A post not about running, training, P90X, cross-training or any other super searchable words

So let me tell you how things work in my house.

My wife told me the tank on our toilet seemed to be sloping backwards.  I took a quick look at it and tell her it's because it's an old style toilet with only two bolts.  These things sit up straight because the rubber seal between the tank and the bowl has four little feet on them and after awhile they get squishy and it slopes forward or back.  "I just need to replace it," I say, "Only take fifteen minutes."

"We'll stop by Lowe's after church," she said while brushing her teeth.

We get into Lowe's and walk around to the plumbing supply area and I can't find the part I want.  I start describing it to the guy (there's always 'the guy' at Lowe's) and he says, "Yeah, that's an old toilet. We'd need to order that."

Debbie pipes up and says, "Let's just get a new toilet."

Fine.

So we cruise around two aisles and pick out a new one.  On sale!

"Hey," Debbie says, "We've talked about remodeling the bathroom anyways.  I hate that shower unit."

The Old Shower

"Sure," I chime in.  "We can tile the walls, get a nice tub and new fixtures. Let's see if we can find a tub that will match the toilet."

So we walk around the corner and immediately find a great one on sale because it's a display model and they were discontinuing the model.  There were only two left and we grabbed the left hand drain one and put it on one of those big ol' trolleys, leaving the toilet on it's own little one.  Fortunately, the designs of the two looked remarkably similar so we were really pleased with our luck.

From there we hit the flooring department to look for tile, and went to the piles of them they had on clearance.  There were several different kinds and I had figured we only needed about 60 tiles.  We narrowed it down based on color wanting to keep it fairly neutral in case we decide to sell or rent the place in the future.  The tiles we settled on were only 58 cents a piece which is just ridiculously cheap, so we decided we'd bump up the design a little bit with some sort of accents.

Normally in showers where I'm doing 12 x 12 tiles I'll go about 5 feet (tiles) then rotate the tiles at 45 degrees.  Makes a nice look.  In this case we also picked up some cool glass accents that I'll use to create a 3" divide between the first 5 tiles and the angled ones at the top.  It's going to be really nice.

So we haul everything home after miraculously getting it into the Equinox I'm driving right now.  Then from there I got it all upstairs.

We decided to just set it all in the guest room because it was going to take me a bit to get all this work done since I was only going to be able to work at nights and on weekends.

Notice how that one box of tiles is opened?  Bottom right of the picture there.  Well Debbie pulled some out and carried them downstairs.  I get down there and she's laying them out on the foyer floor.

"I really hate this old slate in here."

"Only because it's hideous," I reply, "So what are you thinking?"

"How much would it cost to tile the downstairs?"

"I figure we've got just under 790 square feet down here, so not even $500!  I'll call Lowe's and see if they've got enough of those tiles left."

They did and delivered them two days later.  41 boxes of 'em.

While waiting for the tiles to get there I made some attempts to get the slate up.  No dice.  They were installed into a bed of wet cement as opposed to be glued down to a slab.  The kitchen has tile that would pop right up, but then I'd have to level that floor with the foyer.  Same was true about the ugly laminate we have in the dining and living room areas. The laminate was glued down, so it wasn't going anywhere and was a nice flat surface. I checked the bottoms of doors and measured the dishwasher and decided I could just go right over the top of everything.  Not the best way to go about things, but sometimes the most cost-effective.

From there we talked about the layout and snapped some lines to follow to ensure the pattern matched up perfectly from the foyer and around the hall and kitchen.  Then I started removing doors and hauling stuff out of the kitchen, like the big hutch full of dishes, cookbooks and glassware.

Now our house looks like Oscar Madison's place.

 

Dishes on every flat surface

 

Tools on the table and floor

 

 

 

Everything shoved out of the way for the layout work

 

Doors and tile all over

 

Well, since I didn't have any of my tile saws up here I decided to get started doing all I could without cutting anything or putting myself in a tough spot to get a tile under a door jamb when I go to put those pieces in.  I've done that before and it's a big mess and pain in the butt because those pieces have to slide under the cuts I make in the jambs so I've got to leave room to slide the tiles.  And this way I could get that critical layout work done as well as get the dishwasher out of the way.

 

I got a long way prior to going to Manteo for the weekend and coming back with a saw which I needed to use to get things finished under the dishwasher.  Once that was wrapped up and put back together I got to get all the dirty dishes out of the sink and cleaned up at last.

 

So here's where I am right now:

 

Kitchen Floor

 

Foyer Floor

 

Connecting the two in the Dining Area

 



And here's where the toilet is that started it all:

 

... sigh.

 

"It'll take about fifteen minutes."



