GOOOOOOOOAAALL!!!

This past week has been incredible. Very rarely in my life have I started something and completed it. I may not have followed through 100% as far as completing tasks to make my goal easier to achieve, but don't worry... my body paid for that guy intensely, this week. Sore much... YEAH! WOW! HOLY COW! GOLLY! BAM! POW! SMACK! BOOM!


I attempted a couple of runs last week. Both ended with me nearly collapsing. I definitely have shin splints, which I thought I had experienced before while playing soccer and running track in high school. Well, I was wrong. Actual shin splints are painful as hell. I was able to run through them a bit; but the second I started to slow down, I was certain that I was going to drop down to the ground in pain.

Needless to say, I didn't get much running done. I did try though. So, I don't suck.

That pain in my abdominal muscles came back again. This time, it's on the left side. Luckily, it didn't affect me too much this past weekend. I went on a camping trip with Claire and some friends. Camping is one of my favorite things to do. We got a really awesome hike in there, too. We caught the perfect weekend to see all the leaves changing colors on the trees. We hiked to the top of a waterfall and just enjoyed the incredible view, letting it really sink in.


So... back to the pain. The doctor does not know what's causing this pain. All the tests that he ran came back negative. I need to go back for another appointment later this week. The doctor seems to think the pain might be caused by kidney stones... I sincerely hope not. I hear those things are a female dog (bitch) to pass.

(The best part about this picture is that my grandfather's name was Harold Johnson - coincidence... not a chance.) Unless it gets gross, I will keep you updated on the status of this little pickle I'm in. In the mean time, cranberry juice and hot baths will be significant parts of my everyday life.

Being that, besides the physical ailments, I was feeling so SUPERRRR this week,

I decided it would be a good idea to set some more goals for myself. Here we go:

- Get down to 175lbs (Currently, I think that I am over 200. I know... I carry it well, and that's part of the problem. Haha!)
- Only eat out for lunch and dinner 1-2 times per week each - maximum! (It will save my belly as well as my wallet.)
- Break 25 minutes in a 5K (PR is currently >28 mins.)
- Break 1 hr in a 10K (PR is currently >1 hr 5 mins.)
- Run a half-marathon in spring 2011.
- Compete in a triathlon in fall 2011. (ToughMan.)
- Run a marathon.
- IronMan.

We shall see how this goes. All of these are in writing now... so, they can't be denied. It's business time!

Everybody

EverybOdayah... yeeaahhaa... rock yo bOdayah!... yeeaahhaa... EverybOdayah... rock yo bOday right... ED - IS - BACK, ALRIGHT!

By the way, I smiled just that much more while typing this because I knew what Claire would being thinking while reading this... "OMG. This is SO embarrassing!" Hahahahaha! In case you haven't figured it out, we enjoy embarrassing each other. It brings us closer together... usually to fisticuffs.

Anyhow, enough of that girlfriend talk... YUCK! Felt like I was writing a Justin Bieber song there for a second. What I really am pumped to share is that I am feeling much better! On Thursday night, the abdominal pains were pretty excruciating. At one point, I sneezed and thought I was going to die.

I actually considered going to the ER a couple of times; but kept saying to myself that if the pain is the same or worse in 30 minutes, I will go. It never lasted that long in one sitting, luckily.

That night, at the suggestion of an article I read, I took a nice hot bath. I hadn't taken a bath since I was a little kid. It was really awkward because I'm a lot different (mentally, emotionally, and physically) than I was when I was a boy.

I quickly got over the awkwardness when a fond memory from bath-time past came into my brain. When I would take baths as a little boy, my mom would make my little brother and I take them together. It was definitely easier for her to handle us together, as we were a handful. However, her attempt to make her job less frustrating did not really pay off too well considering whichever one of us would get out of the bath first would pee before getting out so that the other one would have to soak in the other one's urine while mom dried the pee-er off (usually in a P O'd manner because she knew that water wasn't yellow a second ago).

