Week of 12/30

Friday - 6 miles getting the legs back under me. Did some plyos, which I'd like to work into my routine in the future.

Sat - 15 long run on the greenbelt. Kinda hammered and legs a bit dead from the plyos yesterday. Very nice run though.

Sun - 5 woof, I guess I was hammering the long run...or the plyos killed me. Or, I'm just in really bad shape. A real death march, well, at least I got on a long run yesterday.

Week ending 12/23

Goal: 75 in 9 runs with Welsh's workout-2 miles at 5:20 pace then 6x400 at 70-72 with a minute rest (Nark you in?). I'd like to use the two doubles to basically warm up then do strides and drills. I'm jumping milage since everyone else is gone I'll need a little extra kick in the pants. If I get tired or something acts up I'll scale back, but I'd like to really get out the door this week.

Monday - 10 scratched the workout for three shitty reasons: 1. I didn't get home till 8 pm 2. I couldn't find my watch or the one Nark gave me, 3. I ate almost an entire ginger bread house before heading out to run. I'm a little concerned with all the hard surfaces I'm running on late at night. But other than a little achilies tightness, I felt good, if sleepy tired. Wanted to double tomorrow, but I've got to work early.

Tuesday - 8 - did Welsh's crash fitness workout on the Austin High track. Dodged a lot of yuppies. Didn't feel great, I think from having a really hard week at work and eating too much Chick-fil-a. I ran 10:07 (81 sec first lap) then took probably about a 3 minute rest (too long because I had to take another dump-this one in a baseball dugout). Then 6X400 in 66,68,66,67,69,67 with a minute rest. Never really felt great, but maybe because it was just a pretty hard workout from the gun. But I guess I was doing 2X Mile a few weeks ago.

Wednesday - 9 - Erine's loop with him after work. Didn't feel great, but hopefully the relaxed run will help me recover. Haven't been able to make it up for any doubles.

Sat - 5 shoddy job rabbiting Owen in a BU meet. Went through less than a mile at 4:30. It felt very fast. I've still got some work to do.

Week- not running at Katy's. A break won't kill me, but I'm being pretty lazy.

Week of 12/16

Monday - No running didn't feel great. I'd still like to hit 60 this week.

Tuesday - 9 with Owen. Felt better as the run when on.

Wednesday - 11 by myself. Intentionally got lost. It was the type of run where you charge up the hills saying to yourself "well, hanley is back." Then when you hear sirens, you pick it up because the cops are coming for you, those poor motherfuckers. The knee bothered me on the hills, but the everything else felt good. I think I'll stay flat for the next week or so.

Thursday - 11 team terrible workout. Goal 20 minutes at 5:25 pace then 2 400s under 70. Great night out and Owen showed up for some moral support and a little pacing. After running the first mile in 5:35 I cut it down to 5:10 then settled in around 5:15 pace. I had to do it on the track since it was dark. Not the easy way to do it, but I wasn't wrecked. Ran a lap easy then did 2X400 in 66,65. Really rigged up on the last one, but had a good time going for it. Longer than my previous workouts. Felt a little tired from the harder run yesterday and a real run the day before that. Finished with some barefoot running. My left calf really sore from the time on the track and the faster 400s.

Friday - 6 - wussy run by myself at night. Pretty tired and beat up from the workout yesterday. Everything from the knees down felt pretty tapped out. Went nice and easy.

Saturday - 15 long run with Owen,Dave and a little bit of Rob. Nice and slow 1:50 mostly on the greenbelt. Great to have Dave for a run and feeling ok. Didn't feel too hard which, 7 minute pace notwithstanding, is pretty encouraging. I wasn't too beat up afterwards.

Sun - 8 by myself at night. A few sore points in the lower legs, but overall, not really feeling the effects of yesterday's long run. Focused on keeping it easy.

week -60 miles again though in fewer runs and feeling better.

Week o 12/9

Monday - 6 around IF after work. IT/knee dicey and right achilles pretty sore. I think the achilles is sore from doing calf raises though. Other than those things, my legs felt surprisingly good. I was going to lift after the Pats ran away with the game, but it looks like I'm staying in.

Tue - 9 team terrible workout challenge. Goal 3X1k under 3 minutes with 3 minutes rest. Actual 2:56, 258, 2:57. Felt a lot more anaerobic than the last workout challenge, but mostly in control. 70-73 second pace didn't feel that crazy. Much appreciated timing help from Owen. I just hate worrying about that shit. Again, really fun workout. I got the jitters and everything.

Meanwhile, Mark bent over in the wrong place again. He was counting on shots figuring into the "# of beers conversion." Screwed. Tom's results pending.

Wed - 9 morning run with Owen and Erik since Katy is coming in tonight and because I'd like to start doing morning runs. My legs felt pretty tired from the workout, but the good tired that you're supposed to feel. At this point I'm tempted to try for 65-70 miles instead of holding steady at 60. I'll probably just take Craig Finn's advice though.

Thurs 4 - am run with Owen and Erik. In the hurt tank for this one from the night before. Also, my legs are pretty sore and tired. With the good training I've been doing the last week and a half, I'm surprised that it took this long to catch up to me. I had planned an easy day today anyway.

Also, as a result of working out "too well." I'm "penalized" by a day where I can eat nothing but donuts (which I like to call Tuesday). Tom completed the workout in 258, 259.8, 259.9 and claims his auto timing system got every split exactly on, legit.

Friday - 6 with Owen around campus. Seems like a good loop. I wanted to run further, but I had to work late and we a pong date. Felt good though, which I should after the easy day yesterday.

Sat - 12 Shoal creek to Mopac with Dave. Pretty hot out, pretty hungover and Dave was having a rough go of it. We ran slowly, but I still felt like I had to grind it out

Sun - 14 hot long run with Owen and Joe. A little tired from yesterday. It was one of those runs where you pick it up because you don't feel great. Still, a big jump from my last few long runs. I'm going to need an easy day or two.

