Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

It’s hard not to feel bitter this morning since I’m not out there racing the Marine Corps Marathon. The knee did not improve sufficiently over the week to feel comfortable doing a race of this length, and discretion is the better part of valor, or however that goes, and so I’m skipping the thing this year. There will be other races, and my ego was not so invested that this is a crippling event psychologically, but it’s still disappointing after all the training.

Not helping the mood is that I just paid out the ass so I can not listen to/watch a bunch of useless Continuing Legal Education courses so I can keep my law license. One does like to stay employed, but one wishes it weren’t so expensive, nor such a waste of time (there are no CLEs in my practice area).
Did sit down this week and look at next season’s races. I’ve picked several that I think I can do. Unsure as to whether I’ll sign up for another marathon (did put a half marathon in the mix, early in the season), but picked out a couple of triathlons, and I’m seriously considering doing a half ironman toward the end of the season (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run).  Added into the mix this year has to be more serious weight and core training. The IT band troubles I’ve had this past week are the proof of that, and I’d really rather avoid this sort of thing again if at all possible. The weights and core work will help stabilize stuff, and I’ve known that (intellectually), but not really felt the need for it (emotionally). Well, now I can’t afford to neglect it, so back to the weight room I go.

Thankfully, for the runners, it’s a gorgeous morning here in DC, and it looks to stay that way through the entire race. You couldn’t ask for better conditions. Which will make going out to watch pretty nice, too.

This is not the best of Mondays.

1. I have a classic case of “runner’s knee” thanks to yesterday’s run – nice little stabby pains in the left knee. Made walking to work oh-so-much-fun (and stairs? don’t get me started on how much fun stairs are right now). Also almost guarantees no race next Sunday for moi. This after making it through the entire training season for the race with no injuries. Ugh. Looks like the post-running season gets to start early.

2. On top of the stabby pains on the walk, I realized halfway to work that while I had made a nice, fresh carafe of coffee and put it in the thermos to take with me, said thermos was in fact still sitting on my kitchen counter. Which means I am doomed to at least one cup of the substandard “Starbucks” coffee they have downstairs (at least the Starbucks branded stuff is better than the regular swill, but it’s still not anywhere close to as good as I make it at home, nor to how an actual Starbucks establishment would make it).

Blah.

Got up this morning totally Mr. Cranky Pants. Did not want to get up, did not want to go run, did not want to see anyone, did not want to do anything. Sat around, pouted, read the paper (they’ve been delivering it regularly since Tuesday), pouted some more, and was generally in a horrible mood. Was feeling like I’m tired of training for the marathon, I’m tired of feeling like I waste an entire weekend day doing the long runs, and a lot of, “Why am I doing this if it’s not fun?” Of course, I do it because it is fun, I do enjoy it, it’s just that I was feeling a total lack of motivation this morning. Was also missing MG, who’s been away for work this week. And, as I said, just feeling a big dose of the blahs. Must’ve had something physical going on as well, stress-wise, this week, because my eczema’s flared up as well.

Thankfully around mid-afternoon I snapped out of it as I did massive amounts of floor cleaning (yay swiffer wet), did laundry, even ironed (which is a measure of how blah I’d been feeling – I never iron). Feel much better now. MG’s headed back to town tonight, and will wander over. In the mean time I’ve lit a bunch of candles, popped in a movie, turned the lights off and am relaxing. It’s not quite meditation, but it’s much more restful than I’ve been of late. Hopefully the long run tomorrow will be better for excising Mr. Cranky Pants from my system.

In other news™, I had an unexpected surprise yesterday when I pulled up my leave and earnings statement. Evidently the beginning of the month was an anniversary at work because I went up a step for the paycheck that hits next week. Extra money is always nice, especially unexpected extra money. Oh, and my parents now know about the new neice/nephew, speaking of expectations, and also that my brother will be teaching sixth grade starting in the next week or so. Good news all around (which made the attack of the cranky pants all the more bizarre).

Had my monthly haircut this evening, so texted Brian and headed out to dinner with him and Jhim. Was good to see them both, and good to get out. I’ve been lying low here in SW DC, mainly because money is a tad tight right now, so eating in or eating cheap are the preferred modes for food. Simple food has also been my preference at home because of some stomach woes I’ve had on and off. My digestive system has never been the best, and every now and again it decides to really go off the deep end until I smack it down, which may be coming soon (don’t ask).

