Matt's Daily Blog

Many apologies to everyone who has been looking on a daily basis at my blog hoping, praying, yearning for a new post and seeing merely the same headline over and over again. So, here is an update that comes with a pledge: I will update my blog daily from here on (with allowable exceptions for busy days).

Last night was fantastic! I went to dinner with my family for my sister's 22nd birthday. We ate at TJ's Ribs -- my favorite restaurant! Surprisingly, I was the only one of the six people at the table who ordered the ribs--amazing! I guess I really blew my training diet by eating the rack of ribs, fries, baked beans, a beer and of course, cheesecake! Aside from making the world's greatest babyback ribs, they make one helluva cheesecake. I was stuffed to the point where I had to sway in my chair trying to get some of the, er...., build-up back up and out (No, I didn't spew).

Needless to say, running this morning was a challenge. I only had to do about a half-hour, but after a night of binge eating, that is not as easy as it sounds. I went out to the LSU lakes around 8am. It was at about 8:03 when I realized this was going to be a very challenging run. At mile 2 my quads (big muscle on the front of your leg above the knee) were killing me! I had to take a little walk there, but made it through the 5K run. Saturday is the first really long run. We are going to hit between 10 and 11 miles. I am so pumped, though! It's time to test my mettle and see how far I really have progressed. Stay tuned to this blog and I will keep you posted.

Peace!

It used to be one of the highlights of my summer: watching the MLB Home Run derby the Monday before Tuesday's "Mid-Summer Classic." As a kid, I watched guys like Ken Griffey, Jr., Barry Bonds, Cecil Fielder, Mark McGwire, Frank Thomas, "Juan Gone" Gonzales, Sammy Sosa and on and on and on... Watching the Derby last night left me shaking my head asking, "What happened to the Home Run Derby?" When they introduced the participants, I said to myself, "That's it?!" Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman, David Ortiz, Jermaine Dye, Troy Glaus, David Wright, Ryan Howard and Miguel Cabrera ... WHO??? Where was Manny Ramirez? Where was Barry Bonds? Where was Albert Pujols? Where was A-Rod or Jason Giambi? Basically, we were treated to what is becoming to look like the USA basketball team ... a second-rate event with second-rate players. The superstars don't want to participate, so relative unknowns to non-baseball fans like Howard and Wright end up in the finals of the event. How does that draw any kind of excitement for the event? It's like the Slam Dunk Contest in the NBA all-star game. None of the big names want to participate anymore. They get guys who aren't even on the All-Star roster just to fill the roles. It's just sad. it's no longer about the fans anymore. The most searing image from the evening will not be a monster blast, or a string of seven or eight dingers in a row, but Red Sox DH David Ortiz sitting on the set with ESPN's Chris Berman and Harold Reynolds explaining why it's OK that his teammate (and top All Star vote getter) Manny Ramirez chose not to participate in the All Star festivities. Fans pay hundreds of dollars to watch these jokers play a game. Our cost of admission pays their ridiculous salaries. And they can't even give us one night to sit back, watch and go "WOW!" Instead we were left saying, "WHO?" Peace!

It used to be one of the highlights of my summer: watching the MLB Home Run derby the Monday before Tuesday's "Mid-Summer Classic." As a kid, I watched guys like Ken Griffey, Jr., Barry Bonds, Cecil Fielder, Mark McGwire, Frank Thomas, "Juan Gone" Gonzales, Sammy Sosa and on and on and on... Watching the Derby last night left me shaking my head asking, "What happened to the Home Run Derby?" When they introduced the participants, I said to myself, "That's it?!" Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman, David Ortiz, Jermaine Dye, Troy Glaus, David Wright, Ryan Howard and Miguel Cabrera ... WHO??? Where was Manny Ramirez? Where was Barry Bonds? Where was Albert Pujols? Where was A-Rod or Jason Giambi? Basically, we were treated to what is becoming to look like the USA basketball team ... a second-rate event with second-rate players. The superstars don't want to participate, so relative unknowns to non-baseball fans like Howard and Wright end up in the finals of the event. How does that draw any kind of excitement for the event? It's like the Slam Dunk Contest in the NBA all-star game. None of the big names want to participate anymore. They get guys who aren't even on the All-Star roster just to fill the roles. It's just sad. it's no longer about the fans anymore. The most searing image from the evening will not be a monster blast, or a string of seven or eight dingers in a row, but Red Sox DH David Ortiz sitting on the set with ESPN's Chris Berman and Harold Reynolds explaining why it's OK that his teammate (and top All Star vote getter) Manny Ramirez chose not to participate in the All Star festivities. Fans pay hundreds of dollars to watch these jokers play a game. Our cost of admission pays their ridiculous salaries. And they can't even give us one night to sit back, watch and go "WOW!" Instead we were left saying, "WHO?" Peace!