Week - 60 with a hard weekend and a good workout. Even though I took a few really easy days, I'm glad that I'm getting in the habit of running every day.

Week of whatever week it is this week

Monday - 6 on IF. Achilles a little sore, nothing major. I had to finish off the turkey so I ran from home late. I did turkey stew and pulled BBQ turkey. If I'm ever cannibalized I hope that I'm used as completely as that poor bird.

Tuesday - 8 sweet workout challenge with a little help from Owen. I slept through my alarm but a text from Tom woke me up. It said:
"2 miles 4:57, 4:57. 5 minutes rest. Good luck with that shit." Nark also rose to the challenge, unfortunately he slipped, fell and landed on a dick. I blame the altitude.

I ran 4:54 and 4:53- Owen ran the miles with me (he also ran a mile during my rest interval). Hopefully this advantage is offset by the "beers the night before multiplier." The workout isn't exactly scientific training, but it was loads of fun. When I was in good mileing shape I felt like when I hit 400 to go a clock would start ticking down and when it ran out I'd completely blow up. The trick was to finish the race before the clock ran out. I got the same feeling on both of the intervals-good thing I closed in a blazing 71 and 70. Great workout. I hope I can get Nark and Tom to try another challenge on Friday.

Wednesday - 8 in 62 minuets on a crazy greenbelt run. I knew I had to work late so I skipped out for a run on the greenbelt. Unfortunately I misjudged the daylight and at 6:00, after 10 minutes of running it was so dark I had to turn around. Then I saw lights bobbing towards me from some mtn bikers out for a night ride. They said they were going "all the way" so I latched on and said a prayer to the ankle god. I didn't know that by "all the way," they meant about 3.5 hours, rather than 5 miles to the end of main trail. They were pretty nice guys and they dropped me off on a freeway that I had to take back to my car. Really hammered the freeway part since it was dark and there was no shoulder, other than that I ran pretty slow. After not knowing where I was or if I was going to have to feel my way out of the woods, it was a lot easier to go back to work.

Thurs - 6 little run around the house with new shoes. Running in the Reebok Premier Road ($40 on eastbay). They've got a little post to them, but it didn't seem to bother me. Legs are pretty tired from the last two days and I'm a little tired from an uncharacteristically tough week at work.

Fri - 9 took a little nap after work and then did a slow 9 miles on the streets near me. I felt better than I expected.

Sat - (7/4) am 7 with Owen. Tired from a late night, but felt ok. pm 4 with Adam and Dave. A little tired. If I can get through a long run I'm going to take a really easy Monday.

Sun - 12 "long run" with Dave. I got that long run feeling despite the fact that we only ran 12 miles. The knee was pretty tight but it held up OK. Tired, but understandable at the end of a big jump this week.

week - 60 miles. I haven't run this much in a long time. Feeling pretty motivated by the weekly workout challenge. Very happy with the week.

Week of Nov 25th

Monday - 4 around IF. Very sore, especially the hamstrings. Ordered a new pair of reeboks. My shoes are so old that my feet start to hurt if I run anywhere but the soft grass at IF. IT band didn't really bother me, but not really testing it out with 4 slow miles. Thinking about banditing a turkey trot.

Tuesday - 5 around IF. Met a guy named Adam who used to run for Swarthmore. He hammered by me and then I sped up to run a couple laps with him. Seemed like a nice guy. Hamstrings still pretty sore and grabbing up a little. Not a bad time to be focusing more on getting healthy rather than mileage as everyone is away for the weekend.

Wednesday - 7 on the greenbelt. Skipped out of work early and hit a great run. If I can get my IT healthy enough that I don't have to ice it, I could see myself cheerfully running 10 miles here every day. Excited about thanksgiving!

Thursday - 4 in between bastings.

Saturday - 10.5? 75 minutes on the greenbelt. I had to make a few stops since I had the spicy chili at Texas Chili Parlor yesterday. The greenbelt was almost deserted, every time I took a dump I'd pop up behind the same guy and scare the crap out of him. By the third time I stopped feeling bad. Great run.

Sunday - 11 77 minutes on the greenbelt starting from the 360 jump off point. Ran out of trails at about 33 minutes. If the water was a little lower I could have crossed. Not too tired from yesterday and the knee feels pretty good. L hip flexor a little sore from 2 "big" runs in a row and the slippery muddy ground. Great to be out.

Week - 41 good last few days and the knee is starting to feel a little better. I bought a punch hard for the Hyde Park Gym. If I can get one good lift a week I think it will really help me stay healthy.

Week Ending 11/18

Tuesday - 4 on IF in the evening. I was still a little sick from a McGriddle in the Chicago Airport. Only eating 2 hot pockets and a McGriddle (obviously) for the last two days probably didn't lend to the overall good feeling either. IT didn't bother me, but I did notice it, which isn't a good sign only running 4 miles. I've countered with a leg strengthening program that includes wall sits while in the shower and weird exercises while watching TV. Great program. I'm not even a doctor, more like a scientist.

Wednesday - 5 run around with Nark. Topped if off with an epic stride/race. Imagine going down to your local track and running 100 meters in 15 seconds. That's what we did.

Thursday - 6 run with Nark around the neighborhood. Checked out bars and restaurants for the night. Pretty psyched about the upcoming hold steady show. Nark runs faster than I usually do. This is a bad sign

Saturday - 6 or 9 or 13 warmed up then did 20 diagonals a soccer field at IF. Pretty tough, but felt good to be doing it. IT not too much trouble. I lifted with a free 7 day gym membership. I ran to the gym and back, which doesn't really count as mileage. Also the 4 mile run home from downtown. Stopped a few times but generally ran absolutely as fast as I could. Not sure how nark kept up in sandals. Not a good sign.

