Mother Nature's Sense of Humor

Whew! Thank goodness February is over. The first two months of 2009 has been a bit tough. Cold. snowy. Actually had to use my snowblower three times so far. Haven't done that in quite a few years. But, all that's over now. Because it's March! And the warm weather is coming. I just know it. As a matter of fact, I'm so confident that it's warm outside that I'm going to wear shorts and a short-sleeve shirt today for my run. I'll just tie my shoes up and I'm ready to head out the door. In. The. Snow.

Well, winter isn't quite over yet. I'm sitting here at my desk looking outside as the snow comes down. And down. And down. Predictions are for this area to get 6-12 inches of snow today. You can cross the 6 inches off your list, as we already hit that, and hope that it doesn't hit the 12 inch mark. I had to go out early this morning and shovel my yard. Yep. I have to shovel an area in the yard for the dogs. If we get 12 inches, well, I'm going to have to build a little tunneling system for them to get around.

Nonetheless, it was a productive week for me. I actually went out for a run on Wednesday! On Tuesday, I wasn't so sure I was going to be able to as I went to the doctor's to be told I had a sinus infection. So, I wind up living on anti-biotics and Mucinex-D for period of time. But, I felt good enough Wednesday afternoon and meet up with the Blue Dawgs and did a little over 4 miles.

Saturday, I went to the gym to cross train for about an hour and it felt great to get lost in a workout. And, Sunday, March the first, I decided this was the day to start training for my tri. So, I went for a swim. Or at least tried. Or, should I say, I swam but, boy, is that tiring! I was in the pool for twenty minutes. Freestyle. Breaststroke. And I ache. I purposely didn't try to push myself. All I wanted to do was to get some laps in. Oh, yeah. I got some laps in. But, geez, do I ache today.

I guess what I probably should do is to read up on how to get started. (Yes, typical guy's response to life. Start something and THEN read the instructions afterwards.) It was a bit discouraging to see someone next to me swim lap after lap after lap without stopping. As for me? About 4 laps straight and then catch my breath for a minute, breaststroke a lap, catch my breath, etc. After I got out of the pool, I was flat out tired. I got a long ways to go before July and the tri.

Still sore today but I got a new toy yesterday as well. So, it will be something to take my mind off my stiff muscles. I got a new Garmin 405. I haven't had a chance to take it out of the box yet. I have seen others wear one and it will be nice not to have a clock face halfway up your arm anymore. And, I'll be able to save my workouts on my computer which will nice to have around. Geez, maybe, I'll even start wearing it on my Wednesday runs and won't have to keep asking Eric or Melissa how many miles we've done? They'll appreciate that.

There goes a snowmobile up the road. Just 11 days away and I'll be in sunny Florida for a long weekend. Watching baseball. Eating a hot dog. Drinking a beer. Basking in the warm sunshine. In the meantime, excuse me as I tie up the laces of my snow boots and clear out the driveway.

Join Us At the Table (RRT Episode 18)

My stint as a guest on Runner's Roundtable was so successful that I have been asked to co-host from time to time on upcoming episodes. Or, to be more realistic, they needed people, even me, to help out once in awhile.

With that being said, please join Nicole, author of the blog Running Bébé , Mike, author of the blog Westy's Running , myself, and host Martin from the RunningRamblings podcast (currently on winter hiatus) on Tuesday night, February 24, 2009 at 9pm EST as we welcome Laura, author of the popular Frayed Laces blog to the Runner's Roundtable to talk about running and life in Hawaii, becoming a Marathon Maniac, and what it's like working with dolphins all day. (If you are wondering why SteveRunner isn't on the show, well, the powers that be wanted a witty and intelligent host as a change of pace, so they asked Martin to host instead.) It should be a great show and I look forward to participating. (Click on this link to join us live.)

Also, below is another video in the series, 'What are the Dogs Up To?' In this episode, Ellie Mae participates at the Rockland County Kennel Club Dog Show in Suffern, NY last Saturday. She was the only dog in her class, so won by default. Sadly, she didn't do much after that. Still, she looked like she had a lot of fun. (A friend of ours is showing her here).

(Notes: I'm feeling much better so I'm going to start running again. Last week, I had no energy but it is starting to pick up. As most of you know, it's still cold out but not as cold as before. Plus, more hours of sun in the afternoon, so it will give me more chances to go out for a 3-4 mile run before going home. Also, I'll be going to Best Buy sometime in the near future to get a Garmin watch. The blood is starting to flow again.)

