6...

Things are steadily moving towards race day...was supposed to run my last double-digit run before the event today, but as for most of the week that uhm, didn't go according to plan.

I did run though, and like I told someone a few days ago, the hay is in the barn now.  I can only take away from my preparation in the last week, not really add to it, because as an astute Kickrunner friend mentioned not too long ago - there is no cramming in running.

I did get the chance to put the shirt I'm wearing on Sunday through a practice run and it is going to work perfectly.

Oh, and to those of you who struggled through the Twin Cities Marathon today (Brandy, Dom, and Cindi especially) great job...oh, and Cindi?  Welcome to the club.

8...

8 days and 15 hours as of right now (according to the Chicago Marathon website) until the race, and let me tell ya it's been a stellar week in KP-land.

Between real life getting in the way and a dark cloud of lethargy settling in over me it's really put a crimp in my running plans.

Look over to the right there...see that running log? Anything stand out? That's right! Even if I had gotten around to log the run I did on Wednesday then it would list one run this week. That's a taper alright.

The only positive thing right now is the shirt that I ordered arrived yesterday, so I'll be able to give it a test run on Sunday when I get my last double digit run in before the big day.

This weekend has to be better.

11...

Ugh...hate Tuesdays.

See, the other half teaches an 8 am class on Tuesdays which means a 5:45ish a.m. wake-up.  It seems like here lately I haven't been getting home from work on Monday's until around 8:00 p.m. so by the time I eat, unwind from the day it's 9-9:30 which means I don't have a lot of time to prep for the class I teach on Tuesday morning if I want to get a decent amount of sleep.  So I end up doing the prep in the morning, which makes it hard to get my scheduled run in, etc, etc, etc.

Plus I just finished grading the first exam from said Tuesday class, and I'm not sure I'm reaching everyone in the class.

So, thanks to me being a lazy-ass and not getting prepared over the weekend I have to shift my running schedule around again this week.

At least I have firm housing arrangements for the marathon weekend.

12...

Busy week at work, especially this weekend since it's Homecoming but thankfully things are easing up in the training plan.

Starting to take care of some of the logistics for Chicago, verifying that the offer to stay with friends is still valid being at the top of that list.  Plus the week after Chicago is the Grand Rapids Marathon weekend and some friends are coming to stay with us so we kind of need to get the house in order.

Oh, and I'm hoping the fall like weather we're starting to experience sticks around...my favorite time of the year.

Recap

So I'm sitting here with 13 days until Chicago...

last week's running looked like this:

Monday - off

Tuesday - 8 miles with 5x600m at 5k pace (8.1 miles in 1:19:37)

Wednesday - 2.6 miles in 31:02 with T at the end of a busy day

Thursday - off

Friday - 4.3 miles in 44:44

Saturday - 8-15k race/time trial (5.5 miles in 48:18)

Sunday - ran 8 miles with T.  Was supposed to do 16, and I planned on doing the first 12 with her and then finishing up on my own, but she developed a blister at 8.2 that prevented her from running so ended up walking the 4 miles we had left home.

For the week that is 29 miles.  Plan had called for 39 so I was a bit off but at this point I'm going to Chicago with the training that is already in the bank.

The upcoming week has a workout in it that really has me scared: 3x1600 m at 5k pace.  That's 3 mile repeats (okay so a mile is 1609 meters but that is just splitting freakin' hairs dude) with 2 minutes recovery.  That is going to kick my ass.  But the saving grace is this - that's the last hard workout before race day, so I just need to suck it up and get it done.  Wednesday morning.  I'll let you know how it goes.

A Trend Maybe?

Every time I turn around this same workout is on my training plan (Damn you Pfitzinger!!!!): 8 miles with 5 x 600 m at 5k pace. Today was the fourth time I've completed this workout, so here are my paces for the 5x600 for each of those, keep in mind that my goal pace is between 7:40-7:50:

8/13
7:38, 7:38, 7:46, 7:48, 7:44

8/26
7:43, 7:33, 7:40, 7:46, 7:55

9/10
7:33, 7:48, 7:42, 7:46, 7:56

9/23
7:48, 7:48, 7:44, 7:50, 7:41

Much more consistent effort/paces today. Maybe this training thing is paying off?

Oh, and to all of you out there (although probably not reading this) that added to my level of frustration yesterday? Thanks. 'Cause I think it fueled today's run, but next time I'd appreciate it if you'd stay the hell away from me. Okay?

Simple Things

It took maybe 5-10 minutes but going through my contacts and cleaning out the ones I don't need anymore (e.g. people previous jobs, people I haven't talked to in awhile, don't need to talk to anymore or more importantly want to talk to anymore, old email addresses that have been updated) really did make a difference.

101,376

101, 376.  That is a big number.  What is it you ask?  How many feet I ran yesterday.

19.2 miles x 5,280 feet/mile gives ya 101,376.  Sounds impressive, right?

Last 20 miler...okay so I stopped short yesterday, extenuating circumstances!...before Chicago, and now I have some what of an idea for a goal time/pace for that race.  But first, yesterday's run:

I got started a bit later than I wanted to, but the delay was worth it because I got to run the first 5 miles with T.  

11:33

11:23

11:18

11:18

12:50 (bit of a walk break in that mile)

First 5 miles - 11:28 avg (which is exactly what she is shooting for, I think, for the Grand Rapids HM)

She turned around for home and I kept going north on the trail:

10:23

10:38

10:37

10:34

10:22

10:24

10:30

10:40

10:36

10:51

Average pace for those 10 miles:  10:33

Now I started running into some difficulties.  Remember me saying that I started later than I wanted?  Well, as a result with 5 miles to go it was after 12 p.m. and the temp was over 70F and the sun was beating down on me.  Last 5 miles:

13:16 (bit of walking)

10:57 (ran out of water here)

11:04

13:05 (more walking...called the run off shortly after this mile)

Average pace for the last 5 miles:  11:20

All together I ran 19.2 miles in 3:35:07, which is an 11:11 pace.  Now, my goal for the run was to keep my pace between 10-20% slower than my marathon goal pace.  IF my math works out that means I should have been between 10:27 and 11:24.   Yep, met that goal.  So that means yesterday's run, while there were things I should have done better/different (and I will on race day) it was a unqualified success, as was the whole week of running.

You Decide

Read this first.

Just another athlete who can't deal with the passing of time and their career?  Or is it a man trying to draw attention to a scourge that has changed so many lives in a way that only he can?

Almost Afraid To Say It...

A wonderful morning for a run today.  Low 50s when I started and the sun just peeking over the horizon.  Ran the hilliest route I have - South from the house, turn East into downtown...all the way through downtown, past work, turn north until I hit Leonard St. and then due west until I get back to the house.  10 miles total.

Some big uphills, some big downhills.  Managed that 10 miles in 1:41:14 (10:07 pace and a 142 average HR) which is a damn good time/effort considering everything I've been dealing with here lately.

That's three great runs this week.  Almost afraid to talk about because I don't want to jinx myself.

Really?

Big steps today:

1) I ran. In the morning. Second day in a row.

B) I did the workout my training plan called for.

III) The workout felt great.

10 miles. Now I just need to get my ass to work. I have a class to teach in an hour.

Quickly Approaching

26 days...not a lot of time.

This is the last big week of mileage for me and the last 20 miler before Chicago.  I think I finally have a handle on things in real life enough to get into a routine of running, work, home, etc.  Just wished it would have smoothed out about two weeks ago.

I'll use this week as feedback so I can start setting some goals for the race in Chicago.  As soon as I get those figured out I'll be sure to pass 'em along.

Luck

Good luck to a fellow runner and blogger tomorrow. She's running the Maui Marathon and going for a BQ time.

Kick ass Frayed Laces.

About Freakin' Time!!!

Today was the first day I've enjoyed running in about a month...really enjoyed it.  It didn't feel like a struggle to get out the door, I didn't keep finding things to do to delay leaving...

Created a playlist of some of the band from San Francisco and took off.  And it was a quality workout - 5 x 600m and it felt good to run hard, run fast.

Now I just gotta see if I can carry this over to tomorrow.

Four Weeks, Five Days

33 days to Chicago.

Hope to god this one goes better than Grandma's!  And yes, I'm starting to freak out a bit.

Two In A Row

Take that motivation!!!

Wonderful run with T after work tonight.

