20 posts tagged “metric”

Imagine that.  It seems that almost EVERY Tuesday in 2008 has brought really wacky winter weather.  It seemed to rain for about 24 hours before it all went to sleet, and now we're at two inches of snow, all with 20+ mile per hour winds.  So today, I did two workouts on the Octane of 60 minutes each.  One earlier and then one early evening.  120 minutes on the Octane.  Whew!  Not to fear, I had my Metric DVD to watch.  On my second workout I helped Kourtney with her homework.  Can you believe after 23 years, I still remember the Preamble to the Constitution?  Kourtney has to memorize it.  I also had to memorize it in 10th grade, and I still remember it.  So, Kourtney's homework really challenged my US History knowledge (her homework was more than just the preamble).  I have got to get in a speedwork session tomorrow, but with the snow on the ground, don't think it's going to happen.

Still no sign of the Wii.  It's still under repair.  I can't imagine playing Super Smash Brothers for the Wii.  I imagine it could make you soooooo sore (at least for me, being the weakling of a runner I am).

So, the kids have a two hour delay tomorrow.  That kinda screws things up a little.

Side note.  As much as I am anti-Wal-Mart, K-Mart sucks.  I can't believe they're still in business.  You know the only place to buy music in this town is Circuit City and Headstone Friends.  Unless you count FYE in the mall where they charge an outrageous $19.99 for a CD.

Great, Kourtney just put all this Mousse shit in my hair.  She really needs to quit watching American Idol..

Looks like the kids are out of school tomorrow.  About an inch of snow on the ground with some more on the way along with some ice.  So, they'll have fun in the snow.  I'll still have to go to work though.  S'well.  My race on Saturday is in downtown Indianapolis, so the roads should be clear.  Temps in the upper 20s with a slight breeze should be tolerable.  Took today off from running.  Going to run light tomorrow.  I'm ready for warmer weather.  Just about three more weeks.  Kourtney is supposed to have practice tomorrow night.  We'll see if it holds since school got canceled.

I love my new Metric DVD, but I'm disappointed that they didn't include the song "Empty" in the release.  The original concert was 90 minutes, but the DVD is only 67 minutes.  In the Title Screen, they play a snippet of "Empty", although it's not in the set.  Hopefully, they'll be releasing a new album this year as "Live It Out" was released in 2005.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs are apparantly in the studio working on a follow-up to "Show Your Bones" ("IsIs" doesn't really count since it was an EP).

The Wii is still out of commission. We're still waiting on a shipping label from the place we're supposed to ship it to.  Now I'm going to get rusty at Guitar Hero III.

Survivor was pretty cool tonight.  I was a little surprised that Yao-Man went home.  But it's interesting that both tribes are on the brink of collapse and that everything is really up in the air as far as alliances go.  And of course, Pizza Hut.

Not much to say.  Running's been going pretty good.  Work's been tolerable.  I only worked 45 hours this week, although I still have about 6 hours worth of stuff that I have to get done over the weekend.  Weather is still crappy.  I'm ready for Spring.  Valentine's Day was pretty fun.  Mariah and I got cards for each other.  We went out to eat at Applebee's and shared a meal, so we broke the "Pizza Hut and Survivor" tradition.    We'll make it next week though.  Survivor was pretty cool.  My guy Joel from my office pool is making a mark for himself.  Hopefully, he doesn't shoot himself in the foot though.

For racing, I'm starting to lean toward running the Papa John's 10 Miler in Louisville as opposed to the Sam Costa Half Marathon in Zionsville on March 29th.  Thing is though, is that we'll have to drive up the night before and get a hotel as the race starts at 8:00 am.  So, with gas, hotel and entry fee, it's going to be a little pricey.

Tomorrow for a workout, I may try to do this hill workout that we do at Deming Park.  It's where you run up this hill at tempo pace (about 150 meters), then when you crest at the top, you take off at 5K race pace for 60 seconds. Then jog back down for recovery.  Do about 10-12 of those.

The Metric DVD is awesome.  Too bad it's so short though.  Only about 70 minutes.  They played 14 songs all together from their "Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?" and "Live It Out" albums.  Very high energy, audio is superb.  Really vibrates my living room windows well when I turn it up loud.

