Reflections and Refractions

If you are the author of a blog, then there is the obligatory posts that one must write and I am no different. With that being said, this is my "New Year's Blog entry" on the past year and my goals for the next, in no discernible order. 2011 was a wonderfully challenging year for me that tested my limits and questioned my sanity. It was a year of goals and failures, both being important to one's growth and education. This past year reflected my  areas of expertise and the many areas of limitation that I want to overcome. 2011 reminded me that I am human and riddled with faults that I don't want to be chains like Jacob Marley.

  The year started off on a high note, so to speak, as I was engulfed with teaching myself how to sing, once again. When I say "teach myself", I mean taking lessons with my musical mentor. That unfortunately came to a screeching halt with some family drahma which overshadowed my interests, like any family issues do. I was forced to make some tough decisions that were for the best, IMO, but was derailed from myself once again. I used what was left of March and April as a spring board back in to Online Poker, which had taken a back seat to music only to be thrown out the window by the DOJ when Full Tilt, Poker Stars, and Absolute were shut down. Thanks a lot Osama Bin Laden. I no longer could have my Cake and eat it too.

  I made some new goals to build an alternative online bankroll and separate live roll as well only to have that fantasy put on hold, by the happy realities of being a stay at home father of 3 sons under the age of 5. They have been the reason why I am not beating myself up for the countless stretch goals which I have not been able to complete in any way shape or form which leads me to my last  effort of self improvement (a.k.a. an exercise in futility). The Chicago Marathon

  I made the goal of taking up running again which I hadn't done seriously in 15-18 years when I was in Cross Country. I had always been an above average runner who never reached my potential which was reason enough to become more healthy and active for the sake of my family and a little ego boost to boot. The first 5 weeks went well until one day I couldn't straighten my left leg without excruciating pain. A little rest with the addition of scotch persuaded my inner procrastinator to take some medical leave which I have yet to recover from. This leads my to the 2012 portion of this entry which will hopefully set the tone for the new year:

  I am hoping that if I make my goals smaller, more reasonable, and attainable, that I may be able to reach and larger, stretch goal, like the Chicago Marathon, not necessarily in 2012 like I had wanted, but perhaps in the next year or two. I have so much going on as a parent, that any individual goal I make beyond that becomes unrealistic due to the scheduling conflicts inherent in taking care of 3 kids. I can only hope that this realization helps to decrease any peripheral pressure that I have place on myself in the hopes of any self improvement. Ironic, isn't it?

Update on the non-events of the last week.

I don't have much to update as of right mainly because my activity has been directed towards finishing up the 1st part of my (thesis statement) multiple blog entry on government's policies towards the financial sector and online poker. I was hoping to have it done by now, but the more I research (mostly the financial aspect) the more I feel needs to be written. I am approaching the home stretch with regard to the meat and potatoes of the entry and will have to compose the overall introduction. Once I am finished with the 1st part, I intend on posting each section a week apart so that I can put my focus on the poker aspect, part 2 as it were. I would like to post the entire section together at one time on another off-shoot blog page for this entire paper, just in case anyone comes across it and wants to read it as an entire piece. I hope that I can finish everything before online poker legislation is passed as my writings will be moot (not that they're going to be gorundbreaking shit to begin with).

  I still have not been running. I believe I informed my reading public that I would be suspending my running plans, as being a stay at home dad has been claiming more of my very little free time due to the fact that my sons are no longer willing to take naps. I was hoping to have made much more progress by now, but I had an injury about 4 weeks back that put me on the sidelines and then my home schedule just got tougher. I am going to have to reacess my goals for the Chicago marathon next year and make it more realistic. Plus, I really love drinking beer and eating fatty foods which is not good for staying healthy.
I hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday season and staying safe. I will talk to you all soon. Have fun!
 

