olympic heroes...

okay. something's been bothering me for the last couple weeks, and i've got to get it off my mind...

as we're all painfully aware, the olympics have been going on. no - really. the olympics! a time for world-class athletes to get together for a once-in-four-years test of skill. the grandest stage in the world. win and you're famous - at least where you live. lose and - well, lose? if you're an olympian, can you really lose?

see, my issue is this: the media have gone to great lengths in the past two weeks to tell us just how disappointing the american olympians have been. bode didn't do this, apolo didn't do that. lindsey jacobellis is a show-boater, sasha cohen fell. and that hockey team - shameful! these olympians, they done let our country down...

come on! shouldn't we be celebrating the spirit of the olympics and celebrating the effort and the sacrifice that it takes to make it to the event? it's not like these are professional athletes who's salaries we're paying for in ticket sales and who's venues we're paying for with stadium taxes. these are amateurs working their tails off for a once-in-four-years shot at gold. or silver. or even just a finish...

not only that, but this is a once-in-four-years thing. we all have our good days and our bad days, and we all know that the bad ones sometimes happen at inopportune times. world cup events are a better gauge of athletic superiority than a single event at an olympic games. sure, the olympics are the glamour "meet." but having a bad day at the olympics does not make you a disappointment. hell, i'd give about anything to have a bad day at the olympics - because i'd have made it to the freakin' olympics!

so i'm glad the games are over today. because the athletes can get back to their world cups and their day-to-day training and lose the pressure that our media heap on them to have their perfect day based on the four-year calendar. and i'll read in the back pages of the sports section about darren rahlves' quest for the world cup title or shani davis' attempt at a new world record. and i'll smile knowing that - for the next four years - we won't be so quick to label these amazing athletes disappointing...

not to mention, by the way, that the americans scored their second-most medals ever at a winter games. way to go, team...

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this weekend's runs:

saturday -
38 minutes at a consistent 7:30 pace
5.07 miles

sunday's treadmill 5k -
mile 1: 7:26
mile 2: 7:05
mile 3: 6:57
total time: 22:06

running recap...

sunday's treadmill 5k:

mile 1 - 7:40
mile 2 - 7:19
mile 3 - 7:05
5k total - 22:41

and last night's 35 minute run:

mile 1 - 7:41
mile 2 - 7:30
mile 3 - 7:25
mile 4 - 7:20
overall - 4.69 miles

now, if only it would warm up enough to convince my candy-ass to run outside...

this post courtesy of a "miami ink" marathon...

so i'm thinking of getting a new tattoo...

a brief introduction: i got my first tattoo when i was 23. i'd thought of getting a tattoo for several years, and had leaned a while toward crossed oars (from my rowing days in college). only, once i was done with college i wasn't rowing anymore, and a crossed-oars tattoo seemed the equivalent of a 23-year old getting his greek letters nostalgically etched on his biceps. which sounds pretty lame to me...

so once i really got serious about really getting a real tattoo, i did some research into celtic knots. because my heritage is scottish, and i wanted something meaningful - and something different. in the end, i found a pattern from an ancient textile that i drew into a band. and while it doesn't actually "mean" anything, it means something to me...

and so i got a tattoo. located the band above my right biceps - in just the perfect position that it can be hidden if i don't want it to be seen. which is exactly what i did for 9 years...

yep. i hid my tattoo for nine years. not to the entire world, mind you. but i did keep it hidden from my parents. because i was scared to death of how they would react, what they would say, how disappointed they might be in me. i had countless nightmares about their discovery of the tattoo, i wore long sleeves around them alot. i was an adult afraid of his parents...

and then one night, the night of my brother's bachelor party, my dad and i were sharing a bottle of fine whiskey. and in a bit of a drunken stupor, i just told him. let it fly. dad, i've got a tattoo. and his reaction - almost none. no anger, no disappointment. he took it right in stride...

so i'm thinking about getting another. probably right above the first. and i'll mull this decision over until i settle on an idea or a design that just makes me do it. i'd like to do something for ian - without being overtly about ian. something that always reminds me of the little life for which i am responsible and a love that is irrepressible and inate...

right now, i have no real ideas. maybe something celtic again. not his name - that'd be overt. i'm open for suggestions. and once i find something that feels right, i'll probably head down to colfax and sit in the tattoo chair and take on the pain for a life-long "blemish." and this time i won't be so afraid of anyone finding out...

although it will be even easier to hide.

an admission...

in what may be seen as a critical break from the code of male-ness and a possible revocation of my man-card, i have to admit that it sucks to know that you're not getting a damn thing for valentine's day. ho hum...

a sunday 5k...

today was another running day. i decided on a shorter, quicker run - and went with a 5k. felt good, felt fast for me, wasn't completely spent at the end. the stats (and i only put these here to keep track, because i'll forget to write it down elsewhere):

mile 1 - 7:48
mile 2 - 7:27
mile 3 - 7:13

5k total - 23:11