tinkerer

Nice job surviving the kayak trip! Glad to hear you only had a bruise. Your NOS number is getting way up there! With all of the cash your saving you probably could have splurged for that FM radio in the new Subaru and still been money ahead. Your quick summary of the year sure has some impressive feats in it. Do you get a sense of satisfaction writing it out or does it remind you of future goals to come? Or something else? I suppose I shouldn't ask closed-ended questions about your thoughts. Also, GRRR. NF dropped all my subscribed posts but I found yours.

I'm fine, just got burned out on NF due to life things. I'm actually still hitting a decent number of my goals. Stoked for you to see the NOS is continuing! Thanks for checking in.

Haha, i lol'd. Too bad this doesn't work for NOS purposes...mentally flip Joe Camel the finger and onward with the day... ...or heck, physically give the one finger salute and then move onward...

That landlord story sounds very frustrating. I think the times when I am the most upset are when I am unjustly accused of something. Hopefully things will get cleared up soon! That running club sounds amazing! Perhaps it was even a good thing that your friends didn't show up forcing you to mingle with some other people? A club like that is what really kick-started my running interest a few years ago and led to meeting one of my really good friends now.

Way to go still getting in some exercise after work last night! Curve-balls like that can really make it easy to skip something. Hopefully that gas leak is a short term thing; that doesn't sound like anything you want happening near your house.

Things always seem so much more achievable once you know the actual details vs. having some nebulous thing hanging over you for "someday." Hooray on securing the venue!

Have fun with the new car! I was in the same "I'll never buy a new car" situation until we recently purchased an Impreza. One of the things that convinced me was that a slightly used model really wasn't a substantially cheaper option. Subaru has also made some big advances with engines and efficiency lately that are worth (in my mind) purchasing instead of sticking with the older models. Will yours be the fancy auto-magical transmission or the six-speed? How is the return of food logging in combination with NOS going today? Sorry about the bird. That's a pretty crappy story.

Week 2 Day 2: DC Adventures Well, it was a pretty interesting time trying to get in a 5K run. I decided to ride a rental bike to Georgetown, run my 5K along the river, and then bike back to my hotel in time from my meeting at 2pm. I left at 11 thinking it would be a half hour bike ride, half hour run, and half hour ride home. Lots of time! (Haha). So the rent-a-bike program is pretty cool. You get to use a bike for a day for $8. You just park it in a bike dispenser rack when you aren't using it and then check another one out later. However, I didn't really know where the bike lanes were. I started riding in a really nice one which quickly disappeared. I was then in 3 lanes of traffic with angry buses honking horns at me. Once re-routed I found a place to run...50 minutes after my departure. My run went great! I had my fastest 5K time since my injury with a 6:41 / mile average pace! Super excited. (Funny event #2 - I ran into a post avoiding pedestrians. Of course I acted like I didn't notice and it didn't hurt but it did!) Back to the bike rack - can't get another bike! It won't take my information. Hmm....at this point I have 1.5 hours to get to my meeting and I'm several miles away. I decided to jog back. That ended up working fine, I grabbed a sandwich, scarfed it in my hotel room, and made it to the meeting 5 or 10 minutes early. Anyway, that's the whole adventure. Since then it's been mostly work.

I suppose it could be a positive thing that he did find a venue he loved...hopefully that other party finds something else to do! Nice job on week 1!

How's week #2 going for you?

So much good news! Congrats on the article and on the weight. I also vote climbing...if you're missing cardio you could try to find a way to either do both or to build it into your climbing.

I was wondering about your new affinity for gifs! I hear you on posting challenge details too. Some times writing it all out is very helpful and other times it feels like a chore. I just slowly change from one extreme to the other as feels best.

I'm only here for a few days and working a lot of that. I always feel I'm spending my time on the wrong things when I "tourist". Today I rented a bike and rode to Georgetown. Maybe I should have toured something but I was overwhelmed by choices.

Did you make this happen!!!?? I agree with enjoying the first-thing-in-the-morning running. If I eat breakfast then I get into "weekend project mode" and running never happens. Hope things went well for you this weekend! I also understand not wanting to run in a so-so place. Risking your safety isn't really a good gamble, even if your risking it for a good reason. When I lived in a bigger city (and even now to be honest) there are places I will run and places I won't, especially at night.

