1/2 way there

did Long Beach. Nice to again see the Long Island peeps. THIS was the beginning of the advertising age-i.e.bring Our Race apps to each race. Today Rick Secor said he'd be there. Baby steps, I'll take it.

Terry gave me the raffle I won-and he was kind enough to put aside-from the Ho Ho Ho. Gift cert for Runner's Edge! As if his kindness wasn't cool enough, something I can actually USE!

Actually missed running The Line this am, could'a used the miles, but I'm sure The Line is still frozen. Needs at least one more day.

Nothing spectacular today, I finished. Really should'a done better on a 4m flat course, but what the hell. Funny thing though, people who weren't @ the half last week commenting on my time. Funny. When you're slow, people don't mention it. When you RACE, they think something's amiss. Somne people don't get it. I know I can do it when I need to, you know I can do it when I need to, 'nuff said.

Funny look on Shebitch's face as I was getting dressed for tonight: "Where are you going?" To which I didn't respond. After labeling me a "sociopathic, childlike, controlling, self-centered, egomaniac," It lost the privilege of knowing my whereabouts. Not to mention going to dinner with Keith, leaving me in the dust. And yes, It's right windshield wiper is STILL broken-4 months later. I love it. Payback's a what???

d.i.y.

been reading It's diary-hey, war is war (when It opens each and every piece of my mail, do the math). The one overwhelming reaction is: get a life!!! Everything is obviously blamed on me, Satan, but all I can think is: I never counted on anyone for anything. Always did it myself-ever since doing the family shopping since age 5. It never took responsibility for anything-going so far as to blame me for "giving up my job" to take care of Keith. Now think about it-is It STILL a waitress? Yes. So, give up WHAT? A series of failures @ careers It never followed through on? Real Estate? Secretarial School? Counseling? Social Work? Zero, zero and zero. AND, don't forget kiddies, ditching Keith, leaving him alone for extended periods since a very young age. NEVER did a friggin' thing for him, other than dragging him to It's friends houses. Who took him to Disney? Who coached PAL basketball? So, really good @ playing victim/martyr. Shit at getting anything done.

STILL very upset the peeps @ MATC aren't fighting the closure. Pussies.

No St.Francis esta manana, instead, 7 + on the streets. Hated it, too flat, but hey, a mile is a mile. After this weekend The Line should be better. Still, all in all, got my 40+ miles in this week.

Went to NYRR to get the #'s for Sunday. Busy weekend: Long Beach, Dinner/Dance, NYRR. Got the camera ready.

THAT was tough

did St.Francis esta manana. SHOULD'VE done 86th. WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING??? Snow, rain, freezing temps=hell. Sheets of ice. I made it to St.,Francis, did the turnaround, then hit the streets-exited near Cunningham, then Union Turnpike straight. Missed the hills on the way back, but got my miles in.

Temps expected to rise, by Sunday 43 degs. Yummm.

See pix below. Scanned pix from Keith's first birthday. You'll notice his conehead, as well as a recurring character in the pix-Marciana. A woman with a pure heart who rolled up her sleeves to help fight the good fight in 96/keep MATC open. In one of the pix, she's sitting with Keith on her lap, one of her daughters next to her. An amazing person.

hump day

done it, check.

St.Francis: check. In THIS weather, it's quite an accomplishment. Fresh snow, slush, melted snow. The beauty of it was the feeling of being the first person on earth. Yours are the first and only footprints. Really beautiful.

Of course, you gots'ta lose the layers ASAP when you get inside, otherwise, you're a soaked dog. But DAYUM it was nice. And the temps? Really could'a gotten away with long sleeves and shorts, but let's don't freeze the giblets.

Pret perspectivized it: gave the quads quite the workout. You feel as though you did a xc run. The extra energy used to really lift your legs works the quads. GREAT for the knees, but sore elsewhere.

deja vu

tonight snow...again. Wassup wit 'dat G??? This is getting to be a pattern. Race weekends, jump back into the game, then...SHIT. Hopefully it won't be too bad, but they say snow tonight, 2-4 inches, then rain/sleet. Lovely.

