Parking

When I moved in 1 year ago I got a perk of getting the normally $40 underground parking, for free. You get a key to get into the parking and it's heated. So it's pretty nice. I was given spot 24, and I parked there. I came to my car the next morning to find a big note written on an 8x11 and placed in my window saying that this wasn't my spot. I remember the feeling I had in my stomach when I read the note. It's probably just me, but I hate the feeling that someone thinks I disrespected them. The worst part was I had no way to explain myself. I got over my emotional anxiety by the time I got to work and called the office, they said that I was indeed in the right spot and that the same man had called the office and everything was settled. Whew, that was a load off my shoulders. The man even spotted me getting out of my car once and approached me to say how sorry and embarrassed he was, and that he had been parking in the wrong spot for a year and never known. I understood and we laughed about it.

So, that was then, and a story to let you know how I respond to being accused of taking someone's spot. Now fast forward a year and it's Winter... Right now. In the cold season the garage becomes used a lot more. I have had people park in my spot 4 times. All different cars. I don't remember the first, but the 2nd was a blue bronco, 3rd was a brown old-person-car, and yesterday's was a smaller black coup. That's 4 cars in about 3 months, in a parking lot where you need a key to enter and has around 40 spots. (In contrast, my gf's spot hasn't been taken yet.. or maybe once) The first time I figured it was a random accident, and after the 2nd I figured I should leave a note just so they knew this wasn't a empty spot. This wouldn't really be blog-worthy (and to be honest it still isn't), until the point where my notes end up wrinkled and littered on the floor of my stall. This has happened 2 times, with the 2 cars which fit the ID of a young person. The 2nd and 4th, both highly tinted, 1 with bandannas which matched the car's color. You park in someone else's spot, you get a nice "Hey, sorry but this spot is already taken... Thanks" note, and you wrinkle it up and throw it on the floor to prove a goddamn point.

Now I guess I am just blowing off steam, but I can't believe the extreme difference in my guilt over parking in my own spot and getting a note, to the 2 guys who felt it necessary to give me a big middle finger through throwing the note on the ground.

Listening to: Death Blooms by Mudvayne

I hate this guy

We are in a very political time right now, all you hear on the news is inauguration this and Obama that. I was driving in this morning when I saw someone with this W04 bumper sticker. Normally I am only slightly perturbed by these, but this morning this bumper sticker made me hate the driver. What are they trying to say? Do they think they are better then everyone? Are they trying to say they stick to their guns? Are they saying they don't cut and run when it comes to voting? They can't possibly just be forgetful can they? (Maybe I'm wrong in assuming that any normal citizen would have removed these stickers long ago when everyone started hating Bush)

I understand being a die-hard Republican, but then wouldn't you have changed to the McCain sticker?

Maybe I'm just biased because I don't hang out with very political friends, and everyone I talk to save for a few older co-workers is for Obama, but I feel that the world hates Bush. So in my eyes that bumper sticker is just like having a confederate flag on your truck.

EndRant.

And good luck seeing me post on anything vaguely political again. I rarely speak on the matter.

Listening to: Paradise by the Dashboard Light by Meat Loaf

Injury Week: Missing Thursday Post

Ok, So I was sick on Thursday last week and ended up losing one of the better injury story days I was planning. So I guess I'll just keep it going.

In high school we had 1 lunch period and about 400-500 students overall. If you walked to lunch you got in the end of a huge line and had to wait 15-30 minutes for your food and this was more then half of your lunch period. So, those of us unconstrained by feelings of fitting in, would run to lunch. Every year was a new experience depending on how far away from the cafeteria we were located. Scheelk and I were 2 of the most ambitious lunch runners and also 2 of the best Cross Country runners. I don't know if that's a coincidence or a prerequisite. Either way, here is a video of a lunch run just so you get what this is all about.

