When I used to perform in the theater, dress rehearsals were a big deal. They were the first real live performances before opening night – we wore full costumes, make-up, and there was no stopping, no breaking character – it was showtime. However, you also knew that it was the last time you could mess up without the eyes of a full auditorium on you.

Well, tonight was my dress rehearsal for the 5k. I was too sore from my 2-mile debacle on Wednesday to run at all Thursday. So I knew tonight would be my last run before the race. I figured to do it right, I would even put my on my race day outfit – yes I have an outfit.

So anyways, my lovely and wise wife thought I should slow down and not run the first few laps so fast, and maybe I could actually make it the full race without dying. She was right. Tonight I forced myself to run a much slower pace than my previous attempts, and to my surprise it wasn’t easy slowing myself down. I even walk fast, so this just didn’t feel right. However, after my third lap I was still feeling pretty good. I was even able to keep a steady pace through the fourth lap, the same lap that had been a disaster a couple nights before. Then the fifth was the first lap I started breathing heavy and feeling the effects of the run, but it wasn’t too bad. By time I got to the sixth lap, I was so excited I actually sped up and started running faster!

I ended up doing 3 miles in 30 minutes. I’m not going to set any records, but at least I may not need an ambulance on Sunday. In fact, as long as the extra .1 miles doesn’t kick my butt, I should be able to cross the finish line while actually running!

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I shaved my head yesterday, and lets just say it doesn’t take very long anymore. So I thought I would share this old photo of my hippy-hair days. Ah, just look at those long luxurious locks. Being follically-challenged the last decade or so, I have learned a few things:

1. People just don’t mind making fun of baldness right to your face. I guess they think its harmless fun, but sometimes it’s just plain rude. I even had a coworker once make a bald joke as he introduced me to come onstage and speak to a room of over 500 people. How low is that? If I was obese would he have said, “…and despite being a web ninja, can you believe how fat this guy is?”

2. Despite some claims that male baldness may be a next evolutionary step where we no longer need body hair, I doubt it – have you seen the rest of me? I am one hairy dude. However, other studies say baldness may be more of a sexual selection evolutionary trait as an enhanced signal of aging and social maturity, signaling that aggression and risk-taking decrease and nurturing behaviors increase. So basically my baldness tells women that I am a more mature and secure mate choice, then someone with a full-head of hair – not sure that logic works.

3. Bruce Willis and Captain Picard are little comfort as bald role models. However I am glad the shaved head look has become hip in Hollywood and sports.

4. Just say no to rugs, drugs and plugs (& comb-overs)

5. There is nothing worse than seeing someone with a full head of hair, and they are just wasting it with a silly haircut. If you have luxurious locks, take care of them, spend some money and get a real haircut.

6. Baldness is really common. Approximately 25 percent of men are balding by age 20; two-thirds begin balding by age 60. There is a 4 in 7 chance of getting the baldness gene.

7. I’m not going bald, my forehead’s just growing.

8. I hate photos that show off my baldness, even that icon of me on this site was a huge leap for me. But here is the best bald photo of me ever:

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Yesterday: Like any finely-tuned athlete I blame my shoes for my lack of progress. So instead of running yesterday, I went and bought some new running shoes. I went to a really cool store that recorded me running on a treadmill and we watched the replay in slow-motion to determine what shoes I should get. Pretty cool, eh? Of course when it came to picking out the actual shoes, I chose the cheapest pair. They were on sale, since they were an outdated model – but half the price of the other pairs I was trying on! So since I apparently have a neutral gait I probably could have just purchased a pair at the mall and spent the same, however then I wouldn’t have had the chance to buy a $10 pair of socks.

Today: I strapped on my new shoes and headed out the door. My goal was to do a full 6 laps no matter what. Of course, about 1 lap into it, I downgraded my nightly goal to 4 laps – 2 miles. Also, about 1 lap in my feet started to hurt from my new shoes – not a good sign. Anyways, I survived the full 2 miles. First Lap: 4 minutes; Second Lap: 4 min, 25 sec; Third Lap: 4 min, 30 sec; (so far so good) Fourth Lap: 6 min, 5 seconds – this lap included a rotation of run, walk, run, ouch I hurt, walk, jog, run, ugh I am going to die! In any case, my total 2-mile time was exactly 19 minutes. Not so hot. Especially since I was basically dead after the fourth lap and would have not enjoyed even walking another mile. Hmm, maybe I should look into if they offer a 1k option.

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Legos are such a wonderful toy. I loved them growing up, even though I didn’t have legos of my own, my friends and eventually my younger siblings did, so I had plenty of time to enjoy them. Ella and I picked out her first legos the other day and we took them camping – they were a great rainy day toy.

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Ok, so in less than a week Erin and I will line up to run this 5k, and my training has consisted of exactly TWO runs! Combined those two runs didn’t even equal the 3.1 miles I was trying to get up to speed for. Now, I have been ill the last couple days, but that is really no excuse. The best part of my comically bad “training” is that I think I have gained like 5 pounds! So I sure hope they have good race workers there Sunday to pick me up and carry me to the finish line – or to the nearest Five Guys.

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The last few days I was traveling for work. While an ambitious person may have tried to find the hotel gym, I instead indulged in room service food and drank my body weight in gin.

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Lately, I have been taking note of what a fun little family the four of us are. There is a lot of laughter and creativity in our home most days.

Here are two recent moments that come to mind:
After almost 4 hours in the car, driving up to Northern Michigan to go camping a couple weekends ago, we were all a little tired of driving and just wanted to get there. Erin had climbed in the backseat to comfort/feed Eva and entertain Ella, so I popped in our infamous “Sing Along Songs” mix CD I had made for a road trip a few years ago. We all started belting out the lyrics to the songs as best we could (none of us are great singers, but we have hopes Ella can overcome her parents tone deafness – how I ever sang in show choir and musicals is a mystery to me). And then as one of us got tired of a song we would shout “NEXT SONG” and I would skip the CD ahead to the next sing along tune. Even Eva started babbling loudly as if trying to join in the fun.

At dinner one night, I decided to bust out an old drinking game that I thought could be converted in to a family-friendly dinner table game. It is called thumper, everyone chooses an animal pose to represent themselves, for instance I chose Moose which is done by creating antlers on your hand with each hand. Ella chose Lion where she holds her hands out and roars. Erin chose Elephant where she throws one arm up in front of her face like a trunk and makes a snorting noise. We all began to play the game, where you drum (thump) the table in rhythm and then someone does their pose followed by someone else’s in order to “pass” to them, where they then have to do their pose followed by someone else’s to pass it again. Anyway, Ella caught on very quickly and we played for a awhile laughing at the person doing the poses. We then stepped it up a notch by changing animals to Snake, kangaroo (Ella’s Kangaroo was adorale) and Chicken. It was loads of fun. Of course in the original game when someone messes up or pauses they are supposed to drink up, instead we would shout for the person to “eat your broccoli”! Who says drinking games wouldn’t come in handy parenting? Lemonade Pong anyone?

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Day 2: I did nothing that could remotely be considered exercise.

Day 3: Well around 10pm I realized I should not go two days with out running. So I borrowed Erin’s ipod and dialed up her “workout songs” playlist, which is mostly Kanye, and was out the door. This time I made it two laps, so 1 mile in 8.5 minutes. Not too bad, eh? I was even going to try for another lap or two, but thought there was too good a chance I might pass out half way around and not be found until morning.

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