St.Francis this am, not too bad. Sheets of ice on the overpasses, but otherwise ok. GREAT running weather.

Busy weekend coming up. Nice.

Manana, dunno. See how it plays out this evening.

***FINALLY, a witness. Speaking to Pret on the phone-or more exactly, attempting to. "Attempting" because Shebitch was on a tear (I actually had the NERVE to put something in a cabinet in the kitchen and expected it to stay there, the nerve of me). So, It went off, big time. Pret asking "she sounded like she was on crack." THANK YOU GOD. I finally have a witness. Thought I was making this stuff up didn't ya? (Can you imagine, I pay the mortgage and have the cojones to expect some say in where something is kept in a cabinet??? Truly earthshaking material here. So much for It's 12 step "Serenity" bullshit. If It's friends could have heard It.

I can if I wanna

checked the times for the half. Goes to show: I CAN when I WANNA. Just usually don't wanna. I NEVER ran for speed, purely for the health and Zen of it. Nice to know I can though.

I had to do a doubletake, THAT was ME??? Didn't think I'd break 2 hours, but glad I did. Last year I came in @ 2:20, that's a full 26 mins off last year. Of course, factor in last year WAS the am after the dinner dance, during which I had the stomach flu/human fountain act. Prob is: runner's low self-esteem. My time was what Tom's usually is, but then again, I didn't work the 8 hours previous. He usually smokes my ass. AND I'm usually in the bottom third of Striders, NOT the top third. I was just happy I didn't walk any of it, esp those g--------hills.

No matter, another Q done.

what the HELL was I thinking???

did the Manhattan half. VERY cold, but once you started running, it was great. Wind wasn't an issue. Kind'a surprised it maxxed out, 5,000 runners made it. Wow. Vince n' Jonathan gave me a run for the money. They kicked it in in the last 800m while I kept my steady pace. Lots of Striders, almost a dozen. Nice turnout.

Nice note: Terry, The Voice, was there. Asked if I was doing LB next week, he put aside the raffle gift I won @ the Ho Ho Ho, but didn't stick around to collect. Very thoughtful.

THEN, did a one hour spin class. OUCH.

what a dif a day makes

path WAS great, until...saw THIS one coming. You KNEW warmer temps=defrosting=ice. It was everywhere on The Line. Good thing I planned. With the 1/2 manana, spun this am. Good call there eh wot?

Ran into G @ The Parkhouse, asked re: parking, said it's not too bad-may have to cruise a bit, but not bad. Asked if 8 pm meant 8 pm, said "come by whenever." Major mistake. Stopped by @ 4, dropped off the gift, then boogied. NICE place-at least the entrance etc...doorman, brass nameplates, not too shabby. Deserves it, a good person. Wouldn't be the thing for me though, @ the end of it all, all you've done is pay rent. No thanks. But it's a gorgeous building. Really nice to see a happy peep. THAT'S what I envy. We have a great house, great neighborhood, great schools, and the house is a shithole. SOME people respect their dwelling. THAT'S why I couldn't stick around for the party. I really don't need more reasons to feel bad. But it IS nice to take pleasure in another's joy.

now THAT'S how you spend a day off

got up @ 7:30 (mid-day for me), toreass outta Toxichouse as It was in the bathroom, ok, a clean escape, so far so good. Meet the boyz for 2 hours of hockey @ 9. Then off to see The Wrestler, WOW. Almost as good as 2 hours of iced violence. What a film. Then, off to NYRR to get the #'s for Sunday. Nice. Feel good.

Still gotta decide whether to go to the housewarming manana a noche, figured I got a gift @ Williams Sonoma (God I have amazing taste), so I sorta gotta go. We'll see.

Tomorrow am: spinning. Save the legs for Sunday.

done

another one for the books, the (short) work week is over.

Got my St.Francis in, made a full "week," nice. Manana it's s'posed to be 45 or so, too warm-the snow will be slush. Planning on getting out crack of dawn when everything's still frozen.

