A New Record

The 5-miler went well yesterday. My previous best (happened to be the same course) was a 50:10, and that 5 miles was the longest I had ever run.

This weekend, I ran a 43:08. Only 7 minutes faster. :)

I also ran a 7 mile long run on Saturday, and managed to keep up with part of Meredith's running group. So, I feel pretty good right now. My legs are pretty tired, though. I think this week will be a challenge.

We also painted a wall in our dining room yesterday. After a year and a half in our house, we finally have one first-floor wall painted!

My Mileage May Vary

Now we're really starting to get into the miles. Okay, at least for me. My daily runs are now averaging around four miles. This is about as high as they ever got for my half marathon, so we're headed for uncharted territory. I did a six mile long run this Saturday with the training group, which went pretty well.

I've definitely noticed that I'm feeling less pain in my legs than when I started up running again. Four this morning seemed pretty easy, even though it felt like it took forever. I guess that's the difference between running alone or with a group. The legs feel the same, but your mind gets to think about your run, instead of a conversation.

I think we're going to run a 5 mile race this weekend, which should be a decent gauge of my progress. We'll see how it goes, I've only done a 5-miler once.

I'm encouraged by the pace I'm at right now. My goals for the marathon are:

Finish
Finish in 4 hours
Finish without walking
Beat Meredith (Kidding, honey! Or...am I?! OK, yeah, kidding.)

Right now I'm running around a 9 minute/mile pace, which would get me in just under 4 hours. Now I just have to train myself to keep it up for 26 miles!

Rain, rain, it's not so bad.

This week's long run on Saturday ended up in a downpour. I found out that as long as it's warm, that really didn't matter. Well, at least for me - there was one girl in the training group who had to stop because her mascara ran into her eyes. Did four miles this week, and forgot to take a watch again. I did beat the people who were around my pace handily on the hill at the end, which gave me some confidence going into the week.

I got to go visit my family this weekend, and get to do four days of running in a row. Three miles a day, Monday through Thursday. I think this week and the next should be some of the toughest, as the mileage climbs during the week. Once my legs are used to 4 a day, it shouldn't be as bad, because it doesn't really go any higher other than weekend runs.

I'm going to get today's run out of the way right now, before work. It's nice when I can do that - gives me a long afternoon.

Oh, and Star Wars tomorrow night at 12:01! :)

Edited to add: Good run today. I think it's my fastest pace so far, but I didn't feel like I was overdoing it.

Small World

So, I finally made the jump to the Marathon-in-Training group here in Columbus.

The first run was actually pretty good. A few of us who got to the Radisson early for the informational meeting were standing around waiting for some sign of the group, lost. This would be an omen.

The front desk woman didn't have any idea where they were, but pointed us in the direction of a ballroom. Eventually, someone wandered in wearing running gear, and looking like they had a direction. So, we followed them down the hall (to the exact opposite side from the front desk's directions), and found the already-in-progress meeting.

By chance, one of the people I had met before the meeting was going to be running a similar pace to me, so we ended up running together and talking. During the conversation, I had mentioned that I was from Brecksville. She mentioned that she had a friend who went to high school there. Well, not only did he go to my school, he was actually in my class!

Somewhere along the way, we decided we were going to do the four mile option for the run, rather than the three that most people were doing. However, on the way back we realized neither of us knew where we cut off the trail to head back to the hotel. We ended up *way* past our mark, had to run up a very large hill to get back, and wound up doing close to 5 miles in the process.

Summer Goals

We were out in Boston this past weekend for the marathon, and had a blast. Got to see some old friends and eat a lot of pasta.

And I had to marry someone inspirational... :P

So, I think I'm going to train for a triathlon this summer, and maybe a fall marathon. Meredith suggested joining a training group here in Columbus for the marathon, but I'm not totally sold on the training group idea yet.

We got up and swam Sunday morning before church. My shoulder's been injured, and it was getting kinda sore. I guess I need to pull out the physical therapy exercises again.

I'm definitely more worried about the swim than the other two parts. It's sort of an irrational worry, since I have swum half a mile many times in the pool. I guess until I get out there and do it, I just won't know for sure.

Where's Bambi's Mom?

We got to watch Bambi with our niece the other day. She's at the age where there are questions about *everything*.

"What's Bambi doing?"
"Where's Bambi's Mom?"
"Why did they shoot Bambi's Mom?"
"What's Bambi doing?"
"Is that Bambi's Mom?"
"Why is Bambi's Mom still dead?"
"What's Bambi doing?"
"Where's Bambi's girlfriend?"
"Why is Bambi dark?" - "Because the sun isn't up"
"Why is Bambi's girlfriend dark?" - "BECAUSE THE SUN ISN'T UP"
"Why is the sun not up?"

Oh, and we also discovered that our 3 year old niece has a boyfriend.

