Some Post Marathon Monday Thoughts

So I am still trying to figure out this blog thing. I guess like most things it is what you make of it but really its about how much you wanna let people into who you are what makes you tick. You have to make a choice of weather or not you want to just report just the facts or add the emotion and personality behind them. Something that I think needs to be tested and refined. The fact is that I have no idea who is reading this, it could be one of my close friends, someone from the past, someone who was just board so they surfed around facebook, a possible employer or anyone else. Knowing that I have to decide what level of myself I am comfortable with. I have only made a few posts on here but I have gone back and edited them if I didn’t like the phrasing or if upon a second read I feel like it didn’t come across as I intended. Not sure if that means something or not. But I am sure time will tell.

So I guess the reason I was thinking about this is because I had some day after thoughts from the marathon and I thought I should write them on here. I mean the reason I decided to do a blog was to make it real, make me accountable in a sense, and to have a record of my 1001 days, and if I am going to do that I might as well start from the beginning.

If nothing else running the marathon reaffirmed my belief that I can do anything I put my mind to. I don’t think I have challenged myself to something that took that kind of dedication since wrestling in high school. It was nice to see that I was still up to the task. Through the years I have always assumed that the most important week of doing anything is the first week. My first Friday I was supposed to run a mile but we were going to the Burins game for Pats birthday so I didn’t have much time to get in the run but I went out and got it done. As little or insignificant as that seems for me, that is the most important thing. If you are going to do something you need to drive right in, as it says on the dry erase above my toilet “Go Big or Go Home”. That is what I did with the marathon and what I am attempting to do with this post.

Cross off Boston Marathon

So in the interest of actually updating this blog thing, and keeping some kind of record of this 1001 days. Today I ran the Boston Marathon in 4:37. Overall very satisfied by the performance. 1 bathroom break and a 100 yard walk while drinking some water and a quick stop by Mom and Dad. My average mile was 10:34 but the last 2.2 KM I ran at a 9 min pace so I had something left for the finish. I think I passed way more people in those last couple miles than I did in the entire rest of the race.

Since I didn't have my name or something identifying on me I didn't get many shout outs from random people until the final stretch down Beacon where I prob got a dozen Forrest Gump references easy. At that point i it was nice to be picked out, the crowd is a big, when you have been running for 24 miles and you have people cheering for you the whole way even if they don’t know you it is a great feeling and it surprisingly not as difficult to finish as I thought. I think I did a good job of pacing myself and it paid dividends in the end.

When I made he list I guess I figured that on my way to running a marathon I would run a 5K, 10K, and half marathon but it didn’t happen so I guess I will have to continue to run until I have crossed them all off, although after this none of those seem daunting.

Breaking News!!!!

Michael Domsky just called me and asked me if he could stay at my place for a Phish show in June! This was a shock to me for a number of reasons, the main being I haven't spoken to him in prob close to a year, looks like that one will be easier than I thought

Finally a follow up post and some things to cross off

So it has been 3 months and I have had nothing I felt worthy of reporting. But I finally can cross the 1st thing off my list. Go to a Boston Blazers Game. I went with James and Doobage. James was in town for Easter weekend and suggested it and since it was on the list I felt compelled to comply. We met at The Fours before the game and Doobage wondered how something that costs $20 and involves getting drunk could be on the same list as something that required 6 months of training, Running the Boson Marathon, which I will be doing tomorrow, and yes it took me a week to write this. I told him it was the magic of the list, plus you gotta make some easy ones to get you going. You also have to put things on the list that you have been planning on doing and just haven’t gotten around to.

This brings me to my 2nd list item being crossed off. Finish My baggo boards. I had started building these during the 2007 Patriots season because I had gone to 4 of the home games and brought the boards to 3 of them, but back then they were just a board and a milk crate and some homemade bags. Last 4th of July I went to Holbrook’s place in RI and we built a frame for them so they would stand on there own. I got to 3 Pats games last year but only brought the boards to 1 but they were a big hit.

I finally got around to starting to paint them during the fall and over the last 2 months started to paint the Red Sox symbol and Pat the Patriot on the other. And today right before the Marathon I have completed them. I will say that there are things I would like to upgrade some things on them but I feel as though I am at the point where every time I go to put paint on them I have an equal chance of making it worse as I do better so I stopped because I am happy with where they are. Finishing them in time for the Marathon was my goal since it is now nice out and we will be able to play on the roof. I also broke down and ordered bags online since my original homemade ones all broke open and so did Doobages so I figured it was worth the $32 for the set.