After manana, back to winter.

Shebitch? Cursing @ Keith. Seems It has to have It's one outburst daily, of course, if it's not directed at me...So much for all that 12 Step Serenity shit It spews forth. Real parenting. Thank G Keith knows to hang with me.

the end is in sight

today's my Thursday-off Friday, nice.

St.Francis again esta manana. Gettin' that base under my belt. This am was better-took 10 minutes off my time. Why? Didn't have the high knees needed yesterday to keep snow outta da' feetz, also, less resistance with less snow piles.

Someone was kind enough to plow. Now, that in and of itself was very kind. Problem is: smooth=melt area=frozen surface. So, very kind of them, but didn't work well. Really DO appreciate it though.

The Line is really beautiful;. Everyone should see it. And to think I almost didn't run. Saw the temp this am-14 feeling like 7, said "no way," but went to warm up the veeeeeehicle, wasn't bad. Glad I did. On the way back, after the turn around, actually took off my gloves-I never do that. Temp was perfect for a run. Thanks G!

talk about planning

dunno WHAT made me think of it, but....in terms of future planning...looked @ the calendar in Outlook. Now think, The Big One is the first Sunday in Nov n'est pas? Was wondering, as the Blazing Trails for Autism is set for 11/8. Made me wonder, hmmmm.if THAT race is scheded for 11/8, could The Big One be 11/1? As in, the day after Halloween. Well it is kiddies. Odd that.

St.Francis again, again in fresh snow. Really cool. Didn't wanna sound TOO caucasian and say "WAY cool," or worse "sweet," but it was. Really got that first man on earth feeling. First steps in fresh snow, niice. Great for the knees, nice. Didn't freeze da feetz, nicER. Only down side: really makes you pick up your knees, tough effort, takes longer, but great training.

Miss Mom on days like today. I remember ninety years ago (or so it felt) she took JP to see The Man, James Earl Jones flick 'bout the first black Prez, and here it is today. She would'a loved it. Wish she'd've seen it. Oh well. Can't begin to imagine what Keith will experience. Hope he misses me too.

I'm back

back to The Line.

Things were dicey there for a minute. Couldn't decide: streets or St.Francis.

Streets=salt, after 200m, you KNOW some would get into your running shoe.

St.Francis=slush, frozefeetz.

Decisions, decisions.

Saw the parks peeps doing they thang, so...St.Francis it was. Glad I did. The Line was BEAUTIFUL. Wow. Takes me back to summer with Pret, those kind'a heart stirring days. The trees with snow branches, the path with fluffy snow-great for the knees, really a treat. Runners on The Line today gave each other a knowing nod, we knew what we had there.

Lock and crew did the streets. They really missed out.

Missed Pret, we spoke, but hadda work. Damn. Was maybe goin' for a post work run. Can't do it. Damn. Ships passing in the night.

G has housewarming Sat night. Night before Manhattan half, dunno. Really should go, really a sweetheart, we think alot alike-scary that. But need early bedtime. We'll see.

Tonight: HOUSE IS BACK!!! My hero!!!

More snow tonight, dunno for manana, but today was primo...dude...

and now for something COMPLETELY different

one hour spin class @ Bally's, niiiiice.

Tom's been after me for forever to take in one of his fave classes, it's tough jibing scheds, but today finally worked. ALMOST bailed to run in The Park-snow falling, nice temps, yummmmm...but no, hadda stick to my word. Glad I did. The Y classes are 45 mins, this one 60, way better. Great gym, very big, great equipment, rockin' tunes, nice.

Hadda leave a lil' sumthin' sumthin' in the tank-tv in the bedroom died last night, hadda move a beast (ain't no gay flat panels here boyo!!!), from the den to the bedroom. Big ass tv, really big. And Shebitch STILL can't bring Itself to buy crackers. Useless waste of flesh.

Manana, day off. Gotta do The Line. MLK would've wanted it.

turn, turn, turn

(bad spin reference, I know)

Yes kiddies, from now on, following the digit rule-as in: must have doubles to run. No more single digit freezing bullshit.

