I made it!

I was pretty happy with my run on Thursday. First off, I didn't die (as previously speculated), but my joints ached a little bit towards the end. I am attributing that (the aching) to the fact that I've never ran that far with no stopping before. It was an 8-miler, at about 5:30 pm, sunny and 85F outside. Not ideal running conditions by any means, but not completely unbearable either. I made it through the 8 miles without stopping, which in itself is encouraging.

I don't think I've ever ran 8 consecutive miles before. Back in High School I didn't really keep track of my long runs. I would just run with everyone else, for about 45-60 minutes and come back for the speed portion of the workout. For the entire workout, I am sure there were days where we'd run 12-15 miles in a day. I can not recall running 8 consecutive miles however. So long story short, once a week I will be completing 'My longest run ever' as the long runs go up between now and October. That's kinda nice.

About my pace. Yesterday, I was again at 8:45/mile pace. On any run over 5 miles, my pace has been a pretty consistent 8:45/mile. Lately on my shorter runs (less than 4 miles) I've been hitting between 7:30-8:00 miles. In my head this sounds like a good pace for me at both the longer and shorter distances. I am shooting for sub-4 hours on this Marathon in October.

If there is anyone out there in 'the blogosphere' (lol) that has any pacing advice/experience, I'm all ears.

Music: Yesterday with my 8 mile run, I listened to a lot of music. I listened to a bunch of Detroit Local Stuff (including my own band....I know, totally lame, right??) that nobody would have heard of, but I also listened to my favorite band of all time, The Hives. They are cool guys, and I really like their music.

PS: The picture above is just the first thing that comes up when you put 'happy runner' into Google Image Search

8 miles at 5pm in 90 degree heat

That's what I am about to do. This may as well be a suicide note.

Family, please know that I love you all dearly. This is not your fault.......do you seriously think I was going to carry that on??? That is creepy. I guess if you read my prior posts, you wouldn't put a faux-suicide note past me.

To change subjects:I saw this online today and could not pass it up. My wife and I have recently reverted back to 7th grade and pull "your mom" jokes at each other constantly. We're the only ones who think they are still funny, I guess. I do have to give her some props for a your mom joke she got me with a couple of weeks ago. I came home from getting a bad haircut and first thing she said to me was "you look like your mom cut your hair...." It made the bad haircut a lot better. I still laugh when I think about it.

Yesterday, I ran 3 outside and I pushed myself pretty hard. It was 90 outside and I was feeling it afterwards. I was at about 7:30/mile, which is a good clip for me lately, and I feel like my new shoes are helping(although they may be about 1/4 size small....we'll see).

It's supposed to storm this afternoon, which would push my 8-miler indoors. (Then this will be the last thing I ever write, because 8 miles on a treadmill is murder)

PS: I was on a conference call the other day and the guy who was hosting it used the word "Blogosphere" in reference to bloggers as a whole. I laughed out loud, luckily I had the mute button pressed in.

Softball is over!

I say that like I am glad, and I am. No disrespect to my teammates, but I am just glad that the season is over and I got out injury-free. At the beginning of the season, I pulled both quads in the first game (I never sprint......therefore when I did my legs went pop, pop!), then once my quads healed I turned an ankle. After the ankle healed, I began my official 'training', (which consists of running 4 days a week) and I have been in good health since (Coincidence? Probably not.)

Softball was a lot of fun, but even more importantly for me was that I ventured out and did something that I had never done before. What I mean is that I typically shy away from things that I have never tried and stick to doing things I know that I am good at. Honestly, I thought Softball was going to be easy and I'd step right in and be a good player because I don't look like this guy:

Boy, was I wrong. I am a terrible softball player, and I am OK with that. I never played baseball when I was growing up, and that is where all these guys learned their fundamentals that they can apply in softball. My athletic ability didn't help much when I had a hard time getting on base, catching the ball once I got to it, etc. etc. It was comical to me near the end how bad I was. Just like anything else, I will get better as I learn from the guys and get more games under my belt.