And now for the Week 1 Summary! Goal 1 - Run in Balance 17:09 Project Hours to 10:36 Fitness Hours I added a lot more workout time this week than I added project time. That is OK but I need to make sure and hit the projects hard upon my return home Thursday. I'll try to keep adding to the Workout Time while traveling. So far, pretty balanced after two weeks! Goal 2 - Zone 1 Training Week 0: 80 minutes (shortened for race prep) OK, 71 minutes (going on a 9 minute run doesn't make sense and I got plenty of undocumented exercise shoveling compost) Week 1: 300 minutes DONE! Kind of against the odds. Week 2: 300 minutes (Travel week) Week 3: 360 minutes Week 4: 80 minutes (shortened for race prep) Goal 3 - Other Training (5/6 currently) Climbing once per week Week 0: Subbed Core Training, Week 1: Done! Outside! Strength training once per week Week 0: Done, Week 1: Done! Zone 3 training once per week (races will count during race weeks) Week 0: Race (Done!), Week 1: Not Done

Week 1 Day 6: Hiking My wife and I drove up to visit my parents and went for a 3.6 mile hike with them. They live in a a very pretty area so it was really nice to get to visit. We hiked along this lake: Week 1 Day 7: Running Today started by big trip to Washington, DC for work. I did the math and realized that I was 1:24 minutes shy of achieving my Zone 1 time, which I consider my most important goal. Despite my misgivings (there were a lot of misgivings) about running in a strange city about 100X (not an exaggeration) bigger than my own I ventured out. I am incredibly thrilled to have done so. The City has so many cool things to see and I only scratched the surface on my 9.3 mile run. I'm also pretty stoked to have achieved my 300 minutes of Zone 1 time despite a pretty busy week. Here is a view of the Washington monument, Lincoln Memorial, and a plane landing at DCA.

I had forgotten how expensive those rock-n-roll races are. Grrrr... I don't know if you've mentioned climbing but that is super exciting that you are interested already! I am pretty sure Red Rocks is right next to Vegas and that is supposed to be some of the premier climbing anywhere (I've been told). I've also been told the three most stressful things in life are moving, getting married and getting a new job. With everything you guys have coming up I wish you good luck and good communication to make the transitions fun and not stress-inducing.

Nicely done! Having attempted the no-booze for a challenge before (varying results), the hardest part for me was the lack of equally delicious substitutes in social situations.

That seems like a perfect way to celebrate and enjoy the 30 day mark. Have a great time!

I didn't make in on the hill climb today. That's a bummer because I won't have time either tomorrow or Sunday for a hike so I'll miss that goal for the week. I did however spend 3 hours painting and fifteen minutes doing laundry to add to my growing totals: 17:09 Project Hours to 7:07 Fitness Hours I also had a weird experience today. I think I mentioned that this weekend I head to Washington DC to meet with my congressmen for work. I do not normally wear a suit and so I tried mine on and found that the pants do not fit so well anymore. Based on the amount of training I've been doing, I honestly believe this is due to increased muscle but it is still a little hard to accept that idea and not worry that my old pants don't fit me anymore because I've gained fat-weight. I think it's a reflection of the fact that most often when someone complains that his/her clothes don't fit anymore they don't mean because of increased muscle. The Northwest US is a great place to live. Sometimes, I'd like to move around and see more of the world but I have a hard time figuring out where I'd want to go. Actually, it would be the alps...but I don't think they're hiring right now. I really enjoy taking new people rock climbing. I think seeing that "they are climbing a @$*!ing cliff!" in their eyes is pretty fun.

I liked your race write up, thanks for sharing. I also really enjoy the "secret society" waves between runners or other groups. It's one of the things about riding a motorcycle that I find the most enjoyable, actually. Congrats on the 10K!

Considering a week ago one of your goals was to do one that is pretty awesome! Way to go! Cool news about Ms. Rogue as well. Does she have a plan that she's following for the 5k or just starting to walk and run more in preparation for the race?

For some reason the new 'highlight and quote' feature isn't working. I think you are right in remembering that 1 smoke will set you way back in your NOS plans. You are holding steady and hopefully soon you'll at least get used to the splinter to where you can ignore it more easily. Are you really bench pressing more than you have in your entire life? That must be pretty dang exciting!

Glad to hear that you are feeling better, hopefully the spin class helped to kick the rest of it and didn't wind up getting you more ill.

I forgot to mention how much it amuses me to see that crane arm (I presume with a camera to take shots similar to the one you posted) sticking out from the trees on the left side of your picture. It reminds me of someone sticking his or her head through a hedge and saying hello. Are you planning on doing a challenge for April?