Club has its refreshment run, hadda be there to do some bank shit with Lock, but ain't NO fuckin' way I was running in this crap. So, did the spin class @ the Y, then over to The Parkhouse to hook up with the peeps.

REALLY heart warming moment: one of the peeps who shall go nameless (Gillian) wasn't even running/walking, JUST showed up to bring home made chocolate chip cookies for Sara-who wasn't there! How sweet was that??? What kind heartedness. Shit like this makes me hang with these freaks.

Came home, Shebitch hadda borrow the crackberry-It's phone shut off due to nonpayment. Can it get any better than this??? Thanks G! What a great day.

Took Spike to see Notorious. He had the choice of Defiance, My Bloody Valentine in 3d, or Notorious. What a kid eh?

Manana, same, spin. Fuck this winter crap.

ouch!

what is wrong with me? (rhetorical, wiseass).

Single digits-if that-bone numbing cold, so, hadda do St.Francis.

There obviously isn't a medication appropriate for me.

no no no no I don't _______ no mo'

oh no, mon. No mo' treadmill fo' moi. Was tempted this am, brrrr, but no. There wasn't any wind, so went out extra early, did St.Francis. Felt pretty good. So....went and did 86th. with Pret. Didn't count St.Francis in logging the miles as it was done at a leisurely pace-for me you can only imagine. So, 86th counted. Felt really good. Knees sore, but all together it comes out to a half marathon.

Regged for a shitload of NYRR races, wanna get my Q's in, n' I KNOW if I don't prereg, I won't do the 1/2's.

one more time!

got my St.Francis in after all. NICE!!!

Was supposed to do 86th, but in view of the predicted precip, figured I'd play it by ear in the am. Sho'nuff, it was cold, but not THAT bad-though the wind didn't help. All the way wind in the face, on way back, wind behind me, whew!!! Caught a break.

Tonight snow starts @ midnight, so gots'ta stick to 86th. Log them miles!!!

another notch

got my miles in, despite.....winter DOES bring its unique challenges: unstable weather highest on the list. This am, 86th again, hadda. Ice on The Line. Manana try the line IF the rain tonight doesn't turn to ice tomorrow am.

And, what happened 40 years ago yesterday (sorry, a day late)? Take a minute. Give up? Led Zeppelin 1 was released, and the world was never the same. Wow. Life changing, epic.

Tonight, Scrubs, YAYYY! Dif network, same wonderful show.

Would've done the spin class tonight, but p/t.

Hadda split Toxichouse for a while. Shebitch was railing. It'd been on it's best behavior lately-i.e.not saying anything, but tonight was back to form. Railing about "taking care of me," as though It was doing anything else for the past 5 years??? Backstory: It's car payments overdue (as in they're calling for their money overdue), It's gas bill overdue (to the point of having the gas cut off), It's Avon payments overdue. I love it.

global warming???

where is it when you need it?

This winter shit sucks. Couldn't even THINK of The Line. Hadda settle (?, how long ago was it I couldn't run a lap in a friggin' gym???) for 86th, but THAT was bone dry. Nice. STILL got my miles. My fear is losing my grip on inclines/hills, but hey, it'll only be a couple of days.

Some drama with the club, asshole was whining about lack of Kosher food for volunteers @ our 5m. Fuck 'em. Whatever happened to the def of "volunteer." Fuck this sense of entitlement bullshit. Jeeeez. Remind me to serve pork and nothing but pork next year.

DAMN!!!

wanted to give St.Francis a spin but noooooooooooo. Snow, sleet, ice. LOTS of ice.

Made it to The Parkhouse, had the thought of try a mile and see. HA! Made it 50m, then turned back. Fuhgeddaboutit.

Went to the Y, dreadmill. THAT lasted all of 10 minutes, ONE FREAKIN' mile on the machine. How anyone can do that shit for longer is beyond me.

So, off to give 86th ave a spin. THAT was ok. Icy, but as long as you're careful, not bad. Got my 5 in.