Sunday - 4 Ran down to get the car. Very sore from yesterday. Should not have run home.

Per Ms Cullinan Esquire

Week of TX to AK and back

Monday-9 fix the leg tempo. I ran 3 miles to the track and then did a 3 mile tempo in 16:07 (5:21, 5:24, 5:22). I normally don't like doing tempos on the track, but I wanted the flattest most consistent surface I could find. IT band felt comparably good and felt great this morning. I had what Owen calls "workout stomach" despite the fact that the tempo was neither fast not long. I see two reasons for this 1. I'm not in very good shape 2. I don't run at this effort level very often and I think my core needs to get up to speed. I think I pushed myself and my IT band just hard enough. It is encouraging that I can put in this type of an effort and not set my shit back.

Song of the ....

"Southern Rock" by a band for Providence. Small act, so I don't know much about them. Hate the name, like the song. Deer Tick- Baltimore blues No. 1.

The bug on the left is a male deer tick, the middle a female deer tick. The gigantic bug is the wood tick. See, now you learned something.

Week Ending 11/2

Week (47) Did about all I could on the IT band. I'm going to try to get a free 7 day gym membership and strengthen everything up. It seems like a good chance that my bad hamstring is causing IT band problems.

Monday- day off, knee really sore

Tuesday-7 on IF testing the knee out. Felt better than I expected. Since speed doesn't make the knee worse, I did a few 400 pick-ups until I realized that the balls totally wore through my shorts. Basically if I dropped below 6 minute pace, I'd fall out. I met a guy named Edward who was telling me about his nephew the triathlete who had a great career until "one of his balls got tangled." The speed limit imposed by my shorts and the specter of the triathlete limited me to 4 400s. I'd estimate I was running them in about 80 seconds, not a workout, but good to stretch the legs.

Wednesday-got dragged out to booze with work people

Thurs-10 ran with Dave around Shoal Creek, then as it started to get dark we moved into neighborhoods and onto the Texas Track. Really tired from the last two nights, but felt better than I expected.

Friday- 9 ran neutral colors before going to the Isbell show. Didn't feel great since I was so full that if I got stabbed candy would have come out. Probably not a good idea to do my run on the east side in this condition. IT pretty tight by the end. Did some barefoot running too.

Sat- (14) 10 in the morning with Dave and Owen. I'm getting to the point where I can basically set a watch by my IT band. Right around 9 miles it gets pretty sore. Other than that Felt pretty good on the easy run down Shoal Creek.
-4 around IF before the playing pong. I thought a double might be a good way to counteract the fact that my IT band starts killing me at 9 miles. IT felt worse than it did on the morning run.

Sun-7 hungover run on some of the fields with Dave. IT band hurting from the extra running yesterday so I cut it a bit short.

Wendesday and the weekend

wed 7 After work with Dave. Went down Shoal Creek- Dave was finishing up a 20 mile day and I was a little tired from the last two days so we took it nice and slow. Did some serious wagering on heps results.

Sat 12 did workout with Dave. We made a kind of up and over loop that ran about 2:10 with rest of 2 minutes. The loop had all different types of terrain-the kind where you have to say to yourself, "well I'm not going up the hill anymore, I can stop with the short stride." Dave did 8, I did the first 6 and the last one. I felt better on the last one than I thought, maybe I'm being a little conservative. IT band tightened up the last few minutes of the run, no big deal

Sun 13- evening run by myself as Dave fell victim to an open bar the night before. I decided to explore some new territory, so I put on green (neutral colors) and ran east looking for land for my real estate Uncle to buy. I found a great park and while the streets were really hood, I like that everyone is out and about. IT band got pretty tight about an hour into it then really tight when I took off my shoes to run the last few minutes barefoot on IF. Only really bothering me down by the knee. Not sure if I'll be able to run on Monday, thinking about coming up with a injury prevention strength routine.

Yao Ming?

8-in the dark by myself after the fantasy basketball draft. I had a great cool night to contemplate the fact that I'd chosen Yao Ming with my first pick. I ran on the 4 minute loop by Central Market until I realized that I was running it because it smelled good and I was hungry. Finished with 5 minutes barefoot on IF. Actually felt OK.

After Work Special

9- Down Shoal Creek with Owen after work. Felt really good and the knee didn't bother me until the last few minutes. I wore a shirt for the first time in months. It got dark about the middle of the run, that combined with the fall weather made me feel fast for a change.

Sunday Recovery

5 on IF alone. Back really hurts and IT band feels fine, but my knee is really bothering me (I'm sure these are related). Did a few minutes of barefoot running, I'm going to try to work some more of that in. Knee felt OK the rest of the night.

Also, I know after an 11 minute 2 mile tempo I shouldn't be thinking about races, but Welsh brought up the Austin Marathon, Dave is thinking about it and I think we could talk Ring and maybe Neal into it as well. I wouldn't be too surprised if Owen and Jordan showed up on the line. At this point not considering the marathon seems almost antisocial.

Girly Tempo

11.5. Did 2 of Dave's 4 mile tempo with him. Miles in 5:24, 5:36, unfortunately I was pretty done after that. Hopefully if I cool it a little the first mile I can do the whole 4 miles in a few weeks. Knee was really bothering me below where the IT attaches after the run. I kinda gimped around all night.

Mincy Friday 7

7 with Dave. Down upper Shoal Creek. IT band felt quite a bit better, but reined it in so that I could overdo it working out with Dave tomorrow.

A little better

5 around home and IF with Jilane. Knee progressed from Allan Houston to Amare Stoudamare condition.

