The Attention Only Makes It Worse

evil_chicobo — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 15:33:05 GMT

- Did yoga for XT this morning to try to calm my nerves. It's 28 minutes till my interview with Indiana Blood and of course, I'm stuffing my face because what else are you supposed to do at a time like this?

Race Report: Bayshore Marathon

evil_chicobo — Mon, 26 May 2014 18:05:19 GMT

X-posted to the running comm as well.

After training through one of the most brutal winters in recent memory, the moment of truth was finally upon me on Saturday, May 24th. This person who couldn't run 400yd without stopping back in 2012 was going to run a marathon. I had been having some IT band pain for the first time in my life the week before the race, but decided to rest an extra day and do it up.

Bayshore is run up and down the Old Mission Peninsula in northwest Michigan with a spectacular view of the East Grand Traverse Bay pretty much the whole way. Lots of hurrying-up-to-wait; the pre-race highlight was the sound system blaring the un-edited versions of Blurred Lines and Hot in Herre (it was not hot, it was actually quite cold) amongst all the respectable-looking runner folks milling around with their families.

Anyway, I got off to a pretty rocky start. I drank too much water beforehand and not only had a wicked stitch the first two miles, but had to stop for bathroom break freaking twice in the first 6 miles. Threw off my groove, I think. My IT band pain was also bothering me at the beginning but then went away(?) for awhile. I started out very conservatively pace-wise and had a good stretch between mile 7 through 15. Bay was beautiful and weather was good.

One thing I noticed during that stretch was that I had this strange thing where I found myself fighting boredom of all things. Races usually pump me up, but for awhile I was feeling kind of lonely for a bit. During most of my long training runs, I had someone to run with to help pass time. Most of the people around me were already in pairs/groups or were wearing headphones. I'm kind of shy as far as approaching strangers to strike up a conversation, so I just plugged along and looked at the lake. However, there was a lot of great spectator support and a couple resident-run water stops with goodies like beer, fruit, and the Chariots of Fire music. I did encounter a skunk who was crossing the road completely unperturbed by the runners.

I guess I should mention at this point that my Spouse was also running the race. He went out (too) fast and was ahead of me until I caught up around mile 16.5. I was still feeling reasonably good, so we ended up running together from that point on. We had a couple walking breaks, but were mostly OK until Spouse started fading around mile 21 (I was starting to hurt pretty bad myself). He was feeling lightheaded and I was afraid he would DNF or worse, so I decided to stay with him the rest of the way. Discovered that the dizziness was mostly due to the fact that he had only had 1 1/2 energy gels and no Gatorade or other food (wtf man) after 21 miles. I fell into the Hot Mess zone around the 22-24 mile period. Stitches, IT band pain was back, everything hurts, etc.; we walked most of that, honestly. The comical low point was when an elderly-looking power walker with a big beard and a shirt that said "Run Like the Dickens" passed us. However, we mustered our final reserves and ran the race to completion from the 25th mile marker. Final time 5:39:05 gun, 5:36:30 chip.

The wood thing is a minimalist Daruma-san doll I received for Christmas; you fill in one eye when you make a goal and fill in the other one when you finish. My overall goal was to finish, although my ideal goal was to finish in under 5 hours. Despite the good weather and race atmosphere, I didn't really feel I was at my best (I felt a lot better after my 20 mi training run than I did at mile marker 20 for example), but I did complete the race and I realize that running performance does not always follow a linear progression. I need to forget the pain of this marathon before I start considering another one, though.

evil_chicobo — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 16:01:57 GMT

I paid off my auto loan in 18 months yesterday! I tried not to make this expression when the the person at the Credit Union suggested I might want to now trade in and buy up. Um, if I wanted a car payment, I would have just paid over the original four-year term. -_-;

- I scored a new Garmin Forerunner 110 w/ heart rate monitor for $112 (MSRP $230) yesterday on Ebay! It's coming from Wayne, MI, so I'm confident it'll get here soon and I can verify that it's as described. Intended as a gift, I was comparing the 110 and 210, and the only difference besides the 210 being $20 more is that it has an interval timing function and is compatible with the foot pod, neither of which the person I'm buying for is interested in. I really don't see why you'd need the foot pod -an extra $70- period unless you're really OCD about your cadence and speed because you're either at a fairly high competitive level (like, actually a contender to win money and prizes) or you're recovering from an injury and trying to be extra-careful about your stride. I'm also skeptical that a heart rate monitor in the watch really makes it worth $50 more as far as what they're charging on garmin.com, but whatever.

evil_chicobo — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 17:59:06 GMT

- Welp, my fate is sealed. After the giant snafu on the original registration day (Dec 8) where all us over-achievers accidentally DDoS-ed the registration site, I registered for the Bayshore Marathon yesterday. The day of reckoning is May 24th, 2014. Since it's my first, I'm going very vanilla and doing a Hal Higdon novice plan. After paying all that money, there's no way I'm not doing it now! Official training starts the first full week of January.