Fine, I'll Show You

Yet another fun, frustrating day at work on Wednesday, and another day without a run.

So I'm standing at the field waiting for the soccer game to start and I call T to fill her in on my day...while we're talking I decide that for dinner I wanted to go and eat completely unhealthy bar food and drink beer. Then I made the following comment to her:

"You know what, if my motivation and body are going to betray me, I'll just look 'em in the eye tonight and say "Fuck You"...wings and beer it is and I'll get up and run tomorrow."

And I did...nothing like eating 10-15 boneless chicken wings (various sauces) and drinking two large draft Oberon's and getting up and running. I might not have run far or that long (3.5 miles in 37:29) but I ran.

If, no when I run tomorrow that will be two days in a row. Add that to a run on Saturday and I've got a streak going.

Lost, Please Help

Motivation to run.

If found please contact me on this blog.

Thank You.

Recapping a Wonderful Week

Can you detect the sarcasm there?  Okay, so it wasn't that bad...

Ended last week on a high note, a great 20 mile run, so I was hopeful that this week would build on that...well as evident in my last post, uh, not so much.

Had a great workout on Tuesday (8 miles with 5x600 m at 5k pace) but evidently that effort emptied the tank, or I need more time to recover now (probably the latter), so I ended up skipping the 11 mile midweek long run scheduled for Wednesday.  Managed to eek out 4 miles on Friday then had a great time with T on her long run (8 miles)...an aside:  she is totally going to do great on 10/19 when she runs the Grand Rapids Half Marathon and I can't wait to cheer like a madman for her when she crosses the finish line...and then set out to do 17 today.

Someone remind me not to eat only protein the night before a long run...and to drink more than 8 oz of water if I'm going to be standing outside in near-90F heat covering a soccer game.  Not my two best moves before a 17 miler.  But, I did manage 10 miles today.

So in summary for August that's 143 miles.  Third highest monthly total for 2008.

For 2008, with four months left I'm at 1064 miles for the year (at this point last year I'd logged 723 miles and I'm only 58 miles less than I ran all of 2007) and 60 miles ahead of the pace I need to meet my goal of 1500 for the year.  So I probably shouldn't complain too much.

What I am going to do over the next 6 weeks as I get ready for Chicago is scale my mileage back a bit:  I'm focusing on the quality workouts - speed workouts/intervals/tempo runs and my long runs and everything else is going to be in the 6-8 mile range and run at easy paces so that I give my body a chance to recover.  I'm also revising my goal for that Sunday in October, but I'll save that for another post.

Happy Labor Day everyone...off to drink some beers!

Frustrations...

Remember this post?  Well I left out a part.  Seems that in addition to the blood work being positive for strep it also showed a reactivation of the Epstein-Barr Virus, better known as the virus that causes mono, that could have been a result of the strep or just an appearance on its own.

But, see the thing is, I've never been diagnosed with mono.  So after long conversation with my Doc, she thinks I either had it and went undiagnosed or I've been exposed to it through work...I am around a lot of sick kids through out the year after all.

It fits with the other pieces:  feeling worn down, feeling constantly tired no matter how much I sleep, need extra days to recover from runs, etc.

Now I just gotta figure out a way to successfully train for Chicago with this, 'cause I can't get a refund!

Or maybe I'm just looking for a reason why my running has fallen off here lately...not sure which.  All I know is it feels like for every step I take forward I end up taking two backwards and it's really starting to frustrate me.

Restart

First day of classes so my schedule is back to normal: teach Mon/Thurs/Fri at 10:50, be at work Tues/Wed by 11:30-12:00 pm. Arrive home sometime between 6:30-7 pm.

August hasn't been the best month for my Chicago training, although I have managed to still run 113 miles with this week to go, with being sick and crazy work hours. I did, however, complete my 20 mile long run yesterday!

So, I'm taking the chance to reset, ctl-alt-del if you will, and get back on to solid ground with my running, 'cause I've only got 7 weeks until race day.

Also using today to start over on the 100 Push Up Challenge (the link is over on the right). We made it to week three before things sort of went sideways so we redid the initial exhaustion test on Saturday and started Week 1, Day 1 today. Initial exhaustion test I did 30. I'll keep you informed how I do at the end.

Hopefully now that things are back to normal I'll finally be able to get some of the things posted on here that have been bouncing around my head for the last two weeks.

Have a great Monday folks.

Thanks...

To CO and EC for chiming in on my last post.

Guess I've grown weary of the US media hype machine and what it is doing to Phelps - not trying to diminish or detract from his accomplishment at all.

Plus, from my own personal experience, and that includes being around some of the best swimmers in the country and others while I was at Auburn, for the majority of swimmers you taking 'em out of the water equals total disaster. They do not do well on dry land.

Thoughts, Discussion, Controversy?

I'm still a bit behind from work ramping up from zero to 100 mph in the span of 2-3 days but I wanted to finally get this posted.

For discussion:

Here is a great article/opinion piece by Amby Burfoot about the Olympics and the topic du jour: Michael Phelps and his amazing medal feat.

Here's my opinion - Phelps is a great swimmer. Swimmer. Is he the greatest Olympic athlete? Not a chance in my book. Who might be? I'm sure everyone could offer forth suggestions, but see Mr. Burfoot's blog entry above about "the real games".

One person I suggest? Emil Zatopek. 1952 in Helsinki he did something that will probably never be repeated. He won the gold medal in the 5000, 10,000, and the marathon. In one Olympics. Google him and read about how that marathon in Helsinki was his first, and how he decided to run it at the last minute.

Feel free to discuss. I gotta get back to work.

At Least I Know Why Now

After struggling through the last week to 10 days feeling tired and unrested no matter how much sleep and struggling through quite possibly the worst run I've ever had on Saturday I at least now know the reason for my malaise: streptococcal pharyngitis.

So no wonder running as been so difficult lately...at least it's better than the alternative. After the rapid strep test came back negative did a blood draw to do a more thorough strep test and a test for mono. Had it come back as mono that pretty much would have ended any chance of running Chicago.

Just need to take care of myself the next few days and take my antibiotics.

Reason #45,721

My wife may be the coolest ever. She did this to commemorate my first marathon:

Saturday Recap

Streets of Fire 8k

First time ever running an 8k race so no matter what my time, it's a PR.  Sure.  Right, Im claiming that performance as a PR.  Worst race I've ever run.  Not sure if it was the heat, time of day (race didn't start until 6:30 pm), course, or me but that was not a good race.

Mile splits:

Mile 1  7:48

Mile 2  9:21

Mile 3  9:20

Mile 4  9:00

Mile 5  9:07

Total time:  45:18  (which is over 9:00/mile)

As you can see from the pic the course was hilly.  Those hills from just after mile 1 to almost mile 3 drained me.  Then on the way back (course was an out/back) on the downhill my left hip started to let me know it wasn't very happy with me.

The schedule had a 20 mile long run on it today but after getting up and taking about three steps I realized that running 2 miles might be a challenge let alone 20.

Only bright spot of today is that since we're doing pre-season physicals at school I'll be able to have our team doc look at my hip.

The Challenge

No, not Seinfeld's The Contest or this, but I have challenged myself to see if I can do something during August.

I've challenged myself to spend no money, zero, zilch, nada, on non-necessities and things that are not already budgeted.  I mean, the bills do have to be paid after all.

See I'm quick to buy a magazine to read one article, or to grab that book that I've been meaning to read instead of seeing if the library has it (and we have a library branch about 0.25 of a mile walk from the house), or wait that shirt is on sale it's a good deal so let's get it.  So I'm trying to exercise some self-control this month.

I'm not sure I'll be able to do it.  The first few days will be easy but not sure how week #3 or #4 will go, but I will give updates as the month progresses.

Two Forward One Back

Another good run yesterday.  More leg soreness last night and today.  Different leg, different location but still same result; missed run.  The same run I skipped on Wednesday gets skipped today so I can be ready for the 8k race (instant PR since it will be the first 8k I've ever run) tomorrow night.

End of the Month

Where the hell has 2008 gone?  July is over as of today, and with it, my time off for the summer.  When the calendar flips over to August it means back-to-work time for me.  At least I have almost two weeks to ease myself back into it before preseason soccer starts on the 13th.  Classes start on the 25th.