Picked up staples at Whole Paycheck on the way to the bus, which thankfully was running pretty well this evening; didn’t wait more than 10 minutes at either stop, and there’s something to be said for catching the bus that drops you right in front of your building. Had planned the trip, so was a good boy and used a cloth shopping bag from home rather than taking fresh bags from them. I wish store still gave you some discount for doing that (some used to give you a nickel or something per bag you brought in and used yourself rather than using theirs), but even without it was nicer to have a bag I knew wouldn’t rip open on the bus, and that I didn’t have to stuff more plastic bags into the recycling bin.

MG’s out of town for work, and we’ve been chatting on the phone in the evening. Sounds like he’s pretty busy there, but doing good work. Miss him, but the communication helps.

Oh, and don’t tell my parental units, but I’m to be an uncle again. My sister-in-law is about a week pregnant (confirmed with the doctor yesterday), so she’s due in June. This, mind you, while she was on the pill (and after she had her first child in March of this year). I did remind my brother that there were things he could do as well (condoms, anyone?), but was gentle in my reproach. At least he’s married to the woman this time (my older niece is the daughter of his HS girlfriend – oy). I’m happy for them, and will be happy to be an uncle again.

“No, is too long, so I sum up,” to paraphrase Inigo: I signed up to start receiving the Post again last Tuesday.

• They began to deliver the paper on Thursday.
• I received papers on Thursday and Friday.
• Saturday came, no paper. I called and asked for redelivery, didn’t happen.
• Sunday came, no paper. I called and asked for redelivery, didn’t happen.
• Monday came, no paper. I called, did not ask for redelivery, but did ask for them to find out what the f*ck was going on with my subscription. It’s now being referred to the “special problems” (or something like that) staff to figure out what the f*ck is going on. If no paper shows up by Thursday morning, I’m disputing the charge on my credit card.

Additionally, when you’re a subscriber you can go in through their web site and report missing/damaged papers, do vacation stops, etc. It’s actually pretty convenient, and easier than calling an operator (though I’ve always found their operators to be friendly, to their credit). But heaven help you if you move. There’s no way on their web site to change your address or email or phone number except to either call them, or email them. You can’t update it yourself, you can’t change that information online, you have to send it to them and wait for them to get around to fixing it. Actually, I take it back, you can update your profile information on washingtonpost.com, but it doesn’t seem to translate over to the actual newspaper subscription information, so even if you update your address on the user profile, your old address still shows up on the subscriber page. Ugh. How asinine is that? Especially in a town like DC that’s known for its transient nature. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

This after I had waited six months after moving in to start delivery again, mainly because I had had to call three out of the last four weeks I got the paper at my old apartment because either stuff was missing or the paper didn’t show up at all. So far they’re not really doing a lot to counter the impression that their delivery people are any more competent in the new neighborhood than they were in the old.

It appears that I wasn’t the only one, but yesterday evening was just one extended freak-out. After the plane stuff in the afternoon, my little brain decided it would be a good time to start stressing over pretty much anything and everything that it could, leading to absolutely no sleep until I finally hopped back out of bed at 1-something (I think), gave myself a reality check, and went back to bed.

Slept really, really poorly, so called in to work (that’s why they give us sick leave!), went back to bed until about noon, then got up and was a total slug.  The most productive thing I’ve done all day was read the paper, once I finally realized delivery had started today (I ordered a subscription to the newspaper earlier this week; how retro). Oh, and registering my DS games with Nintendo. Whee. Hopefully I’ll sleep better tonight, but there are times when it would be nice to just be able to turn off the lizard brain and stop it from freaking out, especially when I realize it’s completely off-base and freaking out for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

In Other News™, the cult co-op has put together a committee to pick a new general manager. We’ve finally driven the latest one nuts enough that she’s quit, though she thankfully has given us to the end of the calendar year to find a replacement. I think this means #7 in 6 years or something like that. Fun! I was asked to be on the search committee, and said yes; the list of folks on the committee was distributed today by the management and I’m on it. Will be interesting to see how this goes. For those of you in properties with property managers, what would you want to know from a candidate for the position?

A small plane hit a condominium highrise in Manhattan this afternoon. No terrorism suspected at this time. (see any news site for details)

And yet, despite reading “no connection to terrorism,” upon seeing the images, the chest still grows tighter, the the pulse quickens, the stomach gets all flustered, and feelings from five years ago return.

I suppose this is the side effect of living in the other metropolitan area to get hit back then. Not that I want to move, and not that I feel particularly unsafe here in DC, but it does make me wonder if those feelings will ever fade or if they’ll still this vivid for the rest of my life.

