Believe it or

Believe it or not, I'm registered to run in Steamboat Days. It's a 4 mile or 15K (9.3 mile) race. I never, ever, ever, ever thought I would run in a race "competitively", but here I am. My goal is 35 minutes for the 4 mile, which isn't very lofty or impressive. Depending on how my training for this race goes, I may try for the 15K... ya know, just 'cause.

Anyway, to prepare for the race, I entered a program called "Building Steam". The first class was tonight. It seems like its going to be a helluvalotta fun. We ran about a half a mile and were divided into teams based on how we preformed. My only goal was to get on a team with some of the people from work who I thought would keep me on track. Mission accomplished. 5 people from work ended up on my team, which is awesome. After our half mile, we ran maybe another mile together. I think my team is going to be good for me.

So Angie is taking the Building Steam class with me, but ended up on another team. Still, it'll be nice to have her there. One more person to show off in front of. I found that I run faster and better when people are watching and I'm out to impress.

In other "things I never thought I would do" news, I think I've pretty much settled on a Diesel Golf being my next vehicle. I hate the look of the car. I think its hideous. But with gas prices hitting $2.40 I have to do something. The talk of peak oil is scaring the shit out of me. I know a diesel engine doesn't solve the oil situation, since... well... it runs on gasoline just like all cars. But it does run on diesel very efficiently and gets around 40 miles per gallon. Way better than the 15 I get in my Jeep. Plus, it will run on biodiesel or a bio/diesel combination with no modifications to the engine. I really want to support the cause of using some corn or soybeans, ya know, renewable resources, to run the car. Combinations of 20% bio are pretty common in bigger cities, although I don't know of a place in P-town to get it.

Anyway, we need something to tide us over until some genius figures out how to cut the gas out of most of todays cars. A Golf will solve some of these problems, being able to run entirely off Illinois grown corn should a gas station pop up that supplies 100% biodiesel. I want to support the cause of finding alternatives to standard, inefficient gasoline engines. The Prius and other hybrids are good starts, but they're outta my price range and can't run on anything but non-renewable resources.

So there's my rant. VW Golf, here I come.