Ben turns 2

The Atlanta-based edition of Ben's second birthday ... the birthday boy's response was a resounding "HI!"

Emory Book Club

A random moment prior to the Clemson track meet today (in which the Emory book club/track team did quite well).  Pictured from left to right:  Born To Run, some fantasy book Tim was reading, Atlas Shrugged, and Outliers.  File this under "Why I like coaching a D-III team"

Classy Dinner

Lavonia, GA officially has the classiest Wendy's in the world.  We never did get a good explanation from the workers about why exactly it was there.  But, I guess why not have a little class in your life?

Dancers

At about 3:18 PM this group of dancers/drum players started a very strange performance of ... something ... in the athletic facility.  I have no idea what was happening; it was all very CC-esque. 

Ship & Anchor

Greg:  Now, Carl ... HERE'S what you should do with your life ...

Taking it to the streets

Ansley was redoing their floors over the weekend and the process took a bit longer than expected, so we moved the store outside.  It was sort of like when you beg your teacher to have class outside, except it was 40 degrees.  This customer was a good sport, though ... his name is Phil.  (fell asleep last night before I could post it)

End of the world

General end-of-the-world silliness.  But, it was relatively entertaining, John Cusack starring end-of-the-world silliness.  Gotta love the dollar theater.

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Another wet, cold long run left Jonathan a little worse for wear.

ETSU meet

First race of the indoor season sometimes leaves you so confused you try to put your tights on over your shoes.

This picture is presented with extreme apologies to Greg Decker, whose huge 5k PR (15:08) surprised everyone but himself.  I obviously need more practice having my camera ready at the meets.  Next time, Greg ...

First track trip

Trip to ETSU this weekend.  When we travel as a team we tend to overrun places such as hotel lobbies like a horde of locusts.  (no internet last night)

New year's cleaning

Cleaning out the pantry ... turns out buying items you've never tasted in bulk off Amazon occasionally backfires.  Lesson learned.

Morning run

People ask all the time why I live so far from Emory.  The answer usually boils down to this:  Early morning runs with no one around on single-track trails that start right outside my door.  And if you happen to have a new pair of shoes?  Well, there's no need to get greedy ...

Long day ...

with a relaxing finish.  Thanks, Pops!

Guys' night

Wii bowling wunderkind; I don't even know what that means.

Aquarium

Mom and Dad were still in town, so we went to the Georgia Aquarium.  There I learned that the sea is home to some of the most beautiful creatures in the world.  And some of the most disgusting.

Floataway

Parents came into town for the weekend, so it was a perfect excuse to eat great food -- and way too much of it.

One step

Bringing you the first paying client of RunningCoachCarl.com

Winter coat

Yep, it became official today -- apparently time to start working out again.

Saint Anthony of Phidippides

Pictured is a very relieved runner at the Wednesday night Phidippides group run, following a 30 minute search for his car keys.  They were eventually "found" by one of the other runners.  Rumors run rampant that the "finder" simply took the wrong keys by mistake, but he left the scene before anything could be proven.

Lactic checkpoint

Cut the guys loose a bit at track practice today -- tons of fun, but unfortunately we may have killed poor ol' Alex.  This is what the first hard workout of the year looks like.

Last Man at Agnes Scott

It's a crappy picture, but a great talk.  Elizabeth Gilbert was at Agnes Scott to give a reading from her new book "Committed" (which I mistakenly told someone was called "Shackled"), and to answer questions from the (heavily female) audience.  I've actually never read "Eat, Pray, Love" which is by far her most famous book (and the cause of the audience gender gap), but I did read and enjoy "The Last American Man" about Eustace Conway.  She was funny, self-deprecating, and inspirational -- definitely glad I went.

Lazy Sunday

This sums everything up pretty well, I think.  Between NFL playoffs and DVDs of Lost, it wasn't my most active Sunday.

Up In The Air

Good movie ... won't give anything away, but especially liked the discussion about why kids admire professional athletes.

(no internet at hotel last night)

Snow eagles

We actually had a snowstorm in Atlanta.  It wasn't much, but it certainly made the roads -- and the track -- pretty slick.  And it was still fun to have actual snow on the ground.  For the sake of school pride we attempted snow eagles before the run.

Hotlanta?

Snow starting falling in Atlanta around 2:15 PM on Thursday -- just in time for the workout.  But the guys bundled up and showed that Southern teams can handle a little cold, too.

(no internet last night at hotel)

No faith in medicine

The track team volunteered with MedShare, which distributes surplus medical supplies to developing countries around the world.  Of course medical supplies led to conversations about medical procedures, which led to conversations about some of the more disgusting parts and processes of the body -- gotta love a team filled with pre-med majors.

Getting ahead of ourselves?

I mean, we haven't even had Valentine's Day yet!

The boys are back in town

Most of the distance boys were back today for their first run, and everyone seemed happy to have someone to run with again.

I count at least four guys with their eyes closed and only half of Tommy made the picture, but it was too cold to make them stand there longer to get a better shot.

Insult to Injury

The Broncos lost today, missing the playoffs despite starting 6-0.  The good news is that the game wasn't televised in Atlanta.  The bad news is Georgia doesn't sell beer on Sundays.  And people wonder why college football rules the South ...

Cold in Atlanta

So the second day of 2010 was cold ... and not "Atlanta-cold" but actually cold.  Right now it's 24 and feels like 14.

It was so cold, that apparently even some of the houses in Atlanta decided to bundle up.  On my way into Emory tonight I spotted this house seeking shelter under a tarp.

Me and my camera

So this project begins Jan. 1, 2010.  The goal is to try and document the year, have a record of what happened each day, and remember a little more of the day-to-day than I usually do.