Today I braved the ice and freezing rain during my lunch hour to drive to Circuit City to spend some of the remaining $40 on my Circuit City card that I got for Christmas.  I was going to pick up the new Live DVD from Metric.  And, they didn't have it!!!!  But!  I did find Iron Maiden's "Live After Death" on DVD.  I've had the double-album since high school (1985).  I never even knew that they had a concert film of it until today.  They just released it on DVD, and I must say it is really good. Probably THE best ever produced live concert soundtrack.  It's ironic that lastnight I listened to the (double) CD when I was doing the Octane, and during the song Revelations, at a certain part, I paid real close attention (as I had headphones on because everyone else had already gone to bed).  I heard what I thought was a third guitar in the center channel.  And I'm thinking, I've never really noticed it before, but how are they doing it?  They only have two guitar players.  Well, now, watching the DVD, Bruce Dickinson (the vocalist) actually plays some melody parts in this song.  I had no idea! 

I left Circuit City, trying my best not to slip on the ice in the parking lot so I wouldn't bust my ass and break my tailbone.  Ouch that would suck.  So, on the way back to work, I stop by the mall to check if FYE has the new Metric DVD. Turns out they do, $15.91.  I only had $10 cash on me...  So, I head back to work, both pumped up from the Iron Maiden DVD, and anxious to get the Metric DVD.  So... now that I have got some money out of the credit union, I'm going to go Metric shopping and Valentine's Day shopping tomorrow.  AND!  I can't believe my daughter actually wants to do this, but I mentioned to her that Feist is going to be at IU Auditorium in Bloomington April 11th, she wants to go see her!  At this point if I had to choose between seeing Rush vs. Feist, this year, it would have to be Feist.  Speaking of which, when she performed at the Grammy's the other night, that was probably the largest crowd she'd ever played for (at least in her solo career).  I've got to find out when tickets go on sale.  Last November, they were only $21 in Louisville, which I couldn't attend.

Tonight, the weather turned from spitting ice to about half inch of powdery snow.  I called Jeff to see if anyone was going to hit an indoor track.  Ended up that we did mile repeats tonight in a pretty solid effort.  I was pretty happy with all of my repeats.  Snow and a north 10 mph wind made it a little slow.  But, my times were 6:15, 6:07,6:08,6:08,6:07 and 6:07.  Pretty consistent.  I've got the perceived effort etched into my head.  On a clear day, that would probably be more like 6:00s.  I need to run 6:06 pace for the Indy Mini to break 1 hour 20 minutes.  If I can stay healthy, I think that is still a good goal to shoot for.  My current level of fitness is about a low 1:23.  My hamstrings, butt and arches are now a little sore from running on the snow.  With the warmup and the cooldown, that's 10 miles for the day.

Work was a little hectic, although I was able to get some lingering things out of my hair.  I think my boss is pissed at me though.  I got a little short with him last week before he left town and I haven't spoken to him face to face since then.  We do some pretty stupid things at work sometimes.  Like a lot of other places I'm sure - we get put in a position that we can't best do our job due to cutting corners, perception-driven re-prioritizations, etc.  S'well...

Kourtney's first outdoor soccer practice got bumped to next Thursday.  It'll be neat to watch these girls compete at the new AA level as they all prepare to continue their soccer careers in High School starting this Fall.  It will be quite a challenge for his team, but I think the coach is doing an excellent thing in giving these girls a more realistic taste of what they may face once they start to compete for a HS team.

And even though I'm a big fan of our Wii, it picked a good time to break.  Get everyone used to getting out of the house here in about 4 weeks.  This weekend, we've got to clean up the aftermath from last Tuesday's storms.

Work really had me exhausted today.  Worked until just about midnight last night, then got called at 3:30, so I was dragging ass all day at work.  When I got home, I didn't feel like running at all and took about a 45 minute nap.  By 10 o'clock, the itchiness to go run caught up to me.  My left knee is a little tender, so I opted for the Octane for 76 minutes.  Not too bad.  Still a little tired.  Probably doesn't help that I've run 62 miles in the last 8 days.  It is supposed to snow overnight and tomorrow, so that is going to throw a wrench in the training again.  I've got to get in a midweek workout this week.  I've missed a midweek speedwork session about 4 weeks in a row now.  About mid-March is when I'll really need to start working on getting that 6:06 pace down pat.  Tomorrow the new Metric Live DVD comes out, so I'll probably pick that up before I take Kourtney to soccer practice.  Thursday will be her first outdoor practice for the upcoming Spring season.  That'll be interesting, since it'll be cold, and the sun still sets pretty early.  Time to head to bed 'cause I'm soooo dead.

What's the next album you're looking forward to buying?