A Run with Chef Rodgers

4 on Hancock golf course with Jilane. IT didn't feel as good going slowly, but I don't think I did any real damage. It was pretty sore all night, but I think it was from some aggressive rolling rather than the run. I guess today's run will tell.

IF Testrun Hammerfest

3.5 Hammered until my knee got sore and then I stopped. I don't think I did any damage and probably loosened it up a little. Hopefully I can go a little further tomorrow. New respect for the IT band

Not an Epic Workout

9- workout with Dave. Did 5X3 min, 2 minutes rest on the golf course. IT band really tight warming up, but didn't really bother me during the workout. It was a little too technical to go "fast" and both dave and I were not feeling great. I felt like I'd been eating Hint of lime and Hot Pockets all day...probably becasue that's what I was doing. On the warmdown IT really siezed up and probably should have walked it in. I'll need to roll it and take a couple days off.

Slow Friday

8- easy with dave. Didn't feel good thanks to Homeslice Pizza. Also, my leg is still pretty wierd from the infection. Was going to go 10 but it was hot I was full and wierd feeling. Later that night my IT band really siezed up.

Dark on the Greenbelt

8 on the greenbelt after work. I started a new book in the car and I got pretty into it so I started a little late. Heading out it was already getting dark. I decided to turn around when I fell the first time(hard guy). On the way back it was the kind of dark that made me imagine something in my peripheral vision. I'd have to do a triple take to realize there was nothing there...and by that point I'd usually fallen. Finishing up on the roads around 360 I found a quasi mythical hill--the type that has you beat before you even get to the steep part. I was tightening up like a mofo but I saw bright lights at the top. I imagined a fancy restaurant shangrala; swanky, but blue collar. When I finally got to the top I realized it wasn't La Fonda San Miguel, but a mini mall complete with a nail salon and a temp agency. Great hill though. If I can run that a couple times a week I think it will really help me. I felt surprisingly good considering my fever yesterday.

We in the business call them dead legs

8 on the IF fields. Owen ran the first half with me. We had a good heart to heart that made it go faster. Felt ok other than not having any quads so to speak. I probably ran 7:30 pace again. Last Friday I was able to workout with Dave because I was in the "out of shape, but fresh" zone. This week I'm not in shape and I'm not fresh, hopefully I'll come around enough to give him some company. Also I have to stop eating my lunch then finishing Jill's. While it is a delicious and cost effective habit, there has never been so much of me to love.

Aye Chingada

8 by myself. Wanted to run as easy as possible, but just ended up running as slowly as possible, it wasn't very easy. Feeling pretty beat up from friday night and the long run yesterday. Some aches and pains. But I'm just going to keep running 7:30 pace until it gets easier. Also, owen made dinner and wouldn't let me eat until I ran. Good man.

Don't call it a long run

12 with Dave and Steve. Ran from Steve's house to the greenbelt. It got dark just as we got into the "enchanted forest" part of the run. Good run, but my entire upper body is still sore from friday night. My ribs are pretty banged up. I think I pushed the pace a little, but it wasn't because I felt good, but because my shit hurt.

At this point it's not worth totaling up the week. I decided that come hell or high water I'm going to run 60 miles next week. If I have to do it at 8 minute pace, drunk, pregnant and at midnight I will.

Dave, Steve and I were talking about our problems with the Austin racing scene. We came up with a good solution. Unofficial $10 entry winner take all races. We'd do a series of 4 races an 800, mile, 5k and 10k. Even if you didn't win, it's cheaper than a regular road race and the competition will be better. If you're in it for the coupons and the T-Shirt you're not really racing anyway. I'm also mulling over a "no watches rule." $10 cash only winner take all. It would be everything I like about running and none of the tri-athlete Batman Equipment Belt bullshit

Not enough Runing

Thurs 5 miles first run in almost a week. Wanted to loosen up before the workout with Dave tomorrow that I'm hoping will jump start me into a routine.

Fri 9 miles workout with Dave 4X400 around IF. Had some stomach problems. I was ok on the pace and I probably could have gone a little faster. On the other hand I didn't have enough in me for another one.

Sat- Celebrating in a big way, my whole body hurts from last night. Had to skip the run.

Song of the Week

Jay-Z's Blue Magic is the lead single from the November 6 release American Gangster. The album is parallel but separate from the Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington biopic of the same name.

Jay’s last album was a glitzy, overproduced "look I'm back on top again" piece-o-crap. He knew it and his fans knew it. Thy Kingdom Come only sold 1.5million copies and Jay said, “it didn't live in Brooklyn.” In American Gangster, Jay abandons his well-worn territory for Frank Lucas’ story. It's strange, someone else's story sounds so much realer than his own.

Blue Magic is spare and old school, but with more substance than any of his recent work. The song is so good people are wondering if its really new or an unreleased track from his golden years. Owen and I were talking about the typical rap career trajectory. He had a good point, "at the end, these guys have so little to rap about that they have to retire and then come back to drum up subject material."

Jay did something different this time; how many rap concept albums are there? It is a little biography, a little history, all fire,” Blame Reagan for making me into a monster/Blame Oliver North and Iran-Contra/I ran contraband that they sponsored"

American Gangster is the story of Frank Lucas, a 70's heroin kingpin who supposedly made a million a day selling his own product on 116^th Street. He was infamous for importing raw in the caskets with Viet Nam soldiers. Lucas also ratted out over 100 law enforcement officials and drug dealers leading to an early release. He was later reconvicted on another drug charge.

An Ian Marcus Experience

9 Workout around IF. Did 3X4min with 2:30 rest. Felt good to get the legs moving , but my upper body seemed really tired. Felt much better than I have the last few days, but I didn't feel particularly fast or tough. I hate to blame the Chic-fil-a shake, but I crapped my brains out. I did strike out against the coporate world by hitting up the starbucks bathroom. Unfortuatley I also struck out against some poor person's lawn. Either way it was good to put in some work. I met Andra and Quincy who were out playing flag football. Some terrible frat is in going to get absolutely lit up. Felt pretty good on the warm down. I think I can start going to the well a little more.

