War rooms and battle of the bracket

My son, Logan, is a gamer.  Last week, one of his friends was in town visiting family.  So Logan’s group of friends did what anyone would do: they moved in together.  And when I say moved in, I mean MOVED IN.  I would have laughed if I hadn’t been in such shock watching him carry the contents of his room to his truck.  He literally took his computer and 2 of his 3 monitors.

The “war room”, as it is affectionately called.

The picture really doesn’t do it justice.  That computer is HUGE.  The fan alone is larger than my PC.  And, Logan scrimped and saved to buy all this on his own.  I should have included his chair in the pic, but I was trying to hurry before he came back in.  LOL. It literally looks like a pilot seat, and, according to Logan, is VERY comfortable.  (By the way, this may seem messy, but was post-cleaning.)

Most people know that, in addition to being obsessed about running, I am also obsessed with volleyball.  And while 99% of the country fills out Final Four brackets for Men’s collegiate basketball, I fill out Final Four brackets for Women’s collegiate volleyball.  I pour a lot of blood, sweat and tears into my bracket picks, but in the end ALWAYS end up picking with my emotions.  This usually means that half my bracket is trashed in the second round, although my final four picks are usually correct.  The hardest part is predicting the upsets, because the only guarantee is that there WILL be several of those!  I’ll do my best not to belly ache over my misses over the next 3 weeks, but I can not make any promises.

I ran yesterday.  Just a short 5 miles to burn off the crazy and see how much fitness I have lost (kidding, but not really).  My ITB was very well-behaved and didn’t gripe at me at all!  And while I am encouraged by that run, I am more encouraged by what I am feeling in my body.  First, much of the tightness around my hip and lower back is beginning to release.  This tells me that my ITB isn’t as tight as it was.  (Good sign.)  I have been foam rolling more effectively and I am having trouble finding the knot in the middle of my ITB.  (Another good sign.)  And finally, I really want to run.  It is becoming hard to stay inside.  (Maybe the best sign of all!)  The challenge has begun to shift from rehabbing my ITB to maintaining my fitness level without re-injury.  We all know my track record in that arena!

Seen on my run: beautiful Texas sunset

One things that is great about living in a small town is that you know basically everyone.  When one of those everyones happens to own a gift shop, for example, they can call you to say they have cute, reflective headbands for running.  I’m kind of excited to run in the dark again. 😉

It even matches my reflective harness!

13 days until Dallas, but who is counting??

Happy Monday all!  Good luck getting in the post-Thanksgiving groove!