Surprises and Reviews

Today began my second "week" of training for my half marathon. In all actuality, it was week four of training but I broke down the 40 weeks til the Hartford Marathon into twelve "weeks" of training. So begins my increase in mileage. Today I jogged five miles! It was nuts. The most I have ever jogged was four, which I was doing for the last three weeks on Friday. Increasing by a mile didn't seem that hard in my mind but physically doing it was a different story. It didn't really take a toll on me until the last half a mile until I was done. I have a feeling it'll be doing that for a while but I'm glad this increase happened. I honestly didn't think I'd be doing this well this early.

I also got chased by a dog today. Nothing bad. Just barked at me for five houses. He was very cute and wanted to jump into my arms. I had to stop because I think he would have kept following me and barking. His owner was so sorry but it didn't bother me. I thought it was adorable. I always wondered when something like this would happen. Dog, bear, wolverine. You know, the usual.

*swoon*
In other news, yesterday it was announced that JJ Abrams will be directing the currently untitled Star Wars Episode VII. I can definitely tell you that I was one of the many Star Wars fans that was very nervous about it being owned by Disney but at the same time saw what an amazing job they did with The Avengers that I would give Disney the benefit of the doubt. After last night, and reading that Abrams was going to be directing Episode VII, I became ecstatic. I have loved his work since Alias (sorry, I never watched Lost) and felt that Mission: Impossible III and Star Trek were both phenomenal films. His directing style is such a visual one, something that many directors in Hollywood right now currently don't have in my opinion, that he will be a perfect fit for a very visual movie franchise like Star Wars. I mean, look at what he did with the Star Trek reboot and just picture amazing lightsaber fights and outer space battles. I can picture this movie being the bees knees already. And I'm sure he learned his lesson from using all the lens flares in the first Star Trek movie.

Lastly, I just finished reading Eoin Colfer's new short story for Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary titled "A Big Hand For The Doctor." I never read any of Colfer's books (Artemis Fowl) but I really enjoyed his take on the first Doctor, played by William Hartnell. I liked the slight change to the Doctor's character, making him more of an action guy than he was on television. It was a slight change that really worked with the story. I really enjoyed the Soul Pirates as villains. Their usage was something I don't think has been used in Doctor Who and was pretty creepy. And the epilogue was great. I really didn't see that part coming and was very pleased with the story. I can't wait to see what the next 10 Doctor's stories will be like.

Until next time. I hope I get to go see Movie 43 for my birthday next week.

Small things

I noticed that when it snows, I honestly don't want to go run. I'm definitely afraid of ice on the ground and hurting my ankle. That's not bad, is it?

Do The Same As You Did Before

Two weeks going and I'm still going strong. This week was kind of rough since there was a freak snowstorm earlier in the week. It was something that I wasn't expecting but at the same time should come to the realization that I live in Connecticut and the weather will always be something on the sketchy side. Especially during January and February. But when it's not doing that weird weather thing, it's actually quite nice to run. I found a new road (not new to me but new for me jogging on) to go on that's been fantastic for my training. I need to eventually go on more roads with bigger hills but this is great for starting out. The only issue that I've been having is my left calf seems to hurt during and after I jog. I've been trying to figure out the reason for it. Today I decided to jog a little slower than I normally do and it seemed to help a bunch.

I think that's one problem I have with jogging. I try going too damn fast at the start and it kills me halfway through. I need to practice slowing down. I also need to continue my remembering to remember what I need to remember. If that made any sense what so ever.

Did it? I think it did. Right? Yea. Yea.

I also need to write more. I promised to do more and it seems to just be a once a week thing. I haven't touched my "novel" that I started writing last year. I honestly don't know if that's what I want to write about. But that's a story for another time I guess.

A Week Later

I kind of missed the first week of training post but this was a super busy weekend. I officially did my first full week of running and I'm so glad that I'm back. I even did my first 4 miles this past Friday. It means so much to me that I'm making it so far this early. I'm pretty happy about it. This week starts week 2 and I am also going to be starting my upper body workouts as well to try and to slim down my chest and stomach. I hope that it goes well. Since 2011, I've gone from being 285 pounds to being down to 238. I think in two years, that's a huge, huge accomplishment. But I want more. I crave more. This is something I never thought I'd ever want but I'm glad that I do.

