The MS Runner

Running While Battling Foot Blisters, Leg Cramps, Black Toe Nails - and MS

Archive for the ‘football’


Yikes! 8 weeks to go

Published January 17th, 2010 in cataracts, econmy, Shamrock Marathon, Miles, marathon, football, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

I decided for sure that I’m doing the Shamrock Marathon in March which is only 8 weeks away.  Right now, I could do the half, but I’m way away from doing a full.  It should be fun.

Tip jars are getting out of hand.  There’s a beer store that I went to once that actually had one.  Tip for what?  I had to get my own beer.

My dog Miles has cataracts!  What 16 month old dog gets cataracts?

Finally had a good game in the football playoffs, and the team I didn’t want to win, won.  J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.

The company I work for filed bankruptcy (chapter 11), and eventually got bought by some investment group.  What does this mean?  I don’t know.  Only time will tell.

The economy still sucks.  Ater billions in bailouts, what has that accomplished other than put us so far in debt that pretty soon the tax rates will be 50%.  Cash for Clunkers?  The companies that benefited most were foreign car companies.  The government running health care?  What have they run that has ever been successful? Be afraid.

This time of year sucks

Published February 14th, 2009 in training, brewery, football, beer, Diane, Running | 1 Comment »

You know that time where it’s after football season, and before summer.  The dreary days of February are the worst.  It’s still cold, which makes it harder to run outside, and there’s no football to watch!  There are very few races to run, and if you belong to a fitness center, it’s packed.  The only thing that I have going is drinking beer.  But I’m afraid for some of these micro brewers around here.  With the economic conditions being what they are, I hope they all survive.  I know Diane and I are doing our part in supporting the micro brews.  You should see our recycle trash can.  It’s full of empty beer bottles.  I usually try and support the local (meaning Colorado) breweries, and right now I’m drinking a Red Truck IPA from Palisade Brewery in Palisade, Colorado.  Mmmm……tasty.  Diane is drinking a Single Track which is from the Boulder Brewing Co in Boulder, Colorado.

I did run 10 miles this morning, and I feel great.  I took it easy and my goal was to be around a 9:00 minute pace.  I ended at a 9:03 pace.  Is that cool or what?  I ran the first 5 miles with a guy I know, Ted, and he pooped out so I had to run the last 5 by myself.  But it felt good and my knee feels fine.  I’m trying to stick to the plan that’s outlined in the book, Run Less, Run Faster, and for the most part, I’ve been able to.  One thing that they stress in the book is cross training, and I really haven’t done any of that yet.  But Diane and I joined this fitness center near here so I’m going to go and use the stationary bike as my exercise for cross training.   I am digging the run less part :).  As it is, I only run 3 days a week.  It’s 13 weeks to go until my half marathon, and I believe that training this way will help prevent any more knee issues, and, I hope, will keep me fresher.  Actually taking a shower will keep me fresher.

One week to go

Published January 11th, 2009 in Tom Brady, Rock and Roll Marathon Arizona, training, football, treadmills | No Comments »

The Rock and Roll Phoenix Marathon is almost here and in a way I’m looking forward to it, but I’m also not looking forward to it.  My training hasn’t gone on all that well because of my knee and I really don’t want to go out and do this half ass.  But then again, I have no real expectations and I can just relax and enjoy it.  Umm, how can anybody enjoy running 26 miles?  It’s also tough to train for a marathon early in the year when you live in a cold weather state.  I hate getting up at 5:00, going out in the darkness, when it’s 20 degrees out there.  I tried out the local fitness center, and even with 20 treadmills, it’s hard to get one.  It seems like everybody is there.  And if you think about it, I’m training in the freezing cold for a marathon that is is Arizona, and it will be 70 degrees.  That just doesn’t seem right.  But then I look back at my previous training for marathons, and it’s the same way.  Last year I trained mostly in the cold (Jan - April) for a marathon that when I ran it, it was 80 degrees.  Another one was when I trained all summer for a marathon in the fall, and it was 34 degrees and freezing rain at that one.  So when you think about it, you’re not really training in the right type of weather.  It’s always something.

I’ve refrained from talking football for awhile mostly because my team went 0-16 and my fantasy teams sucked.  I can’t seem to enjoy it as much this year.   I think it all started in week one when my best friend, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, went down for the year with a knee injury.  It hasn’t been the same with out him.  Okay, he’s not really my best friend, but I’m sure he would like me if he got to know me.  Hurry back Tom.  Football (and me) need you.

Taking the Week Off

Published September 10th, 2008 in Red Wings, Detroit Lions, knee, Pistons, football | No Comments »

And it’s not from work.  I can’t remember the last time I took a whole week off from work actually.  But I’m taking a week off of running.  The knee is not getting any better and actually it took a U-turn this past week.  I was feeling pretty decent and starting to ramp up my mileage, when BAM!  Batman hit me.  I mean my knee started hurting again.  I went 10 miles on Saturday, and then paid the price the rest of the day.  It swelled up bigger than my head swells when I finish the word search puzzle in the comic section of the newspaper.

So here I am, drinking beer, and wondering why I’m still a Detroit Lions fan.  They lost this past weekend to Atlanta which is about as bad as losing……aarrgghh.  I can’t think of a good example.  Or bad example as the case may be.

