Saturday

My running has slowed down. I've narrowly managed to avoid injury so far, which is good, but my energy levels are crashing. Each time I run I just don't feel like it. And then even when I can tell my body is able to go faster I don't feel the same enthusiasm about speeding up that I had been feeling. The race is 18 days away and I am doing something wrong. I suspect I'm not getting enough rest, as in sleep. I'm sure it doesn't help that this morning I woke up choking and gagging like I had inhaled a tennis ball in my sleep. I have no idea what happened, but sleep apnea runs in my family so ... bad sign.

Enough about running. I ran Friday. It was a crappy run, but it's done. So I'll leave it there.

Veronica, there's nothing on TV but crap

It's Saturday and I'm waiting to pick someone up at the airport. Nothing and I mean NOTHING is on TV. I'm watching reruns of Veronica Mars. I'll grant you that Kristin Bell is hot and so are all her female costars on the show, but this show has never been my thing. Almost all the girls in 90210 were hot, too, but that doesn't mean I'd sit around watching it for my own personal entertainment, you know? I am a Kristin Bell fan, though. So that's how I settled on Veronica Mars instead of dirt track car racing. That's my only other option and I'm not in the mood to see unrecognizable garage-built roll cages wrapped in thin sheet metal and identical small block Chevy crate engines go around in circles in the mud. I wish they still raced cars off the showroom floor, more or less, instead of every race being cars that look only vaguely like something you might recognize. There was once a time when they actually did take cars from dealerships antd tweak them a little before hitting the track and racing. That must be shocking to kids who have never seen that before. But that was what made racing popular. Now, because no one can recognize the cars, they have to jump them like motocross bikes in order to generate enthusiasm. I have nothing against jumping, especially since they aren't real cars, but I'd rather watch bikes do it.

What kind of car is this supposed to be?

Wow, that was a serious mental fart there.

One of the credits at the end of Veronica Mars is "Super Hot Guy." If that isn't a big red flag that this isn't a show for guys to watch I don't know what is. Time to flip around and see if anything new has come on that I might watch.

Did they seriously make a movie called "Son of Batman?" I mean, SERIOUSLY?!!!

OK, endurocross - that's what I settled on. I understand why they've moved motorcycle racing into stadiums - it generates more money. But I still like the outdoor races better. Motocross on an outdoor track is SO much cooler to watch. Endurocross is funky.

I have apparently wrecked my laptop like a champion. I had to take it to a guy to try to recover the data from the harddrive for me. He called me this morning and said "dude, I can't even get this drive to spin at all. It's toast." He's going to take it somewhere with specialized equipment as a last ditch effort, but if that fails then I am screwed.

Wow, bikes flying everywhere! Endurocross has the wildest wrecks. They're mostly low speed, but involve weird things like a bike that slides sideways along a log or a bike the jumps out from under a rider while he's got his feet down trying to get over an obstacle and the bike just shoots straight up into the air. It's insane. Ooh, rider goes down right on the rocks! Ouch!

OK, a rider on a Husqvarna won. The entire race was led by a rider on a KTM and then he bit the rocks and Husqvarna won. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

Since I mentioned my fried laptop I'd like to add that I HATE this Dell Inspirion I've bought to replace it with. Apparently Inspirion means "the big giant mousepad thingy is hypersensitive and will make typing impossible." I want to throw this computer through the front window and then get a sledgehammer and just pound it into the lawn. Seriously.

So, I get the impression that very few riders in motorcycle racing are tall. Either that or all the women who interview the winners after the race are giants because the women are always towering over the guys who win. I'm pretty sure the guys are small. I've been involved in several sports where being smaller was an advantage and I can see how that might work in motorcycle racing.

Good Lord, this woman has the most annoying voice!

I've been running with a coworker. He's able to just stretch a tiny bit and then GO. Me, I have to do a significant warm-up in order to get a sweat going and then maybe stretch a little, or a lot, and then gradually pick up speed, from a slow pace until I eventually reach my target speed. This seems to be the only way I am avoiding injuries. I remember when I could just slip my shoes on and hit it, but that seems to be long gone for me now. My coworker has never competed. I was surprised when he told me he's never even entered a race, let alone complete one. So I'm trying to inspire him to give a race a try.  We'll see if anything happens with this. I get the impression he's not the sort of person who likes change or risk or anything new. Anyway,
 at least I'm not running alone.