Monday 2/28/11

The day started at 5:30am when the tornado sirens started going off. They actually didn't wake me up, but Carrie did. She asked if we should go down in the basement, and I said no. In my half awake mind I was thinking we could not move the bed to the basement, since I was not planning on getting out of it anytime soon. Ended up sleeping a solid 10 hours which was needed. I took off from running today because the legs are feeling a bit beat up. I will be back at it again tomorrow. Work was a little different since we had about five people from Fleet Feet Corporate in the store. Tomorrow we officially turn over to SRDC which does not mean much initially, except that we will have a new POS system. The store is closed tomorrow, but we will be training all day with the new system. We are watching Charlie Sheen on Piers Morgan which is cracking us up! The dude is INSANE, but HILARIOUS!

Sunday 2/27/11

Met up with the Sunday crew in Wyoming at 7am this morning. After the 15 miles on Friday I was thinking I would go a shorter 10 miles today. Ryan, who I have run with the past couple weeks, was doing the 12 mile course so I agreed to run it with him. The first 3 miles were flat then we started going uphill. We ran up to the ridge line that goes along the west side of Wyoming, were running down Sharon Rd., and were looking for a left turn that just never came. Finally our road dead ended at Mill Rd., so obviously we had missed our turn and didn't really know where we were. We turned around and took a right on Winton Rd. which we knew we would have ended up on eventually. We ran past an awesome park called Winton Woods. Supposedly it is 2,555 acres...pretty huge. Finally we came up on a road we were supposed to turn on and just like that were back on course. We finally made it back and instead of the planned 12 miles we ended up doing 14.5 miles in 1:49:50 (7:35 pace). We all hung out and had a stellar breakfast afterwards at Half-Day Cafe. Work was wild as usual, had to pull out the fitting stool to sit on because the legs were aching pretty bad. The lady made an awesome spaghetti sauce tonight for dinner. I can just feel that I am craving carbs more and more! Tonight and tomorrow it is supposed to storm again, not good for the Ohio and Little Miami Rivers. I heard the Ohio River's flood stage is 53 feet, and it is already at 45 feet. Hopefully it holds off.

Saturday 2/26/11

I was planning on running this afternoon after work, but after the crazy day we had I was too tired and sore from yesterday to do anything. We were going to go to dinner at Montgomery Inn, but once we got there we realized it was all you can eat ribs night. No way we were getting in there. Then we went by some italian place next to Kenwood Mall, and they said it was a 3 1/2 hour wait! Seriously? We finally headed back to Hyde Park and went to Green Papaya for some Thai and sushi. I have to say, it was delicious. Should be a fun run tomorrow morning with the Sunday crew. We are going to Wyoming, the neighborhood a certain David Spetnagel grew up and went to high school in.

Friday 2/25/11

Had off work today so I decided to get my long run in. Around 2pm I headed to the Little Miami River Trail for my jaunt. It was overcast and about 37 degrees, perfect for a long run. I started in Newtown and ran to Wards Corner which is 7.5 miles, turned around and came back for 15 miles in 1:43:31 (6:54 pace). This is probably the best run I have had in the last couple months, and it was not difficult. When I finished I thought about adding on another mile or two, but I am going 10-12 miles Sunday morning and I didn't want to be too sore. Here are my splits for the run:
1-7:04
2-7:09
3-7:04
4-6:57
5-6:44
6-6:53
7-6:52
8-7:02
9-6:55
10-6:51
11-6:50
12-6:52
13-6:48
14-6:46
15-6:38
Cooked jambalaya for dinner, made a couple changes and it was even better than last time. Ironically we were watching Man vs. Food while eating and he happened to be in New Orleans. He went to Mother's and Acme Oyster House...two of my favs back home. We are about to watch "Waiting for Superman" which I have heard is an amazing movie.

Thursday 2/24/11

Decided to take the day off from running for a couple reasons. It was nasty weather, I knew I was going to be working late, and I am planning a long run tomorrow. Work was hectic, but in a good way. Ended up not leaving until 9:30pm. Not much else to talk about, except I hope this wild thunderstorm is out of here by tomorrow. I think we are getting 3 inches of rain tonight.

Wednesday 2/23/11

Had a crazy busy day at work today with tons of customers and having to do some inventory work, which I will have to finish up tomorrow. I walked over to Subway and got my standard foot long tuna. When I got back to the store I took a bite or two then set the sub down on a table and put three water bottles in front of it so Gus, our owner's dog, would not get to it. I walk back in 5 min. later and somehow Gus had gotten on the table and eaten 3/4 of the sub with the rest all over on the floor. I went to clean up the mess and he bit me on my left hand! I instantly reared back to knock his head off, but I didn't since...you know...it is the owner's dog. About 10 minutes later he peed on the sales floor! Needless to say Jeremy and Susan freaked out over both instances and brought him home and gave me some medicine for the bite wound. Gus is usually the friendliest dog, but I guess being 14 years old he is a little unpredictable now. Around 5pm I drove to The Little Miami River Trail for a tempo run. I have not run hard for more than 3 miles, but I was in the mood to go a little farther. I did an out and back 7 miles in 45:05 (6:26 pace). Mile splits were 6:45, 6:29, 6:24, 6:24, 6:16, 6:23, 6:21. I have not run this hard for this long in quite a while, so I am pretty happy with it. Maybe getting bit by a dog helps out! We had chili for the third night in a row tonight, but it looks like we are finally running out. Looks like Friday will be another day to experiment for dinner!

Tuesday 2/22/11

I didn't have to work until noon today, so after two cups of coffee I headed out for a run in the colder 31 degree temps with some snow flurries falling. I didn't think about it until I got outside, but my shoes were still soaked from the rainy run yesterday and as soon as I started running my feet went dumb. Since I have done 30 miles in the past 3 days I decided to go a little shorter, 4.5 miles in 31:34 (7:01 pace). Just like yesterday I felt surprisingly good. I was thinking about doing a second run after work, but I ended up not leaving until 9:30pm so I ate some leftover chili instead. On the subject of chili, I have received word I have been challenged to a chili cook off with a certain Mr. Hadaway. All I have to say is BRING IT ON! Time to make the new nightly tradition...chocolate shake in the blender!