april 30, 2006

i've been too social lately.   this is bad cuz i've been neglecting my workouts.  thurs there was a drinking function with another running team - the flyers, yesterday (saturday) it was a bday party for someone on a different running team - the harriers, and today it was a get together for peanut butter and then a little trip to the bklyn botanical garden with my own teammates, which you can see photos of at my photo gallery.


yesterday's morning run in the park was awesome.   i guess since i haven't been working out much, my legs felt really fresh and the run on the horse bridle felt really easy (6.5 miles). 

today's events were very very enjoyable.  nothing rowdy, just hanging out and relaxing in the park and at the botanical garden (which i had never been to) enjoying the awesome weather.  the only bad thing is that the bklyn botanical garden needs more BATHROOM FACILITIES!!!  good thing i only had to do a number one, cuz if i had to do a number two, i would not have been a happy camper.  it's all porta johns, and as the day goes along, the porta johns don't get any cleaner.  we found one place that had actual bathrooms (which i didn't need by then), and they were CLOSED cuz they were being cleaned!  shoulda just peed on their plants.

I HAVE TO WORKOUT TOMORROW!!!  dunno if i'm gonna do weights, run, or swim, but i'm definitely gonna workout...

april 24, 2006

here are a couple of vids - both are hilarious.  if you're at work, turn down the sound if you don't wanna get in trouble, but if you couldn't care less, then CRANK IT UP!!!

 

the one on the left is in wmv format and the one on the right is in swf (flash) format.  hope you like them.  rt click on the respective pics and save to your hd.

april 23, 2006

this is a video called "thousand hand bodhisattva dance."   not only is it impressively choreographed, but to make it even more impressive, it's performed by 21 deaf girls and boys from china's disabled peoples performing art troupe.  THESE PEOPLE ARE ALL DEAF!  i wouldn't be able to perform this and stay in sync, and i can hear!!!   very impressive.  well worth watching.  it's a little over 8mb, so of course save to your hd first.   oh, and if you're trippin, make sure you sit down before watching this... it'll flip you out.  ;D


what a dreary weekend.  i didn't run at all, but my backup plan was to swim.  i swam better this time around and i guess it helped that i didn't do weights the nite before.  i was able to go from 5X100 intervals to 8X100 intervals.  my fastest was the 1st one and of course i got progressively slower and had to increase my rest time (hey, at least i'm honest about it).  the 1st 2 intervals were on 1:30, but the rest had to be on 2:00.  oh well... i'm getting there.  after that i did 8X50 breast stroke on 1:00.  i'm definitely slower than i used to be and i don't know if i'll ever break 35 seconds for the 50 breast - i used to be able to do 34 secs on a bad day for all 10, now i'll be happy to just hit 35 secs... crap.  i need to work up to 10X100 on 1:30 for free and 10X50 on 1:00 for breast.  these types of workouts are definitely hard to do by yourself, so i'm not sure i'm gonna be able to achieve this (but this was only my 4th time swimming in 2 years, and with a gimpy arm).

today i had to go downtown to granny's bday.   she's 90 something... i think 93 or 94.  i'm just glad it stopped raining by the time i headed out.

april 20, 2006

it went up to 82F today in NYC.   it was awesome - not a cloud in the sky.  i went running and the run was just so-so, but the weather was just great.  my allergies are kicking in cuz of running in the park.   good thing i've got the allergy meds.

the cat is just shedding like crazy.  you can see the clumps of fur about to come off of him.  i've been vacuuming like crazy, otherwise it would look like i've got furball tumbleweed or something.  if he weren't so terrified of the vacuum cleaner i would vacuum his body.

it's supposed to be crappy this weekend so i guess i'll be swimming or weight lifting or something (i guess all weekends can't be nice) . watch the chinaboy pitch on saturday (i think that's his day to pitch), speaking of which, make sure you check on my yankees section now since baseball season has started. 

april 16, 2006

after my run today i decided to do laundry.  i figured everyone's either outside cuz the weather's awesome, or doing easter crap cuz it's easter.  i went downstairs and had no problems getting a washer, but when it was time to use the dryer, 2 people hogged up all the dryers.  to make matters worse, one of them took 5 dryers and had them set for low temp and 70 MINUTES!!!  70 MINUTES!!!  WTF!!!  she saw me there getting ready to need a dryer... BITCH!  this is in my building too.  there are 10 dryers in the laundry room, but 2 are broken.  the bitch took 5 and some guy took 3.  i only had to wait about 15 minutes for the guy's stuff to get done - i had to take his stuff out the dryer and i hate doing that, but ya know what?  when i went back downstairs 30 minutes later, the guy never got his laundry, so i don't feel bad now.  WHAT IS UP WITH THESE PEOPLE???  it's almost as bad as people using golf umbrellas when it's raining!  anyway, i'll leave that for someone else to blog about.

