for affirming what I thought about the last one. Didn't know it was "The Jiko" at the time we ate there, just recall that they made me choose the wine and it didn't dissapoint! Don't think I could have chose a bad one at that place...

5 Days....

Picture - Can someone tell me what restaurant this is? I believe it's Jiko, but can't remember that far back! It was taken around 2002 I think at a work dinner @ Animal Kingdom. I'm sporting my lovely Jimmy Buffet shark shirt, second person in on the right.

Recieved reviews for my final paper and just need to incorporate the changes to submit by the end of the week. For good measure, the professor also has a lovely reading assignment with a pleathora (as in "you have a plethora of pinata's") of questions for review. Again, lovely. In any event, I'll probably just get through all of this at lunch today and be home free for the rest of the week. Unless work intervenes, of course.

Beautiful day here at the CT shoreline, and an even nicer afternoon for a run! Brought my gear to work today and plan to get in 4-5 miles at the end of the day. Battling a bit of a chest cold, but it's more of a nuisance than a showstopper. It actually made me think about working from home today (that and the gas prices, 3.99/gal, geez!), but I sucked it up and made it in!

On a sports note, how is it that Daisuke wins every start when I think he's only made it past 5 innings once (the game I went to last week)? In any event, I'm lovin' it! Maybe it'll help him build some more confidence resulting in better starts (and a Cy Young...LOL).

It seems quiet on the Team Voice front, y'all still out there? I'm thinking that I need to be more active on the message boards, so see y'all out there!

6 Days....

Six short days till my 15 year journey concludes, woohoo! Did the math, and no matter what I get on my final paper I'm going to graduate. What a relief as I pretty much threw together the final research paper since work has been so crazy as of late. Just glad that it's almost over...

Listening to the AATM show right now as I didn't have a chance over the weekend. Glad Bryan mentioned Bob Varley on the podcast, seems like the Disunplugged community is starting to come back to a bit of normal after the shock. If you haven't checked out the Disboards, don't, we need you on the AATM boards! ;o) The guys also talked alot about healthy eating in the parks, something my wife and I try to map out when down there. We actually take the maps, find where the fruit stands are, and try to plan snack times... Love the fruit stand area @ DHS. Since we stay outside the parks mostly, we try to do a bit of cooking here and there to lighten up the week. Also, breakfast in the room is pretty standard. Also, we love the Fiber One granola bars, just awesome and only 2pts I think (for you WW folks). Just a couple of the things we do.

No running today, need to let the blister that's been hanging on, heal a bit more. Feeling good after a long weekend of running though.

Picture of some stealth giraffe's for Jonathan....Their cloaking device must have been malfunctioning that day ;-)

May Maturation

Update (9:16pm): Took my first step toward this months goal. Ran 4 miles in 37:53 (9:28 average), and not too bad actually. I live on a hill so anywhere I run around here is up and down, up and down... So I'm happy to see that I still got under the 9:30/mi that I was shooting for, despite the hills. Taking tomorrow off from running, had enough this weekend! Also, gotta give a shout out to Rae for completing the Minnie! Gotta feel great about that one, riding the confidence train. :o) So, take us there Rae, only 8 months left (if I'm counting that right)!

So, the official result of the L&M Spring Stride (3.5 mile) has me finishing at 29:00. A full 3 seconds better than I thought, ha! I'm still really happy with this result as I hadn't run an 8:17 mile in general throughout my training, let alone achieve that pace over 3.5 miles. What that makes me think is that I've been babying myself a bit and probably could kick the training up a notch. So, the "May Maturation" is just that, time to mature my training to a point where I'm able to hold a faster pace as well as maturing the distance I can run. Time to kick off the training wheels I guess!

Here's my plan. 3 or 4 mid-level runs @ 9.5 minute/mi pace per week; one longer run of 5-8 miles per week; 1 10 mile run by the end of the month.

Also, 1600 push-ups and 1600 sit-ups for the month.

With my final undergrad class wrapping up this week (final paper already turned in) I should be able to reclaim a little bit of time to devote to training. Also, I can get my long run in on Friday afternoon's as our company observes "summer hours" (almost like a half-day Friday concept) so I'll be able to cut out at noon for a long run down the shoreline (sweeet!).

On the Disney front, I'm able to start making ADR's this week for our Nov. trip, woohoo! Only planning two or three as we're staying in a house off-site. Looking to get in to Chef Mickey's and do the Cinderella's Royal Table again (daughter loved it last time). My parents are thinking about staying with us, so hopefully they'll offer to babysit one night so the wife and I can get out. Heard awesome stuff about Portobello Yacht Club, but we'll have to wait and see on that one.

Picture of daughter at last CRT trip: Now she's wishing for our ADR's to be granted ;-)

"I feel the need, the need for SPEED..."

Back from the "L&M Spring Stride" 3.5 mile race. My goal coming into this race was to slightly improve on the times I'd been working out at. Which is, around 10 min miles. So, how'd I do? Wait for it...wait for it.....29:03 (either :02, or :03...not certain), woohoo! Started way too fast and ran the first mile in 7 minutes, but settled in nicely and controled the breathing. Now I'm wondering how much better I could have done if I didn't stay up late snacking on all kinds of junk.... Not good judgement, but I'm passed all that.

Just happy with the result, and have now raised the bar on myself. :-) Didn't bring a camera, but someone took a group photo (work folks running in the race) that I'll post if they send it along.

Wondering how Rae's doing now.....can't wait to read the update!

Bawb and the Sox..

For any of the Disunplugged listeners, you've probably heard by now that Bob "Bawb" Varley has passed away. Bawb was a one of six members of the roundtable team that produced a great weekly show, and alwasy seemed to have a great sense of humor and genuine love for Disney as well as the Disunplugged community. The other co-hosts would rib him on his pronunciation of various words like "interventions" (innoventions) and "kaht" (cart, referring to his ECV) (Bob had a thick Boston "Bahston" accent), but it was apparent that they loved and respected him as family. Having a similarly "quirky" personality I quickly became a big fan of Bob's.

The Disunplugged podcast was the first podcast that I downloaded, while trying to figure out how to use the darn iPod, and I immediately fell in love with the humor and candor these guys provided. It paved the way for my interest in all of the other podcasts that I listen to (of course, AATM which all/most of you listen to), and has created something that is much more than a hobby for me now! Boy do I not deal well with loss, in general, so whatever I write here might just be odd, but I figured that I'd give it a try! I'll miss Bob as the personality and pod-friend, but I feel more for his close friends and family. If I could see how special this guy was, sitting 1500 miles away and only listening to him once a week, then they KNOW how special he was and must be very heartbroken for the loss. So, cheers to Bawb, and perhaps I'll actually get to meet you someday when all is said and done!

Having said that, off to another Red Sox game this evening, bringing a blanket as there are frost warnings up in this area...how lovely... Got in another 2 mile run last night. Was shooting for 3 mi, but just didn't have the energy/drive/time... I'm under a mile short of the run miles I did last month, so I may just get in a quick run prior to leaving for the game. Foot/blister are feeling fine, loving my new socks, and feel like I'm ready for the big 3.5 mi race this Saturday.

Gotta run and try to work/write my research paper! :D