- Brrr. So cold. Keeping the thermostat at 60 sure helps the gas bill, but not my comfort level. Oh well, I consider it building grit.

evil_chicobo — Sun, 05 May 2013 16:23:13 GMT

Finally broke down and took benadryl to help combat my evil poison ivy and had pork and kimchi stir fry for lunch.

Co-workers, forgive me. >:D

evil_chicobo — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 14:26:56 GMT

- Welp, some quality time with Skyrim and a blanket seems like a good follow up to BUSTING OUT MY FIRST NON-STOP FIVE MILER THIS MORNING. Word.

random quizzes clogging your browser.

evil_chicobo — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 20:54:43 GMT

you are darkslategray
#2F4F4F

Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well.

Your saturation level is lower than average - You don't stress out over things and don't understand people who do. Finishing projects may sometimes be a challenge, but you schedule time as you see fit and the important things all happen in the end, even if not everyone sees your grand master plan.

Your outlook on life is dark. You're generally a pessimist and everyone knows it; you're the one the come to when they don't want the sunshine blown around, they just want to straight truth. You can miss good things in life if you make up your mind too early though.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

MASH game

evil_chicobo — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:13:13 GMT

- Stolen from therealycats



		I will marry Gackt.
		After a wild honeymoon, We will settle down in Scotland in our fabulous Apartment.
		We will have 1 kid(s) together.
		Our family will zoom around in a Black SegWay.
		I will spend my days as a Pimp, and live happily ever after.

- Gackt was actually the only non-fictional person I had on there. ^^;;

- Metal Gear Solid 4 is sexy like a sweet sweet Michigan cherry.

evil_chicobo — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 15:14:25 GMT

BRAINS!

I got 68.5779816513761% on the

Ultimate Zombie Apocalypse Survival Quiz!

Well done! Your chances of surviving a zombie apocalypse are better than average! Don't get too cocky, though. Remember, the undead never sleep...

Take the quiz!

quiz created by elis and adam.

Quiz!spam- it's been awhile. Maybe a real entry later.

evil_chicobo — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 17:15:45 GMT

Well now....

You are The Emperor

Stability, power, protection, realization; a great person.

The Emperor is the great authority figure of the Tarot, so it represents
fathers, father-figures and employers. There is a lot of aggression and violence
too.

The Emperor naturally follows the Empress. Like an infant, he is filled with enthuiasm, energy, aggression. He is direct, guileless and all too often irresistible. Unfortunately, like a baby he can also be a tyrant. Impatient, demanding, controlling. In the best of circumstances, he signifies the leader that everyone wants to follow, sitting on a throne that indicates the solid foundation of an Empire he created, loves and rules with intelligence and enthusiasm. But that throne can also be a trap, a responsibility that has the Emperor feeling restless, bored and discontent.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Your Love Life is Like Annie Hall

"A relationship, I think, is like a shark. You know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies."

You believe that love (if you even believe in love!) is a very complicated thing.

Maybe love is pain. Or maybe it's all a big therapy session. You're still figuring it out.

Your love style: Brainy and a bit neurotic

Your Hollywood Ending Will Be: Realistic and reflective

What Movie Is Your Love Life Like?

How evil are you?

(When I changed one of my answers from "Habakkuk" to "Michael Palin" it took me from plain Evil to Pure Evil. ^^;;;;)

Click here to create your own painting.

OHH! And my Dad sent me some awesomely bad engrish practice here. Not work-safe, and don't drink anything while looking at it (cuz it'll probably come out your nose :P).

Nerd test version 2.

evil_chicobo — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:59:42 GMT

- I actually do remember taking the first version of this test several years ago. I have become even more nerdy since, apparently.

Now I don't feel so lame for saying I'd choose the internet over sex if I could have only one, because apparently almost 35% of the other people (and 28% of married people) who took the test said they would too.

EDIT- My Dad is apparently a Cool Nerd God, while my Mom is a Slightly Dorky High Nerd...of course, the fact that we all wanted to do this quiz kind of says something about the nerdiness (and dorkiness) of our family as a whole.

What The Hell Happened Last Night?
LJ Username
What did you drink?
You wake up in the morning next to:	prototype_sepia
...who is wearing:	a Strongbad costume
...and rolls over to you to say:	wait a moment... you said you were 16 on AIM!
...and then:	takes the day off work to stay in bed with you

This QuickKwiz by joneccleston - Taken 1014 Times. </a>