Pain, Trader Joes, and the bishop...

8/29/2007: 5.2-mile run, 49:18, 9:28 pace

This morning's run ended up going longer than I wanted. Not in distance, of course, but in time. by about mile 2 my left IT band had tightened up and my knee was starting to hurt. I had to slow down through the rest of the run and take two 1-minute walking breaks to keep the pain under control. When I got home I worked both IT bands over with my painstick, in addition to really stretching out well. I think the combination of the time change, my recent biking, my lack of regular running and two hours in the car yesterday sent my body into open rebellion. It should settle down by next week.

So, two hours in the car. The trip to Trader Joe's was just under 50 miles each way and took about about two hours round-trip. After 5 years in California where two-lane roads are only found on side streets, I was surprised to find that the "highway" we had to travel was largely two lanes. It wasn't too bad - I did get to pass a truck, and get passed in turn by a BMW - but the two hours of driving was almost more than I could handle. It was definitely worth it, though. We re-stocked our cereal supply and picked-up such goodies as: triple-ginger cookies, mango chili vinegar, crushed ginger, whole-wheat pizza dough, sun-dried tomato sausage, flax seed tortilla chips and milk-chocolate chips. While there we also picked-up sandwiches for lunch. I think we'll limit our visits to once a month - that's as often as I can handle a 100-mile, 2-hour drive.

Once we got home, everyone was sick of driving. So we decided to forget house-hunting in favor of my going to the DMV to get my NJ license and plates for Gandalf. After two hours of bureaucratic fun, I am now officially a New Jersey driver with a New Jersey car. Today we will probably send my wife to get her license. After that we'll only need to get Gandalf inspected so we can put the expiration sticker on his plates and we'll be done with the NJ DMV for at least a year.

Finally, I met with the bishop last night (at my request) to talk about how our family is adjusting to New Jersey in general and the ward specifically. During our discussion, he felt a strong impression to extend to me a calling. He said he had been pondering about 14 different callings for me but this was not one of them. The prompting he received was just so strong that he didn't feel he should wait to talk it over with his counselors. Of course I accepted. I won't tell y'all what it is until I am sustained by the ward, but I will tell you that I am very excited and nervous about it. I will definitely need the Lord's help to magnify this calling.

My body may be hurting but my spirit is flying high,
Brad

Run & Bike...

8/27/2007: 14.00-mile biking, 48:09, 17.4 mph
8/28/2007: 5.2-mile run, 46:23, 8:55 pace

Well I managed to get up at 5:30 and go running!

More tomorrow,
Brad

Just can't get on Eastern Time...

8/24/2007: 13.44-mile biking, 46:14, 17.4 mph

No running lately. I normally run in the morning, but I've been having a hard time getting up before 8am. I think it's because my body is still set on Pacific Time and is used to getting up at 5:20 for my running. Of course, that's 8:20 here which is definitely too late for a morning run. I guess I'll have to just force the issue until my body complies.

I did bike to work last Friday, however. It was great! I know the weather will not always cooperate to make my ride an easy one, but I plan to ride to work as often as possible. At just under 7 miles each way, the ride seems easy after my 16-mile rides around the Newport Beach Backbay.

That's all for now. Tomorrow we plan to take the nearly 40-mile trip to Trader Joe's to satisfy our addiction to their products that we picked up in California. If that doesn't wipe us out we may go drive around and check out local houses for sale. Before all of that, however, I must get up and go on a run!

Wishing my internal clock was as easy to change as my watch,
Brad

Calling contest...

Well, my wife set-up a "calling contest" on her blog yesterday and linked to my blog stating that I would have one too. So here it is:

What calling will I get in our new ward?

Here's the deal: I offer no prizes (I'm into that "success is its own reward" idea) but I do offer inside info.....
The ward has just over 400 members of record. Over 200 single sisters and just about 80 priesthood-holding brethren (about ten of them are over 75 years old.) I told the bishop that I was coming off a stint as the ward choir director - but that was after my wife had explained her experience in music and told him she enjoyed being the choir director. I also told him of my experience teaching in Elders' quorum and in Sunday School (Family History.) He also mentioned that the ward clerk/ward organist/Elders' quorum & High Priest group teacher needed to be released from one of those callings.

There it is. Let the comments begin!
Brad

My first run in Jersey...

8/17/2007: 3-3.5 miles, 30:23, about 8:30-9:00 pace

Just the exercising...

8/9/2007: 5-mile run, 45:09, 9:01 pace
10-minute strength

Two-a-days...

8/7/2007: 5-mile run, 44:00, 8:48 pace
3-mile walk/run, 40:00

Normally I watch our boys when I get home from my morning run so that my wife can take her morning walk. However, we are staying with family, so my wife and I took the opportunity to go on a morning walk together. I really enjoyed spending the time with her walking, jogging and talking about all sorts of things. We were both a little sore from helping her sister and brother-in-law pack-up to move yesterday, but the exercise helped loosen-up some of the stiffness. It also strengthened our decision to stay in our NJ apartment for two years before we consider moving to a house - but we'll have to see.

Exercising is more friendly with two,

Brad

Starting with a win…

8/4/2007: 2.6 miles, 21:30, 8:16 pace

The shorter run today came because I ran the 5^th-Annual Thistle Park Race. It combines a 2.6-mile run with a 6-mile bike ride. My wife and I teamed up – I took the run and she took the biking. Together we finished second in the “team” category. I finished 1^st in the running part. My older son won the biking part of the kids’ race and my younger son came in 2^nd in the running part. Overall, a great event!

Everything is on its way to New Jersey (except us of course!) The ABF/U-Pack trailer left on Thursday morning and will arrive at our apartment on Tuesday the 14^th. We dropped of Gandalf (our car) to be shipped yesterday. He will arrive on Saturday the 18^th. I am very happy that I will not have to drive back to California. I much prefer a 4-5 hour flight to a 10-12 hour drive (especially when I would be the one doing the driving!)

I hope all y’all like my new blog. If you have any suggestions, just let me know.

I could get used to this “winning” thing,

Brad