Marathoner in Training

It has been a long and eventful 3 months in VA

2009-08-15T13:15:00.003-07:00

I just realized that I have not posted in too long. Well my first 1/2 marathon and race this year is now under my belt. The time was not what I wanted by a long way, however it was enjoyable. I am trying to get more runs in along the AT which is .3 mile from my house and .1 of that is my driveway. However, I have became adapted to SNAKES, I have seen more in the last 3 months than I saw my entire time in AZ. I just saw another one on the AT when I went out for a run on Wednesday and its head and my shoe met face to face, I backed up a couple of feet and waited patiently for him to make its way across the trail. It was hard to see it since it was in the grass. Today's race was not hot but it is the first time I have really felt the humidity along the James River. Some of the other activities that I have done are going sailing a couple of times and Kayaking on the James twice.

This past week they announced the return of the Roanoke Marathon on April 24th (27 years since they last held one). This one is one of the Toughest marathons in the US, there is a total of 16 miles of mountain climbing and 10 miles of city roadways (which are not flat), I am expecting for Chad to run it with me, since he did not make my last marathon. You can read about it at http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/215143

Till next time I have a minute.

This next weeks schedule

2009-05-05T07:12:00.003-07:00

Today we will be disconnecting the refrigerator and all electronic items, because the movers come tomorrow and pack up 100% of our stuff. Thursday they will be loading it all and my car into the moving van and once they are gone, we will head out our self.

I have to work today thru Thursday, I was told by my boss to not worry about Friday, since I am a salary employee.

I have been so fortunate to have a great wife at home that is orchestrating the entire move, with the movers and what each one of us packs for the trip. Once we get to Roanoke VA, we need to find a nice home in a good area that we can get into by the end of next week, the movers are bringing the furniture over the weekend.

I also start my new job on Thursday the 14th, so I can get all the safety/security briefings out of the way and start doing my job on Monday. It seems like there is a lot going on, but last night was the first night that I slept the entire night in over three months. The stress has been removed from my shoulders and it is now up to someone else to do the moving for me. All I need to worry about is finding somewhere to live, no problem. I will just follow the signs.

I am not sure how much blogging I will get to the next couple of weeks, but I hope that all of you have a great week.

Things are looking brighter

2009-04-29T08:11:00.003-07:00

Well, it has been a while and I do not know if any of you still want to blog with me, but I thought I would shed some light on what is going on. I learned that my position with my current employer is going away next summer, and I did not like that too much. After over 10 years with the same employer it took a big blow to me, even though they gave me 17 months to find a new position. After several weeks of evaluating the situation, I put my resume on monster and dice (I am in the Information Technology field), and in less than 24 hours I started to get phone calls. In short after several dozen of calls and interviews, I finally accepted a new position. The company that I will be working for manufactures night vision goggles for the military, however I will be working on their computer systems and not manufacturing them.

I learned this past Friday that I would be moving to Roanoke, VA in two weeks! The company is paying to move my family and it is a pay raise :). We discussed with the kids where they would like to live, if they got a chance to pick, and they both indicated a desire to live in the mid-Atlantic area, which is where most of the calls were from.

Unfortunately, I will not be able to run the Grand Canyon, I will be driving across the country at that time. Also, I will not be able to crew for Leigh at Badwater (I will not have any vacation time) and I was looking so forward to it, it breaks my heart to pull out as one of her crew members, but I must do what is best for my family and I hope that she will forgive me for it.

I will need to keep up on my blogging and keep all of you up to date on how things are going.

