Someone at work mentioned this morning that a company they knew of has an interesting API strategy for collecting data from 3rd parties. You have heard of REST, and SOAP and xml-rpc…this is DSI. DSI is interesting in that it doesn’t require that you learn their particular web service, you only need to know SQL. That’s correct, DSI means DIRECT SQL INSERTS.
(I made up the DSI acronym, not the actual story)
I woke up today feeling really crappy. I called off work and went back to bed. Blah. Around 11 I went downstairs to check email and had a pretty good craving for a smoke. It’s not like I am going to smoke or anything but none the less my head periodically will chime in with it’s bad ideas.
I need to get more Chantix, but I don’t want to spend the money on it. It would be so nice not to have to go pay 95 dollars right now. I should have run out already, but I missed a dose here and a dose there, so I have had enough pills to get me through till this morning. Well, now I am out and I have to go get the script filled. I am going to fill it, but only because I don’t want to mess up this streak I have going, 27 days isn’t nearly long enough in my opinion to go it alone. I am pretty positive that I wouldn’t smoke even if I did go off the Chantix, but why tempt fate eh?
Today sucked. I let myself get really dehydrated, then went out in the afternoon sun and attempted to do 5 miles. By the time I finished 2 I could barely lift my legs, by 2.25 I was gagging and trying not to vomit while chills raced up my back. By 2.5 miles, I started walking. I turned around and went home. I was, and still am a little upset with myself. I could have run in this heat, it wouldn’t have been pretty but it was possible. I can’t however run in this heat without being hydrated.
I have never quit a scheduled run before, and I didn’t plan to start now. It was sort of demoralizing. Oh well, I haven’t been getting enough sleep and I haven’t been properly hydrating. And…wtf was I running through the hottest part of the day?
I am just going to keep going in the half marathon training, give it a few more weeks, but this was an important workout that I messed up…so it will be on my mind.
I am putting this in the learning column. 35 isn’t 25, I can’t be out all night and pop out into 90 degree heat with absurd humidity and expect to run 5 miles.
Tomorrow is a no brainer, I am going kayaking for my cross training, so that will go off without a hitch. Monday night I am set to run with a friend for 3.5 miles, also should be easy.
What would Hal Higdon do?
I had my 3.5 miler tonight, and I went over to the *drum roll* barracks to hit the trail. It went fantastic. I felt like running to the end of the trail which would only have been another half mile, but I didn’t because the plan called for 3.5 Miles, not 4. I wondered, what would Hal Higdon recommend. I don’t know, but I really wanted to put in the extra mileage. What do others do in that circumstance? Follow the plan, or go extra?
On a less than savory note, I picked up some Body Glide from Inside Track in Lancaster the other day and used it on my chest tonight. It seems to have worked fine, though the real test is on Saturday when I have a 5 miler.
Happy Chaffing!
Stats:
Distance: 3.51
Time: 0:37:07 (pace: 10:33)
Calories Burned: 577
Right before I decided to switch to the Half Marathon training program, I went out for a lunch time run with Versache. He was doing 6 miles, and I thought I would tag along and if I felt good do the whole 6. No dice. I am having problems (possibly just in my head) when the sun is beating down on me and there is no shade for miles at a time. When we came around to the last .25 mile of 4 miles, it was all up hill and there had been no break in the sun. When we hit 4 miles I dropped out and handed him my garmin so he could finish his 6.
That sucked, and the only reason I let myself quit was that the schedule only called for a 3 miler, so I was already a mile over. Bleh.
Tonight is a 3.5 miler and strength. Thursdays have been my killer days where I really put the hammer down and burn up the calories. Tonight is going to blow. I had almost no sleep last night, and I am feeling it now…badly. There is no way I am missing this workout…let this be a lesson to me.
