The Journey

2012-01-23T08:26:00.002-05:00

Week 2 of my commitment to get back in shape was a little tougher than week 1. Had a lot going on at work, something 3 of the 5 weekday evenings, and the weather was pretty stormy.
Goal was again to get 4 runs in- not certain distance, no certain time. I only got 3 runs in but they were pretty good runs.

Weekly Summary:
Mon- No run
Tues- No run
Wed- 3 miles
Thurs- No run
Fri- No run
Sat- 3 miles
Sun- 3 miles

Total- 9 miles

2012-01-16T13:00:00.002-05:00

I had what I will call a successful "1st week" of running for this year. My goal for the week was 4 runs- plain and simple. No time requirements, not distance requirements- just get out 4 times to run. I did that and ended up running 4 miles on Sunday. I stopped at 4 and stood there for a moment, contemplated doing one more mile, but decided against it. I don't want to get caught up in miles or time at this point. I just want to run and enjoy it.

Weekly Summary:
Mon- No run
Tues- 3 miles
Wed- No run
Thurs- 3 miles
Fri- No run
Sat- 3 miles
Sun- 4 miles

Total- 13 miles

2012-01-09T10:05:00.002-05:00

After running the lowest miles in a year last year since I started running I decided to get back in shape and lose the 40 lbs I have put on. Also, seeing the shape my father had gotten in made me realize I needed to get back to exercising.
My father had a heart attack 14 years ago, a couple of "mini" strokes, and a stroke 2 years ago. Then he developed cancer in his left shoulder/neck area and had radiation and then surgery to remove the muscle and affected area. He fought hard and over came most of the damage from all of that except for the heart. From what I am told the lower chambers of his heart were at 20% (should have been at 60-65%).

I was in Arkansas over the Thanksgiving week and he was hurting pretty badly but still doing some things and was active. Within the next 4 weeks he last nearly 40 lbs, became immobile, and then passed away on 01-02-12. It is still hard to believe that he declined that quickly and is gone.

Even with everything that went on he took care of my mother in law for the last 3-4 years as she was in the beginning stages of Alzhiemers and Parkinsons. Daddy was determined and swore that as long as he could crawl he would keep her at home and take care of her and that is exactly what he did. He had assistance for 4 hours a day but other than that he took care of her. They had plans for their retirement and nothing worked out as they had planned die to the illnesses of both.

I dedicate this year to my father and vow to get back in shape and healthy again.

2011-11-29T10:27:00.001-05:00

Wow- this forum is still here. I will have to update it now that I know it is still alive and working. Nothing to say on the running front- not much running at all. I changed jobs last May (2010) which was a bust. Left that company in Oct (2010) and started work at a new company in Feb (2011). Very challenging job, a lot of learning opportunities, but not really anywhere to run during lunch.

2010-01-31T15:23:00.002-05:00

Just wiping the dust off. I haven't done much of anything in January. I decided a couple of weeks ago to get back to it but had a wrench thrown in the plans last week.

When we were in Arkansas this past December to visit my Dad he was complaning of being out of breath and not feeling well. We were worried becasue he had a heart attack 13 years ago and a small stroke about 8 years ago. He went to the doc right after we left and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. The doc decided he would put stints in but after looking at it further decided to put a pace maker/defibulator in. The surgery went as planned but unfortunately the night after the surgery he suffered a stroke. I left immediately after work last Friday evening and drove to Louisiana where he was in the hospital and stayed with him until I left and came back Wednesday morning. It has taken me a while to get over the trip and to deal with what's going on but I think I am about ready to get back out hit it.

Hopefully things will settle a bit and there will be some activity to report soon.

2009-12-21T09:16:00.001-05:00

Recovery week #1- 14 Dec 2009:
Mon- rest
Tues- rest
Wed- run 3 miles; bike- 10 miles
Thurs- rest
Fri- rest
Sat- run 3 miles; bike 10 miles
Sun- rest

Totals: Run- 6 miles; bike 20 miles

2009-12-16T08:29:00.002-05:00

Rocket City Marathon – 12 December 2009

This was my first marathon in over 2 years and overall I really enjoyed the whole experience. I haven’t really run that much over the last couple of years and had really gotten out of shape and put on a pretty good bit of weight. I had signed up for the Rocket City marathon in 2008 but with the work load I had I didn’t run much at all and skipped the race. This was a race I had heard great things about and wanted to run so I signed up again this year.

Training:
Training went great for the most part. I went in to training with very little base. I had been dealing with PF since February, tried to run through it, and ended up taking the whole month of June off. I started my training in July and quickly built a base. I was more aggressive than planned in mileage build up because it was going so well. My plan was to build mileage and then slowly add speed work in to the mix. I never quite got the part of adding the speed work but wasn’t too worried about it. I was enjoying the training and wanted to keep it going. One thing I did this go around was add biking in to the training. While training for a marathon in 2005 I added in a cycling class once per week but this time I added in 3-4 days of biking which gave me 30-40 miles of biking along with the running mileage I did. I really think this helped me stay injury free through out the process. I was having some motivation problems the last 3 weeks or so of the program but figured I would be ok. I was always tired and just wanted to rest so that’s what I did.

Friday:
I arrived in Huntsville on Friday around noon and just kind of hung out until late afternoon. I went over to the expo to get a couple of things and my packet. Bart Yasso was the guest speaker at the carbo dinner that night- what a great guy and speaker. I really enjoyed his speech and am enjoying his book.

Race:
Saturday morning’s weather was a little less than desirable but not as bad as I thought it was going to be. We had 33* temps and 13 mph winds. The starting gun was a musket rifle that they fired. After 3 obligatory start/stops we were off. The first mile was a little slower than what I wanted but not bad. I hit stride during mile 2 and within the next couple of miles hit my stride and was on pace for a 3:50. I zoned out and the miles seemed to click off pretty effortlessly. A guy started running with me somewhere around mile 5 and talked nonstop. This quickly brought me out of my “zone”. I didn’t want to be rude but I really wanted to just zone out and run. Finally at mile 10 I wished him luck, excused myself as we came up to a porto-john and I stepped inside and let him get ahead. Miles 9-15 were along a long road with very little turns…. and into the head winds. Every so often we would get a break from the wind as it swirled but it was doing its damage. I felt a couple of twinges in my hamstrings during this stretch but nothing I was too worried about. Then around mile 15 I had a strong twinge- right after that the cramps started. I wanted to make it to at least mile 20 before I did any walking so I slowed my pace but the cramps got bad enough that I started walking some at mile 19. I added more walking breaks between miles 21-24. I saw the guy that had run with me earlier and he was cramping pretty badly also. I also walked with a marathon maniac for a while that was cramping pretty badly- interesting guy!
I was able to run the final 2.2 miles of the race - I guess the succeed tablet, the gels, and the powerade finally replenished me enough or I was just really ready for this to be over with and willed my way through it.

As I came to the finish line my friend that had made the trip with me cheered me on and yelled to push the rest of the way… what he didn’t understand was I was pushing it and every step my hamstrings and calves in both legs had the feel that they were going to cramp- I was just praying that they didn’t cramp right there in front of everyone.

After crossing the finish the volunteers do a great job of keeping you moving. All I wanted to do was stop but they keep you moving toward the door and in to the warm hotel.

I ended up with a time of 4:11:11 so I didn’t hit the 3:50 I wanted but those are just numbers. Looking back- this whole training and race was a success…. I got back in to a little better shape- lost some of the weight I put on…. and proved to myself that I can still train and run this distance.

Splits:
1- 9:08
2- 8:58
3- 8:44
4- 8:43
5- 8:46
6- 8:51
7- 8:59
8- 9:00
9- 8:55
10- 9:41 (porto john stop)
11- 8:53
12- 9:00
13- 8:59
14- 9:10
15- 9:05
16- 9:27 (slowed pace)
17- 9:21
18- 9:29
19- 9:57
20- 9:57
21- 10:29 (extended walk breaks)
22- 10:14 (extended walk breaks)
23- 12:26 (extended walk breaks)
24- 11:56 (extended walk breaks)
25- 10:39
26- 10:02
.2- 2.10 (9.52 avg)

Total time: 4:11:11
Placement:
Overall – 690/1254
Division – 103/154

2009-12-09T15:41:00.003-05:00

Looks like my motivation to post has been gone for a while along with my motivation to run. Between work being crazy and just feeling tired all of the time I have rested more than I have run. My marathon is this weekend and I have no idea what pace to try to run it or how it will go.

Summary of the last month:

Week of: 02 Nov 2009
Mon- Run 4 miles; bike 10 miles
Tues- Run 6.3 miles; bike 10 miles
Wed- Run 6 miles; bike 10 miles
Thurs- Run 6.5 miles
Fri- Rest
Sat- nothing
Sun- nothing

Total: Run- 22.8 miles; bike- 30 miles

Week of: 09 Nov 2009
Mon- Run 6.5 miles; bike 10 miles
Tues- Run 4 miles; bike 10 miles
Wed- Run 6 miles; bike 10 miles
Thurs- nothing
Fri- rest day
Sat- Run 16 miles
Sun- Run 6.2 miles

Total: Run- 38.7; bike 30 miles

Week of: 16 Nov 2009
Mon- bike 12 miles
Tues- Run 6.5 miles; bike 10 miles
Wed- Run 4 miles
Thurs- Run 6.5 miles
Fri- Rest day
Sat- Run 20 miles
Sun- Run 5 miles

Total: Run- 42 miles; bike- 22 miles

Week of: 23 Nov 2009
Mon- Nothing
Tues- Nothing
Wed- Nothing
Thurs- Thanksgiving- travel
Fri- Run 6 miles
Sat- Travel
Sun- Travel

Total: Run 6 miles

Week of: 30 Nov 2009
Mon- bike- 10 miles
Tues- nothing
Wed- Run 4 miles; bike 10 miles
Thurs- Run 4 miles
Fri- Rest day
Sat- Run 4 miles
Sun- nothing

Total: Run 12 miles; bike 20 miles

So far this week-
Week of 07 Dec-
Mon- Run 3 miles
Tues- Run 4 miles

I am done now until the marathon this weekend except for a 2 mile jog Friday.

