This here blog has been getting cozy at its current address for nearly a year now and is thinking of upgrading to someplace a little less on the west side* running-only.  Why you ask?  Well that will all be answered in more detail in an upcoming post.  The long and the short of it is that I’m hoping to break into the triathlon scene, and so I’d like to have a more balanced blog presence.

I’m also thinking of dropping the “.wordpress.com” and buying the website address.  I know what you’re thinking.. “But Mike! Don’t bother! Your blog is already my homepage, so it doesn’t matter!”

Believe it or not, there are still a few people on the Internet who do not check my blog before anything else.  Anyway, I’d like to get your feedback on what my new website should be.  Some of the facts to consider are:

1. It should relate to a broader activity base, rather than focusing solely on, say, running;
   (For example, facerunner.com and pikerunner.com are out)
2. It should be somewhat witty, but still stand on its own if someone has no sense of humor doesn’t get it;
3. I’m fairly good at running, so-so at biking, and terrible at swimming.

Here are a few options to vote on, or feel free to add your suggestions in the comments!  (Please add suggestions in the comments, I’m stumped for other ideas!)

*We’re movin’ on up, To the East Side, To a deluxe apartment, In the sky, etc etc.

I’ve had a wonky sleep schedule this week. Actually, the schedule has been fine, but my body hasn’t really been sticking to it. The past 3 nights I was lucky enough to see the clock at 3:31am, 3:15am, and 1:52am. Not ideal, and it left me more tired than usual. Well this morning I got my rear in gear, despite sleeping lightly, and trekked out for a gloomy 7 miles.

I threw on my power suit: Chicago Marathon finisher’s shirt and Marine Corps Marathon hat for that extra “I’m better than you” feeling and headed out the door. The legs felt surprisingly strong considering some nagging tightness in both calves throughout the week. Cruising along and exuding awesomeness through my attire, I felt pretty high and mighty. Until…

POP! My bubble was burst.

Heading

towards me was a girl wearing an unmistakable yellow Boston Marathon shirt. For the uninitiated, the Boston Marathon is the only race you need to qualify for by running another race within their qualifying times. Fast qualifying times. Like times that I don’t think I’ll be hitting… ever.

And just like that, my “power suit” was nothing but any old shirt and hat.

Ah, the wash of sunshine pouring over you after 3+ months of layers and confinement. Few things are as underrated as sunshine to those who bask in its warmth year-round. Granted, as a transplant from South Florida, I, too, took sunshine as an undeniable constant for a time. As my northward migration has taken me through Nashville, and now DC, I have undone that expectation to wake up to the warmth of that lovable ball of burning gas.

Well, this past weekend, not two days after my last rambling about the cold weather, did we get a taste of a heatwave! I know, I know, particularly as a native Floridian, 55* and sunny is no heatwave. But when the temperature nearly doubles from the days prior, it is no less an event

than an unseasonably snowy seasonal snowstorm. It was glorious, and it really made me appreciate the beautiful weather after having been without for several months.

Now, don’t get me wrong, if I had a choice, it would be 55* and sunny every time I laced up my shoes. Screw “appreciating it more”. That’s just what you say when you’re a have-not. Give me the warmth and leave the cold to the Canadians. There are other bloggers out there that I follow who fall on each end of the spectrum, specifically in Michigan and Hawaii. I’d guess that Frayed Laces wouldn’t give up Hawaii for anything, while Nitmos could live without the Michigan winter (with respect to training). In fact, I imagine if you asked 100 endurance runners / triathletes, 99 of them would take the amazing year-round weather (and that 1 leftover guy is a liar).

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p style=”text-align:left;”>Anyway, this past Sunday featured an outstanding long run that was to be a kind of pre-test for the National Half Marathon coming up. It went really well, and actually made my decision to sign up for the race harder. I was hoping I’d fall apart and use that as an excuse not to do National. Instead, I hit a 7:31 pace for 11.5 miles, not far from the goal race pace. Ugh, jerk. So now I’m left wondering if I can take the results of that awesome run and shift them 2 weeks onto race day, or if I should just forget it anyway. I’ll put up a poll in my next post for you, my lone reader, and see what you think.

The title of this post is a subtle Borat reference.  If you haven’t seen Borat, well, don’t worry about the title.  Also, I think you should update your Netflix queue now.  Basically, I mean that it is March, so where’s the Spring-like weather?  My run today was 34 feels like 27 degrees.  Fahrenheit.

Now, I understand that we can’t actually say “Spring has sprung” until March 20, known as the Vernal Equinox (thanks to Wikipedia for knowing things like that so I don’t have to, kind of like my own personal external hard drive), but the fact that it is March 5th and my water bottle can still freeze is a bit unnerving.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind the cold.  I just think the cold has it’s time, and that time is known as December, January, and February.  I expect, nay, demand that the cold cease and desist at once to allow flowers to bloom and running tights to be put away.  Alas, this is unlikely in the next few days because there are still pockets of icy snow on the ground from that Ice Age 2.o we experienced a month ago.

So, Old Man Winter, scoot yourself northward, and know that I will be heading out each morning wishing for global warming to get here sooner*.

The Details

Regular 7.5 Mile Run:

*And by global warming I mean Spring.

Gypsy! Give me your tears! If you will not give them to me, I will take them from you!  (another Borat reference)