Day 20: Fireworks

To celebrate our fine nation's independence I shipped up to the suburbs of Boston to my spend the 4th with my second family at the Lambo compound. I thought heading to my New England comrades would be the best way to get my Yankee Doodle Dandy on as I envisioned spending the weekend dumping tea in Boston Harbor and drinking Natty Ice cans out of a styrofoam cooler, while singing God Bless America at the top of my lungs from a porch. I thought there was nothing more American than this, but then realized I could do both of things while wearing a sleeveless shirt that said MADE IN THE U.S. with arrows pointing both to my penis and my face. You're welcome, America.

However, there is more to this great holiday than just masturbatory fantasies of Betsy Ross' Bald Eagle and a strategically placed American Flag. Unfortunately, there was also a matter of a 7 mile long run on this our nation's birth. This would be the longest run of my incredibly underactive life thus far, and I was a bit nervous.

I drove up on Friday after, once again, skipping my work out. My friend, Mish, was heading up to her father and stepmother, NIck & JJ's house outisde of Boston with her boyfriend New Scott. She would be joined by 3/4 of the Lambo children - her twin sister Cindy and brother Jimmy - along with Jim's wife Robbo and their two kids, my fake nephews, 2 1/2 year old Tyler and 3 month old Bryce. Mishy told me earlier in the week and I quickly invited myself. I could use some quality time with my fake family, and plus, they like me more than Mish, so it's always a good confidence boost when I'm up here.

When I arrived, just in time for Sammy the Dog's 11th birthday (complete with cake, special bandana and multiple birthday songs), I made the mistake of telling JJ that I needed to go for a 7 mile run on Saturday morning. JJ is much younger than Nick, and incredibly active. Not to say that Nick isn't. Crap. I'm going to get cut out of the will. Oh well. She's the type of workout junkie who will talk you into a quick 2 mile bike ride, and all of a sudden before you realize it a Canadian Mountie is offering you a piece of beef jerky and tickets to a Maple Leafs game.

Her face immediately lit up when telling her this, but the family all unanimously winced upon me mentioning physical activity to JJ. She was delighted, because it wasn't often that someone volunteered for her particular brand of torture - none the less me, the least active of the extended family. Nick just about said his goodbyes to me at this point, and I feared that young Tyler and Bryce would never get to know their Fake Uncle Eddie, who was currently in the process of buying their affection with unnecessary gifts.

JJ for her part was concerned, rightfully so, that I was going to leave in the morning without her, and threatened to set the alarms in the house so that I couldn't escape. Knowing when I was beat, I essentially made her sign a contract in blood, stating that I would be dictating the terms of the run - which involved numerous stops for walking and stretching. She was amenable, but no one was convinced that I was going to come back alive.

Upon waking up and downing a half glass of Orange Juice, JJ and I headed out, while Jimmy and Nick played Taps on the bagpipes, and called my parents to apologize in advance for the Blair Witch-style disappearance of the heir apparent to the Mouradian throne.

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by JJ and her easygoing attitude on the run. She took me the nearby beaches where we ran on the road along side some beautiful views of the greater Boston area. This was one of the first time's that I had actually ran with a partner, mostly because I just don't think I'm at that level of fitness, and I don't want to drag anyone else down to my level. This may also explain why I'm single. Womp, womp, womp. But JJ was a great running partner - supportive, motivational, and most importantly, carried my water and wipes so I could manage the buckets of sweat pouring off of me. There were a couple of times that she ran ahead and had to wait for me, but other than that, I kept up pretty well with her, and found it oddly reassuring that there was someone there with me to make sure I made it out of this running hell I had created for myself.

And, by the end of the 7 miles, I was feeling pretty good. Around mile 5, in fact, I was feeling great, and for the first time I think I felt that elusive runner's high that I thought was a euphemism for hotboxing after a run. In fact, I went into an all out sprint for the last half a mile, a mistake, being that we were already at our car and I had to run around the parking lot a couple of times in order to reach my mileage. I also couldn't help but think about the fact that after today I ran more than a half marathon and more than a quarter of the marathon. I started thinking, for the first time, "I could do this four more times... not right now... not tomorrow, but eventually."

The Breakdown of the Day:

The Playlist:

In my last homage to Michael Jackson, I decided to run to the vocal stylings of the late, great King of Pop. Something about hearing his music inspired me to run, but also, not die a decrepit weirdo. I did need a little boost for that half mile sprint and hit the Power Song Button on my Nike + iPod chip for Foo Fighter's Best of You, which foolishly makes me think I can do anything.

Billie Jean
Whatever Happens
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
You Rock My World
Remember the Time
You Are Not Alone
I Want You Back
Got to Be There
Dancing Machine
Never Can Say Goodbye
Butterflies
ABC
Thriller
Beat It
Bad
Give In to Me (thank you Allison Iraheta)
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
Smooth Criminal
Scream
Best of You - Foo Fighters


The Food:

I haven't been keeping close track of my food in take, but I ate alright today, considering the big run I went on. I could've done without the bagel at 10:30 pm - but it's a holiday and I don't want to hear any crap.


The Workout:

7 miles / 1:27:56 / 12:32 min/mile / 1101 calories


The Picture:



Oh and this is JJ - immediately after our 7 mile run.



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