Fourth of July Butt to Butt

GUYS. I KNOW. I do. I've been gone a long time. Far too long. Your defunct 2003 Xanga journal sees more action than this blog. Frankly, I was dismayed to realize how long it's been. So dismayed, in fact, that I considered filing a complaint with my department. They obviously missed the "afternoon Phd" box I drew and checked on my application. I was brought here under false pretenses!

Fortunately, the madness is almost over. Almost. Unless, of course, I failed everything, in which case I'll spend the rest of the summer doing it all over again BECAUSE I LOVE SCHOOL SO MUCH. However, let's hope it doesn't come to that.

So why, you might be asking, am I taking a break from the 6:30 - 10:00 grind that is my life right now to check in? "Jeano, you don't have time for this shit!" I hear you. But then I couldn't tell you about my race tomorrow!

That's right: I'm finally doing another race. The last time I donned my Pace Gloves for anything other than a casual jog was for my marathon last June, so this is big news (or, at least, a statement of fact).

Tomorrow, I'm running the local Butt to Butt Butte to Butte 10k (yes, I'm five years old, but I also hadn't ever encountered a butte until I moved here so have to make up for all the butt jokes I couldn't tell when I was a kid). I don't think I've ever raced anything shorter than a half marathon so it should be an experience.

Honestly, I don't really like racing. Why? Why not?! Races mean stress!  An early wake-up! Pain! A non-zero probability of Julia Moss-ing! Why would I pay money for that? Unless it's a carefully-chosen race I've dedicated time to train for, I'm not really interested. However, this race is free (for me - so connected).

Also, how could I pass up what may be the most racist race t-shirt of all time?

I know, I know, it's just a hippie but to me it screams "Get out of my country!" Also, why is this gentleman incapable of running properly?

I think you know better than to expect a race report from me, but maybe I'll talk about it the next time I drop by. For now, I'll leave you with some photographic evidence that I (occasionally) get out of the office.

Bohemia Mountain - a stupid short hike but a pretty decent view for this area.

Chilling in California, where I spent an all-too-brief weekend with some family folk.

This is near Pre's rock. NO, I DID NOT TAKE A PICTURE OF THE ROCK. IT IS A ROCK. Overlooks within running distance (for me) are few and far between but this is swell. And incredibly dangerous - I took this through a fence on a windy road without a sidewalk/shoulder. Such a rebel!

I'm going to have to pawn my firstborn if I have to retake either of my tests. Bars near places of stress are dangerous.

Crater Lake! Which, by the way, is such a bizarre place - beautiful but so very tame and accessible. Which is nice and all, but so many people. Everywhere.

My Pace Gloves really tried my patience on this hike. In my defense, the park ranger I spoke to the previous day lied and told me all the peaks were closed so I didn't envision us encountering snow. Closed my ass!

My other blog, "Water Skiing Jeano," will be up and running soon. I did actually manage to stand up using the rope but no one thought to take a picture of that.

COME ON. I've wanted to see a mini in the flesh for YEARS, and it finally came true.

It had never occurred to me to run up Skinner Butte until last week. It's five miles door-to-door, which is perfect for the limited amount of time I've had to run these past few weeks.

This was fun. We should do it again sometime!

Questions for you!

• What's the funniest race shirt you've seen?
• Are you doing a 4th of July run?
• Does anyone even bother with this blog anymore?