No I will not go out with you

6. After work and pretty tired, so when I ran into another guy running quickly I overlooked his heart rate monitor and asked where he was going. He was a nice guy who just started a job as vice principal at an elementary school. I ran his 4 mile loop with him which he hammered. I've been feeling really slow and I figured I was just tired and a bit sick. After running with this guy I'm worried that if some yahoo trying to break 3 hours for the marathon is the one pushing the pace he's either hammering or I'm in even worse shape than I thought. He ended up peeling off after a few miles, I think because he was hammering and wanted to cool it, but not in front of me. All in all, it felt more like asking a girl out in junior high than I would have expected. I should have known when I saw the heart rate monitor. A shame, it would have been nice to have someone who was willing to run when I got home from work.

Le Tour

7 after work. Frustrated, so I ran a little fast. Breathing still a bit labored and some general fatigue from yesterday and being sick. I did some strides on IF and raced some girl in a golf cart. I did not win.

Kinda Long Run

13- long run on the greenbelt with Dave and Steve. Nice and cool to start. Good run although the greenbelt is still pretty wet. Still feeling a pretty sick and not really sleeping.

I left my car downtown

10 with Owen out Scenic (a quiet paved hilly loop) to town lake and back to my car. I've deputized myself the czar of making sure Owen runs slow on his easy days. He's doing 90 minute recovery days so it's the least I can do to jump in and run slow. I'm a bit sick too, but didn't feel terrible at that pace.

Also, my watch came in the mail! It is awesome. Now I'll start saving up proofs of purchases for some micromachines.

Song of the week

Lifter Puller- Nassau Colosseum

Singer Craig Finn and his buddy were watching a Grateful Dead show at Nassau Coliseum. Halfway through the show his buddy starts tripping balls and throws up all over Finn and everything else. After fleeing the scene, Finn drove around trying to calm his buddy down. When driving didn't work, they snuck into Ninja Turtles II. After some overblown, if genuine concern about Donatello, Finn finally got his buddy back to earth.

Nassau Coliseum is an outdoor venue in Long Island (last line of the song) nicknamed the "Nassau Mausoleum” in the 80s and 90s for its state of disrepair and "Bust Palace" in the 70s for the frequent drug busts. Considering Nassau Coliseum, was released on Half Dead and Dynamite in 1997, Craig Finn was probably at the concert during the Mausoleum era although it sounds like he was in on the Palace scene as well.

The song starts as a relationship dirge about boozehound romance. It moves to the fallout, the accompanying binge--the euphoria (bigger than Jesus), bottoming out and then the realization that you were never able to get away.

Finn idolizes the Replacements, another bar band from Minneapolis. The Replacements drank themselves to death while touring and treating their fans like shit. Lifter Puller was also a hard drinking bar band but they genuinely appreciate their audience. However, there are a few exceptions: the hippies, the hipsters the indie kids.

Hippies are clearly the villains in Nassau Coliseum, stealing girlfriends and casting themselves as martyrs. In the Hold Steady song Positive Jam, Finn calls out the "sniveling indie kids" and the "clustered up clever kids" who I take to be the hipsters. By rejecting the dominant groups that make up his audience, Finn pulls a reverse sell-out refusing to ground his music in the tired worldviews of hippie martyrdom, indie know it all-ness, or hipster superiority.

Instead, Finn's music comes from the everywhere and nowhere place of a hard living drifter. In Nassau Coliseum, Finn travels from Jamaica to Alaska, from being kicked out of concerts to kicking kids with cops. The only constants are uncertainty, an inability to boil the world down into a worldview and an ultimate ideal of hanging out.

*Finders fee goes to Welsh and Ring

3 IF loops

5 Easy run around IF with Owen after work. It's getting cool enough that running easy around 7pm doesn't' seem like a life or death struggle. Pretty sore from strides and some new exercises. I think I'm also getting a little sick. Now I feel like less of a pussy for having an easy week.

Coming up with a plan

7 mile tour de fields. I did 6X strides uphill. Really more like plyometrics since the hill was so steep. I'm going to try to do some easy running and strides this week. I'm usually tired from my job, so I'm going to try to combat that by running slower on runs by myself. It doesn't feel any easier, but it's bound to be good for me. There is a big 10k in Austin in about a month. I'm thinking of trying to set a reasonable goal (somewhere between 33:00 and 33:30) halfway between embarrassing and ok and trying to get motivated about it.

Fat Camp

5 miles with Owen and Jimbo. Felt bad for calling Jimbo out for the yuppie love fest that is Austin running. He organized a 5k I won on July 4th. He claimed that they didn't make any money despite the fact that 550 people ran, it was $25 bucks each, and there were no porta-potties. He claims that after all the comps, costs are pretty high. I just feel like Austin (or at least Run-Tex race organizers) would rather comp 50 18:30 tri-athetes (and not me) than offer up a few bucks for quasi elites. I really don't think it's a coincidence that Western Mass has a few teams at club XC nationals and Austin (supposedly a running hotbed) has none. This is the reason I haven't been running road races in Austin, not the reason I'm in shitty shape.

Did strides and a few exercises after the run. When it's pretty hot out substituting supplemental things for a few miles is pretty easy.

Sweet Mother of God

-6 warm up with Shaw, Nark and Tom. Got accused of hammering, didn't feel very good. Terrible night of sleep. Embarassing race with splits of 455,508, 510sh. My legs actually felt pretty good and it seemed like my breathing was the weak point. Usually I have the opposite problem. Great weekend, but a shitty race. I can't blame the race on the few "coffees" I had the night before or the bad night's sleep. I think I just didn't have what it took and I knew it.

