I've been a bad runner, a bad blogger, and a great son

Since Thanksgiving, a number of maladies have kept me from keeping a proper running schedule. As I believe I've mentioned, I was working 30+ hours a week at work on top of school and life in general. My last day of work was Christmas eve, so I get those hours back, plus, until school starts up, the hours from class. On top of that, I managed to bruise the underside of my heel. Had some dead skin peeling off of it, a callous giving way, so I gave a pull at it, and the skin didn't come. Ouch. Thing was deep red for a few days, now it's more purple. Doesn't hurt much now, thankfully.

So I haven't really run much in the last month. Shame on me. I've kept up my core workouts, which is good, and work got me used to being on my feet for hours and hours on end. With the New Year will come true dedication -- running a 4 miler on New Year's day, YMCA membership will be back in use, and my newly acquired Under Armour (woo Christmas gifts) will be put to the test.

That said, Christmas went well. I was up until the wee hours of Christmas Eve/Christmas morning putting together the presentation of my Dad's gift.

First, I took a beat up, old, empty shoebox. Then I dug out my beat up old Sauconys. Then, I took the lovely banner that we received from Dana-Farber, folded it up, and put it in the bottom of the old shoebox. On top of the banner, I placed the card I wrote, which said something to the effect of the following:

Dad, over the last year, you've had a long, difficult journey. You've met it head on every step of the way.

Now it's my turn.

As a tribute to your victory over cancer, I will be running the 2010 Boston Marathon to raise money for cancer research, as a member of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge.

Merry Christmas, and many more.
Love, Chris

On top of the card, I placed the busted old Sauconys. I closed the shoebox, taped the lid shut, wrapped it. Christmas morning, I told him he couldn't open my gift until we got to my aunt's house, where his entire side of the family would be for Christmas dinner.

After dinner, dessert, and everyone else had opened their presents, my mom got everyone's attention, and I gave my dad his gift. He opened it, took out the shoes, confusing everyone. Then he went for the plastic of the banner, but I yelled at him to open the card. He opened the card, and read it to himself. Everyone else watched closely. He passed the card to the right and let a few people read it before everyone asked my uncle John to read it aloud. He did, and upon finishing, I looked around the room and realized that everyone in the room was crying.

I made roughly 15 people cry tears of happiness on Christmas day. I think it's safe to say it was the best Christmas gift anyone in my family has ever given, and I am endlessly proud of that.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Equilibrium

I have found myself in a balancing act worthy of Cirque du Soleil. And I have no idea how to manage it from now until Christmas.

I am working, on average, about 32 hours a week. I have no problems with that by itself, I'm 21, I need the money. However, I also have roughly 16 hours of class a week. Plus time commuting to and from both places, and in between classes. That puts me at about 55-60 hours of work and travel. Two and a half out of seven days. Then there's sleep. Probably 48 hours of that in a week. And work for classes, which at this time of year is probably another 8-12 hours a week. That's five out of seven days of my week accounted for. You'll note that this is omitting "menial" tasks like eating, showering, using the bathroom, and breathing.

It's also omitting my social life. The one thing I want to be taking up my time. And to my credit, I have managed to keep myself from becoming a total hermit / workaholic. I've kept up with my friends pretty well, all things considered.

And I've met an amazing girl. I'll save you all the gushy details, but her name is Lauren, and I am smitten. The commuting required for our dates is a bit... obnoxious (Salem for me, Brigham Circle area for her), but I couldn't care less. Curiously, the DFMC is actually making it easier. Runners meetings at DFCI are close for her, and when I start getting out to some of the Crossroads runs, that'll be almost as easy, I think.

Anyways, here I stand, like a stork in quicksand, trying not to lose my footing. Thankfully, school is over on the 18th and work is probably done for me on the 22nd. But in the meantime, S.O.S.!

Catching up

Been busy lately. Thanksgiving was good. My mom knows that I'm running the Marathon, and has agreed to help me tell my dad and his side of the family on Christmas day. Working on mapping out who where donations will come from and how much we stand to raise. It's looking pretty solid. My fundraising is gonna start catching up with my training.

Training, on the other hand, has ground to a near halt. Blisters on my feet are weird, in that they are under the calloused skin. They won't break open on their own, but I'm not about to break them open, either. It's still uncomfortable to run on them, particularly up any sort of incline. I'm going to go by the Y tomorrow or Thursday to renew my membership and probably hop in the pool. I sorely miss the swim workouts I was doing in the spring and summer.

Anyway, that's the word from me. Happy December everyone!