Personal and Confidential

All day long...
~
My phone was ringing, my email was smoking.... with all of you Peeps hounding me for news of my appointment with Dr. Casale.
~
Peeps.... Don't you think I'm entitled to a little privacy???? It's really kind of confidential between me and my physician.
~
I can tell you that I got a clean bill of health, that I've lost weight, and that my blood pressure is perfect.... But beyond that, it's none of your freaking business.

Credited to Wanda

Joke of the Day
A three-legged dog swaggers into a saloon in the Old West.
He bellies up to the bar, downs a shot of red eye, turns to face
the crowd of rowdies, stares them down and announces:
"I'm looking for the man who shot my paw."

Bonus Burn

My workout today was one of the worst so far, and also one of the best.
~
Although my Cybex Bike mph ave. was almost under 20 and I barely made it to 10.2 miles in 30 minutes, I was psyched, because I almost didn't workout at all... my motivation was at a low. Even with Collins talking smack, I just didn't want to go.
~
Which is why I'm totally stoked about getting the burn. Since I didn't want to workout, but did anyway, it's all gravy. And that talk is making me hungry.

ArchRival Smack

More marathon training smack from my ArchRival, Joe Collins.

That's right Joe.... keep golfing.... that will definitely get you ready.

Jay:

Like Brown and Wocjik, I too traveled to FL and trained last week... It takes a great deal of effort to hit 3-4 buckets of golf balls, play 18 holes; smoke cigars and drink beer - this is a very difficult regimen ! However - I also began the limbering program - stretching for Golf; stretching for biking; and stretching for running.

To cut to the chase... 3 rounds and about 10 buckets of balls (and btw, I was striping them down the middle !)

2/25 1.5 mile run and elliptical total 700 calories; 100 situps;

2/27 10.1 mile bike 75 situps; weights

3/4 12.5 mile bike 75 situps; weights

Wt is now down to 205 (from 220 start ! !) I hope that when I return to FL this week - that I'm not hounded on the beach with requests to be a personal trainer !

Tell Mike I want him to make the commitment and set this as a goal ! It will be one more chance to show the 'ol man that Mike can "take him down" !

- Svelte Archie

I can't wait to scorch this cocky bastard in October.

Sinner

Kathy Peabody committed the cardinal sin.
~
She asked me to mention her son, Andrew in the Blog.
~
Andrew is a talented goalie for the St. Paul's School hockey team that just lost the New England Prep School Championship to Avon Old Farm's. He's a good kid and we've known him since he was a baby.
~
Happy Kathy???? Now you're gonna pay.

A Champion's Creed

If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you'd like to win but you think you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you'll lose, you're lost.
For out in the world we find,
Success begins with the fellow's will,
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are;
You've got to think to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.
- Author Unknown

Wanda tells me that this is from Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich". You'd think that I'd remember that since I read that book about 20 years ago.

Wanda said...

Hi, John!

Ummm...that poem is in "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill.
(^__^)

Mistaken Identity

No...
~
This isn't me.
~
1. This photo is obviously shot in San Francisco Bay, and I haven't lived there for over ten years.

2. The planking of this tender is lapstrake, and mine is cedar stripped. Plus I don't have a burgee flying off of the transom.

3. This guy is skinnier that I am and he has a beard. It's obviously not me... but I sure wish I was out there rowing.

So how could you make such a stupid mistake?????

Thinking of Pre and Jaz

It's so sad that Steve Prefontaine was cut down in his prime.
~
He was inspirational in the way that he gave his all.
~
Who knows what he would have accomplished if he didn't die so tragically in that car crash? He'd probably be a Nike executive, but I'm sure that he would have pushed the running envelope.
~
After all these years, and even though he's dead, he still provides motivation.
~
When I was at UMASS, there was a kid a year ahead of me on the track team that reminded me of Pre.... Tom Jasmine. He was a little reckless and seemed to push the limit.
~
I remember running with him on snowpacked snowmobile tracks in the wooded Berkshire Hills. Jaz was a lot better than I was, and he was way ahead of me on the trail, but waited for me to catch up with him at key turns, so that I didn't get stuck out there lost and alone.
~
He used to call me "kid" which seemed funny since he was only a year older than I was.
~
Jasmine and his girlfriend died in a car crash too. A tractor trailer slammed into them out in the Berkshires at the end of his Sophomore year.
~
I think about Pre and Jaz every once in awhile.

Spring

From an astronomical standpoint, the seasons have changed from Winter to Spring.. It's still freezing, but there was a flock of Robins in the Japanese Flowering Crab and the snow covered lawns on the street yesterday.
~
They always look out of place in the cold and snow.... but they must know what they're doing.
~
After all... it's Spring, and Robins are the experts.

Foggy Mountain Breakdown

This is just in case you haven't heard enough "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" by Earl Scruggs lately.



Johnny B. Goode

Careful Preparation

Brown and Wojcik are in Las Vegas. Do you think they are preparing for the Epic October Event???
~
Me Neither.
~
As you can see, I have carefully and thoroughly planned my approach to success in this matter of pride, honor and manhood. Brown and Wojcik will taste ignominious failure in October, due to their frivolity in March.
~
I have reduced the training phase to a spreadsheet complete with links to Hal Higdon's marathon coaching web sites for an 18 week intermediate Marathon training program. If any of you pretenders want a copy of the spreadsheet, I will email it to you free of charge.
~
That's how confident and magnanimous I am.

On a Streak

I hope that most of you don't come to this Blog just to check my workout stats. But just in case you do, you will note that I have worked out every day for the last seven days - an adult personal record.
~
The establishment of consistency is an accomplishment in and of itself. And Maintaining that consistency is a strong motivational influence.
~
My knee ( the one that I screwed up by taking the advice of the insidious Wojcik ) feels great. And I feel pretty good, although I'm definitely not ready to leave the bike and go to the treadmill. There's plenty of time, and I am keeping the faith.