Oh, Hey. Hello.

Well folks, if you're wondering in your head if you should ever do a renovation yourself? The answer is no. Sure you save money, but the stress and time commitment can become unbearable. I am almost finished with the demo...seriously, this kitchen was built to withstand most natural disasters. On Tuesday, I have an electrician coming in to rewire a couple things for the new appliances. Then things can really move along.

So I have a really good blog in the queue to write. It will go over an article my brother sent me regarding larger (see Clydesdale) athletes and leg injuries. It says that we aren't more likely to have an injury because of our weight. I'll leave it there until I have time to go deeper into the matter.

I've gotten three runs in this week, all good ones. I've even broken into the 8's as far as pace. That's pretty exciting for someone who was worried he wouldn't break 10:00 miles during the P200.

Oh! I went to the US Pro Cycling Championships on Monday, and it never disappoints! Here's my best shot from the weekend of eventual winner, Timmy Duggan. Check out his remarkable story here.

Oh yeah, down to 205....33 lbs lost. SEND IT

Vegas Baby, Vegas

Sorry I've been absent the past few days. Since that's out of the ordinary and all. But this weekend I had a legit excuse. I ventured out to Vegas with some buddies to celebrate the end of the single life of two of my good friends. And celebrate we did. Vegas is interesting though...and we definitely didn't fit in, but who cares? Seven fresh faced, polo rocking, Costa wearing twenty something's walking around Sin City. A stark contrast to all the Ed Hardy, Gucci, Affliction, Dolce...whatever else people from the Jersey Shore wear. We got strange looks that's for sure. No worries though...

Nothing big to report - some money won, some money lost, solid memories. Or lack there of. Pictures would've been key, but you can't take pictures in Vegas. Just my opinion. They do a great job of keeping you distracted in case you're worried about time, I'll tell you that.

But now back to the real world...I had partially forgotten that my kitchen was in pieces while I was moonlighting as a baller. Tough realization when I returned home late last night. It's moving along well - the appliances and gas lines will be capped this week, allowing me to finish out the demo. New cabinets will go in next week if all goes as planned.

Good run tonight considering I was running around lawless in Vegas all weekend. Yippee.

Getting Hammered

By my kitchen renovation that is. I know you've been wondering where I've been lately. What's he doing? Why are there no blogs...dang, not even any new runs charted??? Well, I've been feeling guilty if I'm not working on my kitchen. I promised the wife a month tops...one week down. So, tonight I will pick my hammer back up and continue on. My goal is to have the countertops completely out tonight. I have a guy coming in later this week to take out the appliances and cap the gas lines, etc. I'm not quite comfortable enough to do that myself. Our new cabinets should be in by the end of next week, then we can sort of get settled. We can at least install the new appliances and be able to cook again.

So there you go. Pretty isn't it?

Post Race Depression....aka Work.

As I return to life after the P200, I find it to be rather boring. Merely coming home and running seems less important now without the giant goal at the end of the tunnel. I was out of town this weekend, so nothing much happened there. So I ran tonight, a 5k, at a decent pace for me. It felt good...and considering my Saturday...I'm quite surprised. Speaking of Saturday, I got to spend it with my good buddy from home following our boy Rickie as he balled out at the Wells Fargo. We go every year, one of those go to weekends that you can count on at the beginning of the year. Since Tiger missed the cut, and the Clemson guys were struggling (outside of Byrd), it's a no brainer to cheer for the guy in orange. I actually follow Fowler on Twitter, and from all accounts, he's a pretty good guy. You have to respect a guy who has other golfers waiting to congratulate him on 18. All this at the tender age of 23. I really think he will hook up with Rory as the young future of the game. Golf is really exciting right now, that's for sure.

So yeah, back to running. Trying to figure out what to do next. I'm still mulling over the triathlon in June, or maybe a 5k/10k here in town. I definitely need something to keep the competitive juices flowing. I want to do the tri, I really do...but I'm scared? The P200 was frightening, but there 11 other guys out there providing encouragement. This time, it's all on me. So I'm battling with that right now...not much time to decide Brian...oh well, procrastination is fun.

Anywho, sounds like my blogging elite athlete bud, Victoria, will be in town towards the end of the month. She's coming off of an injury and looking to get a nice upstate run in. Looking forward to it! See ya soon VTB!

I Feel Ya Boston

Sweet mother it was hot today...and it seemed to come out of nowhere too. I now know how the runners in Boston felt. Minus about 23 miles. Errr, I suppose I was just hot and tired....not knocking on the gates death. But dang, it's been a while since my shirt has been this soaked in sweat....

This is attractive right?

Alright, so things are really going well. I've running a good bit, mostly short runs, but I'm hoping to keep upping my mileage over the upcoming weeks. Also looking out for a 5k to run sometime soon. Personally, following the P200, it's hard to get pumped for a 5 or 10k. Seems so elementary. But I'm sure the competitive juices will get going come race morning as they always do. Plus, Greenville puts on a TON of awesome races.

Totally legit

But onto the bigger topic tonight...about a month and a half out from today is an event I'm considering. Something I've been telling myself that I would do before having kids (NO WE'RE NOT THERE YET). Moving on...the Caine Halter Sprint Tri is on 6/16. It takes place at the local YMCA where the wife and I are members. It's SO simple...300m swim, 9m bike, 5k run. Come on! I did the Palmetto 200! But, there's always that fear of drowning. Like seriously, I can't swim. I don't think. I haven't really tried I guess? Do they allow swimmies during a triathlon? I have no shame. So yeah, I'm trying to make a decision on that. I guess I should figure that out pretty soon.

So that's all for tonight folks. I think I've hit that point where losing more weight will call for a change in my diet, which I'm not all that excited about. Probably should cut out the week nights at the Ale House with a couple "baller" friends who always pick up the tab. I've heard good things about the primal and paleo diets, so maybe I'll start trending that direction.

Finally, I love controversial or intriguing documentaries. Any suggestions?