count, down...
For the umpteenth time, pardon my lax bogging of late. I'm feeling a little battered by life right now. Between the IRS wanting $4000 that we don't have, and the Girl Scouts dropping off 4000 boxes of cookies that I don't need... I may just eat myself into a thin-mint induced stupor in order to cope. I've been feeling a tiredness today that seems to emanate from my individual atoms themselves, and that I can't really explain. I've been stumbling through my morning class like I'm hungover, even though I'm not. (I've been trying to not-drink, since I know the additional stress to my system would probably destroy any chance I have of getting out of bed at 5:15. Besides, it's times like this that my genetic legacy in that regard worries me every time I really really WANT to drink. And there have been a couple of days lately that I really... REALLY wanted to. So I didn't.)
I've started the countdown. Today was the last day of classes this week. Monday - Wednesday - Monday - Wednesday - Monday - Finals... done. Five classes left to teach in each course. And all that grading. And all the rest. I just want it to be DONE.
Monday, April 13
personal assistant...
My wife is on a deadline and has not done our taxes yet, so she asked me to "help out" last night by sorting 3 enormous heaps of papers and bills into categories and putting the bills in order by date, and the credit card statements by type, and the bank documents all in one folder, etc...
I know this is her job because I hate dealing with bank accounts and checks and money and paperwork in general, and so I'm no expert, but... how fucking hard would it be to do this every month? All it took was a fistful of binder clips and three hours. Seems like spreading that three hours out over 52 weeks would make a lot more sense. (3.4 minutes per week!) Also it would mean that I didn't have to constantly wade through an ankle deep pile of papers on the living room floor.
My wife is on a deadline and has not done our taxes yet, so she asked me to "help out" last night by sorting 3 enormous heaps of papers and bills into categories and putting the bills in order by date, and the credit card statements by type, and the bank documents all in one folder, etc...
I know this is her job because I hate dealing with bank accounts and checks and money and paperwork in general, and so I'm no expert, but... how fucking hard would it be to do this every month? All it took was a fistful of binder clips and three hours. Seems like spreading that three hours out over 52 weeks would make a lot more sense. (3.4 minutes per week!) Also it would mean that I didn't have to constantly wade through an ankle deep pile of papers on the living room floor.
run+yoga+run=...
I had a great run on Friday, and then Saturday I decided to go to the morning class at the New Yoga Studio which opened up 10 min from my house. It was pretty good... not GREAT, but it was better than YMCA yoga if not as good as Manhattan Yoga. (Translation: The instructor seemed to have actual yoga training experience and not just one yoga class in fitness-trainer-school, but the chicks in the class weren't nearly as hot.) The pace of the class was just right for someone just getting back into it... none of that Ten-consecutive-sun-salutations, and let's stay in downward-facing-dog for 30 breaths bullshit. I felt nice and loose afterwards, and my various joints did not make creaky, scrapey, poppy noises all day.
I was feeling so awesome and fit, I decided to go for a run on Sunday afternoon.
No, no, no...
This is where Dave's almost-40-year-old body steps in and says... "You can make me run, you can bend me all up in weird positions, you can even do both in the same weekend, but I will not workout three days in a row, so you can just turn right around and go back home, you fucking idiot."
My legs went all rubbery when I started to run, so I shaved 30 sec off my first 3 minute run and walked for a while. But I added that time to the end of my last 3 minute run, so I consider it a victory over my crabby old body. I'm a little sore today, but not discouragingly so. I have discovered the magic bullet for getting through the last run of a session, though... "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin. And not just because it's one of my favorite adrenaline-pumping songs of all time in general... but because the tempo matches my running pace EXACTLY. Without even trying, my right foot falls on Bonham's kick drum and snare like a metronome. So much so, that I'm considering sampling the riff in Garageband and making a 30 minute remix. (Because the original version of "Kashmir" is so short!)
I think I've gotten a much quicker jump on the season this year (compared to last year) so I'm starting to scope out upcoming 5K races and put them on the calendar. So far, I have two in May and two in June pencilled in. I'm not sure I can be ready by the end of May, although if I stick to the Couch-to-5k plan I'll be really close. The June dates are more realistic, though. As "realistic" as running-three-miles can be anyway. But I'm kinda serious about wanting to do it. About which I am as surprised as anyone.
