50-most-extraordinary-churches-of-the-world

Love them or hate them but some of them are pretty interesting looking

50 Most Extraordinary Churches of the World

Today's Workouts

Weather: 65 and light rain
Time of Day: 1pm
Distance: 7.69 miles
Time: 1:07:17
Pace: 8:45
Running Shoes: Saucony Tangent 3's
SCD Running Shoe Ranking: 8
Comments: Very humid at the start but then a nice light rain started that felt awesome

Demotivational Monday

Because the weekend is over and Mondays are just horrendous at times

More Vintage Ads from the Good Old Days

Husbands you too can have a perky wife

All that sugar is ok if she's taking her PEP vitamins

You needs sugar and vitamins if you have cocaine tooth drops

A Subaru? Really? Maybe it would be fun if you loaded up on PEP vitamins, sugar and cocaine drops

I wonder how much therapy that kid needed as an adult

I promise to never drive alone again. I wonder what De Fuhrer likes to listen to on the radio

Of course she can, she's hopped-upped on cocaine

Demotivational Monday

Because the weekend is over and Mondays are just horrendous at times

Pet Peeve Phriday

Ok so I have already done one post on bad baby names but this is topic that is always getting new 'winners'.

My daughter Cecilia (a nice saints name by the way) goes to a kindergarten program 2 days a week for some help with her speech (not her swearing her annunciation). In her class is a girl named Princess and one named Blessing! Seriously! For real! These are these poor kids names.

Sure they might turn out to be normal kids and adults but why take the change with names like that? It's hard enough to raise good kids.

Who is going to want to date, hangout with, or hire a person with a name like Blessing or Princess? How high maintenance are these girls gonna be? Only will time will tell but if I was a betting man I'd have to go with higher maintenance than a spoiled rich sorority girl or a Ford Pinto.

Do parents actually consider the power of a name and what it will do to a child? I admit that I wanted to name one of our kids Zephaniah (a boy not a girl) but my lovely bride talked me out of it.

Heaven help the men who get stuck married to these two future Diva's in training.

On the plus side maybe they could be wide receivers for a NFL team when they grow up.

Today's Workouts

Yesterday
Weather: 75 and nary a cloud in the sky
Time of Day: 12:15pm
Distance: 7.11
Time: 1:02:10
Pace: 8:45
Running Shoes: Saucony Kinvara
SCD Running Shoe Ranking: 8.5
Comments: Great weather and a great run

Today
Weather: 85 and bit humid
Time of Day: 11:15am
Distance: 7.22
Time: 1:07:05
Pace: 9:18
Running Shoes: Nike Lunar Racer2
SCD Running Shoe Ranking: 9
Comments: dead dead dead legs. I am beat.

Star Wars in 5 seconds and Other Movies

My kids have been watching a bunch of these lately. It seems they have their mother's warped sense of humor

Today's Workouts

Weather: 75 and lots of sun
Time of Day: 11:15am
Distance: 7.07
Time: 1:03:05
Pace: 8:55
Running Shoes: Saucony Grid Type A3
SCD Running Shoe Ranking: 7.5
Comments: easy run on sore legs

0 Down...12 to Go?!

We are going backwards, it used to be 2 down 9 to go.

Two years ago around this time I was "bragging" how we had 2 down 9 to go. Well 1 new baby and 2 of the college kids moving back home and we are at 14 bodies bursting the plaster seams of this old house.

What this means in practical terms is more money spent on food, utilities, clothes, home maintenance, schooling etc...More cars in the driveway (and street), there are 7 out front right now although one of the vans is gonna be sold soon...we hope. It's the lovely van that Mary was so kind to decorate a few years ago. We got a new to us van a few weeks ago and no family should have 2 15-passenger vans, not even the Duggars. Our new van is great. Only 2 years old and fairly clean since we haven't skanked it up to much yet. But I will kinda miss the old van. In addition to Mary personally decorating it we have broken down on the side of the road at least twice in it while on vacation. You just can't buy family fun like that. I mean who doesn't like to be stuck on the side of the road in the summer heat far from home with a 10 or so kids, a van full of suitcases, no idea where you are or where to get a tow or where to have the van towed to. Not to mention the joy of spending the next 10 years vacation budget on car repairs. Yes indeed I will miss the old family truckster. Word of advice to growing families looking to upgrade to a full-size van. Don't Buy a Doge Van! Thankfully they have stopped making them. It's a wonder Dodge is in business at all anymore if their vans are any indication of the rest of their line of vehicles. We have owned two of them over the years and they were garbage. Our two Ford vans have been much better.