So, July.  Not a bad month running wise really.  Thanks to the trip to Cincy and my inability to stay on my feet last weekend I missed 6 out of 22 scheduled runs for the month, which means I completed 73% of my training plan this month.  Not great, but not horrible either.

I ran a total of 137 miles this month.  That is 921 miles for 2008.  Only 579 miles to meet my goal for the year.

I'm actually looking forward to August.  Last year August was the month I ran the most miles in while dealing with all the aforementioned back-to-work/school issues.  Hopefully this year will be similar.

Little Things Add Up

Dear Left Hamstring/Glute complex,

I'm sorry I've neglected you over the last few weeks.  I know I've been asking more of you since we started strength training again and the mileage for Chicago has increased and you've been trying to tell me in your own way that you were being neglected but did you have to make such a scene today?  All I wanted to do was run an easy 6 mile recovery run.

I promise that the stretching I did today won't be a one-time thing.  I'll do my best to pay more attention to you and stretch, foam roll, warm-up even if you'll just calm down and let me run tomorrow.

Thanks,

KP

...and He's Back!

I ran an uneventful 12 miles this morning and the ankle/shin was not a problem - in fact didn't bother me at all.

I mentioned this is a post over on KR but not too long ago a 12 mile run would have been a major undertaking for me.  I would've needed some extra time to mentally prepare for the run, I would take some Clif Shot Blocks/Gus/gels/etc for some food during the run, and most likely I would have been a zombie the rest of the day.

Today I just got up, had a snack (Clif Bar, okay I like their stuff) got dressed and I was out the door.  It was just another midweek run in this training cycle for Chicago.

I guess I am actually making progress in this absurd pastime of mine.

*%!&#*

Today's schedule 18 mile long run has been cancelled due to a mishap while working in the front yard.

T and I were cleaning out the flower beds in front of the house and planting some new things.  I had completed digging out the flower bed for the new plants, went to step out of the 5-6" hole I had dug across the flower bed and some how managed to not notice the largish vertical support for the front of the flower bed.

Landed in a heap in the front yard screaming profanities.  Neighbor from across the street came to check on me.

My left ankle/shin is bruised and sore from about midshin down to my ankle.

Luckily it doesn't really hurt to walk today, but no running until Tuesday at the earliest I've been told by my in-house health care provider.

Something To Ponder...

"A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame someone else."

Steve Prefontaine

The Dark Knight

That movie may be one of the best four or five films I've ever seen. No matter what the genre.

Ledger deserves the Oscar nomination if he gets it...and he deserves it for the performance not out of sentimentality over his death.

So Far So Good

It's only Tuesday and I've accomplished more yesterday and today than I feel like I did all of last week. Good workout yesterday (and accomplished some things around the house) and a great run today.

Now, off to see The Dark Knight at the local IMAX theater.

Do I Have What It Takes?

The idea of self discipline generally, and do I possess it specifically, has been bouncing around in my head over the last 2-3 weeks…basically since I’ve started training for the Chicago marathon in October.

As I sat and looked back at how things were; what I did right, what I could do better, what did I need to completely overhaul, leading up to Grandma’s Marathon I kept asking myself do I really have the self discipline I need to train successfully for this 26.2 mile race on October 12.

My schedule is about to get busy again as fall sports return and classes start shortly after. I haven’t had the best results dragging my sorry ass out of bed this summer, and do I expect a giant switch to be flipped come August 13th that will magically make getting up at 6 a.m. (or earlier) to run and exercise easy in addition to putting in 10+ hour days?

So I began to debate self discipline in my head. Do I have it? Better yet what is it really? What can I do to increase it?

Maybe I am self disciplined and events of real life have gotten me off track and in a funk (no nothing horrible has happened like a death in the family or the loss of a friend – just normal things like spending most of the month of June traveling and spending most of a week in July in Cincinnati with family and friends) and I just need a bit of a kick in the pants to get myself back on track.

Then I started asking myself what that kick in the pants might be…and I came back to self discipline.

Chicken? Egg?

I’ve gotten some ideas, some new things to try. I’ll let you know how I do.

Right now, I need to go cook dinner.

How Many Does It Take?

Question: How many trips to Home Depot does it take for a new kitchen faucet to properly installed?

Answer: Three, but only two were really needed, and that doesn't include the trip about a month ago when the faucet itself was purchased. It also doesn't take into account the trip tomorrow to return the items purchased (and not needed) during trip three today.

At least three hours after starting the project it was done, and the new faucet does look good.

Back To Normalcy

Only a few weeks left in the summer, well at least my part of the summer where I get June & July off from work. Just back from a visit to Ohio - spent Saturday night with friends in Toledo and then made our way to my family in Cincy on Sunday.

Returned to the great state of Michigan yesterday.

Now just have to get a few things accomplished before it's time to punch the ol' time clock again in a few weeks.

Commemorating

To mark recent accomplishments.

Yellow one is for Madison Half Marathon.
Orange one is for Grandma's Marathon.

Music

a band from Grand Rapids...waiting for this song to be available for purchase. Enjoy.

Once More With Feeling...

Ever wish life, as an adult was like it was when you were a kid? Ever wish for a do-over? Or wish you could yell “car” and everything you were doing would be put on hold for a second or two until it was safe again?

Kind of how I’ve been feeling since mid-April. Thanks to a hectic spring sports season, the end of the school year, training for my first marathon, traveling to see some friends (and run a half marathon with ‘em), traveling to see family, family health issues, friends struggling with life changing issues, dealing with my own issues I just wanted to call “time-out” for about 3-4 days and just hide from the world.

Then I ran Grandma’s Marathon. Things are different now. I came out of that weekend with a whole different perspective on everything that had been weighing me down. I realized as I ran the last 1.2 miles that day that I can deal with anything if I focus and push forward. Focus and determination, and support from the people that love and care about you (another thing I realized that day – I’ve got a lot of people that care about me, some where there physically for me that day, others there in spirit) will empower you and help you accomplish your goals.

Friends are still dealing with serious issues in their lives, as I’m sure I will again at some point, and I hope that I can be like T and the rest of the 30s gang* that were there for me on June 21: screaming my head off cheering them on as they battle to cross the finish line, and even if the friend can’t hear me they will know I’m right there with them.

*the next time someone rolls their eyes, gives me the “oh-my-god-friends-from-the-internet-is-creepy” look, or says they aren’t real when I mention these people I may come unglued. Just because they don’t live down the street from me doesn’t mean they aren’t real friends for fuck’s sake. Some of them are as much a part of my life as the friends who give me those looks.

Bigger version of the photo that is on my profile now. T took this Sunday during our walk along the lakewalk in Duluth.

Coming Clean

I have an announcement to make:

I am a nerd. (Big shock to some of you reading this, I'm sure.)

I collected comic books, and not for any future monetary value, until I graduated high school. I quote Star Wars at the drop of the hat - and you'd be amazed at how philosophical it can be. I watch a lot of educational television.

So why the revelation? Because I'm about to use The Incredible Hulk as a jumping off point for a blog post.

T and I went to see it on Friday. Good movie I thought (much better than The Hulk a few years ago), Ed Norton was good, and believable, and the character development was nice. Character development...that's what I wanted to talk about, and hopefully to do so without spoiling the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

Everyone probably knows the premise of the character Bruce Banner/The Hulk, if from nothing else our generation grew up watching it on CBS on Friday nights. Banner is doing everything he can to rid himself of his alter ego, and this holds true in the current movie.

He's trying to rid himself of his inner demon that is fueled by anger/rage...sounds like quite a few people I know in real life, including me.

Due to circumstances that happen during the film, Banner undergoes a fundamental change in his philosophy of how to deal with the creature by the end of the movie...instead of trying to rid himself of that part of him he attempts to control it.

We all have aspects of our personality that we aren't necessarily proud of (I know I do) and maybe instead of trying to bury them or ignore them in hopes they won't ever surface we should confront them and try to control them. Acknowledge they exist, that we all aren't perfect, and then work on controlling those parts that tend to get us in trouble.

So yeah...I'm a nerd.

Oh, and I did something for the first time in 7+ years this weekend. Needed a clean start, a do-over, if you will after dealing with some things in the last month or two...so I shaved. Clean. Goatee is gone (it's coming back...as quick as it will grow). No, I'm not posting a picture, so don't ask.