2009-11-02T09:13:00.000-05:00

I was not really in a mood to post last week for a couple of reasons. I went out last Saturday with the idea to do a 12-15 mile run. I have been speeding my pace a bit on my runs the last couple of weeks and would try to push it a little on my long run so that is why I had a range I was going to run instead of a specific mileage run. I felt pretty good on the run and was brining my pace down pretty good and decided I would go ahead and run 15. I should have stopped at 12. I don’t know what happened but the run really went south on me and I really struggled the last 3 miles, and especially the last 2 miles.
I got home, cleaned up, relaxed, took Glenn to Tae Kwon Do. Leaving after the class my left knee was hurting pretty bad. I didn’t really do anything the rest of the day until we went to a wedding that evening. I danced a little too much probably but had a good time… woke up Sunday morning and had trouble walking. I ended up taking some Aleve and then went out for a 6.5 mile run later in the day then cut the grass. Probably shouldn’t have done all of that but I thought I could work my way through it. I have had knee pain before and run through it so I thought maybe I could this time. NOT. I ended up only running 4 miles last week. I probably could have run but the pain was pretty bad so I ended up taking the week off. Knee pain is almost totally gone so I will resume training this week. I have 4 weeks of training and 2 weeks of taper before the race so I am not really concerned at this point. I am feeling good other wise and ready to race.

Week of 19 Oct:
Mon- bike 10 miles
Tues- run- 6 miles
Wed- run- 6.5 miles
Thurs- run- 6 miles
Fri- rest day
Sat- run- 15 miles
Sun- run- 6.5 miles

Total- run- 40 miles; bike- 10 miles

Week of 26 Oct:
Mon- bike 10 miles
Tues- run- 4 miles; bike- 10 miles
Wed- nothing
Thurs- nothing
Fri- nothing
Sat- nothing
Sun- nothing

Total- run- 4 miles; bike- 20 miles

2009-10-19T11:14:00.002-04:00

Week of 12 October 2009:
I pretty much skipped last week (week of 05 October). The culmination of 3-4 tough weeks at work along with some other stuff pretty much did me in . I ran 6.5 miles on Wed and that was it was the week.
This past week was a different story though. I got back in to the routine and felt pretty good. Again, I didn't get the bike as much as I wanted but ended up having a strong week running.

Mon- run- 3 miles; bike- 10 miles
Tues- run- 6.5 miles
Wed- nothing
Thurs- run- 7.5 miles
Fri- rest day
Sat- 20 mile long run
Sun- 6 mile run

Total- run- 44 miles; bike- 10 miles

2009-10-05T09:42:00.002-04:00

Week of 28 Sept 2009:
Another killer week at work and I didn't get to bike as much as I wanted but I did get one day in. Other than that- I am very encouraged with the quality of training this week. The wether is a little cooler which helps but I was really surprised with how well things went mentally with training.
I am not really paying attention to pace just yet but my Thursday's run was actually my fastest pace for an outdoor run this year. Also, the pace I ran my 21 mile run at on Saturday was my fastest long run pace for runs over 14 miles (every little bit of motivation helps).

Mon- bike- 10 miles
Tues- run- 6.2 miles
Wed- 6.2 miles
Thurs- 6.3 miles
Fri- rest day
Sat- 21 mile long run
Sun- 6 mile run

Total- run- 45.7 miles; bike- 10 miles

2009-09-29T10:32:00.005-04:00

Week of 21 Sept 2009:
The last couple of weeks has been tough and with the added mileage I have had I was getting exhausted. Going in to the weekend I wasn't sure if I was going to do a 20 miler or make this a cut back week and do 12. When I woke up Sat. morning I opted for the latter. I turned over and went back to sleep- not for long but the added sleep was nice. Once up I lounged around for most of the morning and then the day got kind of hectic. I decided to do 6 on Saturday and 12 on Sunday. The rain and storms ended my 6 mile run at 4.6 miles. The 12 run on Sunday was excellent!! I am still kind of tired but I think the cut back week was exactly what I needed.

Mon- bike- 10 miles
Tues- run- 6.2 miles; bike- 10 miles
Wed- run- 8.3 miles; bike- 10 miles
Thurs- run- 6.2 miles
Fri- rest day
Sat- run- 4.6 miles
Sun- run- 12 miles

Total- Run- 37.3 miles; bike- 30 miles

2009-09-21T16:24:00.002-04:00

Another solid week of base building. My 18 miler had rain, heavy fog, then rain again. A little bit of a struggle to keep pace for the last couple of miles but mentally stayed good and finished out the run positively.

Another couple of weeks of base building and I will start adding speed and strength workouts in for a few weeks.

Week of 14 Sep 2009:
Mon- bike- 10 miles
Tues- run- 6.2miles; bike 10 miles
Wed- run- 6.2 miles; bike 15 miles
Thurs- run- 8.3 miles; bike 10 miles
Fri- rest day
Sat- run- 18 miles
Sun- run- 6 miles

Total- run- 44.7 miles; bike- 45 miles

2009-09-14T09:24:00.001-04:00

Loving and living life. Training still going strong.

I had a good week going last week. I had planned regular runs of 5-6 mile distances during the week with a step back to 10 miles on the weekend and a 5 mile recovery run on Sunday. We left for the lake as soon as Glenn got home from school and in the haste of trying to get gone quickly I left both pair of running shoes on the rack in the garage. I had clothes packed but no shoes….. so no running. I ended up sitting around and resting a lot as Glenn wasn’t feeling well and we ended up just hanging out around the lake house all weekend. Turns out that Glenn and Kathy both contracted the swine flu. They stayed home from school/work all last week, took tamiflu, and are healed now. I somehow managed to stay healthy and not get it.

I can tell I am starting to get up there in miles. I had thought about extending my long run by another mile Saturday morning but in hindsight see that I stopped right at the right time. I ended the week with a nice 6 mile recovery run on Sunday.

Week of 31 Aug 2009:
Mon- bike- 10 miles
Tues- run- 5miles; bike 10 miles
Wed- run 6 miles
Thurs- run 5 miles; bike 10 miles
Fri- rest day, left for the lake
Sat- forgot running shoes- nothing
Sun- forgot running shoes- nothing

Total- run- 16 miles; bike- 15 miles

Week of 07 Sept 2009:
Mon- nothing
Tues- run- 5 miles
Wed- run- 6 miles
Thurs- run- 6 miles
Fri- rest day
Sat- run- 16 miles
Sun- run- 6 miles

Total- run- 39 miles

2009-08-31T08:03:00.002-04:00

Week of 24 Aug 2009:

Another great week. I can feel myself getting stronger and more in to the rhythm of a training program. After last weeks 12 mile run I was really stiff on my Sunday's run but I felt pretty good after my 14 mile run on Saturday and felt strong during the 5 mile run on Sunday. Hopefully this weekends labor day plans won't break the good rhythm I am in.

Recap:
Mon- bike- 10 miles
Tues- run- 6 miles; bike- 10 miles
Wed- run- 5 miles; bike- 10 miles
Thurs- run- 5 miles; bike- 10 miles
Fri- rest day
Sat- run- 14 miles
Sun- run- 5 miles

Total- run- 35 miles; bike- 40 miles

2009-08-24T08:23:00.002-04:00

Week of: 17 Aug 2009
Good week!!! My 12 mile run on Saturday was excellent- cool temps, beuatiful morning- wish they could all be like that. I wore my HR monitor just to see what my HR was throughout the run- averaged 147 for the run. I don't really know what that means as I have never really studied heart rates and where they should be during work outs.

Mon- bike- 10 miles
Tues- run- 5 miles
Wed- run- 5 miles; bike 10 miles
Thurs- run 5 miles; bike- 10 miles
Fri- rest day
Sat- run 12 miles
Sun- run 4 miles

Total- Run- 31 miles; bike- 30 miles

2009-08-16T14:17:00.003-04:00

Week of: 10 Aug 2009
Finally getting back on track with training- now if I can just stay on track!

Mon- Bike- 10 miles
Tues- nothing
Wed- Run- 4 miles; Bike 10 miles
Thurs- run 4 miles
Fri- run 5 miles
Sat- run 9 miles
Sun- run 4 miles

Total- Run- 26 miles; bike- 20 miles

2009-08-10T14:00:00.003-04:00

Not much action the last 3 weeks. I have just fit runs in around life's activities when and where I could. We went to Panama City for a few days of fun in the sun- running was not a priority on the trip- spending quality family time together was my #1 priority. I did get out at 4:30 one afternoon but it was so hot and humid I got a mile down the road, turned around ran 1/2 mile back and then walked the other 1/2 mile back.
Now we are back home and hopefully settling in to a routine and the work outs will start back up. I am ready to get on a schedule and see what happens.

Week of 20 July:
Mon- Nothing
Tues- 3.1 mile run
Wed- 3 mile run
Thurs- 4.1 mile run
Fri- nothing
Sat- 6 miles / enjoyed my 42nd birthday.
Sun- 4 miles

Total- 20.2 miles running

Week of 27 July:
Mon-
Tues- 4 mile run
Wed- 4.1 mile run
Thurs- 4.1 mile run
Fri- nothing
Sat- Left for Panama City Beach
Sun- Nothing

Total- 12.2 miles

Week of 03 Aug:
Mon- Nothing
Tues- 1.2 mile run
Wed- Nothing- drove home
Thurs- 4 mile run
Fri- 5 mile run
Sat- family reunion with Kathy's family
Sun- nothing

Total- 10.5

2009-07-20T16:25:00.002-04:00

Week of 13 July 2009:

Well... I am not sure what to think about this week. It started off promising but then I just got busy with life and didn't do much in the way of work outs over the weekend.

