12 mile training run down 12 page paper to go....

This morning I followed my plan of skipping church to out race an impending ice storm. As I darted out the door in my wind breaker and running shorts at a slower than normal pace ( It was 35 out but i was still worried about black ice.), with the chariots of fire theme blaring in my head, the usual litnany of Ironman images that make my long runs fly by filtered through my head....the Blazeman and the log roll, Macca finally winning, Willie Nelson's manager and the annoying owner of the Florida Marlins from the 2006 Hawaii higlight show ( I also have two Ironman Movies, Rocky and Rudy, I'm like Rocky because " I want to go the distance" and I'm like Rudy because I too am "risking everything for a dream."), Marc Hermans, Badmann getting back on a bike after crashing to get in some more miles before finally having to be talked out of finishing due to a broken collarbone, Images in my head of Tom Warren the winner of the second Ironman who limped his way to a win on a stormy day on Oahu ( Check out www.trizilla.com under inspirations for the complete story.) With all the inspiring images and words I grinded my way through the hills of Wolcott, braved cold, traffic, and five miles of having to use the bathroom to finish my run. It was 12.54 miles in 2 hours, 9:38 mile pace a slow day but not falling on my ass, pissing my pants, or getting arrested for indescent exposure for pissing my pants on the side of the road it was worth it.

Info on where the money goes:
As noted earlier and in several posts I am rasing money for Team Blazeman. I have recieved news the the Blazeman Foundation does donate to several ALS research funds the most substantial gift of $10,000 was given to the Neuroscience department at Emroy University and that the society is linked to ALSTDI, and several other charities ( check out www.alswarriorpoet.com for more details it is on about the 4th page in after all the introductions and stuff on Jon, and his obituaries...not to sound insensitive to the Blazeman, although I thought his "up shit creek without a paddle" comment he gave at his speech to the MDA hit the nail on the head with this disease, as well as hinted at the urgency that needs to happen in research.)
Well that was my ant for the evening I've got to throw together a power point for Tuesday as well as crank out some pages for the paper.

RD

The Man's got me down.....

Yep, the MAN has struck again and has wrecked my training plans plus given me a little more added stress at this already lovely time of year.



First, anthropology project due Tuesday. I've done research and will be able to crank out the project and paper, its just time consuming....hours spent at computer = hours not spent on the road...ugggg!



Second, Mid-East History Take Home Final due on the 16th: Pretty much a long winded rant on Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the Arab Israeli Conflict.....this could be fun but could also make me a target on several hit lists.



Third, Got in trouble for doing laps while lifeguarding . There was no one in the pool and the other guards and I have this "unspoken agreement" that we will cover for one another if anyone wants to do laps when there is no one in the pool but I can see from my boss's point of view too liability, liability, LIABILITY



Fourth, A lot of Christmas Shopping to do and not enough dinero to get it done. I've got 9 family members + 3 co workers + 2 chicks I guard with + 1 Hot Young thing + 3 brothers from other mothers + 1 femme sans neoprene....so I have roughly 20 people to shop for...if You don't get gifts until Jan 7 bear with me.



Fifth, It's supposed to be one of the best Saturdays in the last 3 weeks and I have to spend it typing instead of riding....or do I...... if you see me at WalMart grabbing a 24 case of RED BULL you know I will be pulling an all-nighter after getting in a brick of gloriousness.



Sixith, I am seriously falling for Hot young Thing, a 20 year old Cross Country goddess/competitive cyclist. as Ken would say, she's "a girl that gets it." The only thing is I want to play this on the down low because I don't want to screw this up and have what has happened with 4 of the last 6 girls: I've crashed, burned, and barely been identified through dna and dental records. 2 of the last 6 girlfriends I was able to keep up descent friendships but the other 4 ....it was ugly and I don't want that....I don't like walking into a room and making everyone in it feel uncomfortable...one of the reasons I normally stay as isolated as possible, also part of it is guilty Catholic boy syndrome; whether I was at fault or not I believe I'm always the one at fault...and therefore must suffer the consequences, and the fact that I can get too emotionally attached over a short period of time...so I try to keep how I feel on the down low, although alot of time hormone and emotion takes over and I come on too strong....oh crap I just showed emotion , time to run 20 miles without water and a 50 pound weight on my back to prove I'm still callus...then retire to my room for the rest of the year....coming out only for food, work, class, and training.....just kidding on that last part...but I don't want to screw things up, granted I probably just did bearing my soul on an internet blog......( pounds head against wall)



So yes that is what has been going on in the life of this overtaxed Ironman to be. Yesterday I got in a 7 miler, first time I ran since Monday and it felt good. Also you know you're hardcore if you can run in 20 degree weather in shorts, a long sleeve shirt, and gloves...yes I did that yesterday and did not get pneumonia so I AM BADASS!