Incredible Really

Christmas 2006 I gave T a Nike Imara watch. She really liked it.

June 2007 the band on it broke - and like all Nike watches if that happens it needs to be repaired by Nike. Find the service center to mail it to, send the receipt showing we'd had it less than six months, etc, and then put it in the mail.

June 23, 2008 we arrive back from Duluth, MN. There is a box waiting for us between the doors. I open it...much to my surprise it's T's watch.

On the invoice showing it was a warranty issue it says:
Turnaround Time: 366 days.

Grandma's Marathon 2008 - Report From a First-timer

Just want to start out by saying a blanket "Thank You" to everyone who PMed, emailed, texted, posted good luck wishes in the days leading up to Saturday. It meant a lot to me before I got the starting line and it really made a difference around mile 22.

Words of Caution:
1) Try not to travel around the country in the 10 days preceding your first marathon. Being in Seattle and St. Louis right before may not have been the best move on my part.

2) No matter if you charged it the night before, check your garmin before you leave the hotel room (especially if you're leaving the key there) to make sure it some how didn't get turned on during the night and drained the battery.

Pre-Race:
Had an interesting time getting to the airport in St. Louis - still pissed at the shuttle company that despite two phone calls as we were waiting still didn't show up. $35 cab ride.

BigGahoona was waiting for us at the airport and we made it to Pizza Luce for lunch with PacerChris, Brandy, Runnin-from-the-law (and her two kids), JenRuns (and MrJenRuns), and baggio16.

Quick stop by the expo, light dinner and we were asleep early (somehow I managed to screw up the alarm clock - it went off as scheduled but it the time got set an hour ahead, so we were all up an hour early rookie mistake)

Race Day:
Waiting on the shuttle I realize that some how my garmin batter is low. I left the key in the room since I wasn't checking a bag (Tonya had all of our stuff since she would be waiting for me at the finish) so I was screwed. I hoped it would have enough to at least make it part of the day with the gps turned off.

Make it to the start, meet up with Pacer and Baggs. The look of panic on Baggs' face when I tell him about my garmin was priceless...think he said something like "that would freak me out". Flick a little grief towards Pacer's guy Linus who is shivering under a blanket (he was pacing the 4:00 group so he would at least be easy to find before the start) and then make my way to the line.

Cool flyover by the F-16s.

Turn on my garmin, turn off the gps and keep my fingers crossed. Damn thing is dead before the race even starts. Within 30 seconds of crossing the line Linus and the 4:00 group are gone. No idea how fast I was going, but as we crossed the first mile marker someone said "wow, that's a fast first mile for the 4:00 group - 8:37". I tried to run easy but easier said then done when I had no feedback as to how fast I was going. I did manage to notice that as I crossed the mat I was about 3:00 behind the actual start.

First clock is at 5 miles. I looked at the pace band and was about 3 minutes ahead of the goal pace. Time to slow down a bit. Except I slowed down too much.

Crossed the half in 2:03. Not to bad Felt okay...for another 3-4 miles or so.

About then is when it really got hot/humid. I didn't drink ultima (more on that later) soon enough and could feel myself starting to slow down.

Walked about .3 or so of mile 17.

Made our way back towards town. About mile 20 or so is when Cranegirl joined me running (she stayed on the sidewalk) and holy shite was that a pick-me-up. Saw Sage right before I started up Lemon Drop Hill.

Made it up Lemon Drop Hill, but my quads were cramping. Had to stop and stretch a few times. Walked a bit. Made it to mile 25 and it took every ounce of will I had left in me, but there was no f*cking way I was walking from that point in. Ran every single step of the way that last 1.2 miles.

Crossed the line - had no idea that all of the 30s were screaming for me from the bleachers as I crossed the line, that's how focused I was to just make it across the line.

I learned a lot about myself Saturday...still processing some of it.

Was my goal too ambitious? Maybe, but I'd decided Saturday morning that I was going to hang with the 4:00 group as long as I could, but realized that 4:15 was probably where I should have been.

Was I prepared? Yeah, but I still neglected some things: I'm never going into a race like this with an unknown...this one was ultima...that stuff sucks. I'll take my own Gatorade with me next time (think this is a big reason why I started cramping)

I'm going to make sure I have some way of timing myself.

All in all I couldn't be happier about Saturday...I'm not making excuses, but with everything that day held I did the best I could do.

Thanks to all of the 30s, whether you ran or not Saturday, for being there (on the course or in spirit) for me.

On to Chicago.

Marathoner

4:39:41

Not what I hoped for, but with everything that was today I'll take it. More later.

Moment Has Arrived

Less than 24 hours to go...

Interesting trip getting here today - just a little pissed at the shuttle company in St. Louis - but everything is ready to go for tomorrow.

Hopefully I'll have a chance to post how I did at some point tomorrow.

Next...

Off to St. Louis today.

Get to see some friends (some who we haven't seen since our wedding) and hopefully learn a few things...

Not Much Time

Trip to Seattle - check.

Had a great time, and honestly it is probably a good thing that T and I were only able to be there for four days. Being back in that region of the country just pulled on my soul (or what's left of it) and made me want to move back. On Saturday T and I were dispatched to get beer for her Mom's party. On the 15 minute drive to the store we were both caught up in how much we'd been able to put out of our minds while living in Michigan: drive thru coffee/espresso, great diversity in restaurants, mountains, etc, etc.

We started talking about it, and truthfully we are where we are for at least the next 4-5 years minimum. But that didn't stop us from agreeing that when a change of location happens we want that location to be westward.

Now I need to get my ass in gear and get ready for the trip to St. Louis.

Four days and counting.

Perspective...

From www.dictionary.com:

Strength - moral power, firmness, or courage
Courage - the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear*; bravery

*to me, maybe it should read despite fear

I think we all strive for in life and all that it holds for us, especially those times that make us scratch our heads and say "Why the fuck is this happening to me..."

I've always been hesistant to go into details about other people on here, but I even if she never reads this I owe her enough to put this out there.

I've always had a wonderful example of those two definitions in my life and as she battles a horrible disease for the second time I need to let everyone know that she personifies strength and courage to me.

In May 2004 the Livestrong Foundation's "Livestrong" bracelet made it's debut. I bought one and put it on the week they came out (nice thing about having a Nike store in Eugene) in honor of her battle with cancer. I still have it on today.

I've run a Race For The Cure with a sign on my back in her honor.

I've donated to a friend who completed the Three Day Walk.

I've donated to a friend raising money for Team in Training.

Here lately as life has thrown me a few curveballs I've been thinking about her struggle more and more and I just want to say thank you Mom, for inspiring me. You will be with me every step of the way on June 21.

Busy, Busy, Busy

To answers Nettie's question in her comment to my last post...hell yeah I'm nervous!

Especially considering the upcoming 11 days:
Thursday T and I leave for Seattle.
Friday we get to have dinner with two friends from Kickrunners - looking forward to meeting Dave and seeing Maureen again.
Saturday we help T's Mom celebrate her new Master's degree.
Sunday we fly home.
- yeah, that's right...a weekend in Seattle.
Monday we reorganize/repack.
Tuesday I leave for St. Louis to attend the NATA's Annual Meeting and Clinical Symposium (that's a continuing education event and a chance to see some friends that we haven't seen in awhile)
Wednesday T joins me (she has to give a final on Tuesday) in St. Louis.
Thursday is more of St. Louis and edumacating ourselves.
Friday we fly to Duluth.
Saturday I run the race (and T runs her 2nd HM!!!!)

So if you add it up - out of the next 11 days I will sleep in my own bed exactly four nights. Lucky me.

Reward

Last summer a friend gave me an idea to help keep myself (and T) motivated to run. T and I started an exercise reward program. We each have our own criteria (number of runs per month, or number of speed workouts, etc) as to what we need to do for the reward, and usually we pick our own reward. Been doing this almost a full year...and it's a nice feeling to go to the store and by that month's reward knowing that you've earned it.

For May, T turned the tables on me a bit. She knew I had a big month of running planned as it was the last 6-7 weeks before the marathon so she decided to give me a bigger carrot to encourage me. With my run Saturday I met the criteria to get these:



Thanks for the encouragement love.

Decisions...

The selfish thing? The right thing?

Either way you have to be willing to live with the consequences.

I've been told I did the right thing. Maybe if I keep hearing that enough I will eventually believe it.

