Im here!

So, as always, I let myself get too wrapped up in doing a million other things than keeping you all posted. I'm sorry again. It's been over a week. :(

Had a very packed passed weekend! I drove over to the Ft. Wayner to meet up with Chris and Jackie. Hung out there for Thursday night, and we left on Friday to hit B-town to pick up Kim on the way to Louisville. We went down there to see Matt Kearney and Matt Nathanson in concert. They were great! Kearney put on an amazing setlist (minus the super annoying 13 year old girls that were there)! Then Nathanson came on, that guy is hilarious! If you ever get a chance to see him, GO! Great music, explaining where the songs came from, too funny, and the random chatter he was yackin about almost had me in tears! Very enjoyable.

Speaking of Louisville... JD, I believe the statement you made was something like, "The closest Casey is going to get to the buckle is if he steals my pants." I've gotta ask ya buddy, whats the weather like that far down in the standings? BOOOYA!

Enough of that. This nect month is going to be bittersweet for me. I am going to San Diego for the month. I'll be living with my sister and her hubby, and it's going to be great. But I also am in the position where I'm not going to be able to see Kim for over a month, including watching the team shes coaching woop some booty at Lil' 500. I'm really upset about it. I really want to be there for the race. Im also very nervous about the rotation, as it is my first, all I know is the basics they taught me in class, and the small amount I've read outside of class. Hopefully it'll be enough to get me started, and I'll learn a ton there. And I'm already nervous about the presentation I have to give while I'm out there, a 10 minute powerpoint about something, of my choosing.

Ive been runnin myself ragged trying to get everything tied up here before I leave for a month. Trying to clean my place, clean my car, and get my secret project for Kim done, all in by the end of this week. This could take me a month. A month I don't have. Ive got 25% 100% done, and the other 75% is 50% done. If that makes any sense. Scientifically proven, 60% of the time it works 100% of the time.

Now onto my running. Been keeping it going, but it's been rough. Short runs is all I've gotten in pretty much. I've been doing so many other things I'm running out of hours in the day to do my long runs. I've been able to average about 3 or 4 miles a day for the passed 2 weeks now. Not enough to be able to achieve my goal in the marathon. So I'm gonna keep the miles around 5 or so this week, then start really putting in the long runs in CA. I hope I have the time! I'll make it work though.

Well, I kinda caught you up to speed with me. I have a lot of stuff to get done over the next 4 days, then I leave. I'll be back before I leave, then once I get out there, I'm more than certain I'll have tons to talk about with you all. Catch ya later!

Snoring Fuzzball

So, you guessed it, I'm here in Bloomington.  Kim and I are layin around after a great concert last night, and Diesel is snoring up a storm.  Its hilarious how loud a little 11 pound ball of fuzz can snore!

Yesterday was my standard long day.  I was to run 15, and I definitely had my head in it.  I was ready for every last mile of it... Just not the hills.  I wanted to extend my 14 mile run from last my favorite run, so I could end it at Kim's office.  Then she could adjust me and make me not hurt anymore, AND drive me the rest of the way home.  One thing I always fail to consider when I'm mapping a run here in B-town.  Hills, hills, and hills.  I Extended the beginning of the run to loop out to the outskirts of town, and got ruined by the rolling mounds the entire way.  I had a hard time getting up the gusto to finish my run as strong as I would have liked.  I went 11 miles, and it took me a whopping 88 minutes.  Which would have been ok with me if I went farther.  But, all things considered, I loved it.  Then the end of the run worked out just as I had planned.  The perfect chiropractor, the perfect adjustment, and the best ride home ever! Haha.  By the way, yesterday was 111 days.

Now I know my mind is completely gone.  I'm signing up for the Chicago Marathon... In October.  At least, I'll have a good 2-3 months of recovery before I start training again.  I LOVE IT.

Thats all for now.  Im gonna cram in a little recovery run then go to Oliver for some wine.  Be jealous.

I have another fever...

BUT this time the only cure is more COWBE...wait a minute. Oh yea, more MILES!!

So, I'm gonna be honest with ya, Kim, again saved me. I was all down in the dumps, had a million and one things on my mind. I was pretty much Debby Downer. As always, Kim was there for me, listened and helped me get through the little bout of depression I was having.

Then I left Bloomington.

I had so much going on in my mind I missed my exit. If you're not familiar with Indianapolis, lemme break it down for ya. It has the 465 highway going all the way around it in a circle. I get on at about 6 o'clock, and my exit is around 2 o'clock. I missed 2 o'clock. Didn't realize I was no where near where I needed to be until around 11 o'clock on this wheel of confusion. I thought someone went through and changed all the signs on me! So I continued all the way around to 8 or so to get on the freeway I wanted to get on earlier. Long story short, I added about an hour to my drive. Wonderful. But, I made it safe and its all good.

Still have tons on my mind.

