Well, I believe I have suffered the aftermath of the marathon long enough. My body has been rebelling for awhile, so now it is time for my brain to take over. Not sure how that is going to go, because my brain has never been the strong one in the relationship. Don't get me wrong, the brain is quick. Always on the move. Always thinking. But when push comes to shove, it does some stupid stuff. In this case my body is asking my brain to get back to basics. Forget about the long stuff. Go back to running shorter distances. Rebuild the strength. Lose some weight. Bust my ass on strength training again. That's part of the problem right there, though. See what my brain just did? It said it wants to bust my ass. My ass is like, "no, I want to ease back into the running and stuff", but my brain is like, "no, I'm going to bust your ass, ass!" Then my stomach chimes in and says, "please don't stop eating like a pig. Keep pretending that you are training for a marathon and bring me boxes of HoHo's for sustenance." Then my feet start yelling, "do not let this guy get any heavier! We ache all the time as it is. No Hoho's, mofo." Then my knees are all like, "oh God, here we go again." It is very confusing to wake up to this, and can be agitating. Sometimes I wish my body would just shut up.
In addition to all this, I came to the realization yesterday that I don't need a break from running. I need a break from work. I am on my feet all day, every day. I have a very physical career. I don't get opportunities to rest. People say I should take a break from running to rest up. I figured out that, no, I'm not going to take a break from running. I'm taking a break from work. With this in mind, I would like all my friends to take up a collection for me, so I can pursue this line of thinking. Due to the fact that if I ain't working then I ain't got no money. So, send lots of money to my PayPal account. And some gift certificates to McDonald's would be good.
On a side note, I have kicked around getting out of my business. Only if the right opportunity came up, which is unlikely. I have been working very long hours for a very long time. You remember that book, Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow? Well, it could also be called, Do What You Love and it Could Run You Into the Ground, Plus the Money Doesn't Follow. Not that this is always the case, but it can be very up and down and sometimes frustrating. Very frustrating. The other day, I was encouraged to fill out an online application for a Maintenance Manager job at a local university. I did, and got a response the next day that they were pursuing other applicants who were more qualified. This was my response to their response...
Dear Mr. .....,
Thank you for your reply. While I respect your decision, I don't see how you can make one without seeing someone in person and actually speaking with them. There is probably no one more qualified when it comes to work ethic, knowledge and skills. It probably comes down to the fact that on paper I just look too old. I am used to working 14 to 18 hour days, working with people of all backgrounds and problem solving on many different levels. I have a degree in business and history, have banking and mortgage experience(15 years) and have run my own business for 14 years. I run Tough Mudders, marathons, half marathons and other endurance events and keep myself in better shape than most 20 year olds. I eat stress for breakfast. You may not read this, but it feels good to say. Good luck with your search.
Thank you,
Robert Nourse
I actually did send that and it felt good. I also believe that I will remain in my business and keep busting my ass in my workouts. It is what I do, plus I don't think I work well with others. Now my stomach is saying, "get your ass and your knees and that stupid brain over to Dunkin Donuts." I really love the way my stomach thinks.
Showing posts with label Pythagorean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pythagorean. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Part Deux
Bob -
Part Duex of what you ask? Of what I started on Monday. Not the Genghis Khan thing, because that dog done hunted. That baby is put to bed. If you had a chance to read that one, then you know what I am talking about. If you didn't read it, then don't bother. Unless you want to, because it really is a free world. Actually, I want you to go back and read it. I will wait. Tippy, tippy, tap tap. That is my foot waiting. Okay, now we can go on. I was trying to say that last week was very busy. I was wrapped up in work and then the quick trip to New York. Add to that my constant search for knowledge and my plate is pretty full. But I have training to do and also have the looming mental breakdown that will happen if I don't exercise. I didn't really get a chance to run much last week...until Friday. Friday is the day that we historically do hills. The route is about 5.25 miles, of which about 2 1/2 is grueling hills. We call them the Hork Hills, because we typically feel like horking when we get to the top. They never really get easier. We may get better at them, but that just means we progressively go faster, so the same feeling of potential death is there every week. I haven't done them for awhile, so they were pretty hard. I actually had to stop and walk, which is something I rarely do. I figured a long time ago that the more you walk, the longer it takes to be done with the run. This is basic math, with some physics and geometry mixed in. It was Pythagoras who said that the quickest way to point A, is to skip to point C, without even hitting point B. However, point B will always be the same if your pace is equal to the square root of pie. Thusly, I don't like to walk. I take the Pythagorean Theorem very seriously, as I do all theorems and I actually have my own theorem, but I'm not disclosing it until I am either dead or promised some cash for it. I did get through with running the hills and I was very mad at myself for losing some of the conditioning that I had. I think I expressed this to my running partners, when I said, "I am done with this f@#&ing $#!t." They asked what I was done with. And I said I was done making excuses and crying like a one