Poker Update

It's been a while since I have given any strong update on how my poker playing is going. The reason for that is because I haven't been playing much poker lately which is disappointing to me and at the same time, fuel for my writing. I've taken to Twitter in order to voice small sound bite opinions or pass on articles and opinions of others that I'm following. (I hate using slang and meme)
 First off, my dual poker challenge has basically taken an indefinite leave of absence. In case you haven't read my earliest entries which began right after Black Friday (that's poker related Black Friday, not the one right after Thanksgiving). The first challenge was to get experience playing NLHE live at my local casino. It started off well and then saw some bumps in the road. It then got harder and harder to find time to drive all the way to the Casino, especially being a Stay at home Dad. I played very little poker in Las Vegas a few month back and have yet to play live poker since then.
 My online challenge hit some rough waters as I had a major downswing/runbad/playbad  October. Finding the time to devote to playing A-game poker online has also become much more difficult. I've been using free time to either run or research my epic multi-post blog entry relating to online poker and Wall Street. I hope to have it done before Christmas and more importantly, before legislation is passed which would make my writing a bit moot.
Well, I will let you all go and hope that some of you who visit stay a while and read some past blog entries. Have fun!

Running log--Week #6 a.k.a "Sonnuva bitch!!!"

So, things were going well in my training through 5 weeks. I had seen some bumps and bruises along the way, but all in all, training was steady. I was averaging 10-12 miles per week, running 3-5 times. There were a few days that I would have to take off due to soreness, or fatigue, and weather. I started off week #6 in good form by running 3 miles on Monday night and I felt pretty good. The next day I was  a bit tired, but still planned on running. My wife ended up having to work late so I had to miss Tuesday, but that wasn't horrible. Wednesday was normally a day off of running, so I would just switch with Tuesday and not skip a beat. The problem was that my left knee began to hurt around noon. It slowly became more and more painful as the day went on. I decided not to run and by the time I was in bed my knee hurt like a Mo Fo. I ad a difficult time falling to sleep and woke up today with some tenderness. Perhaps I just needed to take a few days off and let things get better. Well, it may be more than just a few days as I can barely walk on it without feeling sharp pain in my knee. I'm not sure if I hyper extended it or what, but it's not happy.

When it comes to setting goals in the year 2011, I am getting kicked in the crotch over and over again. I really hope that this is not long-term and I can start up again by next Monday, but I haven't felt this much pain in my knee in a long long time. If any of my readers...Hello?

If any of my readers are religious in any way shape or form, then please pray for me as I am basically an atheist and will get no reply for god as he has most definitely "unfriended" me a long time ago. Thanks and I hope we passed the audition.

Week #5 running log

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I was disappointed by not being able to run on Monday or Tuesday. Weather and children's schedules got in the way, so I ran 4 days in a row starting Wednesday and am quite sore now. I am hoping that my body starts becoming stronger in the next 4 weeks so that I can add on the mileage before the end of the year.


Monday-Had little time to run and the little time I had, it was raining cats and dogs.
Tuesday-Had less time than the day before. DAMMITT!!
Wednesday-Ran for a little over 30 minutes and felt pretty good the entire time. Not so much after though. I drove the loop I ran to verify the distance and looks like I ended running close to 4.4 miles.
Thursday-ran for 30 minutes (close to 3 miles)
Friday-Ran for 30 minutes (close to 3 miles)
Saturday-Ran for 30 minutes (close to 3 miles) Feeling rather sore as I ran 4 days in a row to try an make up for missing Tuesday.

running log week #4

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Finished up my first month of running and I was hoping not to feel like a car that is breaking down. One day it's my knees, the next day it's my quads, the day after that it's my ankle. I am hoping that things start to feel bettter in the next month otherwise it's going to be a long 52 weeks. It's going to be a long 52 weeks anyways, but I was  hoping for it to resemble the Chariots of Fire theme song rather than the Little Enging that could.
Monday--ran for 30 minutes ( I think close to 3 miles).
Tuesday--Ran for 30 minutes (close to 3 miles, I think).
Wednesday-off
Thursday--did not run
Friday--Ran for 30 minutes
Saturday--Ran for 20-25 min (felt a bit tired near the end.)
Sunday-off

week #3 running log--Sucked!