In other news, I feel like I was beat up over the last couple days. My Monday basketball game was pretty rough, and I took a couple pretty hard charges. Add in a 4 on 4 game during lunch yesterday and spinning class last night, and you get a slow moving Dave today. I need to start my running up again if I'm going to do the triathlon or half marathon this spring, but I don't think today is the day for that.

Joann is evil.

So, the other day I went on a shopping trip with Meredith, her Mom, her sister, and our niece Shelby (3) and nephew Jared (almost 2). One of our stops was at Joann Fabrics.

As an aside - we found unfinished pine Adirondack chairs there for $40. So if you want some, that's the place to go.

Anyway, we had checked out, and were waiting at the front of the store. Shelby and Jared had gone out into the entrance area. It was one where there's a sliding door on the front of the store, then as you come in, a sliding door in front of you for the entrance, and on the side of you for the exit.

Jared saw us waiting by the checkout lines, and pressed himself up against the glass wall, trying to get our attention. I was playing with him, pointing at him, and started pretending to sneak up on him. My powers of stealth, however, were no match for the sensor on the sliding door. Across it came, plowing straight into Jared's side, sending him and his *very* surprised look flying across the entrance way.

He had already been: sick, stabbed with a pencil, and had his fingers slammed in a door that week. This was just too much for him, and he started bawling. After seeing he was ok, the rest of us found it pretty funny.

Great Quote

"I know a number of people who do great work, and it's the same with all of them. They have little discipline. They're all terrible procrastinators and find it almost impossible to make themselves do anything they're not interested in."

I think this describes me quite well. I think Meredith would agree. :)

Unloading, please, weight

One of my other resolutions is to trim down a little bit. Meredith and I have been going to spinning classes, and I'm currently in physical therapy for my shin and my shoulder. Pretty soon, I'll be able to start running again.

Since I didn't really post a good list, here's some other goals for 2005. Not all are likely, but that doesn't make them bad - just ambitious. More may be added as I think of them.

Tier 1: Time And Effort

Set a new personal best for a 5k race.
Run a half marathon or relay marathon.
Get down to 150 pounds or a 32 waist.
Paint the interior of our house.
Install lighting in our loft.
Pass the Sun Certified Programmer for Java test.

Tier 2: The Challenges

Run a marathon.
Do a triathlon.
Help my company turn a profit this year.
Get a raise.

Tier 3: Hope Springs Eternal

Pay off our house. This one may be on the list another 30 years. :)

Aaand, we're back.

Tonight is the end of my Christmas break, during which I haven't been at the computer much. It was nice to have a couple weeks off, though.

Our Christmas was a bit of an adventure. First, we ended up hosting for Meredith's family, because neither her parents nor her sister had power due to the blackouts all over Columbus. We're still cleaning up the debris from hurricanes Shelby and Jared (our niece and nephew).

Next, we braved the ice and snow to drive to my family in Cleveland. Somewhere around Mansfield, I-71 kind of disappeared for a while under the ice. We still made it without too much trouble, though. It was nice to see everyone up there.

We started one of our new years resolutions tonight: to wash the dishes after every dinner. We'll see how that goes. :)

Current Dishes in Sink: 0

One score and eight years ago...

I was born in Cleveland Ohio. OK, plus a day now. The point is, yesterday was my birthday!

I got some tools from my inlaws, and Meredith got me some guides to cool stuff in New York City, where we're going on vacation next year. My family is planning on coming down next weekend, because my Mom had to work this one. That's ok, though, because my Dad's birthday is in a couple days anyway.

We were pressed for time before dinner, and Meredith still had to make my birthday cake, or in this case, Oreo pie. Then, one of her good friends from college called to say they bought a house in our neighborhood. So, she talked on the phone, and I made my own birthday cake. That's ok, though. It was good. :)

Then to top it off, some friends from church and I played basketball till about 11:30 at night.

It was a good day.

Baaaaaa

Well, we tried the Day-After-Thanksgiving-Mob scene.

OfficeMax had all of two registers open, two lines to the back of the store, and hordes of people scrambling over free jewel cases and the like.

Best Buy didn't look too awful until I noticed the line winding back behind the appliances where I couldn't see it. For all I know, it could have gone out the loading dock, around the back of the building a couple times, then back in.

So, we settled for a pair of running tights for Meredith at Sport Mart, where the lines were only a couple people long. Are bargain hunting and sports interest not found in the same people? It's a mystery.

Scare Tactics

Meredith and I bought a new Honda Element yesterday. It kinda rocks.

In the process, however, we had to go through the finance department at Honda East. His first mistake was to admit he was friends with the person who sold us our house, with whom we had a months-long dispute over some extra charges.

Then, to sell us extras, he tried a few directions.

First, when trying to convince us to pay for life insurance through him, he said that he knew someone who got cancer after they bought the car, and the insurance covered it. "Not that I'd wish that on anyone", he made sure to add.

Second, when talking about an extended warranty, he offered us a 6 year warranty (3 years is the standard, so really a 3 year extension) for "only" $25 dollars extra per month. When we declined that, he slashed the price all the way to $22 a month. We still declined, and told him that our experience is that Hondas don't often break within that time frame.