legged cobra at an all night mongoose convention. So, the next day the same group ran a 12 miler starting at 6:15 in the a.m. That was a tough run as well. We ran into a group of marines on a training run who were wearing their fatigues and boots, so that put some stuff in perspective. Perspective or not, it was still a tough run. Then....Sunday. Every year for the last four, I have done a marathon relay. It is a 5 person team that runs a total of 26.2 miles. I had the shortest leg of 3.6 this year, but was not sure how I would do because of the Friday and Saturday runs. I was on a team of very fast guys. I was the weakest link, by far. I never really thought about it before, because we were running for a cause that was raising funds and awareness for pancreatic cancer. I was really running the relay for fun and for the cause. As the day arrived, though, I realized that we had enough speed to do okay. Then, I started thinking about the possibility of me being too sore to really run my best. I have days that I can barely move after a long run. All I know is that on race day, I run as fast as my body will allow. Whatever that is. I did not want to be the one that cost the team a place and a medal. I am actually starting to get bored with this whole story, so I'm going to kill it. Long story short, I was able to get through the run at a decent pace while I really felt like I wanted to stop at any time. I did not look at my Garmin once to check my speed or my distance. I knew I was going as fast as I could go without burning out before the finish line. I could not wait to see the finish line. I was all out at the end. This was not my fastest run, nor was it my longest. But it was one of my hardest. We placed 2nd in the Master's Division. 10th overall out of 219 teams. I did not cost us a medal. Most importantly, it eased some of the doubt I have about finishing the marathon. Race day energy and will power have a lot to do with performance. I am counting on having that on October 7th.
Part Duex of what you ask? Of what I started on Monday. Not the Genghis Khan thing, because that dog done hunted. That baby is put to bed. If you had a chance to read that one, then you know what I am talking about. If you didn't read it, then don't bother. Unless you want to, because it really is a free world. Actually, I want you to go back and read it. I will wait. Tippy, tippy, tap tap. That is my foot waiting. Okay, now we can go on. I was trying to say that last week was very busy. I was wrapped up in work and then the quick trip to New York. Add to that my constant search for knowledge and my plate is pretty full. But I have training to do and also have the looming mental breakdown that will happen if I don't exercise. I didn't really get a chance to run much last week...until Friday. Friday is the day that we historically do hills. The route is about 5.25 miles, of which about 2 1/2 is grueling hills. We call them the Hork Hills, because we typically feel like horking when we get to the top. They never really get easier. We may get better at them, but that just means we progressively go faster, so the same feeling of potential death is there every week. I haven't done them for awhile, so they were pretty hard. I actually had to stop and walk, which is something I rarely do. I figured a long time ago that the more you walk, the longer it takes to be done with the run. This is basic math, with some physics and geometry mixed in. It was Pythagoras who said that the quickest way to point A, is to skip to point C, without even hitting point B. However, point B will always be the same if your pace is equal to the square root of pie. Thusly, I don't like to walk. I take the Pythagorean Theorem very seriously, as I do all theorems and I actually have my own theorem, but I'm not disclosing it until I am either dead or promised some cash for it. I did get through with running the hills and I was very mad at myself for losing some of the conditioning that I had. I think I expressed this to my running partners, when I said, "I am done with this f@#&ing $#!t." They asked what I was done with. And I said I was done making excuses and crying like a one legged cobra at an all night mongoose convention. So, the next day the same group ran a 12 miler starting at 6:15 in the a.m. That was a tough run as well. We ran into a group of marines on a training run who were wearing their fatigues and boots, so that put some stuff in perspective. Perspective or not, it was still a tough run. Then....Sunday. Every year for the last four, I have done a marathon relay. It is a 5 person team that runs a total of 26.2 miles. I had the shortest leg of 3.6 this year, but was not sure how I would do because of the Friday and Saturday runs. I was on a team of very fast guys. I was the weakest link, by far. I never really thought about it before, because we were running for a cause that was raising funds and awareness for pancreatic cancer. I was really running the relay for fun and for the cause. As the day arrived, though, I realized that we had enough speed to do okay. Then, I started thinking about the possibility of me being too sore to really run my best. I have days that I can barely move after a long run. All I know is that on race day, I run as fast as my body will allow. Whatever that is. I did not want to be the one that cost the team a place and a medal. I am actually starting to get bored with this whole story, so I'm going to kill it. Long story short, I was able to get through the run at a decent pace while I really felt like I wanted to stop at any time. I did not look at my Garmin once to check my speed or my distance. I knew I was going as fast as I could go without burning out before the finish line. I could not wait to see the finish line. I was all out at the end. This was not my fastest run, nor was it my longest. But it was one of my hardest. We placed 2nd in the Master's Division. 10th overall out of 219 teams. I did not cost us a medal. Most importantly, it eased some of the doubt I have about finishing the marathon. Race day energy and will power have a lot to do with performance. I am counting on having that on October 7th.
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