On the road to riches and diamond rings...

Sitting on my duff here at the beach in Edisto Island, SC, stealing wifi from the neighbors. It is so blinkin' hot. I do like the tan though. I feel especially African when I get this dark. Good feeling. I figured I had not posted anything recently and would catch my reader up on what was going on. I had to drop out of training for the Richmond Marathon for health issues. The summer heat and air quality in Charlotte was too much for me to keep running in. I actually had to visit a physician and get medicine. I am felling much better now. I was in Boulder, CO last week and drank to much beer but I was able to run like the wind(slow, steady wind) because the air was so clear. Boulder is a cool little town that my fellow Chapel Hillians would appreciate as a snooty college town. So I cut the mileage back to about 3 per day and cannot seem to fit in a long run weekly. So I am keeping it real and I am looking for half marathons that do in the winter and maybe a full in the spring. On a more athletic front, the wife is training for a sprint triathlon. So at least the motivation in the house will stay up. Maybe this summer will end soon and I can breathe again. Just a quick clarification to all SC dwellers: Palmetto bugs = Roaches.

Running for myself and others

I started training for a marathon. I ran a half marathon a couple years ago. I thought it was time to get the whole thing over with so I could get rid of my masochistic fascination with running long distances on stubby legs with bad lungs. Also I needed something to blog.

I chose the SunTrust Richmond Marathon. I run in Richmond a couple times a year when I visit my in laws and the run down Monument Drive is all historic and such. Until you hit the river, it is a graceful hill either up or down. Of course ,26.2 miles is lot longer than the 5 mile runs I have been on in on my long weekends so training has begun. In addition to the location, the SunTrust Richmond Marathon has Donate Life as its official charity.

"Donate Life is a program of the non-profit agencies UNOS and LifeNet."

These are charities that support organ and tissue donation. I have been listed as an organ donor since getting my drivers license and never thought much about it. I assumed everyone did this. After speaking to several people, I realized that there are strong albeit irrational opinions about not donating. I think it is a waste to not donate something that you are no longer using to someone who cannot live without it. If you would like to contribute to my effort, here is the link to help raise money. Based on my web traffic, this is not going to amount to much, but, as I learning by running 4 times a week, every little bit helps.

FundRaiser/Donation Link: Click here to help support Donate Life

Old and fat...

So there comes a time in every man's life when you realize that:

"No, she was not checking you out. "
You cannot bench press your body weight.
You are not the young, hip guy at work. (Note: Never was hip. Who says they are hip? Unhip people.)
And you are not just a month-of-working-out-away from running a sub 6min mile.

Today is that day for me. I do not plan to use this post to gripe or resolve, just to state:

"I am old and fat. Hello world."

I don't plan to stay this way just as I did not plan to get this way. Yet here I sit without the strength to move. Because after months and months of inactivity, I decided to go mountain biking. I rushed out right after work to hit the trail. A trail ranked 4 of 5 in difficulty. A trail I swore to get better before I went on again - two years ago. It started out okay. I was darting between trees, with birds chirping, thinking, "I will do this every sunny day until I die." Then after a scary downhill and a couple quick uphill climbs, I lose my momentum and just want to make it back to the car. All in all, I managed to fall twice (over the handlebars) and walked my bike a lot. (Yep, bleeding as I type this.) But I did get up, and I did pedal out. So there.

I think the biggest disappointment was my stamina, I can usually blame childhood asthma or my stumpy legs, but this time I just plain gave out. Someday I will look back on this and smile that I was impetuous enough to even ride a bike in the woods. Today, though, I simply feel humble and weak.

I don't post often and this post is also pretty weak. I do know my audience and he will think this is hilarious.

Place:
Renny Park on Tyvola Rd., Charlotte, NC

Enjoy.

Resetting MYSQL Passwords

The site linked in the title is good but the comments below are invaluable.

MS Windows Key Post

I know this a weak post to start off the year. I wanted to remind myself of something useful that I can use to look cool in front of people when I work on their computer. You are now cooler because you read this. Happy New Year and click the link for Windows Shortcut Keys.