NEW Post!

I ran C25K W8D1! This is actually a step forward from wherever I was before. I remember that previously I had run 30 minutes and got tired/sore as hell and then wanted to quit and never return. That's what happens when you do more than you should. Sticking to the plan has worked for me very well. I've lost like 14 more pounds since I got to Maryland. Having a routine is great. Eating well is working. Go figure, you lose weight when you take care of your habits. No way! I wanted to lose 30 lbs this year and I'm already half way there in less than 3 months. Sweet deal!

Today I'm going to bust out my second 28 minute run. I might run again on Saturday to ramp up the pace. The weather is getting better and it would be tolerable to run outside. Then I've got the 30 minute runs coming. Then I need to sign up for a 5k.

So mid-post I just signed up for a 5k. I could have been suave (que suave!) about it and just rewrote everything like I had totally signed up for the 5k before, but I'm not a liar. I'm going to tell you what I just did, which was signed up mid-post.

I'll do the Running for Overcoming 5k/10k at Ft. Dupont Park on April 2nd, 2011. It's like SW DC. It's a good cause. Something about sexual abuse. Not good times. But I'm doing it for purely selfish reasons. I donated 25 dollars in the registration fee because it was their mandate. I would not have donated otherwise. I would have asked them for money to be in attendance so that they could get more publicity, as if I was making an appearance. As if.

THIS REGISTRATION FEE HAS JUST GIVEN ME AN IDEA.

I'm going to create my own 5k's and give them cool and different names that no one ever thought of, ENSURING ORIGINALITY. And I will have them once a month (at least!). And it will be free. And it will be awesome.

So running is actually not bad. I'm picking up my pace. I'm not getting double-lapped by natural athletes. I'm feeling confident with my strides. The music is the biggest help. It pumps me up so much. I traditionally listen to BTMI! but this last run I plugged away to Streetlight Manifesto. There's something about "Everything Goes Numb" that just makes me want to bounce off walls. I heard it in 2006 and it blew my mind. And then a couple years ago, after seeing them a couple times, and after a few hard drive transfers where music files were totally lost, and after a few complete hard drive wipes where I forgot to backup my data, I had all of their music removed from my iPod and/or iTouch. So I got their music back and now I'm happy. It's good to relive this music. This inspired me to seek out a couple other bands that had dropped off my radar, including Thrice, Minus the Bear, Sufjan Stevens, and The Vandals.

Minus the Bear has a killer album called Planet of Ice. Get it. Also the breakdown at the 3:40 mark in 'That'll be the Day' on "Everything Goes Numb is tooooooo good.

I've got a gun in my hand but the gun wont cock and my fingersonthetriggerbutthetriggerseemslocked and I can't stop staring at the tick-tock clock and evenificould I would never give up with a vest on my chest a bulletinmylungsIcantbelieveI'mdyingwithmysongunsung and ifandwhenIdiewontyouburymealonecuzI'llnevergettoheavenwhileI'msingingthissong...(exhale)