Early To Bed, Early To Rise

Last week I was able to wake up early every day of the week and go running before I got ready for and biked in to work. I think I have just about gotten my body used to doing this. I have had to wake up between 5:10 and 5:30 each morning, depending on how many miles I was going to run, to be able to do this with enough time before work.

To my surprise, it is actually not as tough to get up as I thought it would be. It basically all just boils down to going to bed early enough for my body to not go into shock when the alarm goes off at 5:30 (or earlier). I have to say though, I really really really like the way I feel going to bed early and getting up early and getting something so important to me done every day before I even go to work. It makes me feel like each day is going to be very productive when I am able to get a run in first thing in the morning.

I think I have learned another valuable life lesson. I have learned that if there is something I really want to get done, my best chance of making it happen is to do it in the morning before work. Since I bike to and from work and get tired doing that, and sometimes have stressful days at work, if I haven't done my run in the morning the likelihood of me doing it after work just keeps going down as the day progresses -- it's much safer to just make the sacrifice and wake up early. My total mileage this week between my early morning runs and my long run on Saturday was 26.

140.6 - And Proud Of It!

Michelle got me this sticker and I put it on our car, proudly joining the ranks of other ultra-distance Triathletes.

Putting My Money Where My Mouth Is

Now that I have finished my first ultra-distance Triathlon (the Chesapeake Man), I have set some goals for my next ultra-distance Triathlon which is the Coeur d'Alene IronMan in June 2012. This is still 8 months away but I am going to try to discipline myself and train hard with a focus on the areas that I feel were my weaknesses in the Chesapeake Man race.

Specifically, I want to become a very strong runner. I have already started a new training regimen of going for runs in the morning before work. I have come to the conclusion that anything I really want to make sure gets done I should do it in the morning; otherwise it seems like there is a diminishing chance I will do it as the day goes on and I get tired from biking to and from work or have a stressful day at work or get bogged down in the numerous tasks and responsibilities that each day presents.

Also, I have signed up for two marathons to keep me on track and help me measure my improvements in running before Coeur d'Alene. By going signing up for these marathons (they are already paid for and everything), I know I will stay committed to continuing working hard no matter what. The first marathon is in Sparks, MD on November 26th (about a month and a half from now) and the second one is in Charlottesvile, VA in April of 2012.

By doing this, I feel that I am not just talking and thinking about how I plan to improve, but instead I am putting it all into action and making sure it happens.

The Kindness of Strangers

Even though it was a while ago, I still want to write about the various individuals and events that took place in Luray, Virginia that really helped us out when we were in a real bind. We were in Luray with a friend for to compete in a Triathlon and our friend’s car broke down. The first place we went when we pulled into town was a running store where we picked up our race packets. After picking up our packets, the car would not start. Beginning at this point, many strangers went out of their way to help us; some people went way out of their way and I am still amazed at how kind they were and how much they were willing to help us.

Two people were willing to try and give the car a jump-start, but that didn’t help. After that, a guy walking down the sidewalk stopped and told us he was a mechanic. He offered a few possible suggestions of ways to help but was on his way to dinner with his mom and kept going on his way. We were still there on the side of the road when he finished dinner and to all of our surprise, he drove to the local AutoZone and bought a tool set that he thought might help fix the problem. He came back and tried to fix the car but didn’t get anywhere. He just gave us the tool set and said he felt bad for not being able to fix the problem.

While we were waiting by the car and trying to decide what to do, a guy named Jeremy pulled up and parked beside us. Jeremy was a local and ended up doing more for us than any one of us could have asked for. Jeremy basically drove us all around for the entire evening. He drove us back to the AutoZone to try and get some different parts, he drove us to our hotel so we could check in and drop of our luggage and bikes off, and then he drove us back to the car (which was still broken down on the side of the street) to try and figure that whole situation out. We didn’t ever get the car fixed that night, but Jeremy did call his uncle who had an auto shop and asked if we could drop the car off there. He said yes, so we called a tow truck and took it to Jeremy’s uncle’s place.

While the car was in the shop, we had a Triathlon to race in! It turned out that the hotel’s employee where we were staying had a friend who happened to be the only taxi driver in town (Luray is a small town). This taxi driver was nice enough to pick us up from our hotel room at 5:30 am and drive us out to the race site. All he charged was $15 for taking all three of us about a half hour away. On top of that, we didn’t even have any cash on us and he said he didn’t want to run a credit card so he would just get the money from us later.

After the race was over, we were yet again lucky enough to have someone take care of us. We were at the race still with no car, just all of our gear and bikes. By sheer happenstance, our friend Randy also happened to be have signed up for the race. He offered to drive us (and all of our stuff) back into town and see if the car was fixed. When we got back into town the car was still not fixed. The mechanic didn’t normally work Saturdays but he was on this day, and what’s more he had gone to the next town over to try and get a part he thought the car might need. Sadly, it didn’t end up being the part. Randy, meanwhile, was driving us and all our stuff from place to place, getting lunch, and picking up parts at AutoZone that might be what the car needed. Around 5:00 pm, the mechanic finally got the car working. Randy’s entire day was pretty much gone from having driven us all around and having helped us get everything we needed, but we were back in business!

Randy is our friend that we have known for a while, but it was still remarkable how much he was willing to help us out! On top of that, Jeremy, the taxi driver, and the other locals who stopped and helped us had never even met us before. I have to ask myself if I would sacrifice so much time and energy for someone I didn’t know. Would I have even stopped to see what the person needed if our situation was reversed with someone from Luray? I hope the answer would be ‘yes’. I learned a lot about charity and kindness and sacrifice from the people who stopped and helped us over the weekend in Luray.

Guest Blogger on Unsuck DC Metro: "How Boycotting the Metro Changed My Life"

There is a popular DC area blog called 'Unsuck DC Metro.' The blog is basically dedicated to holding DC's Metro service (the public transportation consisting of the underground subway and bus systems) accountable by pointing out and investigating problems with the system and service, providing pictures and videos of said problems, and just all around not letting them get away with unfair actions. Whoever manages the blog (he has stayed anonymous) seems to really know his stuff.

At any rate, the blog let me write a short post about how I used to have to take the Metro to work everyday but got sick and tired of the fare increases and problems with the service. I started biking in to work once a week, slowly but steadily got stronger, and eventually worked my way up to biking in every day and even starting to swim and run as well. Furthermore, this led to my interest in the sport of Triathlon and even recently completing my first ultra-distance (IronMan) Triathlon.

Read my story entitled 'How Boycotting the Metro Changed My Life' here:

http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-boycotting-metro-changed-my-life.html