I'm In Love With My Car

I've been in a quandary lately.

My car, a 2007 Chrysler Crossfire, is approaching 85K miles at which time the extended warranty runs out, needs 2 tires and a new Sirius unit.  It wouldn't be too bad but I still have 2 years on the note and since all the mechanical parts are Mercedes-Benz, they are let's just say, pricey.

If this was just any old grocery getter, I'd trade it in in a heartbeat but the Crossfire is a special car. In all, there were less than 4000 base Roadsters made during the 4 year run and underneath the Chrysler badging and sheetmetal lives a nimble Mercedes drivetrain.

This Crossfire is is quick, sporty and a definite head-turner. It is the perfect car for AZ where I can drive with the top down from basically March to November with only a few interruptions during monsoon season. I've even had plenty of occasions to go topless while the rest of the country was freezing their jingle balls off.

My heart is telling me to hang on because rare usually means collectible in the car world and it is just a joy to drive. On the other hand my head is telling me to move on because in the end it's just transportation and they were a flop when they came on the scene.

I'm leaning toward keeping it and by the time it's paid off, I can garage it in favor of an Elio for my daily drive.

Decisions, decisions.

I Ran

Yes, 2 posts in 2 days for me is a unheard of but here it is.

Yesterday I had to cut my training short and not do 5x800 after my 5 mile run due to a blister I developed last weekend. As I posted afterward, I let this get in my head and considered taking a week off to let it heal completely. Well, before I went to bed I decided that I was going to give it a shot and see if I could get in at least a few miles before it flared up again.

Sometimes you just have to go with your gut.

When the alarm went off and I rolled out of bed at 6:30, BBW was not at all happy. "It's gonna hurt" he chirped, "It's gonna suck", "It'll be a waste of time", "It's too hot out", blah, blah, blah. That may be true; after all by the time it hit 7:30 and I was ready to roll, it was already 88 degrees with a heat index of 90. This run was happening whether BBW liked it or not and if I only got in a mile, so be it.

Plan was to stay on my normal 10 mile route since there are plenty of ways to cut it short should the need arise. I felt great over the first 3 miles and guessed I would have felt something by then. So far so good.

I was really surprised when I got going after a break at mile 6 and still nothing. Ok maybe not nothing but I couldn't tell if it was real or in my head. With the choice if doing 2 more or 4 more I chose 4.

Screw you BBW, no win for you today.

The last 4 miles were pretty uneventful except for being hot. After I finished, I checked the Weather Bug app on my phone and the temp was up to 98 with a heat index of 100. At least the humidity had dropped. I may have been nearly 5 minutes slower than the same loop last week but I consider this run a success.

Looks like I'll keep on schedule this week but will still probably deviate and do the 5K on Saturday instead of 5 miles.

Pressing My Way

Well it's happened, 4+ months into training and I've had my first bit of a setback. Nothing serious, it's only a blister, most likely from being too aggressive on my new Fit's right out of the box, but it is a setback none the less.

Unfortunately, it's sometimes the little things that can cause a tipping point. Between the heat, struggle with diet, some tough runs, a week of going through a mind-numbing spreadsheet in work and now this, I allowed ol' BBW to get in my head. Part of it is that I get bored easily and with my next race 8 weeks away, a 5K, I'm having trouble focusing. It doesn't help that I run solo all the time either and at times that makes it hard to find the extra gear.

I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I'm better off doing XT for the next week instead of running to let my foot heal but that will only compound this mini-funk. So here's the thing, do I change it up and run a 5K next weekend or do I stick with the schedule and do 5 miles. Regardless of what I choose, 5x800 are happening afterwards.

The benefit of running the race is that it will be a good gauge of where I am at the mid-point of my current 3 month cycle, get me out with other runners in a competitive environment (yes I know we run against ourselves but who's kidding who, it's much easier to go just a little harder when you have someone in front of you) and shake me out of the rut.

On the downside, a poor showing would do nothing for my psyche so running the race could potentially back-fire.

Truth is, this may just be the spark I need. I have yet to not PR at any race distance since I got back into running 2 years ago this month (holy crap has it been that long) and I don't intend to start now. Nothing like a little challenge to get the competitive juices flowing.

This reminds me, I also need to pull out my Kindle and reread The Champion's Mind to further help me get my poop in a group.

BBW needs to get knocked down a peg and this might do the trick.