I'm going to keep running, but do a little scheming on a gigantic plan and a daily schedule that make sense for where I am right now.

Saturday Shake out

5( No running on Friday) Ran around in Wellsley. I actually found a some trails that made me realize just how much I miss running in New England. Actually felt better than I excpected trying out Owen's flats for some strides.

Song of the week

I'm jumping gun a little bit here, but I'm headed back to the northeast this weekend and may be incommunicado. It was hard to resist "shipping off to boston" or "the ice of boston" or "for boston." But, I've been listening to this song a lot lately. It reminds me a lot of Andre 3000's great "love in war." As a whole I think this album is undermined by Kanye trying to outdo himself. I think art is a little like faith, if you start thinking too hard it just slips between the cracks. This song epitomizes that theme; "what will I do now that I'm happy/famous/ with nothing to prove" Usually when a rapper discusses their fame it's their last good album and a last ditch effort to shake off the bed bath and beyond boredom. I hope this isn't the case with Kanye. http://www.box.net/shared/bii69qkyez

7 at 7

7 Did tour de fields with Owen, Dave and Raul this morning. Felt better than I expected after the kind of tough, kind of long day yesterday. I've been stealing Erik's protein powder trying to make shakes then follow them up with a sensible dinner. According to my stomach, karma is on a pretty short cycle; it doesn't help that my sensible dinner is usually a burrito. At least it gives me something to do at work.

The Hills!

12 ran with the guys and bombed a workout. Guys did 16 X 200 uphill and I only did 12. We started out around 42 second pace and worked down to 35 by the time I'd had enough. Just didn't have the zip to stay with them. Had to go to work instead of doing the tempo, but that probably would have been a little too much milage this close to the race. I think I would have done a little better doing a tempo with them on the track. Not an encouraging workout, but about the effort I was

Stormy Weather

(3/7) Got up to do the workout with the Texas guys but after watching Dopplar, Vig called the workout off. I cursed them all for pussies and started running home. Then the skies fell in. It was like Zeus himself was after me. A motion sensor light came on at the end of my run, I thought it was lightening and almost shit myself. Ran 6 in the pm with Sullivan. We realized that we're both as fat as we've ever been although, push come to shove, he's fatter than me right now.

Easy Shoal Creek

8 with Dave in the early evening. It was a little cooler than expected and I felt a little better than I thought after a hard thursday and friday. Thinking about a workout tomorrow, but I need some good sleep, we'll see how I feel.

Easy IF Run

5 with Craig recapping last night. Some high school girls soccer team gave us some gentle heckling. Since it's about a one mile loop I told them to think of something clever we'd be back around in 10 minutes. Fortunately for us a couple of them think sexy dances are clever.
Craig said this happens to him all the time in New York.

I'm going to start doing song of the week. The Handsome Furs are a Dan Bockner (co-singer in Wolf Parade) side project. http://www.box.net/shared/anhhm0b612

Trial by Fire

14 kinda with the team. 1.5 miles with the team @5:15 pace on town lake then ran 6min pace until 4 miles. Felt pretty hard though. Legs pretty tired from yesterday. Then did 4X300 in 52 200 in 50. Good to get the legs moving. only did 4 because I had about 3 miles to home, I think it's close enough to the race that I have to be thinking about recovery and I had to rush to make it to work. Tough day if not too encouraging. Going to take a few days really easy.

Town Lake Lizzle

13 6:30AM Town Lake loop with Owen. Picked Dave up at his house. I was unexpectedly a little tired from yesterday's easy run. If I can get in a routine after the race where I do a few runs like this a week, I'll be in bangin shape pretty quickly. I think I wanted to go the fastest out of the three of us, but only because I had to make it to work on time. I don't think we ever ran under 6:45. Good run although feeling a little more tired than I should be. I just checked out the roster for the race in Providence and there are a lot of guys about as good as me, hopefully they're in bad shape too. Right now I think the over under is optimistically set at 15:20. Not good.

Greenbelt with the team

9 miles part on greenbelt part on town lake. Felt great after an ok night's sleep and a couple days off. Unfortunatley I can only really run about an hour, then I have to go to work. I tried waking up early to get in a good 15 minutes beforehand, but no dice.

Town lake loop

11 at 1pm. A cool day, but still hot. I ran in sunglasses not because it was light out, but because the light hurt my eyes. Pretty tired from boozing. Decided to not run long and save it for a workout on Tuesday. Calves are so sore they feel like they shake independently like tits. 60 miles this week. I'm taking such shitty care of myself I'm not sure I'm getting in better shape, I'm just getting sore.

Run with Dave

10 Mr. Burnham said the magic words "I don't want to get up early." Ran out to town lake did the 4 mile loop. Ran into Habben who got us some gatoraids from the team room. Got water at every opportunity and ran nice and slow.

Fila Relays

8 or 9 miles. My friend Raul called me to sub for him on his relay team. The Race is 4X2.5 miles on the roads around Zilker Park. I didn't know my team until right before the race. I wore the black hat; it was like a blind date. The team was me, Justin, Meg and Dee. They were all really nice. I think Meg was my favorite, she is an ex-cheerleader who now recruits software engineers. I'm pretty sure those nerds don't know what hit them. She got so excited during Dee's leg that she busted a cheerleader move. I led off, getting dragged out a little too fast by a Ugandan who died about a mile in. Afterwards he proudly told me that he "wanted to make the race hot." Through the half in 2:20 then no splits till the finish where paul got me at 12:23. I kind of ran like a bitch, I got 4th, but I didn't lose to any triathletes. Not bad considering I only got about 4 hours of sleep. I forgot my flats and I had to come right from work so I ran in dress socks; I too made the race hot. I think our team was 3rd in the coed devision and 1st in the "not wearing a douchebag uniform and visor" division.

