Vaca, 10k, and new oes-shay

Vaca:

Two weeks ago on Monday I went on vacation to Florida with my sister. It was a blast. Monday was spent traveling and checking out a Tampa Bay game. 

Tampa Bay Game -- Very fun

Thinking back to before I left, Work has been incredibly busy for the last few months and I don't think I realized how much it might have been affecting me.  Our first full day in Florida was designated to be a pool-side day. That morning while I was working away the white-wash of a new england winter it dawned on me that my to-do list from work was still rattling away in my head. It was the fouth consecutive day not in the office and it was still going, unbelievable. Wide awake, I found a sunny spot, laid down on my towel and forced myself to mediate on one of my most relaxing memories -- a lazy summer day at my family's camp. Two minutes in, I woke up 45 minutes later. Definitely a good start.

My sister and I headed off to Key West for a couple days. Taking full advantage of being tourists, we scooted around the island, watched the sunset with drinks and between us took a tour of the island and went parasailing (that was my contribution). 

Directional Sign to important places. Portland, ME 1786mi

Towards the end of our time in Florida, my Aunt and Uncle hosted a gathering for the Lessard side of my family that live in the balmy south. We told stories, toasted to my late mother (it was her birthday), and had a great time. Talk about a wonderful evening. 

Giffords hosting the Lessards on their lenai in Florida

We returned unscathed and slightly annoyed at Southwest Airlines for their unadvertised stop in West Palm Beach. Apparently it is the custom of airlines to not display a stop if the passenger is not required to change planes. Something to watch out for when I make my next reservations. Boo on them.

10K:
Before my trip I began planning to run some races this summer. First on the list was a 5k the Saturday after I got back from Florida. I had this crazy thought when I first saw the race, "Wouldn't it be cool if I ran the 10k, ha ha ha," because my goal for the summer of 2011 was to run 10k. Now, I've run 5 miles on a few occasions, and ran close to that a few times in Florida but how could I possibly... I arrived yesterday and started to fill out the race-day registration and without really thinking about it I filled in the 10k portion. I immediately walked away excited and dreading what was about to happen.

6.2 miles. The longest I can remember running in a long time, and I did it. My feet, back and legs hurt today but a few really good things happened: I found a pace I could keep up (~11:20), I didn't hit a mental wall and was able to keep pushing, This was the first time that running has felt like biking to me. Just a little background, biking has always been automatic for me. I could get on a bike and just go. I would be tired, sweaty and gross but it was never a "I just can't do this."

Next planned race: 5/29 Red Hook 5k, Portmouth, NH

I might try to find something sooner.

New oes-shay: (I needed a rhyme ok?)
On April 10th I talked about the benefits of forefoot striking and briefly mentioned the Vibram Five Fingers. Well, I took a long walk across the river with Digby today and am now the proud owner of my very own pair! I'm rather excited to try them out tomorrow.

Floor•id•ahhhh

T-minus 12 hours 22 minutes and counting until I'm off to the airport. My sister and I both have had some crazy work schedules as of late so this couldn't come at a better time.

The 10-day forecast has a median temperature of 86. My Aunt texted me (who knew she texts!?) to tell me they have golf clubs for me to use. I'm going to see some Tampa Bay Devil Rays action. They're playing the Sox, just not the right color.  Oh well, Beer and dogs in the nice weather.

My Reading List for the trip:

• Other Lands (Acacia Trilogy Book 2) by David Anthony Durham
• Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
• The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
• The Girl with the Dragon Tatto by Steig Larsson

Packing List:

• 2 Golf Shirts
• 3 Pairs of Shorts
• 2 Pairs of Jeans
• 5 T-shirts
• 2 Undershirts
• 2 Dress Shirts
• 1 Spring Jacket
• 1 Pair o' Slacks
• Unmentionables (shh, don't talk about it)
• Dress Shoes
• Superman Hat and Awesome Yellow Plaid Flat Cap
• 1 Hoodie
• Toiletries (Soap, Shampoo, Shaving Schtuff, Neon Nail Polish, Deodorant, Toothpaste, Toothbrush)
• 2 Bathing Suits
• Running Stuff
• 2 Shirts
• 2 Shorts
• 2 Pairs of Running Socks
• Running shoes
• Sunglasses (to wear at night)
• Camera

*phew*

Digby will be staying with the lovely folks at Sendashi Pet Resort (awww, look at the cute pogo page!!). They are great! I have been using there services for over a year and recommend them to anyone in the area. 

Time to bring Digby in! Have a great week folks! I'll post pictures when and if I remember :-D

And for those who read to the bottom, my favorite The National song, Fake Empire.

A Plan within a Plan

It's official, I am taking a vacation. My sister and I are taking time off together and we will be visiting my lovely Aunt Lynda and Uncle Wayne in Florida. The whole event is something that has been only semi-planned, just how I like it. Go to Florida, stay with family, golf and relax.

Already the available time is starting to fill: visiting the Yuengling Brewery, catching a Rays game, going on a short cruise of the Keys, dinner with some of the Lessard clan who winter in the heat. I have three unplanned things that I want to do; golf, read and run. 

