Alas, I come with good news my friends! I am signing up for my first race in a long, long time! I have not been running at all lately, but I now have 28 days to train for the Anaheim 5K. It’s only three miles, and my goal would be to complete the entire race without stopping to walk. I am not as interested in finishing with a great time or anything along those lines, just want to get infected with the disease of running again. Now if I broke 30 minutes, I’d be ecstatic. Realistically, being that I haven’t been running at all and only have exactly 28 days to train, that might be a lot to ask for. I am definitely going to give it my best shot!

I am also going to try and blog about my training every day, counting down each of the 28 days. Tonight, after I’ve logged all of my food and my exercise I’ll try and blog just to keep myself feeling responsible.

This should be fun! I am looking at this as a pretty low-pressure situation. 5K is really not all that much, and I would expect to be up to that length for daily runs pretty quickly. Anyway, here we go! Kicking off Day 1 right now!

Also, lost another two pounds, 15 more until I start playing hockey again. 25 more until I start playing in goal.
I eat really, really well during the day. Think its very effective for me. Must start working out again soon. I hope to engage in some fairly hardcore plyometrics tomorrow AM.

Good morning, Sunshine.

AM ritual number one.

AM ritual number deux.

Rain.

Rough weekend.

Was not going for blue steel. sorry.

Work was insane, but I had lunch at some point.

Get the hell outta dodge and go home...

...to this. Holyshitawesome.

the rain split town.

I'm the Chef all week.

Weather's good, cook it outside.

PAPA HURRY UP I'M HUNGRY YARRRR

dinner possible

Hockey insider royalty replied to me on Twitter.

walked down to buckers for a treat.

Neighborhood Alleyway.

Treats and DVR catch-up.

That’s all for this week, good times! good night!

First off, last night we took my in-laws to dinner at Haven Gastropub . It was a great meal, and I had a couple of fantastic beers, including one of my regular favorites, Blanche de Bruxelles which even has a photo of Manneken Pis on the label. I’ve seen that little relieving gent in person and it’s quite funny. Anyway, dinner was nice if not a bit noisy on a Saturday night and we did have to wait a bit to get a table. I do wish they’d take reservations for groups smaller than seven, as Haven seems to always be quite busy. I also wish it was a little more “pub” and a little less “gastro.” As in, a little more of The Clash, and a little less The Eagles. Oh well, we had a fabulous meal.

My father-in-law, Bill. It was his birthday last week!

Beer!

Young Maxwell was a bit rambunctious, but enjoyed the bits of food we gave him, especially the bread pudding!

Something else that is very exciting for me, the next three days mark my last at my current job. I have enjoyed my time there very much, and making an impact on peoples working lives has been very rewarding, but starting on March 15th I will be the Case Manager at a non-profit in Irvine, Families Forward. I am ecstatic for this opportunity. I’ll have considerable additional responsibility and think it’s a very strong career move for me at this moment. I am looking forward to helping to serve families in difficult situations in South Orange County. I hope I can continue to make a strong, positive impact.

Friday night a few co-workers and I went out for beers! We had a nice going away toast with some weird concoction/shot that I didn’t recognize, but I am a pretty simple beer/wine guy. Good times, and I will miss these folks quite a bit.

More beer!

Also, yesterday I did something that I haven’t in a long, long time…I read an entire book in a day. “Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea” lets you know that trying to survive in those conditions is anything but. It follows the lives of six people truly trying to survive and their subsequent defection. It’s gruesome, horrifying, and completely gripping. I couldn’t put it down until I learned where they were today and how their lives were changed by their experiences. Imagine just watching children die of starvation with your own eyes, and you’re their kindergarten teacher. Pretty incredible. It feels weird to be talking in the same post about this incredible meal I just ate and this good time I had this weekend, and at the same people are eating bark and sawdust just to have a chance to survive in the world’s most totalitarian and repressive nation with one of the worst Human Rights records in modern history.

Wow, I became a real downer at the end there.

4:30pm – Stick time at the local rink.   First time back on the ice since July.

Pretty psyched on that last part.  I need to get out and play so bad.  I suffer from the worst ever “paralysis by analysis.”

Example:  I am a pretty good hockey player in my own right.  Because of job switching a couple of times, being a dad and husband, cost, etc, I sort of dropped off of the map of playing in recent months.  It’s a shame because it’s without question my favorite thing to do that doesn’t involve Sarah or Max.  Now, I could have been playing recently, but I haven’t, because I’m afraid my game has slipped to the point where I will have forgotten how to play.

Forgotten how to play.  Me.  Totally absurd, I know.  So, I am hoping that with my wife’s blessing and having completed some things I need to do around the house this morning (new hire paperwork for one (more on that later), Graduate School applications for another) I can get out for an hour and skate.

I will still know how to skate.

I will still be able to stickhandle.

I will still be able to fire accurate wristshots.

Sure, I may be a little rusty, but to NOT play, is even more ridiculous.

I really think the source of all my life-issues, stress, and bouts of depression deal with the paralysis-by-analysis conundrum I find myself in so often.  It’s not that I’m afraid, it’s that I render even the most insignificant decisions down to nothing.  It’s like turning a Mt. Everest into sand, even though the problem, issue, or decision wasn’t that big to begin with.

Wow this post went from celebrating a return to hockey, to dissecting my psyche.

I’m teaching all week at my job, pretty happy about that.  I have class tonight too.  Woke up feeling good.  Enjoyed some coffee this morning and read this cool little article on JD Salinger’s reclusive tendencies from the perspective of the people that actually lived near him.  Back on track with my eating today after getting a little disjointed over the weekend.  No biggie, as of last week I was in the lead for The Biggest Loser challenge we’re doing at my job, and I haven’t even really kicked into high-gear yet.  That starts today!

Have a good Monday everyone.