And I'm living with the consequence.

Friends, Part IV

This topic is probably a bit different than my previous rants/diatribes on the subject of friends, but I have to get this out of my head before it explodes....

The hardest thing to do is to watch a friend struggle. To watch them do things that you know are destructive in nature and be helpless to intervene.

To try and intervene and you risk losing the friendship...

What do you do?

The selfish thing? The right thing?

Why does life have to be so fucking hard.

Inching Closer

Big week for T and I.

Friday we're leaving for Madison, Wisconsin, and the Madison Marathon/HM/Marathon Relay/Quarter Marathon. Yep, we're both running on Sunday. I'm running the half (pretty much as a training run, but I'm hoping to help a good friend cross the finish line in under 2 hours as well) and T is also running, but what she's running is for her to tell, not me.

Should be a fun weekend - huge meet-up of the 30s from Kickrunners and we'll have the opportunity to see some people again, and to meet some new folks. What better way to spend Memorial Day than with a bunch of your imaginary friends?

As you can tell by the log over on the right, I ran 21 miles yesterday. 21 miles. That's a lot of miles. First time I've run that long and I believe I have at least one more long run of that length prior to Grandma's (which as you can tell is about a month away - holy shit! Just one month?!?!). Still feeling good about my chances of meeting my goal on June 21. More on what that goal is when we get a bit closer.

Erin - loving the blog!

Training Does Pay Off?!?

The 5/3 River Bank Run 25k is a Grand Rapids institution, celebrating its 31st anniversary this year. Starting this year they added a 10k race to the 25k, 5k run, and 5k walk that were already on the schedule and since 10k is probably my favorite distance to race I was really excited to see the addition, especially since I could use the 10k as a quality workout and a barometer to see how my training for Grandma’s is going.

Over the last few weeks my quality runs indicated that I was probably going to really destroy my current 10k PR (58:09 set in 2006 at the Butte to Butte 10k in Eugene) but I didn’t want to be over confident because the last time I ran a 10k in July (heat, humidity, hilly course) I didn’t fair as well as I would have liked.

After reading Greg McMillan’s column in the latest Running Times I set two goals for my self based on my training of late: an A goal of 50:38 (8:10 pace) and a B goal of 51:30 (8:19 pace)– basically my A goal was what I would hope for if conditions were right and I felt good, etc on race day, the B goal a fall back that would still require me to really push it. Anything slower than 51:30 would mean I’d had a bad race.

Conditions for the race couldn’t have been any better: temp was in the low 40s F, course was relatively flat (okay sorry Nettie and Bard, I totally forgot about the hills in the last two miles), course was covered for a great portion so I wouldn’t have to worry about the sun bearing down, all in all ideal conditions to go for my A goal.

Splits:
Mile 1: 7:54 – I started my watch a bit early so this one may have been off a bit, but I got out to a good start, not a huge field and having the whole width of the streets helped me not be boxed in at the start.

Mile 2: 8:02 – still feeling pretty good, and this part of the course I’d run before so I knew what to expect.

Mile 3: 8:07 – nearly got trampled by someone darting in front of me trying to get to the water at the aid station, but managed to stay on pace and at this point I was pretty sure that my A goal was in reach.

Mile 4: 8:12 – started to tire a bit and this is where the first hill showed up, but I managed to pass people on the way up and the way down (thanks for that goes to my route I run on Leonard St. near the house, lots of hills) so I was still feeling pretty good.

Mile 5: 8:13 – course flattened back out a bit and I settled back into a grove and tried to make up some time before the last hilly part just past the 6-mile mark. Still feeling pretty good, and I started thinking about if I’d have enough energy left in me for a kick at the end.

Mile 6: 8:15 – holding steady. Honestly just trying to hang on until the end at this point. Luckily there was a bit of downhill that I could use right before the turns toward the finish for a bit of a boost.

Finish: 50:35 – saw Tonya about 100 yards from the finish and could hear her cheering me on. Crossed the line (my garmin had 50:32) and tried to stay upright.

50:35. So I beat my A goal by 3 seconds, and smashed the living hell out of my PR, which was 58:39. That’s not a typo – I took 8:04 off my 10k PR. Two years ago, hell last July, I would have never thought that would be possible. It’s nice to see personal evidence that all the time spent out there running has started to pay off. This really gives me hope that I’m going to do okay in Duluth.

The question now is can I continue to lower (not by this much!) my PRs over the next few years and what kind of goal to set for myself after the marathon.

Race Day

Tomorrow I'm running a 10k here in Grand Rapids, and then T and I are hosting our house warming party...and the amazing thing? We actually have friends coming!!

Details on the race and pics from the soiree coming this weekend.

Question

To: Organizers of Grandma's Marathon
From: KP

RE: Racecourse Performance Drink Choice

Why does a marathon of Grandma's stature choose to have a beverage like Ultima Replenisher? After trying it yesterday to see what it tastes like (nothing, and I even mixed it stronger than the package directions and used the flavor they will be using in Duluth) and how it sits on my stomach have decided that it's horrible and I'm now considering carrying a water bottle with me that I can put Gatorade in for the race.

Did Gatorade piss you off years ago? Ultima isn't a local Duluth company - at least according to their website, so maybe one of the board of directors is a major share holder?

Seriously I'm interested in how an elite race doesn't have Gatorade the industry leader in performance beverages.

Six Word Memoir Fun & Games

First time I've ever been tagged so I guess I have to play along. Thanks to Cindi here goes:

Hard work pays off, run long.

Since I'm supposed to tag five more people to continue the game Frankie, Kris, Maureen, Mary, and Elizabeth y'all are up.

Thanks...

some people won't understand this post, but will in due time

To everyone who has offered an encouraging word this week, it has been much appreciated.

Thank you.

KP

Sunday

Two great things happened today:

1) It's official. I'm a homeowner. It truly sank in today. Bought a lawnmower.

2) I ran with T today. 10 miles. Her first time running double digits (and she did it under 2 hours). Really proud of her.

Not Bad

16 miles today in 2:46:59.

I didn't die, in fact actually felt pretty good.

So maybe my outlook for June 21 isn't as bleak as it was last weekend, but I'm sure that will change again.

Holy...

I just realized something. 60 days. Two months from today I'm running my first marathon. Starting to freak out a bit, especially after the craptastic run I had yesterday.

I was scheduled to do a long run of 16 miles with 12 of those miles being at my marathon pace (right around 9:00/mile). I thought everything was gonna go well, I had water, sunsreened myself up since I knew I'd be out there for awhile, ate a little something, even took some clif shot blocks with me.

What I failed to factor is was the following:
- I didn't start until almost 11 am
- I didn't realize that it was already 70F
- I failed to take enough water for how hot it was
- I neglected to put my phone in my camelbak

I finally pulled the plug on my run at 12 miles - I finished 10 of the 12 at pace (managed a 9:09 so not horrible) but I'd run out of water and I'd stopped sweating (my face was crusted with salt at that point). Thing is, I was 2 miles from home and had to walk it.

By the time I made it home I looked like warmed over shit. Felt nauseous. Drank some fluids, ate a little something once my stomach calmed down, and proceeded to lay in the floor under a fleece blanket. Finally took about an hour nap. When I woke up I felt like I'd been up all night drinking.

Needless to say, today is an off day.

I gotta do better or else I'm gonna get my ass handed to me in Duluth.

When You Least Expect It...

I had an interesting exchange with the AD yesterday. He'd just returned from the NAIA AD meeting and he'd run into the AD at the school were I was at for my first job out of grad school.

Mind you I was there from 1997-1999, a total of 18 months almost 10 full years ago:

AD: I ran into your guy "X" and he told me to tell you hello.
Me: Really, how is he?
AD: Doing good, he told me that they've got a new athletic trainer this year and that if he really thought about it, you were probably the best athletic trainer we had.

I was a bit shocked to say the least. I'm not sure if that means I did a great job or if all the people (who knows how many) that followed me were crappy.

I'm taking it as a compliment.

Stuck in My Head...

This song has been stuck in my head (in a good way) for a few weeks now.

"Until The End" Breaking Benjamin

Chorus strikes me...

Why give up?
Why give in?
It's not enough
It never is
So I will go on until the end

This is quickly becoming my mantra for my marathon training...I'm going to go on until the end.

