M-Cubed for 12/28/09

Monday Morning Musings for December Twenty-Eighth, Two Thousand and Nine. A smattering of thoughts that alone don't constitute a blog post but together end up here on Monday morning.

- So this is how fast 5 days off in a row can go, eh? Dang, it's time to go back to work already. That went way too fast!

- Good times were hopefully had by all this past Saturday at my last installment of the Waterfalls Run. The first year in 2007, we had around 10...70+ last year...who knows this year. There were a lot for the start at 7:30am but we picked up a bunch 5 miles into it and the group fractured off into several smaller groups. The numbers don't matter one bit but as long as everyone had a blast, I'm happy. It was cool to see new faces and also folks who were using this as their FIRST trail run ever. Awesome! These 3 pics on today's M-Cubed post are from the 3 waterfalls. The first is Brandywine, followed by Blue Hen, then the mostly secret waterfall and most gorgeous one...Buttermilk Falls. After the run, many headed over the Winking Lizard in Peninsula for the '09 WRTR (Western Reserve Trail Running) Awards lunch. The winners got really nice, embroidered Mizuno backpacks and leading volunteers as well as those who completed at least 5 events got tall black coffee mugs with the WRTR on one side and the '09 races listed on the other. Great time!

- Well, for those of you who stop by often, you know that I've had issues with my upper left leg since my 3rd 100-miler at Oil Creek in October...specifically mile 20 of that event. I do believe it is the adductor muscle which starts attached to the pelvis and ends on the inner side of the femur. Side-to-side motion is what is mostly controls (I think). Well, with Saturday's muddy trail run and lots of sliding, it really irritated it. I'm throwing in the towel now and will go see a doctor, hopefully local runner Dr. Shah will be the one and hopefully this week. I'm guessing a MRI or x-ray will quickly follow. If I don't get this fixed, forget the 2010 season. With that said, I haven't run since Saturday and really don't have a schedule for this week, yet...thus, you still see last week's schedule to the right.

- Before the shoes give out, the laces will. About 10 miles into Saturday's run, I sensed that my right shoe was getting awfully loose. I stopped to tighten it and behold, no laces from the toe to halfway up my shoe! The laces literally dry-rotted away and split. I did some creative lacing just to get me back to my car. Afterwards, I set them out in the sun at home to dry out from the creek crossings but forgot about them. They were frozen solid by the time we got home from a family Christmas dinner. Love those shoes...

- We're already putting into practice the FPU baby steps that I last blogged about...regarding becoming debt free. Budget in writing, giving every dollar a place, 100% accountability, and making the necessary tax withholding changes and investment contribution changes to increase our cash flow so we can began the attack. I gotta say...this is exciting and I can't wait to watch it all work and come together! Impossible without my team member, though...this is definitely a team effort.

Have a great week, everyone, Happy Trails, and have a Happy New Year!