My running has been going a lot better lately. Whatever stomach problems were ailing me over the previous few weeks seem to have largely left. Most of my runs go off without any problems and hopefully I am back on track. Currently I have run 825 miles this year (and 875 since I started training for the Boston Marathon in December).

I found out recently that Kenny Florian, one of my favorite UFC fighters, is opening a training center in Brookline. I've toyed with the idea of taking Jiu-Jitsu classes and this was a really cool opportunity to do that. I signed up for their mailing list and got an e-mail today letting me know that there would be early registration this Friday and that classes would be starting on September 2nd. While these dates suck for me, I'm still really interested and will keep checking their website to see what's going on.

Last night Laura and I went to look at a bike for her in Cambridge. She took a ride on this bike (a Redline 925) and really liked it. She's been having some issues finding a bike that would fit her, but this one seemed to work really well. We're going to do a little bit more research before she commits to anything but this guy seemed pretty awesome.

After the bike shop we went to Newbury Comics and I bought a few CDs. I got the new Gaslight Anthem album which I've been listening to online for a while, a CD by the Flobots (which was the first hip-hop record I've ever purchased) and Boston's self titled album. Since Keely is taking his records back in September I was going to be without his Boston LP, which was pretty unacceptable. They've all been really good albums thus far and I think they'll be a lot of fun on the road trip.

The other day Bannister, in what I can only assume was some sort of protest over the terrible way I've been treating him this winter, threw his chain as I was going into a busy intersection and nearly killed me. When I stopped to fix that problem I noticed that the rear hub is totally boned. I'm in negotiations with Woodrow now to purchase a set of wheels from him.

Work has been really stressing me out lately, so much so that I left sick halfway through yesterday. It was a good decision I think, because I'm a lot more motivated and focused today. I don't really know what it is about this week, but I was just not very happy here or enjoying what I've been doing lately. I'm hoping a solid weekend will get me back on track.

I'm approaching the end of my Wood Elf army. Yesterday I finished off the Dryads, and all that's left at this point is some Wild Riders and Waywatchers. I'm excited to have this project done. I've learned quite a bit about painting and had a lot of fun getting this army from concept to completion.

Once these guys are done I'm going to begin work on an army of Crimson Fists. Already have 5 tactical marines, 5 terminators, and a rhino assembled, and another 10 tactical, 5 terminators, and 1 rhino on the sprues awaiting some attention. I'm currently looking into purchasing an assault and devastator squad as well, which should get me somewhere between 1000 and 1500 points. The scheme will be pretty typical of Crimson Fists.

I was aiming for some bold highlights, but I think I overdid it just a little. I have a bunch of ideas on how to improve this scheme on the next test model which I think are going to work really well. Also, these models come out in October and I'm planning on picking up a set of each:

Veterans on foot (from Bell of Lost Souls)

Veterans with jump packs (from Bell of Lost Souls)

Climbing has been sporadic at best over the past few weeks. There was a period of time where I thought my new shoes were going to be too small and painful, but I believe that I have fixed the problem now. They are incredibly precise and powerful and I'm pretty pumped to see how they work out.

At times, biking is the most relaxing thing I can do for myself. The quick ride from Laura's place last night to the comic shop was pure happiness. I didn't feel the cold, I didn't feel my legs working, I just felt the smooth motion.

Total number of runs: 40
Total number of miles: 231.69
Total time: 31 hours, 23 minutes, 59 seconds

I crushed my weekend 7 mile run. I ran 8 minute splits for the first half, and then increased my pace for the second half. I felt great the whole time and finished strong even up the hills. Sunday's 15 miles were done in the pouring rain, the shining sun, and the blowing wind; towards the end there was even some thunder, and we just avoided a blizzard. Lisa and I averaged 9 minute miles and I felt great for most of it. This week is a down week, which is going to be a welcome rest and recovery period.

This weekend I was very motivated to paint, and between Sunday and yesterday I painted eight of my 16 remaining Dryads. One unit is a darker version of my previous scheme. It doesn't look terrible, but I think the original unit is going to look better. I was a bit bored painting brown though, so the second unit found itself looking like Birch trees. I think the scheme itself turned out really well, but I was a bit sloppy and rushed through it. Hopefully the final four in that unit will turn out better.

