32 posts tagged “octane”

This evening I picked up the new Rush CD "Snakes and Arrows Live".  It is from the Rotterdam show last fall.  I got to see them last summer in Indianapolis (Noblesville actually).  I've seen Rush on every tour ever since the "Hold Your Fire" tour March of 1988.  Favorite band of all time.  They'll be back in Indy June 26th, but I may still be on vacation out of town at that point, so I may not go. 

The last two days I've put three hours on the Octane.  I've run really hard the last two weeks, putting in 108 miles.  I ran really hard Wednesday and Thursday of last week.  Then ran hard again on Sunday, running 10 miles under 1:06 with the last five miles just a hair under 31 minutes.  So, Monday and today, I've really felt it in my sacrum area and have definite inflammation and irritation everywhere.  I took a hot bath and used our massager and it feels much better right now.  Gotta be careful.

Tonight, on American Idol, we got to see one of my co-workers and her husband in the audience as they watched his brother, David Cook perform.  Their family is facing some very serious challenges right now, and it is great to see that it was made possible for them to be able to see David perform.

At least the weather is.  I'm really tired today.  The time change has contributed a little to it.  I worked from 1 to 3:15 Sunday Morning.  Then getting about 4 hours of sleep Sunday night just made Monday a very long day.  I didn't run yesterday.  I was feeling beat up from the weekend's runs.  I only ran 18 miles total.  8 on Saturday easy, and 10 on Sunday easy.  No speedwork as I had already done some on Thursday.  We can thank last Tuesday's weather for throwing off my schedule.  So, I just felt really tired and didn't run or even do the Octane yesterday.  I ran a speed work session tonight.  Started out with a three mile warmup, felt like crap the whole way, struggling to just run 7:20 pace.  It was nice and warm, 45 and sunny with a 15 mph WSW breeze.  I was so glad to see warm weather.  I got back to the track following my warmup and did 4x800m in not all that great times.  Once again, legs just dead and burning.  Managed a 3:06,3:01,2:56 and 2:54.  I ran a cooldown with some guys I had run with and actually started to feel really good. I then finished the last 1.5 miles of my cooldown by myself very fast with the last mile in 6:14, totally effortless, like I could hold for a 10 mile race.  Amazing.  So, 8 miles for the day.  It's no wonder the first two miles of my races are always my slowest ones.  It could just be running on tired legs and taking a while to get going.  Who knows.  I just know I need to be able to get out at 6:06 pace in the Mini and hold on.

Less than three weeks away for my Papa John's 10 Miler in Louisville.  I've got a 10K race scheduled for this weekend that is pretty vital for my preparation for the Papa John's race.  With the weather forecast being windy and stormy, I'm not so sure.  But also that I'll drive 180 miles, which for my Toyota Corolla is only 5.5 gallons of gas, but at $3.45 a gallon now, it's going to cost $20 in gas and $20 for the race.  $40 for a 10K race, eek!  There is a 5K race here in town as well, but a 5K just won't cut it at this point.

One more month until the Feist Concert. 

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..

Today I've got the day off from work.  I'll keep my mind off of it and not dial in and check my e-mail.  I've got a lot of stuff to do today.  I ate lunch with Austin, I've already run 6 miles this morning, need to get my hair cut, do the dishes, laundry (running clothes and towels!), get the wristband on my watch replaced, take Kourtney to her MRI.

I've managed to run 47 miles in the last 6 days.  If I count my 90 minute workout on the Octane on Tuesday, I'd equate that to about 9 miles, giving me about 56 miles of running.  Does that count?  My body seems to be holding up pretty well.  And I'm maintaining hydration levels and energy levels pretty well.  And it's finally starting to get warm!  This morning it was 36 with overnight snow melting.  50+ degrees on Sunday.  It will be nice to run 13-15 miles without having three layers, tights and running pants on.

Wii finally got our Wii shipped off to get it fixed.  They told us it should take about a week for the whole thing, delivery there, repair and delivery back.  Now if it's gone for 6 weeks or some sh*t like that, I'll be pissed.  I'll sick my wife on them.  Meanwhile, we've brought out Pikmin again for the GameCube.  Pikmin was one of the first games that we bought for the GameCube.

After watching "Across The Universe" this past weekend makes me think I need to listen to some of my Beatles albums.

