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I have found that WordPress does not allow js, Flash, and some other html/text widgets. Unfortunately, I want to put a widget that my buddy designed, so that means goodbye to WordPress.

I enjoyed the change, but it’s time to go.

For the two or three of you who read this blog, please update your bookmarks!

http://reasoningone.blogspot.com

Workout at the “other track”.

It’s been a while since my last post; however, after reading about brick workouts on the Trail Running Blog, I’ve decided to make more of an attempt to post more regularly…especially about my training. I’ve found it easier to think that someone is reading my posts either on this blog or check out my Map My Run information I put on my Facebook profile. Chances are nobody is looking, but it keeps me honest.

I decided last night that I was going to run a track workout today. So, I laced up my shoes (after working a couple hours on my day off) and headed down to the track. When I got there, I found a Grounds worker taking a power sprayer to the track. I wasn’t in the mood for a shower every 400m, so I decided to run a warm up to the other college track (about a mile), do my track ladder, and head back to campus. I did two 1-2-4-4-2-1 intervals with an 800m walk between each set.

I know it’s a weak run, but I’ll do a longer distance ladder in the next couple of weeks.

I averaged 13:15 per set. The second was a little faster than the first, and I believe this is because another male runner had arrived at the track to warm up for his own workout. I suppose to show off. He appeared to be taller and younger than me (perhaps a runner at the other school?). It doesn’t matter though. Anyway. After I made my way back to campus, I got to the apartment and realized I didn’t have a key or my ID with me, so I was locked out, which hasn’t happened to me since my second year here. At that time, I locked myself out of the apartment twice in a span on 5 days. This wouldn’t be a horrible thing, but nobody except the Director of Residence Life and locksmith have keys to the professional staff apartments. Since the lockouts happened during the evening hours, the locksmith needed to be called in to open the door. I was quite embarrassed, especially the second time.

After reading about brick workouts, I think I’m going to try one next Tuesday or Thursday. It sounds like fun.

As I type this there’s thunder outside, the wind has picked up significantly, and now it’s raining. It looks as though I completed my workout just in time. We need the rain, but I don’t need to be soaked with it while running.

…and now it’s done, and the sun is out. The rain lasted about 10 minutes.

Skype

So, I hopped on the bandwagon (way late I might add) and registered for Skype. I’ve got no one to call, but who knows. Maybe someone will call me?

p.s. I signed my wife up too. However, she doesn’t know it yet.

Michael Jackson Scuttlebutt

I’m posting this from my iPod Touch, so I can’t include hyperlinks. I just heard on TV that Michael Jackson has a will, left his father nothing, and quite possibly didn’t finish, formalize, or get his children’s adoption papers in order.

This is a sad situation that will only get worse as the days, weeks, and months go by.

An Arby’s a day…

…keeps hunger at bay.

A couple of days ago, I purchased a handful of Arby’s Roast Beef Sandwiches.  It’s one of the few meats my daughter will eat without bribery, and they just plain taste delicious.  After dinner was finished, I took a quick look at the receipt to check the damage.  It did cost too much, but what I found printed on the back was even more exciting (check the picture).  Lo and behold, if I were to log onto the company website and complete the satisfaction survey, I would be given a code for a free original roast beef or beef & cheddar sandwich as long as I brought the receipt and code to a participating restaurant.

Many of you who read this know that I’m a cheap skate.  I’m always looking for the best deals on everything, and will do almost anything to get them.  Especially my love affair with Kwik Trip.

 

So, after finishing dinner, I logged onto the computer and filled out the 5 question survey (no personal identification questions asked, and it took less than a minute).  My final step was writing the four-digit code for my free sandwich on the back.  Fast forward to tonight.  My wife and I were thinking about dinner plans for our daughter, and Arby’s was again mentioned.  I complied quickly in the affirmative, as I still had the free sandwich receipt on the fridge, and it was within the 30-day window.  I headed to the local Arby’s receipt in-hand and received my free sandwich.  I felt a little bad for not having to buy anything else, so I also picked up a small curly fry (I still may do this in the future).  I thanked the employee and rang the bell on the way out.  Then another amazing thing happened…I checked the back of my receipt and found the same survey information.  Could it be?  Another free sandwich for spending a minute on the computer?  I was in awe to realize that our local store’s receipt tape is just one free sandwich code after another.  I hurried home (after stopping by Kwik Trip for two bags of milk and a take and bake pizza, more on this later) and logged onto the site to fill out my customer survey.

 

It was nearly too good to be true.  When entering the store ID on my receipt, I found that Arby’s must have a cookie on our Macbook because I read on the next page and needed to wait another 30 days to fill out the survey for a free sandwich.  I got down for just a second, until I realized where I made my home.  Can anyone guess?  That’s right, we have a winner, on a college campus!  Remember, I’m a live-in Residence Life professional.  I walked up the couple stairs to my office, and boom, free Arby’s sandwich!  So, the next time my daughter, wife, or I are in the mood for an Arby’s Roast Beef sandwich, we’re not paying a dime for it.  And, until I decide to not work on a college campus, maybe never again??

Sometimes it feels good to be a cheap skate.

p.s. For more money saving ideas, you should check your favorite store’s website for an email list.  I’m on a couple of them (Kwik Trip, Culver’s, and Papa Murphy’s just to name a few) and get regular emails with links to sweet deals and coupons.  Should I be afraid of spam or flooded inbox?  Nope, not at all!  With Gmail’s filters, these messages skip my inbox and head straight into their own label.  I only check it if I see a new message.  Gosh I love the Internet, and saving money too!

 

Back to my stop at Kwik Trip.

• A large take and bake pizza? $7.99.  Compare that to your local pizza delivery joint. 
• The gallon of 2% milk you ask?  A ridiculously cheap $1.08.  

