Better Late than Never

I know, I know, it's been a long time since I last had a proper post on the blog. But, can you really stay angry with me after seeing the picture of the cute puppy up there? I mean, look how cute he is! And I posted it, so by basic transitive property you shouldn't be the least bit angry with me. Let's walk through this...if you aren't a commie and you like puppies, and I post a picture of a cute puppy, then you should like me...pretty simple. So let's forget about the lack of posts the past 3 weeks and focus on the important stuff, like Hank the golden retriever puppy from the 1/2 marathon I did Sunday. Did I mention how cute he is? Doesn't Hank rock? And, isn't that a great dog name, Hank? Yes, yes, and yes! Oddly enough, I didn't actually get to meet or photograph Hank, I was running at the time of his presence at the race, so all I have are these pics to preserve his legacy. Here's another one, I just can't help it! That's two (2) puppy pictures, I could write anything from this point forward and no one should care!
I wish I could say I haven't had any posts recently because I was busy partying it up with my boys Lance Armstrong or P.Diddy, but sadly that isn't the case. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Instead of living the high life of rich socialites I've been working two jobs and training in every spare moment in between. I used to travel all over the world on someone else's dime and was on ESPN or ABC 20+ times a year. Now, I have the potential of working 70 hours a week while making less money than when I used to have 1 racing job, good times. My days basically consist of 4 things: sleeping, eating, working, and training....seriously. And looking at Facebook. To be honest, I don't mind the working, I just mind how it cuts into my ability to train how and when I want.

Unfortunately, until I can go full time as a driver for a certain parcel service that my second job is at, I'm forced to keep my shitty day job with the white trash losers, which is what I'm really upset about. With my night hours at the parcel service, which functions internationally, I'll just call it IPS, I'm actually gaining a new found respect for my dvr. I'm actually forced to use it again for the first time in a while, and I now have a new found love for it. The second job is also at night which has somewhat cut into my texting, which is my lifeline. At IPS I work Tuesday thru Friday 6pm to 12am'ish, which are prime texting hours (they have a no cell phones policy in the building, but as I've noticed as I work there longer, no one really gives a shit about this policy, or very many other things for that matter). So, hopefully I can go full time at IPS sooner rather than later for numerous reasons which include but aren't limited to: more sleep, less white trash people, better/more consistant training, more money, better health benefits, and all the brown pants/shorts I could ever hope for. Pray for me.

A few good things have happened since we last talked. First, I got that new job at IPS. It's not the best right now, but has the potential to be absolutely outstanding, in a relatively short time period as well. They have a great tuition reimbursement program which is one of the things I'm most exicted about. The sooner I can get a real degree and move my pathetic psychology/sociology degree to the background, the better. Second, I got a cool road bike. I got it from an OSU student the day before he was leaving for spring break. I had talked to him about it for about a week and a half prior but figured he'd be more desperate for cash as spring break neared so I wasn't returning his calls or emails right away. The last Friday of OSU finals I called and gave him a ridiculous offer which he seemed pretty excited to receive. He got vacation & beer money, and I got a sweet bike at a great price, it was a win-win situation. God bless craigslist and broke college kids. If you're a bike dork and want the specs send me an email or check out Fuji's website. Here's a pic...

Third, I completely blew away my expectations at the 1/2 marathon I ran yesterday. While it was the first official 1/2 I've run competitively, I'd say I've been physically and mentally prepared to run one for a while but haven't for different reasons (injury, scheduling, etc). I was incredibly anxious to finally do one and see how I'd do in a competitive environment. My stated goal for the race was 1:45 which is basically 8:00 pace, I would have been fine with running this time. I started out the first mile at 8:15 and felt good, my first mile is always my slowest, it's possible I over-compensate for trying not to come out too fast by going a little convervatively. Mile 2 was 7:55, now we're talking, still feeling strong and breathing is good. Mile 3 came with some hills which I like, started passing people and the competitive juices were flowing...7:45. Mile 4 started a long stretch on an arrow straight fairly flat paved bike path, getting splits during the next while was hard cause mile markers were non-descript, miles 4,5, and 6 were done in 22:20 (7:27 pace), miles 7 & 8 in 15:21 (7:40). The turnaround was at mile 8 and started us on a mile trip dead into a headwind which was discouraging, I felt good til I hit this point, luckily I brought an energy gel which I took at the mile 9 aid station, miles 9 and 10 done in 15:52 (7:56, uh oh, creeping back up towards 8!). The gel kicked in and I jobbed mile 11 in 7:35, only 2 miles left, we're almost home free! A guy with a Garmin 305 w/ GPS caught me at this point and was trucking, as we passed he said keep up the good work and said we only had 2 miles left. We exchanged a few out of breath sentences and I decided I had to try to keep up with him, we did mile 12 in 7:42. Mile 13 we caught a guy who was walking and encouraged him to finish with us, the poor guy ran about 50 yards and proceeded to stop and puke, awesome! Mile 13 = 7:19, the fastest of the day. Race total: 13.1 miles, 1 hour 40 minutes 45 seconds, 7:42 pace, 95th out of 444 half marathoners (top 22%). I'm still psyched today, I'm surprised I haven't broken my arm/shoulder while patting myself on the back the past 36 hours, but what can I say? Sometimes we do things that we're proud of ourselves for, and this was one of those things for me. A la Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights after his Panthers lost in the state championship game, I left my shoes at the finish line, Xenia Forever...