November 2006 Archives

Where has the time gone? Seems like just yesterday that I was telling the masses about my impending weekend of smoking, drinking, eating, and general sloth. That weekend has come and gone along with Thanksgiving 2006 and the Noodleini 15K on November 26th. I almost don't know where to begin.

In a stricty chronological sense, Jammie Weekend 06 occured first. Oddly enough, this weekend did not include anyone hanging around in thier jammies (about which I am severely dissapointed), but did include the debauchery expected when a group of co-dependent morons break away from spouses and all notions of personal hygiene and overall concern for bodily health. I won't spend a great deal of time on this subject...suffice to say that I was drunk some of the time, smoking all of the time, eating the majority of the time, and running none of the time. A major highlight of the weekend (aside from taking Father of Fat Runner out for dinner on his birthday) was seeing old friends and collegues at the home of my former boss. So, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I miss all of them and I hope it's not another year before I am able to be with them again.

Thanksgiving came and went. Father of Fat Runner and Father and Stepmother of Wife of Fat Runner (did you follow all that?) came to the Bay to celebrate the day. There is a whole new dynamic to family gatherings these days. Brother of Fat Runner has three children of his own (4, 2, and 1), and both Children of Fat Runner just passed the the three month mark. Gatherings are now centered around all of the kids that fill our lives. The whole crew filtered over to Brother of Fat Runner's house where he and his lovely wife put on quite a spread. Male Child of Fat Runner decided (rather vocally) that he didn't want to quietly reflect on all of those things for which he is thankful. Wife of Fat Runner was up every few minutes to calm the beast. Female Child of Fat Runner, however, was content to relax and periodically look up to check the score of the various sporting events that were taking place on that day. It was a good time and everyone enjoyed being with one another.

(Before we begin...a few birthday wishes. Happy 1st birthday to Fatter Non-Runner's daughter Mary Beth. She's a beautiful baby. Moreover, happy 26th birthday to Killa. You are now closer to 30 than you are to 20.)

This will be the last post I make until next week. I know that I generally only post once a week or so, but I wanted to make sure the masses understood that I am in mental preparations for this weekend; a weekend that should prove to be nothing less than leg-en-dary.

For anyone who is familier with my previous blog, you might remember this post.. It outlined a weekend of debauchery I spent with a good friend of mine in Northern Virginia. We spend the weekend in our jammies eating, smoking, drinking, watching horrible shows on MTV, the occasional movie, and a lot of football and Playstation. I went off the wagon food-wise in a way that can only be described as "unconscienable." It was incredible. Why bring this up now? Because it's all going to happen again.

There are actually two reasons why this blog is called "The Fat Runner." The first is I am overweight. The second is that I am a runner. Put those two things together and what do you have? A Fat Runner. So why are people so surprised when I make the occasional post about running?

Here is the scoop. The other night Wife of Fat Runner and I were out to dinner with some friends. One of these individuals pointed out that, while they liked to read my blog, they didn't like the posts that were about running. She thought that sometimes the blog was "too much about running."

I'm going to let that sink in a bit.

First of all, this person has NEVER left a comment. Much like voting, if you don't comment on the blog, you don't have a right to complain. Secondly, see the first paragraph. This is called the Fat EFFING Runner! RUNNER! AS IN TO RUN! I'm a fat guy who likes to run, then likes to write down the experiences of a fat guy running for the whole world to see. Granted, sometimes I do tend to get off topic, but I like to think that, in general, I keep this fairly focused on running and fitness.

What this person seems to be advocating is nothing less than a breakdown of the complete natural order of the universe. The Fat Runner no longer making observations on fat running? Never! You might as well saw off my limbs and mail them off to Mother Russia, Commie!

Okay, quick note about the NYC Marathon. Alberto Salazar and Joan Benoit Samuelson were pacers for Lance Armstrong. That's some pretty nice company to have. I like to think if I had pacers on the level of those two, I could break two hours. I also thought it was cool that Katherine Switzer was doing the color commentary.

One other note: It seems that the non-running world remembers "famous" runners only when there is a high profile event like the ING New Your Marathon. This past week I heard Frank Shorter on NPR commenting on his marathon experience. While American distance running is currently in a sever slump, there are true sports heroes in the pantheon of short, middle, and long distance running that should be as familier to everyone in America as any basketball or football great. Walk up to a random person in the street and they probably won't know the name Bill Rogers, Frank Shorter, Alberto Salazar, Deena Kastor, Hal Higdon, and a host of others. Two names that will be known are Jim Fixx (because he's dead) and Steve Prefontaine (because there was a movie about him, not because of his running greatness). Just a thought.