Monday, January 17, 2005
1.17.05 - Wild about running and more
Looks like I did alright in the NFL playoffs this weekend. I was 4-0 against the spread and 4-0 straight up. Makes my playoff record 8-0 against the spread and 6-2 straight up. There are 3 games to go, so I can't have a losing record this playoff season.
I can't pick the games for this Sunday right now. Give me a week to listen to the know-it-alls and read the reports. Then, I'll feel confident about making the correct selection. Early leanings have me taking the Patriots and the Eagles, but I haven't seen the spreads yet.
If I were setting the lines, I'd make the Patriots a 2 point favorite and the Eagles 4 points.
Didn't get a chance to write yesterday because it was Houston Marathon day. For the fifth straight year, I completed one of the three races surrounding the event. In '01, it was the 5K. In '02, it was the full marathon. The last three years, I ran the half-marathon.
I've finished five half-marathons and two full marathons. Each race is different and each training period for the runs are different. There is no way to generalize the marathon process. It's different for everyone. And that's the biggest question I always get from the non-runners - why do you do it?
It all started that morning of the race in 2001. I moved to Houston a few weeks earlier. And, like many, I decided that for the new year, I was going to take better care of myself. My two years in Austin had been a big fraternity party at the radio station. It was the perfect setting for a 27-year-old. We partied hard and worked hard - in that order. But, months of happy hours that lasted usually until the West Coast edition of Sportscenter.
When January 1 arrived, it was time to run. I wasn't a spring chicken anymore and needed to stay in shape. As a former high school runner, I was used to running 3-4 miles. My first time out, it was an 11-minute run. Not very good. Three weeks later, I finished the 5K and saw it for the first time - the power of 26.2.
It was that morning that I decided to run a marathon. Obviously, I couldn't run the 2001 edition of the Compaq Houston Marathon, but I made a mental note to run the 2002 edition with a training program starting in July.
More details to come ... Now, the Patricia Arquette show Medium ... Don't know anything about it, but Arquette was in one of the greatest movies ever made - True Romance. Except, I can't watch it all the through anymore - too violent. I guess I'm old. And in case you didn't know, Tony Soprano was also in that movie. He has a dialogue scene with Brad Pitt.
-30-
I can't pick the games for this Sunday right now. Give me a week to listen to the know-it-alls and read the reports. Then, I'll feel confident about making the correct selection. Early leanings have me taking the Patriots and the Eagles, but I haven't seen the spreads yet.
If I were setting the lines, I'd make the Patriots a 2 point favorite and the Eagles 4 points.
Didn't get a chance to write yesterday because it was Houston Marathon day. For the fifth straight year, I completed one of the three races surrounding the event. In '01, it was the 5K. In '02, it was the full marathon. The last three years, I ran the half-marathon.
I've finished five half-marathons and two full marathons. Each race is different and each training period for the runs are different. There is no way to generalize the marathon process. It's different for everyone. And that's the biggest question I always get from the non-runners - why do you do it?
It all started that morning of the race in 2001. I moved to Houston a few weeks earlier. And, like many, I decided that for the new year, I was going to take better care of myself. My two years in Austin had been a big fraternity party at the radio station. It was the perfect setting for a 27-year-old. We partied hard and worked hard - in that order. But, months of happy hours that lasted usually until the West Coast edition of Sportscenter.
When January 1 arrived, it was time to run. I wasn't a spring chicken anymore and needed to stay in shape. As a former high school runner, I was used to running 3-4 miles. My first time out, it was an 11-minute run. Not very good. Three weeks later, I finished the 5K and saw it for the first time - the power of 26.2.
It was that morning that I decided to run a marathon. Obviously, I couldn't run the 2001 edition of the Compaq Houston Marathon, but I made a mental note to run the 2002 edition with a training program starting in July.
More details to come ... Now, the Patricia Arquette show Medium ... Don't know anything about it, but Arquette was in one of the greatest movies ever made - True Romance. Except, I can't watch it all the through anymore - too violent. I guess I'm old. And in case you didn't know, Tony Soprano was also in that movie. He has a dialogue scene with Brad Pitt.
-30-
