Spring Fever

    Yes, finally. . . Warm weather! I was getting so annoyed with snow and bone-chilling wind.  With this new warm weather comes a lot more outdoor activities as well.  Scott, Ethan and I have been going to the fit lately on Thursdays to play racket ball, set in the sauna, and swim some.  We get the same results as if we would have done Kenpo X, since they are both purely cardio.  However, now that it's warm out we can go to the park and ride the long trail, which ends up being a fairly hardcore leg workout; and not to mention the awesome frisbee golf coarse they have there.

    My friend Cory and I went to Knoxville yesterday to buy some running shoes from Fleet Feet.  They are amazing! I've never had running shoes feel so comfortable, however I've never went through such an in-depth process to pick my shoes either.  The skilled employees measure your foot sitting down, standing up, watch you walk barefoot, and watch you run in slow motion on a treadmill with your possible shoes.  The result for me was some awesome Nike's and for Cory some Saucony's.

    The whole reason we went to get new running shoes was because Cory is running in a half-marathon this Sunday.  I would have, if I didn't have to work.  But, we are thinking about participating in a race called the Navy Seal Ultimate Challenge in the Smoky Mountains.  It is a 5k with hills, obstacles, water crossings, and rope climbs, and all with a 2400' elevation change.  It would be fun, however, we also want to run the Music City Half-Marathon 2 weeks after that, and I'm just not sure I will be ready and recovered within that short time span, but we shall see when the time comes.

"If someone says, 'Hey, I ran 100 miles this week. How far did you run?' Ignore him! What the hell difference does it make? . . . The magic is in the man, not the 100 miles.
      - Bill Bowerman

A Quick Survey

    Hey all my loyal followers, here is a survey I am conducting for a paper I am writing. If you have a couple minutes, it would really help me out if you would participate in it. Thanks :-) and here's the link:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dDVBT1dvY3JqYXJQTFAwS2Rabk9YZ3c6MA

What an Awesome Weekend

    So last weekend was Super-Cross, and man was it awesome.  Samantha, Cory, and I left Friday morning around 11 and arrived in Atlanta a few hours later.  We rode in Cory's new Tacoma, man I have to get one of those someday, but anyways we dropped Samantha off at her sister's house to see her newborn niece. Then me and Cory went on to the Showcase, or the event that Super-Cross holds for all the dealers to showcase their newest products.  It was pretty cool, we got awesome free tickets in the lower section right in front of the "monster quad," the largest jump on the track.  We had taco's to eat, but as soon as we got back to Dee and Tatia's house, Samantha's aunts, Tatia had some food waiting for us.

    We ended up playing poker again, just like last year, and also just like last year lady luck was with me and I won the pot.  Since we all only put in $15 it was a $75 pot, which was still enough to pay for Samantha and me an event shirt and still come home with some extra. :-)

    We woke up around 10 a.m. the next morning, and Tatia cooked us some awesome omelette's and fruit smoothies.  Around 2 p.m. Dee dropped us off at the Georgia Dome and we headed to the Pitt party and had lunch at the Parts Unlimited Booth for Dealers.  After walking around looking at all the booths and such Samantha was able to get her picture with Kevin Windham.  Lets just say, she could have left after that and would have still been satisfied for the rest of the weekend.

    The race started around 7 p.m. and man was the intro for some of the riders awesome, there was great light shows, fireworks, videos, tricks, and music.  The preliminary races were first, but when the main event races began everyone was on the end of their chairs.  Christophe Pourcel came out with the win in the lites section after a very dramatic, epic race.  In the 450 section Dungey won with a good lead over the rest, however if it weren't for a few unfortunate wrecks he might have had a run for his money with several of the riders.

   After the race we went back to Dee and Tatia's and watched t.v. for awhile before finally hitting the hay.  The next day we left around 1 p.m. but before leaving we went to eat at Bella's Pizzeria, and man was it delicious. Dee and Tatia paid for our meal and we started our trip back home, listening to old CD's I had found in my car from about 5 years ago.  All in all a great weekend, I  really didn't want to leave, but I knew I had to.  We're all thinking about going back when it warms up.  As far as my workout went, I did what I could but it was mainly a weekend to relax, then I went back into the regular routine full force when I got back.  Actually due to the rest and relaxation over the weekend I was able to really push myself and strive for perfection when I started back working out.  So my advice for today, live life in happiness, always view the glass half full and take breaks, if you miss a workout don't fret just relax and enjoy the time off then give it your all when you return.

* One of my favorite quotes! *

"The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy...It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed."
                - Jacqueline Gareau, 1980 Boston Marathon champ