Thanks, Map My Run, for the failure

First off, I've downloaded this song because its in every Geico ad. I feel like you should watch the video. I'd work out to this.



So, I have been real lazy about...oh, everything lately. So, I decided that with the advent of good weather to break out the bike. I had a ten-mile route planned and was ready to go. Here's the route, thanks to our friends at Map my Run.



This route goes well until we get to about here.




This is when the bike ride gets interesting. This road is not paved. Its not even gravel. Its covered with rocks. I took this picture with my phone to illustrate the rocks. In the foreground is a mini-Krackel bar.




I was NOT riding on this. Did I mention it was down and up a hill? It was.

Now, you'll notice that Bryant Lane connects with the Hotze Road via Henderson Lane. In fact, it does not. It comes to the back of an elderly care center. If you think this is awkward, you basically summed up my opinion. I walked my bike far from any windows and once I got on the parking lot was able to ride out of there. Not sure if anyone saw me, but it was...um...weird.

Now, excuse me, I have to design a new 10 mile route.

Alan

Back to the treadmill

So, it turns out I did not get a blender for Christmas. I was just in some sort of mental-Margaritaville. So, I went out and changed that prior to this evenings workout. Did I make a smoothie? Yes, yes I did. Review will go up tomorrow. I know how it tastes, but does it help me feel better after the workout? We shall see.

Anyway, I was back n the treadmill today, I ran 4 miles at a good clip. It had been awhile since I had been to the gym, so it took more out of me then I expected. Cooled down on the bike, then came home and made said smoothie.

There was one wrinkle to this run: I ran with music. Good idea, it made it go by way quicker than I thought it might. One of the songs from the workout? How about Indestructible by Disturbed?



You think that's a bad-ass ay to start a workout? You are correct.

I'll probably take tomorrow off but will get back at it Tuesday...just in time for a Wednesday Weigh-in, a feature that has been missing for awhile.

Treadmills are incredibly boring, but football takes a long time to play

I hate treadmills because they make an already relatively boring proposition and take out any of the fun. Maybe I have ADD, I don't know, but I like to be visually stimulated. Running down long straight aways doesn't do that. Hey look! MORE CORN. Whee.

However, running outside does off its advantages such as the occasional bird. Maybe a dog tries to chase after you. There's the ever popular fat people in SUVs who look at you mouth agape because, "What the HELL is THAT guy doing?" 

At the treadmill, there are no birds, no dogs trying to chase you, and the fat people are trying to get fit so they know what you're doing. BOO-RING.

Luckily, the gym I joined has a TV, so deciding that I wanted to run an hour, I tuned into a football game. I watched the first half, and what do you know. The first half and my hour coincided nicely. I went a little into overtime, so that helped pass the time. Richmond's sweet flea flicker for a touchdown didn't hurt either.

I also spent about 10 minutes on the bike and afterwards looked sweaty, gross, and wonderful. Good times, might go back tomorrow.

Hey, I haven't done an iPod it for awhile. How about...the Killers from their new album which you must buy right now.

The random crowd shots are the best. There's a panda, some Asian girls, and an old dude. That show seems fun. Also, the name f the song is Spaceman, but you knew that.

In honor of what I hit at mile 5.5

Here's a live version of Kansas' " The Wall"

Ow.

Not a good week

This hasn't been a good week for training. Besides the usual business, I had a bum ankle over the weekend, am sick today, and go on a brief vacation on Friday. Hopefully I can duck in something tomorrow afternoon.


I did sign up for the half marathon, so ready or not, I'm going 13.1 miles in November. I am getting three months worth subscriptions to Runners' World, Running Times, and Bicycling. Rock.

Speaking of rock....

Modest Mouse - Dashboard | Music Videos | SPIKE.com

Modest Mouse...Dashboard. I approve of the mic as a hand.

Sorry for the ad, but the music industry's failure to grasp the Internet makes finding enbedable videos hard.

The long awaited update

Hello to all three of you that read this blog. I've neglected it the past few weeks, so let's get caught up.

First off, I did make it a month without eating fast food. Nice to accomplish that goal. However, I didn't lose as much weight as I would have liked because I wasn't overly active this month.

Not that I wasn't active. I ran five miles yesterday. That's the furthest I've gone so far in my prep for the half marathon. The good news is I'm not overly sore this morning. A little bit, but nothing bad. Hopefully I can keep that going and get into a good groove.

I've also started riding my bike. I've had a flat tire for a while and only recently got it fixed. I've taken the bike out a couple times and hope to use it on days I don't run. Despite some sore leg muscles (and waking up at 4:30 for work) I plan on riding this afternoon.

Since I've left you alone for awhile, here's some Muse to make up for it. My bad.



More postings to come later...promise!

I-pod it: Afterlife

I am really bad about delivering blog posts when I promise.



I don't quite understand the spider in the video, but the song is fairly awesome. Plus, there are some fairly sweet looking guitars in there.

