Sunday, January 29, 2012

punching bag

i finally did it. i went and bought a punching bag. a big heavy stand that has a speed bag platform on the backside of it. i spent a lot of money today but it's quite an investment in myself and my girls. i will be using it quite a bit for days i don't want to run.

i've been wanting a bag for many years. i had one some twenty years ago. my brother sold it. now i have one that i can take with me to wherever i move. the only thing i'm doing now is looking around my place to make sure i have room for everything or if i'm going to have to get rid of something.

i get it next weekend as it's being delivered by thursday or so. bought the little one a set of bag gloves with open fingers. she didn't want to use my gloves. nyah. jeez. i hope the speed bag is not too big. i'll find out next weekend but then i can always return it if it is. i know i can't get a pro size just yet, too fast. i want to try and jerry rig a double end bag. love those things.

Monday, January 16, 2012

i almost killed my dog today

i went for a run today to go meet and run with Dr Ray Mclanahan and his PT partner Sanatan. they do group runs and intros every monday. dan and i went down to run with them. it turned out to be more of a clinic and no run was involved. so dan and i ran back to his car. from there i ran across the river on the waterfront. portland is known as "rose city" as well as "bridge town" because the willamette river cuts through the center of it.

as i was finishing my run and going down the off ramp of the bridge i let my dog's leash go. he got excited and sprinted off to the left. i told him go get the birds and he crossed in front of me and jumped off the bridge. my heart stopped as i watched him fall thinking i just killed my dog. i watched him panick in the air when he realized what he did and then bounce in the dirt. i ran as fast as i could over to him. he sat there in shock not moving until i got there. he came to me slowly as i had to unhook the leash that was caught in a bush.

i started looking him over to see how he was. a bum came over to see what just fell. he was in shock it was my dog. my dog was in shock and i was horrified. my heart was racing. i squeezed all of his bones to make sure nothing was broken. he didn't even flinch. he just sat there shaking, scared. i talked to the man for a minute and then walked my dog so he could shake it off.

he did fine on the walk. we got to an open field and i saw some seagulls. so did he and he got excited. i let him off leash and off he went chasing them. he was prancing around after they flew off. i knew then he forgot all about what happened. i however haven't. we got home and he went straight for his food. he ate and has been laying around moving from spot to spot since. i'm just going to have to check him tomorrow and make sure he's not bruised or has internal bleeding.

i got so damn lucky today. i was only worried about cars and here he gave me something else to worry about. little bastard. i'd miss him. it would be to soon to see him go especially with something avoidable like that.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

the new year

wow. almost two weeks have passed since the new year. actually, it was two weeks ago since new years eve passed. this will be my first post of the new year. funny because it's just before i want to leave to work somewhat early. it looks like this won't be a long post but a short summary of the new year.

school started this week. taking organic chem of course and world religions. the world religions is going to be a lot of work. it is a prereq for nursing students so i'm going to stick with it. never mind that the deadline for dropping with out paying passed yesterday. it helps there are some cute young girls in there.

i went for a run at forest park on new years day with jen. we both wore shoes as it was a bit cold. some man asked us if it was our new years resolutions. we both scoffed and looked at him in disgust and answered no. come on. if you have to make a resolution to do something, especially if you wait until new years, you're not going to make it. i don't care what it is. i learned a number of years ago that i fail at new years resos. i resolved then to not make them anymore and i've been quite happy.

a highlight of winter break was i tool my daughter on a trial run. well, she mostly walked while i "ran". my maf pace keeps me quite slow on trails. i'll post soon about my first maf test i did last week. it was still exciting for me to get her out there even though it was only once and she barely ran. she was stomping the whole time. i wonder if she lost that beautiful form that she has. god i hope not.

i have also entered two bloggers contests to win a pair of merrell road gloves. i have trail and tough gloves so some roads would round it out for me. i actually tied the lace for work last night and they were quite comfy. that  is the tough gloves that i wear to work and the trails for the occasional run and to lab. i keep them in my car along with some black driving mocs in case i ever need to wear some shoes.

 http://www.maplegrovebarefootguy.com/2012/01/merrell-road-glove-giveaway.html
http://www.runningandrambling.com/2012/01/merrell-road-glove-review-and-giveaway.html

check out those links for some reviews on the road gloves or almost any other shoe  you want to buy. gotta go.