HAHAHAHAHA! I literally started laughing out loud nakedly thinking about what little jerks (but funny jerks) my little brother, Doug, and I were.

Back to present day, the hot bath knocked me out. I was asleep by 10pm that night. I woke up the next day with no pain, which convinced me that this was a muscle problem for sure... aka no hernia or appendix issues. I still have a doctor's appointment this Thursday just to make sure everything is cool, but I am pretty certain all is well. I must have just pulled a muscle there while overstretching or the complete opposite, whatever.


I waited the rest of the day on Friday, just to make sure that the pain did not come back. Then on Saturday, I hit it hard (my hitting it hard = playing in the sandbox to most of you readers). I went for a 3.5 mile hike in northern Weschester with Claire first thing in the morning. In the afternoon, I went for a 3 mile run, which I finished in less than 30 mins. Boo-yah! The hike was truly amazing. I hadn't been on good hike in a long time. The rain had stopped and left us with a beautiful isolated area where negativity was just not welcome at all.


I was going to pass on the run because we did the hike earlier, Claire had left for work, and I'm a lazy piece of sh*t. Instead, I said "NAY! I have some catching up to do!" (Nice, one-liner, right?) So, I put on my sweet ass kicks and hit the road. Three miles later, I was satisfied with my decision to bang that bad boy out.

Yesterday, I gave my body a rest and spent the day hanging out with my baby nephew and helping my dad with some work. Tonight, I will be sure to get some sort of training in. I need to make sure I take a nice bath after though so that I can heat that muscle up nicely... and hopefully, I'll have another fun trip down memory lane. Hahahaha!

Hey... I DON'T SUCK! Thanks!

I Came To Bring the Pain

Well... I DON'T Suck, even though I have not gotten any running in since Sunday. The good news is that being lazy is not the excuse (THIS TIME) for not running. The bad news is that being injured is the excuse for not running. I don't know what is actually wrong with me, if you could even consider it an injury. I've had a dull pain in lower abdominal muscles that has been growing into a more intense, sharper pain.


So basically, it went from annoying to "O Crep... better get this checked out". The pain started on Saturday, then went away, then came back on Sunday, then went away on Monday, and has remained constant and worsening since Tuesday. It hurts with every breath I take, every move I make, every wind I break, every step I take.


I wonder if I caused it from training so "intensely" after all that time off? I hope it's not a hernia. I am tempted to REALLY dive into this as Dr. Ed and WebMD, wikipedia, and google the snot out of my symptons. However, I know what that will lead to... I will diagnose myself with every type of disease and cancer that ever existed with relation to the stomach and write myself off as a hopeless case, dead man.


The part of this that really P's me O is that I had pretty much one last shot to get my act together for this 10K. Now I have an out of shape body, less than two weeks to train, this abdominal nuisance, only one working light bulb for my entire apartment (sniff, sniff), my car's out of gas, it's raining out again...

... Two hours have passed since I had written the last line you just read. Two hours of tears... two hours of crying passionately... letting my tears join the rain drops outside... two hours... two hours... Well, I'm just joshin ya... I didn't cry. Despite what you may have heard about me still sucking my thumb at night,

I am not a baby. I am a man, and men don't cry (unless it impresses some sensative chick; in which case, I cry ALL the friggin time - that's how I got Claire).
Just kidding, but seriously I am hurting pretty bad. I won't fall into a depression or anything. I usually decide to put on the happy, happy, joy, joy hat everyday;

but it doesn't look good for the 10K. I have a doctor's appointment scheduled for next Thursday (I'm glad they could squeeze me in ASAP). I've decided (and the lazy part of me agrees) that it is a good idea to not go running until either this pain goes away or the doctor clears me. We shall see. I will keep you guys posted on the status of the situation. Thanks!

ps... Those pics I promised you in post about the 5K... not gonna happen. I'm sorry. I dragged my feet a little too long. I was able to salvage this guy...

That's me about to gulp down the water Papa LazyRunner threw to me after I crossed the finish line... Moment captured on film by Mama LazyRunner. Good Times... Cheers, mate!