I can honestly say that playing softball was one of the first times where I was bad at something and didn't quit right away. I am pretty sure I have self-esteem issues and they stem from being ridiculed by my parents for 18 years when I was 'bad' at something. I would be afraid to try new things, things that require practice and learning, because I didn't want to hear it from my parents. It's a stupid way to approach things, but when you're a kid you don't know any better.

Once I moved to Tennessee, I really started to realize things like I just mentioned above about me and how I looked at the world and the people in my world. What I perceived as normal is actually far from it. I have a lot of work (socially, mentally) ahead of me and I feel like this softball team was the first step in many to fix a strange childhood (which, until recently, I thought was a 'normal' childhood.)


Q: So, uh....that sappy personal crap is all fine and well, and it sucks and all, but what about your run, dude?:
A: I know you (the world) just LOVE reading about my runs, but Tuesday was a rest day. I played softball Tuesday evening and we lost 10-5. I guess I didn't really rest.

Wet and Bored is not a good combination.

Yesterday was the first time it was raining when I was supposed to be running. This is the 4th week of my training and I have somehow managed to miss raindrops every time. So that brought me to a decision--run in the rain or go to the gym and get on a treadmill. I chose the treadmill and was actually glad that I did.

I was glad I chose treadmill because it forced me to run faster than I normally do. Well, I set the pace, but I couldn't slow down and get into a comfortable pace unless I wanted to end up like these guys did. (Thanks to Vanilla at half-fast for the original.....I laughed for a good five minutes and sent the link around the office. Fun was had by all.)

So with that being said, combined with the fact that my shoes are much lighter (Nike Pegasus v. New Balance 1222), I went out for 5k in 22:55. It felt good, and it felt fast. It didn't feel like I was at my usual pace, just shorter because I was on a treadmill. It felt fast. It felt good. Good and Fast is way better than Wet and Bored, eh?

On a related note: I know a guy who trains for his marathons on his treadmill exclusively. I don't know how his house is set up and where his treadmill is, but I am surprised he is still alive. Knowing that about him, I would constantly have his house on suicide watch. Just the thought of running on a treadmill every day upsets me, or at least makes me sad for him.

Music: Another Death From Above 1979 day. I really like them, and I recently found out that they broke up. Oh well.

Running through the streets of Atlanta

Let me start by saying I had a blast in Atlanta. I did not see Lil' Jon (I did see a few look-a-likes), but otherwise it was a really good time. Amber and I packed a lot in to the weekend, including trips to IKEA, the High Museum of Art, two Atlanta Braves baseball games (which the Tigers won--both! BOO-YA Atlanta, your baseball team SUCKS), a trip to NikeTown in Atlanta, and a 4 mile run around the city.


My run was on Sunday morning, and it was supposed to be two 4-mile loops around my hotel. We stayed at the Atlanta Hilton, and I was surprised to find that it wasn't in the greatest part of town. I went out and ran my first 4 mile loop and decided that was enough for me. More than the lack of scenery, (I will say that running around the Georgia Dome and Phillips Arena was very cool) I didn't want to overwork my body after 2 solid days of walking all over Atlanta. I had forgot my Nike+ foot chip also, so I didn't even run with my Ipod. It was a nice change, to be honest and I'll make up those 4 miles on Thursday (running 8 miles instead of 4).

Last week, all 4 of my runs felt 'different'. I felt like I was dragging my legs behind me and really fighting to feel 'good' while I was running. Sounds like a case of dead shoes, right? So, while in Atlanta I made a trip to NikeTown. We got there at about 8:45 on a Saturday night (they close at 9), so I know that I was their favorite customer as soon as I walked in the door. I really didn't want to be 'that guy' and keep all the employees late on a Saturday, but on the other hand I didn't bring my running shoes to Atlanta with me, because they were dead and I knew that I needed to buy a new pair on the trip. I tried on the Nike+ Air Structure Triax 10 and the Nike Air Pegasus, and actually went with the Pegasus. It was lighter and just felt like an extension of my foot. I know its not a stability shoe, but it felt fine on my 4 miler on Sunday and I got it on sale. Buying shoes based on price is never a good idea, but in all honesty I think it's going to work for me.


