On Deck

It's been nearly 3 months now since running went on the back burner due to my foot, oh hell, what am I saying it completely fell off the stove.

Anyway, I got my orthotics 2 days ago and I am back on nights, so we shall see how it goes.  The doctor said to break them in slow and apparently his definition and mine are different.  I thought I would wear them at work every other day, but nope he recomends starting with 30 minutes and working my way up to a few hours!  At that rate, I wont be running until 2013, sheesh!!  I am gonna play it by ear, errr, I mean foot and see how it goes.  No races planned, but hopefully by fall I will have at least a half marathon on deck.

Less than a week until Hawaii and I am so looking forward to the sun and sand.  I need a little re-juvenation after my intermittent bouts of UPTO.  I have never been sick like this (cold in Nov, pink eye in January and now the stomach flu).  My personal goal was for work on my individual development plan was to become healthier and of course with any goal it must be measureable so decreased sick days and weight loss is the way I am going. 

In the meantime, I am gonna keep counting the days until me and A-train leave this thankfully mild winter behind for a bit and keep breaking these orthotics in.

Great Distractions

Life has been no less than pretty great since the holidays ended. I find my plate overloaded with tasty treats in 2012, but something is missing.

Work has been extremely busy as usual and overtime is inevitable for me.  The only way I seem to be able to avoid it is by making plans, so I can't stay or refusing to pick-up my cell phone on my days off, which I am working on.  I have made a decision to move to straight nights too.  The thought had been brewing for months now and after weighing all the pros and cons I think it will be worth it in the long run.  Some of the advantages included no more rotating shifts and getting on a regular sleep schedule.  Parking will be cheaper per month and I will make an more money. 

 I found myself purchasing a new vehicle.  A-train thinks it looks like a booger on wheels and I have to keep re-educating him that mucous is white to yellow and only green when infection is present, but alas I think it's a losing battle with him.  He's just gonna keep referring to my car as such.

My employer offered us FREE nose bleed seats to any Lake Erie Monster's game and A-train and I sat through three exciting periods of hockey.  The goalie that night (Gerald Coleman) was freakin' amazing only allowing 1 goal on about 30 shots.  Gloves and helmets even came off for a few brawls on the ice!!  Lately, when I go to watch the CAVS or Indians we have lost, but I finally broke my losing streak as the Monsters took the win 3-1. 

Before the game we needed to eat dinner and I decide I would keep it a secret from A-train that we were going to hit up The Chocolate Bar!!!  We each had a very tasty martini.  I got the chocolate banana creme and he got the boring plain old chocolate martini.  Mine was WAY better.  A-train picked brie with chutney for an appetizer.  Funny thing is he had never had chutney and wasn't sure what it was until I told him.  When it arrived he had absolutely no qualms about eating most of it.  The main course included pesto salmon for me and a buffalo chicken sandwhich with fresh kettle cooked chips for him. Overall the food was pretty good and the price was reasonable, except for the $10 martinis, but that's what we expected.



After what seemed like forever, we had an official GNO at BB's house. It was perfect with the exception of a damn snowstorm that hit that night, so the roads on the way home were less than ideal for driving on. MK also left her hazards on and drained her battery, but thankfully e-speed and I knew how to jump a car, so she was back in business after we borrowed BB's jumber cables. 

I did manage to get my hands on this stuff too while I was there ....

Barrel-Aged Blackout Stout

Blackout Stout aged in oak bourbon barrels.

ABV: 9.5%

ABW: 7.6%

IBU: 50

Awards

• Gold Medal, 2011 World Beer Championships

 

And let me tell you -- it's pretty dam good!

On the horizon first and foremost is my vacation to Kauai!!  It's only 19 days away and I can't wait.  I am finally going to see the ocean up close and personal.  Only 10% of the island has roads and offers quite a few places to hike.  I plan to attempt surfing and scuba diving (or at least snorkeling), horseback riding and we are going to be there for Waimea Town Celebration. 

And although, things are different in a great way, deep down I carry with me a little bit of sadness and a lot of yearning that I still can't run the miles I so badly want to.  My foot has reached an impasse.  It's no better or no worse.  I'm still waiting for them to complete my orthotics and sneaking in 3-4 miles once or twice a week just to hear the ground crunching under my feet and my heartbeat pumping hard as I trot along.  I guess there just are no substitutions for true loves.