So, we did that every day, and every day I would try to find some ways to shave some seconds off my time, beat Scheelk, etc. One day I had the bright idea to pass him through the left door before going down the first staircase. I went for it and as he broke through the right door his left foot planted in front of the left door. I had no clue but as I pushed open the left door it hit his heel and stopped dead. My body's momentum then proceeded to run full force into the door with my forehead. It all happened in a split second and I was propelled through the door after it slapped me in the face. I was kind of surprised and dizzy and trying to figure out what happened as students ran past me and laughed at my folly. One girl happened to look back and her face went from amusement to fear. I remember her saying "you should probably see the nurse, you might want to go to the hospital." "Huh?" I wondered to myself. I instinctively put my hand where the door had slapped me and I feel some swelling and something wet. I bring my hand back down in front of my face to see it drenched in blood. I ended up geting a trip away from school to the family doctor who stiched up my eyebrow. I was excited for some sweet facial scarring, but now 5 years later it's near invisible. I guess it's for the best.

This injury happened with a chain reaction of other injuries. Within the 3 months of senior year I injured myself 3 times. This was the first, second was very similar. I was running to lunch again (I know, I know) and where the youtube video ends is the bottom of the main staircase. You're not allowed to bring your backpack into the lunch line so everyone just throws there backpacks down. So not only do you have to hurtle backpacks, you have to avoid the ones being thrown from the staircase at record speed. I was not so lucky and in full sprint I was tripped up by a flying backpack. I spun a couple times on the tile and eventually thwacked my head against one of the columns that line the cafeteria. My head split open and required 4 staples. Another month later again I was clowning around during lunch body slamming something and being a general ass-hat. My head hit the tile and ended up splitting my head again a couple inches away from the other stapled spot. So yeah, they knew me by my first name at the family doctor that year.

DUELIES!

Muhahahahaha. Soooo checkit. I ordered a pretty little 22" widescreen dell monitor for cheaps.(Props to Assailant 9 for the find) This is only moderately hott as far as deals go. But still, our current 350 lb Sceptre 19" LCD monitor is approaching 12 years old and has started flickering randomly. So overall the purchase was exactly what the doctor ordered.


Well, it would have been, except for the part where my monitor arrived with a small chip on the left side of the bevel. No biggie, if I would have been born in a different lifestyle or country I probably would have just put some super glue on it and been on my way. Unfortunately I am a spoiled white boy so I called up Dell support to let them know what happened. Dell support, Ughhhh. I know I should have seen it coming because Dell's customer support was their biggest downfall in 2004-06. I thought they would have cleaned up their act by now... Guess I was being optimistic. Dell's call center is based in the middle east, not a huge problem at all, just a little hard to understand some of the women. That I can live with, the problem was how I was transfered 4 times. The 1st, 2nd, and 4th times my order number and name were asked. If they knew it on the 3rd time why didn't they know it the other times? Also, my final time being put on hold after the 4th transfer took 45 minutes.... That's right... Victoria and I opened the phone, put it on speaker, and got to listen to hold music while we watched A FULL TV EPISODE. I politely mentioned this to the final guy and he said yes he knew, and that they had a very high call volume tonight. Shortly after that I was gone and done and the phonecall itself took over 60 minutes. Woohooo!


Overall I don't really mind what happened too much, I was watching TV anyway. The cool part is that he said they would send me some return labels for the chipped monitor. As I was crossing my fingers and hoping, those did not arrive. So I am putting ethics on the sideburner and I am going to set these 2 monitors side by side for awhile and see what happens with the whole situation. I really do love the view as it stands.

