Random · bits · of · my · brain · leaking · out...

A term to discribe the world after it has been taken over by zombies, coined by Trent at the end of the Resident Evil movie.

Just doing very little of anything this morning. Basic household cleanup, no real "work" and not a good week for marketing. The clergy are way to busy this week to hear from me. I do have a full day of work tomorrow, and we will see what the weekend brings. My main goals for the day:

Clean up house a bit
Basic computer maintainance on our three household computers (I think Trent's needs an OS erase and install. Kids - argh!)
Another leg rehab session at the gym.
Start working with Trent on his mission project. He has four weeks to select a Spanish Mission, build a replica, and do enough research to label all the areas and give a historical perspective. He is supposed to be acting as a museum currator making a display. This is gonna be really fun.

I seem to be recovering pretty well. Woke up to some extreme stiffness in my right leg, and going down steps is a challenge. On the other hand, my uninjured muscles aren't all that sore, and I feel alright overall. I am currently soaking in a very hot tub and will head over to the gym from here to do some foam rolling to try to loosen up my IT band and then hit the sauna for a bit. It would be nice if I didn't get any work related calls today. I feel active, but I would like to focus that energy on recovery. Glad I'm not planning to do that to myself again for another year.

Kicked it. Took a bit longer than originally planned due to some muscle tightness in my right leg. It started at mile eleven and by mile 23 had reduced me to walking, but I still finished in a decent amount of time. 4:48:05 for my final chip time. I feel increadibly good and energetic for someone who just ran a rediculous distance. If only I could traverse a flight of steps without hopping. Tomorrow is another day.

http://results.active.com/pages/oneResult.jsp?pID=69651716&rsID=87672

I've been training for the Philadelphia marathon since July. I have run a f*ucking dumb number of miles since then. I have gotten very tired of running. I think I'm burnt out. I know I will really enjoy the marathon itself, which is on Sunday, but each run leading up to it is getting more and more difficult. Not physically difficult, but mentally. I'm down to my last run before the big run. All I have to do is go run 2 miles now. I can do that in about 15 minutes. I sooo don't feel like it.

Once this marathon is complete, I get to take a well needed 2 week break. That may be neccesary just to figure out how to walk again. I plan to train for a triathlon over the winter. It will be very nice to combine the veriety of swimming and biking to my training schedule. I'm also really looking forward to getting back to weight training. I've found it hard to weight train when I'm already logging 6-8 hours of running each week. I really like warming up with 30-60 minutes of cardio before my weight training, but I need to give these 90-120 minute runs a break.

I will be very happy when Sunday is over. However, if anyone is hanging out in Philly this Sunday morning and feels like cheering me on, I may need the motivation. The run starts at 7am. Just figure out which mile you are at and multiply by 9. I should be passing that point somewhere around that time.

Having a good day so far. I just did a personal best for running and am psyched. I ran a ten mile run at an average pace of 7:46/mile. This makes me really happy. These are the kinds of runs that make me feel like I could in fact qualify for the Boston marathon. Mind you, keeping up that kind of pace for 26 miles is very different than 10 miles. And the ten miles kicked my ass. But I also have to remember that when I started this training bout I was happy to beat a nine minute mile on a 10k, so my improvement in a little over two months is pretty fantastic. I have no delusions that I will qualify for Boston this year, and only hope to finish the marathon in under four hours. I eventually would like to qualify in 2011 so I can run Boston in 2012 (before the world ends).

Found a neat running app for my iPhone called RunMeter. I was using the Nike+ system but they pissed me off by changing there web site in such a way that I couldn't figure out how to continue to use my custom training plan. Then I went to New Mexico and forgot my wrist band. So I needed a way to figure out how far I was going. RunMeter uses the GPS functionality to track distance, pace, etc. I like it alot and will do a full review after I've used it a little longer.

I've been using Things by Cultured Code for about six months now, and find this app to be a great organizational tool. The cost is $9.99, however to get the full power of the app I also purchased the Mac desktop version for $50. Still, for a total of a $60 outlay, this was a valuble purchase. I can't compare it to any other organizational apps likebRemember the Milk, because this is the only one I've used.

The construction of Things is based on the organizational system of David Allen's Getting Things Done. It allows you to group todo items into the categories: today, next actions, scheduled, someday/maybe, and projects. It is also possible to add due dates to items, and to schedule dates for items to automatically move from next actions to today. You can also tag items and then veiw them by tag, so if I have 40 things on my today list, I can pull up the phone tag and get a list of just my phone calls. The interface is easy to work with, and attractive.

The desktop version syncs wirelessly to the app and adds some valueble functionality. It allows recurring todos and also adds a category for Areas of Resposibility.

If you are looking for an organizational tool for your iPhone, this one is great. I ran it without the desktop app for about a month before adding that in. It was good as a stand alone, and amazing as a package. I use this app more than all my other apps combined except email.

Life doesn't get much better. Laying in bed with my lovely wife, son, and his freind. Between the 4 of us, there are two mac laptops, an iPhone, and a DSi. We are the geeky family of geekdom. I'm looking forward to a very restful day. I think I've been overtraining. I went out to run an 8 miler yesterday and burned out after 3. I didn't even have it in me to walk home, so called Sabri for a ride. I will
Take today off entirely, and see how I feel tomorrow before attacking 16 miles. I have been running a much faster pace than my schedule calls for, and on thursday I ran an extra 2 miles (11 instead of 9) but up until yesterday I've been feeling really good. I guess I'll just have to wait a little and see what happens.