So my week #3 sucked ass. I started well as I normally run on Monday and Tuesday, followed by a day off on Wednesday and then ran again on Thursday. My son had a Halloween party for school which left me little time to run on Friday. I then went out Friday night with some friends and had way too much to drink leaving me very hungover on Saturday. Nix that. Sunday I spent time with my family so no running then either. I have to get back in to the saddle tommorrow during nap time so that I can keep pace for my first month of consistent running. It could have been worse...

Monday-- Ran for 35 minutes
Tuesday--Ran for 35 minutes
Wednesday- Day off.
Thursday-- ran for 35 minutes
Frday--did not run
Saturday--hung over from Friday night--did not run
Sunday--did not run.

week #2 running log

The 2nd week of running wasn't as easygoing as the first, surprisingly enough. My muscles were a bit more sore from the first week and my right knee began to hurt a little bit on Wednesday so I took an extra rest day. My body is feeling a bit better after 2 weeks of getting the cobwebs out of the system, but I still have a long ways to go before I am up to the challenge of running 6 miles, or even a 5K, let alone being in Marathon form.



Monday-ran for 40 minutes
Tuesday ran for 35 minutes
Wed-off
Thursday--Took day off because knee hurt.
Friday--ran for 30 minutes.
Saturday--ran for 30 minutes.

Week #1 running log

I finished my first official week of running. I am starting out with a specific amount of time that I plan on running so that I can go at whatever pace seems best for me. I don't want to make a goal for how far to run so that I don't over do it. I have been feeling better with each time out and finished the week with a 3 mile run with a friend of mine who is rather active in sports. I will keep an update each week as well as a log of my progress.

Sunday 10/9--Ran for 40 minutes for the first time in many many many years. First day towards Marathon 2012.
Tuesday 10/11--Ran for 40 minutes.
Wednesday 10/12-Ran for 45 minutes
Thursday 10/13-Ran for 40 minutes--possibly 3.5-4 miles.
Friday -Off
Saturday--Ran 3 miles around 30 minutes.
Sunday--Off

A year from today...10/9/2011

A few days ago I received a text that a friend of mine whom was apart of my Las Vegas Extravaganza trip last month, was in the ICU with bleeding in the left ventricle of his brain. Apparently it was caused by extremely high blood pressure and may be an indication of a stroke or possible aneurysm. I picked up some mutual friends and sped off to the hospital to visit him. To make a long story short, the bleeding stopped and all of his tests were negative. It was solely the high BP that caused the bleeding, but it was obvious that he needed to change his eating and drinking habits. It's not normal for a 44 year old man to be in the hospital with a blood pressure reading of 221/111. The doctors were amazed that he didn't have a stroke at that point.
This leads me to me. Right before I got this news of my friend, I had been thinking of making some changes in my own life. I have been feeling more stressed out than normal. without going into too much detail, I have had many things happen this calendar year in my family that has been a stress creator and I have done a poor job at managing that stress or alleviating it. Exercise is a good way of relieving stress while at the same time, getting into better shape. I have always enjoyed running and was quite a good runner in high school, but it's been nearly 20 years since I was serious about it. So, with the Chicago Marathon right around the corner, I have decided to make a goal for myself of training for 2012 Chicago Marathon. From what I have read, you need to have a baseline foundation of 12-15 miles per week before officially starting your marathon training program, even for a beginner, which I most certainly am. Today was the first day that I went out for a brisk walk of about 2 miles. No, that's no astonishing feat (no pun intended), but  I am going to start off slow so that I don't over do it and injure myself right out of the blocks.
 I will update my progress as we go and if anyone (that is assuming I actually have regular readers of this blog) has some good suggestions on training for a Marathon over the course of 12 months, please let me know. Thanks and have fun. Below are a few links that I am including in case anyone has some interest in learning more about training for a marathon. I am putting myself in the Novice 1 category which means the running I do in the next 6 months is just to get to zero, if you will. Thanks again for reading.
Hal Hidgon
Running routes