The Bloomington run was my favorite so far. We got to run along the B-Line Trail which runs right through town. There were tons of people out at the same time and the weather was beautiful. We also stopped mid-run to help an older couple get their car out of ditch. We didn’t help at all, and ended up leaving it to the police. That car was done for. I sprinted the last quarter of a mile and ran right past the turn-off for Eric’s house. Whoops!

Colorado Springs was neat because we saw some random wildlife, including a coyote and two crazy bunnies. I also managed to swallow a bug during the last mile, which gave me a coughing fit. I think it was sacrificing itself for my lack of protein.

Salt Lake City was freezing cold and full of ice. It was sort of treacherous and we ran the last mile with a groceries under our arms. It was funny running in front of a cop with a loaf of bread and a brown paper bag.

Reno was definitely interesting because we started out running down the “strip” and ran along the river for the majority of it. The river trail was pretty nice but there were a lot of random solo creeps along the way. It seemed a little sketchy. I also overran the route again and my phone died mid-run. I think Laura and I are able to do 4 miles pretty easily right now. It feels pretty awesome. We also came back to our hotel (Circus Circus = $29!) and did some random workout things in the gym. Mike also joined in on the “fun”!

I didn't have the cat, so I must have been doing it wrong.

Alright. Day 2. We played in Birmingham, AL in the midst of ten million tornado warnings. I’m terrified of tornados, so I was just being a generally big baby the entire day. Things ended up working out, and the show played out pretty nicely. Heavy ass bands (the cool kind though) at a place called The Firehouse. Raddd venue.

We ended up scoring a place to stay about 3 hours away in Nashville, and I woke up yesterday sore as heck in my chest and arms and legs. Oof. I wanted to try to add some variety to my routines so that I wasn’t working out the same exact muscle groups every day. I searched Google for some sweet bodyweight shoulder exercises and I found a video called “Best Bodyweight Shoulder Exercise.” In the middle of it, this guy’s cat walks up and gets all up in his shit. I didn’t have the sound on, so I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but I can only assume it was part of the exercise. I didn’t have the cat, so I wasn’t really able to do the workout correctly from the beginning. I did it anyways though. That’s when I realized how devastatingly weak I am in my shoulders. I finished out the day with some minute-long wall sits, minute-long planks, and some different core exercises. My feet were cold.

We stayed with our buds in Direct Effect last night, so this morning I’m going to do some exercises with my guy Christian Padron. I’m excited because he’s ripped. He can play with his shirt off and feel fine about it. What an asshole.

- Tanner

-Dave

This morning I woke up and went for a ~3 mile run in some flurries. I don’t think I dressed warm enough but I quickly warmed up. I recently started carrying my phone with me so I can track my runs using the GPS. The weight of the phone actually makes it easier to carry my iPod because it’s easier to hold the two together. Having my phone,  allows me to use MapMyRun to view my runs afterwards and see my top speed/distance. MMR is great for keeping me from getting lost because shows me my starting point and how off-track I am.

When I got back, Mike and Laura were getting ready to go for a run too. In the future I think we’re going to try and time it better so we can do it together.

Music Tip:  Listen to Hostage Calm’s self-titled record while you run. The pacing of it makes it really fun to run to and the drum parts are ridiculous. Matching the tempo of a song is really satisfying.

Food Tip: Don’t eat too many of those dried apple rings. My stomach felt awful before I went to bed. We also watched Freddy Got Fingered,  which probably didn’t help either.

-Dave

I think Mike and Laura are with me on this one. It shouldn’t be too hard to convince Peter and Alex to do it too.

I also started running and I’m going to try and keep it up on the road. I wanted to do it in Europe but it was kind of scary getting lost in a foreign country. Maybe I’ll get one of those GPS trackers for your shoes. That’s a real thing right?

Dave

In Lexington, Kentucky I watched someone do his pushups with a lit cigarette in his mouth. For some reason I thought it was cool. I think it didn’t make any sense.