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Aaron’s Crazy Race Diary – 2008 Day 19

Lightning Interrupts the New Routine
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
18 Days Until Bolder Boulder

With thunder and lightning in the area as I got ready for the day at 3:40 am, I began to have doubts about running outdoors. My running partner no longer had a membership at the YMCA but had enrolled at the Erie Recreation Center – a brand new and absolutely gorgeous facility. I still had my YMCA membership (and would keep it as a way to support the “Y”) but hadn’t yet purchased a membership at the Erie Rec Center.

When I took the dogs out at 4:15 am, still was dry out but the wind was blowing and both lightning and thunder were in the area. As I walked them, a very light drizzle – almost mist-like – began to fall. It looked like a storm was brewing and, as we progressed, the weather gradually worsened. Velma, our German Shepherd, uncharacteristically stayed close to me and that told me it was time to go back.

I worked for a while and completed the e-mails to media colleagues about our upcoming “live” call-in program next Monday with Governor Ritter. Then, at 5:09 am, Angela called and asked if we should cancel our run. I jumped at the chance and we agreed to try tomorrow.

While listening to “Scare Easy” by Tom Petty’s band, “Mudcrutch,” I continued to work. “Scare Easy” was a song I could listen to 100 times – especially with lines such as “I don’t scare easy… don’t fall apart when I’m under the gun…” and “Yeah, I’m a loser at the top of my game…” My television show’s theme song was Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down” and I admittedly was partial to his band, “The Heartbreakers.”

Thanks to the Governor’s Press Secretary, Evan Dreyer, I was able to verify that about 250 bills remained on the Governor’s desk for his signature or veto after yesterday’s close of the General Assembly’s 2008 Legislative Session. I was including that information in one of the many e-mails I was sending out this morning. I knew I could count on Evan to be working early in the morning. His days seemed to start at bout the same time as mine – around 4:00 am. He was one hardworking guy and he did a great job for the Governor.

My plan was to wake up Holly at 6:30 am but I didn’t notice the time until in was almost 7:0 am. I awakened her with the help of the dogs and went back downstairs to make her breakfast and pack a lunch.

For breakfast, I made a smoothie for Holly which was really a milkshake. It included three aging bananas, a pint of not-too-fresh organic strawberries (the last carton I had left in the refrigerator), a few tablespoons of vanilla-flavored protein powder, an even greater amount of powdered walnuts (also aged), a cup and a half of whole milk, and six scoops of leftover butter pecan ice cream. The concoction actually tasted good although Holly had an opinion to the contrary. I ended up consuming about 70% (two large cupfuls) of the mix and Holly drank less than a third (one cupful).

We both ate on the run – during the drive to school – and then I returned to finish breakfast, feed the pups, read the newspapers, do the dishes, and then get back to work.

It was Wednesday so that meant the food ads were in the newspapers. While this normally was the weekly height of culinary excitement for me, today there was very little for sale which interested me. I realized this was good because I would not be motivated to go shopping as much as I otherwise might have done. Maybe a bad food ad week actually was a good omen.

As the day progressed, I kept postponing my plan to at last ride the LifeCycle for an hour. I was tired and not motivated. I had a snack of pepperoni, Monterey Jack cheese, and milk. Then I went downstairs and got on the bike. I rode for all of two minutes and did something rare for me – I quit. I simply was tired and already had been up 7½ hours. I liked exercising in the early morning. For some reason, exercising during the day wasn’t for me. I decided to treat myself to a day off and climbed off the bike.

After working a little more, I decided to have lunch. What a trade – lunch instead of a one-hour workout. I wondered how much that would help me tomorrow when I ran.

Afterwards, I continued my writing binge and did a three-column series on the implications of the Indiana and North Carolina Democratic Primary results. I also showed how Hillary Clinton could still win the nomination. It was a fun exercise although it was unlikely to happen.

The rest of the day involved booking the show, getting a computer fixed, going to Holly’s school, taking out the dogs, and the usual mundane elements of life. For a treat, I made nachos for Holly (30%) and myself (70% – that familiar split) and also finished the Breyer’s Waffle Cone Overload ice cream. Yes, I was being naughty again but loving it all.