Mon- off day
Tues- 3 miles run; 600 yards swim
Wed- 3 miles run; 10 miles bike
Thurs- 3 miles run
Fri- nothing- but did go to my 71 year old neighbors wedding... so cool!
Sat- nothing- went to the N. Georgia mountians to visit Kathy's grandmother
Sun- nothing. Took the day to catch up on working in the garden, changing the tubes on road bike and mountain bike, then relaxing

Totals:
Swim- 600 yards
Bike- 10 miles
Run- 9 miles

2009-07-15T11:04:00.002-04:00

Week of 6 July 2009:
This week felt pretty good until foot pain started back over the weekend. I took Sunday off as precaution although I probably could have run.

Mon- No run
Tues- 3.1 mile run
Wed- 3 mile run; 12 mile bike
Thurs- 4.1 mile run; 10 mile bike
Fri- nothing
Sat- 3 mile run
Sun- opted for rest day

Total- Run- 13.2 miles ; Bike- 22 miles

2009-07-06T09:06:00.003-04:00

The last couple of weeks has been busy with a mixture of work and play.

Week of 22 June:
Mon- Bike 10 miles
Tues- nothing
Wed through Sun- in Arkansas visiting family- no work outs

Total- Bike- 10 miles

Week of 29 June:
Mon- No work out
Tues- Bike 10 miles
Wed- Run 2.2 miles; Bike 10 miles
Thurs- Run 2.6 miles; Bike 10 miles
Fri through Sunday- At Lake Hartwell for a weekend of fun and play.

Total for week-
Bike- 30 miles
Run- 4.8 miles

I hope everyone had a Happy and Safe 4th of July.

2009-06-22T10:58:00.002-04:00

I miss my running but I have had fun this week doing some things I haven't done in a while.

Mon- biked 12 miles
Tues- swam 500 yards
Wed- bikes 10 miles
Thurs- biked 10 miles
Fri- biked 10 miles
Sat- swam 600 yards
Sun- nada - enjoyed family on Father's day

Totals:
Swim - 1100 yards
Bike - 42 miles

2009-06-15T09:49:00.002-04:00

After taking nearly 2 weeks off the pain got better but didn't go away. I went out for a 4 mile run last Tuesday and really shouldn't have. I thought maybe it would be ok but it wasn't.

I bought two different things this weekend to try for the PF. The strasburg sock is is $50 at the local running store so I went to a drug store and they had a brace/boot that you put on that holds your foot in a neutral position and then I found another one that that is more of a strap that you can tighten up and pull your toes in more of a "stretch" position. I haven't decided which on is best yet. I slept with the brace on last night and the pain was less when I woke up this morning but has gotten worse as the day has progressed.

I am beginning to wonder if I don't have something else wrong- the pain has actually gotten a little worst over the past few days and now there is pain on the outside of my foot.

2009-06-01T10:27:00.002-04:00

Week of 25 May 2009:

Started off being a good week despite tired legs from my hilly 10 mile run on Saturday and a long weekend at the lake.

Mon- No run
Tues- 6.2 miles
Wed- 7 miles
Thurs- 6.2 miles
Fri- No run
Sat- No run
Sun- No run

Total- 19.4 miles

I decided over the weekend to take some time off to see if the PF will heal. I am tired of waking up every morning and getting up from my desk limping around. The problem I had with doing this before was I was afraid I would lose all of the progress I had made up to this point. I think I have my base at a point now where taking a few days (hopefully no more) will not hurt anything condition wise and I will be able to jump back in pretty quickly.

2009-05-27T09:55:00.001-04:00

Week of 18 May 2009

I am trying to decide what to do about the heel. I have had bouts with PF before but, unlike this time, it went away pretty quickly. Do I need to stop running until ti totally goes away? Do I continue at the rate I am now and hope it goes away? I haven't been diligent in stretching and exercising it like I have read about- maybe I will give that a try and then make a decision on what to do further.

Mon- No run
Tues- 6.2 miles
Wed- 6.2 miles
Thurs- 6.1 miles
Fri- No run
Sat- 10 miles
Sun- 5 miles

Total- 33.5 miles

2009-05-18T09:38:00.004-04:00

Week of 11 May, 2009

Kind of a rough week with a PF flare up. The week started off well enough with good runs Tues and Wed. On Thurs I took off for a run and stopped 41 secods in to the run. I stretched and tried it again.... no go. I took Thurs and Fri off and ran late in the day on Sat. It seemed every step I took was a struggle- ended up stopping after 6 miles (had 8 on the schedule). Sunday I ran late in the day in between the rain showers we were getting and had a great run. All in all I missed the 6 mile run on Thurs and 2 of my 8 miles on Sat. I had scheduled this to be a cut back week any way, just not that much of a cut back week.

I finally came to grips that it was the Alchemy's causing me the problems. I went Saturday and bought a pair of Asic 2140's and ran in them for the 5 miles on Sunday. I only have 100 miles on the Alchemy's - wish I didn't have to retire them so soon but the PF isn't going away and it started when I first ran in them. I was always under the impression that the Alchemy and the Asic 2000 series were direct replacements for each other but the guy at Fleet Feet told ne differently on Sat.

Summary:
Mon- no run
Tues- 6.1 miles
Wed- 6.2 miles
Thurs- no run (6 scheduled)
Fri- no run
Sat- 6 miles (8 scheduled)
Sun- 5 miles

Total- 23.3 miles

2009-05-11T08:46:00.002-04:00

Week of 04 May 2009:

The PF has gotten a little worse again this week but I am trying to keep it at bay. Although painful at times, another good build up week!

Mon- No run
Tues- 6 miles
Wed- 6 miles
Thurs- 6 miles
Fri- No run
Sat- 10 Miles
Sun- 5 miles

Total- 33 miles

2009-05-04T08:31:00.001-04:00

Keep 'em rolling! Been quite a while since I have seen a 3 for the 1st number in my training miles.

Mon- No run
Tues- 6 miles
Wed- 5.1 miles
Thurs- 6.1 miles
Fri- no run
Sat- 9.1 miles
Sun- 5 miles

Total- 31.3 miles

Bumping things in to another gear trying to get back in to the swings of things.

2009-04-27T13:56:00.002-04:00

I had what I consider another strong week of training. I missed my scheduled 8 miler this weekend due to pollen/allergies kicking my tail but had 4 strong days of running.

Mon- no run
Tues- 5 miles ; 10 miles on the bike
Wed- 5 miles
Thurs- 5 miles
Fri- no run
Sat- 4 miles
Sun- missed 8 miler

Total- 19 miles

2009-04-21T09:18:00.001-04:00

Finally- a week with all of the runs I had planned. I had a lot of pain on Tuesday from the PF but it was bearable on Wed. so I went ahead and ran.

Mon- 4 miles
Tues- no run
Wed- 5 miles
Thurs- 4 miles
Fri- no run
Sat- 6 miles
Sun- 4 miles

Total- 23 miles

2009-04-14T11:20:00.003-04:00

It's an up and down road with the PF. I thought I pretty much had it under control but was running very little. After a very busy couple of weeks (which included an awesome camping trip) I got out for a run yesterday and couldn't put much weight on my foot when I first got up this morning. I will keep treating and try to keep moving forward.

2009-03-16T08:38:00.003-04:00

Not much running again. The PF got worse but is starting to get better. I'll be working back in to a full schedule soon.

2009-03-05T09:28:00.000-05:00

No run yesterday but I was tempted. I thought it may be better to give my heal a day of rest so I went to the gym for a stint on the bike. 15 miles in 32:03 - tried to keep cadence between 80 and 90.

2009-03-04T09:39:00.002-05:00

OUCH!!! I have a touch of PF off and on the last couple of years but with stretching it has gone away pretty quickly.
I have run in my new pair of Mizouno Alchemy's 4-5 times now and I know of at least twice I couldn't walk with out limping heavily. I had to skip a couple of runs last week due to it and I may not get to run today. I ran in the Alchemy's yesterday and couldn't hardly walk this morning. I am trying to stretch it out as the morning goes on so hopefully I can get out at lunch. The weather is going to be perfect for a lunch time run- now if my heal will cooperate!

2009-02-23T08:19:00.002-05:00

Slowly but surely.... steady progress.

That seems to be my theme right now. I am planning on doing a couple of races (tri's) this spring but only I meet certain goals in relation to weight and mileage. For now- I am slowly getting my mileage back up and last week added swimming back in to the mix. I will add the bike back in this week.

As for other races, I am uncertain at this point what I will do. Last year was the first year since 2002 that I didn't run a marathon or half marathon. As a matter of fact, I only ran two 5K's and one 10K and had just over 700 miles for the year.

Slowly but surely.... steady progress......

2009-01-15T08:10:00.004-05:00

I am slowly getting in to /staying on a steady schedule except for getting a long run in. I have been approx 3 weeks without one now so I will probably start over with long run distance and try to get some longer distanaces in.

My friend, Derek, from work has come back from his injury with a vengeance. After a few weeks of getting back in to ithe went out and ran a 42 minute 10K on New Year's day- congratulations!!

I reviewed my mileage for the last year and it was very up and down. I hope to be more steady this year- we'll see where it leads!

2009-01-06T07:58:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year everyone. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. We had a nice Christmas and New Year although very busy. Glenn is at such a great age for Santa which just added to the whole experience.

I didn't get much running in over the break but don't mind. I had a few weeks of build up so a little break didn't hurt. I ran a 5K on New Year's eve and had planned to run one on New Year's day but it didn't work out. Reviewing my race results file I have slowed back to my 2001 speeds when I first started running races- not really the trend I wanted to see but gives me room for improvement again. I plan to get back at it full schedule of workouts this week.

