OnerMonth Post-Marathon Physical Update

Well, I ran a marathon a little over a month ago.  I thought that I was one of the lucky few who had finished the rigorous training for and completion of this daunting distance race with no lingering or severe injuries.  I ran a week after the race and felt some pain in my right knee.  So I kept running through it.  Roughly three weeks ago, I felt a pretty bad pain on a trail run and decided to see a physician.  I got a new brace for my right knee, took another few days off, ran on it, and still had pain.  I now am trying rest (ish), a brace, and KT Tape for my IT Band.  I seriously hope this recipe works because the fact that I am unable to run is having seriously negative effects on my holistic mental health.  I do other cardio, light lifting, abs, etc, but it just isn't the same.  I guess a few weeks of rest may be my next option, after I finish a Turkey Trot, a new Year's Eve run......

Pork Chop Sandwiches!

Sadly, this post has nothing to do with pork chop sandwiches.  If that upsets you, be prepared for many things in life to rile your ire, as few things in life have anything to do with pork chop sandwiches.  Today has been one of those days when I feel sorry for my wife.  In the past 18 months or so, I have gone from a guy who thought his chest would explode when he ran a mile to a guy who finished a marathon and felt like another 7 miles or so would have been a better cardio workout (never mind how my legs felt).  I now consider myself to be a runner.  This is a step for me because I used to consider myself just a guy who was running to get into better shape.  As I learn more and more about running, I have opened up to more and more running experiences.  Yesterday, I embraced trail running.  Up until now, I have run on trails infrequently and have mostly done road and track stuff.  I live near one of the great resources of Northeast Ohio, the Metroparks, and have decided to embrace the miles of trails offered within.  On yesterday's trail run in my new Asics Gel Fuji Racers, which are super dope for reasons I will explain, I hurt my right knee.  This was no surprise to me.  I have been waiting for my knee to finally give out for about a month and a half.  Now about these shoes.  These trail racers have these ports in the bottom that drain the water out of them as you run.  I love this feature!  I crossed creeks no less than 8 times yesterday and loved the fact that I was able to run right through them with no worry that the shoes would feel heavy after, even with my orthotic inserts in them!  Thanks to my old friend Scott Sipos for the recommendation.  Anyone who wants to run on trails should check these out.  As a bonus, I found the ugly green ones on sale on Amazon.com for less than $60.  Yipppeee!  Now back to my leg.  In April of last year, I hurt my left knee running a half marathon.  I was laid up for close to 2 months.  After I finally saw a Sports Medicine guy, I found out that I had Osgood- Schlatter disease, my legs are different lengths, and my knees are tilted incorrectly.  I have been running in a brace on my left knee since, knowing that the day when I would need one for my right knee was not far off.  Well, I scheduled a visit to the Dr for tomorrow for X-rays, requested a visit with my Sports Medicine guy, and hope to be in a brace and running by this time next week.  Wish me luck.  Now, as for my wife, I feel sorry for her because I have been nothing short of a scathing bitch since I got home from last afternoon's run.  I am on edge and even yelled at our two-year-old today.  I hope to find a way to be less of an a-hole while I am unable to run.  Hopefully the stationary bike and Biggest Loser/P90X DVD's are 1) doable with this bum knee and 2) enough to satisfy my urge for exercise.  If not, I may have to buy my wife a lot of flowers/chocolate/???.  Until next time, pork chop sandwiches indeed!

38

Today is my birthday!  I am excited for 38.  On a recent run, I debated with myself whether or not I was old enough for a mid-life crisis.  I determined that I definitely am.  This was a dramatic realization for me.  There were times in my life when I could not picture growing up.  I am glad that I have.  I have a beautiful, successful, super smart wife (who, luckily for me, is a genius in everything but love), two wonderful little girls, a nice home, a career in which I get to help teens figure out how to better their lives on a daily basis, and so much more.  These were the thoughts that came to me on this run, and several other recent ones.  I came to this conclusion:  I will not have a mid-life crisis.  This may seem to others to be an exercise in futility.  Some may be saying "Everyone has a mid-life crisis.  Jim is just living in denial."  The simple truth is that I am aware that a mid-life crisis is expected and am working hard to not endure one.  Instead, I am enjoying mid-life triumphs.  I have re-dedicated myself to being healthy and happy.  I exercise regularly, pretty much on a daily basis.  I recently enjoyed the pretty big accomplishment of finishing a marathon.  I continue to run and am preparing for future races.  I enjoy life on a daily basis.  Physically and mentally, I am fighting off the crisis which I should, as a rite of passage, be forced to endure.  Please join me.  Mid-life triumphs seem much more beneficial than mid-life crises.  Let's celebrate them together.