Um, shoot where was I? Oh yeah kids still at home...We had two kids moved out, one at college and one at seminary so we were down to 9 kids at home (yeah us!) Well Sam went and had another baby (I can't keep her off me) and the two oldest have moved back home. So we are at 14 kids age 11 months to 20 years old living at home. We have juggled rooms around and turned the classroom into a bedroom (why would a homeschooling family need a classroom anyway?). We have 2 adults and 12 kids stashed in 8 bedrooms - thank God for cheap old roomy Levitt houses.

We have reached and passed the Mortgage vs Food tipping point. Our monthly grocery bill has now exceeded our monthly mortgage payment. That actually happened a few years ago. I had hoped with kids moving out that would change but no such luck. Maybe we should start keeping chickens or goats or spotted owls...

So for now, and the foreseeable future we will have all 12 kids at home. Which is a good thing for the most part.

Here is a rundown of what the kids are up to:

#1 Alexandria (20) - In grad school for a Masters in Social Work. Graduates next May
#2 Joshua (19) - At Community College and working various jobs
#3 Caleb (17) - At Community College, working at a gym and playing on the college soccer team
#4 Lizzie (16) - Finishing up her last year of homeschool high school and working on getting her drivers license and just got a part-time job at a grocery store (can dad get a discount?)
#5 Barbara (14) - Doing her second year of high school (or maybe it's first year of HS...not really sure) and playing soccer for a local school that lets homeschoolers play
#6 Joey (12) - In 7th grade and playing CYO soccer
#7 Robert (10) - In 6th grade, playing CYO soccer. Also does swim-team and the occasional triathlon during the summer.
#8 Dominic (8) - In 4th grade, playing soccer. Also does swim-team and the occasional triathlon during the summer. Will become an Altar Boy in the spring.
#9 Mary (6) - In 2nd grade and recovering from her broken leg. She will make her First Communion in the spring
#10 Cece (4) - In kindergarten and feisty as ever
#11 Eric (3) - A Special Child is he. He is our roughest and naughtiest kid we have. He is lucky that he is very cute.
#12 Kolbe (1) - Best behaved baby out of the bunch but in to everything now. We are trying not to let Eric destroy and/or corrupt him

Today's Workouts

Weather: Awesome out there today. 72 and sunny at run time
Time of Day: 11:15am
Distance: 9.69 miles
Time: 1:24:20
Pace: 8:42
Running Shoes: Nike Lunar Racer2
SCD Running Shoe Ranking: 9
Comments: Legs a bit sore but not too bad and the weather was great so this was an A+ run today

Demotivational Monday

Because the weekend is over and Mondays are just horrendous at times

Weather: 65 and rain
Time of Day: 1:30pm
Distance: 7.27 miles
Time: 1:03:29
Pace: 8:44
Running Shoes: Saucony Fastwitch
SCD Running Shoe Ranking: 8
Comments: Love running in the rain!

