Work for the First Time in Awhile (3.3 miles)

Title says it all... I hadn't worked i na week and i worked a ten hour shift ten, pretty much recovered from my wisdom teeth srugery.  I woke up early and went for a 5 mile run with the team.  I rode my biek to an from work to accumulate 3.3 miles, as usual.  At work, i pretty much goofed off all day.  I only have a few more days left there this summer, so why not!  It was fun, but super boring at the same time... I am in a bad mood lately so i do not want to blog anymore, bye.

Total summer mileage: 148.4 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $3.96 per gallon): $29.38

Almost Done

Today i woke up and the pain and swelling was much improved! I had an ultrasound on my gull bladder for my stomach pains this morning, so i was not able to make it to cross country.  After that, i ate a little solid food, and then had a sports physical! All of this my mom drove me to, so no gas was wasted (yet) haha.  After all that, i ran in the heat of the day at 12.  It was absolutely terrible...so hot!  Afterward, i hung out with my girlfriend for the rest of the day.  We got some food and just relaxed for awhile.  Then we swam for a couple hours, and then we chilled out for the night in my basement.  Something we have not done much of this summer, so it was nice to just take it easy! Tomorrow we are not sure what we are doing, but wednesday we plan to visit Chicago again before school starts! Tomorrow cross country is at my high school, so 5 miles of biking will be done.  Goodnight.

Total summer mileage: 145.1 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $3.96 per gallon): $28.73

Day 2 of Misery

Today was extremly painful from my surgery early on... However, the pain medicines did help.  I did not run obviously because of the pain.  My swelling is expremely bad, it looks as if i have baseballs in  my cheek!  I pretty much sat around all day and watched tv... I did pick up my girlfriend and bring her bacl hoem for a little bit.  It was nice seeing her for a few hours, and then i drove her back home.  My friend also came over with a gift card to an ice cream place! I am super tired tonight, hopefully i feel better tomorrow and i hope to be 100% by Monday to get my running back on track!

Total summer mileage: 145.1 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $3.96 per gallon): $28.73

Bad to Good

Today started off okay with a good 7 mile run right by my house.  Then, hours later i was struck with a terrible terrible stomach ache.  It would not back off, so my mother took me to the emergency room.  I finally got some help and it went away after a couple hours- the pain was excrutiating.  Finally, i got to hang out with my girlfriend after a long wait.  We pretty much just laid around all day because my stomach still wasn't 100%.  I did not biking today because none was necessary and i had a stomach ache, all i did was drive 6 miles.  It was still a fun day with my girlfriend though, we had some really good conversations and tomorrow is our one year anniversery so we discussed what to do.  We planned on going to downtown Chicago again, but we both agreed today we were too tired to do that!  Tomorrow will be fun, and maybe we will bike a little! Goodnight.

Total summer mileage: 136.8 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $3.96 per gallon): $27.09

Hot! (3.3 miles)

Today there was a heat index of over 100! I worked 11-5, so i avoided the outdoors.  I rode my bike the 3.3 miles through the grueling heat...needless to say i had a little sweat going.  Unfortunatly, at work i cut my finer so it is very difficult and painful to type write now! So i shall keep it short.  After work, i hung out with my girlfriend and her friend.  My girlfriend just adopted a cute little kitten today, so we played with that all night! We also went to go get some ice cream, which ended up being an adventure to find her lost phone.At McDonald's, where we got the ice cream, these super religious weird people came up to us and started preaching to us about God... I am a Catholic and i love God, but it was super creepy and rude in my opinion. 

Anyway, i had to drive to her house because i knew i would be driving to get ice cream.  I drove about 10 miles, a few extra bacuse of the lost phone.  Gas prices have stayed at $3.89, bringing the average down to $3.97.  Shockingly low gas prices for the summer, hopefully it stays this way in the winter because i will need to be driving then.  Goodnight.

Total summer mileage: 117.2 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $3.97 per gallon): $23.26

Awesome Day (5.7 miles)

Today was an awesome day...! Started off by a decent cross country practice, running a 6 mile tempo in just under 40 minutes.  After that, my girlfriend and i hung out.  We were clueless on what to do, and then we thought of buying a slip 'n' slide. Then, being my frugal self, suggested making one.  We decided to just take a big tarp i already had and soaked it in water and just kept spraying it.  We had a huge thing of water at the end of it that we spashed into, it was so fun! It was almost as good as one i would buy, and it was even better because it was FREE! Haha it was awesome, but we started to get rug burns, or whatever you want to call them.  So we jumped in the pool for an hour or so.  I then warmed up some awesome fried chicken for lunch, it was just delicious.. 

