It was very sunny and warm.  I was wishing I had worn short sleeves, but at least I wore shorts.  Everybody and her brother was on the path today.  One of the drain pipes was plugged and a stream, that normally passes under the path, was going over the path.

And a word about my mustache.

For those who have never seen me, I have a mustache.  Always have, except for a week one December when I foolishly shaved it off.  Wife’s comment “I don’t like your mustache, but you look strange without it.”.  Yeah.

Anyway, I was in the shower thinking about my mustache, when it occurred to me that I don’t intentionally wash my mustache.  I mean, I wash the hair on my head, but not the mustache.  I just assumed it was washed by default with the rest of my face.  Not that I have some special face washing method.  Its just the normal (guy) method like you are wiping off a counter.  Soapy hands, quick scrub, done.

So I decided to make a point to wash it.  And let me tell you, it felt weird.  So weird, in fact, that I wonder if I was ever really washing it, because I certainly would have noticed the strange mustache-washing feeling before.  I’m thinking I’ve been walking around with a dirty mustache for decades, and nobody has bothered to tell.  Probably talking about me behind my back.

No more.  My mustache is clean.   And now?  Everything smells like soap.

I’d really like to know what is causing it.

Thanks!

The brand on these was “Taste of Inspirations” which is distributed by DZA Brands, Inc.  DZA is the stock market symbol for Delhaize America, Inc., which owns Hannaford supermarkets and Food Lion. Its a store brand.

These are “Authentic Belgian” chocolate. In this case it means that they are a product of Belgium.

The label says the milk chocolate is made with “30% sun-ripened cocoa and pure cocoa butter”. I thought that was an odd way of phrasing it. Cocoa beans are often fermented and dried in the sun, so maybe that’s what they mean by “ripened”. The cacao trees would probably be shaded as would the pods, I think. 30% seems kinda low even for milk chocolate.

The milk chocolate lists normal ingredients, although they do list “artificial flavor”. I’m not sure if that means vanillin (no vanilla listed) or some other fake chocolate flavor. The taste is a little odd. Its very sweet and has almost a buttery flavor. Not horrendously unpleasant, just different. It reminded me a little of the milk chocolate inside M&M’s.

The dark had “natural flavors” listed. Maybe its vanilla? No idea. The taste was very plain. It reminded me of Hershey’s Dark chocolate. Bitter but no flavor. I don’t think I would buy this one again.

These two were a disappointment.  Next week I have two very cool chocolate bars (although, as of yet untasted) that my wife found for me.  Organic and oh so very dark.   :)

The rain and wind were picking up all night and I guess farther south they had tons of downed trees and such.  We did alright though.  By morning it had calmed down a lot.  Still very gusty, but the rain had slowed to drizzle.

We had dinner at Tony Boffa’s in Middletown on Saturday night.  Fabulous place!  If you are looking for dinner before that race, or just going to dinner, I would recommend them highly.  Delicious food, reasonable prices, and SUPER fast service.   Loved it!

The course is very hilly (at least by my standards):

See that big hill at the start?  Kills me.  The little bump at 8.5 hurt too.  I was tired right from the start of this race and fought just keep a steady pace.  That first mile and half just sucked the life out of my legs, even though I tried to have a slow steady pace, not charge up the hill.

My feet were soaked after the first half mile and I pulled off my headband a few miles in because I was getting too warm.  It was tough to judge the temperature because the wind made it so cold, but then I would get too hot when the wind died down.

Lots of water/gatorade stations on the course, two porta-potty stops, and they had gels at mile 8 (?), or somewhere near there.  The route was well marked and they had lots of course volunteers.  There was a group singing in one location.

I spotted a woman who passed me near the end of the Albany Winterfest 5K, and I tried to keep up with her, but just couldn’t.  She has a very short stride and a hard steady pace.  I really wanted to catch her but my legs and lungs couldn’t do it.  I ran part of the way with a guy who had (I think) a British accent.  At least, in my oxygen deprived state, it sounded like that.  He ended up moving on ahead of me.  I passed him at the water stops, and then he would pass me later on.  I only drank a little water.

I finished about 9 minutes slower than last year, which is a miracle considering how horrible my training has been.  I should be getting my butt out the door more than two days a week.  Also, I’m 10-15 pounds heavier, which sucks on many different levels.

I wandered around a bit after the finish, trying to breath again, while I waited for my RP to come in.  That’s when the hail started.  I moved under a tree while people began looking for their umbrellas.  Short lived, the hail lasted only 5 minutes or so.  My RP came in shortly after the hail, hitting the same time as last for her.  Obviously, her training is still spot on.