This morning about an hour after I woke up, I got the most crushing craving I have had in a long time. I was going out the door to get in my car, and it rolled over me like bad weather. It sucked mostly because I have been feeling pretty good lately. Things have been really good in my private life, and because of that not only is there always no reason to smoke, I have LESS of a reason to smoke. I think that made it worse. Just the realization that I was doing so well and got caught off guard by the craving.
To make matters worse I forgot to take my pill last night, AND this morning. Mi vida loca. Now, according to others the half life for Chantix is crazy long so I still have a ton of it in my system. I am not concerned. There is no way I would smoke. It’s not even an option. It’s just a bummer.
“The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.” ~ Sophocles
Here is the deal. For about the last week I have been feeling really strong doing the Higdon 10K plan. Also, a bunch of cow-orkers are doing the Hands-On-House Half Marathon…not to mention, they are also all training for their Fall marathons. I have to admit, I feel a little left out. To that end, I am going to drop out of my current training program and move on to the Hal Higdon Half Marathon training. However since the race is on September 29th and the plan is 12 weeks long, I have to start the plan on week 3…so this is now officially week 3 of the half marathon plan :).
I plan to switch to that plan for 2-3 weeks and see how it goes. If at the end of the 3 weeks I am feeling strong, and able to keep up with the plan, then I will likely go for it. If not, no harm no foul, I can pick a new plan and start training for some 5K’s or something till I figure out what I want to do.
I am not planning to “race” the half marathon, only complete it. I suppose only time will tell. I just really feel like I want to add some serious mileage, and this seems like a good way to test if I am ready for that. I am open to the idea that I am not ready…but I really think I have to try.
I decided to mix up the week a bit. Tonight I had an offer from a friend to do some biking. I figured that I might as well move cross training to tonight since I had the motive, means and opportunity.
We drove down to Newville, PA to the rails to trails terminus there and did an out and back for 12 miles. I think I hit the wrong button on my garmin though, all the data is messed up. Ah well, it was good exercise.
I am almost finished with 21 days smoke free. Where I come from, that’s 3 weeks. It’s strange, I have moments, like right now, where it seems strange that I ever smoked. Then I have moments like I had earlier today, where I can’t believe I ever stopped. It’s an interesting dichotomy.
The urges are fine. They still come, at least a few times a day I will start the act of going for a smoke, or think about grabbing one…then I remember that I quit, and for the briefest of moments there is a slight pang of regret. Then the rest of my brain catches up to the pleasure center and I usually go get something cold to drink. Normally by the time I return from getting the drink I have forgotten all about wanting a smoke.
I’d like to urge anyone out there thinking about quitting to consider Chantix. It really has worked wonders for me. I remember when I was 25 and quit the last time, 3 weeks in, I was feeling a lot better by then but it was still a daily trial. I have always smoked a lot. And at least 2 packs a day, everyday for the last 6 or 7 years. I ALWAYS wanted a cigarette. Even as I was coming inside from having one at work, I was thinking about the next one (I did forget for a little while when I would get back to my work). I would go outside, once an hour, usually on the hour. Even still it would occur to me several times throughout that hour that I wanted to smoke.
What I am getting at is…if I can do it, you can do it. I was weak, I was scared to death to quit smoking. You have to want to quit, you have to give it your best effort, you have to stop junkie thoughts, but you CAN do it. Believe in yourself.
P.S. I want to let people know that I am available to (ex)smokers that want to chat off-blog about cessation. Zip me an email and I’d be happy to answer any questions you may have. Or just offer my encouragement. My email address is my firstname at this domain. If you can’t figure out my firstname, my last name is powell…if you still can’t figure it out, perhaps you should just send it to nathan at nathanpowell dot org.
I am going to bump my calculations for my max heart rate a bit. I had been going on the assumption that my MHR was 186 bpm. When I ran Gettysburg my heart rate hit 189 toward the end. So my new max heart rate will be 190. Very scientific I know, but it will do for figuring out my easy pace.
Here’s hoping I don’t die from running too hard :)