I’m competitive. Sometimes irrationally and obnoxiously competitive.
Last week, during a game of Risk with Kelly and our two Chinese exchange students, I convinced one of the students (who doesn’t excel at English, and trusts me implicitly) to attack my wife’s armies in Indonesia (he had gathered armies in… of course… China), so that I could thrive in temporal peace in South America, and expand northward. In two turns, Kelly had lost her Australian stronghold, our two exchange students were consistently thinning each other out in Africa and Europe and I had the Americas irrevocably fortified. It might have been the easiest Risk win I’ve ever had.
See what I mean? obnoxious.
But to give you a glimpse of the “irrational” side… today I felt competitive with the month of August. Yup. I’m a shade away from attempting to duel with the time-space continuum. Anyway, I began July with a 10k on the first of the month (that might not be my last Bone Thugs ‘n Harmony reference of this post… I just watched that video in its entirety… really took me back to 7th grade basketball camp. We abused that disc (tape?) at 7th grade basketball camp).
Anyway, I felt like a 10k to start the month set the tone in a good way for a productive month for me. So, I decided to do the same with August. How this got competitive is really a mystery. But at some point I began to feel like August was an entity I was somehow trying to beat, and vice-versa. First, I rode my bike to REI… a good 20 miler… don’t worry, August, that’s just a warm up. Then… time for the main event.
When I started my run the heat index was still pushing 100 degrees. That’s all ya got, August? July was over 110 and I just dominated that month… burning-fat-wise. Oh, what’s that August? You’re throwing an “Air Quality Alert” at me? Pffff… bring it. I literally eat carcinogens for breakfast. (probably?)
I hit "dismiss" ... because this is Amuricka. Do you think Rocky would have needed "more info" about an air quality alert? Worrying about our air quality means the communists have already won...
Anyway, other than perhaps having some sort of serious interpersonal disorder, the gory details of the run itself aren’t that interesting. I ran about a 9-minute pace for 10k… and felt pretty good afterward… as if I could have run further or faster (note: not both).
Here is the run… with nerdy details (clicking on it will take you to garmin’s website):
One item of note, and perhaps a point for August… and certainly a slice of humble pie for me are my mile splits:
yikes!
As I said to my fried Jeff later, “Hm. It didn’t FEEL like I was consistently slowing down.” I actually felt like I had hit a Forrest Gump-esque sweet spot, and could keep that rhythm going for a while. And yet, the data say* otherwise. This dampened the good feeling and sense of accomplishment after the run to a certain degree. But, as my lovely absentee wife would be quick to remind you… I probably need a dose of that here and there.
Also, I’m not very good at pacing. But in my defense, I do have a pseudo-uphill finish (but not for the final 5 miles of this 6 mile run).
Also also, speaking of humble pie… yes, I do, in fact, realize that 9 minutes per mile is not a “fast” pace. Thank you.
Anyway… Distance: 20 mile bike, 10k run
Had some chicken today, only a small (actually) serving of Cheetos… really need to get rid of those things. Held off on sweets… but didn’t add too many greens. Hmmm… food? I’ll go with a… Food: B-
Scaletime: 204.8 lbs.
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* yes, this is a footnote on a blog post. and a grammatical one, to boot. “data” is the plural of “datum” (the singular). stop using the singular verb tense with the word “data”. if language breaks down we have anarchy! … also, since I’m being picky, the data don’t “say” anything… they suggest or show or reveal. so, really… that sentence is wrong anyway. Also, maybe don’t take grammar tips from someone who just wrote a blog containing no less than 137 ellipses…
dan vs fat 