As I mentioned earlier, Amber and I went to two baseball games in Atlanta. When I bought the tickets, I purposely bought tickets in two entirely different areas of the park, to try and give each game some uniqueness (Is that a word?) On Friday night, I got tickets three rows back in left field, basically where all the home runs go. We got to the game right when the gates opened and went right to our seats for batting practice. Amber had never been to a batting practice before and I know she really enjoyed the excitement of Home Runs always coming our way and seeing all the kids go crazy for any ball hit in the area. The whole experience of Friday was really cool. The Tigers won the game, 5-0.

On Saturday, I got tickets for the Lexus Pavilion. I had no idea what that was prior to showing up, it just sounded cool so I went with it. It turned out to be very cool and I recommend it to anyone going to Turner Field anytime soon. The Lexus pavilion is "anti-baseball purist" in every sense of the term. First of all, you have to pass an usher to even get into the area. (which is closed off with glass to the 'public'). It is air-conditioned, carpeted, clean, and connected to the suite level, so everything is top-notch.

We met some guys from New York who sat right next to us, and they were all really nice guys. There were six of them and they were hard-core Mets fans, which by proxy made them Tigers fans for the day. (Mets fans hate the Braves with a passion) They called themselves the Traveling DingleBerries, and are going to visit all 30 stadiums within the next few years. This trip they were hitting Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Miami (to see the Florida Marlins), and they shot video during the game and should be posting it to their site when they get home. They may have caught me saying that I would date Justin Verlander over Brandon Inge on tape. We'll see.

Food: When Amber and I go out of town, we have a rule that we really try to stick to: Only eat at places that you can't eat at in the town in which you live. So, there were two places that we found that were not in Knoxville. The first place we ate lunch at on Friday was Willy's. It was a burrito place that I think is franchised. It was excellent and very efficient. They have the production line process down to a science. The second place we found was Garden Sprout. They are a vegetarian chinese food restaurant that makes everything out of soy, seitan, and potatoes. They still call it beef, chicken, or shrimp, but it's made out of soy, seitan or potatoes. We both really liked Garden Sprout and will make it a point to go back next time we're in Atlanta.

YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

There is a lot to talk about in this issue of "The best blog ever", so I'll get right to it.

This is going to be my last blog for this week. I know, sad, and these next couple of days are going to be pretty boring for you. I apologize. The reason for this being the last blog of the week is due to the fact that Amber and I are going to be getting crunk in the dirty south this weekend!!!!! ATL baby!!!! YEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

We are going to just hang out and relax, go see the Tigers (best team in baseball) play the Braves, do some shopping (for Pimp Cups---see picture above) and go to the High Museum of Art. It should be a good time.

Luckily, Fridays and Saturdays are off days for me (So running won't interfere with 'relaxing weekend'). Well, Friday is really an off day and Saturday I am supposed to walk some. (I figure I walk around enough for that to count--maybe I am wrong about that, I don't know) Sunday will be an 8-miler, that I plan on running Sunday morning before we leave Atlanta. I have a 4 mile loop mapped out (thanks to the people at MapMyRun.com that begins and ends at our hotel, and I am looking forward to a change in scenery.

A couple of things about my 'double-header' runs on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

First off, I think I need new shoes. My runs this week haven't felt like they normally have, and I've had these shoes since Dec.-Jan. So while Amber and I are on our hunt for pimp cups, I may have to make a pit stop in a running store. I am looking at Nike Structure Triax 10, but I may stick with New Balance 1222. They are practically the same shoe, but the Nike's aren't as rigid as the 1222. It will be a toss up.

On Wednesday, my run was 3 miles. I was shooting for 8:00/mile, which I was hitting until at about mile 2.5 I had some issues that required a trip to the bathroom. I didn't finish the run (but I made it to the bathroom), and the fact I didn't finish the run was a little frustrating.

Thursday I woke up at 5:30am and went out for my 4-miler. I only did this because it was the only way I was going to fit my run into my Thursday schedule, and I am really glad I did it in the morning. First of all, it was much cooler (60 instead of 90), and second of all, it wakes me up in the morning. I was able to come in at 8:00 for every mile and wrapped up the 4 miles in 32:02. My lungs felt good, but it felt like I was dragging my legs the whole way. I am blaming the shoes until I run in new ones. It could be tired legs, I haven't ran this much in 10 years.