Better than I expected. I think with some flats, a few workouts and sleeping a few hours I can keep the pace up for a 5k and put my hand on 15:00's ass if not take it home.

IF Run with Dudes

6 miles with Erik, Paul and Owen. Tired, but good to run with people. Feet hurt from running home barefoot from Crown and Anchor last night. I'm running the Fila relays tomorrow. If I run ok, I'll buy a ticket out to Providence.

Wednesday Greenbelt

9 miles on town lake and the greenbelt. Ran with the texas guys. Our miles were only about 6:30 on town lake but they felt kinda fast. I guess considering how badly I felt the last two days it's probably to be expected. Other than that I didn't feel too bad despite only getting a couple hours of sleep. Swam in barton springs before work. Very bush league to roll into work and put on my shirt and shoes in the parking lot. Foot still a little achy.

Woof

Between 6-7 miles, 40 and 50 minutes and 2 and 3 shits. Ran around IF as I'm lazy and my foot was a little sore. Pretty tired and pissy since I was running in the middle of the Sox vs Yankees game (fuck you Judas). Shouldn't have had a boggs beforehand. Felt better as the run went on, but not good. I can't tell if I'm sick or just really tired.

Recovery drinking

8 in the am. After getting home last night I had a milkshake and 6 beers and then went right to bed. Didn't sleep well with crazy dreams from all the hot sauce, I was tired from the last two days and the opposite of hydrated. It was the type of run where you start hoping you'll have to wait to cross at the crosswalks. Dave started with me but he had to stop with some abdominal pain that I suspect may be a sex injury.

week

54 miles in 6 runs. Good weekend of running. I got my first good night's sleep in a month on Saturday night. I'm not taking great care of myself so it's hard to tell if I'm in bad shape or just totally exausted.

Habenero Long run

13 at night by myself. One of the more unpleasant runs I've done latley. Katy and I went to the hot sauce festival and tried every different kind of salsa, hot sauce and spicy jelly. Then inspired, we made our own pineapple habenero salsa. On the run my hands were burning from the habeneros, my face was burning from my hands. Had to stop and dry heave a little. Reminded me of the time Bart cut jalepenos and touched his dick then had to put the package in a bowl of milk.

Saturdays with Burnham

13- we were going to run early in the morning, but I got a call from Dave at about midnight asking if we could run later. I considered that I was drunk and in the trunk of a car, and I agreed. Went nice and easy as dave is getting back into shape and adjusting to the heat. Despite going slow I felt better than expected. Didn't run on friday, there was basically a bowl of guacamole between me and the door and I couldn't find a way around it.

All my friends are out drinking!

5 Thurs 8pm. Hammered a few miles around IF while Katy made dinner and everyone started boozing. I met everyone at El Arroyo after work, but I only had a couple drinks and after swimming by the greenbelt I was sober as a bird. I was going to get up this morning and do a tempo, but Katy basically held my nose and poured booze down my throat last night. It was fun in a I'm at work and I don't have my phone, badge to get in the building, lunch type of way.

Oh hi courtney

Around 45 minutes Wednesday night with Sullivan and Matteau. A nice easy run where Sullivan and I ran game on a cute girl we picked up while Matteau struggled in his offputting french shorts. Sully did pretty good, but unfortunatley he has no way to get in contact with her. I ordered a watch from Amazon.com and the estimated arrival date is between september 6th-25th. Did I order this fucking thing from a cereal box? Until then it will be hard to quantify my running. On the other hand it is pretty easy to quanify nothing. In other news Dave continues to duck me. This time he used the old, "my ceiling fell in on me and ruined all of our stuff" excuse.

Eaaarly morning run

7 45-50 minutes. Stanley woke me up and we picked up his friend Garry who biked with us. Garry is a wierd old guy who used to live right by Stanley. He talks exactly like the "hey there muscley arm" guy from Family Guy. The similarity is pretty disturbing. Took a little nap yesterday but picked Katy up from work around 1, so I was pretty tired. The prospect of Owen coming back, dragging me out of bed and kicking my ass makes getting out the door a little easier this week.

night run with sully

8-9 with sullivan around shoal creek. Ran nice and slow trying to figure out a) what happpened to us in mexico b) how mexico was the muffin top nation c) how we were going to start running again and get rid of our respective muffin tops. Great run, went a lot further than we expected since it was easy and we were having a good time. It's really do or die time getting in shape for the Ekiden and I hadn't run in a week. On the other hand, despite hating my job and working 50 hours last week, I had a great time. Eric is going to wake me up to run in the morning. He's in killer shape; I'd say the chances of the run being over 6:00 pace are about 25%.

Thursday

9-10 with erine at night. Probably about 7 minute pace. After a rainy summer it's finally getting hot. I do a lot better in the heat if I run slower. I'm going to try(key word) to run a lot the next couple of weeks until owen and stanley get back so I can jump right in with their training.

last week

I'm not even going to total up my miles. Didn't make it up for a long run.

Getting Back on the Horse

8 running to the track doing 4X200 and a mile barefoot. It was 89 feels like 95 so it was rough going. I was a little tired from running last night, maybe more depleted than tired. If I'm bored or don't end up doing anything I might do another 4 tonight. Planning on running with the guys tomorrow.

Friday Rabbit Duty

9 or so. I stood up my friend Erine for a run thursday morning so I tried to make it up by rabbiting him in the summer track series. We ran 12:01 for the two mile going out in 86 and settling in at 90 second pace until a slow 3rd to last lap. Not as fast as Erine wanted but he was in trainers and I think he ran pretty tough. Katy used some lotion that had been in my hot car since I bought it, so I had her take the car home and shower and I ran the 5 miles home.