His response? "Well, you've never bought a four wheel drive vehicle before." Was he telling us the car he was selling was going to break down? I was dumbfounded by that one.

Despite his best efforts, we escaped with a new car at a good price.

Wal*$%&*Mart

My car dealership is offering a free oil change with a donation of a toy. I decided to take them up on the offer, and stopped by Walmart on the way home from lunch.

I picked up a soccer ball, figuring that's a good active gift for a boy or girl, and there's no other equipment needed to play.

So, I brought it up to the front of the store, and all the lines are super long. Except, that is, for the self-scan lines. I fell in behind a mother and daughter who are scanning their items. They finished the items, and tried swiping their card, to no avail. Unable to continue, they hit the button on the monitor labelled "I Need Help", and the light above the register began to flash.

"Oh, great", I thought. "I'm behind *those* people."

Eventually, they flagged down an employee who came over to help. However, they became irrelevant as another lane opened up, and I was able to sneak past while they continued their struggles.

I scanned my other item and stuck it in a bag, then swiped the soccer ball. Hmm, nothing.

*scan*

Nothing. I examined the packaging, and found no bar code anywhere to be seen. Thinking I must have missed it, I checked again. Nothing. Using my powers of deduction, I decided there must be one on the ball itself. So, I began spinning the ball in the case, while the assembled lines watched me. Finally, I located a small bar code on the ball, and turned back to the register.

*scan*

Nothing.

*scanscan*

Nothing.

*scanscanscanscanscanscanI'm not one of *those* peoplescanscanscanscan*.

Defeated, I pushed the "I Need Help" button and waited. And waited. And waited. They should really rename it to the "I want that light above me to flash and draw attention to my ineptitude" button, because no one ever came to help. I trust the two associates talking to the cashier at the next register over had some very good reasons.

Determined not to give up, I found a "Key Pad" button on the screen. I pressed it, and tried punching in the number under the bar code. Suddenly, "Soccer Ball" appeared on the screen!

Feeling pretty smart, I chose "Credit Card" as my payment type. Up popped a screen that asked me to enter my PIN. Now, I understand that when I swipe a card and it doesn't know how I want to use the card, it needs some instruction. But this register was suffering from short-term memory loss, because I said "Credit Card" not 5 SECONDS AGO.

So, I did the only thing I could. I pushed "Cancel". Naturally, up came the screen asking me to sign. So, I did, approximating something like "DfAS_d N Ga&r*es" on the electronic signing screen. Out came a receipt, and I made a beeline for my car.

And as I walked out the door, the "I Need Help" sign stopped blinking.

37-21

And just like that, a mediocre season turns into a great one.

Not to mention a mediocre weekend. I got rear-ended in my 6-month old car this weekend. The guy smelled like alcohol, but thanks to the rain, the police weren't taking non-injury accident reports. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt to our knowledge, and we think the damage is just to the bumper.

Nothing like this scoreboard to make all that go away for a while.



Photo by Jim Davidson, www.the-ozone.net

Into The Fray

Eve of the game.

Go Bucks.

'nuff said.

Tibia or not Tibia

If you've read Meredith's blog, you know that she is a marathoner. Last year, I made my first attempt to join that world. (And it IS a world of it's own...trust me.) I ran the Capitol City Half Marathon last year, but suffered a stress fracture in my right tibia while training.

I'm the one in the short sleeves.



And, ironically, as I try to make a wry comment about the futility of finding me in that stock picture from their website, I find my father in law smack dab in the front of it. Who knew?

Anyway...I took some time off to heal, and then tried to train for the Columbus Marathon. And soon, I was sidelined again with a *left* tibia stress fracture.

So, I'm starting up the training again. My goal is to train for an unspecified as of yet spring 2005 marathon. And not to break anything in the process.

First post! And stuff...

My name is Dave.

I'm a husband. I've been married two years to a wonderful woman named Meredith. Go read her blog. Right now. Back yet? OK, onward.

I'm a programmer. I do most of my work in Java. Client/Server stuff, mainly, but I enjoy the graphical side of things.

I'm a biologist. Though it takes a slight back seat to my computer work right now, I'm trained in genetics by degree.

I'm a musician. I've played trumpet since fifth grade, and piano on and off since...well, since a long time ago. I enjoy singing, too - if you see someone singing along to the radio in a black Prius...well, that just might be me.

I'm a buckeye. I graduated in 2000 from The Ohio State University with degrees in Computer Science and Molecular Genetics. I played in the Ohio State University Marching Band in the 1995-1997 seasons.

I'm a Christian. I grew up Methodist, and currently attend a Presbyterian Church of America church.

Why do you care?

1. You're family. (Hi family!)
2. You're friends (Hi friends!)
3. You searched and found the site. I just hope it was from keywords I'd be proud of. Hang around if you like. I'll try to entertain.