What Difference Does it Make?

Oh, What Difference Does it Make?
Evidently a whole helluva lot!

In my life, I've never had high blood pressure, I still don't, but since taking three months off of running, it's now borderline.

In my life, I've (almost) never been overweight, I'm still not, but since taking three months off of running, I'm now borderline.

In my life, I've almost always had high cholesterol, but have never had to take medicine for it, today, I had my blood test to check that out..... I hope I'll still be med free come this time next week.

If exercise were a pill, it would be the most prescribed pill in the world.

Get out and do something!

5 Down 15 to Go!

Good news on the homeboy front.

Scales had me at 190 this am. And that was AFTER I had a banana and a glass of water. That's 5 down since Jan. 6, and only 15 more to go.

How have I done it, I take speed! No, no, no, that's not it, I don't do that. I have just gotten back to my good eating habits that I let slip and slide over the last quarter of 2008. So far for 2009 I've had:
0 Chicken Wings
Less Than 10 Beers(that will not last, I assure you!)
Less than one quart of ice cream
1 serving of french fries (that's a battle I fight everyday! Say what you will about the French, really go ahead! But they have something with those taters, them is good!)
0 Deep Fried Snickers Bars

And it's on only 15 miles of running per week. That crap is picking up too, starting tomorrow! I went to that P0e+Die+A+Tryst yesterday (smooth taker he is, could talk his way out of a sunburn! Before I realized he was working me, he had me scheduled for 3 more visits!) and he's got me on a program, gonna fix me right up! Good thing too, because I'm feeling the need!

Clothes are still a little tight, but they'll be hanging off of me by March, hear that SuperDave, by March 15, I'm there!

464 It's Quite a Number

This is post number 464 for me.

Hey, that's the first three numbers of my phone number. Lately the only person besides my BLF to use that number is Capitol One Auto Finance. They can kiss my arse! Those ones there. Around the holidays I got a little behind (now I have a big behind) on car payments, no big deal. Well I got that crap straightened out after Christmas (had to fork over 800 and some odd clams in Checkuary) but that only started those Gaylord M. Fokkers to calling more.

"I told you, I done paid that crap."

"You are still behind."

"I have a $553 payment scheduled for the 15th."

"Can we set up something on the phone now."

"NO, that costs $15, AND I told you, I have a payment set for the the 15th." Click

Here comes the 16th (hand to God)

"Yeah, ok, what do you want now?"

"Wanted to set up a payment over the phone."

"I paid you, YESTERDAY!"

"Well, you're still behind."

"I am not, you suck!"

"We could still set up a payment over the phone."

"That's $15 and it's free on-line (thanks for telling me that last time Fuck-o) and it's even less than that via mail (ok, it's the same but Joe Inside-Salesman didn't know the math)"

"Still you don't want to get behind again."

"Get behind this, Drop and give me 20 Gaylord M!"

I told the lady yesterday, I know you have to have a job, and given a choice between her job and no job, I'll take her job, but I told her to make a note if you get assigned to call me, expect abuse and don't expect any money, I'll do that on-line where it's free, or through the mail where it's cheaper still!

And there it is, Post 464.

Puzzling?

+

+ A +

Poe + Die + A + Trist

I'm going to the Podiatrist on Monday.

Hoping to come slap out of retirement (for you guys from North of Tennessee, that means come the heck out of) and start getting ready for something. I'm gonna take it slowly and see what's what. Regardless, worried I am not. I just want to one day be able to slep it around Croom with A2 one more more time.

I Have A Dream

I have a dream that I'll run tomorrow painfree.

I have a dream that we can all live happily in the moment.

And I Like It!

Baby, it's cold outside, and I like it!

Stay Cool, perfect for a bondfire :)

From Roger's Diary

Chris Wedge has Described our pal Roger as a true Renaissance Man. I don't know about all that but here's an excerpt from his diary.

A Day in the life of Roger!

4:30 AM, woke up without the alarm.

4:30 - 4:45 personal maintenance

4:45: Watered the plants, notice new organic fertilizer is working well, will mix in more orange peel in next batch

4:50 - 5:50 Ran 13 Miles through the neighborhood. Noticed that stoplights are not properly timed. Will submit new program to the HOA as action item at next meeting. Will announce I am not a candidate to run for re-election, let someone else be president.

6:AM dressed and ready for work.

6:30 AM - 5 PM: Work diligently. Wild success.

5:20 PM- Golf league, bad day, only one-under. Miss a three footer for eagle and triple bogey #9. On the plus side, they have added my homemade wine to the menu at the club. People seem to like it. Also, sold my painting, "PGA vs Ping" to private collector.

8 PM: Bowling League. Ho-hum. uneventful. ten-pin didn't go right down on third ball in the tenth. Need to put the calipers on the ball, feels a little, I don't know, flawed.