Injury Week: A Modest Bet

This is probably the injury everyone knows of best. My most glorious moment on this earth so far. It began like many stories, I had been drinking all day. We began by going to a work outing at 11am. We bowled and drank, then when that was done we figured we should keep the party going and went to a friends house to drink some more. After drinking for the better part of a day we moved the party out to the bars. It was 9 or 10pm at this point and me and one of my best friends were in full drunken stupor mode. We weren't just your average drunks either. When Dan and I got together and drank we were said to "ruin lives." So, I still remember how it all went down. We were walking back to the bathroom when we saw a drinking glass wedged between the bars of the foosball table. The bar we were at had these very thick pint glasses. I don't remember exactly who had the bright idea, but we decided we would see if we could break the glass. Now try to imagine the safest, easiest ways to break a glass... Got those all in your head? Great. Now throw all those ideas away and think of the single dumbest most suicidal way to break a glass. Perfect. We kept the glass in the foostball table and began taking turns punching it, open fist, as you could imagine Chuck Norris or Nicholas Cage sending someone's nose into their brains.(Fast forward to 4:20)

First 2 tries we alternated back and forth, didn't really hit it too hard, as if we were feeling the situation out. Then we began to get angry at the glass for its strength. The 2nd round Dan started out hitting it pretty hard, 2 times. He looked down at it and noticed he chipped the glass and also taken a small piece of his hand where the chip had hit it. I took the glass and knew that it had shown weakness and I was about to achieve victory. I pulled my fist back and came down on it as hard as I could. The next thing I remember is just seeing red cover the foosball table beneath my palm. I pulled my hand back and looked into a torn open flesh. An artery had been cut and a stream of blood shot out about 5 feet out and landed on the floor. I quickly applied pressure and realized the severity of the situation. We ran into the bathroom and I said we need to wrap this up and go to the hospital. I quickly pointed at one of the towel dispensers. You know, the cloth kind that wraps back into the dispensor. We must have looked very comical because as I held my blood soaked hand, my accomplice began tearing the towel from the dispenser as it wrapped back into the base. He didn't realize no matter how fast he pulled he wasn't getting any closer to providing me with toweling. A guy who walked out of the stall began laughing at our faces. I was appalled that someone found our situation amusing. I saw the foley in Dan's ways and suggested he tear the dispenser from teh wall. After 2 huge yanks we were getting no where closer to wrapping my hand. I suggested his shirt. He yanked off 2 shirts and gave me his white undershirt. I quickly wrap my hand and we dodged out through the now crowded bar and out onto the street. Dan's girlfriend sees him shirtless and drunk and begins to get very mad. "WHY'S DAN'S SHIRT OFF!?" she came at me angry and accusing. I simple lifted part of the shirt off my hand and showed her the pooling blood in my palm. Instantly her angry face went ghostly white as she understood completely. "oh." was all she mumbled. I then headed across the street and went to a taxi van I saw. I jumped in and the driver said "I'm sorry I am already waiting for a party." I felt entitled to hijack here and simply told him "WERE GOING TO THE HOSPITAL." I showed him my hand and he also understood and we were off. I didn't know if it was customary to tip a hijacked taxi cab for bringing you to the ER, so I instructed Dan to give him $10.

We arrived at the hospital I worked IT at. I remember when I realized I was in safe hands in the ER the alcohol kicked in again and I was all jokes. I asked the triage nurse if I would be getting an associate discount. Again when I was on the operating table I told the doctor that I was very appreciative of what she was doing and if she ever wanted a new tablet PC, a new handheld device, or anything computer related that I would give her my personal extension and I would put her on the top of my list. 16 stitches later I was back in 1 piece and lucky to hear that I hadn't severed any tendons so no physical rehab would be needed.



I was supposed to return 2-3 weeks later to get the stitches removed. I was out hunting at the 3 week point and bored. So I ended up taking the stitches out myself with my hunting knife. Overall if I was to say I learned something it would be that you should weigh the pros vs the cons of drunk ideas. That night was also one of the first nights V and I went out together. So if anyone else wants to lock in a steady girlfriend rinse and repeat I guess.

Injury Week: Chicks, dude.