Recommendations

I have two recommendations for you, one book and one movie.

The book: Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert

I honestly don’t know where to start with this one. It’s a great book, insightful and poignant as we get a glimpse into a year in the author’s life as she makes drastic changes in her life. I’m especially fond of the part of the book that takes place in India. I’ve recommended this book to a few friends and they have agreed with me that it is a very special book.

The movie: Once

WOW! Watched that last night…I was told it was a great movie after it was already in our netflix queue but man o’ man I had no idea is was that good! The soundtrack is pretty impressive as well!

Success?

Inertia -

1. inertness, esp. with regard to effort, motion, action, and the like; inactivity; sluggishness

March is finally gone. Normally I'm a big fan of March - March Madness, my parents birthdays, and let's not forget St. Patrick's Day - but this year with the house and everything else March seemed like a black hole that I wouldn't be able to escape.

So, starting yesterday with the arrival of April it was a chance to wipe the slate clean and get back on track. My goal this week is to get up and run in the morning. Yesterday it even worked out that I was able to put in a few miles with T.

Then today hit.

I. Did. Not. Want. To. Get. Out. Of. Bed. I managed to get up and get the coffee going to help T get out the door (she teaches early on Mondays and Wednesdays) but after she left I fired up the computer to make sure my workout was entered in my garmin and could feel the motivation to run slowly draining away.

Lazy-self: Damn that coffee smells good, you know you could have a cup and run this afternoon
Me: no, I won't have time
Lazy-self: come on, you can feel your stomach growling! Let's eat breakfast.
Me: No. I need to run

So I forced myself out of the chair to get ready for my run. I wasn't happy starting out on my run, but I was really glad I did it.

The nice thing about inertia? Every time you over come it, it's easier to beat the next time.

Wow.

2773.

That's the number of visits to this blog in the last year (the cluster map at the bottom reset on 3/29 while we were in Texas).

Wow.

Is what I put on here really that interesting?

It will be nice to watch the dots reappear on the map as people drop by though.

Listening

As you can probably tell from previous posts (mentioned being out of my routine) plus the running log/stats over on the right, I've been in a funk lately.

The month of March has been a bit overwhelming - moving, unpacking, the state of flux my life is in due to the weather and spring sports, etc - well, it all sort of came to a head on Friday.

Just felt off, like I couldn't accomplish anything, struggled to find the energy to care about not accomplishing anything.

Then I did something important.

You see, I am lucky to have people in my life that care about me. I heard the same advice from a few of them: start small, make a to-do-list of things I could accomplish that would put me back on the right path.

Turns out these are intelligent people. I just had to be smart enough listen to 'em.

You know who you are. Thanks.

Who Do I Run For?

During the last two years I’ve become an avid listener to the podcast Phedippidations. Produced by a middle aged, middle of the pack, slightly asthmatic runner (his words, not mine) in Massachusetts this podcast for runners of all levels has become a constant companion on my long runs.

Today on my run I listened to episode #135 entitled “Who Do You Run For?” and as I traversed the streets of Grand Rapids this Easter morning I began to think about that exact question. After spending the rest of the day completing tasks around the house I thought I’d blog about my answers. So here goes:

T – I run for my wife. I want to do to whatever I can to make sure my days on this planet are plentiful, but that’s not it. I run because she inspires me. Her own running impresses me to no end, because it isn’t easy for her. She battles her own body – asthma – on every run but she doesn’t quit. If she can push through that kind of thing to make the progress she has in the last year, then I surely can get my lazy ass out of bed and get my miles in. Thanks love for everything and then some.

My mom – because she can’t. My mom is battling, successfully at the moment, cancer for the second time. I wish I possessed even a fraction of the strength she faces her disease with. If she can deal with that, then I can among other things, quit bitching about the hills where we live now.

Friends – you know who you are, whether in the virtual world or not, all you encourage me no matter what your level of expertise.

Finally, I run for myself. It gives me a sense of control in my often-chaotic life. It reduces stress, it’s made me healthier (one of these days I’m going to find a picture of me from the summer of 2000), and most importantly it’s provided me a sense of community. I’ve mentioned the forum before (links over to the right) but it truly is a community of love and support. I run for myself because I want to be the best version of me I can.

Question?

I'll be the first person to admit that I'm not that religious, so I'm turning to anyone else out there in the blogosphere to answer me this question:

I know how Easter Sunday is chosen each year, it's the first Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox...which on the surface smacks of a Pagan type holiday/festival celebrating the return of the growing season to me...but if we are commemorating the death of Jesus Christ why isn't it celebrated the same day every year?

First Race Report Of The Year

This was the second year in a row for me running this race. This is one of the first races of the spring-like season here in Grand Rapids - approx 32F at the start and snow still on the ground in places isn't spring. Last year I had some issues with the race:

1) I was still recovering from a leg injury and hadn't been running very well or consistently.

2) There were so many people in this race and due to the course bottlenecking thanks to a couple of sharp turns in the first half mile it took almost the first mile to get in a rhythm. Plus this was the race I passed walkers, not being taking a walk break, after the first mile.

This year they split the race into two separate races, a men's and a women's race. This completely eradicated concern #2 from above.

My goal for the day was to use the race as a workout in my training for my first marathon. This week's quality workout was supposed to be 4x1200m at I pace (about 8:20/mile) so that was the pace I was hoping to maintain.

Mile 1: 8:09 felt pretty good, small slight hill in this mile plus the course turned sharply twice. Managed to make it without hitting any ice.

Mile 2: 8:22 this mile is pretty much a steady climb. Not a huge hill, but just steady. Felt pretty good at this point. I could tell I was working, but I was doing okay.

Mile 3: 8:01 downhill for the most part so I tried to let the hill carry me a bit. I got a shout of encouragement from the cross country coach at the college with about a half mile to go.

Finish: 25:23 which is a 25 second PR.

All in all I felt good at the end. Yeah, I could have pushed it a bit more, but for that day and what I was trying to accomplish (the workout) I feel it was a pretty damn good day. The PR is just a bonus.

First Of The New Year

Race that is, 5k tomorrow. I'll post to let all three of you reading how it goes. T is also running.

House is coming along, slowly. Unpacking is not easy when you both have to work all day like normal people. Hopefully we will get a lot accomplished this weekend.

All I got now.

That's All?!?!?!

100 days until the marathon. Holy shit. Might feel a bit better if the house hadn't gotten so in the way of my training.

Also wish I'd hear about the hotel. Starting to get a bit nervous that we won't have any place to stay.

Return To Normal?

Can someone please tell me when things will be back to normal? Please?

See, I'm a creature of habit - just ask T - I like routines, but between all of the house stuff, moving, unpacking, spring sports schedules being a we-hope-so-proposition at best, and daylight savings time I can't seem to find any traction.

Speaking of daylight savings time let me say the following: I'm not entirely against the idea, but I am against it starting this early in March! Sunrise isn't until after 8 am again here in Michigan!

I think that is a big part of why I'm having such a hard time getting up and running in the morning.

How many more weeks/days until the school year ends?

House Update

Yesterday was moving day. Counted it up the other night, since I met T in 2000, we have moved five times - with two of those moves being across country. God I hate moving.

However, we are in the house. Here are some before/after pics of what we did to the place before we moved in yesterday. More pics will follow once we have the time to arrange the furniture.

Playing Catch-up

Sorry folks about not updating more frequently, but life seems to think my schedule is something to toy with these days. Between trying to get the house ready to move in - made significant progress with the painting this weekend and hopefully, hopefully some of the new flooring will be put in at the end of this week, trying to train for a marathon (more on that front later), and T's attempt at becoming a stunt driver I've been run ragged.

Yes, T is okay, but she did hit some ice and roll the Explorer. She couldn't have been going too fast though since there wasn't much damage to it. Biggest thing was the engine getting screwed up because the car was upside down. It was fun getting the voicemail from the 911 people.

I think I might actually be crazy. You can see the countdown over there on the right counting down the days, hours, minutes until Grandma's Marathon. Well, Friday after I nailed down some schedule stuff for the fall I registered for the Chicago Marathon as well. That's right. I registered for my second 26.2 mile event before I complete the first, hence the crazy part.

Gotta run. More later.