9:30: Yoga with Jill.

10:15 PM Energy Replacement drink (Jill was right, it is better since I upped the carrot content!)

10:16 - 11:59 PM: Finishing touches on new novel.

Midnight: Update diary (shmidtz, I forgot revenge against my enemies, well there's always tomorrow!)

Tail on the Scale

Hey, the news isn't all bad. Turns out if you go a week without eating chicken wings (yes I've been cheating a little) and without drinking much beer (ok, I've been cheating a lot!) then you can lose a few ounces.

It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle :)

Was: 195

AM: 193

Goal: 175

Mile run since last weigh in: 10

Chicken wings downed: 0

Beers: 1

Well, the good news is it's still possible without 100 miles of running per week. The Bad news is; it's still possible without 100 miles of running per week!

Aw man, you mean I can't just quit?

It's a Process

These comebacks, they don't happen overnight. You gain a bit, you give a bit back.

It's seldom as good as it seems, it's seldom as bad as it seems. Don't worry, I promise I'm not talking about life or relationships (like I'd know about that crap? I'm just a dum joc!) I am only talking about very specifically coming to running and trying to train for the Western States 100 in late June of 2009 after having a massive injury on the left heel (ok, I guess you could apply the information to a right heel injury.)

My buddy Star was probably right when she raised an eyebrow at my running 50 miles in the course of like 4 days after not having run more that 17 in a week for the last 3 months. But, hey I felt good, and well..... er, it was too much. So, I took the week off to get ready for yesterday's 38 mile run. Yeah, if 50 in a week is too much, 38 in a day is probably too much, but it sounded like a good time. My guys were going. Dan, Woody, Star, Becky, Roger, Kathleen, the June Bug, it was gonna be off the hook. What better way to spend 8 hours!

Friday night I got wise. As I was limping around school I thought, well, it'll be alright tomorrow, as I was limping around the local two-for-one establishment on Friday night I thought, you know, it's stupid for a dude that's limping around after being on the shelf for 3 months to think about doing a training run of 38 miles. So, I called my carpool buddies and bagged out. I hate to bag out, but I don't want another 364 days of limping around either.

So yesterday, I did a nice 3 mile (or so) hike around the park with my BLF. It was a lovely day and great way to spend a Saturday, and my body could handle it (tell you right now, if that's what happens when I don't get to run, I'll never run again!) Today, I'm going to run 5 miles on a wood chip path. I'll keep up the exercise and hope it's better for a jaunt around Croom on Saturday.

Slow but steady heals the heal. It's a Process.

Process, this!

In the Schmitz!

My Bro, SuperDave, and I, we're in the Schmitz! Oh, we're all in.

Bottle Scotch. We're weighed in Yesterday morn and we have to hack off 20 pounds, two months later, that lard has to still be gone.

I might just win, big support group down here. Lot's of people with whom to exercise (I'll even be running with some of them :)

My weight, and it's only a starting weight, 195. That is second heaviest that I have ever weighed. Oddly, I'm ok with it. I guess for two reasons:

1) I know it's the starting weight and it will go down. Shoot, last year I was getting all frustrated, but still I lost 15 pounds, and there was no liquor on the line!

2) As my BLF said, "You can be upset if you want, but you still get to kiss the girl!" Well, well, lemme tell you, enough said there! I wouldn't trade that little perk for anything, and when I say anything, that includes....... EVERYTHING. It's a great perk!

Oh, It's ON NOW!

I've got two bets running (little pun there.)

First: I've got one I'm likely to lose, Andy 1 v Andy 2 tracking the mileage for 2009. Of course I do have things in my favor, I have a more liberal work schedule than Mr. Barrett, and I suspect I like the prize more than he (a case of beer!)

Second: SuperDave and I have a bottle of Scotch riding on who can lose 20 pounds (and keep it off for two months, we don't want to Yo-YOprah yup and down!) first. This is a dead heat. Hey, resolutions are great butt SuperDave and I know there is nothing like a contest to get us off our asses and get our asses off of us (I just thought of that you can use it!)

Well, may the we all end up winners, but with me sloshing around in the spoils!

Yoikes! In The St. Nick of Time!

Alrighty, I've been back running a bit, a bit. And now that I'm healthy, I aint stoppin'. I can't!

Being injured and having the holidays together is not a great combination. Oh, there were signs that I was putting on weight. I was going to a wedding with my BLF and my suit fit like OJ's glove, only I wasn't trying to make the suit too small! When I tried to haul ass, it took me two trips! My friend Ercilia kept telling me how good I looked (Ercilia doesn't like slim people.) And lastly, I was ticketed while walking down the side of the road for not having a "Double Wide" warning sign!