February 25, 2009 Update: We stumbled out of the block last night, but, once we got the momentum going, the show went great. Click here if you want to listen to the Podcast or you can subscribe via iTunes.

The Buying of Tickets

It's not very often that I'll write a posting on a Friday but I'm a bit ticked off and want to vent.

As you may know, I am planning a trip from Philadelphia to Kansas City with stops in between to watch baseball games at various cities along the way. This trip is planned for the week of June 14. I knew the toughest ticket to get would be for a Cubs game as they are playing their crosstown rivals the White Sox during that time. The game, I was planning to go to, was either June 16 or 17. June 16 was my preferred date as it is a night game and was somewhat easier to get to. But, I would have settled for a day game on June 17 but a little bit tougher to get to as I would have had to leave Cincinnati early in the morning to make the afternoon game.

Well, today was the first day of single game tickets for Cubs home games at Wrigley Field. And, I was ready. I signed in a half hour before the tickets went on sale and waited in the internet waiting area. And waited. And waited. For three hours. Until the screen refreshed and told me that the tickets for the June 16 were sold out. 15 minutes later the tickets for the June 17 game were sold out. Errr.

Just for the heck of it I checked stubhub.com, which is the legal way to re-sell 'extra' tickets you have for a ballgame. So, for instance, Aunt Minnie came to visit you at the last minute and was going to stay with you for a month. Well, you have to sit at home and entertain Aunt Minnie during her visit so you can't make it to the game that you bought tickets for. You put the tickets on stubhub.com and try to sell your tickets because you don't want them to go to waste.

However, they shouldn't be allowed to appear minutes after the ticket booth opened this morning!!!!!! As of this writing, there are 671 tickets available in prices ranging from $78 to $1000 per ticket on stubhub.com for the June 16 game. Or 2 to 5 times the price of the face value of the ticket. So, people are buying tickets in order to sell them.

I'm sorry but I have a big problem with ticket resellers. For Christmas one year, my wife went to one and wound up paying $140 for two $20 seats for a Sixers game. The game wasn't even sold out. She didn't know any better because she doesn't usually buy tickets.

The only thing I will say about stubhub.com is that you are at least guaranteed there is a valid ticket waiting for you. If you ask me, this situation where, tickets are available minutes after the tickets go on sale officially, is highway robbery.

Always Blame a Sibling

It's my sister's fault, really. You see, when we went to the Temple-St. Joseph's college basketball game at the Palestra last Thursday, she asked me have I been sick anytime during the winter? Her and I have an unofficial contest of who is the first to get sick after Christmas. It normally happens that both of us will, at some point, it's just a matter of when.

I answered her confidentially, no, I have been able to dodge the bullet and feel pretty healthy. I think I'll be able to make it this year without coming down with a cold.

Naturally, the next day, when I was in a meeting, I felt a sore throat coming on. But, I was talking a lot in the meeting, so not too surprising. Come Saturday, the sniffles and sneezing started. And, then the body aches. By Sunday, I was laid up in bed. I'm just beginning to get a hint of feeling better. I do want to take the time to thank the company that makes the tissue product, Puff with lotion. It has saved me a great deal of irritation.

So, needless to say, I haven't been running except for last Wednesday night with the Blue Dawgs. Bit of a stop and start year so far. But, I am not worried. To paraphrase Rocky Raccoon, 'I'll get better, better, as soon as I am able.'

(Notes: Below are some pictures I took at the Palestra, one of the great venues to watch a college basketball game. It was a great game with Temple leading by 10 points with 54 seconds left and almost losing the game at the end. St. Joseph's were down by 2 points with 6 seconds left to go and the ball. But, the last shot was no good and Temple wins by 2.

Also, one of the things for me to look forward to is a long weekend in Florida in March. I won't have a chance to see any Phillies games, as they are based on the west coast but do plan on seeing some spring training games with the Braves and Nationals who are closer to the east coast, which is where I am going.)

Losing My Mojo

I've lost my edge. I've lost my focus. I've lost my desire. I've lost my gumption. I've lost my passion. In short, I've lost my mojo. And, I don't know where it went. (And, no, I don't think Dr. Evil is holding on to it.)

