The Shawzbear Chronicles

Well, I know its been a while since the last update and I’d like to say its been because I’m really a very busy gent what with all of the charity work and saving the people of Edmonton with my part time crime fighting gig….but that would be lying to you!  And I would never do anything to break that trust we have dear reader (come here and give me a hug, you big lug!)

The running has been going great (just completed a 10 mile run today!).  I’ve only had two hurdles so far… figuring out how to treat these darned chapped nipples (aren’t you glad we’re getting to know each other better!) and the fact that my jogging wardrobe consists of t-shirts I wore back in high school.  When I’m out jogging in my sweat shorts and my Journey concert T-shirt I feel the sad stares of those I go by, thinking to themselves “So sad he can’t get a job but at least he keeps busy!”

Fashion faux-paus aside, Prism t-shirts are not comfortable.  Which leads to the other problem…(please see above)  So… I’ve been looking at Sport-Check catalogs trying to figure out what appropriate jogging fashion entails. So far as I can tell, it involves spandex….and lots of it.  Great.  So for only a hundred dollars or so I could wear an aerodynamic, sweat wicking, sausage casing…

So, fashion be darned.  I’m going to go with my “More Cowbell” T-shirt….and maybe a box of band-aids for the other problem.  ; )

Ventured off of the treadmill this week and decided that even though Edmonton is just a few degrees south of the Arctic Circle that I should get used to running outside.  So I piled on my t-shirt and shorts and then went outside…for approximately 1/10 of 1 second.  During that brief but memorable time I realized just how cold -3 is and that my non-teenage metabolism wasnt able to compensate for being that stupid anymore.  So 2 more shirts and a pair of beat up sweatpants later, I was ready to go.  As an added bonus, since I now looked like a homeless person, I was less likely to get stopped and mugged…although 3 people DID stop to give me change..

It’s been an overall great experience running outside, it’s nice breathing the fresh air in (unless the Esso refinery is flaring that day!) and to see the sun come up.  There is a municipal park down in the river valley here that has some great trails that I have been taking advantage of, and other joggers do seem to be a generally friendly people as a whole.  And as an added bonus, the municipal water treatment center is down there, so I have extra incentive to keep moving too..

Really starting to feel good after every run though, actually looking forward to them too.  If you’d like to track my runs (and not just to keep me honest!) you can add me as a friend  on my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=668411055 where I post my runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then my longer one on Saturday mornings (Or remove one day if you are my Russian follower! Здравствуйте!) I’ve been using my Nike + app on my iPod to track my runs which I had not been able to do with the treadmill, seeing as you are doing more hopping then actual running, the readings were all really off….(that’s my excuse and I will be sticking with it)

Now if you will excuse me, I’m off to ice my shins… ; )

I know, I know…it’s been a couple of weeks since my last update…disappointing my hundreds…maybe dozens…maybe half a dozen?…Ok, Ok…..that guy from Russia who found this page by accident.

I had a really rough couple of weeks here.  First off, my good friend with Leukemia passed away and working out was the last thing I had on my mind as we went up for the funeral.  And just before that we had some layoffs at work which got my survival instincts kicking into gear (namely lay my butt on the sofa, feeling sorry for myself and eating my weight in whoopie pies)

After some time to think and pray though, I have decided that I can’t quit now….the twinkies are thrown out (I’m allergic to most of the delicious cream filled ingredients in them anyways) and the treadmill has been folded back out.  The way I see it, I can’t control a lot of things in this life, I’m going to lose more good friends temporarily along the way and people are going to get laid off.  But I CAN control what I put in my pie hole and I can control what I’m doing in my spare time.  And last time I checked, I had a race to run for a good friend….