I'm looking forward to the Live DVD from Metric on February 12th.  Actual Album wise, Rush's Snakes and Arrows Tour Live.

The week is finally over but I've got a lot of work to do over the weekend for work.  It's going to get really cold tomorrow.  Good for staying inside and making a pot of stew or chili.  Of course, I'm going to run tomorrow.  That's a given.  I'm looking forward to getting another quality workout in tomorrow.  I'm getting more confident and starting to handle the mileage a little better.  Looks like I'll end up with about 45 for the week.  Next week will probably be scaled back depending on how my body handles tomorrow's run and Sunday's long run. 
Kourtney has an indoor soccer game tomorrow.  Those games are fun to watch.  They're so fast.  She's gone to the movie tonight with some of her friends.  Then she's going on a shopping spree party for one of her friends' birthday.  Looking forward to the NFL playoffs this weekend, even though the Colts are gone...
Mariah has now lost 15 pounds since New Year's Day.  All from WW and 30-45 minutes on the Octane 5-6 days a week.  I'm really proud of her.  She's still a little shaky and weary on her confidence though.  The last time she lost a lot of weight, she came to a screeching halt one day and couldn't lose another pound.
I'm recording this Judas Priest album off of LP, and I'm having a hard time getting into it.  Just not "British Steel"...  Probably going to record Blue Oyster Cult next.  Plus!!! New Rush news!!!  Rush is touring again in 2008 and will be in Indy (Noblesville) June 26th.  If I go, it'll be the second time that I will have seen them twice in one tour.  The last time I doubled was the "Roll The Bones" tour in 1991-1992.  I've seen them every tour since "Hold Your Fire".  Matter of fact, March 2 will be exactly 20 years since the first time I'd seen them.  Freshman year in college.  Anyway, rumours that they're going to change up the setlist a little bit.  It was pretty "diverse" when I saw them back in August.  I'm looking forward to it.  Wonder when they're going to release the live DVD they recorded in Rotterdam last fall.  Hmm...  Three more weeks until Metric's new DVD comes out.  A couple more weeks before Feist will be on the Grammy's.  Hopefully she'll play "I Feel It All" instead of "1,2,3,4".  I love her music.  Hopefully the record company doesn't make her go Gwen Stefani or Nelly Furtado on us.

Song stuck in my head from our run tonight, "I Come From The Water" by The Toadies.  May it get stuck in yours.

I Come From The Water

The Toadies

Wow.  I was on Metric's website today www.ilovemetric.com and found out that they're going to release a live DVD in February!  I'm excited.  I did not run today.  I'm feeling a little tired from the last two days of work.  I've been called quite a bit in the middle of the night for the last two days.  Tonight we rented "Mario and Sonic at the Olympics" and "Super Mario Galaxy" for the Wii.  They look pretty neat.  The 4x100m freestyle swim really wears you out!!!  Kourtney is gone once again, imagine that.  She's at a bonfire party tonight with one of her girlfriends.  She's got soccer practice lined up already for indoor season.  I'm starting to think about some of the races that I'm wanting to run this winter and early spring.  

Actually,  the title was going to be called Monster Workout to describe the workout Jeff, Tom and I ran Tuesday night.  It was a really tough track workout.  Didn't really go very far, but it was very intense.  It was 2x800m, 2x400m and 2x200m.  I ran them the fastest I've run in a long time, and it was so awesome to be able to push so hard.  But the Monster Hospital is from the Canadian group Metric.  I managed to do a light workout on the Octane yesterday.  Tonight, I actually ran a good 5+ miles.  2 of the middle miles were 6:24 and 6:25.  Didn't really feel all that tough energy wise, just the legs are so sore.  Had some piriformis muscle soreness and tightness though throughout.  Got to be careful. I did realize though, now that it's dark so damn early, I can't run on the trails in the woods, especially since they're covered with leaves.  Work has been a little rough this week.  Some weird problems going on with our systems.  On-Call wise, it was a pretty light week until lastnight.  Got called late evening, then 2:30, then 4:30.

Survivor was pretty cool tonight.  I was hoping that PG wouldn't get immunity.  Oh well.  She's got the nerve though blaming James for why they lost.  Did she forget that she actually "threw" a challenge?  Hello?  My guy Todd (who I have through our office pool) is still hanging in there, although I have a feeling he's going to get himself in trouble.  I can't wait to see The Office tonight.  I've DVR'd it, but Kourtney's staying up past bedtime to watch CSI.