54.72 miles for the week........not that I am counting

Today's Workouts

Today
Weather: 70 and sun
Time of Day: 10am
Distance: 7.29
Time: 1:02:10
Pace: 8:32
Running Shoes: Saucony Kinvara
SCD Running Shoe Ranking: 8.5
Comments: legs surprisingly fresh after yesterdays long run

Yesterday
Weather: 60 and cool
Time of Day: 6am
Distance: 16.63
Time: 2:27:08
Pace: 8:51
Running Shoes: Saucony Tangents
SCD Running Shoe Ranking: 8
Comments: Nice long run. Longest in about 3 months

Thursday
Weather: 80 and sunny
Time of Day: 12:00pm
Distance: 4.01
Time: 31:48
Pace: 7:56
Running Shoes: Saucony Kinvara
SCD Running Shoe Ranking: 8.5
Comments: Quick paced run

Yet More Reasons to Love Black Gold

Coffee! Yes I love me some coffee every now and again. Ok I love some coffee hourly. And here is 5 more reasons to love coffee/caffeine if you are a running. I didn't need any more reasons to drink coffee but it's nice to have a few more excuses.

From Runner's World

Run Longer, Think Faster
In a study done last year, researchers gave cyclists an energy bar with or without caffeine (equal to one cup of coffee) before and during a long, hard ride. They found that cyclists who have caffeine ride farther and think faster on cognitive tests than the no-caffeine group—useful news to runners in endurance events and adventure races, where quick decision-making is key.

Increase Sprint Speed
Consider drinking a cup of coffee before your next speed workout: Australian scientists gave fit athletes a 300-milligram dose of caffeine one hour before running five sets of 6 x 20-meter sprints. They found that runners who have caffeine sprint faster than those who don't have caffeine. Researchers think the stimulant enhances reaction time and running speed.

Recover More Quickly
Runners know they need carbs postrun to rebuild their glycogen stores, but a recent study suggests caffeine may also enhance recovery. Cyclists rode hard for two consecutive days to drain their glycogen stores. They then drank a carb beverage with or without caffeine. Researchers found that having a drink with caffeine rebuilds glycogen stores 66 percent more than a carb-only drink.

Hydrate Smart
Many people have heard caffeine causes dehydration. Most studies, though, show you can have up to 550 milligrams of caffeine (or about five cups of coffee) without affecting hydration levels. That means you can have quite a few caff einated sports drinks and gels while running without risking dehydration; more than 550 milligrams will have a diuretic effect.

Keep Bones Healthy
A few studies have shown a link between bone-mineral loss and caffeine—but a close look at the data reveals that caffeine itself doesn't cause the mineral loss. Many coffee lovers may drink it in place of beverages rich in calcium (such as milk), and as a result, decrease their intake of this bone-strengthening mineral.

Pet Peeve Phriday

Overused Phrases and Words that need to go. Can we agree to get rid of these. What ones would you like to add?

Team Building
Action Items
New Paradigm
Think Outside the Box
Out of Pocket
Significant Other
Take that offline
Back in the day
Old School
It is what it is
Fail
Epic
Not so Much
Just Sayin'


On the other hand maybe I need to engage in some Team Building with my family, including my Significant Other, and show them how Epic it was Back in the Day when we rocked it Old School. First I better make a list of Action Items, that will take awhile so I will be Out of Pocket for awhile working on a New Paradigm. But I would probably Fail, Just Sayin'. Oh well, It is what it is.

Constipation

Today's Workouts

Weather: 80 and warm with a strong breeze
Time of Day: 11:30am
Distance: 7.22 miles
Time: 1:03:08
Pace: 7:44
Running Shoes: Saucony Fastwitch 4. Other than the obnoxious color these are nice light weight racing shoe with some support. They can also be used as everyday trainers.
SCD Running Shoe Ranking: 8
Comments: Easy paced run in the last hot weather we are supposed to have for awhile.

Cool Interactive Music Video

Check out this interactive video of the Arcade Fire song The Wilderness Downtown

You enter you address of where you grew up at the start of the video and then...well you'll see.........

You have to use the Google Chrome browser with this video. It won't work correctly with Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer etc...........

Today's Workouts

Weather: 75 and sunny
Time of Day: 11:30am
Distance: 4.01
Time: 31:07
Pace: 7:46
Running Shoes: Saucony Kinvara
SCD Running Shoe Ranking: 8.5
Comments: Great run. Short but quick

The New Marlboro Man

Indonesia's smoking toddler kicks habit

JAKARTA (AFP) – A two-year-old Indonesian boy who smoked about 40 cigarettes a day has kicked the habit after receiving intensive specialist care, a child welfare official said Thursday.