Go to my radiology thing this morning, with my running clothes on, ready to go. Weather was supposed to be 60... I'm pumped. Start my run. Get carried away on my run. Run 12 miles. Become happy Casey again! I didn't realize I need to run to be happy. Whats happening to me. I have to run farther than 5 miles to be happy! At least once a week. This sure is a weird feeling.

Have you ever heard where people get addicted to running. The endorphins or something happens to their heads where they just aren't themselves until they run. I think the miles go to their brain and they pretty much go crazy. That sure sounds familiar.

So the great news of the month. I can run again... FAR. I ran 12 miles in 1:30. I did make a water stop, and I also walked for at least 4 minutes. So, I'm not 100%, but I am getting there! When I was running, I was running plenty fast, my body just wasn't used to it. Soon enough.

Side note, I really need new shoes. My feet hurt today after this run. You know the tired, beat up feeling you get in your feet after a long day on them in either old or not proper shoes. Yea.

By the way, what is that aweful stench? Oh, I need a shower.

Today

So today was a 20 mile day which I said I was reducing to a 10 mile day, but I woke up this morning and did not have 10 miles in me.  Emotionally I was already beat.  So I ran a little over 5.  I felt great physically, and ran plenty fast through the whole thing, didn't have to walk at all, but my head just was not in it today.  I think I am truly getting tired of the winter gloom.  I need it to end, for my own sanity!

Here is the time where I get to brag a little bit about what happens in 2 weeks.  I get to escape the gloom of the midwest winter for wonderful San Diego!  I believe it's German for something.  So, neener neener.

I also was just told I haven't updated the number of days in a row.  Man, have I been slipping.  It has been a total of 104 days!  Yay me!  With all the 1 mile days, and factoring in the 14 mile days, lets see... carry the 2, drop down the square root, I've run about 450 miles through this time!  Loosely estimated.  Im very happy with that.  I have a good feeling that this summer will yield higher averages in miles a day.  I want to run, far, but I hate dressing for cold, starting cold, and the plethora of gloom.

Interesting side note, Wil, I saw the Goddess of War today while I was running.  She had huge gold wrist shackles forged in the fires of Hades and I swear I saw chains looping up her arms.  I'm only assuming they run to Blades of Fury she had tucked into a holster on her back somewhere.  I wonder if the 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee she was driving was assembled in the plant Aries himself built.  Sorry, everyone else if you don't get that one.  Wil and I had a little bout of addiction to a video game.  In my running mentality, I came up with this when I saw this woman, and it brought me a smile.

Thursday sure was long!  I had radiology CPC in the morning.  That was weird.  I think either the Doctor found a hatred for me, or he was just very grumpy.  He pretty much told me to be quiet 2 times, when I was trying to answer a question.  Actually, it was closer to a shut up, so that make me think he was just grumpy from his sickness.  Anyway, he let us out a little early, so I shot to the gym real quickly and put in a fast 3 miles.  I felt good!  I think I'm finally getting over that horrible sickness I had.  I can leave my death bed!  Then I met up with 2 others from my group at the old people home to bust some nails there.  Too bad we went to the wrong one.  We were supposed to be 20 miles across town.  DAMMIT!  If you know Cleveland at all you know trying to get anywhere takes entirely too long because the freeways ALWAYS seem to be far enough to be a pain in the ass to get to, but it would still take 5 times as long without them.  The 20 mile drive still took about 40 minutes because it took 20 minutes to get to the freeway.  See what I mean?  But we made it, and the doctor we were with (Dr. Caldwell) had enough time to cool off so he was happy by the time we got there.  Kinda funny.  So we made it, and then started to bust dem nails.  The 3 of us saw 50 some patients in around 4 or 4.5 hours.  It was madness!  Then I left right from there to come to B-town.  I made great time.  Just under 5.5 hours, and rolled in around 11:30.  Total time awake, WITHOUT a nap, 18 hours.  Very rare for me to be able to do that.  I need my sleep.  Course the 2 gallons of Mr. Pibb I drank probably helped.

Alright, here is where I sign off.  I need to shower.  The cold sweat stink I'm giving off is starting to make me light headed.  LAAAATER!

Back? Maybe...

So I've been able to run a bit more these past few days. Just a bit thought. Lets not get too excited here. I have run 5k yesterday and today. It was HARD! Harder than Id like it to be. I think this means it is coming back. I just have to be careful I don't push it too hard and hurt myself. So instead of 20 this Saturday, I think I'm gonna limit it more to around 10. Then next week I'll shoot for about 15. Which means I'm still pretty far behind in training, but hey! Nothin' like a little challenge! I'm happy the miles are starting to come back. One the other hand I'm a little upset they're coming back so slowly. My legs just feel heavy around the 1.5-2 mile mark and I drag another mile out of them... Barely.

On another note, I did lift today. That made me feel real good! You know what I lifted? The pretty muscles. Thats about all I lift, really. I dont have any need to squat or bench. I want the pretty "spring break" muscles as we called them back in the IU track days. I'm sure the running would come a little faster if I did lift legs, but lets face it, who likes squatting? I hate it. So I solved that by just not doing it anymore.