Jeeeez, winter sucks.

1 down, 8 to go!

Did the Lebow run. Brrrrrrr.

Woke up predawn. Plan WAS to park @ Queensboro Br, take the train. But, as I was up too early, figured wtf, may as well go n' hunt for a spot. Lo n' behold, right across from the NYRR front door. Nice. Hooked up with Tom, we were on our way.

(note to self: use indoor bathrooms when possible, certain body parts weren't meant for exposure to sub freezing temps).

Did ok, not great, but didn't totally suck, 9:17 mile. Tom of course smoked-nice. Fast Eddie was in between, outstanding for a 61 yr old.

Then, off to The Parkhouse for a cool down. Total 7 miles. Was weird to do the race then see the peeps, but reassuring.

Snow, I got your snow right here!!! A mere dusting...for now.

yin/yang

had the bored meeting, meet the new boss.......not too painful. Really a good bunch of people. Biggest news was old bored voting on club awards. Following a puff of white smoke, the new bored was allowed to join us and things got rolling. I DID chide Ken for not being a better (a.k.a. do it MY way") editor/censor, allowing that negative article. That's democracy for 'ya.

Membership meeting also went well, some fight, really good stuff. Then we had Mr.Wall Street as our speaker, I won!!!! You hadda guess-last year-what the market would close @ in 365 days. Cool. And, it got better!!! Tom invited me to Vermont in May. The slight hitch-to do Vermont City. His bro has a place there! No cost room n' board. I'm there. Few weeks after Long Island, so shouldn't be a prob. Shades of Quebec!

Got home, Keith fighting not to shower. Shebitch backing him up. Surreal, I hadda lecture It on parenting/reinforcing good habits. Everything's a fucking fight, jeeeez. THEN, my miracle of the day, he got up 1/2 hour early...to...SHOWER!!! Well done sir. Shebitch enables and he STILL does the right thing. Yes, we ARE related.

St.Francis this am, cooooold, but good. Got my miles in for the week. Tonight, take Spike to see how a REAL man handles things (Gran Torino).

t.g.i.t.

(my friday, get it?)

St.Francis this am, didn't think I had it in me. Have this cold that everyone seems to be getting, SUCKS!!! Can't sleep, no energy, you know. But, no rain today, time to get back to things.

Manana, off. Gotta stay in bed all day (after a run)

thanks, I needed that???

rain, sleet, snow. Ended up just rain. Needed thew break.

So, just hour and a half on the ellip. Reminded me of the old days w/Pret. Nice.

Manana, bored meeting. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

deja vu?

here we go again. Tonight through tomorrow am snow, sleet, rain, uggggh. JUST as I get into a mileage building groove.

St.Francis this am. ALMOST shorts weather, but rather sweat than be cold. On the cusp of the flu-y'know that feeling in the back of your throat/nose? Keeping my fingers crossed.

If it's as messy as predicted, ellip for an hour manana. Vamos a ver.

we need a censor

good news was: the latest edition of the newsletter came out, and people wrote articles who usually don't.

bad news: one is proof that we need an editor/censor.

When I first saw the newsletter I was impressed that one member wrote an article who never before did. Problem is: his article should have NEVER seen it to the final copy. What a ball buster! This guy NEVER has anything good to say. One of these "when I was young" guys. ALL he does is spread negativity. Jeeeez. If things were better in the "old days," feel free to slice open an artery 'cause it's downhill from here! I'd hope the editor wouldn't print this crap, but that's more proof that democracy is an error.

St.Francis this am, no walk breaks, good pace, nice. Building miles.

Called Tom, signed up for the Lebow 5m, the Coogan's 5k , and the Colon 15k runs ("Colon runs" that was both bad and unintentional).

made it!!!

things were dicey there, but we did it!!!

Weekend's almost over, no bloodshed. No small accomplishment. You already know about don'tgiveashititis, now we have upside is down and downside is up. Last night I hadda go to the living room to tell Spike and Shebitch to shut the hell up/that @ 1:38am most of earth is sleeping. It isn't easy, it really isn't. Thought I was joking when I asked for prayers?????

