Tagged with even more sports …

Oct 09 2011
3 Comments
Pittsburgh, Sports

9. not dead yet.

Things I’ve learned after a successful first week of Couch to 5K:

  • My street only looks flat.
  • The nice English lady who lives in the C25K app sounds awfully earnest when she tells me to run. I always feel like looking back over my shoulder to see if she’s noticed someone following me.
  • Strangers really want to talk to me while I’m running.
  • Or maybe they’re checking to see if I can still breathe.
  • So far, I can.
  • The crossing guards in my neighborhood are pretty cool. They cheer for me as I go by.
  • The people in my neighborhood apparently lose sunglasses with alarming frequency.
  • The little hooligans who watch deck hockey games in Marmaduke Park need to do a better job of keeping their balls to themselves.
  • If I ever have to vomit in someone’s front yard, I’ve already picked out a couple where it probably won’t matter.
  • I still love the iPod’s October Mix, but it’s not the best running music ever.
  • The Ballgame Tailgate mix might be, though.
  • When you announce you’re going to give something like this a try, you instantly get a ton of support from friends. If you have friends like mine, anyway.
  • No matter how hard I try, I haven’t yet come up with a reason to stop.
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Oct 04 2011
4 Comments
Pittsburgh, Social Media, Sports

4. i didn’t die.

It was still dark at 6:45 this morning. A little misty, a little cool.

And not once did I think about going back to bed.

No, I wandered around the neighborhood for about two miles. A little more walking than running. The running part felt pretty good, and when the nice British lady on Couch to 5K told me to go, I tried to avoid lapsing into a shuffle. It worked.

About 35 minutes later, I arrived back at our house. I didn’t throw up in anyone’s yard. I didn’t feel like collapsing in a heap on the floor when I went inside.

And I even thought I might do this again.

Something that helped: The reaction from a bunch of you to yesterday’s post and the links I posted elsewhere. And the reaction I got when I signed up for Daily Mile this morning. I am set up with a list of races that’ll come around at just about the time that I’m finishing C25K, and I already have a couple volunteers to run with me when I pick one. Very gratifying stuff, especially for someone who’s just starting.

And that’s the point of doing it this way. I’ve tried before, but I didn’t tell anyone what I was doing — and that made it way too easy to quit. I know I have a bunch of people watching — and supporting me — this time; and I know they’ll let me have it if I slack.

Again — no promises beyond the short-term stuff. But I feel pretty good about the start.

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Oct 03 2011
19 Comments
Social Media, Sports

3. run away.

Those of you who have been here for a while might remember a promise I made nearly two years ago — that one where I said I was going to run a half-marathon the following year.

Have you stopped laughing yet? It’s OK — I haven’t either.

The unfunny part about that promise is how little I did to actually follow up on it. Yeah, I started Couch to 5K — uh, more than once — and there was that one time I made it three whole weeks into the program.

And then? Um. That winter was sort of cold and snowy. And while I was at one time young and in shape enough that I actually enjoyed running, that was a loooong time ago.

I would like to do that again.

I have no grand promises about marathons, other than I’d really like to sling water at Pittsburgh’s again next spring. The Great Race looks like fun, and with some cooperation from Ohio State’s football schedule, I’d like to try that next fall.

But no promises, except for this: I will be up a little early on Tuesday morning, and I will start C25K again. After that, we’ll see how it goes.

Here’s what’s going to be different this time. I’m asking you guys for help. I’m not going to turn this into an exercise blog — because, uh, you guys all know me, right? — but I will let you know once in a while how things are going. If you don’t get an update for a while, ask for one. I will be posting the C25K updates on Twitter. If you haven’t seen one for a few days, ask me why you haven’t. In either case, if you don’t get a satisfactory response, feel free to yell.

And if you feel like offering some encouragement when I complain about it — because I will — those comments will be most appreciated.

If you guys can make sure I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing — in other words, if I know you guys are watching — I will do this. It will work. And I might even get to the point where I enjoy running again.

And if anyone knows of any silly mid-winter 5Ks they’d recommend, please let me know. Especially if you plan on joining me.

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Jul 15 2011
2 Comments
Ohio, Pittsburgh, Sports

time out.

The first thing:

The other thing:

Can we just stop the season now and have a Cleveland Indians-Pittsburgh Pirates World Series?

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Jul 08 2011
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Pittsburgh, Social Media, Sports, Uncategorized

and sometimes it rains.

And that’s why my softball league is better than yours.

Thanks, Jeremy.

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Dec 29 2010
6 Comments
Food and Drink, Pittsburgh, Social Media, Sports

plunge party.

I have no idea how many people to expect at the Polar Bear Plunge on Saturday morning, but I do know the details:

The Time: Expect to arrive around 8:45 a.m. and swim — if you’re swimming — around 9:30.

The Place: The Mon Wharf, otherwise known as the parking area underneath the Parkway East that floods anytime someone sneezes. The entrance — a ramp down to the lot — is at Wood Street and Fort Pitt Boulevard:


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(Follow that yellow sign to the right, boys and girls…)

The specific place: The Crappy Entourage will try to arrive around 8:30. We’ll tweet our location as soon as we get set up, but I suspect we’ll be close to where we were a year ago (the side of the lot closer to the Point).

The event: As I said before, if you’re swimming, everyone starts jumping in around 9:30. If you’re a newbie, here’s what to expect: Cold. Really cold. Colder than anything you’ve ever experienced. But that lasts just a few minutes once you get out of the water and into warm towels, blankets and clothes. If you’re not swimming, be prepared to help people out of the water, take pictures or shoot video and and yell for the nutjobs who are.

The after part: I am pleased to say that after the plunge, we’ll be returning to our original post-plunge celebration location: Ruggers Pub, on the South Side:


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Our after party will be hosted by AAA, generally known here at Uncle Crappy as The World’s Greatest Bartender, and I’m told we’ll also have the kitchen fired up and ready for us by 10 a.m. After we eat and drink, I imagine no one would mind if you stay at Ruggers for the Winter Classic — if they get the game in — or for all 83 bowl games televised on New Year’s Day.

I can’t think of a better way to start 2011 that a dip in 40-degree water, followed by beer and cheeseburgers with some of my best friends anywhere. I hope to see you there.

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