What I do know that running is an inexact science and everybody has different ways to fix their aches and pains. No two runners are the same.

Music: Bad Religion. I don't necessarily agree with everything they sing about, but they still are one of the best bands to come around in the last 30 years. They are a punk band from California that were really ahead of their time and are ripped off yearly by these new teenager punk bands that are all over MTV. What other bands can you name that have been around for 30 years, never broke up and consistently put out albums and tour? U2 and the Rolling Stones are all I can think of. That's pretty good company.

What do I do on my days off?

This is a two-part question. Well not really two parts, but definitely two meanings. Well, not even that. Now that this has taken too long to explain, I am just going to go ahead and get to the point.

I ask because I know that you ("the world") have been wondering this very question (What DO I do when I am not running?) day and night over the past seven days, and I also ask because I really have no idea what I am supposed to do/eat/say/wear on the days when I am not running.

So with that being said, here was Tuesday:

This is 8 hrs of M-F:

One of these maybe 3 times a week:

Too much of this lately:

This too:

It's one of those questions where you already know the answer, but you still have to ask the question to try and fool people into thinking that you REALLY d0n't know the answer. I know that what I eat is not helping me reach my goals, but it's hard to tell my brain that beforehand.

I think that I should go to the gym on Tuesday's and lift weights, but I don't want to tire out my body for the rest of the runs each week. I don't know what people do in these situations. My legs feel pretty good today and they usually do after a long day of poker.

Any suggestions regarding training/days off would be appreciated.

Music: I went to a local 'used' shop the other day and found a CD of one of my favorite bands from high school, Orange 9mm, for $0.89! I had the cassette tape (ha ha....tapes), but never the CD. So I listened to it, worrying that they wouldn't be as good as I remembered them being, but they totally were. I even uploaded the CD to the community Itunes at work and two people came to me and was like "No way, you listened to them too!" That was pretty funny, only because I figured nobody knew who they were.

PS: Vote for my blog. The links are in my last post, and to vote you have to click on one of the links below, search "yourmom" (one word) and then click on blog. I know it's sort of a pain, but don't you agree that this IS the best blog ever???

Who are these old guys with no shirts?!?!

I run my 3-4 mile runs on a track near my house. It's a local high school track, and it totally does the job. However, there are always at least 2 (sometimes 3!) old, hairy men with no shirts on, walking around the track. If I get to the track early enough, sometimes I can catch them running (oh boy!), but usually by the time I get there, they are walking.

Now, I know it probably shouldn't bother me, but for some reason it does. I know it's Tennessee and it's hot, but those men should wear shirts! What's even worse, is that every time they walk by the exit of the track, I always glance over to see if they are leaving. They will walk around the track and when they get to the gate opening, they always go over near it, like they are leaving, but they just sit there for a couple of minutes, talk some more and get back on the track and keep walking!!!! (Why get off the track at all??)

My run Monday was fine. I was a little sore from 7 miles on Sunday, but it wasn't too bad. 24:45 for 3.1 miles, which is about 8:05 a mile. I'm OK with that, considering that I was sore/tired from Sunday.

Music: Ipod started on shuffle, then I moved it to Daft Punk. Daft Punk is electronic music, no (well, hardly any) lyrics, and I like it to run to because I can zone out and focus on running when it's playing. I want to get more of their stuff, I only have one album. It's really good running music.

It's getting hot in here!

Today was a freaking hot day to be running at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Quite possibly (more like definitely) the stupedist (get it?) thing I've done in the past couple of weeks. As I was running, I was consciously thinking to myself "wow, I am the only one out here right now, this is nice.....", and after the run I was thinking to myself "I think my organs are shutting down one by one......"