Survivor was really cool lastnight.  Mikey B got voted off.  That is hilarious.  Ozzy found the hidden immunity idol and fabricated a "fake" idol and place it in the original location.. That will be so funny if someone finds it and tries to play it.  Ozzy is for real.  I finished second in our Office Pool with him a couple of seasons ago.  $50 I think.  I'm routing for him and the cross country runner dude.  This season I have Joel, which I like the guy.  The emotional wreck people need to go though.  The ones that are spent really need to be sent home, as they bring down morale and overall team strength.  Although it looks like the tribes are going to be "mixed" in the next episode.

Looks like Iron Maiden isn't going to be coming this way.  They're hitting all the big stadium cities.  Can't really blame 'em as they always sell out the stadiums.  S'well, maybe I could win a contest or something.  Maybe they'll have a DVD of it and have it out by Christmas.  Rush's new Live CD is due out April 8th, while their Live DVD is supposedly due out in August, but we know how that goes.

Kourtney has her first outdoor season soccer practice tomorrow.  Hopefully she doesn't have anything seriously wrong with her knee.  They'll have some nice weather tomorrow.  Their first game is an away game in Fishers Indiana on March 15th.  I have a race that morning on the East side of Indy at Warren Central HS, so following the race, we can head up to Fishers.  Going to have to rent my hotel room for the Papa John's 10 Miler in Louisville March 29th.

I almost didn't get a run in tonight.  Around 4 this afternoon, I started feeling really crappy.  I was pissed because I "reeely" needed to get a good run in today.  I got off of work at 5 and went home and went to bed for an hour and a half, ate dinner with the family.  Turns out, I ran w/ Jeff, Jacki and Josh in town.  I was so full from dinner, but I just had to get a run in.  I'm glad I did.  A semi-quick 8 miles in 57 minutes.  It sure got cold though.  12 degrees when we finished.  So, tomorrow off, probably 15 minutes on the Octane to stay loose.  Then pre-race warmup routine on Friday, then race on Saturday.  Looks like we're supposed to get some sort of snow though on Friday.  Damn...

Pizza and Survivor tomorrow night.  Tomorrow is my dad's birthday.  I've got to call him before we go to "Bingo for Books".

This morning I ran a rain-soaked and muddy and windy 14 miles w/ Jacki.  Pretty tough run.  I'm really sore from yesterday.  One good thing was that it was 45 degrees.  Heard that one of our local runners, Tom Dever, finished 17th overall in the Masters National Cross Country Championships in California yesterday.  Pretty neat. 

So today's run gives me 44 for the week.  Pretty good for just 5 days.  This coming week I will be prepping for the Polar Bear 5 Miler in Indianapolis.  I've got to do the Octane tomorrow, probably 75 minutes, run easy 6 miles on Tuesday, light speedwork Wednesday.  Then take Thursday off, do pre-race warmup routine on Friday.  We'll see.  I'm on-call this week so hopefully I don't have any sleep disruptions.  Now, I've got to sign up for the Papa John's 10 Miler for March 29th.

Discipline!

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.

Today started with a call at 2 am this morning for a problem at work.  While it only took me 15 minutes to fix it, it took me over an hour to get back to sleep.  So, I was a little bit tired today.  Pretty productive at least.  Tonight I really struggled on speedwork.  Went to the track with Aaron to do a light workout.  My legs were totally shot.  Still after three days I'm still spent.  So, I'll probably do the Octane tomorrow and try to run a couple of miles on Friday if we don't get too much snow.  I'm hoping that the snow will melt before Sundays race.  I'm sure the interstate will be clear, but I'd like to avoid running another race in the snow again this winter.  Just think, only about 6 more weeks until 40 degree days. 

Off to try a little Guitar Hero III.  Let's see if we win Powerball tonight.  Numbers to try for no particular reason. 5,12,34,43,44 Powerball 8.  Try it.  You'll see.

OK, so now something that I type almost every day.

select osuser, username, program, machine, status, last_call_et
from v$session
where username is not null
and status = 'ACTIVE';

Bleh.

That's what I was thinking toward the end of my 45 minute Octane workout.  Damn it's hard to do the Octane for that long once you've started running every day.  Had to give my knee a little bit of a break and to wimp out from the 7 degree temperature.  Ran in town last night to escape from the snow-covered icy roads, but there were still some spots.  Probably bothered my knee a little bit. Nothing major though.  I'm getting a little better at Guitar Hero III.  I'm starting to make my way through the Medium level.  I hope I don't get called for work in the middle of the night tonight.  Mariah and I have to get up early and be on the road no later than 5:30 am.  I snagged Kourtney's new "Tegan and Sara" CD today and played it in the car.  It's actually pretty good.  Almost like the Oleson Twins do Abba.  Will it ever get warm again?  Yeah, in 6 more weeks!!!

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