First of all, to my loyal blog readers, I apologize for not posting this week. It is the week of the 4th of July and my birthday, so cut me some slack, ok! Anyway, my birthday is tomorrow, July 8th, so my week was altered a bit by that as well. Because I will be going out with my friends to celebrate at midnight, I knew I was not going to be able to do my long run Saturday morning as usual. I had a 9 mile run planned, so I rearranged my midweek runs such that I could do my long one today. So, that's what I did. I woke up at 4:30, went and did my news job dressed in my running gear and then headed out to the LSU lakes when I finished. I started out fantastic! My first three miles were sub-9 min/mile pace. Keep in mind, to reach my goal I am shooting for a 9:30 min/mile pace. So, I am rollin'! Between mile 4 and 5 though, I got in a little trouble. I started cramping, my legs were tired and I was wearing down quickly. When I hit the mile 5 marker at 47:10, I was spent! I had to decide what to do. Getting my mileage in is the most important thing, even if I am going at a slower pace, so I kept on going. After about 10 steps, I stopped. I was done. I could feel it. I thought to myself, "It just isn't my day." Even Alex Rodriguez has days where he goes 0-5 with 3 strikeouts. Even Peyton Manning has games where he goes 10-30 for 95 yards with 0 TDs and 3 INTs. I was just having a bad day. Determined to get my mileage in, though, I decided to walk. The weather was cool and overcast and I had a power gel pack, so I figured I would take about 10 minutes to walk, stretch, get some water and take my gel pack. I moseyed on about a mile, so I had 3 to go. I actually felt refreshed and ready to run again. So, I took off! About a half-mile later, all my pains were back again. I would say I run/walked the remaining 2 miles and called it a day. If this were my first time training for a marathon, I would probably be discouraged, but I know even the best runners have days like this. I just have to stay focused and keep training as hard as I have been and I will meet all of my goals come Nov. 5 in New York City! Thanks for all of your continued support! I will post Monday and let you know how the birthday festivities went. Peace!

First of all, to my loyal blog readers, I apologize for not posting this week. It is the week of the 4th of July and my birthday, so cut me some slack, ok! Anyway, my birthday is tomorrow, July 8th, so my week was altered a bit by that as well. Because I will be going out with my friends to celebrate at midnight, I knew I was not going to be able to do my long run Saturday morning as usual. I had a 9 mile run planned, so I rearranged my midweek runs such that I could do my long one today. So, that's what I did. I woke up at 4:30, went and did my news job dressed in my running gear and then headed out to the LSU lakes when I finished. I started out fantastic! My first three miles were sub-9 min/mile pace. Keep in mind, to reach my goal I am shooting for a 9:30 min/mile pace. So, I am rollin'! Between mile 4 and 5 though, I got in a little trouble. I started cramping, my legs were tired and I was wearing down quickly. When I hit the mile 5 marker at 47:10, I was spent! I had to decide what to do. Getting my mileage in is the most important thing, even if I am going at a slower pace, so I kept on going. After about 10 steps, I stopped. I was done. I could feel it. I thought to myself, "It just isn't my day." Even Alex Rodriguez has days where he goes 0-5 with 3 strikeouts. Even Peyton Manning has games where he goes 10-30 for 95 yards with 0 TDs and 3 INTs. I was just having a bad day. Determined to get my mileage in, though, I decided to walk. The weather was cool and overcast and I had a power gel pack, so I figured I would take about 10 minutes to walk, stretch, get some water and take my gel pack. I moseyed on about a mile, so I had 3 to go. I actually felt refreshed and ready to run again. So, I took off! About a half-mile later, all my pains were back again. I would say I run/walked the remaining 2 miles and called it a day. If this were my first time training for a marathon, I would probably be discouraged, but I know even the best runners have days like this. I just have to stay focused and keep training as hard as I have been and I will meet all of my goals come Nov. 5 in New York City! Thanks for all of your continued support! I will post Monday and let you know how the birthday festivities went. Peace!