Sooo. This shouldn't take long. I had a girlfriend for a year or so in high school(relationships seemed to go in slow motion back then). She was pretty steadfast in the "lets save ourselves" type thing, and I wasn't going to push the envelope. We all know how much of a classy gentlemen I am! So it was senior year I figured we were both going to different colleges, so we broke it off. Next thing I know one of my best friends is talking to her more. He and I talked via AIM a lot and when your having those instant message conversations you end up saying a lot more then you would in real life. Kind of like alcohol. Well, he just couldn't wait to share how he had talked her into the deed. I was pretty furious, but I just acted like nothing happened. That is, until I saw them out in the parking lot as the XC guys and I were getting ready for a run. I can't remember exactly what they were doing, holding hands, kissing maybe. Either way it lit a fire in me and I punched a stopsign as we ran by it. This is something we did often during cross country runs, only we would usually slap it, something to make it ring out. We'll I punched that stopsign about as hard as humanly possible. .. I looked down to see my hand and saw a pretty big bump. It was rock hard already and my first thought is that it either swelled up super fast or it was broke. We ran our 4 miles and the swelling didn't go down or soften. I brought it around the school for teachers who were still around and they mostly thought it was fine. I could still move everything, there was no pain, and the only difference was when I made a fist my pinky knuckle was non-existent. Eventually I found the physical trainer and he said it might be a boxer's break. I researched it at home and told my parents. They didn't know if going to a doctor was necessary but I insisted.

I remember the doctor didn't really key me into what exactly he was doing, he made a cast that covered my wrist and half my hand. Put it on me, then put a lot of pressure on my hand and I felt the bone snap back into place and vibrate through my body. I instantly felt light headed and he told me to lay back. He said some people pass out after that. I still find it amusing that he didn't prepare me for that.

Well, that's the story, after awhile I healed. My heart did too. Sah-luuuuuuuut.

Injury Week: Bicycles

In the beginning of my college career I was cheap, and needed to get to far off house parties. I walked a lot, then realized that biking was much faster. I would see a bike on the side of the road as I stumbled home and grab it, and bike home. First I would put the bike in the racks near the library near the dorm. Then as I got gutsier I would bring the bike back to the dorms racks. I cycled through a couple different bikes, some stayed longer then others. I grew a guilty conscience eventually and bought a used bike by haggling the pawn shop guy down to $20. So, now you know me, drinking, and bikes.

The first picture was taken freshman year, before going to a Beta Upsilon Sigma (BUS) party. It wasn't really a frat like it sounds, more of a business organization.. that drinks. We were having a sports themed party and that's why I am wearing the ridiculous visor. Me and some of the non-BUS friends chose to indulge in our new friend, Mr. Shotgun. After gunning far too many I decided it was time to go to the party and headed to old-downtown eau claire. It was a good 3-4 miles and I started feeling it mid bike ride. I was driving down a deserted part of eau claire and I saw a rabbit in front of me. He took off down an alley so I drove in after him. I saw that he had nowhere to turn, so I peddled faster. I was just about to nail him as we hit the next road and he took off to the right. I was thinking "I can still get him!!" and I jerked the handle bars to follow the rabbit for the kill. That was when I remembered that bikes don't turn in 90 degree angles when your going 15 mph. I immediately jammed the front tire sideways and crashed head over heels. I would have sat there and wallowed in self pity but I saw headlights coming towards me and figured it was the cops. I jumped up on my bike and took off only to see the rabbit sittin on the side of the road a ways looking up at me laughing. "You may have won this battle..." I said aloud to him as I drove by. I arrived at the party with my chin and elbow cut open and dripping blood. (sorry, no pic)

Next, a quickie... My brother came to 2 sib-weekends. The UWEC weekend where your little brothers come and you 'show them campus'. Both times I had high expectations and when he was 14 we peer pressured him into a shot of 151 as soon as he walked in the door. Needless to say we were not role models in my dorm. I took him to a house party and we drank together. Then it was time to head out and I thought I'd show him how I rolled. I had him steal a bike with me and we took off towards campus. Going over the UWEC footbridge I began wavering, jarred my handle on the guardrail and stubbed my toe hard when I tried to catch myself. We made it back to the dorms and I gave my 14 year old brother my ID and told him to get my bike lock from my room. Well, the RA's guarding the entrance weren't about to let my obviously intoxicated brother, alone into the dorm without me. They came outside and asked me what was up. I mumbled some drunken excuses and eventually they let my brother and me in... When I arrived in my room I saw my foot and decided I best take pictures. Another great college night for my brother to take home.