After that, we went for some ice cream.  This time to a place called Coldstone, if you haven't ever heard of it, it is amazing ice cream but very expensive.  We biked there and back, giving us 5.7 miles and it felt very easy- i can feel the difference from the beginning of the year.  The only reason we went to this place is because i had a gift card, but i found that if you buy the ice cream correctly, it isn't that expensive.  We split a large banana ice cream, and it was only $4.30.  A little more expensive than DQ, but it is a lot better... The price gets ridiculous when you want your own ice cream! Anyway, we did that and had a blast on the ride too.  After running, swimming, and biking (a triathlon) i was exhausted.  We just chilled for the night.  This bike ride was probably one of our best so far, since it was a significant distance away and i never would have thought we would bike there because of the busy roads, but it was awesome.  Just a great day today! Work tomorrow though....

Total summer mileage: 107.3 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $3.98 per gallon): $21.35

Bad Idea (6.6 miles)

If you read my blog regularly, the title gives it away... Rollerblading to work was a terrible idea.  Especially after running 6 miles at cross country (it was at raceway woods and i was forced to drive once again).  Rollerblading is incredibly tiring, i played a lot of hockey- but not for a few years, and i had to skate for 10 minutes straight. In hockey, it is usually 2 minutes! As soon as i got to work and began to take off my skates, i had a sudden realization.. i forgot to lock my dog in her kennel (she is a puppy still).  My parents were both at work, so i had to skate back home- already exhausted- and lock her in.  Luckily, she didn't cause too much damage while i was gone! I then made a smart decision and biked back to work haha.  I never clocked out for leaving and nobody really knew... score! 

Work was so fun today! It was just me and my buddy- and no man manager today! So we did some work for a little bit, and then played real basketball on the hoops.  Then, we played hide and seek in the warehouse for five hours.  It was the most fun i have ever had at work.  We found some amazing hiding spots! That's right, i got payed $40 for playing hide and seek...sweet haha.  We then quit and did some work for the remaining few hours, it was the best day of work ever! I biked back home after work, and it was kind of chilly...very odd.  That completed the 6.6 miles for the day, and put my over 100 miles for the summer!

Total summer mileage: 101.6 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $3.98 per gallon): $20.22

Back from Injury (5.0 miles)

Well, today i decided to go to cross country to see if i could run... turns out i can still run pretty well with a sprained ankle.  I ran a 4 mile tempo in 25:34- a little slower than last week.  The bike ride there hurt my ankle a little, but it was also a nice warm-up! The run was pretty much painless except for the beginning and a few hills along the way.  My favorite part of the day was biking home with my buddy.  He is a competetive byciclist, so we rode on the streets like we were cars (like you are supposed to) and it was really cool! We went on busy roads and it was weird being at intersections, surrounded by cars waiting for a green light!

After practice, my girlfriend and i swam for hours and then just chilled out for the day.  I barely drove today, probably only like 10 miles.  My tank is still on full- a very satisfying sight.  Tomorrow i work, and i may change it up a little bit by going to work on roller skates! This still counts as biking mileage, but it will be much more fun (i am a hockey player). 

Total summer mileage: 95 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $3.98 per gallon): $18.91

Day Off

Today i got the day off from work finally... It was an okay day.  I was not planning on running because of my ankle, but this morning there was an awful storm- so there was no practice anyway!  I had 2 doctor appointments today, and then after i hung out with my girlfriend.  We swam and then watched the movie "When in Rome" a good movie haha.  We also got ice cream, via my car...unfortunately.  However i did very minimal driving, around 10 miles today.  My ankle still hurts, but i plan on attending practice tomorrow- perhaps to run a little, or just talk to my coach.  Goodnight.

Total summer mileage: 90 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $3.98 per gallon): $17.91

Work=my life (3.3 miles)

I had work again today, and i have it again tomorrow.  This week, i am working 40 hours... Anyway, i biked to work, into the wind.  It was a brutal ride alone, although my buddy worked today too- he chose to drive.  Work was good, i build furniture that came in on the truck all day.  It was hard work, but much more relaxing than yesterday! Today, i built a huge sectional couch and afterward, i lied down for a 15 minute break haha.  I biked back home to make it the 3.3 miles- this time with the wind at my back.

Tonight, i hung out with my girlfriend and we pretty much just chilled out.  We went shopping for a little bit- and the unthinkable happened.  My car alerted me of needing to fill up on gas...I was quite sad and disapointed.  But then i remembered that i drove to the dentist's, and my friend's house to help him move- which paid for today's fill up.  My car has a 13 gallon tank, and at $3.89 a gallon it cost me $50.01.  That is a lot of money- but i also saved a lot this year, so it is okay.  This tank should last me the rest of the summer and even a little into the school year.