Started looking at dates for races for next year. Cherry Blossom and the Dismal Swamp look doable – CB’s about 2 weeks before DS, and a 10 miler would be a nice training run for the 13.1 miles. The Rock ‘n Roll Half is also doable, just need to decide if I want to sign up before the end of this month for the cheaper registration.

Upgraded WordPress last night, and fixed Live+Press this evening. L+P was having the same issue it did when I first installed it, so had to look up the fix. Thankfully I knew I could fix the problem, it was just a matter of finding the issue and uploading the errant file again. Yay for easy fixes. Had to upgrade not because I particularly wanted to but the comment spam was starting to become an issue again and that was something up with which I was not going to put. Leave it to security problems to force an upgrade. Thankfully someone put out an unsupported version of L+P so I can still dual post to LimeGerbil.

Along with planning the season I’ve been giving thought to the off-season. I think this year I need to hit the weights more and add some strength that’s been missing. I know I can add the cardio endurance, but I’ve neglected weights and that’s affecting the rest of performance. Plus I’m as vain as the next guy (moreso, many would say; after all that song is about me), and some pretty gym muscles would be nice to go with the other ones. I have pretty nice legs, but the arms are, well, lacking. And the swim would definitely benefit from stronger arms. Not to mention strengthening my back is going to be crucial to doing longer rides as I lengthen my triathlon distances. Nothing worse than coming off the bike with a back that’s ready to kill you (takes a couple miles to work that out, making the beginning of the run pretty painful).

MG and I went to the local BDSM club’s S&M 101 course last night, this one on restraints. Was remarkably easy to do the body harness once they showed us how to put it together. A useful skill, and one that I suspect will come in handy. Just need to get some cotton clothesline now instead of the thicker stuff I’ve got now (not long enough, and a tad too thick for this purpose). Glad we went, it was fun and informative. Looking forward to next month, impact play (smacking, hitting, flogging, etc.), even though I know I’m not terribly keen on that on the receiving end.

I decided to cut today’s run a little short, figuring that a good three hour run would be better than a good three hour run followed by a crappy two hour run (had originally been planning to be out there for almost 5 hours – ouch). So I cut it short on the first loop around Hains Point and headed home. It was actually a pretty good run, with the exception of two potty breaks I ran the entire thing, which was a welcome change from what has been the norm, breaking down and walking for bits after about 3/4 of the run was done. So, psyched about it, sore tonight, and glad it went well.

Still trying to decide what I’m going to do for races next year. I think I want to try to do the Cherry Blossom 10 miler (and see if I’m cursed again this year or not – third time’s the charm?), the inaugural Great Dismal Swamp 1/2 Marathon, the Rock n’ Roll Half, and past that I’m not sure. I’d like to do a late season 1/2 Ironman triathlon, and an olympic distance race or two, but I’ve not gotten off my butt and looked at which races are out there yet. Do need to do that soon as those things tend to fill up quickly (for example, every Ironman distance triathlon in North America is full already, and probably were right after they opened up – methinks they need more races).

Did get out of the house this evening for a nice dinner at City Lights with MG. He’d not been in a while, I am always up for City Lights, so there we went. Was good, as usual, and I’m glad we went.

Oh, and oddly enough (for me), I went to a DC United soccer match last night at RFK. And, surprisingly, I really, really enjoyed it. The action was fast enough to keep my attention, but my friend and I could still chat, and I understand the rules of the game, having played it in my (otherwise) misspent youth, so could actually follow the thing (unlike, say, American football, which has no real rules except that The Time On The Clock Is Not Real And Thus The Game Will Last For An Almost Interminable Age Before It Mercifully Ends). Unfortunately the home team lost (to yankees, no less – the horror!) to the NE Revolution, 2-1. But was nice to get out of the house (again), and to experience something new, even if it was kiddie appreciation night or something like that.

I love to wear watches. I am, by nature, a time/clock watcher. I have clocks all over the house (I can see five from where I’m sitting, including the ones on both computers), and I love having one of the little buggers on my wrist.

Except when it’s quiet and I can hear it ticking.

Was sitting here reading, nice and peaceful, when suddenly all I could hear was the watch ticking. I wiggled it around so it was facing away from me, no good. Moved my arm further away, still no good. Had to take it off and leave it in the other room. As much as I love my watch, the noise it makes when I’m trying to enjoy the quiet is just Too Much.