I haven't made up my mind about which marathon(s) I will run this year. I was thinking about the Country Music marathon. I have run it twice but it was on the old course. Also, it won't help me get another state checked off but it is the 10th anniversary marathon and it would be going back to where I ran my first marathon. Another bonus is Kathy and Glenn could go with me and this course is very spectator friendly so I may go run it. I need to make sure I can be reaedy for it before signing up for it. I had my first DNS this past year with Rocket City- I don't want another one!

2008-12-15T08:10:00.001-05:00

Another strong week of running. My legs are a little tired but no problems- just getting used to running 5 days a week again... or just running at all.

Mon- no run
Tues- 4 miles
Wed- 3 miles
Thurs- 4 miles
Fri- no run
Sat- 7 miles
Sun- 4 imles

Total- 22 miles

2008-12-10T20:45:00.003-05:00

Hey Rick........ If you are still around and reading.....what do you think?

My UGA Bulldogs against your Mich. State Spartans?

2008-12-08T08:37:00.002-05:00

Had a good week running wise. After a week of 11 miles and 10 miles respectively I bumped to 17 miles this week. Also, as much as I have always disliked treadmills all 5 of my runs were on the treadmill. I ran some paces I haven't run in a long time- it was actually pretty fun.
After reching an all time high on weight last week when I got on the scale I was able to drop 4 lbs last week. I will see if I can continue this trend rather than the one I had.

Mon- No run
Tues- 3 miles
Wed- 3 miles
Thurs- 3 miles
Fri- no run
Sat- 3 miles
Sun- 5 miles
Total- 17 miles

2008-12-04T08:10:00.002-05:00

I actually feel sort of like a runner again. My miles aren't high but I am getting out and running at least 4 times a week now. I am trying to make it back slowly so a little injury won't sneak in on me.
I really hated that I missed the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving morning. This marks on the 2nd time since 2001 that I have missed it. I love the atmosphere, sights, and sounds that surround the race.
Michele (1L) ran an awesome race and beat my PR on this course by 2 minutes. I am going to have to train hard this next year to get back on track. It seems 1L and I used to finish races within mere minutes of each other and she has stayed strong with running as I have fallen way off.
Watch out 1L- I may just sneak back up on you.

2008-11-19T07:49:00.005-05:00

I have spoken of my friend Dane Rauschenberg here before. He ran 52 marathons in 52 weeks a couple of years ago and chronicled the year in his book See Dane Run: One Man, 52 Weekends, 52 Marathons. You can read about him in his blog here. Pre-orders for his book can be made here.

2008-11-19T07:45:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to Marion who ran a 3:34:42 this past weekend at the San Antonio Marathon and qualified for Boston. You can read about her race here

2008-11-14T17:24:00.002-05:00

I have become a weekender exercise wise. I haven't been making it out too much in the week but have started doing a cycling class on the weekends at the gym and actually ran both weekend days last week. I haven't done a cycling class in about 4 years- it's a nice change and I have enjoyed it.

Good luck to Marion. She is running the San Antonio Marathon. It is going to be exciting to see how she does after a great training period for the past few months.

2008-10-31T09:17:00.002-04:00

Happy Halloween everyone!

I have now cleared my racing schedule for the balance of the year. After putting in a couple of good weeks I had a couple of weeks with very low mileage and now I am going on two weeks of absolutely no running. Unfortunately work seems to be consuming my time and energy right now and when I leave for the day I would rather go home and see Kathy and Glenn than go run.
We are going on 5 months since my boss passed away and they haven't hired anyone yet- nor have I seen any activity around that task.

Congrats to everyone who ran a fall race- there were some great races put in!

On another good note- my neighbor who ran her first marathon back in April and CMM ran her second marathon last weekend at the marine corp marathon and took nearly 30 minutes off of her time- congrats to Becky for a great race.

Also- Derek, my friend here at work finally put in a short run this week after being injured for weeks. Way to go Derek!

Right now my plan is to try to get the miles back up and sign up for the ING Georgia marathon that's run in March. I already have Georgia marked off the list but I have a bone to pick with the Georgia marathon and want to go back and run it.

2008-10-05T18:36:00.002-04:00

I could kick myself in the tail for letting myself get so out of shape and add so much weight. This morning at church I had two people say something to me about the weight I have put on and it seems when ever I see some one that hasn't seen me in a while they make a comment about it. I just have to remember I didn't put it on over night and it's not going to come off over night.... but one imnportant word is going to be "discipline"!!!!

This week I was able to hit all of my runs even though I was tired and had a motivation problem a couple of days. I am glad I went out on those days because it made a world of differnce in my mood.

Mon- no run
Tues- 4 miles
Wed- 4.5 miles
Thurs- 4.3 miles
Fri- no run
Sat- 6 miles
Sun- 10 miles

Total- 28.8 miles

2008-09-29T11:27:00.003-04:00

Good Luck to some friends racing this weekend!
Kirsten is running her first marathon at the Lake Front marathon in Milwaukee. Bob W. is also running Lake Front. He has a number of marathons and races under his belt but is gunning for a 3:20. Jaye is running Twin Cities and has had a great training regiment this time around. Paul (Stihl) is running Twin Cities. 1L (Michele) is running St. George (i.e.- elevation!!!) I believe. I am not sure if any one else (maybe Donna) has a race this weekend- best of luck to everyone! I hope everything goes well for you in your travels and in your race!!

2008-09-29T11:23:00.002-04:00

I had a pretty decent week last week with the running- I missed one day and cut one run short that I had scheduled due to work copnflicts but hit the other 4 days I had scheduled. I have really slowed my pace down in an effort to ramp up mileage a little quicker than I normally would.

Mon- no run
Tues- 3 miles
Wed- missed run
Thurs- 4 miles
Fri- no run
Sat- 9 miles
Sun- 5 miles

Total- 21 miles

2008-09-26T10:50:00.003-04:00

I am not a real real political guy but I got the following e-mail today that made me think. The govt. is working on a "bailout" plan to help the economy. The following is an interesting thought:

Hi Pals,

I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG.

Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000 ,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.

To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.

Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that equals $425,000.00.

My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.

Of course, it would NOT be tax free.

So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.

Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.

That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.

But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.

A husband and wife has $595,000.00.

What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000 .00 in your family?

Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.

Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads

Put away money for college - it'll be there

Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.

Buy a new car - create jobs

Invest in the market - capital drives growth

Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves

Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.

If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( 'vote buy' ) economic incentive that is being proposed
by one of our candidates for President.

If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!

As f or AIG - liquidate it.

Sell off its parts.

Let American General go back to being American General.

Sell off the real estate.

Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.

Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't.

Sure it's a crazy idea that can 'never work.'

But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!

How do you spell Economic Boom?

I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion

We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC

And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.

2008-09-21T17:23:00.002-04:00

Been gone for a while again. I have been extremely busy at work. We still haven't hired a replacement for Vicki. I am not really sure what the plans are for that except I am told they are currently looking for someone.
I was able to take my scheduled vacation last week. We went to Panama City Beach for the week. There are some vacations you can't wait to be over and those that you don't want to end. This one was the latter- Kathy and I both agreed that we wish it could have lasted about 3-4 more days.
The doctor's office called and had to cancell my follow up appointment but I will reschedule soon. I am still not running much but am picking it up a little- I actually had double digit mileage this week for the 1st time in a while.
The weather is cooling a bit here in the Southeast so that should help as I try to rebuild a base (or something like that).

I hope everyone is doing well and your running/training is going well!!

2008-08-22T12:42:00.003-04:00

I just got a call about the echogram. They said I have left ventricular hypertrophy. I looked this up on the mayo clin. website and see the following.

==========================================================================
Definition
Left ventricular hypertrophy is enlargement (hypertrophy) of the muscle tissue that makes up the wall of your heart's main pumping chamber (left ventricle).

Left ventricular hypertrophy develops in response to some factor, such as high blood pressure, that requires the left ventricle to work harder. As the workload increases, the walls of the chamber grow thicker, lose elasticity and eventually may fail to pump with as much force as a healthy heart.

If you have left ventricular hypertrophy, you're at increased risk of heart disease, including heart attack, heart failure, irregular heartbeats (arrhythmia) and sudden cardiac arrest.

The incidence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) increases with age and is more common in people who have high blood pressure or other heart problems.

2008-08-22T08:25:00.000-04:00

I didn’t realize it had been so long since I have posted. Since the events started with Vicki’s untimely illness and death things have been crazy. We are finally starting to settle down a bit and get in to a flow at work.

As far as other things going on- Glenn started Pre-K last week. He was so excited about going to his ‘big boy” school but now wants to go back to his other school where his friends are. Hopefully he will adjust soon.

Soccer started for Glenn a couple of weeks ago. We had our first game this past Saturday and I guess it went about as well as one would expect a 4 yr old soccer game to go. I think I ran more than any of the kids on the team trying to get them to run up and down the field for the ball. Oh yea… did I mention I was coaching the team?

A few weeks ago I started having some weird feelings in my chest and left arm. I figured it was just all of the stress I was under at work but with thing that happened to Vicki I wasn’t going to play around. I went in for a physical and all of the blood work came back fine but there was something on the EKG they didn’t like and there were the words “borderline” in the one of the blanks. The one funny thing was that it showed my heart rate at 45. I had to explain that even though right now I am not in real good shape that I am a distance runner. I was referred to the cardiologist.

I went in for my stress test and echogram this past Wed. I got on the tread mill for the stress test and she started the testing. I was told that I needed to get my HR up to 145 (80% of my max) for the test. After a few minutes of the test and I was still at 70 she started calling me “Mr. Healthy”. Then after about 15 minutes and a few computer generated t-mill adjustments I was finally at a speed and incline that raised my HR enough to complete the test. I got a call from the stress test and they said no problem there- blood flow was good. Now I am just awaiting the results of the echogram.