Total summer mileage: 86.7 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $3.99 per gallon): $17.30

Trucks... (3.3 miles)

Well, today all i did was work all day.  And i worked hard.  3 fully packed trucks came today with one of our most valuable stock boys out of town.  I was the only smart/ hard working one there.  I did probably 80% of the work with 3 of us there.  Needless to say, i am very tired.  I biked to and from work, once again without the speedometer...  It was a nice day out, i wish i did not have to work.

So yesterday in Chicago, my girlfriend and i walked nearly everywhere.  We went to Millennium Park, Grant Park, and Buckingham Fountain.  We then walked along the shore of Lake Michigan to the Shedd Aquarium and Planetarium.  We did not go i neither, but we just walked around them where there were some great views.  We explored Museum Campus some more and Soldier Field.  We then made the long stretch along Michigan Avenue to Navy Pier.  After that, we shopped a little on Michigan Avenue and then walked back to the train station.  It doesn't sound liek we did a lot...but we did.  It was hard walking back to the train station, we were so tired, but we had to hurry because we barely made the train!  That is all for today's post, i have work again tomorrow, goodnight!

Total summer mileage: 83.4 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $3.99 per gallon): $16.64

Chicago!

Well, today my girlfriend and i ventured to Chicago, Illinois (we live in a suburb called Algonquin).  We took the train in, driving 8 miles each way to the station.  We barely made it there on time for the 8:08 train.  We arrived in Chicago around 9:30 and spent until 7:00 in the evening there.  We took the 7:30 train back- just barely catching it again.  The day was awesome!! We walked EVERYWHERE. Literally, no taxi's were used because of the outragous price.  We ended up walking over 15 miles! Needless to say, i am exhausted and ready to go to sleep! We did not get home until 9:00 and i am ready for bed now. Perhaps tomorrow i will go into detail on our trip.  The trip cost $20 for each of us, not too bad for an entire day of fun! I would say we saved a lot of money walking- too bad i can't included that in my statistics, but if i did- we would have saved $3 on gas today by walking, and the view was much better on foot.  That's all i got tonight, goodnight!

Total summer mileage: 80.1 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $3.99 per gallon): $15.98

Perfect Day (8.1 miles)

As you can see, today was my highest mileage day of the summer! I woke up early to go to cross country practice at my high school which is exactly 2.5 miles away.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day out, sunny and breezy, although a little hot.  We ran a four mile tempo, and i hit it in 25:10-- a 6:18 pace, not too bad for a hilly run and my first tempo of the season.  Afterward, i biked home with a friend (my house is on the way to his).  After that, i was exhausted so i relaxed for a long while.  I also blogged for yesterday since i had forgotten haha.  So that was my first 5.0 miles of the day.

Around 11, i picked up my girlfriend by car and took her back to my house.  Here i made breakfast for us, i ate three scrambled eggs, a necessary breakfast after a run like that.  We then relaxed a lot in my pool until we got hungry.  We decided to go to subway for lunch, so we biked the little over 1.5 miles there.  Adding on to the 5.0 from earlier, it added up to 8.1.  We then returned to my house and played with my dog for awhile and took her for a walk.  We also considered riding our bikes to Dairy Queen again, but my parents would not allow it. If i had, my mileage would be super high!  We just went back to her house and relaxed, planning a trip to downtown Chicago Thursday.

Tomorrow, practice is at Raceway Woods- the place my mother does not want me riding too.  Hopefully she forgets and i am able to ride there.  I also have work at 11, so my mileage may even exceed todays if all goes well.  I am tired from a long day! Goodnight.

Total summer mileage: 76.8 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $3.99 per gallon): $15.32

Happy Fourth of July! (3.3 miles)

Many of you probably have realized that my life is a but hectic this summer... It has finally shown through on my blog, as i forgot to blog last night! So this morning is my blog for last night:

Independence day is a great day, with swimming and BBQ and games and fun! Oh wait...that is for most people. I worked. 10-4 on July the fourth.  Not only did i work, but i am NOT receiving time and a half for working a holiday...No surprise since i didn't get overtime either.  I of course biked to work...I was supposed to ride with my friends again, but i was running late after a 7 mile run.  I left a few minutes later and eventually caught up. Work was busy and annoying all day. I got into a fight with my friends at work, and they left without my...so i biked home alone.  Without my speedometer working, i biked 3.3 miles.  I think the battery is broken on the receiving  magnet by the wheel, i will check that out.

