Holiday Hangover

I have a love/hate relationship with the beginning of the holiday season. I love the fact that the holidays are about family and friend. I hate that the year is coming to an end and winter is getting ready to bear down on us.

Thanksgiving was great and I had a blast at our local Turkey Trot. We had over 10,000 participants and I swear I saw every one of them as I stood at the one mile split freezing!

To top it off Sandy and I were able to get ten cases of Clif Shots that were leftover! We crammed the car until we couldn't get any more in. We'll give them out at the TNT trainings as an alternate to the gels.

No shopping or early rising for me this weekend, although my runs were less than desired. Running with a real hangover isn't recommended, so heed my advice.

This weekend will also be the traditional decorating of the house, so bring out the lights and the ladder.

Okay, time to get more of my football fix.

Have a great remainder of the Thanksgiving weekend.....

RAK

Random act of kindness. Typically I try to give everyone I encounter a smile, especially if I don't know them. I'm the guy that will say hello to you as we cross paths.

I think in some small way I might brighten someones day. That's my story and I;m sticking to it.

Well today was packet pickup for our local Thanksgiving day Turkey Trot and one of my co-workers (pregnant) was picking up packets for her husband and a friend. It's probably a 1/2 mile walk from walk and I knew it would be a little tough for her. So I volunteered to pickup her packets. The look of astonishment on her face was as if she had won the lottery.

I was glad to do a small gesture to help out another person.

So get out and perform a RAK!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Push It

Once again I let my ego and competitive juices get me involved in another charitable event.

Four years ago it was a challenge to ride 300 miles in three days for Make-A-Wish and now it's a regular part of my summer.

This time I've been charged with my workplace Push-up Challenge!

I'll be the representative for my department to perform as many push-ups in a ten minute span. For each push-up my co-workers are donating their hard earned money. The proceeds will go to our company Adopt-A-Family program for the holidays.

It appears that the going rate in ten cent per push-up, so I'm hoping to crack the 200 push-up range.

I only have two weeks to train for this so wish me luck.

Another case of foot-in-mouth disease...........

Numbers Game

I had to get out early this morning and paint the mile markers for our local Thanksgiving day Turkey Trot.

Normally I don't have any problems with police or building security, depending on the race route. But this year I was stopped by the police twice and security once. I guess I looked like some teenaged artist tagging the street.

TNT 2009 Spring Team

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce the 2009 TNT Spring team. Notice the blue sky and sunshine? That made for an enjoyable group run.

The park we run in has a few hills that I love running. The team didn't have the same enthusiasm as I did, I wonder why?

T.G.I.Fourth

Okay, here's the fourth picture from the fourth folder on my PC at work.

Who thinks up these Blogland games?

As you can see, it's a TnT event photo.

This participant wasn't trying to flash me but it definitely looks that way.

It sure looks good to see sunshine and warmer weather!!!

My knee is doing much better but I won't be running today. I don't have a clue what I did but it hurt like hell!!!

Everyone have a great weekend and try to perform one random act of kindness.....

WTF

Okay, I know that I'm not a spring chicken anymore and sometimes things just ache for no apparent reasons.

But how can I injure my knee changing into my running clothes?

That's right, just putting on my socks and pants!!!!

I'm hobbling around on one leg, unable to walk because of the pain.....

Okay, all of you Marcus Welbys out there in Blogland, help a brother out. Wow, I just dated myself with that Dr. Welby comment.

It's funny when injuries like this occur. The first thing that always comes to my mind is will I be able to run on the weekend, not will I be able to go to work!

Okay, I'm off to a TNT shoe clinic......

Tough Times

“Tough times are there so you can have a good time later on-- and really appreciate it!”

Well if this is really true, I'm going to have a blast in the future. I'm getting in my runs but believe me, it ain't fun. Yesterday evening I had to almost bribe myself to get out in the cold, windy, dark streets.

Now for a lot of you coming off a fall marathon, this is a time of the year when you can kick back and enjoy your evenings at home. But I have to endure what my team in going through and get in some invigorating miles.

In order to save my legs, I've been running on the school track a few evenings. If you thought running on a track during the summer is boring, get out there in the dark! It does help knowing that the wind will only be in my face for half a lap....

Oh well, what else would I be doing other than sitting on the couch and indulging in a few BEvERages.....

Wednesday's Why?????

Why wasn't I born rich instead of good-looking?

Weekend Recap

I'm joining the bandwagon of recapping the weekend rather than daily accounts. The weather sucked big time this weekend in Southeast Michigan!

We had rain and wind with temps in the low forties for our first TNT group training run. My team came out in great numbers considering the conditions. It's amazing what a group of people can do when they have the same common cause. We are going to have a great five months of training.

I suffered a minor case of chafing from the rain and lost a little bit of skin.......OUCH!

Sunday was much better without the rain but it snowed instead. I hate this crap! Not really but I in that type of mood.

Okay, on a good note, the Packers crushed the Bears for a three way tie in the NFC North...

TNT Kickoff

I *heart* TNT Kickoffs. The energy in the room is so high that we could have run our events that night!

Okay, maybe not really but it feel like for a while.

I was surprised to see a few individuals that said they were going to sign up later and they actually did.

So now I have five months to get them in marathon and 1/2 marathon shape. Who knows, there may even be a couple of BQ times in the group.

On a side note Running Jaywhawk needs your help, here's a note from her:

If I can get 250 people to email Mike one reason why we should put up our decorations early at RunKUMike@gmail.com by the end of this weekend, he'll let me indulge.

Wednesday's Why?????

Why do I still think that I'm 27?

I went to the 6:30 AM spinning class, knowing that I would attend the EXTREME class at lunch!

In the EXTREME class we did 30 pushups and 30 squats for 10 rounds.

That's 300 of each!!!!

Well just like in the movie, no one survived......

This had to be one of the stupider things that I've done in quite some time.

So this old body will be limping around for the next few days.....

Why do I do this syuff?

Hanging Out with a Fast Crowd

I decided to run with a group of guys at work during lunch.

Some of these guys are fast but I need to get in some running during the daylight.

So if I get dropped by the group, I get dropped.

We have TNT Kickoff tomorrow evening, YAY!!!!!!

Now I am getting motivated...

Winter Wonderland

Whose idea was it to move to this God-forsaken land?

I really miss the sixty degree temps and having that big ball of fire in the sky.

Now it's the days of clouds and blustery winds. We're at that time when you're not sure what to wear for your runs.

Should I wear shorts and look really cool or don my tights and be warm?

Is it a running cap or skull cap day?

Is it a one-layer or two-layer run?

Okay, I feel much better now. It's out of my system and I'm ready to get out the door.

Weekend recap ran both days but nothing to write home about. I'm getting psyched for the upcoming days of frolicking through the cold and snow.

Whose idea was this again?

T.G.I.Funny

This was the quote of the Day after the elections.

"It's a great day for Democrats and Republicans alike. For Democrats, Barack Obama was elected President. For Republicans, there was finally dancing in the streets and Americans greeted as liberators."

Wednesday's Why on Thursday

Why have I been MIA? They are kicking my A$$ at work.

I leave work mentally exhausted....... I don't want to see a keyboard of monitor.

I've been running and spinning and recruiting for Team in training.

As Arnold would say, 'I'll be back'...................

Halloween Time

Here's the lovely couple before we put on our costumes to head out last week.

Just handed out candy to the neighbor kids and drank a few BEvERages afterward with a fire and the neighborhood adults.

Decided to take Saturday off and run errands..... Oh my aching head....