Dear running

Dear running,

Hey there. I had fun tonight. Maybe its because the radio station I work at plays the above song seemingly twice and hour, but I thought of it when I was running for the first time in three weeks. It made me smile, because wow. That was fun.

I've slimmed down a bit, down to 204. So, I've kept good care of myself since we last saw each other. But still, I felt real good out there. I felt light, especially at the end when I kicked it home.

I thought that maybe going right back to 3 miles would be pushing it a bit to much at first, but it just felt right. So, yeah.

I hope we can do this again soon. I'll bring Gatorade.

Now, excuse me, I smell kind of bad. I'm going to clean myself a bit, but thanks again for an awesome time.

See you out there,

Alan

I-pod it: Run To the Hills

I'm beginning to enjoy metal.



Fun fact: Running up hills is a really good cardio workout.

An iPod it to get you through the weekend

I'm off on vacation, and am unsure of how much running I will get done while down there. Granted, its in Texas. You lose weight in Texas just by walking around.

To get you through though...here are the Editors. I discovered them by reading a hockey column.



Please note, when you run, your hands should be way more relaxed than the lead singers. Its like your holding an egg.

Good music and running tips....its how we roll. Have a great weekend, catch you on the flipside.

A little bit of everything

Today's post has a little bit of everything. So, lets get to it.

I walked to the IGA to get lunch before heading to work today. Its a nice little jaunt. So little, that I had about 2,000 steps before I even got to work today. Thanks to some grocery shopping, that total got up to 4,614 steps, which works out to 1.93 miles.

After work, I went for a run, but decided to take on an additional mile. Before my usual 2-mile run, I ran my one mile loop. I've only ran it once, but I did post it here. The two runs work together fairly well. Put in a good 38 minutes of work. I'm not blowing past anything, but I had a good workout. Though it got darker before I thought it might. I'll need to invest in a reflective vest. Still, I was pleased with the run.

Somewhere along the way, I realized that today is Wednesday. That means weigh-in day. I come in at 212 pounds, meaning I've lost 8 pounds in the slightly less than 2 months I've been writing this blog. I'd call it success.

And since I've done everything else, I'll give you an iPod it. (Language NSFW)



Another Incubus song? Yes. I've adopted Make Yourself as my sort of anthem during this. Its up to me to get in shape for the half marathon, its up to me to watch out for my health. Thats my story.

I promise, no more Incubus for awhile though. But I like the two songs.

Till next time,

Alan

iPod it! The Warmth-Incubus

Since making my proclamation of running a half marathon in November, I have yet to do some actual running. hence the neglect of the blog. I'm going to go running in a little bit, thanks to some musical awesomeness from Incubus.



Is it the rockingest song they've recorded? No. But, its got a nice pace to it. I'd run to it. Has a nice message to it, its fairly uplifting actually.

Will let you know how the run goes, plus a challenge to myself for the next week.

iPod it! Godzilla

Blogger thought I was spamming, what with all the links to May My Run. So, they shut the blog down for awhile. But, after I told blogger that I was in fact, a human being, they opened it back up.

So, lets celebrate with my favorite warm up tune. Blue Oyster Cult's Godzilla. For our added enjoyment, here's the song being performed live. After the monologue that talks about how great pot is, the song gets down to its serious rocking, complete with a drum solo that rocks so hard the drummer has to put on a Godzilla head just to justify it. Plus, the bass rift just before the drum solo = win.



I've always liked this song because, well, who doesn't like Godzilla? Personally, I feel a certain kinship with the monster. I have a strong desire to work hard and get a sweaty t-shirt. He has a strong desire to bitchslap Tokyo. At any rate, the combination of good old fashioned rocking and lyrics that talk about destruction are good in my book.

If you want your rocking condensed to the original version but with cuts of Godzilla dominating...



OH NO! THERE GOES TOKYO! OH NO, GODZILLA!

iPod it!: Never Enough

I know a lot of people who listen to music while they run. I've never actually done this. I like to experience the nature of the run, plus I'm a big fan of being able to hear trucks and/or the neighbor's dog as they chase you around.

That said, I listen to music before I head out on runs. I have to. It stops the monotony that is stretching. Plus, it can get you pumped up, give you an adrenaline rush and just get you going.

Periodically, I'm going to offer up a song from my collection that I listen to. To lead off...Never Enough by Dream Theater.



Why I like it: I thoroughly enjoy rocking, and coming off of the album Octavarium this fits the bill. Plus, its got this angry, vengeful vibe that's awesome. I'll delve into this later, but its a very primal feeling I get when I run. Its a raw emotion I feel. This song taps into that for me. For optimum rocking, I love the guitar solo that begins at 4:23 and proceeds to do the musical equivelent of mix red bull and amp together until the 6:03 mark.

Plus, doing air drums has to double as some sort of warm up exercise right?