State of My Running

We're all in different stages of our running paths.

I remember when I ran in high school, how tough it seemed for the slower kids to run. I specifically remember the thought coming to mind that these were the real tough runners - it's easy to run when you can run fast, always getting faster, pushing it everyday because you had teammates that were counting on you and competitors you wanted to beat; it would be much harder to be a runner who was relatively slow, wasn't near the top of the pack, didn't have the motivation of competition

I think that was a rather insightful thought for a teenager.

Well, now I'm in that second category, although I don't think I even qualify for that. I could have many excuses - landlocked neighborhood makes for boring runs, fairly intensive travel for work -

After I got married, I remember talking to an old high school running buddy of mine who continues to run....I think. He talks the talk, anyway. I told him that my running had gone way down to practically non-existent after being married, and he said that in his relationship, he just made sure that his partner knew that this was a priority to him and he did not want to give it up, and yes that means she will have to find other things to do while he goes out for two hours on Saturday to do a long run. And that's okay, that's his choice to make.

And it's my choice to make. I'd rather spend time with my cute wife, play with my adorable daughters, volunteer for my church - from my perspective, and in the season of my life where I'm in, those things will last longer and are more important than all the many good benefits of running longer and harder.

So this is where I am. I can fit some runs in - I like the social aspect of being able to talk about runs, especially with my family. I like the feeling knowing that I exercised this morning. I think I'm more productive when I run in the morning (although it's a slow week at work...but I'm being productive writing a running blog, right? It's important to keep a record of what you do/think).

I'd imagine most people on the Loop take running a little more seriously than I am right now. At least, if you're actively posting/commenting on a running website, that's what I would assume (I'm normally on here to snoop on my Dad.) But that's cool. I'm confident that we can all learn from each other.

Oh, I ran 2 miles in the neighborhood again today. Same 8 minute pace....I think. It felt easier than yesterday.
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ManList

DNA asked me on my previous blog what is on the ManList?

Well, a google search comes up with several lists of things that all men should know how to do. However, my ManList is different than those.

I don't have an all-inclusive ManList of things I still need to do - it's more of a list of things to back me up when people (usually guys) try to say that my Man Card should be revoked for liking Downton Abbey. (I've always thought the Man Card was a dumb joke, anyway.)

So my ManList includes:
- Climbed a 14,000 foot plus mountain
- Jumped off a a waterfall
- Changed brakes/performed other moderate auto maintenance projects
- Married a cute girl and fathered children
- Killed animals
- Achieved 007 mode on GoldenEye for N64, back when I played video games regularly
- Boston marathon qualifier
- Enjoy eating meat, especially steak and bacon
- Could bench 125% of my own body weight
- The "Bad Boy" member of a Boy Band (I think I was the bad boy, anyway...wait, should this be on this list?)

I just came up with those in five minutes, I'm sure I could thing of others. Anyway, the evidence shows that I am pretty manly in a variety of areas, despite my fondness for period BBC dramas, lack of handyman skills, and the need to come up with a list of things to back me up when people question my manliness.

On a side note, when my daughters are as tall as me by the time they are 12, I am going to use the line "Well, at least I play basketball better than you" for as long as I can.

While in Washington, D.C. for work, I took in a Washington Nationals game. They had clinched the playoffs the day before for the first time since the franchise moved from Montreal....it's the first time a baseball team from Washington has made the playoffs since before World War I, I think. So, anyway, good team, the crowd was in a good mood, but I still managed to nab a great seat a few rows from the field near the right field foul pole. Here's the view from my seats.

That's a picture of Bryce Harper batting. No hits for Brother Harper on the night, but he later gunned down someone trying to score from second base on a bloop single. It was quite the throw. The next batter also singled into shallow center and the guy on second base.....stayed put on third. Hah.

Nationals Park was pretty nice. I'd put it 5th on my list of ballparks I've been to. Here's the full list:

1. Comerica Park (Detroit, and I'm not biased at all)
2. Fenway Park (History, I signed the RF foul poul during a game with my Dad and Brother...pretty cool time.)
3. Safeco Field (Seattle, great view, love the train)
4. Great American Ballpark (Cincinnati...the view of the Ohio River is really nice)
5. Nationals Park
6. Shea Stadium (I was like 16 and filled out a credit card application to get a free New York Mets Visor. Free souvenir! I then got a credit card in the mail, which I'm pretty sure I wasn't allowed to get, because I was under 18...so I called and told them to cancel it because I was too young. It doesn't show up on my credit history, and I'm still kinda confused about what happened. I also don't know where the visor is anymore :( )
7. RFK (Not used for baseball anymore, but a pretty ugly stadium. The only redeeming quality is that it's not where the Raiders play and I got on the big screen multiple times there.)
8. Oakland...Coliseum? (I think that's the name, I remember it being really green and it was where the Hated Raiders play so I didn't like it, although I had a fun time there with some good friends.)


A non-mention is Coors Field in Colorado...it's been too long since I've seen a game there to include it in the rankings. So I've been to games at 9 different baseball fields? Oh, 10 - old Tigers Stadium. Um, I'd probably put it at 6. I didn't appreciate the history as much as your normal Detroiter would.

Anyway, they have the four presidents on Mount Rushmore do a race at every game. (Teddy Roosevelt has never won...which I think is funny) George won tonight, convincingly. (A guy next to me yelled "You suck, George!" which I found hilarious, although I haven't figured out why.) I really enjoyed this portion of the game, the race finished right in front of me and I was alone, so things like that are perhaps more exciting?

Since I was here by myself (did I mention that yet? It's so weird...), I decided to manually score the game. I had never done it correctly for a full game before, so I can cross that off my Man List. Here's the proof:

 

The game was a close pitchers duel, with Washington leading most of the game 2 - 1 until the Brewers (fighting for a playoff spot) score 3 runs off the Nats' closer to win the game. Pretty exciting. It would have been a lot more fun with Torrie there, but it was good to have something to do.