Missing in Action

2009-03-11T08:53:00.003-07:00

Well I have been MIA for about as long as our new President has been in office. You can read into that if you would like. I am not going to claim any correlation to it.
I have had a lot on my mind, and have not even thought about blogging. I found out that I am scheduled to be LAID OFF from my work. I guess the good news about this is that I have a job until June 30, 2010. Yes, that is over a year away. Since I work for a local city government, the layoff's that are proposed still need council approval. Needless to say, I have become a lobbyist for keeping my job.
After Across the Years, I took some time off to recover, and I know I took too much time. I lost a lot of motivation for running, but I am now back to running an hour at a time 3 to 4 times a week. I am slowly building on the base I once had. I am still looking for the motivation for running longer and following any healthy eating habits that I once had.
The one thing I recognized with everything that is going on in my life, I did go to the Dr and am now back on my anti-depressant, I went off them for about 6 months and was doing OK without them, but with the loss of the job and lack of motivation for exercise, etc. I recognized the feelings and knew what needed to be done.
I do have the goal of doing a Rim to Rim to Rim run May 8th at the Grand Canyon. This has got me on the stair master for an hour after my runs, which is burning my leg muscles.
The only other race on my Schedule (as of now) is a lovely trip in July to the resort town of Stove Pipe Wells in Death Valley, CA. I am a crew member for Leigh Corbin for Badwater 2009. After she completes the race (great positive attitude) we are planning on hiking to the summit of Mt. Whitney, which will be my first time going from the lowest elevation to the highest peak in the lower 48 states.

Phoenix Coyotes night

2009-01-09T13:04:00.004-07:00

Well, a fellow running friend of mine works for Godaddy and emailed me if I would like some tickets to the hockey game last night. I accepted them and took Benjamin and Kimberly, Nicholas was feeling under the weather, so he did not go. We stopped by where she was running with some other runners that I know and she gave us the tickets and even a parking pass to the garage. We got there a couple of minutes late, but I figured with a 3 year old, who knows how long we will even be there.

We ended up parking in the second parking space from the entrance and were directed to the elevator to our "Suite", we got to the box suite and we were the only ones there. It is a private suite for 18 people and it turned out to be just 9 of us there (seven runners and my two kids). They even delivered three pizzas popcorn, and pretzels. Oh yea, free non-alcohol drinks. The two kids had a great time watching the game and climbing over the chairs and eating. The box turned out to be at the center ice, so I can say that I had one great evening with some Friends and kids.

Oh, yea near the end of the evening they brought our bill for us to sign. As my friend signed it for the company, we learned that each of the two cheese pizzas were $30.00 each and the Peperoni was $35.00. The picture of the two containers of popcorn and pretzels was $25.00 for each of the popcorn and $20.00 for the pretzels. We did not even see the bill for the soda and water. It was very appreciated what the company did for their employees. The nice thing about this is that the arena is on the far west side of town by my house and the company is in the east side of town, so a lot of employees do not even bother with going to the games.

Across The Years - Race Report 2008-2009

2009-01-02T11:21:00.012-07:00

It has taken me almost a week to get over the head cold that I got while running the ATY. Well, I had it prior to the race, but was getting over it by the time the race came around.

By 2:30am I had completed 100K and was as happy as could be.

It started for me the night before, with a good shower and then I taped my feet up and prepped them for the race. I am so glad that I spent that hour or so working on my feet. I started by drying my feet really good, wiping them down with an alcohol wipe and then applying kinesio tape to each of the toes and bottom of my feet. I learned how to tape my feet properly from the book "Fixing Your Feet: Prevention And Treatments for Athletes". I really do recommend all the athletes that have any foot problems to read this book. They took me the entire 62+ miles without one hot spot, black toe nail, or blister. After I finished my feet, I put on socks and went to bed. The night of rest went well and 5:15 am was soon here. Chad picked me up at 6am and we went for breakfast and then headed to the race. (10 miles from my house).

We got there with plenty of time to setup and walk around. I did not have to check in since they gave me my chip and equipment the day before, because I help out with the setup and when ever needed for this race. They have an email system where people can leave messages for the different runners and they print them out and put them in boxes for the runners to pickup. I checked my email box and had two emails one from my cousin and the other from Karen in the UK. They were the only emails that I got all day :( I did get several calls from Leigh which was needed and she is such a great friend to have cheering and coaching you on to your first 100K. Thank you Leigh for everything.