Last Week

Many things have happened here in the great city of Grand Rapids:

1) We continue to have the living hell beaten out of us by Ol' Man Winter
2) We in fact closed on the house, so we have officially been home owners since Friday
3) We have purchased new floors to replace the less than ideal floors in the house - well, just the floors on the first floor. Upstairs is fine.
4) The new computer kicks ass.
5) Marathon training - had a pretty good week on that front. Ran 33 miles, and that includes missing a run on Saturday because of work and house related stuff. I've been over 30 miles every week but one this year. The treadmill has been a run-saver.

This week (week of the 11th) is my last week of basebuilding. Starting next week I get to add in some speed workouts. Fun.

It's Official

Well, it was official about 4:30 pm on Friday that is...we're the proud owners of a home now.

Did a bit of work there on Saturday after the game I had to cover, and then proceeded to get snowed/wind chilled in on Sunday...we have exactly one month until we have to move in, so the next few weeks will be busy.

Also, wanted to post this...thanks to the Federal government for returning the interest free loan we gave them in 2007, it was put to good use.



Yeah, you're seeing that correctly, and no I'm not some sort of underground hacker. Two computers. Yes, the one in the middle is a brand spanking new iMac.

Countdown

If all goes according to plan, in approximately 4 hours or so T and I will be home owners.

What A Beautiful Sight...

The gourmet market/beer store that we frequent ran a 10% off all beer last Saturday.

We stocked up, as evident in this picture of the beer fridge.

That's all that would fit in there right now. There is more being held in reserve.

House Pictures

If you are interested in seeing pictures of the house we are buying - closing tentatively scheduled for Friday, then go to T's blog. Here is the link to the post.

Numbers

January is behind us, so let's look back at the highlights of the month (in no particular order):

- visited a few open houses
- found a house to buy
- started that whole proces (I know, I know...I promised pictures, I just haven't really had the time. This weekend.)
- ran 23 out of the 31 days in the month, which actually worked out to 23 out of 26 scheduled runs. The treadmill has been huge in that department.
- totaled 122 miles for the month and I'm only 5.7 miles off pace to reach my goal of 1500 miles for the year. Missing those three days last week is what did it to me.

Anything else? Nope, not really.

Back later to talk about goals for February.

Motivation

Three weeks in and I'm just now posting this today. I'd intended to post this back when I started but life got in the way - speaking of life, still in a holding pattern on the house, appraisal was last week, new furnace is being installed tomorrow, and we're hoping that we might be able to close on Thursday.

Whenever I need a little bit of a kick in the ass to get my run in all I need to do is just look up above the computer:

It keeps me on track, and this past week I needed it. Only logged 14 miles thanks to a mishap at work (I'll spare you all the details) that prevented me from running for a few days. All better now so I'm hoping for a better week this week.

Phase I, Week #4, Jan 28-Feb 3
Monday - 5 miles
Tuesday - 6 miles
Wednesday - OFF
Thursday - 5 miles
Friday - 5 miles
Saturday - 10 miles
Sunday - 6 miles
Total: 37

Still basebuilding, but this week I am supposed to add in some strides at the end of 2-3 runs. The weather is supposed to be a bit better this week and I'm hoping I might be able to get outside at least once or twice this week.

In My Haste...

I forgot to add one part to the previous post about friends...I was busy and distracted here at work, so I want to add it now:

We should be thankful for our friends in life, and we should be willing to tell them what they mean to us. Even if that means we tell them that we love them...especially if it means we tell them we love them.

Friends, Part III

A recent post by a friend on kickrunners has prompted some thinking here on my part about friends and friendships again, hence the "Part III" above.

Friendships flow and ebb over time, you meet new friends that fill holes in your life (whether you knew that hole was there or not) or that take the place of a friendship that has changed. Friends and friendships are dynamic basically.

During a discussion with the aforementioned friend I made the comment that while the duration of the friendship shouldn't be overlooked entirely, the intensity of the friendship - what that person means to you - is pretty important as well. At least to me it is...I have been friends with people going on 15 years now and they mean a lot to me, but at the same time some of those friendships have ebbed due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, and in the last two years or so I've made new friends that mean the world to me.

I guess what I'm saying is that I've realized every friendship is different and we shouldn't try and compare one to another.

I just feel fortunate at this point in my life that I have people that are willing to stand up and say to the world that they are my friend.

Long day yesterday prevented me from posting this like normal on Sunday night, but hey, we have lots to do in order to be ready to make some changes on this house we're buying and we spent Sunday out shopping/pricing!

Last week was a pretty good week of running, and most of that I owe to having the treadmill. It hasn't been safe to run outside for about four days, and this week doesn't look promising either.

Plan for this week (week #3):
Monday - 5 miles
Tuesday - 6 miles
Wednesday - Off
Thursday - 5 miles
Friday - 5 miles
Saturday - 10 miles
Sunday - 6 miles
Total planned: 37 miles

Now the only thing I need to do? Find DVDs to watch while running on the treadmill.

Submission

Offered submited on the house. Waiting patiently to hear something...anything...did I mention I'm a bit freaked out?

Big News

T and I may found a house today. We're going to put an offer in on it.

I am totally freaking out.

That is all.

One Down, Twenty-three To Go

End of the running week for me. I stuck to the schedule this week and ran six days this week for a total of 33.6 miles. Even managed to get outside for all but two of those runs (and those were partly due to laziness). Felt good.

This week the schedule is pretty much the same:

Monday - 5 miles
Tuesday - 6 miles
Wednesday - OFF
Thursday - 5 miles
Friday - 5 miles
Saturday - 9 miles
Sunday - 4 miles

I might end up switching Saturday/Sunday depending on how early I want to get up since I have a home game to cover on Saturday afternoon.

So far, so good. But, then again it's only week two.

Something To Think About....

You want to do something nice for you wife or girlfriend what do you do? You buy them flowers. There isn’t a woman alive whose face won’t break out into a big smile when you walk through the door with flowers for her. She might think you’ve done something wrong and are trying to make up for it, but even then there will be a split second where she smiles!

The problem is this though…what’s the guy equivalent to flowers?

After much introspection and thought on the subject I do believe T has solved the problem. The guy equivalent is beer. Beer you say? Yes, beer. But not ordinary mass produced American lagers that you find at the corner mega-mart, but good beer that is produced by smaller breweries, full of flavor and color, and that might cost more than the average lite beer because of the things I just listed.

I came home the other night from work – just an ordinary day, nothing spectacular. T met me at the dining room table like she always does, with a big smile on her face and told me she had something for me, guy flowers, and handed me a bottle of Stone Brewery’s Ruination IPA, a very lovely beer.

So this act of kindness from her cemented two things for me:
1) Beer = guy flowers
2) T is the greatest

24...

Twenty-four weeks, or 165 days, and counting...counting towards what you ask? Well, let me tell you: I started training for my first, hopefully of many, marathon today and race day is 24 weeks, or 165 days, away.

Yeah, yeah, I know - the counter over there ----> counting down to when registration opens will be replaced with one counting down to race day, but only after I register.

And yeah, I'm a bit nervous/excited about the prospects of this whole thing.

First of 2008

First book read in 2008: The Alchemist

I just finished reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and I have been digesting it for a day or two now. The book talks about how “the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.” - It being your destiny or Personal Legend.

I’ve always believed that in life things work out the way they are supposed to…for example, in my own personal time on this planet:

My first job out of grad school was not the best job; it was in an out of the way place and the school was located in a very, very small, rural town. There was no healthy social life to speak of…I’ve often referred to it as the longest 18 months of my life. However, if I hadn’t met some of my coworkers there I would not have been in the position to transition to my second job.

My second job was much better personally and professionally, but the key event of my tenure there was a trip to Nashville that some of us took in late August, 2000. That was the night that I met T.

Call it fate, destiny, or life conspiring to get me where I needed to be I truly believe that the events of October, 1997, through July, 1999, put in motion a series of events that placed meeting T in my path. I won’t go so far as to say it was fate we ended up together – it took too much work on my part to convince her to continue to go out with me!

I remind myself of this when I find myself questioning “why did I do this?” Why did I take that job in Oregon where I had to drive 52 miles one way to work? Because by taking that job I was able to impress the AD at the high school and then he helped me get the job in Eugene.

Things work out like they are supposed to.

The book also talks about omens, and paying attention to them. I’ve been thinking about that and in all honesty, that is the part I’m still digesting. More on that later.