Running wise I am finally kind of back on track. After weeks of running 2 and 3 miles total I ran just over 20 last week and will be about the same this week (if all goes as planned). This is a good thing given the fact that I am 17 weeks out from the Rocket city marathon.

That’s about it for now- hope everyone is doing well!

2008-08-04T14:01:00.003-04:00

After the memorial service for Vicki on Saturday Kathy and I loaded a saddle bag each on the motorcycle and took off for Blue Ridge, GA for the balance of the weekend. We hit some rain in the final 8 miles but made it fine. We had a nice relaxing evening there and then took a quick trip out to a water fall before eating at a restaurant on the river and then heading back home. Turned out to be right at 100 miles each way which is just about right for an over night trip on the bike.

I went out for a nice, hot (91*) 5K run today at lunch. I was pleased with the run and how it felt overall. I need to really get back on a program- training for Rocket City starts next week. My program has changed from what I was going to do. With almost NO running for the past 5 weeks or so I obviously need to do some base building before doing anything too strenuous.

2008-07-30T16:37:00.001-04:00

It saddens me to report that my boss died today- 3 weeks after having her stroke. They took her off of the ventilator on Monday and she continued to breath a little. We knew it was only going to be a matter of time after that. She died at 1:45 a.m. this morning.

2008-07-25T09:59:00.001-04:00

Got out for a nice 3.1 mile run after work yesterday. It was hot but it didn't matter- it was nice and relaxing to get away from the pace of work lately and have a mindless run.

2008-07-21T08:57:00.002-04:00

What a crazy week+ is has been. My boss is still in a deep coma. They have turned the ventilator down to 35% and that is the minimum they will go. The pulminary doc isn't too concerned now and said that it is time for the nuero doc to see what's going on. My boss still has a lot of fluid draining- I don't know much about it but it seems that maybe it should be stopped by now. Either way- this is going to be long long process to see what's going to happen.

I have run a grand total of 3.1 miles in the last couple of weeks. We are splitting things up between two of us work wise but as the only manager of the group I am temporarily responsible for the department. I have no idea what the long term plan is. All I know is I don't want to keep up with the what the pace has been this past week.

2008-07-11T10:36:00.003-04:00

Can the week get any worse?
On Wed. at 6:30 a.m. I receive a call from my boss (VP of Ops) that she is not feeling good and will stay at home today. She has been throwing up all night. The day goes by. Thursday morning rolls around and she does not show up for work, hasn't called me, hasn't called her boss (CEO). I have called her home and cell numerous times and left messages. Finally, me and the lead mechanic go to her apartment and get management and the police to go in and check on her. She is on the couch unconscious but breathing. The ambulance comes and take her to the hospital. We are there with her ederly father when we get the news. She has had a stroke and is in "very serious, no, very critical shape". "She is in a very, very deep coma. I repeat, a very deep, deep coma" are the words from the doctor. She had been bleeding very bad around her brain stem on the left side of the brain. The blood has gone in to the ventricals. The doctors have drilled a hole in inserted a tube to drain fluid in efforts to keep the pressure down, or at least lower. At this point, things do not look good at all. She is 46, walks a lot. She is very active in the 2 day and 3 day breast cancer walks and had just started training again for the 2 day walk. (Michele- this is the lady you met when we were running at Stone Mountain a couple of times last year).

Any prayers would be greatly appreciated.

2008-07-09T21:40:00.003-04:00

So I leave work tonday to get to church early as I am scheduled to work there tonight. It takes me 45 minutes to go 3 miles. Didn't know what the problem was but finally got up far enough to see that the road I am on is closed. I took a side road around and traffic is a crawl there too. My gym I work out is on this road and I make it close to there. There is no chance of me getting to the church before the services start so I call in to let them know I can't make it. I didn't run today so I get the idea to stop by the gym and run on the treadmill. I get there- go in, change and get a quick 3 miles in.
Finish up and get my stuff and head out to the truck to go home. I open the consile to get my cell phone out to call Kathy and let her know I am on the way home and...... my phone and my wallet are gone. I leave them in my truck because of locker break ins in the gym.... and now my truck is broken in to. I am geting really sick of this city- things like this are happening all of the time. I try not to get angry but it is really hard when junk like this happens. I am tired of selfish/inconsiderate people. By the time I got home, all of the credit card companies had called saying the cards were being used in various locations. I think I have finally cancelled all of the cards and have new cards coming but what a hassle!!! Unfortunately I had my social security card was in my wallet. What a pain all of this is!!!

2008-07-07T14:30:00.002-04:00

We are back from a 4 day trip to the lake over the 4th of July weekend. I could have used a couple more days up there. Running was kind of hit and miss. I kind of fit it in when I could. Found a new place to run there but didn't run it this time. It is a 1 mile loop around a field that they use as a landing strip for planes in the area. I will hit it next time we are up there probably.
I finished up with 17.5 miles for the week- no where what I had planned. I had to skip my run Sunday when we got back. I was going to do at least 6- wanted 8. We got back and Kathy and Glenn took off for a birthday party that Glenn was invited to. I unloaded everything and changed to go run just as pretty good thunderstorms rolled through the area. We didn't get a lot of rain at my house as they did just south of us but we had a lot of thunder/lightning. I waited for a while and and once it cleared up I was so involved in the men's wimbledon finals that I wasn't about to leave. Kathy and Glenn got home shortly there after so I just scrapped the idea of running. I am not sure I would have been able to run anyway. Out neighbors at the lake have 3 dogs, one of which likes to chase you and jump off the dock after you. It is a big game and he is a great lake dog. Only problem is he gets a little rough sometimes. I took off running one time and dove in and Bear jumped in after me, catching one of his claws on my left calf muscle slicing it pretty deep. I knew it was cut pretty deep as it hurt bad. I got out and checked it out and saw how deep it was but figured I would just clean and bandage it later. We swam and played for a good while longer and when I got out my leg was still bleeding. I cleaned it and bandaged it- still kept bleeding after bandaging. Finally stopped later that night. After looking at it better I think I probably could have used a couple fo stitches, or at least sterile strips to hold it together. It is pretty sore around the cut area- not as bad as it was yesterday. Just jogging down the hall way is still sore but I think I will give it a try either this evening or tomorrow and see if it is too sore to run.

Week review:
Mon- Core work
Tues- 6 miles/ core work
Wed- no run
Thurs- 3 miles
Fri- 3 miles
Sat- 5.5 miles
Sun- no run

Total- 17.5 miles

2008-07-01T08:04:00.003-04:00

I wish every run could be like this mornings. I set out for a 4-5 mile run. With the cold... or I guess... cool front that has come through it seemded the temps were down, the humidity was down, the sky was crisp... just an absolutely beautiful morning. Everything was great- I wish I would have had time to do more. I did sneak in some extra distance and bumped my run to 6 but then had to get home and get ready for work.

2008-06-30T11:06:00.002-04:00

Kind of a blah week of running! I did manage to get in 5 days of running but the miles just weren't there. I wanted to get at least one run of 8 miles in but managed a high of only 5.25. I really need to get my schedule completed for the Rocket City marathon and get on track with that. I really want to get to where I am running 30 miles a week until the program starts. Hopefully this week will bump me back up there.

Mon- 3 miles
Tues- no run
Wed- 4 miles
Thurs- 4.1 miles
Fri- no run
Sat- 5.25 miles
Sun- 4 miles

Total- 19.35

2008-06-26T10:44:00.002-04:00

Trip and stuff.
We got back from Arkansas on Sunday. We had a nice time visiting and catching up on news. This trip is always a tough one. When I am away from home I am always anxious to get back home, but when I leave there I always get kind of sad that I am leaving. I get to go to the town where I lived in the summers as I was growing up and also get to go to the farm where I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. The old home place and the barn haven't been kept up to well and really need a lot of work. These days there are no cows, no horses, no gardens, no tractors and all of the pastures are growing up. We took a ride down through the fields and the weeds and stuff are over head high. It's hard to look at it the farm in that shape and not get sad. My grand father worked hard as a forester/farmer and would hate to see the farm in that shape. I guess things change over time... and I deal with change well... but that is just kind of a heritage thing I guess.

On the way back to Georgia on Sunday I started feeling pretty bad- sore throat, head ache, achey muscles/joints. My step mom was feeling bad on Saturday so I guess I picked up what ever she had. I am still not feeling 100% but am feeling somewhat better.

The running has been slow go. After missing 1 1/2 weeks with the achilles, then busy weekend, and then the trip I wanted to start back up strongly. But the cold (or whatever I had) had me feeling bad and I wasn't able to get back in to it like I wanted. I ran 3 on Monday, 4 on Wed., and 3 this morning. The run on Monday had to be funny to watch- I felt like I was flailing my arms and legs every where. My stride felt so off. Wed.'s run felt better and this morning was ok. Guess I just had to remind my arms and legs what they were supposed to do.

I want to wish a Happy 34th Birthday Derek... my (as Glenn calls him) work running buddy. Have a good one Derek.

2008-06-17T09:13:00.003-04:00

I am leaving in a bit to head to Arkansas to visit my family. The last time we went was in Oct. so it is about time. Kathy isn't able to go on this trip so it is just, as Glenn calls it, "a boy's trip." As it turns out my brother is going to go with us too.
I haven't run a step since last Wed. With my achilles and then just right out being busy trying to get everything done to be ready for the trip and then Father's Day there hasn't been a lot of time nor motivation to get out and run. I am going to take my stuff jsut in case I can get out for a couple of quick runs..... and I went on line and found a 5K about an hour from my Dad's house. I may sneak up and run that next Saturday morning... chances are not good but there is always the possiblitiy.

Hope everyone has a great week- til next week..... cheers!

2008-06-12T13:14:00.002-04:00

I had a pretty good week going with two strong runs so far. I used the race last weekend to help me get back in to some faster times. I had kind of become a one speed runner- close to the same pace for long runs and short runs. Both of my runs this week were a good 30-45 seconds per mile faster than what I had been running and it felt ok. I think I just needed a good race to help me stretch my stride back out and increase my foot turnover.