Well, these "fears" were confirmed when I stepped on the scale this morining. I'm not pussyfooting around here, 195 pounds, ouch (said the scale.) I know when I was bitching and moaning during my failed slam run I was in the low 170's, yoikes, just gimme that!

Ok, no problem, the holiday's are over. The diet is back on. I'll be doing the exercise thing, today even, tomorrow even. I've got my bet with A2.

In the mean time, you can enjoy the re-incarnation of the Tail on the Scale! I'll be weighing in on Tuesday mornings.

The Big Chill

Today I learned about The Big Chill, and let me tell you it William Hurts!

Oh, no, I'm not cold, and probably won't be cold the rest of this school year, but come the fall, the weather will be hot, but I'll be frozen.

WTF? Ok, we just had a faculty meeting at school and the news, delivered after all the warm and fuzzies were dispensed, we won't be getting raises next year. Well, I was ok with that, you know prepare for the crappy economy and all, but we'll still get our steps right (the bump we get for working here another year, last year you made x this year you'll make x+1 with no cost of living increase)? Er, nope, no steps either. You made X last year, this year you'll make X again.

WTF? I ask again. Ok, TECO was planning a 25% increase, sorry TECO, I've frozen what I'll pay you, kilowatt hour this!

Ok United Healthcare, you are planning a 10% increase, sorry I've frozen your premiums and your co-pays. HMO this!

Ok, Geico, fire the Lizard, you're frozen, Deductible this!

Yeah, this salary freeze, it's not working for me.

By the way this is all the Bishop's idea. Hey Bishop, drop and give me 20, it aint right!

33 and 1/3

My Waist? (sadly, while it's vacillated between 32 - 33 for about 10 years, I think it's now a true 34, but you know what Terry Forrester, John Kruk, Warren Sapp and the Mathews' brothers say, "The Waist is a terrible thing to Mind!")

The speed on which to play long playing vinyl albums? Er, well, yes but, that's not important here and now.

My Age? Yeah right!

Nope that's my mileage running in the last three days! Not bad for a guy who hadn't run more than 15 miles in a week in over 3 months! And I've hit 50 for the week!

I believe I may have to start keeping track of this again for the New Year. Hey, A2, you game? For a frosty beverage at the Cinebistro!

And the foot, it's solid!

...... 33.3 and still time to horse around!.........

AndyMan

Jan Two and I Feel Brand New!

How cool!

I was sitting around the house enjoying (lazy, bored, watchin' movies) my last day off before I go back to school and throw my life into a whirlwind, and a feeling came over me..... I wanted to go for a run. Not some safe and soft and slow trail run, but I wanted to blaze around the neighborhood for just about 4 miles.

Was this a good idea? I mean I'm running 20 tomorrow, and I have just enough foot tape (the Good Doctor calls its Johnson tape, but who would do that?) for Sat and Sun so it would mean going with the naked foot.

What the heck says I, and I strap on the I-Pod, throw some cheap inserts in the hotboxers and take off. I get a few steps into the run, and darn I feel good. Dare I make the left instead of the right and make it 5 instead of 4? I dare, I dare!! So, I'm running along the river and it's not easy, but it's good, it's really good. Legs are still tired from Wednesday's 16 miler, but when I feel sluggish, I speed up, this seems to work. As I am running I'm enjoying the day. I can't understand why everybody doesn't do this (er, yeah, obviously there was no humidity today, because the last three runs I did, I couldn't understand why anybody did run!)

Anyway, I crossed over the bridge, and worked my way back along the river, stopped in the park to pay quick homage to the place I had my first date with my BLF. And crossed over the bridge one more time, and BAM! I was back home.

I was invigorated, I can't wait till tomorrow so I can do it again!

New Year, New attitude!

AndyMan

ps, the foot, it was great!

Happy Darn New Year!

2008 is O-VER, goodbye to the best and worst year.

It had the good (met my BLF, Beautiful Lady Friend, if I live to be 88 I'll be thankful for that!) It had the bad, well, you know the Slam didn't go according to plan. But, as Rafiki said it in the Lion King, "It doesn't matter, It's in the past!" You can either run from it, or learn from it, but you sure in Sam Hill can't change it! If you've got woulda, shoulda, AND coulda, in one hand and a quarter in the other, you can't even get a darn doughnut! Ole' Rafiki Knows, here he is!
I am NOT KIDDING YOU, let's make 2009 about being nice, being good, and being all there in all of the year's moments! It means when I'm with my BLF (we shared a toast at the dawn of the New Year, it certainly started right :) I'm not thinking about being anywhere else, when I'm running I'm enjoying the woods and gratefully acknowledging the ability to run, when I'm with my students they are getting the best I can give.

And I've got hope and I've got dreams and maybe, just maybe this could be the year in which we finally get ....... Revenge against my enemies!