Finally 9am rolled around, I started off the race on a nice slow jog where my pace for each .31 mile loop I would do it in around 4:05 to 4:10 and continued this for the next 7 hours. At about 3 hours into the race, I decided to switch out my new shoes for my older ones since they were not as roomy as I am use to. I then stayed in these for the remainder of the race. After the 7 hours of running, I went to a controlled march / brisk walk of about 15 to 16 minute mile which I tried to maintained nonstop for the next 10.5 hours which slowed down as the hours ticked on.

Chad stayed there for the first hour or so then went to join Julie and Lori who had the kids and were heading to the Pizza place where the kids could play. About 1 pm or so Chad returned with Lori and Kimberly who cheered me on for a while. Kimberly loved to play in the grass and cheered each time I passed by. Lori and Kimberly left about 45 minutes later or so and then Chad went for his weekend run down the canal that is next to the ATY site. After his run, I had changed from running to brisk walking and he decided to tag along for the conversation and the additional exercise. He hung in with me for several miles before deciding to head home. I could say that I was now all alone, but I had so many people that were in the race, that I knew and cheered me on and gave me words of encouragement that I forgot to put on my mp3 for about 10 more hours.

The biggest problem for me the entire race was having a head cold and coughing and blowing my nose every 10 minutes.

For the nutrition, everything went ok or not so ok, at the beginning I was able to pee and was feeling strong, then I got intestinal shutdown and everything I consumed, stayed in my stomach and I continued to keep my calories up for the next 12 hours or so like this. I knew the only way to clear it out was to throw up, which I never had the desire to while running. This is a common occurrence for me on my longer runs, that my stomach will shut down.

There are several probable causes for this happening to me:

Dehydration
Electrolyte imbalance is affecting peristalsis, Peristalsis is very sensitive to salt and water imbalance in the intestinal tract.
Most people maintain normal gastric emptying and intestinal motility by remaining below a heart rate which corresponds to less than 70% VO2 max effort. If you don't use physiologic testing to facilitate training, this corresponds to approximately 80% of your maximum heart rate or the effort commonly referred to as ‘steady'.

Any one or combination of these may be the cause of my dismay. I will have to train and test each one for a solid solution to each.

At 2:30 am (17.5 hrs) into the race, I hit the 100K mark. It felt like the night was standing still and the laps were not adding up quick enough. At about 94K I started to feel aches in my feet, ankles, knees, hips, and major chafing in the groin. Maybe it was my body telling me that enough is enough for the first ultra.

I went into the heated tent and warmed up and that is when my stomach told me it needed attention, so I went to the restroom and emptied it. I then went back to the heated tent and curled up on the floor for 2 hours and let my body recover. After getting up and being stiff, I decided that 100K was enough, I could not physically have made it to the 100 mile mark in 24 hours and did not see a reason to take the risk of injury for a couple more miles.

So, Chad gave me a ride home and I took a nice warm bath with epson salt and then got some more warm rest. All is feeling great now and I am looking forward to doing the 48 hour race next year.

This is definitely a race to do if you are an ultra runner or just want to give it a try. There is an aid station and medic tent every .5K and it is impossible to get lost on the 15 feet wide gravel track. The scenery is amazing and the people are top notch.

Before I go, I need to congratulate some people for their accomplishments at the race:

In the 72 hour group:

William Sichel for completing 269.3 Miles
Gavin Wrublik for completing 50.6 Miles (Age 7)
Robert Andrulis for completing 143.8 Miles
Rick Cheever for completing 148.8 Miles
Jean-Jacques d'Aquin for completing 164.9 miles at age 69 (May 8th at 3am he is doing a double crossing of the Grand Canyon with a group of ultra runners for his 70th Birthday)
John Geesler (American 48hr record holder) who injured his ankle and still completed 160.9 miles

In the 48 hour group:

Lisa Bliss who Completed 150.6 Miles
Dan Jensen who completed 110.2 Miles with one leg amputated (see the Documentary: Running on the Sun)
Jeff Hagen for completing 180.5 miles

In the 24 Hour group:

Wendell Doman for completing 124.5 miles (you never stopped!)
Summer Wesson for completing 80.46 miles
Stephanie Buettner for completing 85.4 miles
Sue Norwood for completing 82 miles
Deborah Goodwin for your first ultra and completing 75.1 miles

Here are a couple pictures that were taken at the race:

Here I am on the inside with Debbie and Steph both on the outside (Drawing a blank on who is next to me).