The post race food was again sponsored by Outback Steakhouse.  Chicken and steak!  Gotta love it.  They had beer too, but I forgot to go grab one.  I really wanted one this year.

The post-race food area was packed.  We were soaked through to the bone (and freezing), so we changed into dry clothes and ate our food in my room while we watched TV.  The hotel gave us until 2 pm to check out, which made the race recovery so much nicer.  Showered bodies and dry clothes to drive back home in.  Very nice.

Today I’m feeling like I was hit by a truck.  My legs feel like stone and its painful to walk.  I feel like I ran a full marathon.  My calves are killing my from all the hills.  I need more training.  I need to have my butt out the door at least three days a week, if not four.  I need speedwork.  And I need to lose weight.

Its hard to believe that just one year ago I was running the fastest I ever ran in my life.  Now?  15 pounds heavier and falling apart.  Egads.

Oh, and to make this ever better?

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM EST THIS EVENING
TO 1 PM EDT SUNDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BINGHAMTON HAS ISSUED A WINTER
WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW...SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN...WHICH IS IN
EFFECT FROM 6 PM EST THIS EVENING TO 1 PM EDT SUNDAY.

TONIGHT RAIN WILL CHANGE TO SNOW...SLEET...AND FREEZING RAIN
ESPECIALLY AT THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF NORTHERN AND EASTERN
SULLIVAN COUNTY. SUNDAY MORNING THE MIXED PRECIPITATION WILL
CHANGE TO JUST RAIN BY MIDDAY. SNOW AND SLEET ACCUMULATIONS WILL
BE 2 TO 4 INCHES MAINLY ABOVE 2000 FEET IN ELEVATION. LOCATIONS
ABOVE 3000 FEET COULD GET MORE THAN 4 INCHES. ICE ACCUMULATIONS
WILL BE MOSTLY A TENTH OF AN INCH OR LESS.

Yeah, because poor training is nothing compared to horrendous race conditions.  Snow, sleet and freezing rain.  Why don’t they throw in meteorites, werewolves, and rabid ninjas while they’re at it.

The good news?  Post race food (and beer!) is by Outback Steakhouse.  Yeah.  OUT.BACK.STEAK.HOUSE.  My plan is to double back at mile 2 and go eat until my head explodes.

It was an ok run.  My right big toe is sore underneath and feels swollen, like I’m stepping on something.  The ball of my foot feels like it is bruised when I press on it.  Maybe I stepped on something?  Not sure.  My RP seems to have some hip flexor pain, which has me a bit concerned since we have a half marathon next sunday.  I’m hoping she will heal up this week.  Ice and stretching, buddy.

I watched 2012 tonight at home.  I liked it a lot.  OK, the scenes of escaping from certain death and destruction in cars and airplanes were a bit crazy.  But then again, if suspension of disbelief holds for a planet being entirely upended because neutrinos from the sun are making the center of the earth heat up too much (as predicted by Mayans, of all people), then I’m in for planes flying helter skelter through crashing buildings and giant clouds of ash.  Good stuff.    Rent it.

I managed to finally change the oil in my car.  Over 8000 miles, it was seriously due.  I added a lot to it earlier this week, so the tar was diluted a bit and it was able to actually flow out of the engine.  Years ago I let my car go 15,000 miles without an oil change.  The oil looked like black gooey honey coming out of the drain hole.   It didn’t even pour in a straight line, but curled around backwards.  Lesson learned (but not very well).

I also managed to fix a plumbing problem last weekend.  Did I talk about this?  The was a leaking valve in the basement.  It was the remnants of a humidifier system, and the add-on valve (no longer in use) dripped onto the control knob for the hot water heater.  I ended up keeping a piece of sheet metal under it, directing the water into a 5 gallon bucket, which I had to empty once a month.

But when the wife and son were gone for the day, I took the opportunity to shut off the water and do some plumbing.  All it needed was a simple cap.  Unfortunately, you can’t get the old fitting off until all the water is out of the line.  I ended up having to cut the pipe first, let the water drain onto me and the floor (amazing how much water is in our plumbing).  Then I had to wait until it all stopped dripping before I could begin soldering.  Sat there with the torch for half an hour, heating, watching the steam, heating, repeat.  I ended up opening a valve near the water meter and blowing all the water out of the line.  Lead solder tastes so good.

5 minutes later, the line was capped and holding.  Total joy after 3 years of emptying that damn bucket.

