Run Tom, Run

Well, the final countdown to Chicago has begun! I'm now in the final 30 days of planning for the marathon. Last week was an absolute train wreck when it came to my runs, but so far no complaints this week. Actually, one compliant would be that my friend who was supposed to run the marathon with me is now probably going to back out due to lack of training. So, now it looks like I might be headed to Chicago by myself to run this thing.

The next 3 weeks will be absolutely critical for my training though, so that's now officially my life. I'm good with that though.

.

I just got the best news of my week, month, and probably year tonite! Two people who have become two of closest friends over the past couple of years just informed me that they are expecting!! I've been suspecting it for about a bit now, but they finally made the official announcement tonite. I could not be happier for the both of you and I'm extremely excited about it! (no,Em, I'm not totally freaked out by it!) Although it is a little weird when your friends start having kids.

Congratulations! You are going to be wonderful parents and I feel blessed that I will at least be able to experience this in a small way with you guys. Know that all 3 of you will be in my prayers everyday!

In a true toast... Cheers!

I went to Dallas last night with Val, Drew, and the Hogans to catch Garden State at the Magnolia. WOW! What an incredible movie. People have telling me to go see this for some time now, but had not yet been motivated to have to drive to Dallas or Austin for the sole purpose of going to see a movie. Now having seen it, it was clearly worth the drive. Plus, I got to eat at Chuy's before heading home. What more could you ask for.

On the way back Mike were discussing times in college when we would have to drive to Waco just for the purpose of watching a movie. People who have not lived in Waco prior to about '97 would not be able to understand this, but for those of us who - you know that there basically weren't any movie theaters in Waco at the time. There were 2, but they were pieces of crap and the biggest one had 6 screens. That's unheard of now. A 16plex is small by today's standards, but 6?? That's just cruelty.

Last week was not exactly one of the best weeks of the year for me. I got completely bogged down at work and between Monday and Sunday I didn't manage to get a single run in for the week. Lots of stuff happening at work (including two major presentations at the end of the week) caused me ample amounts of undo stress for the week. I ended up working late a few nights, eating poorly the whole week, and running not once. I should have made time for my runs, just for the stress factor and of course the fact that I was supposed to run 20 miles on my weekend long run. However, that didn't happen and I paid the price on Sunday. I completely bonked on my long-run. I'm not sure what I was expecting when I lived on fast food for the week and didn't run for 5 days straight, but I only managed just under 10 miles on what should have been 20. No bueno.

I'm currently enjoying a day off and a much need 3 day weekend. I slept a lot over the weekend, much more then I normally do. I tend to do that when I'm a bit more on the stressed side of things. Not sure why, but always been the case. I got up about 9 this morning and headed over to Common Grounds not long after that. I've been sitting here since then and just enjoying a latte and a book. Started in on East Of Eden about a week ago, but really started to get into it this weekend. Definitely a good read so far, but a bit on the long side.

I've been thinking about opportunity cost a lot lately. I somewhat feel as though I'm coming to a crossroads with the need to make a few decisions in the near future (next few months). Work has much to do with it, but other possible changes as well. Nothing that I can really go into on the blog, but lots of choices and many different directions. I've got an itch right now that always seems to come up for me. I'm wondering if that will ever be satisfied? Will there come a time when I can be content in what I am doing for longer then a couple years? There are a few things that I would like to do, however the opportunity cost of the golden handcuffs make it difficult to do so. I have to wait right now to see the outcome of decisions on things that are out of my control, or input. So, there's nothing that I can really decide on right at the moment, but I still torture myself over the options. Its hard to balance what logic and common sense tell you against what a deep yearning calls you toward.