For those of you that read my last post and my rant on the slow pace of ALS research, AIDS research and my frustration with the American Medical Research System..it was just a rant based on the early stages of my research for said anthropology project, and not a fully conclusive study...although I still am frustrated by the slow moving pace of research and drug/insurance company agendas playing a major role in health care....rant over.



Well those are my ramblings for the day.....



The Triathlete of the Tundra

R.D.

Let the Floggin' contiune until morale improves.......

If any phrase describes Ironman training this is it. This week I have the lovely chore of tying paper writing and training. So far this week I've gotten in a 2 hour trainer session a 3 mile run ( after an ice storm mind you.) and 1000 yards pool time ( for the 15 min. it was slow last night.) Tonight I have at least 3000 yards on tap. Tomorrow, with no foreseeable ice, sleet or white stuff on the Doppler, I might get in an eight mile prework run (possibly 12 if I can drag myself out of bed at 5am.) Tomorrow afternoon has a possible post work swim on the agenda ( 3000 yards.) Thursday, has the same ( 8 mile run or hour trainer ride, and an afternoon swim. ) Friday I have Masters, and my lovely trainer, Saturday, the long run or long brick ( either a 60 mile ride/16mile run or a 2 hour trainer/15 mile treadmill Odyssey. or just a straight up 16 miler . Sunday begins the new week with the hope of some warmer weather and some more cycling damn it. I would love to ride but it will most likely end up as swimming and the trainer, so I guess the next 2 to 4 weeks will be Run/ Swim phase with periods of Special High Intensity Training (SHIT) on the trainer, and the occasional long ride/brick if the weather warms up enough to allow it. I have now come to the rational conclusion that I am most certainly in the wrong climate, and I should move to an area with weather that is more suitable to my activities/personality upon graduation....Kona,HI ....ahh I can dream as I look at real estate listings that show I can buy a condo on the big island for what it would cost me to buy a farm in Southbury, yet on the island I am not hit with as high of a property tax, but the mortgage and insurance plus cost of living would probably kick my ass. on the plus side though I could most likely ditch the car and ride my bike everywhere, although this means taking my life into my hands as most of the island is the ghetto, the work of us rich New England Whiteys that came over took over pineapple plantations, overthrew a sovereign monarch, an pretty much turned an island paradise into a commercial venture...man I hate it when we do that.....my rant on how Europeans/ Americans of European Descent have gone off and wrecked nation states and entire cultures ( the Inca, the Aztecs, The Filipinos, the Hawaiians, the Bannana Republics we set up in Central America, then overthrow when they start favoring their own interests rather than those of American tycoons....I mean...their people....is now over. But no a warmer climate is hopefully in the future for this New Englander....and a violent overthrow of the current leadership is not in my plans. but no Hawaii with all of its possible ghettoness, looks lovely, California ( all the warmth, Ghetto and added bonus of earthquakes) is another place I'd long to hang my hat for a while, or the Arizona Desert ( warmth, drive 2 hours north I've got cold and snow, drive 2 hours back to Pheonix, I've got warm and dry.) might be alternatives to continued life in the Tundra that is Connecticut. (Despite the fact my parents say I'd miss having the cold weather....seriously if it didn't snow another flake up here I wouldn't cry...well ok I MIGHT MISS IT, just a little at Christmas, but I can't take 4 months of the crap.) Well those are my rants and ramblings for the evening. I've got some research todo and a practice to crank out.

The California Dreamer
R.D.

Freedom !!!!!!! For at least a couple days.

Ding dong, the cholera paper is as dead as the 40,000 Londoners it took to an early grave in 1854 ( to qoute stalin, " One death is a tragedy, 1000 is a statistic"). So now after being repremanded for only using five sources (I thought they were pretty good, but I guess I need to spend more time looking at articles that say the same damn thing..boring yes tedious, yes but necessary. My next paper the bibliography will be as long as the paper itself.) So I have a slight reprieve from the paper writing for the moment giving me a couple of free days to train, before I hit the library and ransack the sheleves of medical journals, discussing the unsanitary conditions of Gulags, refugee camps, and the dreaded Nazi concentration camps as breeding grounds of un-holy plauges. Yes, another real upper of a paper. Ok getting out of my acadamea fueled rage Tonight holds on tap a swim, of hopefully 4000 yards. Tomorrow a 5am wakeup call awaits me followed by my first double session in almost 4 days. It will most likely be a swim and a late afternoon run followed by a night searching the web for research materials. ( hopefully 5 articles ) I will most likely hit the trainner on Thursday followed by a post work, pre-class run. Friday, Masters, library, register for next semester, research till I can't research no more...seriously it is like some law of medicine that you must quote 50 guys saying the same crap. alright rage done...hitting the coffee shop then the pool.
The Repressed Researcher.
R.D.