A Colder Start

I wished it was Tucson time and only 7am, but my phone alarm had already sounded twice. My blurred eyes could barely make it out, but I knew the time that was flashing. 9:15 A.M. I could feel the cold penetrating the window panes; comforted under that blanket was exactly where I wanted to be. It took a few minutes to actually become alert, reminding myself that I was in Cleveland now and that it was time to start my day.
A little oatmeal and a cup of coffee turned out to be all that I needed. My mind then quickly turned back to running.

Breaking Glass

Sunday, March 21, 2010

The time was already nearing 10:30, a much later start to my morning run than I typically liked. As of recently, however, I have decided to ban the weekend alarm, allowing my body to get the rest it desired.

With my shoes tied, I was quickly ready to run. Almost immediately it seemed as if I was in the moment, focusing on each footstep, each stride.

From the distance, I could already see the obstacles that I was approaching. It's always easy to distinguish recently poured patches of concrete. The color being pure grey, not a single sign of aging. It is yet marked from years of use, pitted, stained, or even slightly weathered. The wood forms still held in place by rebar stakes, then wrapped like a crime scene with caution tape. However, this caution tape was pink, something unfamiliar and strange to me.

I could have ran around the whole mess into the lawn sloppied with mud, but I chose the course of obstacles. I cleared the first section, and as if in slow motion, watched my left foot land onto this unmarked concrete.

"Haha caution tape, can't stop me now!" I felt like I said it out loud, but surely it must have been in my head.

Then it happened, so fast that the details are still unclear. Jumping back over the tape and onto the old, my left foot caught. In one sudden motion, the momentum behind a 6:30 pace was transferred directly downward into the ground. There wasn't the slightest give to the tape. One would think it would break, but such wasn't the case. The rebar was rigid and stiff, refusing to move even an inch, like it was anchored deeply into the earth.

Simultaneously with the impact of my body to the ground, I heard a loud, undistinguishable, but recognizable sound. It sounded like ice cracking under too heavy a load. After rising to my feet, I felt no severe pains and thus continued about on my run. Shortly after I glanced down to look at my watch, now realizing where the noise came from.



Atleast it isn't bike related, cause then I'd be off to a rough start.

Don't blink, or you'll miss it.

It was almost exactly as I had imagined it.

I took a job opportunity to work in the schools' library as a student computer tech. I'm only working a total of 19 hours a week split between the two labs, the other being a private lab in the Early Childhood Education Department. My library hours extend well into the evening two nights a week, so far infact that it is beyond the time that any public transportation service runs. So I am forced, literally, to find my own means, to run the distance home. Atleast until the winter thaws, I am expecting the wind, ice, snow or rain, to be my only battle. I certainly wouldn't lose the work hours over it.

When I set out last night, I really had no idea how far out from home I was, nor did I really even care. I want to use these days as my doubles, already having logged a faster morning progression run, and using the evening strictly for base miles. I wish I was running 70 miles a week again, but being balanced on the bike is more important and supports my goals much better. If I fooled you earlier, I am completely happy to be getting in these extra miles. If I'm going to run, I might as well incorporate it into my travel and let my body be the vehicle.

And then in an instant I had blinked. I thought to myself, man, I did it again. I would have to compare this feeling to the ability to teleport. Last thing I knew I was heading out of the AFC doors, and then suddenly I was running my cool down lap around the block. I was left with only one distinct feeling from the run, but it was just enough.

With my headlamp set to flood on the medium setting, light radiated infront of me almost in a perfect 180 degree arc. Simultaneously, this light illuminated the scattered snow fall with my consistent exhales. In comparison to the effect produced by theatre fog and spotlights, i was seeing in contrast. Instead of seeing the clean, focused beams of a spotlight, my fog(the exhales) took the form of drifting clouds. The sky had been so dark and the wind gusting enough to make me feel naked at moments, yet I somehow still managed to find a way to escape the reality. My focus on the beauty of contrast reminded me of why I was out there and what I was working for. Dreams that once felt so far away, now felt as if they were right infront of me.

Even though I blinked, I am noticing that the most important things come unconsciously, when you had no intentions of ever searching for them. Perhaps that is why I like living in my dreams.

the donut filling of 2010.