It has been a good vacation. I haven't taken a break like this from the world since I left high school. It will probably be a long time until I do so again. I've been away for ove three weeks now. The journey home will take a couple days because of some side stops, so I won't actually be home until Friday. I'm very ready to be home. I'm very ready to sleep in my own bed. I'm very very ready to get home to my woman. I will miss Hilton Head, but I'm definitely ready to return to my life.

I'm well rested this morning, though I'm feeling a touch of congestion and a little sore throat. My sister is now sick as a dog and little Lucas, who was the start of this, is already feeling better. I was laying in bed this morning however reflecting on how my family is so instinctually pagan without meaning to be. I first realized this when I was hiking the AT with my dad and he was standing on the edge of a cliff yelling to Katahdin and the spirits of the forest. Well, last night, after mom got back from church, she proceeded to bake four loaves of bread. And they wonder why I wandered away from my Catholic upbringing.

Here are a couple photos for those who care.
http://gallery.me.com/brownmt/100193

Current Location:	Hilton Head
Current Mood:	tired

No training today. I've been up for three hours now and the total extent of effort exerted involves a second journey into the kitchen for a coffee refill. I also really exerted myself when I bounce my nephew on my knee for 10 minutes. Triathalon is tomorrow, so I'm taking it easy today. I will however jump around in the ocean with Trent and Zack once my sister has left for the airport with Lucas. We may also have to take the long half mile walk to get some Rita's after lunch.

Life is good, and lazy, and tasty. Yawn.

Fantastic morning with an awesome start. Got up at 6:00 so I would have time to run before my mom took my sister out for breakfast for her birthday. I ran to Harbour Town and back, a couple miles on the beach and the rest on the bike trails. It was 9 miles total, and it was beautiful. My random music selection was perfect also, starting with one of my favorite metallica songs. Last night there was a big thunderstorm with tornado warnings and the like, so today the earth was in a rebirthing type of mood. I'm in love with this earth. She makes a fantastic lover, always fresh, always challenging me. I greeted a couple gators on my run, and the wild birds and dolphins were all out in force. Everyone i met had smiles on their faces, and it just seemed like a good morning to be alive.

Then, once back home and stretched, my sister and mother left for breakfast, leaving the four boys to hang out. My father, myself, Trent, and my 5 month old nephew Lucas. While my dad trimmed Trent's summer Mohawk, Lucas and I just hung out and got to know each other better. After a bit of breakfast for each of us, it was nap time for the lad. The remaining three boys made some crepes, and now it's time to lounge in the tub for a bit before continuing the day. Life is good!

nikerunning.nike.com/nikeplus/

Current Location:	Hilton Head
Current Mood:	content
Current Music:	Andreas Vollenweider

Today is going very well. I got up at about 6:45, which is a half hour later than I've been waking up the rest of this vacation, went for a short swim, and then out for a buffet breakfast during which I stuffed myself. Then it was time to wash and wax dad's motor home with him. On a 40' motor home, this is a 5 hour project. There also tend to be very few trees in RV parks. It was a beautiful cloudless day with temperatures around 90 and typical south eastern humidity. Let's just say I sweat a bit. Trent assisted for about 2.5 hours, for which my dad paid him ten buck. He is a happy lad, and has saved up almost enough for the Harry Potter game for his DSi.

Now I sit lazily on the sofa, after a long bath and some Alan Watts and wait for dinner to arrive. It is a good life. I have a good family. My boy is asking me questions about girls these days. He's nine now. That's how old I was when I really became interested. I would have never asked my parents about them. We get on well now, but there are some very wealthy therapists between then and now. I am really touched my son trusts me so. Now let's see what kind of trouble I can get him in.

I have about a half hour till diner now, and haven't meditated yet today, so I'm off to do something quite that isn't sleep.

Fantastic morning. Went for an hour run with my dad and then another half-hour run with Trent. They both run a lot slower than my usual pace, which made it possible to run for that long. Then after a good breakfast including trail mix, fruit salad, and homemade chocolate chip cookies, I sat and updated my monthly budget. Usually sometime during the weekend, Sabri and I will sir down for an hour and go over where we are and where we are going with our finances. Since both she and my parents have new computers, I figured why should 850 mile stop us from our usual activities. So we set up a screen sharing session and gave our money some much needed attention. I am a happy guy.

Thought I'd be the first one up today, having gotten up at 5:45 on a vacation, and my new nephew crying into the night, but no. Mom is already up and sitting on the couch reading House of the Spirits. I really hope she likes it. I loved the book when I read it, and thought it was a good mom recommendation. I rarely suggest books to my parents. Our brains are so different in that respect I can't really tell what they would enjoy much of the time. My dads a bit easier, likes true life adventure. Mom on the other hand likes those historical romance things that make good kindling. I kid. I don't think I could get myself to burn books of even that quality.

So I get to sit here with mom and read and write and sip our coffees. It's not a bad life. I'm very grateful for it. I have two very healthy parents who love the hell out of me. And they know me. They know all my shit. I've not made things easy on them, yet they love me as I am. Amazing people. I'm grateful and just a little teary writing this.

My sister arrived yesterday with my new nephew, Lucas. They live in New Mexico, and Lucas had some jetlag sleep adjustment whinyness last night. Hopefully he let's my sis sleep a little this morning. He's only 5 months and rediculously cute. I will probably spend much of today poking him. I just met him for the first time yesterday.

Another week or so and then Zac shows up with his mom. This is gonna be a really full house.

I miss my woman. It's only been three days, and I'm surrounded by people I love and who love me. But the person I most want to share this feeling with is missing, leaving a hole in my whole.

Coffee is drunk, I think I'll go swim now.