Spoony and I muddled our way though a game of Warmachine this weekend. After a promising start (I managed to get all three of my units into assault and do quite a bit of damage), Spoon executed some clever maneuvers that allowed him to kill my warcaster and win the game. Lesson learned, so next time I'll do a better job of protecting my 'caster. I had a lot of fun playing, but it took a long time since neither one of us is familiar with the rules at all.

Laura and I went climbing on Friday night. Neither one of us had the day we were hoping for, but I think that's about what we can expect after not climbing a whole lot. We are planning on going back out on Monday (Presidents' Day = no work!) to get in another good workout so that we're ready for Joshua Tree in a month.

I woke up this morning at 7:30 after a huge thunder clap had me sitting bolt upright. After looking outside and seeing sheets of rain I decided to take the bus to work. I saw three or four gorgeous fixes (and their hardcore riders) making their way through the rain and now I feel like a wuss.

I'm currently bidding on some Wardancers on ebay. If I win I'll have enough models to get my Wood Elf army up to 1000 points. I started painting the armour on my Alter Noble last night. Sometimes I think it looks really good and other times I think it looks terrible. The model itself has some funny angles that are casting shadows and tricking my eyes into thinking I didn't paint some areas, so I might just be getting used to it. We'll see.

Spoony and I played a 1500 point 40k game this past weekend. Due to some terrible deployment decisions on my part he was wiping the floor with me and I ended up conceding at the end of the third turn; not exciting.

Running has been a bit of a drag this past week. After blazing through the first three weeks, my legs have felt a bit tired while running recently and I can still feel the fatigue when I bike to work in the mornings.

Total number of runs: 18
Total number of miles: 82.68
Total time: 10 hours, 13 minutes, 45 seconds

Sir Edmund Hillary, one half of the pair of men who were the first to summit Everest, died.

On Friday I got hit by a car while on my bike. It was a very minor collision and I had enough time to jump off of the bike and land on my feet. The man's car was fine but my front wheel was wrecked. The drier was convinced that he was responsible and I wasn't going to argue with him; he ended up giving me a hundred dollars in cash and a handshake. I used the money to purchase a 30 dollar wheel, so I ended up with a new wheel and 70 bucks.

Since I have to be out of my current apartment in a week I have started packing my stuff. I hate packing. The room looks torn apart, I don't feel like anything has been accomplished, and I wonder where I acquired so much crap that I don't want or need.

Applying for jobs is stressful, and it doesn't help that the few hours of free time I have in a day are also occupied trying to go for runs and pack as well.

I spent an hour and a half tonight on a 10.5 mile bike ride around Boston in the rain. I went to the Reflecting Pool (which had no water in it), Government Center, the park in Post Office Square, and I rode home on the MIT side of the river. The rain made it cool outside and all the water on the roads made it perfect for skidding. I was feeling really antsy in my room and when my residents started making a lot of noise I figured it was time to get out of the building.

Lately I've been feeling more alone than I have in a while. I don't feel like I have a very long list of people to call when I want to hang out, and it seems like the list of people who will call me is even smaller. It doesn't help that summer ultimate is starting and that many of my friends are moving away. Maybe I'm just not used to having this much free time on my hands after student teaching, and maybe it is just a weird time for everyone; I hope it gets better as the summer gets going.

Last week I sat through the second session of my tattoo. This one was a lot less painful at times and more painful at others. Chris does some pretty awesome work though and the whole thing looks a lot larger and more like a finished piece than it did before.

I had the past week off of student teaching and Laura and I spent most of it being rather sick. Aside from that, it was a pretty nice vacation.

The first Sunday I went to MetroRock to see where my climbing is right now. I climbed several V2's and 5.10b's without much trouble, which was exciting because I'm very quickly getting back to the level I was at before I tore my ACL.

A few days ago I took the derailers off of Laura's bike and turned it into a single speed. I was pretty surprised I could do it, since I've never dealt with any of those parts of a bicycle. She likes it and we took a really relaxing and fun ride yesterday. We were damn cute it I do say so myself.

Today I finally went and got my koi tattoo. The artist's name is Chris and he works at Good Faith Tattoos in Brookline. I was a bit put off when I got to the shop because he had drawn it really big, but after he scaled it down a bit and put it up to my shoulder it looked awesome. Once the fish itself was on my shoulder he started to freehand the finger waves right onto my chest and back. Seeing how calm (and skilled) he was while doing that really put me at ease. The outline took an hour to do and in a few weeks he'll start the shading and color.