You see, I haven't felt energized to go out for a run for awhile now. I'm kind of just going through the motions at the moment. I'm bored running at the lake. I'm bored running by the river. I'm looking for new places to run but nothing is jumping out saying, 'run over here!'

Oh, I'm not too worried about it. I'm pretty sure it's a temporary thing. I think a lot has to do with the weather. You see, up until two years ago, I didn't really run in the winter. I would quit in November and not take it up again until mid-February to prepare myself for the Bucks County spring series. And, then I would participate in the spring series and my times would be crap and I'd kick myself for not continue to train in the off-season.

But, this year, the weather has been particularly cold. I haven't been too anxious to test my mettle. We've had little snow, but, what we did have, stayed around and made things icy.

And, I don't seem to have the competitive drive as years past. As I stated in an earlier blog, this year is about celebrating life and not breaking records. I want to stop and smell the Ben-Gay.

Besides, I'm sure a lot of people go through this but February is a particular bad month for me. I've learned this through the years that, in February, I keep my head down and try to plow on through without making any big life decisions. For example, after I graduated from college, I lived in a studio apartment in a town called Lynn, MA, right outside of Boston. I was working in radio but only making $10,000 a year and was struggling. I was offered a job in Philadelphia for three times that but not in the field that I studied for. Well, that winter in New England was a bad one. Snow storm after snow storm was hitting the area. I couldn't take it anymore, so in February of that year, I decided to quit radio and move back to Philadelphia and take the money. One of the worse mistakes I ever made and it took years to recover from it.

I also said, in an earlier blog, that I didn't have any resolutions this year. I think that's kind of hurts me. I'm goal-driven. And, right now, I don't have any short-term goals. Just things I would like to do later in the year.

So, how do I shake off the funk? Well, the snow melting this past weekend sure did help. I can see my lawn again (and the mud the dogs track in.) And, days are getting a bit longer. And, pitchers and catchers report to camp this weekend. Sure signs of spring. And, it won't be long before we get to daylight savings time again.

I think the best way to get back my mojo back is to run that first race. And, struggle. And, have Eric and Chief beat me. Soundly. And, despite what I say about enjoying life and not worrying about times that will be my wake up call. I also think shaking things up a bit this year is called for. Not sure what that means yet. But, it's February. Can't make that decision now, can I?

(Notes: Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for my father. We received good news and he is cancer-free! He is doing a bit better every day. Again, I am very grateful for your kindness.)

But It Wasn't Marked Fra-gee-lay

There are times that life imitates art. And, last week, was one of those times for me.

Remember the movie A Christmas Story? In the movie, the father unexpectedly receives 'a major award' that was delivered to him. He's not sure why but, nonetheless, he was very excited on its arrival. Well, this past Tuesday, I, too, was delivered a 'major award.'

It was a cold and dreary day (suddenly, I'm writing like Snoopy). The snow and ice were coming down all day as I worked from home. I had snowplowed my driveway and parts of my yard for the dogs to go out. Very depressing type of day.

In the afternoon, as the ice began to turn to rain, I went out to get the mail. In my mailbox was an large, thick envelope from a company called Competitor Group in San Diego, California sent to a Brian Steindl. Brian Steindl? That's strange.

Then I started thinking back to a race I ran last year where my name was mixed up and I was signed up as Brian Steindl. It was explained to me, that the person who was doing the registrations, combined my last name with the person before me's first name. Thus, Brian Steindl was born. But, what race was that? And why is there an envelope addressed to him (me)?

I opened up the package and there it was. A team award for finishing in third place in the Corporate Masters Men division of the Philadelphia Distance Run. I was giddy. I don't win awards for running. Oh, sure. When I was kid, I would win awards for 50 yard dashes. But, not now. Not for distance runs. And, as I pull the award out and revealed more and more of it, the thought flashed through my mind: They don't have the name Brian Steindl on the award, do they?

Thankfully, no.

I remember looking up the team standings when they were first posted but didn't think much of it afterwards. So, I went back and looked it up again.

Yes, indeed. I was part of the third place team. Sort of. There are five people on your team. They count the first three finishers' times for the team. I was fourth. (Hey, I missed it by a minute!!!! What's the big deal?.) And, there were four teams that competed in the division. So, we were third out of four.