Unfortunately about two miles into my run yesterday my left achilles started hurting. I ran 4 more and finished the run but was hurting. As the day progressed the tendon hurt worse and worse to the point that last night it hurt just to barely move my foot from side to side. When we got home from church I iced it and then put some sports cream on it. It felt a little better this morning but still very sore. As of now I will be day to day on running- hopefully I can get back out tomorrow. I used to get this every so often when I ran hills all of the time but it went away with icing and stretching. Hopefully it will go away quickly again.

I really wanted a big week this week as I will get very little running in next week. I am taking Glenn to Arkansas to see my father. Living in Arkansas he doesn't get to see is grandfather very often so we are going to spend most of the week there.

2008-06-07T19:07:00.005-04:00

10K Torture Trail

Start- 82* Humid - Finish - 85* humid

I went in to this race knowing I couldn't do the 7:20 "Derek-A goal" given race pace but tried my best. This course it tough with the first mile flat to downhill. The next 1.5 miles is mostly uphill. Then alot of major rolling hills before a .8 uphill in mile 6 and then flat to the end. I was running about where I thought I would be going for "Derek- B goal" of 47:30. I kinda of lost it in mile 4 and walked up a couple of hills but was ok to push on from there. We were coming up on the 5 mile mark and I passed a wheel chair racer on an up hill and cheered him on. On the corresponding down hill side he passed me and headed in to the sharp left hand turn. A complete wipe out!! I heard 2 people behind me say "Should we stop?" My response was "If you have to ask then don't!!!!" Me and 3 other guys stopped and checked on the racer and stayed with him for 3-4 minutes until he caught his breath and assured us he was ok. We helped him back in his chair and then started up again. I guess I forgot to hit my split with everything going on. The rest of the race was kind of a jog to just get done.

Mile Time
1 7:20
2 8:10
3 8:09
4 8:45
5
6 17:55
.@ 1:45
Total 52:05

I think I would have been closer to 48-49 had I not stopped but I am glad I did. I saw the racer after the race and took him some gatorade and checked on him. He (and his wfe and two sons) were very appreciative. Five years ago I would have been so involved in my race time I would haven't stopped but at this point in my "racing career" it is more important to help people than to run a faster time.

There will be other races to push hard and hopefully I will get that faster time next time.

2008-06-05T09:07:00.003-04:00

All of the running is over for the week until the race unless I decide to go for a short jog in the morning. That is very unlikely though. Friday's have histroically been my off day and I usually try to keep it that way.
I ran 6 miles with 6X100M pickups on Tuesday. I got up Wed. morning, put on all of my running stuff and headed for the door. On the way to do the door I let the left side of my brain tell me how tired I was and that I didn't sleep well, etc. and convince me that I needed to go back to bed.... which I did. No run on Wed. This morning I went out for a very nice 5 mile run. It was nothing special but I ran it all in my neighborhood. I wasn't in the mood to put up with cars this morning so I stayed in the 'hood- I was at 4.7 miles before I saw my first car on the road- then 4-5 cars came by. Oh well, I almost made it the whoel 5 without seeing one.

2008-06-03T09:09:00.003-04:00

Marathon #13 / State #11

I have been thinking about what I was going to do this fall/winter race wise. I solidfied my plans yesterday when I signed up for the Rocket City marathon in Huntsville, AL. I have been wanting to do this race for a few years but it never worked out so this year I scheduled it and will try to schedule other things around it.

Marathon registration - check
Hotel - check
Training program- under development

2008-06-02T11:21:00.002-04:00

This is a week I would like to forget running wise. My run on Tuesday was at lunch and I finished up feeling drained. I ran Wed. and Thurs. before work and had stomach problems both days. As it ends up I think I had some kind fo stomach bug or something as my stomach didn't feel good most of the week.
Cut my 12-14 miler on Sat. down to 9 because of the heat and the schedule I had the rest of the day. And then had 6 scheduled for Sunday but cut that to 4. I probably could have pushed through and done the 6 but given the way I felt Saturday I decided less was probably better for today. I just wanted to make sure I got out and ran some good, slow recovery miles.

Mon- rest day
Tues- 6 miles
Wed- 6 miles
Thurs- 6.1 miles
Fri- rest day
Sat- 9 miles
Sun- 4 miles

Total- 31.1 miles

2008-05-31T20:01:00.003-04:00

OD'ed in the sun today.

I decided to sleep in today which meant sleeping til 06:45 and then moving to the couch and waiting and waiting for Glenn to get up- which he did around 07:30.

I finally got around to going out for my 12 miler around 12:00 in 89* temps. I ended up cutting the run off at 9 miles- I just couldn't do another 3 knowing I still had 3 hours of edging/weed eating/mowing to do.

I went back home after 9 and got started on yard work. 3 hours later finally done. I went to take a shower and decided to get on the scales- 9 lbs of water weight loss- wow!! While in the shower I came as closee to passing out as I have in a long time. I saw stars, got very very dizzy. I ended up grabbing the rail and sitting down for 5 minutes.

I think after a good nights sleep and lots of gatorade everything will be fine. I need to remember I am not 23 any more and I can't do anything I want!!

2008-05-28T15:33:00.000-04:00

I don't know if the other GA runners have been affected like me but I have really noticed the humidity the last couple of days. I ran this past weekend in warm weather but it seemed the humidity wasn't too bad. However, yesterday I ran at lunch and it was 82 degrees and high humidity- I was soaked and drained of energy when I was done. This morning I decided to run before work and it was only 71 degrees and 94% humidity. I actually got very nauseas this morning. I normally don't really have a problem with the heat/humidity- I like heat! Hopefully this is just an adjustment period and all will be fine in a day or two.

2008-05-27T09:20:00.004-04:00

The week finsished up well with a nice 4 mile run (with out my watch) on Saturday morning before heading up to the lake. On Sunday I ended up running mid afternoon. I didn't know how the run was going to go because I went to the Lake Hartwell dam to run- i.e.- no shade and 82*. I ended up running some of the hilly roads around the dam and then the ran the dam once for a total of 9 miles. The run was awesome. I felt great the entire run. That gave me 28 for the week- a nice cut back week.

Mon- No run
Tues- 6 miles
Wed- 4.5 miles
Thurs- 4.5 miles
Fri- no run
Sat- 4 miles
Sun- 9 miles

Total- 28 miles

2008-05-23T10:00:00.001-04:00

After having a few weeks of good mileage build up I decided I was ready for a recovery week. I wasn't really sure exactly what I would do and was just kind of going by feel. I took my Monday rest day. On Tuesday I went out not knowing what I was going to run and ended up going 6 miles. My legs were tight and tired before and after the run but loosened up great during the run. I ran a pretty hard 4.5 miles on Wednesday followed by a moderate effort 4.5 on Thursday.
I am leaving for Lake Hartwell tomorrow and will be at the lake house through Monday. I am looking forward to getting some running done at the lake and then relaxing with a book and hanging out.

Hope everyone has a great/safe/relaxing Memorial Day weekend!

2008-05-19T08:00:00.005-04:00

Strong week of training. It is starting to feel better and better.

Mon- usual rest day
Tues- 6 miles
Wed- 6.5 miles
Thurs- 6.25 miles w/ 3X1600M repeats
Fri- usual rest day
Sat- 12 miles
Sun- 6 miles

Total- 36.75 miles

I was a little tired during the week but once my run started I zoned out to another world and had good runs- even the mess up on the speed work didn't bother me too bad after I was done. What I am most happy about is my long run. I did 12 miles at the pace I was struggling to do 4-6 miles at not too long ago. The run went really well. I made it to about 11.25 miles before I thought "I am getting a little tired." Finished up with a little push on the last part of the 12th mile. The reward was going the running store and getting a new pair of Asics! :) I was going to go with the new 2130's but the color combo they had was just plain ugly! They had one pair of 2120's left and they just happened to be in my size... and on sale.... an added bonus!

2008-05-15T20:47:00.002-04:00

Man- messed up on my speed work session this morning. I was going to copy last weeks work out of 6 miles with 4X800M repeats.

Got up at 4:50 a.m. and went to the track. I started my work out with a 2 mile warm up. Then it came time to get on the track and do the repeats. I took off and got around to the 800M area and my beeping didn't go off to tell my I was at 800M. I sped back up thinking maybe the gps was off a little. Once I got under the light I looked and it said I haf .4 miles left. What????? I kept going and when the alarm went off I realized I was at 1 mile. I stopped and checke dmy work out I had programmed in. Some how it got changed to 4X1600M repeats, not 4X800M.

Being a veteran runner, I knew I should just cancel that work out and program a new one..... but also being aveteran runner I thought, "Hey, just do 1600M (1 mile) repeats and see where you are." I took off for mile #2 repeat and finished it. For the next one I couldn't go as hard and really concentrated on running it where I thought I could run a race for 6.2 miles. Afterwards, I ran a 1.1 mile cool down.

Splits:
Mile 1- 7.28
Mile 2- 7.29
Mile 3- 7.48

I maybe could have pushed harder on mile 3 but I am not ready for work outs of that magnitude yet. When I was doing repeat #2 I could feel the lactate acid building in the legs- haven't felt that in a while- it was pretty nice!!

2008-05-12T08:44:00.005-04:00

Another solid week in the books! The plan was to run 6 on Sunday but winds were steady at 22 mph and gusting to 41 mph according to the news. My legs were a little stiff from Sat. Before running my 11 miler I did about 1.5 hours of yard work (mowing/edging/etc). I try to look at that as a nice warm up for my run.

Mon- No run
Tues- 6 miles
Wed- 6.2 miles w/ 4 X 800M repeats
Thurs- 6.2 miles
Fri- No run
Sat- 11 miles
Sun- 4 miles

Total- 33.4 miles

I can feel the conditioning coming back to a certain extent- feels good.