Injury Week: The Toe

Injury week is finally here. I know you're all excited. Well, except for Ric, who apparently passes out at the sight of grotesque injuries.

We'll begin with the easiest to explain. It was '01 or '02 and the night of the homecoming dance. I was walking around barefoot getting ready, when I stubbed my toe on something in the carpet. It was an abrupt sharp pain so I went down there to inspect. I saw a red dot in my big toe, but it didn't seem to be bleeding. Odd. After searching the carpeting I found the culprit, a small pinlike needle. That must have been what created the red dot. Fast forward to a year later. After some cross country run I notice that same big toe has a tiny scab-like ball forming near the cuticle between the nail and the skin. I scratch it away but notice day after day it keeps re-appearing and getting bigger. Soon when I try to scratch it off I feel pain as though it has nerves. I realize this isn't going away anytime soon and I don't want it to start affecting my running so I go to a foot doctor.

Upon arrival the doctor explains to me that it looks like [insert medical term]. This thing forms on the outside of skin when your body is trying to remove unwanted debris or junk from itself. The body pushes this foreign object out through the little scab-pus-ball opening it created. So he says to make sure we will take some x-rays. He looks over the new xrays and exclaims that, sure enough, I had a small needle under my toe nail. He then says, "If you don't have any problems I can perform the surgery to remove it right now." I remember being baffled at how quick one can be propositioned with surgery on a seemingly normal afternoon. I surely didn't want to sound like a pussy, but man, surgery? Would I be able to run on it? He says everything will be fine and I agree with the surgery. What happens next is one of the most irritating/painful experiences I have had. (Erica: look away) He took the needle with numbing stuff in it and began inserting the needle between my toes. Almost a half dozen spots. Yes, Needles, between. ..my. ..toes. So that was horrible, but after the numbing kicked in everything was A'ok. He took a knife, cut open the ball guy growing beside my nail and dug around a bit. He then pulled out a shiny needle which was A LOT longer then I would have ever imagined. The foot healed up and was good to go.

In the end somehow I was able to connect the story of stubbing my toe and this incident which happened almost a year later. The needle I stubbed my toe on must have broken off near the bottom of my big toe, then made its way up under the nail as my body tried to reject it. I still have the needle, along with these nice Xrays.

A Declaration

Running a Marathon wasn't on my radar 2 weeks ago. But here I am, signing up for one today. Victoria's post was a good kick in the butt. In the end it will come down to the training and shape I am come May, but a collegue at work was quick to suggest I sign up now and that the hardest step is the first. So, I figure what else will make sure I actually go through with this.... Post something on my blog. So there. Did I just make a horrible decision?

Obligatory Gaming Post

So, as promised yesterday, I'll give you a update on my gaming happenings as of recent. First off, I was happy to receive 2 1600 microsoft point giftcards for Xmas, so that slingshot me into the world of XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade). My first purchase was N+. This has been highly spoken of by Assailant 9, my trusted gaming nemesis. He was not lying. The game, albeit simple, is addicting after the stages get more complex. The idea is you get coins to increase the time you get per level, you progress through levels, 5 levels per episode. Once you begin a new episode your time resets. Each level provides a new unique challenge in either opponent or terrain. You have a analog stick and an A button to jump. It's easy at first, but the things that keep you coming back are the levels that take some thinking and a little finesse to conquer. Thanks Assailant.

