Start Today

So, here I am back again after a bit of a lazy hiatus. I've mostly been sitting on my ass playing Halo 3 online against various students, basement dwellers and assorted unemployed bums like myself. However, last night I was given the motivation I needed to get off my duff and get moving. Pinky emailed me and several other people about running this years Shamrock Shuffle. At 8k, it'll be the longest race I've run so far. I'm hoping to get in a 10k this year, possibly even a half marathon if I can get my legs/knees to cooperate.

I decided that today would mark the official start of my training and attempt to get back in shape. Over the last couple of months since my Grandma died and I passed the bar I haven't done a whole lot of running, however, I have done a lot of stress eating. I had managed to get myself down to a svelte 190, today I weighed in at a rotund 210. I guess no more cake, candy and extra food for me.

After the weigh-in I stretched out and went out for a run. Do you know what running in 22 degree Chicago weather is like? Well, let me give you a frame of reference. Fill your bathtub with ice and cold water. Then, if your bathroom is small like mine, position a window A/C unit on your toilet and point it at where your head would be. Then, take two ice packs and wrap them around your knees. Next, jump into the ice filled tub and switch on the A/C so that it's running full blast into your face. Finally, have someone, CAREFULLY, stick a hair dryer down your shirt. That should give you an idea of how pleasant it truly is.

I set out to only run 8k today but then I got angry at my current life situation and ended up running 10k at 1:08:48. Only about 2 minutes worse than my best 10K time. And considering how frozen I was I'll take that as a pretty good time for me. Now, If I can manage to shave like 10-15 minutes off that, I'll be a happy boy.