Back to St.Francis this am, @ my pace. Building endurance. Ran into Pret on the way back, walked back, then added 2 miles.

What's it like to look forward to weekends?????

Thank G for my peeps.

what is so fucking hard???

I ask that the screen doors are closed, as opposed to flapping in the breeze like trailer trash.

Crack of dawn, the BACK door is flapping. I come home, the FRONT door is flapping.

PLEASE, PLEASE explain to me what is SO goddamned difficult about closing a fucking door????? Is it me??? If so, PLEASE tell me, but we BOTH know it isn't. Merely a symptom of "notgivingashititis."

Between Shebitch and Keith I'd expect ONE of them to be able to accomplish this.

WHY the FUCK do I pay a mortgage????? People think I make this up. I wish it was fiction.

*did the 5m with Pret, WAY too fast, but good training, then 3 more to total 8 today.

pray for me please, I mean that. NOTHING is as demoralizing as feeling like the only one who gives a shit.

gettin' there!

the good news: got my St.Francis on, with Pret no less!

the bad news: got my St.Francis on, with Pret.

TOTALLY out of my pace, but very good. You KNOW you're out too fast when you get back to the unit 10 mins before you usually do. NOT your leisurely pace, but good to get back.

This time of year does it to me: between the midnight runs, the next morning hangover run, then the NBew Year's Day run, jeeeez. Totally out of pace etc...gotta get re-synced. Progress.

Felt good, really good.

...and what have you done?

so we have January 1. And what did last year bring? Lots of good things. The website is finally up and running, 6,000 + hits. Nice. Races are put there I didn't know about. Pesa deserves a paycheck. Really impressive. Many have commented on it. NOW the club is REALLY on the map.

The race attracted a large crowd, we advertised in Footnotes, got good press from them, and did the active.com thing. Again, nice.

Our roadtrip was a ROARING success. Really helped make my year.

The club itself has fresh members. I'd be elated if we broke 300 but...

Failure: thebluepeoplewhoshouldcallaspadeaspadeandjoinaREALclub STILL won't do the right thing. They show up for our club runs etc...but won't join. I don't get it. Actually I do, there is that aspect of seperatism that lingers. Oh well, we press on. We'll just have to put a toll on The Line.

Today, 4 miles on The Line just to show my face on New Years, and complete the second leg of the triple crown. Then, this pm off to the Republic Airport 5k. Before that, went to see Doubt. GREAT movie. Really took me back to a simpler time. Not necessarily better, but simpler, i.e. when nuns were nuns etc... You didn't have to think for yourself, just do as you're told because God wants it that way etc...Even the bell signaling the end of one class and beginning of another. REALLY captured that period.

Then, the Republic run. Surprising how many people had the knit hat from the midnight run, yet didn't do the run. I'd be embarassed. Nonetheless, a nice way to cap off the beginning of another year.

and so this is Christmas, and what have we done? Another year over, a new one's just begun.

what was I thinking?????

yesterday morning, off. Went to the job, did the job thing. Snow, sleet, more snow, light stuff. Wind. Glad I took the day off. The DAY that is.

Got the call from Andrea telling me she was local, and we could hook up. Made my life lots easier than meeting @ baggage check, AND put me over the fence. Was on it re: to do the run or not-COLD, snowing etc...When she said she was doing it, that threw down the gauntlet. Love that attitude!!! Gave her her and her s.o.'s bibs and shirts. Then, back to work.

Day ends, off the nyc. Was supposed to see Gov't Mule but plans changed, went to The Garden to see My Morning Jacket. Never saw 'em before.

Calls from Vince and Tom, nice. Thanks guys!

Then off to Central Park. On the way in met someone who'd never done it, we hung for the night, Did the run together, then coffee after.

A WONDERFUL way to start the year.

So, what was I thinking??? IT WAS FREEZING!!!!!!! If it's this cold again, I'll wait till "day of" to sign up.

Happy New Year!!! Last year SUCKED globally, was terrific personally.