My next Xbla purchase with this new plethora of points was yesterday, Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2. It was a hard decision between the new GW and the old original version. I looked around online and the 2nd version has actually been getting rave reviews and contains new gametypes, and multiplayer. So with that, purchase completed, and I am very happy with it after just one night. Reminiscent of my father's video game era, this plays a lot like asteroids in a contained box. Maybe it's my ADHD, but the bright multicolored laser graphics of the game are one of its most enjoyable traits. The basic gametype is as you would expect, running around trying not to get destroyed whilst shooting everything in sight. Multiplier shards, called geods, now drop from fallen enemies and are a requirement to reach those high score boards. Other gametypes include no-shooting-allowed escapism, waves of enemies, stage completion mode, and another where you can only shoot from bubbles which quickly disappear and reappear at different locations. An interesting callout to the oldstyle arcade games is the highscore of your xbox live friend list post on the top right of your screen as you play. Just a little something to keep you playing.

Lastly, I was a latecomer to The Force Unleashed. I heard not-so-good things from this much hyped game, so, I just didn't purchase it. Recently I did a little tradesies with known gaming accomplice, away went my Mirror's Edge, in came TFU. I must say, now that all hype had been obliterated I was very happy with my playthrough. This mainly because I am an avid Star Wars fan. I loved the connections this game made between the Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope movies. I followed the plot in-game as if I was in fact playing out one of the Star Wars movies. Also, since I stick closely to FPS's, it was a great change to be able to run around in third person throwing special forces and lightsabers around. Overall I enjoyed the first playthrough and I am currently making attempts at a Master Sith difficulty playthrough.

Also, a last image as a teaser for next week. I plan on doing my Injury Themed Blog Week. Where I speak to the numerous adventures I have had which leave me with, well, souvenirs(read: scars).

Nike+

Sorry about another running post. I promise I'll talk about gaming or something tomorrow. I wanted to speak on this yesterday but was overan by that year in review post. . . So yeah. I got a nike+ sensor for Christmas and a little pocket so that instead of buying the $100 shoes it will just tie into the laces of any running shoe. I didn't think much of this thing until I logged onto the website for the first time. Woah, I should have realized that when Nike and Apple get together you will end up with something pretty cool.

You start out by selecting or uploading a very small profile picture. You choose a user name and login and are thrown into your main page. From here you have many options. Your latest run is graphed out by pace and distance. You can look at many stats such as your history of runs by date and distance. This was all to be expected. The COOL things are the challenges, distance club, and Nike+ mini.

The challenges are user generated. There are currently 20 thousand random challenges, you can sort by popularity or by when they were submitted. Challenges range from first person to reach 100 miles, longest miles ran in X amount of days, fastest 3k, fastest 10k. Anything you can think of and there will be multiple challenges to sign up for. You click the join button, and your screenname is thrown into the mix of runners and graphed. If you look at the image above I am in 4th place of 10 people for most miles ran in 2 days. Some challenges have thousands of people, some have only a dozen or so. There are different types of challenges called team challenges. The teams are preset and you choose the team you want to join. So, there is a huge challenge for MLB teams. It goes for 90 days until opening day, you choose the team you want to run for, and everyone's milage adds up beneath their chosen team. There are competitions like this for men vs women, meat eaters vs vegetarians, united states regions,

the list goes on forever.

The distance club is as you would expect, after 100 miles, 500, 1000, all the way to 10000 miles you get put into a different club. You also have a Nike+ mini, which is essentially your avatar. Seen left. As you complete things you get different stuff for your avatar. I got a new tshirt for doing my first run. I would imagine every tier of the distance club gives you something else too. And winning challenges and completing your goals and resolutions stacks your trophy room, mine is empty... :-/

Overall, I think nike+ has the right amount of competition matched with the right amount of a reward to get anyone to want to run as many miles as possible.

I don't know if this will get old, but I know right now its like a new video game or toy and I could just surf the site looking for new features and I can't wait to get home and run. Victoria made the amusing comment that its funny that even when I get into something active, I still find a way to spend a lot of time on the computer involved with it. Kind of a double edged sword...

Listening to: Addicted by Saving Abel

Back on the trail

Today was the first day I had a morning run since October 21st, not to mention the first exercise I've done in about 2 weeks. It felt great. I suppose this post has been a long time coming.