On the Blog Again

I am Blogging Again?  Yes, I believe I am.  My friend Zac has inspired me to resume this form of social media and impact the world with my limitless wisdom and wit.  This first post will serve as my welcome back, as well as my effort to prove to others (and myself) that hashtagging is the ridiculous trend that we will make fun of ourselves for six years from now.  The following is a brief list of trends, ideas, etc that were once embraced, adored, celebrated, and maybe even idolized.  I think most will agree that they are now part of the pop-cultural phenomena i will term "The Ridiculous Crap for Which We Now Make Fun of Ourselves/Others."  Enjoy:

• rat tails/mullets
• "Hasta la vista, baby."
• French cuffed jeans
• laser disc players
• New Coke
• Snooki, J-Woww (how many w's?), The Situation, Paulie D...
• beanie babies
• planking
• moonwalking
• cartoon character tattoos
• all of the Ernest movies
• Garbage Pail Kids
• Zubaz
• disco
• fat, Caucasian, middle aged guys in Tap Out shirts
• hood ornaments on necklaces
• Ricky Martin
• hipsters
• Winger, warrant, Ratt...
• breakdancing
• The XFL
• Z Cavariccis
• Punky Brewster shoes
• Cabbage Patch doll craziness of '85
• Skidz
• Hanson "mmmm bop, shoooby dop dop."
• Ed Hardy shirts
• Vanilla Ice
• "Wazzuuup?"
• Kevin Bacon dance fighting in a warehouse
• acid washed jeans
• "That's hot."
• Charlie Sheen's Tornado of Truth tour/tiger blood/cocaine infused pubic megameltdown

So, the next time you hashtag something, ask yourself, do I really want my kids to look on the internet in 15 years and see that I placed a pound sign in front of  a phrase like "gimmesumuvdat" under a picture of a piece of cake, an ice cream cone, some money, a good looking female/male, or anything else?

SNOW DAY!!!

You all should consider yourselves lucky! There are two reasons that I am updating this post for the second time in less than a week. The first is that I am attempting to delay writing a literature review for a research paper. Unfortunately, this is due on Wednesday and I have a lot of work to do on it. Secondly and more importantly, I am off of work today due to a snow day!! YAAAAAAAYYYY!!!!! SNOW DAY!!!!!!!!!!YAAAAAAYYYY!!!!!!!!!!! I woke up bright and early this morning and helped Char brush off her car, saw her off to work, came inside, watched some Sportscenter, welcomed Char back home due to the fact that the road conditions were deemed too dangerous by her to journey into work, then took the dogs on walks.

I decided to take some pictures of the snow and let y'all see what shuts down this city. So here you go.....

Roxie and I went to the park. I took pictures of stuff...

...she played in the snow.

This sign is a part of the playground at the park. Pretty cool.

I thought this view of the snow covered slide was pretty neat.

This tree is in front of our house, it usually stands taller than the top of the first floor windows.

The snow was pretty deep, but the fact that it rained all day yesterday before it started to snow made it impossible for the roads to be ready for this morning's commute.

This is our street, as you can see, it was not (and still is not) plowed

Tons of businesses and practically all schools/colleges/churches/government offices are closed. I was actually walking around and thinking that if this snow had hit Cleveland, it would have just been cleaned up early in the morning and everyone would be working today, thinking that it would be nice to have a snow day.

Our snowy house

Busy

Things here in Richmond, VA have been very busy lately. With the start of a new semester and all of the stress of work, I have not been inspired to write on my new blog lately. I have also picked up more hours at work, anticipating the eminent loss of income that accompanies the fact that I will not be working full-time starting in May. This is rather worrisome, but Char continues to remind me that it will payoff in the long run. On a related note, I have decided that I will be applying to PhD programs in the fall. This is not to say that I will be accepted to any programs, so please do not get too anxious for me, as I am sure to be anxious enough as it is. I love the college environment and am hopeful that I can continue to succeed academically in my current Masters Program, perform well on the GRE, and be accepted to a PhD program somewhere. Resulting in a career change to college professor. I hope to continue working with children, and will most likely focus on School Social Work or a related field if I get accepted. So do whatever it is that you choose to do to help send me positive vibes, which will hopefully manifest themselves by consequently increasing the probability that I will be a more attractive candidate to prospective PhD programs (i.e. please keep me in your thoughts and prayers). Sorry about the absence of interesting photos on this post, but we haven't done anything photo worthy lately. By the way, I am pretty active on facebook, so that is a better way to catch up with me. I find it is less time consuming than blogging. Most importantly, keep in mind that Char is graduating from Duke in May. We would love it if anyone could join us in celebrating her earning her MBA!! From a hopeful future Social Work PhD candidate, Peace out bitches!!

I'm Back

Roxie wants to know where the heck y'all have been.

I have decided to return to the fantastic world of blogging. There is no real reason for my return, the plot line is similar to that of Superman Returns. I left, I am back and there is not going to be a detailed explanation. However, I do not have an alter ego who looks exactly like me and lives in the same city that I do who also left abruptly and returned unexpectedly but people have yet to deduce that he and I are the same person. How quickly I digress. This blog is not going to be extensive, there is too much to describe since the hasty closing of Jimbo's Blog Shop. I will put up some photos and tell everyone that I am glad to be back. Did you miss me? By the way, I am thinknig of starting a Ponzi scheme, let me know if you are interested in investing.


Here's some stuff that happened since I've been away:

I took up hiking. Here's me resting on the Appalachian Trail.

Dan Matt and I took a hike over the July 4th Holiday. Join me next time?

You could see beautiful vistas like this one!

Or walk through a forest that is full of Pacasandra! It is beautiful when they bloom in June.

Jer and Charlene got married!!

It was a beautiful wedding.

Jer tried to tongue kiss me.....

I got excited!!

I hung out with family.

Have you seen this man dance? It is like John Travolta (from Saturday Night Fever, not from Face Off) in the body of a 68 year old man.

Joe and Sarah got married. Congrats!!

The Cianciolo family got bigger.

Jer and I went to Nashville to watch the Browns get destroyed by the Titans.

Norah started to grow up.

And Char got more beautiful!