i wasn't the only one who needed a dryer.   two other people needed dryers too, but i was the first one waiting... whew.    i time everything so i know when to head downstairs.  IT'S A COURTESY THING!!! 

here's a nifty little vid my buddy from carlton-ave.net sent me (whose site hasn't been updated in a month).  it's a how to fold a shirt vid.  i had to slow it down and watch it over and over again to figure out exactly how they did it and ya know what?  it actually works!  wish i watched it before i did the laundry today.


april 13, 2006

ALRIGHT!!!  i ran 2 days in a row!!!  did 5 miles today.  felt ok i guess.  i was starving by the time i got home.  i had to eat real bad.   i had wanted to do weights when i got home, but i had to eat, so maybe tomorrow, esp since it's supposed to rain.

here are a couple of vids you may like...

    just rt. click and save to your hd. 

april 12, 2006

i went to speed today.   i was a little intimidated when i read the workout, but i finished it and think i did pretty well considering i'm still very congested and still have a cough.  my breathing was harsh!  i sounded like a chain smoker trying to catch a bus or something.  at least i had energy to finish this time where last time i only did half the workout.  maybe i'll run tomorrow nite if it's not raining... tbd.

april 11, 2006

went to see the doc today cuz i still feel under the weather.   he said it's allergies and gave me some allergy meds.  hope he's right.  since he said i'm not sick, i decided to go swimming.  it still felt like crap, but i decided to try doing some 50-yard intervals, on the minute.  i did both free and breast.  they both felt like crap (i did weights yesterday so my arms are fatigued), but at least i tried.  i'm gonna start focusing more on technique for now, esp in free - my left elbow is dropping (i think i'm babying it cuz of the pain) and i have to work on my body rotation... crap.

well, i'm keeping this short tonite cuz it's late and i'm still dead tired from being sick / allergies.   maybe i'll write more tomorrow if speed doesn't kill me and completely wipe me out.

april 9, 2006

so it's been awhile since i've written, and i have a good excuse... really... i've been sick all week.   i started feeling it on monday.  it was warm that entire weekend and i slept with the fan on, sunday nite / monday morn i woke up with a scratchy throat and knew i was done for.  to make matters worse, i decided to be a tuff guy and run wednesday and thursday and not only did i have bad runs both times, but also ended up getting sicker.  hey, i never said i was smart.   i almost skipped jill's bday party cuz i was still feeling like crap (i was completely deaf in one ear), but for some reason i feel much much better now, although i just took a shot of nyquil.  thanks for convincing me to go howie... actually, thanks for driving too.

the trek over to jill's was pretty interesting.   we ended up getting lost.  i guess i was still feeling some of the effects of nyquil, but was the navigator and really couldn't focus, no matter how hard i tried.  OOPS!!!  eventually we came to the conclusion that mapquest was wrong also, so it wasn't completely my fault - howie got the mapquest directions. 

THEN, when we were leaving the party, we couldn't find the car!!!  don't blame me for that one.  i remembered 29th and 30th.  we walked around and finally found it... whew.   that's one to remember.   another one to remember is there are a few intersections of 29th and 30th.  go figure.

the weather was great today, but i just bummed around my apt cuz i've developed a smoker's cough now.  i sound like i have emphysema or something.  i'm coughing so hard my head hurts.   i'm pretty sure i'm getting better though cuz my hearing is starting to come back.  i just watched baseball and organized the apt a bit (actually alot).

april 2, 2006

yesterday's weather was awesome.   when i left my apt for the morn run, it was only 66F, but it was a HOT 66F.  the run was a loop of central park and i finished in 51 mins even.  that's my best time so far and that included a walk break cuz i was just SO frickin hot!  all i could think of was dunking my head under a cold faucet.  the run also showed how i am SO not a morning person (i've known that for a long time).  my body just doesn't like working out in the morning, which is why i will probably never make it to riverbank on the weekday morning workouts some people on my running team have (6:30 in the frickin morning).  HOWEVER, with the daylite savings time kicking in tonite, i'm gonna start running more often (in the evenings of course), at least 4x / week hopefully.  before i was only running 1-2x / week, so hopefully i'll make more progress with the increase in mileage.  so the plan is, running after work, then weights... perfect.

today's weather was just as nice, maybe even better, so i decided to go for a run in the afternoon.  my legs were a little tired from yesterday's run so when i hit harlem hill i was breathing real hard, then it finally happened.  it's come close a number of times to happening, but it finally happened... i was breathing really hard, trying to pick up the pace, then... i swallowed my gum.  i thought i was gonna puke cuz it got stuck in my throat.  i chew gum while i'm running so my mouth can keep salivating, otherwise it gets really really dry.  oh well.  if it happens again i'll have to come up with something else.