Now, corporate teams are interesting. Because, you never meet your teammates. (I still don't know them.) And, for the most part, you don't know who is on your team when you are running. In past years for my company, I felt like the 'chubby kid on the bench' that had to be picked and put somewhere on the field. So, I would wind up on teams that the captains didn't know what to do with. Not elite but 'thanks for coming out and enjoy your run' teams.

But, there it is. A piece of hardware from a race. And, not just a finisher's medal. A plaque. I've never received a plaque before. I won a gift card for winning a Clydesdale master division once. But, I spent that. A plaque. I'm very proud of receiving my major award in the mail even if it was 5 months after the event and my time didn't count in the standings and my name was wrong in the registration. But, for those that come into my office and see my plaque, they will never know any of that. They'll see my major award.

HOW COLD WAS IT...?

It was so cold . . .UN weapons inspectors suddenly decided that chemical weapons might be hidden in Hawaii! (Rimshot)

It was so cold...roosters were rushing into Kentucky Fried Chicken and begging to use the pressure cooker! (Rimshot)

It was so cold . . .a flasher rushed up to poor Mrs. Flannigan - and described himself! (Rimshot)

It was so cold...we had lunch down at the "Greasy Spoon" - just for the heartburn! (Rimshot)

It was so cold...people were ice fishing ON Lake Galena Sunday morning when I went out for my 8 mile run.

Now, I will tell you the truth, I don't remember Lake Galena being THAT frozen before on my weekend runs. And, I was a little nervous for them as I was running by. I was thinking, 'how would I contact help if they fell through?'. Then, I saw them drill a hole through the ice. And drill. And drill. It took awhile before they hit non-frozen water. Yes, it has been that cold. But, you probably knew that already.

My Sunday morning run, yesterday, was a test for me in different ways. First, a test of my motivation. It was 18 degrees (F) when I started my run. And, in truth, Lake Galena probably wasn't the best place to run that day. The winds were whipping up on various parts of the course so it felt a lot colder. There weren't too many runners (or anyone else) out there. So, I had to convince myself not to pack it in and go back to my nice warm car.

Secondly, a test of my endurance. I have done more cross-training lately to try to perserve some endurance. But, as you know, cross-training helps but does not take the place of running. So, as I was running, it was hard to figure out whether I was getting fatigued from my lack of endurance or just breathing in iced air. Probably a little bit of both. Not sure what others think but...can you feel just as tired from the extreme cold as you do from the extreme heat? Not sure.

And, thirdly, it was a test of my left Achilles. It has been feeling good. And, I have a tendency to baby injuries as not to re-injure myself. I wasn't feeling too bad except the last mile. And, then my ankle was feeling sore. After my run, I knew why. My legs were very tight. The wind took its toll as I hardly was able to bend. I went home to massage and coddle my ankle. Took anti-inflammatories. And, it's fine today. So, that's a good sign.

So, the next few months should be interesting as I try to regain my endurance. Here in Bucks County, PA we've been lucky as we have avoided most of the snow this season. But, they are calling for 4-7 inches Tuesday night into Wednesday. (There goes my Wednesday running group for this week.) Back to the treadmill. And, I am going to rely more and more on cross training until spring to continue to heal. In the meantime, does anyone know what kind of fish you can get from Lake Galena that you would want to spend your day out there?

(Notes: If you were in stitches over my 'How cold was it? jokes (And, who doesn't love a 'how cold was it? joke?) here is the link from the material I borrowed. http://www.athropolis.com/jokes3.htm

One of my 'random thoughts' I had last week, was a question I have that has been bugging me for years. I grew up Roman Catholic and attended Catholic schools for 12 years. I am intrigued by other religions. IMy belief in religion is that no one religion is right but none of them are wrong. The basic principle is the same: love one another as you love yourself. But, I digress from my question. My question is: How do Protestant faiths choose their saints? For instance, in Catholicism, there are procedures before someone is declared a saint. I know there are saints in Protestant faiths as I drive past the St. James Lutheran church In Chalfont on my way to Lake Galena. So, are Protestant saints just the apostles? Do they have new saints? If so, how? I have asked and try to google looking for this answer but can never find information on this. If you know, please post a comment. I'm very curious.
Also, for those who believe in prayer, if I can ask you to please pray for my father's recovery. Thanks.)