Below we have me admidireing a shot that may or may not have gone in But My team did win the 1st game so all is well, 2nd is just a closer look at Pat

Day 1 (Well 2)

So i got a late start, I choose to start this on my birthday which was yesterday but I went skiing and when I got home I had no energy left to start creating my first blog/ posting my 101 things to do list. I received the idea from Becca, one of my current roommates and Pat's girlfriend. Anyway i figured it would be a good way to give my self some direction over the next few years so I wrote up a list then took some time to actually start it, i changed a few items and played with it before I was ready to post and my birthday seemed like the best time to start. You will notice that my list is actually only 91 items long. There are 10 more that for a variety of reasons I have chosen not to publish online but i will keep a tracker of the 10 so you at least see if they are being accomplished.

So with no further delay, the List:

1. Run a 5K
2. Run 10K Race
3. Run ½ Marathon
4. Run Boston Marathon
5. Go to Las Vegas
6. Learn how to give a massage
7. Go out in NYC
8. Hangout w/ Michael Domsky
9. See Baseball games at 3 stadiums you have never been before
10. See Football games at 2 stadiums you have never been before
11. Go to a Celtic’s Game
12. Go to a New England Revolution Game
13. Go to a Boston Blazers game
14. Get some Bruins gear and wear it to a Bruins Game
15. Do a 360 on skis off a jump
16. Do a 720 on skis off a jump
17. Learn how to do rails on skis
18. Go off a jump backwards
19. Ski Whistler
20. Ski Mad River Glen
21. Go skiing in a State I haven’t been before
22. Do 3 Mt. Dew races at 3 different locations
23. Learn to Snowboard
24. Learn how to create a web site
25. Go to a Playoff game at Fenway Park
26. Take GMATS
27. Start on my Masters
28. Buy some real estate
29. Go to San Diego
30. Bungee Jump/Sky Dive
31. Be making more money on day 1001 than Day 1
32. Read a weekly tech update for 1 year consecutively
33. Don’t get anyone pregnant
34. Stay Disease Free
35. Go wake boarding
36. Ride a jet ski
37. Go surfing
38. Try 5 types of sushi
39. Eat a lobster from NE
40. Try 3 types of fish
41. Take some kind of kickboxing/boxing aerobic class
42. Take a yoga class
43. Strengthen my shoulder so I can throw w/o pain
44. Bench 225 10 times
45. Play in a Racquetball league
46. Play a round of golf under 100
47. Play a round of golf where I hit all 18 fairways on the drive
48. Play a round of golf with less than 27 putts
49. Build a piece of furniture from scratch
50. Finish Baggo boards
51. Finish Blink
52. Read Now I can Die in Peace, by Bill Simmons
53. Read Outliers, by Malcom Gladwell
54. Learn how to make 3 different dinners from scratch
55. Find 2 appetizers and make them really well
56. Learn how to make 3 different desserts
57. Learn how to make 4 types of punch that can be made w/ & w/o alcohol
58. Carry a token for 1 year then give it away
59. Collect a complete set of the 50 state quarters
60. Cook 50 things out of the how to cook everything book
61. Learn to type correctly
62. Carve something to hang on the wall
63. Go deep sea fishing
64. Fire a gun
65. Do 100 push ups w/o a break
66. Learn to dance
67. Cook someone breakfast in bed
68. Take someone on a picnic
69. Cook a candle lit dinner for someone
70. Go to 3 concerts
71. Host a Beer Die tournament
72. Go for a weekend hiking trip
73. Go out in 5 Cities I have never been to(Excluding NYC, Vegas & San Diego)
74. Build a Foosball table
75. refinish my coffee table
76. Go for a road trip that comprises of at least 5 states
77. Go white water rafting
78. go ATVing in the woods
79. Pay off my student loans
80. Learn how to change my own oil and use that knowledge
81. Go paintballing
82. Do a Bar-a-Thon
83. Learn how to make 10 actual drinks
84. Do 101 hours of volunteering
85. Get a Tattoo
86. Learn a new hand skill
87. Buy a new HDTV
88. Come up with a new thing on Day 200
89. Come up with a new thing on Day 400
90. Come up with a new thing on Day 600
91. Come up with a new thing on Day 800

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