2008-05-08T12:48:00.003-04:00

I haven't worked on my motorcycle all winter and now the weather is great for riding. Hopefully I will get on it this weekend and get some things done so I can get it back out on the road.

2008-05-07T11:16:00.003-04:00

Today's speed workout.

So I decided that I needed to do more repeats before the race coming up in 3-4 weeks. I was talking Derek (fast running buddy at work) and according to McMillan's running calculator I need to be do 800M repeats in a time of 3:39 - 3:44 according to my "Derek given" goal for the race.

I did 400M repeats for a couple of weeks in April and the first ones were pretty rough but week two of repeats went better- more evenly paces splits. That's one thing I have seemed to do pretty good at - run even splits for repeats or for miles during the run.

This morning I got up at 4:50 and went to the track for a 6 mile run with 4X800M repeats. I almost didn't go because my lazy voice almost talked me out of it.

Anyway- got the track- ran a 2 mile warm up then came the repeats. I took off (relatively speaking) on repeat #1. I thought - "my gosh- this is harder than I remember". Got finished with that one and had a 1 minute recovery. Took off for #2- this one felt better. Another recovery and some water- took off for #3. I am thinking I will skip the 4th one- I am about done. Finish #3 and recover and decide to do the 4th one and just do the best I can. I have no idea what times I am running anyway. After teh 4th repeat I grabbed a quick chug of water and headed out for a two mile recovery.

When I got around to recording my run I had to smile at what I saw.

As I said, my target for the repeats is 3:39 - 3:44. My times for the repeats this morning were:
Repeat 1- 3:40 (7:21 mile avg)
Repeat 2- 3:39 (7:19 mile avg)
Repeat 3- 3:42 (7:26 mile avg)
Repeat 4- 3:44 (7:29 mile avg)

I had no clue I was in that range but I like it!

2008-05-05T08:02:00.002-04:00

Since we decided not to go to the lake this weekend I was going to find a 5K to run around the area. I had originally planned on running a 5K in Snellville then saw a post by Tim (a local RA runner) about a race about 15 minutes from where I live.
Due to being up late on Friday night and a lot of work to do Saturday I ended up not going to race- but Tim did... boy- did he ever!

Congratulations to Tim for busting his PR wide open and getting 2nd place overall in the race.

His report is here.

2008-05-05T07:59:00.001-04:00

Got back on track this week with training although I didn't get a speed work session in. That really doesn't bother me because I need to get the miles back up before adding speed work anyway, I am basically wanted to do some to remind my body what it feels like to run hard.

Mon- no run
Tues- 5 miles
Wed- 5 miles
Thurs- 6 miles
Fri- no run
Sat- 5 miles
Sun- 10 miles

Total- 31 miles

2008-05-01T20:32:00.004-04:00

Below are two posts from running boards that I was posting to in 2004 when Glenn was born. It is truely a mircale how Glenn came through the problems he had and has developed the way he has. Please do not ever doubt that there is a God that has a plan for us. Glenn is living proof that there is!!

I remember praying over Glenn one night and just offering him to to God and asking Him to help us make teh decisions we needed to make. We had to make some tough decisions while he was in the hospital and only through prayer made the right one.

Reading back over the posts I wrote and other things I have saved in a file makes me feel so insignificant in this life! What a blessed father I am!

2008-05-01T20:29:00.003-04:00

Glenn Post 2 (from October 2004):

I think a lot of you remember the post about my son from a few months ago. For some of you newer guys to the boards, here is the thread (thread is below).

I am excited to tell you that Glenn is developing and growing perfectly. He is the happiest little guy- smiling and laughing all the time unless he is hungry or has a dirty diaper. He was supposed to be on one of his meds until he 8 months to 1 year old, and another med until he was 2 ½ years old. He came off of all meds at 5 months old- 2 years ahead of schedule and is doing great.

I am even more excited to tell you that he loves running!!!! I put him in the running stroller and head out and he just hangs out watches stuff go by until he decides to take a nap.

Kathy and I are leaving Thursday to go to Dallas for the adoption finalization that is scheduled for Friday. The state of TX requires the baby to live with the family for 6 months before the adoption can be finalized- so we will sign the rest of the papers Friday. We are going to spend the weekend in Dallas on our first family vacation together and do some of the things we wanted to do while in Dallas before but were not able to due to Glenn’s illnesses.

I never knew the blessings of being a parent- but I have to tell you- it is awesome!!!!

2008-05-01T20:26:00.004-04:00

Glenn Post 1 (from April 2004):

Some of you have e-mailed me and asked where I had been since I had been gone from the boards for a while. Thanks for checking in. I thought I would let everyone know what has been going on.

After working with adoption agencies for a almost 2 years and showing our profile to quite a few birth moms, we received a call saying that we were in the final group that the birth mom had chosen. In a couple of days, we were told that we were the ones that the b-mom had chosen to adopt the baby. Let the scrambling begin. All of a sudden everything is turned upside down in my life.

After running around trying to get things we needed, we received a call on a Thursday that a C-section had been scheduled for Friday and we needed to be in Dallas (from Atlanta) on Saturday. More scrambling for hotel and plane reservations, etc.

We arrive in Dallas thinking we would be there for 1 week waiting for the paper work to clear so we could leave the state of Texas with our new son – Glenn Alan Ford.

Plans changed quickly. As it turned out, he was not as developed as they thought at 35 weeks and he had major lung problems. For the first 3 days of his life, he was on a high frequency ventilator, then moved to a regular ventilator, then miraculously healed all together and we were going to leave the hospital on the 9th day of his life.

The day before we were to check out, Glenn took a turn for the worse. His heart started to fail. In the matter of an hour, they had called another hospital that had an excellent Pediatrics Cardiac ICU and they got him and transferred him there.

Once there, it was figured out that he had a small blood clot that had formed and went to his kidney causing kidney failure, which caused the heart to work too hard and eventually fail. As a result of this, his blood pressure sky rocketed causing some swelling in his brain and a small amount of brain damage.

Long story short, he made tremendous improvements and almost 4 weeks after being in Dallas, TX, we checked out of the hospital and returned home Atlanta with my son. He is on some medications to help with some recovery issues and high blood pressure, but the prognosis is good. We won’t know what the result of the brain damage is until he starts to develop motor skills at 6 months old and beyond.

Little Glenn is definitely a miracle and a fighter. He almost died twice in the 1st two weeks of his life and came out of it strong….. hmmm…a marathoner’s spirit huh?

So, that is where I have been for the last while.

2008-05-01T07:39:00.004-04:00

This link is to a 13 minute clip about Ryan Shay that is worth watching. This is the clip that appeared on ESPN on 29 April.

2008-04-28T10:47:00.002-04:00

Up and down week of running this week. It was another busy week at and away from work so days I just wanted to grab a book and sit/read in silence rather than get out somewhere to run but I am starting to find the relaxation and enjoyment in running again which is nice.

Mon- no run
Tues- 4.5 miles
Wed- No run
Thurs- 5.2 miles
Fri- 3 miles
Sat- 5 miles
Sun- 6 miles

I was supposed to do 10 miles for my weekend long run but sat around too long on Sunday after I got hom from church and didn't have time to get the full 10 in.
Another thing, probably the main thing that kept me from going so long- Glenn was home sick and I had started to go run twice earlier in the afternoon and he would come up to me with a couple of toys and say "Daddy, want to play with me? Which car do you want?" or would offer me what ever toy he had to get in the floor and play with him. In my book, time is far better spent in the floor playing cars than running any day.

2008-04-23T15:41:00.002-04:00

This picture is where I was at my goal weight. This was taken somewhere around mile 18 or 19 of the 2003 Country Music Marathon. I ultimately have 26 lbs to get off to get back to where I was here. Hmmm... that's 1 lb. for each mile of the marathon.

2008-04-21T10:54:00.002-04:00

Week 1- Torture Trail Training
Week one went pretty well. I didn't do real well on the nutrition side of things but picked up on the running side ok. I am honestly still 16 lbs. from where I would like to be to run this race and 21 lbs. from where my ultimate goal is and where I want to try to maintain.

I didn't stick to the exact schedule but still finished up where I would have mileage wise. I didn't have time to get the whole run in Tueday so I cut 1 mile off. Same on Wed but I wanted to get the speed work in so I cut a mile again.
Added a mile to the Thursday run and Saturday run.
I took Friday off from work (my first and much needed vacation day this year) and we went to the lake house for the weekend. I went over to the dam on Saturday to do my run. It was extremely windy but otherwies a good run.

My plans have changed for the weekend of 03 May. We had plans that were going to keep us home for the weekend but they have changed. There is a 10K at the lake that I usually rrun that I think I will go ahead and run. I am thinking of rearranging my long run schedule to fit the 10K in to the schedule and use that as a moderate-hard effort run that weekend. I am not in racing form yet so I have no ideas of actually racing this race.

Mon- nothing
Tues- 3 miles
Wed- 4.14 miles w/ 5 x .25 repeats (30 second rest intervals)
Thurs- 5 miles
Fri- nothing
Sat- 9 miles at lake Hartwell
Sun- 4 miles

Total - 25.14 miles

2008-04-15T17:03:00.001-04:00

2008-04-15T13:06:00.003-04:00

So do you ever do anything you feel absolutely horrible about.

Glenn, my 4 year old son, had a rookie tee-ball game last night. His cousin from North Carolina and another cousin (all within a year of each other age wise) came to watch, as well as grand parents. Glenn didn't want to play so he could sit out in the stands with all of the family. I explained the importance of being with his team during the game and that the family was there to watch him so he played- for a little while then he was done. I talked him in to coming back out with the team and stand with them, which he did. Then his turn at bat was the last batter of the night. He hit the ball off of the tee and took off. In tee-ball everyone on the team hits in each inning and there is no score kept. Since he was the last batter the teams started to line up to shake hands even before he reached first base. So I went out and we were running the bases together. As we passed second base I guess our feet got tangled or something but we both went down fast. His two front teeth hit the back of his hand making two puncture wounds in his hand and knocking one of his teeth loose. He was screaming and blood was every where as I took him off the field. We finally got the bleeding to stop and Kathy noticed how loose his tooth was.