I heard tell that where I'll be staying has a wonderful course and I think this would be a fine time to kick off my 2011 golf season with a strong showing. Maybe I'll even break 100!! (in 9 holes). Accompanying me on my trip will be The Girl with the Dragon Tatto, The Lost Symbol, and Me Talk Pretty One Day. I want a day in the sun and at least one of these books to suck up my time. David Sedaris will most likely win, but really anything will satisfy me.

I have "The Short List"™ of races built that I want to participate in, which means I don't want to shirk on my running. 

The Short List:

• 4/30 - 1st Annual Total Image 5K& 10K Manchester, NH
• 5/29 Red Hook 5k, Portmouth, NH
• 6/11 - The Market Square Day 10K Road Race
• 6/23 - Lite up the Night 5k for Mental Health

More will be added as time goes on, there are plenty to choose from. I haven't registered any Tri's yet because frankly, I don't own a bike and I haven't been in a pool in long time.

In the meantime, I'll continue my original goal for 2011 to be the summer of 10ks. I will continue to work on the forefoot striking and really focus on interval training and technique.  

Ignore the advertisment part of this video, but it gives a better illustration about the benefits of a more natural stride.

Pictures and Forefoot Striking

Last July I went one what was the 2nd Annual Man's weekend with a bunch of friends to Chad Skillin's family camp at Moosehead. 2010 consisted of Chad, myself, Jeff and Ryan (Parker), Ryan (Adair), and of course, Ryan (Stone). I finally got around to printing out some favorites of the pictures I took and either framing them or placing them in a photo album. Ahh, memories.

Guys at the Fire (L to R: Jeff, Chad, Stone)

Stone, Chad, Jeff, Me, Ryan P

Sunset - Long Exposer. From my perspective there was no light. 

I decided to tempt fate today and go for another run. Again, I opted to work for Forefoot striking and again it proved to be a difficult task. Spending less time worrying about pace and more on technique and focusing on how what I was doing was affecting my body I found a pretty good stride. I took it slow and steady found a good pace with mostly only forefoot striking that definitely felt a lot easier.

After lunch Becky and I checked out The Runners Alley in Manchester to see what we through of the Vibram Five Fingers. We both found them very comfortable and she picked up a pair. I was very hesitant at first because apparently I have a tall foot and they just don't fit into the sewn standard foot. The gentleman helping us advised me to try the lace variety, which the company labels as the fashionable shoe. 

They were considerably more comfortable but I opted to sleep on it. My legs are absolutely toast from the last two days.

Day off tomorrow from running methinks.

Running

In May 2010, I started running. Well, maybe more like jogging. Ok, walking in a strange fat-man gyration that emulated jogging. Anyway! I woke up one day and was 297 lbs (pics from a year before when I was 286lbs) and only in vague notions did I realize how I had gotten to that point.  I knew I was out of shape, and getting worse. I had spurts of trying to get fit and I never lasted longer than a month. I am a creature of habit and jumping full force into something while the rest of my life pulled at me just was unsustainable.

I started again. So what makes it different? Small changes and removing myself from the equation. Strange as it sounds it is not about my waist-line or what I think I should be doing. Granted, looking back I am happier with how I look and what I've been doing, but really it's been about achieving something. i.e. Today I will run at least half a mile, and walk the rest of the mile. Today I will try to run a full mile. Today I will try to run as much of two miles as I can. Today I will just see how fast and how far I can go, up to a mile.

Interestingly enough, I attended a project management seminar a little over a week ago and one of the key factors for success is setting aggressive but achievable goals. My goal in May of 2010 was to be able to survive a 3.1 mile race in August. Is that achievable? Absolutely. Is that aggressive? You may not think so, but when I started I couldn't run 50 yards (no exaggeration) without getting winded. The hill from the parking garage to the office could get me breathing hard, and my heart rate up. For me, that was aggressive.

Fast forward 11 months. This morning I woke up and I weighed in at 259 lbs. I ran 5.02 miles last Sunday in an hour.  I have a list of 5ks, Triathlons and even a 10k or two that I'm itching to compete in. I love this sport. It gives me something to clear my head on, something to incrementally improve on, and the culture of runners, and of race day is something that excites me.

Today I will run 3 miles, focusing on forefoot striking.

The Producers had it right

Last month This American Life (which if you don't listen to, you should) did a special report called "Bet Against the American Dream (MP3)" with Planet Money and ProPublica to find the company or companies that were responsible for making the financial crisis worse.

Basically this company gets hedge funds to build really risky investment portfolios, they buy up the riskiest portions of it and then take out bets (credit default swaps) that they will fail (safe bet considering they helped BUILD those packages). 

This is an amazing listen, and so is the broadway-ish song they commissioned!




Bet Against the American Dream from Alexander Hotz on Vimeo.

Amusing commentary on Healthcare

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US department of energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of US Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.

At the appropriate time as regulated by the US Congress, and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the US Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic sSafety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads built by the local, state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.

After work, I drive my NHTSA car back home on DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.

I then log on to the Internet, which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration and post on freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right. So keep up the good fight!

Found here.

While I am not generally one for big government and there are a lot of instances where the cost/benefit ratio of a government run system is bad. I think this one will have enough vested interest from the community to theoretically keep it in check. Here's hoping.