No Race and Not Much of Anything Else

I ended up not running the Laurel Switchbacker 10K up in State College last weekend. First, the weather forecast wasn't all that favorable. Second - and more importantly - I had to go in to work on Saturday. We were running production, and we did some interviewing early in the morning so I had to be there. Between the interviewing and the production coverage, I ended up being there 10 hours. The extra money is cool, but I would rather not have spent my entire Saturday (9 am to 7 pm) at work. Oh well.

The weather here has been crazy. Last Wednesday, it was about 75 degrees outside. I went running in shorts and short sleeves and was HOT! When I stepped outside, I couldn't believe how warm it was. Unfortunately the warm weather was short-lived. By Thursday there wasn't much snow left around anywhere except where there had been huge piles earlier in the winter. Wouldn't you know that on Friday the temps dropped down into the 30s and we had about eight inches of snow. It's like deja vu all over again. What a change two days can bring. It is supposed to warm up into the 60s next week, so hopefully the snow will all disappear again. I have only been running and weight training sporadically. I know that once the weather improves a little I will be more motivated. That and when I get off of 2nd shift. Those hours just don't agree with my running and working out. I always feel like there is no opportunity for me to get to the gym or go for a run (even though in reality there is; I'm just not regimented enough in my time-management). That's just me I guess.

I plan to get back on the running and weight training horse again this coming week. I did go to the gym today and had a really good, hard workout. I don't feel that I have lost much strength. That's one thing that I've never had too much trouble maintaining is a base of strength.

There are two upcoming races on the horizon. At some point I need to decide which race I want to do as they're both on the same day. One is the Sauder Egg Run (8K), which is a local race. I used to run it frequently back in the day. It's generally a pretty nice race, and the weather tends to be pretty nice that day. It's on April 7th, which is the day before Easter. The other race is Tussey Teaser #2 - the Tussey to Whipple 11 miler. It encompasses legs 1, 2, and 3 of the Tussey Ultra course. It's held on April 7th as well.

I would really like to make the trip up to Happy Valley and run TT#2 as I have also been talking to a realtor up there about looking at some hunting land/cabins in the Centre County area. When I go up to do one of the Tussey Teaser races, I am going to meet up with him later in the day and drive out to look at some places. I want to have my own place in the mountains within the next few years. I need someplace to escape to on weekends. Preferably someplace where I can enjoy the outdoors and do some hiking, scouting, shooting and trail running. I want a place within an hour to an hour and a half of State College so that we can stay there on the nights before the football games that we attend. Sproul and Rothrock State Forests are in the area, and there are some very nice parcels of land available. There are also state game lands aplenty in the area for hunting. Lisa and I have talked about just buying the land now, and camping out on it until we decide to build a cabin on the land. That's a cool idea, but I asked her if she realizes that there are coyotes, bears, and even the occasional mountain lion roaming around up there. I don't know that I can see her being comfortable sleeping in a tent. I'm not sure that I am totally comfortable either, but I would be armed so that helps. It wouldn't be easy for a .40 S&W to take down a bear, but 10 Hydra-Shok hollow points at close range would probably do the job.

I really am looking forward to warmer weather. I need to kick my training into a higher gear and take off about 10 pounds before bikini season.....yea right! I'm ready for bikini season now LOL. No, I am serious about the 10 pounds, but not the bikini. If I was a triathlete, I would probably wear a Speedo, but that would be the only way you would ever see me in one of those. I have a friend who has done Ironman triathlons, and he doesn't even wear one of those to swim except when competing and training very seriously. Some things just aren't meant to be displayed prominently IMHO. I am excited for spring and summer. There have been some recent developments at work that might mean that I'll be done with shift work within the next few months. It would be nice to have consistent hours. If my start time is late enough, I might start running and working out in the mornings before work. We will see.