Well, I did it! I ran in the Anthem 5k this morning… My time was 34:08.

Overall, I’m pleased. Certainly I would have liked a little better time, but my focus in this race (my first ever) was not on time, but completion. I think I could have easily shaved a minute or two from that had I pressed it, or had I properly prepared. But it feels good to have run and to have finished. It was pretty chilly out at race time — in the upper 30s — and in fact it started snowing during the kids run afterwards. There were a LOT of people who ran… somewhere between 6000 and 7000.

Speaking of the kids run… my daughter ran, and it was really cute! She was a little unsure of what to expect, and I think it took her a second to realize what she was supposed to do once they said “go”, but she did run the whole way, and didn’t finish last! =)

Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to do this! It was a good experience, which I’m sure I will repeat.

For those who are curious, I am officially signed up for the Anthem 5k race this weekend. The thing starts at 8am Saturday morning, and it’s going to be COOOOLLLLD! That’s just great, especially considering I haven’t been running much the past few weeks, and am not a good outside runner anyhow. I may need someone to run beside me with an oxygen tank! lol!

Anyhow, I was checking out the forecast to see what it is calling for Saturday, and found this forecast for Friday night. It has to be the most hilarious forecast I’ve ever read from the National Weather Service. This is a direct copy:

Friday Night: A slight chance of rain showers between 7pm and midnight, then a slight chance of snow showers between midnight and 1am, then a slight chance of rain showers between 1am and 2am, then a slight chance of snow showers between 2am and 4am, then a slight chance of rain showers between 4am and 5am, then a slight chance of snow showers after 5am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34. Chance of precipitation is 20%. 

Is that funny, or what?! Did a 20% chance really warrant all that typing?! I think it would have been easier for them to say “It might rain, it might snow, it might do both… we just don’t know.”

Well, I’m sitting here on a conference bridge and just read that Anna Nicole Smith is dead at age 39. According to the story, a “private nurse” called 911 after finding Smith unresponsive in her sixth-floor room at a Hard Rock hotel in Florida. To be honest, I was never a big fan of hers, but it’s sad for her infant daughter. Watching her life was like seeing a train wreck. You knew it was going to be bad, you just weren’t sure how bad. Personally, I find it fishy that after winning $400 million from her deceased (and quite elderly) husband, her son mysteriously dies, her attorney became her husband, and her daughter is rumored to belong to him. Basically, if he proves out to be the child’s father, he just inherited $400 cool ones. And having been her attorney, I’m sure he is quite familiar with how her estate is configured. Of course, losing and gaining weight like Michael Finnigan surely wasn’t good for her. Maybe it was the Trim-spa?

In other news, I have not worked out in over a week. First I was sick with the strep throat, now I have the on-call rotation at work, and I have some other things going on recently that gave required my attention. I’ve just gotten out of my groove, and will have to refocus on that next week.

Speaking of sick… my son was up all night puking. First in his bed (a total mess), then in our bed (enough to change the sheets), then again in our bed (a little milder). The pediatrician says he has strep throat, a double ear infection, and a stomach virus. Poor little guy! He was a trooper light night, too. I think this was his first real “sick and throwing up” experience. We got something around 4 hours of sleep, if that.

At least tomorrow is Friday.

My throat felt like it had a thumbtack stuck in it today, so I finally broke down and went to see the doctor this afternoon. When I can’t eat, I know it’s gotten serious. He proceeded to “tickle my tonsils” with a foot-long Q-tip… twice… which produced the finding that I have strep throat. Since Thanksgiving, my wife and daughter have both had it, too. Nice. I wonder where this bug is hiding?

Anyhow, I was then given the option of taking two pills a day for 10 days, or one shot in the @ss of penicillin. I’m not too good with remembering to take pills, so I opted for the shot. Now I know why someone came up with the option of taking the pills. I think the nurse actually jabbed me with a railroad spike.

I’m still contagious for 24 hours, so I’m going to stay home and rest tomorrow. I haven’t exercised at all this week, or even felt up to it. This will set me back, I’m sure. So much fun!

Feeling a bit under the weather today. Developed kind of a head cold over the weekend that in itself wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t make my throat hurt so bad. I don’t think it’s strep, but it kind of hurts. I think that’s more from the drainage (yum!), though. Also have a bit of chest congestion.

Anyhow, didn’t run today because of it. Hard to get inspired when you can’t breathe. Hopefully this crud doesn’t last long.

I was planning to run this afternoon, but didn’t. I guess I could have, and I was planning to, but when I got ready to hit the finess center, I just felt fatigued. I ran 3.5 miles on Wednesday, and 2.5 miles yesterday (along with an upper body workout), so maybe that’s the reason. My legs feel kind of dead, and my back aches a bit. I rode the exercise bike on Monday, but skipped Tuesday. I just got out of whack this week.

But, I’m actually doing okay so far. I’ve burned 1597 calories on the week, which is a bit under my target of of 2950, but every week can’t be perfect. I’ll try to ride the bike tomorrow and at least break 2000 on the week. I’ll probably take Sunday off, too, so I don’t throw my routine off next week as well. Wish me luck!

Have a good weekend!

Just a couple of updates today…First, a “Week 1″ update on my workout resolution: I managed to get in five last week, which was a “short” week for me. You could say I actually only got in three, but two days counted as two because I did both upper body and cardio on those days. My total exercise time was 3 hours, and I managed to burn through 1965 calories (a few short of my goal). I sort of ate too much over the weekend. We had some REALLY good pizza on Friday night, and then my mom cooked for us Saturday with a few of my favorite foods. I’m back at it this week, though… worked out upper body and cardio again yesterday, spending 35 minutes on the exercise bike. Today I’m supposed to run 40 minutes, so I guess I’ll do that shortly. 

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