I took him to the dentist this morning and they x-rayed the teeth. No structural damage was done but they said the tooth would probably turn grey and possibly fall out. His permanent teeth are coming soon (probably within the next year), we could see them on the x-ray. No damage was done to them so I think everything will be ok as long as his gums don't get infected.

I thought I was doing good thing helping him run the bases and the discipline of sticking with his team. Now I kind of wish I would have just let him go sit with the family and watch the game.

2008-04-14T11:55:00.002-04:00

I want to give a huge congratulations to RA buddy Rick after running his first marathon over the weekend. He hasn't posted his report yet but he posted his time- a very respectable 4:38:xx. Can't wait to read the report. More on Rick on the link to the side or here:

http://runningforcassy.blogspot.com/

I had a pretty good week running last week- better than the past few anyway.

Mon- 4.5 miles @ lunch
Upper body weight work out in the evening

Tues- nada

Wed- 3.1 miles w/ 4 x .25 mile repeats (30 second rest)

Thurs- 3.1 mile run after work

Fri- rest day

Sat- 7 miles

Sun- 5 miles at Stone Mountain. Have not run here (or any hills) in a long time. Had to walk up a big hill during the 5th mile.

Total for the week- 22.7 (it's a start!!!)

2008-04-11T16:53:00.012-04:00

I have tried to post my program but I can't get it to format correctly. My computer skills are lacking!!!

I will try again.

2008-04-11T12:17:00.003-04:00

I have registered for the Toture Trail 10K race. The race will be on 07 June which is 8 weeks from this coming Monday. I am working on an 8 weekd schedule. I am not sure how aggressive it is going to be just yet but it will have some degree of aggressiveness.

If I can I will be posting the program as soon as I tweak it a little. I have never trained for a 1oK before so I am trying to look at some different programs and see what I like/dislike. I have always done 5K/10K races as part of my speed work for marathons so this is something new for me.

2008-04-07T08:27:00.001-04:00

Has it really been over two weeks since I posted??!! I sign on to my blog everyday but it normally to get to the links of the blogs I like to read. I am still not running much right now and others are so I read about their running/trainng.

It seems I am in a bad cycle- I am tired and lazy because I am not exercising and I am not exercising because I am tired and lazy. I did get out the last couple of weeks for a few runs but nothing of significance. Also got to the gym and worked out with the weights for the first time in a while. Everytime I turn around life is giving me an excuse not to run or workout. I need to plan a race, develop a training program, and stick to it (I keep telling myself that but haven't scheduled one yet.)

So- this week- I will take a look at race shedules and decide what to do and make a plan!

2008-03-21T17:28:00.011-04:00

The weather is finally turning warm and hopefully will be here to stay. The mornings are still a little chilly (by my standards)- hopefully they will be warming up soon too!

Running wise I am slowly trying to get something that resembles a base. Nothing to write home about yet but I am slowly getting there.

I had the pleasure of seeing Dane twice this week. He was in town for work and Kathy, Glenn, and I were able to get over Monday evening and meet him for dinner. Then as he was coming back through town on his way north of the city it worked out that he was able to stop by for a run with Derek (a co-worker that is training to bust a 3:10 this fall in a tough marathon) and I. Luckily we had a great evening to run and a great run- a little slow for Dane and Derek but perfect pace for me. You can read more about Dane here:

http://www.danerunsalot.blogspot.com/

2008-03-11T11:02:00.006-04:00

We had Glenn's first baseball game last night. He has a few practices but had not had an official game yet. We had a great time. I loved seeing all of the parents that came out in support of the teams and the "determination" of all of the kids during the game. It didn't really sink in til last night how Glenn is growing up and how fast the time has gone. Just watching him out there with his team mates and play baseball was really cool. He will be four years old tomorrow and the time has just flown by.

2008-03-03T17:13:00.003-05:00

What a fun weekend!! I was the commissioner for the senior girls basketball league and assistant coach for my nieces basketball team. We finished the season at 10-2, losing two games by 2 points.
We played in the season ending tournament this past week. We had a bye in the first round which put us in the semis. We won our semi final game by 17 points and were playing the #2 seed in the finals. This team had beaten us by 2 points early in the season, then we beat them twice- once by 16 and once by 7.
Saturday's game was awesome. There was never more than a 3 point difference the whole game. It came down to the final second... literally. We were down by 1 and threw the ball away, then stole the ball on the ensuing inbound and tried to score but were fouled as the buzzer sounded.
With 0:00 on the clock, our player went to the free throw line and very soundly, very solidly made the first free throw- we were tied. Then she stepped up, received the ball, and very soundly, very solidly made the second one. Victory!!!! We won the championship by 1 point.

The picture above is the team moments later. The tall player in the middle is the one that sunk the two free throws for the final two points.

2008-02-27T13:31:00.001-05:00

This is an incredible video on life!!

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=ithct48cqw

2008-02-27T12:39:00.001-05:00

I could win the funniest home videos if this had been caught on tape.

On Tuesday of this week I was about to leave for work. I had put my bags in the truck and had gone back in to tell Kathy and Glenn bye. We had a bad storm front coming through and when I had been out minutes earlier there were just a few drops of rain starting. When I went back out, it was raining sheets of rain in a heavy downpour the winds were incredible. My yard was flooding. The news said this front was pushing through at 60-65 mph.
As I stood in the garage deciding what to do, I figured I would just make a run for it. Traffic backs up very quickly and with these storms would only be worse so with coffee in hand I took off. I have to walk to the truck in the grass as I park right on the edge of the driveway.
As I got right to the truck and reached for the door handle both feet went right out from under me straight above my head. I landed on the middle of my back and banged my head on the ground. Luckily I was on the wet slippery grass and that added a cushion of sorts- better than concrete I guess.
So after shaking the shock off, I got up and walked back to the garage. When I went inside Kathy started laughing. I don't think I have ever seen her laugh that hard. My clothes were soaked. I had to go undress in the garage becuase my clothes were wet/nasty and covered with grass/mud. Even my undershirt was muddy on the back where I had landed. I was hurting a little but even had to laugh at the whole incident.
The best part of the whole thing- I didn't spill my coffee. Somehow, as I went airborn landed on my back I balanced my coffee cup such that I didn't spill it. YES!!! I love my coffee and I guess it shows!!!!

2008-02-27T12:27:00.002-05:00

Week of 18 Feb:
Mon- no run but 1 hr of full court basketball
Tues- 3.1 miles
Wed- legs were feeling tired and heavy so I madeit a rest day
Thurs- no run
Fri- no run
Sat- 3 miles
Sun- no run

Total- 6.1 miles

On Thursday this week we received a call from Kathy's family that her aunt was in ICU at a hospital here in NE Georgia. She has had MS for 13-14 years and had not been doing real good for the past few months. As they were transporting her from one hospital to another in an ambulance she quit breathing. They had to resuscitate her. Over the next 3-4 days things were touch and go. She had to be resuscitated twice more. First they thought it may be a stroke then ruled that out. Then they thought it was MS related, then ruled that out. Basically they couldn't figure out what it was. Then early Sunday morning we got a call that things didn't look good and they didn't expect her to make it through the day. We immdiately went there for the day. As the day went on she progressively got better and the decision was made to take the ventilator off. She continued to get a little better. Then we got a call Monday morning that her lungs were filling up with "gunk" and they expected her to go to sleep and not wake up. Tuesday morning we received a call that she was doing great. She has pneumonia that they are working to clear up but other than that, the only thing going on right now is the MS that she already had. She even took her medicine by mouth instead of by IV. She was to be moved from ICU to Intermediate Care on Tuesday but the doctors decided to skip intermediate care all together and get her in a regular room. I do believe God still works miracles and I do believe I just witnessed one.

2008-02-15T08:33:00.004-05:00

Make the best out of situations and push forward- that is what I have always tried to do in life.

I was actually starting to feel like I was really getting back in to the swing of things and was feelin energetic until I strained a muscle in my back practicing with the basketball team I help coach. That was on Friday night, 01 February, and I haven't been able to do much since. As it started to feel better I would try to run again only to be sidelined again. I feel like I'm at about 95% now so it won't be long now hopefully.
I have basically cancelled all race plans I had through the spring.

Week of 28 Jan:
Mon- Weight work out
Tues- 3.1 mile run
Wed- 4 mile run
Thurs- 3.1 mile run
Fri- hurt back playing basketball
Sat- can't run
Sun- tried to run but couldn't

Total- 10.2 miles

Week of 04 Feb:
Mon- Can't run
Tues- 3.1 miles
Wed- can't run
Thurs- can't run
Fri- swam 700 yds
Sat- 3 mile run
Sun- can't run

Total- 6.1 miles run
700 yds swim

Week of 11 Feb:
Mon- Can't run
Tues- Can't run
Wed- Can't run
Thurs- Can't run
Fri- Can't run
Sat- ran 4.2 miles
Sun- ran 3 miles

Total- 7.2 miles

Good news is the back didn't hurt as I ran but was pretty stiff afterwards.

2008-01-29T08:13:00.000-05:00

Last year when I would take Glenn to the park when I would run or we would take him there to play on the play ground he would run over to the baseball fields and watch and say that he wanted to play baseball. As time went on we kept asking him and he said that he did want to play so Santa Clause brought him a baseball glove this year. He turns 4 in March and the age cut off for beginners is four years old by 30 April, so we signed him up. The season starts in a few weeks so we are working on some skills now. We bought a tee that his league will be hitting off of and he did really well his first time out this past weekend. His hand eye coordination was pretty good for the first time out.