Now The Hard Stuff Starts

Made it through the week. I had six runs scheduled, and I completed the plan for the week. 28.3 miles for a total. I even managed to make it outside to run twice.

However, this past week really wasn't directed at anything more than getting me ready for the upcoming week...Week 1 of marathon training!

Schedule for the week of Jan 7, 2007:
Monday - 5 miles
Tuesday - 6 miles
Wednesday - Off
Thursday - 5 miles
Friday - 5 miles
Saturday - 8 miles
Sunday - 4 miles

Ask And You Shall Receive

Sometime in November I sent out an email to 20 or so friends - some people I know from professional interaction, some personal, some I've only met on the internet, but all friends - and asked them to recommend books for me to read. Any genre of the person's choosing, just books they enjoyed and thought someone else should read. A few of them asked me to send them the list when it was compiled, so here is that compiled list, in no particular order.

Lovely Bones
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Three Cups of Tea
The Enders Game Series (recommended by three people)
The House of Sand and Fog
Skinny Dip (recommended by three people, one of whom said anything by Hiaassen)
Lonesome Dove
The Stand
The Winds of War
War and Remembrance
A Walk In The Woods
Magical Thinking
Naked (recommended by two people, and one said anything by Sedaris)
Water For Elephants
Duel in the Sun
The Bridge of Sighs
Friday Night Lights
Wittgenstein's Poker
1421: The Year China Discovered The World
The Boys From Brazil
Freakonomics
Congo
Angels & Demons
Rendezvous With Rama
A Brief History of Time
What is the What?
The Sparrow
Tigana

I've read some of the books on the list, and while I may not read all of them there are certainly some that I will definitely read.

For everyone who responded thanks...for those of you who didn't (one in particular) it isn't too late!

Accountability

I'm posting this here so that anyone who reads this on a regular basis will help me stay the course as I train for the marathon in June. If you don't see the run over on the right in the log let me have it.

Here is this week's schedule:

Tuesday - ran 4 miles
Wednesday - OFF
Thursday - 5 miles
Friday - 5 miles
Saturday - 4 miles
Sunday - 7 miles

All are supposed to be easy, or base building, runs. From the looks of the weather all of them might be on the treadmill.

The Year That Was...

Jan – 83 miles
A new year and new goals to go along with it. I started something new in 2007, running on the 1st. I managed to get some quality runs in despite there being snow on the ground. The goal of 1000 miles seemed obtainable, and my goal race of the Flying Pig Marathon was just five months away.


Feb – 68 miles (151 for 2007)
The month where the wheels came off. At the start of the month we got dumped on by huge amounts of snow – so much snow we didn’t see the grass until mid-March – and while running one day in that snow, and the ice that resulted, I slipped and strained my calf. The resulting drop-off in miles set me back in my training for the Pig.


March – 62 miles (213 for 2007)
It took some getting used to running in the winter – cold, no big deal; snow/ice, totally sucks. I ran a 5k, the Irish Jig, and finished over a minute slower than the last 5k I ran in October. Between the leg issue, the snow, and getting used to my work schedule during the spring I really started to have doubts about the Flying Pig and reaching my goal of 1000 miles.


April – 62 miles (275 for 2007)
T started on the couch-to-5k plan popularized by a formerly great website (damn you active.com!) and as a means to work my way back to running more with my injury I started running some of her runs with her. I realized at this point the Flying Pig probably wasn’t the wisest decision on my part: my two longest runs to date were 12 miles in January, and 11 miles in March. I could probably still run the full marathon, but I wouldn’t enjoy it and would probably end up injured. So, after much deliberation and advice from some friends I switched to the half marathon in Cincy. The leg did start to respond and I started to run easier.


May – 100 miles (375 for 2007)
Finally arrived at my goal race, the HM at the Flying Pig. We had a great time meeting some of the 30s and I got to run my second HM. Let me tell you, running for more than two hours is much easier when there are people you know with you every step of the way (so thanks again Ann, Kathleen, and Joe). My finishing time was a new PR (barely) but on a much harder course as compared to Grand Rapids. I finished the month on an upswing: running was easy again and I ran more miles in a month than ever before.


June – 97 miles (472 for 2007)
T and I ran a 5k the first weekend of June, again my time was slow, but then it was a hot, humid day, so not a great performance on my part. After this race though I decided that the Grand Rapids HM was the goal race for the fall (again) and that if I wanted to do better than I did in Cincy, I needed to take my training seriously. So, take my training seriously I did. I was using Marathon Plan A from Daniels’ Running Formula and I slowed down and actually ran easy runs to build my base up. The rest of the month went great…right up to the point when we left for California/Taiwan.


July – 103 miles (575 for 2007)
T and I spent the first week of July in Taipei, Taiwan, at a conference she presented at, and as a result my training took a bit of a backseat. For starters, it was ungodly hot/humid there and running outside was not likely due to both the weather and traffic. Second, I was supposed to start adding in some speed work – again, not likely. So I managed two runs while we were there, but I wouldn’t trade the trip for anything! After we got back I hit my stride. Runs were easier and I was putting in some pretty good mileage. I ran a 10k at the end of the month, broke an hour, but every race isn’t going to be a PR.


Aug – 148 miles (723 for 2007)
My best month of running for the year. Despite it being the most hectic, due to preseason practices, etc at work, I managed to run 24 days during the month and managed to have some great quality tempo/interval workouts as well. Everything just sort of fell into place training wise.


Sept – 126 (849 for 2007)
I continued to run well, easy runs were getting easier and the quality workouts weren’t kicking my ass nearly as much – even though the workouts were just as tough. It was about this time of the year that I really started to get optimistic about doing well in the HM in Oct.


Oct – 105 miles (954)
Racing month was upon me. Towards the end of September T and I decided to run a 5k that a friend’s running store was sponsoring. I figured it would be a nice way to break up the monotony of the usual runs and as a way to gauge how I might do later in the month in the HM. I set a new PR and realized that 25 minutes for a 5k might actually be possible. Then I obliterated my HM PR by almost 18 minutes at the end of the month.


Nov – 84 miles (1038 for 2007)
Despite the superb performance in the HM, I just had a lot of trouble with my mojo during November. I did manage to help T to a new PR in a 10k on Thanksgiving Day and I met my goal of 1000 miles for the year. Besides that, not a lot of anything went on this month.


Dec – 84 miles (1122 total miles for 2007)
A continuation of November. I struggled to find motivation, plus the crappy winter weather started a bit earlier this year. On the positive, we bought a treadmill so I won’t have the “it’s icy outside” excuse anymore as I look towards my goal race for 2008. I ran 443 more miles in 2007 than I did in 2006. I stayed healthy for the most part. I set a new PR for a 5k and HM. All in all, I would say it was a pretty good year.

Christmas

Just now getting caught up after the family visit over Christmas. I wanted to post pics of two things:


1) Even though it technically wasn't a Christmas gift, here is the latest item T and I splurged on. Pay no attention to the circa 1970's paneling in the finished basement of the apartment please.


2) The very cool new red iPod I received for Christmas. T got eveyone to chip in to help defray the cost (and to keep her from going over our predetermined limit). Have all the music I currently have in iTunes and it is only half full. Busy downloading/importing as we speak.

Now, I need to get back to work on my end 'o the year post.

Announcement

Attention Everyone:

It has been brought to my attention by more than one person that I have been neglecting this blog. One person went so far to ask me if I'd abandoned it. Sheesh. You get a bit busy and find you are having trouble putting thoughts together and they think you've given up!? Just kidding.

I sort of fell off posting here after the HM in October and seemed to lose my motivation for running, as you probably noticed from the lack of runs being listed on the right over there. I can say that I've managed to find my running-mojo again! Today was the 6th day in a row that I've run and I've logged 15.5 miles this week (starting Monday)...and that is good considering what I have in store for myself.

You're probably asking yourself "What the hell is he talking about?" I've signed up to run the HM in Madison, WI on Memorial Day weekend, but that's not my goal race for 2008...no, that would be a different race that has to do with the counter over there. In less than a month registration will open for Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN, and after that point I'll be locked into making my marathon debut (or be out the $$ for the registration) on June 21.

So I need to get my ass out there and run so I'll be prepared.

Wow, Look At The Time!

Life has really sucked me in these last few weeks. However, free time is upon me at the end of this week.

Will be back then.