dedication, perseverance, self-discipline

nothing spectacular.  I took it slow.  Half way mark at 41:03.  Total time 1:24:09

Did the first 5 with Kimia riding the bike in 36:40 with lots of wind.  The wind wasn't so bad the second half when I was alone and I was able to pick it up a little for a total time of 1:12:38

Ran with Sasha and Josse this morning.  We did the first two miles in just under 18 minutes and finished 10.1 in 1:24:18.  I then picked it up a bit and ran 1.05 alone to finish in 1:32:04.  After this I came home and crashed for 5.5 hours until my body was finally rested after multiple consecutive nights of next to zero sleep in comparison to what I was getting.  I woke up around 1:15pm.  Just in time to get ready to go to work

I worked late last night because one of my co-workers got fired so I didn't sleep much, but at least I didn't need to go to school today.  I went with Ted and Sasha this morning.  We dropped off Ted after 2 miles and then Sasha and I did another 6 together.  After this I went home to drop off the car with Kimia so she could go to work and then I left and did another 4 miles alone to finish with 12.  Total time of 1:30:43.

I went out a little later today than normal because I didn't run with Sasha and it was gorgeous outside.  I think it was the first time in a while that I have really felt comfortable running while wearing short sleeves.  I went out a little faster than normal because I was running alone, and I went through the first mile in 7:22.  After that I settled into a pace around 7:00/mile and I held that through about 7 miles.  At this point I glanced behind me and I noticed a couple on a date.  They were on bikes and were coming up on me fairly quickly.  It kind of annoyed me that they were coming up on me so quick when usually couples on dates ride slowly.  So, I decided to show them who was boss and I started to speed up.  Now, my intention was never really to out run them, simply to go the same speed as them, however the guy noticed that I was starting to speed up near the marker at 7.1 miles and he sped up a little more.  I decided to take the challenge and speed up even more if they were going to speed up, so about 200m past the mile marker at 7.1 right after the couple went by me I sped up more.  I went through the first 1/2 mile in 2:37 with the first 200 being the only real difference between a 2:33 and a 2:37.  At this point I could tell that the girl was having trouble keeping pace with her date who kept looking back at me to see if they had dropped me yet.  At this point I also figured that I was creeping them out so I decided to hang on for another 1/2 mile and then slow down to at least spare the guys date so he wouldn't kill her trying to drop me.  I went through the next quarter in 1:16 followed by a 1:17 which would have been one second faster except I started anticipating slowing down and I started slowing down early.  This gave me a 2:33 for the half mile and a 5:10 mile with the first 200m being the slowest.  Once I slowed down I averaged about 6:40 pace for the last 3 miles until I got to my house.  After 1 mile of this I saw the bike couple again.  I think the girl was tired from riding faster so they had slowed down and I was catching up to them again.  However, the guy saw me when they went under the bridge and he motioned for his date to speed up again.  They sped up, but only slightly faster than 6:40 pace so I could see them just a little ways in front of me until I turned off to head home.  I thought the entire ordeal was rather amusing.  It made my run more entertaining.  however, I better not do it very often or I will kill myself pretty quick.

I was in somewhat of a time crunch so I started off quick today and I went through 1 mile in 6:16 followed by a 6:04 and a 5:56 to make it through 3 miles in 18:16.  At this point I decided to slow down a bit and I averaged close to 6:40 pace for the next 8.1 miles.  I hit 11.1 in 1:12:27.  For some reason I wasn't feeling too good so I decided to head home at 11.1 to get some water and when I got home the second door was locked.  I was surprised because I had left it unlocked when I left, locking only the first door.  Thus, my plans were all thrown out the window because I had a final that I needed to be at in less than an hour and I needed to get into my house so I could shower and get ready.  So, I used the neighbors phone to call Kimia, after which I ran to where she was at to get the key to the house (she had locked the second door while I was gone forgetting to leave it unlocked).  I ran home, however now I didn't have the time to finish my run before my final, so I showered and barely made it in time to take the test.  For the extra running I will add an extra 1.4 to bring my total to 12.5 for the day (it was more than 1.4 but I wasn't sure exactly how far so I am counting that because 12.5 is a nice round number).  In the evening I added the extra 2.5 in 19:00 to finish my run for the day since I didn't have time earlier in the day.

On a side note, I have found that I am becoming somewhat proficient riding a unicycle.  One of the guys I take care of at work got one for his birthday about 7 months ago and we used to ride it every once in a while.  He was getting better at it, however I would generally make it about 2 or 3 feet and then fall.  I believe this was in part because I just wasn't trying very hard and also because he was riding it more often than me so he got better at it.  Just this week he decided that he wanted to start riding it again, after not riding it for about 4 months, and it was startling how quickly he picked it back up again, riding farther than he had ever gone before after just a few minutes.  I however continued to make it about 2 or 3 feet and then fall off.  What startled me even more was that the very next day I was suddenly able to ride it almost as far as the guy I take care of, consistently making it to a fence at one end of the parking lot before falling down.  I am still not exactly sure why this happened, however I do know that I finally started to try a little harder.  Maybe the desire was all I needed.