Thursday BitchOut

5 around IF and Guadalupe scouting out the best ways to get to the bars around my new house. The closest bar is only ok. It's got good pizza though and if we got a drink there it wouldn't be too far to get to the draught house, which tantalizes me with the potential for greatness but, is only an good bar. Ran short since I was really tired from moving, my achilles was a little sore and Katy just got into town.

Wednesday Run

7 miles at 9 pm around intermural fields (IF). They leave the lights on so I could run on grass (albeit a 1.1 mile loop) at night. Really tired and sore from moving and one of my sholdiers is killing me so I have to lean like Noah 3k into a 5k. I'm also excited about the late night tennis courts there. It'd be good for my lateral movement and ponglike to get some beers and play tennis in the dark after work.

Katy gets in today, hopefully that doesn't stop me from running. I'm thinking about racing her around IF and doing a stagger that equals everything out (i.e. she's running the loop in 6:30 I'm running it in 5:30 so I give her a minute head start and we race). We'll see.

Moving

Didn't get a chance to run monday or tuesday. I was moving from work until at least 2am both days. I did take a break for burgers and beers though. I hate having stuff. I'd rather move like I was fleeing creditors and take as much as I could fit in the car in half an hour. Maybe it is just my job, but I like doing manual labor as long as it doesn't involve lawns. I accidetly shut off the power a day early at the old place so we had to haul ass to clean and get everything out of the house before dark. Afterwards I felt like I'd just come down from a meth binge, but I'm moved in.

Long Run

14 with the team. Ran pretty hard on the hilly parts. I was going to do 15 but I was pretty tired and I think a little dehydrated. When I did this run last week I was completely fresh and it was a little cooler so that's probably why I felt worse today. L plantar still bothering me a bit.

week 62-really good considering I had to get over my knee bothering me. I tried to sacrifice the little things and just get out the door every day. Next week I'll go for a few more miles, maybe a tempo and try to start doing strides again.

Easy 6

6 at 8pm nice'n slow around intermural fields. Hungover from last night. I've resolved to make this strictly a running blog but let's say mistakes were made involving a bunch of gay bodybuilders, Bruce Springsteen and a badger. Felt good running through.

Also, I'm going to try to get up and run with the Texas guys tomorrow. Long runs here are pretty hard so I'm treating it as a workout. So that's why I ran shorter today.

Oh My God It's Early

11 (7/4) 7 with Erine from work at 6am. There were a bunch of hot girls out running. Since they were out at 6am they're probably too type-A for me. We went nice 'n slow which was great after a longer run 12 hours ago. Great to get the run out of the way so I can have a real friday night. Also nice to talk about work with someone who has been around the block and knows all the personalities. Try to make this some type of routine and somehow cut out the 10 minute drive to town lake and back home before my morning commute.

4 in the pm by myself. It was really nice out. If my eating at work was on a scale from Nicole Ritchie to Mama Cass, I'd be about an Elvis. Ran about a mile and a half barefoot. Left plantar a little sore.

Town Lake Lizzle

11 miles really slow by myself on the way home from work. The giant fajitas special I had for lunch necessitated a few bathroom stops. I didn't feel tired, just really slow. Knee felt great. A few other little things, but nothing serious. Continued my "no sitting down between leaving work and getting home" policy. I saw a wedding at the 4 Seasons as I was running by. Somehow I got the perfect angle and I saw up the bride's dress. She was wearing baby blue brazilians. Nice choice. In this case having rich people look down at you is not a bad thing.

Greenbelt Mess

10 after work by myself on the greenbelt. The trail is usually along a dry creek bed. If it's been raining a ton you have to get your feet wet. Today I had to swim as hard as I could against the current to cross. After realizing that most of the trail was shin deep in water I explored a bunch of small trails. I ended up going pretty slow (75 minutes for 10 miles) but it was a fun exploratory run and the knee felt great! I didn't feel smooth or fast, I guess I've just got to keep running.

knee?

4 miles before going to free movie made by Daft Punk guys. Figured it'd be a good chance form me to get a feel for me knee. Felt better during the day (i.e. still bothering me a lot). but not any better running. I'll try 7-8 on it tomorrow.

Talked to Tom who'd had the same problem. He thought it was an alignment issue where the hip moves forward causing everything to tug on the knee. I'm coming up with some sneaky alignment exercises. Bart thought it was from wacking my knee when I was drunk. I'm coming up with ways to not wack my knee when drunk.

ouch my knee

6 with Luke after work. Going to do a bit more, but my knee was killing me. I was limping around work all day but it started getting better as the day wore on so I figured I'd try it out. If it's not any worse tomorrow I'll push it a little more. I emailed Neal for the diagnosis, but I'm not exactly sure what's wrong.

Run with the team

7/22 90 minutes (around 14) with the guys at 7am. Pretty quick and in the hilliest part of town(where I don't usually run because it's paved). I was right in the front, but it wasn't easy. Last 10 minutes were slow on the grass barefoot. The knee is pretty tender, really acting up on the hills. I hammered a still smelling like booze Senor Speedy. While a bush league scalp, it's still a scalp. He was pretty frustrated with Webb's 3:46. Other than the knee, good run.

Problems

1. I suck at running alone

2. It's really hot here

3. I have to work a lot

4. I have to eat my way through work

5. I'm lazy and I suck at waking up in the morning

6. I'm not sure I honestly believe I can work this much and run well

7. After the relay in CA, I'm not as sure that I'm either a) a good runner or b) tough

8. I'm kind of passive aggressive about joining the yuppie running community in Austin

9. Running has never been about me. It's been about who I was doing it with, who I was doing it for, who I was doing it to impress, or who I was trying to beat. At least until Owen comes back they're all blank.

Wow, I sound like a bitch. I'll see how I do tomorrow.