On another another note, for dinner tonight I had a grilled cheese (Yes, with mustard) and a bowl of chili. Man, I always forget how good those are. And yes, I do put mustard on grilled cheese now. Kim, you have shown me the light!

What am I even rambling about anymore? Who knows. I think the particular attending I'm working for right now for school is rubbing off on me. I can feel myself getting dumber everytime I even see the guy. I look at him, I get dumber, which means I forget stuff I've paid a lot of money to learn in school, which means I'm losing money, which means someone owes me a refund! I think I'll write a letter to my school asking for a bigger refund check, either them or Obama. I hear he's just dishin' it out as fast as they can print it. Maybe my plea can get some of us poor saps with way too much student debt some help? I dunno. Just a thought.

Alright, I've rambled enough. Catch ya later!

Whew!

So I'm back in Cleveland after a wonderful weekend with Kim over at my parents house in R-hole.  Kim had CME course she went to in Chicago, and had the idea to visit my parents because we hardly ever get to. So we had a blast.

While I was home I went to the local Bally's with my mom.  It was hilarious!  Shes never been on a treadmill before so I had to help her get it set up and give her some pointers on how to walk on them... Like you walk any other time.  It just made me laugh, then I thought back to my first time running on a treadmill.  I was a little awkward myself.  Then we talked about those elliptical machines... Don't even get me started on those things.  Both Mom and I agree we feel 100% gimpy on those.  It seems like my brain no longer has the ability to talk to my limbs in a smooth pattern as soon as I step onto one.  Needless to say I don't even try them.  So I went 3 miles on the mill on saturday.  The other days I used to walk the dog with Kim on friday and Mom on sunday.

I still have this nagging cough that will NOT relinquish its grip on my throat.  I guess it hasn't been that long.  It still annoys me.  So I was looking at my training schedule, I'm supposed to run 20 this saturday... How about NO?  haha.  I think that would be an invitation to an injury.  Im gonna try and bang out 10 miles.  Far, but not too far.  Then I've gotta work my butt off to try and get back onto track with the training plan.

School is SO much better now that I don't have classes.  Its just clinic and CPCs, which are mini classes.  A small group of 7 of us talk with an attending for a set amount of time, in which they teach us... stuff.  This month the CPCs are all about radiology.  There is so much stuff I've forgotten from class.  It is coming back, but slowly.  Next month I'm going to San Diego!!!  Really excited about it.  The program I'm visiting out there is supposed to be excellent, lots of surgeries, lots of clinical experience, and that means lots of learning!  That and it IS in San Diego!  Whats not to like?

Well, Ive got a ton of reviewing to do before I run today.  I'm thinkin its gonna be an attempted 5 mile day.  We'll see how the body feels, and what that means for how far I run.  Later

SO sorry!

So everyone, I am very sorry about the past few weeks.  I haven't been able to feed you the necessary nourishment.  Boy do I have a lot of making up to do.  That and a lot of beans to spill.

So 3 weeks ago I started finals, and finals being what they are, little balls of stress all tightly packed like the mean friend that packs the snow into an ice ball during a snowball fight.  Small sure, but man they pack a whallop!  Saturday, a few back, I took my iceball suppository, thanks to law class, then went running.  I went 14 miles this chosen saturday and realized something very important.  You have to eat before you try to do something like that.  I hadn't eaten at all and ran myself into too deep of a hole.  I got sick.  Not just any sick, bad sick that I slept for 19 hours a day.  But I didn't have the time to keep doing it, thanks to more exams...and clinic!  YAY!!!

Anyway, I passed my classes.  Oh!  Good news, I just found out a day or two ago I made Dean's list.  So I think I made Dean's List every semester so far.  Once I finished hell week of finals and clinic, and clinic finals, I went snowboarding in New York.  A friend from school invited me along to go up to a family friends condo, and go skiing for the weekend at Holiday Valley.  It was beautiful.  Riding was pretty decent too!  Trails were well groomed, fun runs, and they were not nearly as short as some of the crap I've come across in the midwest!  It was lots o' fun.  BUT, I was still sick and was only able to go a half a day before I thought I was going to die from coughing.  So I called it a day, which turned into calling it a weekend and I stayed in the rest of the time because I though I was dying.  Wonderful.

Good news though.  I did maintain my mile-a-day!  I was able to walk a mile everyday, even with my death being eminent.  So just about 3 or 4 days ago I started running again.  I hope I didn't, but it feels like I lost EVERYTHING!  I've gone 2 miles for the past 3 days, and I just cannot feel good.  Of course, I am coughing incessantly, and I still don't feel like I'm un-sick.  I do still have a little hope that this will go away, and the good running vibe will come back, and stay until my marathon.

So that was a brief summary of all the time I wasn't able to bring you my aimless ramblings, and I know this doesn't make up for my time away, but its a start.  I promise I'll be on more to give you more of what you need.  Well, it looks like the rain has stopped, and I am going to go for another 2 mile stumblefest.  Hopefully, these will turn into runs in the very near future.