Ardi Rizal shocked the world when a video of him drawing heavily on cigarettes appeared on the Internet in May and drew attention to Indonesia's failure to regulate the tobacco industry.


Read the rest of the story here


Now I thought about getting all high and mighty and preachy, but this is how I spent my lunch hour with my 3 year-old toddler, Eric. After taking him to the tattoo parlor we hit McDonald's



Now I know eating at McDonald's isn't the same as smoking-not done daily and maybe not as unhealthy as smoking. But we all know that stuff they call food isn't really food and it surely isn't healthy. And I don't eat there everyday, in fact that is probably the second or third time I have been to a McDonald's this year. Yet lots of people eat there regularly and look like it. They are fatter then the smoking porker in the story. So I find it amusing that fat western society is criticizing Indonesia for their smoking policies. I don't know but something about removing the plank from their own eyes comes to mind.

My kids also happen to be very active so they can get away with eating junk food on occasion. Unlike the fat kids and their fat parents who spend most of their time in front of the TV, Video games and computer screen.

When I was at McDonald's today there was no one in line inside for food yet there were a dozen cars waiting in line for the drive-thru. Those people could have parked their cars, waddled a whopping 25 yards inside, gotten their food and been back in their cars and on their way in half the time. But I don't think it even occurs to people to actually walk somewhere when they can drive.

Schools are open now and I run in the mornings when the little darlings are getting to school. The number of parents that drive their kids a block or two is amazing. And I'm not talking about 6 year-old kids crossing major roads. I'm talking about upper elementary and middle-school kids in safe neighborhoods. On quiet roads that have sidewalks. Is it really necessary that you drive your "little" darlings a quarter mile down the road on a lovely morning?

As for me and my house, we shall keep the kids active; scrubbing toilets, playing sports, hand-washing my running clothes, changing the baby's and cleaning the lint out of my belly-button. Cause I don't want Eric to grow-up to be this guy.

Today's Workouts

Weather: 80, sunny and light winds
Time of Day: 2pm
Distance: 8.29
Time: 1:12:23
Pace: 8:88
Running Shoes: Brooks Axoim 3
SCD Running Shoe Ranking: 4
Comments: Warm but not oppressively hot today. Stopped part way through the run at the local libray to vote in the primary elections. Yes in Labor Day, some new early voting thing. The main voting day here in MD is a week from tomorrow.

Demotivational Monday

Because the weekend is over and Mondays are just horrendous at times

Today's Workouts

Weather: 80, Sunny and Awesome
Time of Day: 1:00 pm
Distance: 5.11 miles
Time: 45:19
Pace: 8:52 per mile
Running Shoes: Saucony TypeA 3. First run in these shhoes. Right arch a bit sore cause there is no support in these shoes. There isn't much to these shoes at all. Kinda like having a thin sponge taped to each foot.
SCD Running Shoe Ranking: Too early to rank these


Comments: Legs still semi-sore from the past week of increased mileage.

Today's Workouts

Weather: 65, dry and breezy
Time of Day: 6:30 am
Distance: 13.13 miles
Time: 1:57:08
Pace: 8:55 per mile
Running Shoes: Nike Lunar Racer2. Another minimalist type shoe like the Saucony Kinvara's I wore the other day. The Lunar Racer's and Kinvara's are my two favorite shoes out my current 9-shoe rotation. Yes nine pairs of running shoes. After all I have my image as The Imelda Marcos of Running Shoes to live up to. These are another pair of very light weight shoes good for racing or training. They held up well on my longish run this morning. Feet felt great after-wards.
SCD Running Shoe Ranking: 9. 9 is about as good as its gonna get cause I can't imagine every giving a shoe a 10.


Comments: Quads are still a bit sore from last Sunday's race but are manageable. This was my first run over 10 miles in about 2 months. Felt good to go for almost 2 hours. This will have to become a weekly occurrence if I am gonna survive the Philly marathon in November.