So let’s talk about something else.  You go first.

I’m waiting.

Oh well, talk amongst yourselves.  I’ll give you a topic.  Civil War.  It was neither Civil, nor a War.  Discuss.

Isn’t Mike Myers the best?

Anyway, hockey season starts soon, and the Detroit Red Wings should be favored to win it all again.  They just resigned 46 year old Chris Chelios, so who can beat them now?  I hear Gordie Howe is a free agent.  And then of course, basketball starts again.  Oh boy.  They play like 800 games a year, so wake me up when they have 10 left.  And it’s the 4th quarter.

Thank you and good night.

A Whole Lot of Nuthin’

Published August 10th, 2008 in Run Faster, Detroit Lions, See Corey Run, Georgetown Idaho Springs Half, Bolder Boulder, football | 3 Comments »

I just feel like rambling today mainly because I’m not running and sometimes you gotta ramble.

Technology today is so fascinating. It seems like every day there is something new going on. When I was growing up (okay, well I’ve never officially grew up) there wasn’t much in the way of new technology. The personal computer was an old clunky boat anchor, but it did the job. Now you have laptops as thin as the Olsen twins. You buy one and 6 months later it’s obsolete and $200 cheaper. It’s taken me awhile to even get up to speed on blogging. Most of the time I forget about it. Now there are so many ways to connect with friends and relatives and I know I’m not even aware of half the ways. That being said, what the heck is a Twitter anyway? I had a few friends in high school that I called twits, but I’m guessing this is something else. And of course you’re a nobody unless you have a Facebook or MySpace page. And now that I’ve mastered the the DVD player for my TV, they come out with TV DVR (or something), and Blue Ray. As my VCR still flashes 12:00, I wonder why I would even bother with that stuff. You could spend most of your life on your computer or in front of your TV.

I really admire some people that I’ve come across on this blogging adventure. How they can come up with the things that they come up with is beyond me. Usually my posts are 1 or 2 paragraphs, but some of these bloggers write an essay, and one of the best ones that I’ve come across is Corey and her blog See Corey Run. Awhile ago she was battling a bad flu bug and it was a struggle for her to get back into running. Now she is running, doing a half million push ups, has a new job….and it goes on. Check her out because she is one inspiring person.

Another great site to go to is from Kristen at Run Faster . She always has great tips and information about running, and I look forward to checking out her site to see what’s new.

I missed the Georgetown to Idaho Springs half marathon yesterday. I was really looking forward to running that until I got injured. Oh well. If I can get back on track with my knee, I’m hoping to do the Boulder Backroads Half Marathon. I would only do it as a training run though because it’s about 6 weeks away and I will be nowhere near in good shape to run this as a race.

One last thing before I go off conquering new adventures. Football has officially started and with it my hopes and dreams that I will live to see the day that The Detroit Lions make it to the Super Bowl.

Super Sunday

Published February 3rd, 2008 in super bowl, football | 1 Comment »

Whether or not you like football, odds are you will be watching some or all of the Super Bowl game. It’s the one sporting event in the world that attracts all kinds of people. Some even watch it just to see the commercials, although I’m sure you can find them all on You Tube tomorrow. One thing over the last few years that I find amusing is who the half time show entertainment will be. Thanks to Janet (”Hey, my brother is the creepy one”) Jackson and Justin ( “I had to do something to ignite my career”) Timberlake’s wardrobe malfunction, we now are subject to old time rock stars that actually get on stage in a wheel chair. They only play for about 12 minutes because that’s their limit on remembering what the words are to the song that they’re playing. We’ve had the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Prince, and Paul McCartney. This year it’s Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. All of them were great in their day, but come on! Get someone that’s had a hit record in this millenium please.

super-bowl.jpg On with the game. By the way, it will New England 37, the Giants 20.

If I were the Football Commissioner

Published January 21st, 2008 in Nancy Lieberman, football | No Comments »

I would make it so that a quarterback cannot spike the ball to stop the clock.  Why is that not intentional grounding?  The rule is if you are in the area between the tackles, you must throw it in the near vicinity of a receiver.  Enforce the damn rule!

football-pic.jpgIf a player is catching the ball in the end zone, he must have 2 feet inbounds or it is not a touchdown.  But, if you are running it in, you don’t have to have any feet in the end zone.  All you need to do is make sure that any part of the ball “crosses the plane”.  So a player that is 6 foot tall can fall forward from the 2 yard line and before he hits the ground can strech his arm out over the plane.  Ridiculous.

                                                             

Change the overtime rules.  It should not be sudden death.  In most cases, the team that wins the coin toss and gets the ball first usually wins.  Except the old man last night threw a freaking interception!  They should make it like the college game.  Give them the ball on the 20 yard line and try and score.  Then the other team gets the ball and they try and score.  If you have ever seen a college or even a high school overtime game, it is exciting.

nancy-lieberman.jpgMake the coach wear a football uniform.  Hey they do it in baseball, why not football?  I wouldn’t want basketball coaches wearing uniforms though.  There’s not too many coaches that I want to see in a tank top and shorts.  Except for maybe Nancy Lieberman.