I had a great run on Friday, and then Saturday I decided to go to the morning class at the New Yoga Studio which opened up 10 min from my house. It was pretty good... not GREAT, but it was better than YMCA yoga if not as good as Manhattan Yoga. (Translation: The instructor seemed to have actual yoga training experience and not just one yoga class in fitness-trainer-school, but the chicks in the class weren't nearly as hot.) The pace of the class was just right for someone just getting back into it... none of that Ten-consecutive-sun-salutations, and let's stay in downward-facing-dog for 30 breaths bullshit. I felt nice and loose afterwards, and my various joints did not make creaky, scrapey, poppy noises all day.
I was feeling so awesome and fit, I decided to go for a run on Sunday afternoon.
No, no, no...
This is where Dave's almost-40-year-old body steps in and says... "You can make me run, you can bend me all up in weird positions, you can even do both in the same weekend, but I will not workout three days in a row, so you can just turn right around and go back home, you fucking idiot."
My legs went all rubbery when I started to run, so I shaved 30 sec off my first 3 minute run and walked for a while. But I added that time to the end of my last 3 minute run, so I consider it a victory over my crabby old body. I'm a little sore today, but not discouragingly so. I have discovered the magic bullet for getting through the last run of a session, though... "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin. And not just because it's one of my favorite adrenaline-pumping songs of all time in general... but because the tempo matches my running pace EXACTLY. Without even trying, my right foot falls on Bonham's kick drum and snare like a metronome. So much so, that I'm considering sampling the riff in Garageband and making a 30 minute remix. (Because the original version of "Kashmir" is so short!)
I think I've gotten a much quicker jump on the season this year (compared to last year) so I'm starting to scope out upcoming 5K races and put them on the calendar. So far, I have two in May and two in June pencilled in. I'm not sure I can be ready by the end of May, although if I stick to the Couch-to-5k plan I'll be really close. The June dates are more realistic, though. As "realistic" as running-three-miles can be anyway. But I'm kinda serious about wanting to do it. About which I am as surprised as anyone.
Sunday, April 12
maybe it's for the parents of infants...
The iPhone/iPodTouch sound app "Ambiance" has sound files called "Factory Floor" and "Modern Battlefield". Where the fuck do you work where heavy machinery & explosions are preferable to the sounds around you? If the sound of gunfire is improving the "ambiance" of wherever you are... you need to go somewhere the fuck else.
The iPhone/iPodTouch sound app "Ambiance" has sound files called "Factory Floor" and "Modern Battlefield". Where the fuck do you work where heavy machinery & explosions are preferable to the sounds around you? If the sound of gunfire is improving the "ambiance" of wherever you are... you need to go somewhere the fuck else.
Thursday, April 2
Wednesday, April 1
couch to 3K, back to couch, then to 5K...
So yesterday was such an amazing day weather-wise, that I put my gear and went for a run for the first time this season. (I've taken the dog on a few runs but the jog-sniff-jog-poop pace doesn't really count as a "run".) And as much as it sounds kinda pretentious and totally not ME, it felt really good to get back to it. I went all the way back to Week 2 of the Couch-to-5K podcasts, and even though I was only running for 90 second bursts, I found it easy enough that I was extending a few of the runs past the prescribed time... "Oh, I'll just go to the stop sign"... and I was generally surprised that running still felt kinda natural... not like I was doing something alien that my body was going to complain about.
Will it continue? I'm determined to get to the new Yoga Studio that opened between my house and my train station, and I can't really do that until I drop a couple of pounds, so... the motivation is there.
So yesterday was such an amazing day weather-wise, that I put my gear and went for a run for the first time this season. (I've taken the dog on a few runs but the jog-sniff-jog-poop pace doesn't really count as a "run".) And as much as it sounds kinda pretentious and totally not ME, it felt really good to get back to it. I went all the way back to Week 2 of the Couch-to-5K podcasts, and even though I was only running for 90 second bursts, I found it easy enough that I was extending a few of the runs past the prescribed time... "Oh, I'll just go to the stop sign"... and I was generally surprised that running still felt kinda natural... not like I was doing something alien that my body was going to complain about.
Will it continue? I'm determined to get to the new Yoga Studio that opened between my house and my train station, and I can't really do that until I drop a couple of pounds, so... the motivation is there.
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