While I am still trying to put together my mid-winter training trip to Tuscon, I am most exuberant to announce that by October of this year, I will have made Arizona my winter place of residency. One major reason for this decision is that Duathlon Nationals are held every Spring, and Tuscon provides that training conducive atmosphere for the months leading up to that race. I wish to be at the 2011 Nationals having had every opportunity and advantage in training that will allow myself to perform at the level necessary to be ranked amongst the United States most elite duathletes. I hope to have the race results this season that will justify the move and show others how much potential I have as an athlete.

My recent interest in the multisport lifestyle of running and cycling is really about balance. Having my roots in running, I found myself continually prone to injury. At the time I was unknowledgeable of the sport and overtrained easily, thus digging myself a deeper hole. I made the decision last season to focus on cycling due to lingering running injuries that would flare up anytime I ran. It was a good healthy break and saved my body alot of pounding that should make this season the best yet. As a result, I believe competing in both sports is where I will be happiest. As my friend A.J. told me, you have to run like a runner, and ride like a roadie. These are my intentions for this season.

I would also like to announce my 2010 team involvements. For my first year, I will be running as a member of the Vertical Runner Racing Team. Vince and his team at the shop in Hudson have been there for me since I started running competitively and I am very excited to be apart of that team. Secondly, I will remain a sponsored athlete by Injinji Performance Toesocks. If you haven't checked them out yet, get to it! I guarantee your feet will be happier. Thanks to everyone for their support.

Office Space

I probably would have learned a vast more amount of usable knowledge this semester, had my Intro to Business course not been so focused on Blackboard. Essentially, Blackboard allows for participating in group discussions with classmates, taking quizzes, links to external articles, really as much as the instructor wishes to use its features. With the college pushing its use, it is becoming more common as each semester passes here. Being that our class PowerPoint was always available through it, I had no reason to spend an absurd amount of money on the required course texts, only to later hassle with buybacks and a ridiculous depreciation.

My instructor was a wealth of knowledge, with government work experiences of all sorts, and I was intrigued with his lectures. However, his approach to assignments, recommended and encouraged by the college, was simply flawed. Blackboard allowed students like myself, who want to excel but with as little effort as possible, to slip through the system. So while I managed to not read a single page of the required course text, I have still earned an A in the class.

Our final exam was to respond to questions linking business theories to concepts from the film Office Space. Similarly to how I slipped through the system, Peter spent hours out of his work day staring at his desk, unproductive and dissatisfied. Yet, he managed a job promotion by the consultants that were brought in to terminate any employees not essential to the business operation.

I came to find my appreciation for the course through a resemblance between the character of Peter and myself. Peter recalled being asked as a kid if he had a million dollars, what he would do with it, essentially knowing that he would never have to work again. He was told that whatever his answer, that was what he was to become. However, he was never able to come up with a good enough answer until he worked at Initech. He would do nothing.

Besides doing two chicks at once, cause girls dig guys with money, I would spend days riding my bike. I'd travel the midwest, running the most awe-inspiring trails, only to set out and venture somewhere new the next day. I'd be strong as a bull in the sport, and my competitors would fear me.

If I had a million dollars I'd be doing exactly what I love. So that is what I am setting out to do. I won't let my time pass me by in a corner cubicle office job, with a circulated forced air system and fake plants by the xerox machine.

It's a simple concept to ask yourself. So why aren't you doing it?

breaking a silence

English composition, amongst several other courses I took while enrolled in the university, proved to be challenging. It was the guidelines of each writing assignment which I found most arduous.

"Today we will start our third paper," Cloud would say, in a tone of pure excitement. "It is to be no less than six pages..."

I suffered at the sounds of those words, and judging by the expressions of my classmates, so did they. There was a reason we were placed into ENG 110, the lower of the first of two semesters of composition, and it wasn't cause of our pure excitement!

One could say that writing was not a skill of mine, nor something I even felt comfortable doing. People are quick to judge, and I thought the same about readers. I had no idea what separated an accomplished writer from a sham, and I was fearful of being ranked.

Exactly four years later since passing that semester of composition, I am now comfortable in my words. I have the sudden urge to write, as if life's experiences are more valued through this medium.

Through my blog, I wish to describe and interpret the emotions I incur through training and racing, and all other aspects of life. As I make an effort to rise to the top, I hope I can share the heightened emotions that result from hard work and dedication.