I Did It

The Confessions of A Former Runner Turned Non-Runner Who Was Dragged Into Running the Marine Corps 10K by His High School Friends

By Darren

About 14 months ago, I met up with some friends of mine from Mt. Vernon High School. Yes, we are all aging extremely well (if I may say so myself), and I noticed the common thread was that we all were still active and exercising. If you underestimate the importance of doing both - staying active and exercising - we've all seen where that leads. I digress, and will step off the soap box now...

In the late 1970s, I was a Mount Vernon track stud, along with Ed Montgomery and Bob Nourse, the founders of this illustrious blog. Unlike Ed's lifelong love affair with distance running, my path ran more like Bob's...middle distance runner who used to wish evil things upon MVHS track coach, Ken Gaudreault, when it was suggested we run over 1 mile. We'd complain the whole time, and act like we were the Greek messenger sent to Marathon, Greece (and subsequently died upon running the 26 miles). To put it mildly, we didn't run much distance, and, I must confess, really didn't know how.

So, when my dear friends (who I wished evil things upon when they tried to talk me into running the MCM10K) suggested I run with them, I initially said "No", and probably looked like a toddler throwing a tantrum at the same time. I left the restaurant that evening wishing them well, but not wanting any part of their proposal.

Well, I am a lifelong recreational (some competitive leagues "back in the day") softball and basketball player. I also like a challenge. I also hate to be challenged, and fail. I'm also about 10-15 pounds overweight...or was at the time. Put them together, and you have me messaging them shortly after that I wanted to run with them in this year's MCM10K. Great! Except, I have no endurance, and really never have. Damn!

However, I had a year in my favor, a challenge in my head, and friends that I would not let down. So, first things first...buy some running shoes, and dip into the pool slowly. I have trained for things before, and know that going out and running a few miles the first day, or pushing too hard leads to injury, dejection, and quitting.

My wife and kids laughed at me when I ran around the block a couple of times a week for a month. The wife runs all the time, one daughter lettered every running season possible in high school, and the other daughter is a competitive soccer player...so, all run, and all have endurance - and the will to tease. All of their good-willed teasing just provided motivation...so on to running an entire mile in one day!

Well, you know the story, as all of you reading this are probably runners. The really discouraging moments, though, came during basketball and softball seasons, when little injuries popped up, or when the work/family schedules consumed my time. It may not be a problem for someone training to run regularly, but the "work stoppages" made it really difficult to get going again.

This is where I will recommend to anyone getting started in running that, to do this right, you need a support structure of runners. They're infectious, energetic, motivated, and generally wonderful people, who have had a lot of "alone time" to think about things. It was wonderful to receive the advice, motivation, and positive thoughts from my runner friends, and it pushed me through beautifully.

 

Let's make a long, boring story a bit shorter, and jump to a month before the MCM10K. I still hadn't really progressed past 3-3.5 miles. Finally, Tina sent me a training schedule for one month out, and Shelli, Teri, Carol, Jon, Bob, and Ed were wonderful in asking me how things were going. Exactly, 3 weeks out, I had an epiphany, and it boiled down to me not wanting to disappoint them - and myself. So, I gutted out a 5.5 mile run, which in the grand scheme of things was more mental than physical, and knew I was ready.

The big MCM10K weekend: First, let me just say that red wine and gourmet appetizers are not good "carb loading", but that's another post...

 

After riding the train with Shelli, Teri, Carol, and my new BFF, Karl, it was time to do this thing. Miles 1-3 were a little sketchy, but the crowd sort of sweeps you up in it all, and keeps you going. It was at this point that I realized that to train for a city run across bridges, highway ramps, etc., that you MUST put some hill work into your training. Sadly, I did not.

By the way, why do they go out of the way to call it a 10K, if they're going to put mile markers all along the course (not one marker with a "K" on it)? Anyway, miles 4-5 were a "bitch". They were lonely and they were hard, but having about 1000 Marines, and other "motivators" is a total winner. It's what made this race possible to finish, because it certainly wasn't my magnificent training.

MCM10K isn't all roses, however. Miles 5-6.2...designed by a Marine, I am sure. They happen on Route 110, at the Pentagon, by Arlington Cemetery, and into the Iwo Jima Marine Memorial...all uphill, progressing into this, what I thought to be about a 30% uphill grade. Three thoughts popped into my head: 1. Hey, there's Carol...catch up to Carol! 2. If all these amazing people in Arlington Cemetery gave the ultimate sacrifice, the least I can do is shut up and finish the race. 3. The cheering of the race supporters was drowned out by the internal voices of the friends that talked me into this in the first place. Finish and you'll be one of them...for a day, at least.