Luckily, I have a good wife, who while I was running (It took me 1 hour and 1 minute for 7 miles today) went to the gas station and bought me a Sports Drink and a protein bar, to enjoy when I finished my 7-mile death march. (I think she was doing this more for the fact that she didn't want to be a widow just yet than anything else) Whatever the motivation for the Sports Drink and protein bar, I finished both off in about 10-15 minutes after my run. I believe I would have died without them.
How hot was it, you ask? I'm no Chuck Gaidica , but it had to be at least 90. I think I am going to start running in the morning. It's probably the smart thing to do. Amber saved my life today (well, probably not literally but it makes for good drama....blogging+drama = success!)

MUSIC: Today the Ipod (which worked pretty well today as far as measuring distance) was on shuffle mode. It was talking crap to me when it played "Chump" by Green Day between miles 6 and 7, and then rewarded me when it played "P.I.M.P" by 50 Cent right after I finished my run. It was actually pretty awesome. Lance Armstrong came on and said that I ran my longest recorded run, then it went right to 50 Cent. It felt like Lance was MC'ing the 'you didn't die today' party and 50 Cent (with his G-Unit, of course) was the house band.

It's all about the rub down.

Hi kids! Today we're going to talk about messages. Not messages, like "Hey dude, I'm going to send you a text message....." but messages, like when you get rubbed down because you're sore. Let me share with the world that my wife is a message therapist, and a damn good one. (EDIT: Message like I am talking about might be spelled 'massage'......from this point forward it's spelled correctly........who has two thumbs and cant spell??? This guy.)

When Amber and I lived in Michigan she was licensed and everything was cool.
When we moved to Tennessee, Amber had to jump through more hoops than a circus dog (paperwork, licenses, money.......) and she FINALLY was 'officially' licensed as Tennessee Massage Therapist as of yesterday. (So to anyone in Tennessee who received a massage from my wife before 6/13/07, you were dealing in the black market. No, I wont turn you in.)

I digress. My run Thursday was good and bad. It was bad because I was sore from running on Wednesday, then Amber and I painted a friends living room right after my Wednesday run. I was on my feet pretty much all night Wednesday and it hurt on Thursday for sure. I wasn't going to skip my run, but I was definitely going to take it easy on Thursday.

On Thursday, I went out for 3 miles and took it easy. The run was good because I found out that 'taking it easy' was about 8:45 a mile. I did 3 miles at that pace with little effort, and I was very encouraged by that. Afterwards, I came home and Amber and I ate burritos. Then I got my rub-down and went to bed.I am a huge NBA fan. Congrats to the Spurs for putting the beat-down on LeBron. The Pistons would have beat the Spurs, but it didn't play out like that, so congrats again to the Spurs.

Music: Thursday I was listening to a band from Chicago called The Audition. I think they are excellent, and I think that an overwhelming amount of teenagers would agree with me. (I don't know if thats a good or bad thing for me, being 27.)

There is a little bit of Kevin Bacon-like connection between me and the singer of the Audition. When I lived in Detroit, I was in a band called Home Team. Before The Audition, Danny, the singer, was in a Detroit band called Based On A True Story. Home Team and Based On A True Story played together all the time. I think it's neat to see The Audition on MTV every once in awhile, and be like "OMG, I KNOW him!".

Friday and Saturday are off days for running, then Sunday is my long run day. Friday I am going to see a Tennessee Smokies baseball game (AA team of the Cubs). I'm pumped.

This is just between me and my Ipod....

Dear Ipod:

I rely on you. Since we met about a month ago, I feel like you've done so much for me. Without you, I dont know if I would ever know when to stop running. I TRUSTED YOU, I GAVE YOU MORE THAN ONE CHANCE TO WIN BACK MY TRUST AND YOU DONT EVEN CARE! I DONT KNOW WHAT I AM GOING TO DO WITHOUT YOU, BUT I'M NOT AFRAID TO FIND OUT! DONT TEST ME, IPOD, DONT YOU DARE PULL WHAT YOU DID TODAY EVER AGAIN! I WILL TAKE YOU TO SMASH MY IPOD DOT COM MYSELF!

That's all I got. I'm going to bed.

Lets talk about food.

Tuesdays and Fridays are my rest days. This means that I don't run those days.

