Work Overload

Sorry I'm so quiet this week - work overload and lots of deadlines!   I promise you will hear from me soon!

What a weekend...

So, many of you know that I moved from NY  (the big Upstate part, not he little city part), to Maryland last year.  My parents, brother, sister and friends all remained in NY (my house wasn't big enough for all of them, and we didn't feel we could pick and choose.)   Consequently on long weekends, or random other times - we go up and visit.  That was what this weekend was.

The wonderful place I work, and the one where my wife just started, were both amazing and let us out of work early! We thought this was going to give us a really early start, but I forgot one major thing.

[caption id="attachment_2727" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The new officers celebrating the backing up of traffic on Route 50.[/caption]

The commissioning ceremony at the United States Naval Academy. 

Spinning the wheels on the 'ole antique.

The logical follow-up post to yesterday's blog is.... I went for a ride last night!

[caption id="attachment_2717" align="alignright" width="180"] I felt all zoomy - like this.[/caption]

The first thing I noticed... Is my seat is very, very hard.  I think  my butt may be bruised today.  Now fortunately, the part of your but you sit on a bicycle seat with, is different from the part you sit in an office chair with, but still.. I need to figure out a remedy to THAT problem.

The second thing I noticed, is that cars are a lot closer to you..  When I run, I am safely up on a sidewalk ignoring the existence of cars.  Well, ignoring the existence except for the occasional Dodge Viper that goes by...  When bike riding, they are much, much closer.    Yet I did find that after the first mile or 3, I didn't notice them.  Now I do have to add that when I would come upon parked cars, I would look over my shoulder to see what was coming - but I do that running as well. 

Fixing the Antique.

I'm sure you have been wondering all day... What did the Once and Future Runner do yesterday, since he (probably) still can't run, and is incompetent when it comes to basic bike repair?  Did he do another long boring walk?

Well, Wonder no more!  I am here to answer ALL your Once and Future Runner questions.. Yesterday, on the way home from work I decided I would stop and get a new tire tube for my bike.. After all, Max pointed out that a flat tire doesn't mean you need a new bike and I suspect my wife would have agreed with her so it seemed the logical thing to do.  I had gone to one LBS  (that means local bike shop according to Max.  She is my new unpaid consultant on all things bike related) a while back, and wasn't all that impressed.  They were condescending, and difficult to get any real help.  Plus they seemed far more interested in up-selling, rather than helping us out.

Well, yesterday I headed out to a different one to see if that was the norm, or if they were more friendly.

[caption id="attachment_2707" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Local LBS[/caption]

I went into the Bike Doctor, and almost immediately was welcomed by one of their employees. 

Walking takes a long time...

So, last night I pulled out my bicycle.  I knew that running was a bad idea - the feeling of a nail being driven into my heel made it a bit of a no-brainer..  But I wasn't going to let myself slack off simply because of that! (We all know how easily that can become weeks or months of slacking off!)  So I pumped up the tires (they were labeled to go to 90 pounds of pressure), and decided I needed to wear something other than dress pants/dress shirt.  After all I was EXERCISING not commuting!



Trying my best to be visible, I went with a yellow shirt, and bright orange shoes. (I have this thing about not dying.)  

Birthday Run

I have read (on blogs and in other stories online) of runners that celebrate their birthdays  by going out and running their age in miles.  Well, I don't think I am up to running 38 miles.. or even 38 kilometers.   So I headed out my door yesterday with the goal of running 38 meters (plus a bit extra) in celebration of my birthday.

[caption id="attachment_2690" align="aligncenter" width="490"] My wife made me a home-made German Chocolate Cake![/caption]

Last Run of the (choir) Season.

Last night was the end of choir season.  At  the end of the season, the Maryland State Boy choir hosts a festival that draws kids from all over!  Members of the  Newark Boy Choir,  the Ann Arbor Boy choir and many others have come to Baltimore for this year's fun.  While this is an awesome thing, it means that the usual waiting room is unavailable for the parents.  No biggie for the beginning of the evening, as I had plans to go running, despite my ongoing foot pain.  You heard me right.. Foot pain.  My plantar fasciitis has been quite bad lately.  Bad enough that I even tried wearing the odd boot in bed to see if it would help!

[caption id="attachment_2684" align="aligncenter" width="490"] I needed a picture here. I liked this one.[/caption]

Despite that, I was all set to run and had plans to meet up with my running partner!