Chicago (Marathon) Bound

In-transit tomorrow for Chicago.  Stopping in Kentucky overnight, then on to the Windy City Saturday morning.

I'll be staying with a friend's family for the night before the race, then pasta night, sleep, RUN.

Wish me luck!

Posted by Caduceus @ 10:00 pm EDT | Permalink | 5 Comments

Still in Disgaea 3

Still playing Disgaea, just passed through level 4-3.  Quite the game.  It keeps opening up unlockables as you level characters.  There are still many hours left in the main story, though sometimes, I can't be bothered with that.

Next weekend, I'll be running the Chicago Marathon.  I have been training to sub-4, which is under a nine minute mile.  I think it is very possible.  I'm probably about the top shape I've been for a marathon.  Today, I ran with the regular group, ran about 8.3 with the group, 1/2 mile each way as a warm-up and cool down.  With the group, was running around an 8 minute mile (much less for some of the really flat areas), which fills me with hope of getting sub 3:50.

We'll see.  If you're interested in tracking me on-line Sunday morning, starting at 8 AM (Central time), PM me and I'll give you the info.

 

 

Posted by Caduceus @ 8:06 pm EDT | Permalink | 3 Comments

Strange Week

I ran a 5K on Saturday, which went quite well. I finished 2nd overall for the males, 3rd overall with a great time (for me) of 21:22. It was a small town race here and there weren't many runners, not to minimize my achievement, but it is what it is. I also ran with my 4 year old daughter in the 30 yard (or so) Fun Run.

Then I ran with my buddy Sunday morning about 8 miles, didn't feel like I got enough in for the prep for the Chicago (yikes, 3 weeks from Sunday!) Marathon, so I ran with the group another nine miles, and felt better about myself.

Monday night, the four other physicians and I met with the administration of the hospital physician group we are a part of and found out that they will be ending the contract with our practice in a few months. This was quite a suprise for all of us. We knew times were tight, but expected more of a "we need to tighten the hatches" kind of speech as opposed to "we won't beat around the bush, you'll be getting a letter this week."

Anyway, Tuesday, we informed the clinic staff. Tuesday night, it was a misting rain and cool, so I decided to go for a run. I started running and got in about four miles. Then, I ran into a group of runners that I had been trying to start with when I started my run, so I joined them for another eight miles. That made me feel better, but I was running in a little "pity cave" for about 3 miles of the second part of the run then running angry for the next five miles.

Things are more settled as of Friday, discussions with a plan of attack is starting to formulate.

Now, I plan on running 22 tomorrow morning, so we'll just see how that goes.

 

Currently playing Disgaea 3, wow.  It is like crack.

Posted by Caduceus @ 8:18 pm EDT | Permalink | 3 Comments

I am... BATMAN!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEx9r5enZsk&feature=related

The following is NSFW for people with bat phobias.

So, I was sitting downstairs, playing Disgaea 3, last Thursday night a little after nine, when I heard my wife yell - "Chris, get up here right NOW!"

That usually means someone is either bleeding to death or is in other mortal peril.

I race upstairs to find her outside the girls' room. "What's wrong?"

"There's a bat in the girls' room!"

And sure enough, there's a little bat hanging on the edge of the fan near the ceiling. Apparently my 4 year old pointed it out to my wife about thirty seconds earlier - "What's that black thing on my fan?"

"That's a switch, honey."

"No, mommy, what's that black thing?"

"That's a bat!"

Fast forward to me coming upstairs. The bat's about the size of my palm. My wife is not in complete freak-out mode, but I can see the white of her eyes and if I don't come up with a plan in the next sixty seconds, there will be trouble in River City.

We usher the older one out of the room and she gets the baby out of the crib. I go downstairs, get some work gloves and a small trashcan with a removeable lid as well as a step ladder. I close the door to the girls' room and trap it between the trashcan and the ceiling. My reasoning is twofold - a.) I don't want to chase this sucker around with a broom for an hour and b.) I don't want to clean up bat blood/brains off the floor and the walls.

Of course, the little squeaker starts freaking out. I slid the lid across the top, between the celing and the can, and before I completely close it, it stops squeaking. All I can think is, "Great, I have an asphyxiated bat squished between the lid and the can", but he wasn't trapped, thank goodness.

He's chucked out the front door, can and all while we get the 2 million candlewatt flashlight to disorient him some more. I dump him out on the lawn and he starts squeaking some more while I go back into the house and check on the family.

Everyone is fine, both girls have fallen asleep on our bed and they're tossed back where they belong for the night, which goes without further incident. My wife felt obligated to get Stella Luna from a friend to have a "friendly bat" story to read.

I assume it got through the chimneys, which, like the house are over a hundred years old.

I think I took two steps up on the "hero ladder" in my wife's eyes that night. I'm already an imperious, heroic figure in my four year-old's eyes, or at least, still a heroic figure.

I asked Christy later if I had been on-call or out of town whether they would have all slept in our bed, and she just looked at me and said, "Are you kidding, of course! I would have waited for the exterminator the next day!"

Posted by Caduceus @ 9:19 pm EDT | Permalink | 2 Comments

Two for two?

Well, we were supposed to go away for the weekend to a meeting in Charleston, SC. Hannah's going to get in the way of that, so we're at the "backup" location, Greenville.

 

I live in the Upstate, so that's not a far drive, but the wife had been looking forward to a real weekend away from the kids, now it will just feel like a day trip.

Our last weekend away was in 2005, Katrina hit 3 days beforehand.  I know it is selfish, but I was looking forward to time away.

 

Anyway, about a month or so until the Chicago Marathon. I am on target to sub-four hour the marathon, which will beat my previous time by 12 minutes! If you feel like contributing to a charitable organization and watching someone suffer at the same time, might I suggest dropping a couple bucks in my bucket.

http://www.firstgiving.com/chrismcw

 

 

Posted by Caduceus @ 4:30 pm EDT | Permalink | 1 Comments