A Little Background...

I often get quizzical looks when I tell people I went to college on a full scholarship. The looks are even more quizzical when I tell them I'm an Evans Scholar Alumni.

This article pretty much sums up what I went through in December of 1990***.

***edited to the correct year, 1990...simple typo.  It was December 1990.

A 26.2 Mile Journey Begins With a Single Step

Health Update:

Left hammie/glute are feeling much better after the second ART treatment.  Now that things are working like they are supposed to, the left leg is telling me I really need to strengthen it just a bit.  So I am trying.

Official Announcement

Training for the Glass City Marathon (Toledo, OH, 4/26/2009) began today.  Well, it officially kicked off yesterday but since that was a scheduled off day I thought I would announce it today.  I'm again venturing into this marathon training following the Pfitzinger 18 week, 55 mile plan.  So while the plan called for a week that looked like this:

Monday - Off

Tuesday - 7 miles with 10 strides

Wednesday - Off or cross training

Thursday - 9 miles

Friday - Off

Saturday - 4 miles

Sunday - 12 miles

I thought that easing back into it might be a bit more reasonable so I'm going with this:

Monday - Off

Tuesday - 5 miles (no strides, not sure how to do those on the TM)

Wednesday - 6 miles

Thursday - 5 miles

Friday - Off

Saturday - 4 miles

Sunday - 12 miles

And according to all available weather information it looks like I'll be running inside until maybe March.  There is currently approximately 18-20" of snow on the ground (so far Grand Rapids in just December has received over 40" of snow) and a nice mix of sleet/rain/ice coming Christmas eve.  Yay.

So wish me luck over the next 18 weeks and keep checking in to see how things progress.

But It's A Good Hurt

Remember this post?

Well off/on since then I've been having some left hip/glute/hamstring issues.  Finally broke down and decided to see someone about it, because it had gotten to the point that I was having to stop 5-6 times every run to stretch and then after the run I would have a lot of achy pain in that leg.

Had my first session of ART yesterday.  I did my research and it's legit.  Hell, if I could figure out a way for my employer to pay for the cost of the lower extremity course ($2190.00) I would attend one and acquire the certification/skill myself!

It took about 30 minutes for him to work on my glutes, adductors, and IT band and at one point I thought I offended him with my colorful language as he was digging into my glute/piriformis and asking me to move my leg.  But, the relief was almost immediate.  Driving home no discomfort that I normally get.  Sitting around the house last night no discomfort that I normally get.  My leg feels better today and I'm actually looking forward to my next appointment because I really think this is going to work and get me back running like I was last spring.

Yet Another One Has Past...

I started year #37 at 2:41 a.m. EST this morning. I actually looked that up too.

What a year #36 was...

I learned a lot about what truly makes up friendship.

I made some new friends, and there were some friendships that didn't make it.

I realized that none of us is getting any younger, and that scares me a bit.

I realized I need to work on making relationships better - including the relationships (or lack of one) with my siblings.

We bought our first house.

I ran two marathons.

I'm in a much better place starting this revolution around the sun than I was when I started the last one 366 days ago.

I've got good things on the horizon and I'm really looking forward to what year #37 holds for me, and the people I care about.

Speaking of people I care about - be you friend or family: Thank you for helping me be the best person I can. Without your presence and help, this journey wouldn't be possible, or nearly as much fun.

Breaking Tradition

I normally don't discuss things of a Christmas theme until later this week, but thought what the hell this would be fun to post.

From Kris's blog...also saw it on Maria's:

Holiday Meme

If you want to play along copy the questions on to your blog, post the answers, and then leave a comment here so I can go read yours.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper all the way.
   
2. Real tree or Artificial? I'm a purist.  Real trees and only real trees in this house.
   
3. When do you put up the tree? No earlier than December 11.
   
4. When do you take the tree down? Sometime before January 1.
   
5. Do you like eggnog? Not really - but like Maria, I think the taste improves tremendously when you add a bit of whiskey.
   
6. Favorite gift received as a child?  The ones that stand out are group gifts to all of us, like the Atari 2600.
   
7. Hardest person to buy for? Easy...Mom and Dad.
   
8. Easiest person to buy for? Tonya.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes.  It doesn't get displayed often, but we have one.
   
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Snail Mail.
    
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?  A leather wallet.
    
12. Favorite Christmas Movie?  National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Around November 1.
    
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Buckeyes.
16. Lights on the tree? Of course!
    
17. Favorite Christmas song?  Blues Traveler's Christmas...It is on A Very Special Christmas, Vol. 3
    
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay at home this year, but usually travel.
    
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer? Not sure if I could or not...haven't tried.
    
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Growing up, Angel...now?  Not sure.
    
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Again, purist/traditionalist here, Christmas morning.
    
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The blatant commercialization and the people who won't even acknowledge that Christmas is celebrated when it is might have something to do with a pagan holiday.
    
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Actually a light - Mom has some antique bubble lights she puts on their tree that are my favorite
    
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? If it's Christmas with my family - anything Mom makes.  If it's with Tonya's family - her mom's fudge.
    
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? To have friends and family around us to celebrate with.

Success!

Four run scheduled last week for a total of 16 miles.

Four runs completed last week for a total of 16 miles.

One day, one week at a time.

Only 20 weeks until the next big race.

It Only Took 865 Days

An interesting thing happened last night.  Something that happens with regularity for most people.

T and I had dinner with friends.  That's right, you heard me correctly, I said we had dinner with friends.  Plural.  More than one.  People that actually live in the same city that we can see/hang out with on a regular basis.

Finally after struggling to connect with people here in the mitten (you can page back through previous posts for the specific details) I think we've finally turned a corner.  In the last two months we've met people that are really fun, and evidently either the deal with the devil is working or they genuinely think we're fun as well.

Maybe there's hope for us yet?

Safe Haven

I had some time to kill today...see, I had to be at work from 10:30 until around 12:30-1, but then I had a break until 5 pm when I needed to be here for the game tonight. So I had lunch with a friend. Great conversation. I had an errand to run, but that would only occupy about 15 minutes tops. So I needed some place to kill about an hour or so...

I chose to go to a place I always feel at home in, and killing an hour isn't the problem - the problem is being able to pull myself out of there in just an hour. Where is this magical place?

A bookstore.

Just roaming the aisles, pulling the occassional book off the shelf and reading a few pages before moving on to the next item that caught my attention. Not feeling any pressure to buy - not that I'm allowed to buy anything for myself, house rule: no buying anything for yourself before you birthday - but just browsing, losing myself in the myriad options and escapes that are before me.

Okay....

Just finished 3 miles on the treadmill this morning and the amazing thing is that it didn't suck and I didn't feel like I was going to die.  Slowed the speed down and watched part of "Spirit of The Marathon" for inspiration and the amazing thing?  I ran those 3 miles continuously, which hasn't happened on the treadmill for me in a long time.

A word about my last post:

I was only lamenting the number of miles I ran in November because that was the fewest miles in a month I've had since July 2006 when we moved across the country and I couldn't run for two weeks, and because the only limiting factor last month was the lack of motivation, not injury.