Next up, I finally got my first donation. It was by Steven Belledin and I can't wait to finally show it to everyone. As soon as I get a location for my event, I can start a lot more pushing towards fundraising. It should be an even bigger and awesome time this year.

Roadblock

I HATE WRITER'S BLOCK!

I mean it. I really hate it. It's the most annoying thing I have ever faced. Other than the fact that I should have just continued writing this damn story when I was writing it, I have no idea what I'm doing with the story. Even with my damn little notebook that has my plot ideas in it, I don't know where to go. I really wish I could figure it out. How do writers do it? I mean, I know a lot of them just recycle ideas around until something clicks. Should I just skip this chapter and go to the present part? Maybe it's the issue with the past. Or the fact that the battle I want to write is really hard to write.

Or maybe it's just that I don't like the story.

But I do. I do like it. I think it's somewhat original. I mean somewhat because I don't know if it's been done before. It seems like part Torchwood/part not. I just have to actually write it and maybe it'll get done. Maybe.

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In other news, tomorrow I start my new shift. I work 1130am-10pm now. It seems like a worse shift but it's so much better. With my training for the half marathon in October, I now have every morning to run and train and make sure I'm ready. I started on Friday training and my legs were killing me. I haven't ran in a month because of the holidays and the fact that it was freezing every day for the past month. Running at 6pm was not the best option for me but I really can't wait to run at 7am. Yea. I'm a nutso.

I also have begun planning for my 2nd Cards Against Cancer fundraiser. If we make t-shirts, I even have the motto that will be on it. I wrote about 35 emails today to artists and now it's just the waiting game. Which is the sucky part. The other thing I have to do is find a venue. I have a feeling we'll be getting more people than the last one and I want to have a place that won't be so tight. If you have any thoughts, definitely let me know.

Training

Tomorrow begins my first day of hardcore training for the half marathon that I will be attempting to complete in October at the Hartford Marathon 2013. I decided that starting early would be the best thing for me. I kind of stopped the whole running thing once Thanksgiving happened this past November and I really feel that was a mistake on my part. I could have continued to go but my neighborhood is not the best area for running at 6pm when it's pitch black out, even with reflective clothing and lights. There have been too many times where I was nearly hit by a car. Not good. But now that I have switched hours at work, I can actually run in the morning and get my day started much better as well as have less opportunity for cars to hit me since I can actually go places to run during day light.

So starting tomorrow seems promising. I was told the best option would be Hal Higdon's Training Program. I decided to use the Novice 2 and spread it out throughout 40 weeks (that's the week of the half marathon). I'm actually quite excited.

I will also be joining up with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society again this year as well as doing another big fundraiser. I raised $6000 last year and now have a number I want to beat. So I hope I can get to it.

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I also have decided that I am going to talk about other things on here. Not just my training for this half marathon but also some sort of reviews. I wanted to do this last year and I honestly never got past doing one. So I plan on doing something tomorrow just to have one out there but it should be fun.

On that note, bed time. Gotta get up and run in the morning.

A Brand New Year

Another year is in the books as 2012 has officially come and gone. 2013 seems to be a year that I've been waiting to happen for quite some time. For the past 30 years, I have done things that I really wish never happened but have bounced back from each and every issue. This year seems to be a fresh start, especially since I'm turning 31. I look at this year as a new beginning for every aspect of my life.

In the past year, I did more good for myself than I ever thought I would. I started the year off seeing the most amazing woman ever and can honestly say that I would never change that from happening. Throughout the year, I trained for a 5K, lost a ton of weight and even fundraised for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, raising the most money during the Hartford Marathon 5K. I look at this as the start of something bigger. Something better.

A new change. A new Jeremie.

Change is something that I never really thought I'd ever do in my lifetime. I always felt that my life was not worth a damn thing and continued to think that, which ultimately ruined my perception of everything. I think 2012 was the best thing to happen to me. It allowed me to have a better outlook on life and actually want to change. I want to help more people. I want to be involved with more events and charity. I actually want to spend time with people. All things I never ever wanted to do before.

So as 2013 begins, I look at my resolutions and feel that they can be easily obtainable by myself.

1) Finish writing my novel
2) Train for the half marathon in October and beyond
3) Lose 30 or so pounds
4) Raise more money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
5) Write more often on this blog

All are things I planned on doing this year but I really feel that I need them to be the most important things to happen this year. I fully plan to enjoy 2013 more than the last 30 years.

Happy New Years, everyone.