Today's Workouts

Weather: 72 and muggy. Felt like it was gonna rain the whole way but sadly it never did.
Time of Day: 7:30 am
Distance: 7.41 miles
Time 1:06:40
Pace: 9:00 per mile
Running Shoes: Brooks Axiom 3
SCD Running Shoe Ranking: 4
Comments: Sweaty mugging run. If it's gonna be that humid out the lest it could do is rain. Left quad still very sore from race.

Yesterday's run

Weather: 65 and not too humid
Time of Day: 7:30 am
Distance: 7.21 miles
Time 1:03:34
Pace: 8:49 per mile
Running Shoes: Saucony Tangent 3's - A great lightweight shoe with a bit of stability in the arch. Not as light as some of the shoes I have but a good all around shoe
SCD Running Shoe Ranking: 8
Comments:

Garmin Forerunner 305 Running Watch Review

This is a review of the Garmin Forerunner 305 Running Watch. Garmin makes other models but this one seems to be the best for running (it also works for cycling and walking) and the most bang for the buck. It is not cheap. Regular price is $199.99 but it can be found online for $150 or less. And it lasts a lot longer than running shoes which run $75-$100 or more.

Calling it a watch is not exactly the correct terminology. It is bigger than a normal sized sports watch. It's more like something Inspector Gadget or Get Smart would wear. It is a tad bulky but you do not notice it after a few runs.

some of the data features it records are:
-distance
-pace (or speed if you are biking)
-heart rate (you wear a chest strap for HR)
-total time
-plus averages and maximums of those fields
-altitude in feet above sea level
-plus lots of other things I don't use much
It can also download data to your computer and use their software to track all the stats.

I have had the watch for 2 years and it has worked flawlessly and is very accurate. I have tested the distance feature at a track and on race courses that have been certified as correct and the Garmin comes in within 1% of the correct distance.

The watch has a built-in rechargeable battery and sits in a cradle when not in use so that it stays charged. I believe the battery will last up to 7 hours when fully charged. I have used it for 5 hour runs and it was still ticking. It also comes with an USB cable to hook it up to the computer and transfer the data and install any software updates from the manufacturer.

You can program a specific workout that you want to do and it will record it for you and also give you an alert when you are supposed to change speeds. For example you can tell it you want to do: a 1 mile warm-up, then run 4 1mile repeats with a 1/2 mile easy job in-between each mile, then a 1 mile cool down. It will sound a bell when you are supposed to slow down or speed up and at the end of the workout you can see all the data.

Here is a picture of my watch on my forearm that is hairier than Roseanne Barr's (after a Nair treatment) and Ricardo Montalban combined


Negatives
-Will it is water resistant, you can run in the ran in it, it's not recommended that you swim with it
-It can take a minute or two for the unit to acquire a satellite
-you will find yourself 'racing' the watch and trying to beat your time from previous runs. Not always a bad thing but some days you just need to chill and run easy
-you can become a slave to it and have to wear it for every run. I suggest that if you get the watch you run 'naked' every once in awhile. ie no watch, iPod, cell phone etc....


Here is what Garmin has to say about their watch

Today's Workouts

Weather: 72 going up to 95 later today
Time of Day: 8 am
Distance: 7.21 miles
Time: 1:03:50
Pace: 8:51 per mile
Running Shoes: Saucony Kinvara's. A new lightweight "minimalist" shoe that came out recently. Minimalist is a new trend in running shoes designed to take advantage of the barefoot running craze. Minimalist shoes are basically thin and lightweight shoes without a lot of fancy stuff added in. Of course the shoe companies still manage to charge just as much for less shoe as they do for regular shoes. Any who these are currently one of my favoritist shoes that I have to run in. The feel light on the foot but still have some cushion. They don't have any support though so your arches are on their own.Comments: Warm but not hot out. Legs still sore and a bit dead from the race Sunday. After about the 5 mile point I was pretty beat.