I know what you're thinking...that if I'm not running, I'm not posting. Well, don't you worry world, I am committed to keeping you entertained everyday between now and Oct. 21! On my off days, I can talk about food, music, my job, my family.....pretty much anything. Today I'll share what I eat with you!

This was breakfast today:


Washed down with:


And now I feel like:



In my defense, I eat like total garbage all the time. I am addicted to junk food in a major way. I really do understand that for the garbage that goes down my throat, I am pretty lucky to be able to run as much as I do.

If anyone has any pointers on how to stop eating junk food, including large amounts of sugar and caffeine, I am all ears. I want to live to be 100, and Mt Dew isn't helping me any.

Nike + Nano = something........

If anybody else out there in the 'real world' uses Nike+Ipod Nano technology, will someone please tell me how to calibrate it properly? My theory on the technology basically tells me that the pace in which you calibrate it at is the only pace it will accurately measure your distance ran.

In English: You calibrate at 8:00/mile pace, it's only going to be accurate when you're running 8:00 miles. If you run faster, you're going to end up running farther. This happened to me today.

I didn't want to run, but today was a 5k day. Nothing too crazy, I just didn't feel like doing it after running 6 miles yesterday. When I got to the track, I got a little juice flowing and just went out. I ended up running the first 3 miles (on a track) at 21:05, and I figured I had about 1/2 of a lap left, to complete my 5k. This was easily my fastest 5k since I got my Nano and Nike chip.

WRONG. When I really covered the 5k distance, my Nano told me I had another lap to run! So, my 5k according to the Nano was 24:48 or something like that. I really had run about 13.75 laps on the track to get the Nano to finally tell me I was done. I've run long enough to know that a 5k, on a track, is somewhere between 12.5-12.75 laps. I was at about 22:30 at that point, so in my head I know I ran a pretty good 5k today.

But Nike is going around telling people I ran a 24:48. I am offended.

Music: I think I am going to let you crazy bloggers in on all my little music secrets. Today, I was running to Death from Above 1979. If you end up at the bar, drinking a Pabst Blue Ribbon with Aviator Sunglasses on and really tight jeans, go ahead and throw their name out there like you know what's up. Your friends will think you're pretty cool.

Uh, Kevin....you realize Detroit is a dump, right?

Yes, anonymous blog questioner, I do realize Detroit is a dump. However, Detroit is home. I lived there for 26 years and it will always be my home. That should explain the minor obsession I have with Detroit, which I think has heightened since I moved away.

This is what brings us to why I am here blogging before you today. I am coming home to run my first marathon, on Oct. 21, 2007. I will be dodging bullets and running 26.2 miles through the streets of Detroit.

Here is a map of where I am going to be doing most of my training:



Here is a 'real-life' picture of the same place:


The most important part of this whole thing:


I can't upload .pdf's so you cant see my training schedule. It's breathtaking and I feel like I am shortchanging my vast audience by not being able to share it. I will get someone on this immediately and hopefully by the end of the week you will be able to view my training schedule. Yes, I run in New Balance's and use the Nike+ Nano system. Marware makes a pouch for people like me. It's nice.

Testing Testing 1, 2, 3, 4?

You have really done yourself a favor by stopping by to read my blog. Here you will find an endless source of entertainment and splendor. This should be your homepage.

Now that we have that out of the way, lets get down to business. I was using MySpace for my very minor blogging 'needs' in the past. This really wasn't working out for me only because I don't like all the ads and useless crap that MySpace puts all over their site. It's annoying. I realize that there are probably ads on anything you don't pay for, I just didn't like MySpace anymore. I use that site just to find people that I haven't talked to for awhile, which in reality means that through MySpace I can stalk people I don't see anymore that I used to see on a regular basis.

When you think about it like that, it sounds pretty weird. It leads me to ask the question: Does MySpace function like a High School reunion, where people with low self esteem just boast about how they don't have acne anymore and they make a lot of money to people who used to pick on them in High School? I tend to think so. Blogs function in the same way, really.



So basically, know ahead of time that I really don't like boasting about what I am doing and how cool I am, but, for the benefit of the people I am succumbing to the pressure of blogging. I am going to try it. Again, this should be your homepage.