My family and my friends family had plans to go to fireworks together, but i was so upset about work and the day before him not inviting me to go to fireworks with him, i just left to my girlfriend's house.  I thought we would go somewhere far, so i drove.  But we ended up staying at her house because 3 of her neighbors were putting on spectacular firework shows.  They were battling each other for the better fireworks, it was awesome and we were right next to them.  By far my best fireworks experience.

Total summer mileage: 68.7 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $3.99 per gallon): $13.71

Busy Sunday (3.3 miles)

Today i got up and ran 4 miles again in the morning.  Then, i mowed my lawn.  Then, i went to work all day! Work was a little crazy today, people getting ready for fourth of July parties.  I biked to and from work with my friends again, with my speedometer still broken.  The mileage was 3.3 miles as usual.  After work, i hung out with those same friends for about an hour, and then they decided to go hang out with other friends.  I ended up just laying around home this evening then.  Tomorrow is the fourth- i work until four, then i plan on going to see fireworks with my girlfriend.  Also, gas today has gone up in price from last week to $3.89, bringing the new average to $3.99.

Total summer mileage: 65.4 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $3.99 per gallon): $13.05

The Weekend (3.3 miles)

Today was another hot day out, but not much wind today.  I had work for the most part of the day today, i biked to and from work.  Without my speedometer again today, all i have is my mileage of 3.3 miles.  Work was boring and stressful again today, and i had to watch all the people going to swim in their pools while i was working.  I got off at 6. I had plans with a friend, but they ended up not working out.  So i just sat around for the rest of the night.  I am very tired after waking up to run 4 miles in the morning, and biking to and from work.  My summer mileage is getting up there now, i feel like i am saving a lot of money now, it is nice!  I am tired, goodnight.

Total summer mileage: 62.1 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $4.01 per gallon): $12.45

Hot and Windy (3.3 miles)

Today was an extremely hot day and i took it off from running.  I was running late to work, but i still biked there...with 15 mph wind in my face the entire way. It was absolutely brutal.  I still made it just in time though.  We had a big truck at work today- so that is what i did all day basically. After work, i biked home with the wind at my back.  My speedometer is still not functioning, so all i have is the mileage of the usual 3.3 miles.  I am going to try to get my speedometer fixed asap, but i work the next few days so it may be a little bit.  We are almost halfway through the summer, now in July... Time flew by, and it is kind of sad.  It has been a great summer though and will be continue to be great.

Total summer mileage: 58.8 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $4.01 per gallon): $11.79

Long Day (3.3 miles)

Today i woke up at 7:30 for cross country... i went to practice, ran 7 miles, walked home (it was right by my house), got ready for work-exhausted, and went to work.  It was over 90 degrees today so i was so tired before work even began today.  I worked a 10 hour shift, and was so tired the whole time.  However, i stayed committed and rode my bike there and back.  For some reason, my speedometer was not working so i do not have my time or speeds, but i do know the normal mileage of 3.3 miles.  After a long hard day, i relaxed and watched tv.  I work again tomorrow, so i better get to bed!

Total summer mileage: 55.5 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $4.01 per gallon): $11.13

Disappointing Day

Well, i woke up this morning ready to sneak out on my biek if my parents were already at work- but they weren't. My mom was still home, and she said if i rode my bike there she would ground me for a month (ridiculous, right?)  So i reluctantly drove the 6 mile round trip to and from cross country.  Later in the day, i drove to and from my girlfriends house a total of 4 times, adding up to 18 miles of driving today... That is not good. I am almost down to a quarter tank of gas now, and my car is having problems.  But i still have saved a lot on gas this summer, so it is still satisfying! i am exhausted from a day of swimming and a recreational 6 mile bike ride...I cannot count it because there was no pre-determined destination.

Total summer mileage: 52.2 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $4.01 per gallon): $10.47

XC Practice (5.0 miles)

Today was a beautiful day out, not a cloud in the sky and about 80 degrees.  I had cross country practice at 8, so i rode my bike the 2.5 miles there and bike.  I ran five miles while i was there also.  I biked the round trip 5 miles in 24:53, an average speed of 12 mph.  Once i got home, i mowed my lawn and then got ready for a great day.

My girlfriend and her little brother, 7, came over and swam in my pool for awhile.  Then, i took him back home and we cam back and swam a little more.  Later, we had a water balloon fight with my friend and his girlfriend- couple vs. couple.  It was a lot of fun and a great day for it.  After that, we chilled out for the evening exhausted.  There was no biking to be done, just to her house and back twice totaling 5 miles of driving today.  Tomorrow i have cross country practice at the forestry area called Raceway Woods again.  My parents are prohibiting me from riding my bike there because of a busy rode... We will see how that goes.

Total summer mileage: 52.2 miles
Money saved on gas (20 mpg at $4.01 per gallon): $10.47