Two chicks at the same time

Lawrence is great. Especially, because his name is Lawrence...not Larry. That's genius. Then again, I spent all of my freshman year of college thinking I was Bevis, so my perspective might be skewed.

Where was I? Oh yeah, two chicks...actually two things. For the first time ever, I'm trying to run and ski this winter. I love to ski, so that's imperative. Plus, I'm being "racing" Nordic Meisters again this year, so I want to be moderately competent on skis. And, I'm planning to run a 10-miler in February. Yeah, I think it's official. I'll be on hand for the Mid-Winter 10-Mile Classic. So, obviously, I need to have my butt in shape for that. The combination of running and skiing will be great for the strength part of the equation, but speed is what I'm worried about. Not speed in the sense of actually running fast, but speed in the sense of not just being able to run slow. At least, I think there's a difference anyway. I've laid out what I think will work for workouts for the next 6 weeks, and hopefully it will pay off. That being said, it's really not easy to switch from one to the other. The general fitness is basically the same, but everything else is completely different. It's really tough to explain, but for the first few minutes of each run I feel really out of whack. If I'm running, I feel like I should be skiing; and if I'm skiing, I feel like I should be skiing. The other trick is that I haven't really done much winter running since college. Since for the last ten years, I've been either 1.) Hurt, so I've just been skiing, since I couldn't run or 2.) Focusing on getting fat, which I did quite successfully for a couple years. There's just an extra level of effort involved in winter running. Maybe it will make me tougher. I know I could use that.

Speaking of not tough, I had a less than stellar run this afternoon. I had to run an errand before I started, so by the time I got to the B/T bike path, I had to pee. Of course, I ignored the urge and the nicely located port-a-potty in the parking lot, and about 2 minutes into the run, I was unhappy. The good news was that in the parking lot I spoke to a guy who had just finished his run, and he informed me that the bike path was clear. Sweet! No Yaktraks today. They're great when the ground is covered with snow and ice, but it's much nicer without them. So, Yaktrakless and full-bladdered, I trudge along. Luckily there is a privy along the bike path, since a stealth pee is impossible between the number of people generally out walking or running, the lack of foliage and the proximity to the highway. In a real emergency, yes, but not the best option. I reached the privy, peed, and continued. Unfortunately, my urge to pee was masking my ravenous hunger. Within seconds of leaving the privy, my stomach started rumbled, and I became fearful of a major bonk. Luckily, no bonk. Just extreme grouchiness. Perhaps two ghetto waffles, a glass of OJ, three fig newtons and half a pot of coffee is not the best choice of fuel when you don't start your run until noon. Yes, I'm an idiot.