And by the way?  My head is going to explode.  Can’t get into details about work, but you know, work.  Boy Scouts is annoying me so much I want to scream.  Dear Scoutmaster, if you want to run everything yourself, then we can appoint one of your buddies to Committee Chair, I resign and get to have my Monday nights free, and then everything you do get an automatic rubber stamp.  I’m thinking win-win.  Oh, except for the poor kids that get hand fed their Eagle Scout ranks and never learn any scouting along the way.  Duh.

Can ya tell I’m ready to quit that stupidity tonight?  I am.

I’m so tired, my head is going to explode.  I have to get up a o’dark-thirty to make it to physical therapy, but I don’t have time or the energy to do my exercises because I have to get to bed BECAUSE I’M SO TIRED!

Speaking of that, its an hour past my bedtime already.  Good night.

I’ve got work this morning so I’ll make this brief (and with little editing).

I ran 10 miles with my RP on Sunday.  We have lots of snow here so we ran in Yak Trax.  It was quite a slushy slog and my feet were massively soaked.  I had no trouble from my back or my ITB, which makes me very happy.

We have a half marathon in less than two weeks so I think we will be able to finish.  Not as strongly as last year, but finishing is definitely in the cards.  It will be nice to have a bib pinned on my shirt again.  The last time I did, I had to drop out.

The weight loss is not going well.  When I hurt my back, I didn’t have any exercise to burn up calories, and I didn’t have the will power to stop stuffing my face.  I fixed the first problem, but still working on the second.  I may try the reclined bike and see how it does on my back.  Maybe 10-15 minutes won’t hurt too much.

What else?  What else?

I’ve worked out some thematic issues in the book I’m writing in my head.  I needed an irrevocable decision and a basis for why it would a difficult one for the main character.  I mean, if they are deciding between eggs or waffles for breakfast, its not exactly a nail biter.  But I have it fixed.

A friend asked me to teach her 4-H group how to make truffles.  I’m thinking about it.  There’s a lot of things involved in it and I’m not sure I can have so many people doing it at once.  I need multiple pieces of cookware.  Then there’s the wait time.  It’s probably only an hour or two for the whole thing, I’m guessing. My wife suggested I do it like they do on cooking shows; have stuff premade in stages, so that when you finish one stage, you can jump to the next without waiting.  Ultimately, that means a lot of chocolate.

Ok, now I’m late for work.  Have a good running week!

Sunday my RP and I went running at the park.  We had very chilly weather (16 F) but my back did ok.  It felt a little tight at first, but I didn’t get the feeling of imminent breakage like last week.  After about 1/2 a mile it felt perfect.  No tightness, no pain.  Just lovely.  We got a little over 5 miles in.  My ITB started to ache a bit so I was good to stop at that point.  I’m a little behind for the half marathon, but I’m happy to be moving again.

My back still gets very tired when standing or sitting.  Lying down is best.  I’m still sore if I sit in the car for a while and its hard to straighten up right away after driving the hour to work.  But its getting better.

I got my hair cut today.  A friend of ours cuts hair out of her home and its a damn good price for such flexible hours.  I brought her chocolate truffles today too.  Two out of her three kids liked them.  There’s always one kid somewhere that doesn’t like dark chocolate.  What are ya gonna do?

We filed our taxes today.  I’m happy the IRS didn’t keep everything this year.  I may change my exemptions to even it out a little more for next year.  I’d like to pay nothing extra at tax time and have a zero return if I can.  No sense letting the gub’ment hold my money, and no sense having to write a big check at the end of the year.

Its funny, I have so much I want to say, but then I get to starting a post, and I forget every thing I was thinking about.  Oh well.  Some posts are just for little thoughts.

I still get some twingy soreness in my back if I sit or stand too long.  I have a giant pile of yoga-like exercises that I have to do.  Nothing crazy like this guy, but other stuff that sort of hurts.

Apparently, I need to do some of them every two hours. Have you ever tried laying on the floor in a factory to do yoga? People tend to stare. I tried closing the door to my office, but my lab coat was still completely filthy when I got up. I think I need a mat or something.

Sunday I tried going for a run at the park.  I have 9 miles on the schedule, but my back decided that 1/8th of the mile was more appropriate.  I walked for 2.5 miles after that.  Sigh.  I guess I will work on my exercises and take the running more slowly.

I had alot of other stuff to talk about but I forgot most of it, and if I don’t post something soon, I won’t remember any of it.  Done.  Posted.

Oh, and I made chocolate this weekend.  At least I can do that without hurting my back.