Mid January of last year I had began a new full time career, graduated college, and was in full glutton mode. No exercise, loved fast food. I weighed the most I had ever weighed. 215ish lbs was a big difference from my freshman cross country weight of 165. I know a couple tricks that work in motivating myself. The one that I applied then was to bring out my competitive nature.

We were at a lowriders and gangsters party at my cousin's house. We were drinking 40's all night, sippin' on gin & juice, and I ended up challenging my cousin to a bet that I would weigh less then him by Xmas of next year (roughly 11 months away). He laughed, and took out a scale. He was 177, and I was 227. Such a nice round difference, 50 pounds, which turns out to be the amount of money we placed on the bet.

I would like to say after that party I was running daily, but sadly I have a detailed records of everything I have done this year, and it wasn't till about 3 months later I actually got my ass in gear. Much like Ric's knack for writing lists, I use this power to motivate myself on the calendar. When I get into a healthy lifestyle it's nearly a requirement that I record every run on a calendar. So then if I get a week of running every day, that 8th day is that much harder to skip. It blares out from the calendar as an empty void lazy space.

So I have the calendar on my lap, and I remember starting finally, very later in March. A couple friends had brought up a calorie counter website and started tracking calorie intake along with exercises. This finally got me going, couple 30 minute runs, and I wrote down on Easter that I weighed 215. Then a fire was lit under my ass apparently. April is nearly covered with highlighted workouts. 13 two-a-days and 10 regular runs. My two-a-days consisted of getting up at 5am, making breakfast (early it was eggs, later turned into cereal), then leaving the house for the gym at 6am. I then lifted for 30 minutes, and ran for 35. After work I would then go back to the Gym, but choose to run outside for another 30-35 minutes. At the end of April I have myself weighing 209. At this rate the bet seemed lofty, but achievable.

May was similar, I had 10 two-a-days, even found time to run before my softball games. Ending the month in 202 lb. June summer laziness came and I only had 3 two-a-days, 10 regular days. I was apparently too disgusted to write down my weight fluctuations. In July I was a year older, and the fire was back. Of the 31 days in the month I ran 18 two-a-days, sadly my weight loss slowed and I finished at 204 (looking back I was probably gaining muscle from all the lifting). I wish I had my cell phone because I would take a picture of August. 20 of the 30 days in August I worked out before and after work. Ending August weigh in shows 198. September goes back to moderate pace, 12 doubles, 8 singles, weighed ending 195. October I began to lose my fire, and I only lifted 6 days, I continued a couple more doubles, mostly running from home so I could sleep in more. November was abysmal, I had 2 weeks off where I was up north hunting. We hunt in a camper with no real shower opportunities. You don't want to sweat much or the deer never show up, so I knew these weeks would provide no exercises short of hiking 60-80 lb's of gun and deerstand out into the woods. I ended November with 7 single 30-minute runs, weighing 193. And that was it, it was now December, Xmas month, and the weigh in would be right around the corner. I still couldn't dig deep enough for a August repeat, I simply ran 13 single days and cut back on my junkfood. Christmas day, a week or two ago, I weighed in fully clothed at 190. I know I took the bet a year ago telling myself "Would you pay $50 to weigh under 200lbs come next year? Yes." So paying was not a problem.

I don't really have any big insightful ending to post. I've been wanting to share my story on here for awhile, but never wanted to talk too much in case my cousin ran across this website and saw what I was up to. Well, the bets over and the new year is here. A lot of people posted about their resolutions, and what to expect in the next year. I have never been one to make a resolution, but I guess I would say that I will do 1 marathon before the end of the year. All this running has built my long distance foundation back up and I think with a good workout program I can actually get the big Marathon under my belt. Something I feel I need to conquer as a human with a Odometer tattooed on his calf.

Thanks for sticking in there readers, and thanks everyone for their strong words, workout advice, confidence, encouragement, and humor during the year. Most of all thanks for putting up with my zombie days where I had no energy to even smile or laugh during lunch.