 

I’m telling you this place is ingenious for the bargain grocery shopper.  Oh, BTW, a dozen eggs are 69 cents.  That’s right,$0.69 for a dozen eggs.  I don’t know how long they’ll last.  Get there while you can!  Tell them I sent you.

Posted via email from reasoningone’s posterous

This morning’s work, and more.

Well, the last hour and a half has been quite uneventful.  I'm waiting on phone calls and emails in order to finish my necessary job stuff.  Hopefully they'll come before lunch, but I'm not necessarily hopeful.  Perhaps folks will surprise me though.  It's early yet, so it just may happen.  In other news, Hyland Park was quite a treat yesterday afternoon, until Linnea bit the dust while walking on sand and a railroad tie.  Perhaps I tripped her, I'm not quite sure.  It looked as though she hit her head pretty hard and in fact had bruising on her forehead, nose, and chin.  At least she was enjoying herself before the "injury".

However, I do have one comment for the park, please come up with a better way to do a safety break.  With all those kids running around, I didn't hear the announcement on the bullhorn, and was a little embarrassed when Anna pulled me aside because I was breaking the rules.  Perhaps a whistle (like all swimming pools) or something would be a better option?

Oh well.  The staff probably did the same thing when I was growing up, so I suppose if it was good enough for my parents, it should be good enough for me.

p.s. I signed up for "Posterous", so this post was sent to all my social networking outlets via email.  The service looks to be the real deal.  We'll see how easy it is to use in the future though.  I've got a good feeling about this one, unlike Luke Skywalker.

A night not spent running

As I sit in Mystic Lake Casino Hotel taking advantage of their free WiFi, I’m lamenting on the fact that I missed my last two days of training. I somehow need to find the time to make up the 7-10 miles I’ve missed.

Instead of running, I’ve spent the last two days helping my father re-level their patio. We started by removing too much dirt/sand mixture and replacing it with Class 2 followed by a load of sand. Tonight we played a softball game, so I’ve been plenty active, but not on the road.

Tomorrow I really need to lace up the shoes and hit the road, before the class reunion. That’s another post though, along with my review of the hotel.

Another realization (for now)

After hearing my daughter and my dad play with Playdoh this morning, I decided to head out for a jog around the neighborhood.  It was quite exciting because as soon as I headed out the door, the sun came out.  This is a mighty fine change from the last 24 hours.

I mapped out a 1-mile loop around the neighborhood and off I went, destined to do at least 3 loops, which is what I was able to achieve.  I would have like to go one more, but my legs were giving up.  Since the run was only a little more than three miles, this tells me that the 8-minute pace is not yet realistic.  I’ve been attempting to train right around that time, but until now haven’t quite figured out that slowing down just a little bit will help me run farther.

I’m not yet ready to drop my goal time down, but I should run a little slower until I get more base mileage under my belt.  Well, at least that’s the plan until I come up with something better.

For now though, I’ve got to hit the shower.  My mom wants to head to the consignment shop in Burnsville, and I need to get some lunch.  Something in the back of my head (my wife’s voice) is telling me that a piece of toast doesn’t make a good breakfast.

6/17/2009: Casey’s Addition 1-mile loop (3x)

First Treadmill Run

Yesterday afternoon I did my first treadmill run.  I was able to get 2 miles in before being paged by the LFT child care center to pick up my screaming toddler.  The run was pretty much horrible, as have been many of my treadmill experiences.  However, what surprised me was what I found at the child care center.

Yes, my daughter was crying.  However, the only change in his situation appeared to be that someone took her shoes off.  Other than that, she was still plastered to the window of the entry door.  If I was a betting man, I’d bet that she didn’t move at all.  If that is in fact the case, I’m a little disappointed in the employees working yesterday afternoon.  My daughter loves the child care center as she spends significant time there on a very regular basis.  Perhaps if they would have taken her hand and walked her around, she would’ve recognized where she was and started playing accordingly.

I do understand that every child can’t get individual treatment at a place like that, but it would sure be nice.

16 weeks begins today.

As you may now know, I’ve registered for the Twin Cities Marathon. This is a significant stretch for me as I haven’t raced anything above an olympic distance triathlon (my last race being in 2002). After I read a tweet from one of my buddies, I decided to get in on the fun and register for the race. Was it a mistake? It could be, but I won’t know that until the afternoon of Sunday, October 4.

After registering, I needed to find a training program.  I cleared the cobwebs from my brain and remembered that Runners World had all kinds of articles on marathon training.  So, I picked up the Rookie Marathon Plan, which happened to be a 16-week training program.  It worked out rather well because at the time of my registration there was 17 weeks until the race.

I spent last week just running, trying to get a couple miles under my belt and reintroduce my body to running.  It worked quite well and I believe I’m back into the swing of things.  For the last couple of days, I’ve been posting my running routes on this blog.  However, I’ve recently discovered that the route doesn’t tell you very much.  So, today I’ll be figuring out a better way to post information from Map My Run.  I’m sure there’s HTML code to “embed this workout” on a website.  When I find it, expect a change in the way I update what I’ve been doing.  I’m also considering not updating this blog with every single workout.  That may just get annoying.  With that in mind, I’m going to change the FB application settings to automatically update after I enter my information on the MapMyRun website.  So, if you’re my FB friend, you’ll have access to a whole lot more running information.

I’m trying this public thing so I can be held accountable for training.  So, if you see that I’m missing something, feel free to let me know.  I need to stay honest throughout the program in order to finish this race successfully, and I’m looking forward to you following me.  Here’s this morning’s workout:

6/15/09: 3-mile Kwik Trip Run

Now though, it’s off to LFT for family swim time.