John Geesler and Gavin (7 years old) during the third day.

Here I am about to take Lisa Bliss or was this when she passed me, I do not know they both happened many times.

Here I am in the distance running along the front of the Nardini Mannor

Here is Chad, Lori, and Kimberly (behind the table crawling in the grass)

Here I am early in the day looking fresh and ready for a long day.

Across the Years - Here I Come....

2008-12-29T09:38:00.003-07:00

Well the Across the Years race has officially started, and looking at the leader board for the 24hr race, I am in 35th place and I have not left work yet. The leader board can be seen here. For those of you that want to check on the current standings of the race, you can go here. The race ends January 1, 2009 at 9am (Arizona time). Since the race is a 24, 48, and 72 hour race, they started today with all the 72 hour individuals, about half of the 24 hour runners and about a third of the 48 hour individuals. Tomorrow at 9am the 24 hour individuals that started today will end and the most of the 48 hour individuals and a couple of the 24 hour runners will start. On Wednesday at 9am, is when the rest of the 24 hour individuals (including me) will start out. I choose to run the New Years eve start, because at midnight, there is a great clelbration and fireworks for everyone. Also, if I make it 24 hours, the awards ceremony is shortly after the finish of the race.

Also, you can send messages to any of the runners by going to the Send Greetings page. While you are at the ATY web page, you can read bios on all the runners. I spent some time reading up on who I was going to be running next to. There were too many runners that have done Badwater, and I believe there were about a half dozen runners that have completed the Trans America run (Across the USA). Several current and former world record holders of distance running.

I hope you can check out some of the web site, and cheer me on to my first official Ultra. I guess I should spell out what my goals are:

#1. Have FUN

#2. Run 100K (hopefully by mid-night)

#3. Stay on my feet 24 hours

#4. Commit to doing it again next year.

Will I make it 100 miles, I doubt it, that would be 322 laps, and never being above 50 miles before, I am not betting on it. However they do have that belt buckle for the 100 miles. Maybe next year.

I hope you all have a great New Years, and will give a recap of the race on the other side, and I do not mean one that goes like lap 1, lap 2, lap 3....

Great weekend and wrapping up the year

2008-12-22T09:53:00.003-07:00

Earlier last week, I went in for my blood work, and Friday I got the results. Everything was outstanding. My cholesterol was down 100 points this month, and now in the really good range. The meds I have been on for cholesterol are no more, we will retest in a couple of months. The lab work indicated that the meds for weight loss, have not made any adverse effects on my body, except loosing 18 lbs in one month time frame, I weighed in this morning at 174.4 lbs and I feel a lot of that was due to dehydration. We will see what tomorrow holds in store for me.

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to get in my last long run before the ATY race in 9 days. I went out at a normal casual pace of a 11 minute mile pace for the first three miles. I was really feeling good and started to let myself run and mile 4 turned into a 10:17 and mile 5 was 10:05 and mile 6 was 9:22. I got to thinking that this feels great and I might as well do the first 13.1 miles as I feel comfortable doing, since I am now about half way there. Here is how the first thirteen miles turned out:

11:00
11:01
10:56
10:17
10:05
9:22
9:17
9:27
9:20
9:15
9:52
9:38
9:43
.57 seconds
The total 1/2 marathon distance came out to 2:10, which is a PR for me. I then walked 1/2 mile and then continued the remainder 3 miles at a 14 minute jog pace.

I only took some water and by the time I was done, I had some stomach pain and it would not settle for a couple of hours. I completely depleted my body of all stored energy and I was truely wishing that I had some of that Gu that was sitting on my dresser. It was far from my intentions to go "All out", but I was feeling really good and enjoying the outside.

I am now in the taper mode for the ATY - 24 hour run.

A great Monday

2008-12-16T12:32:00.003-07:00

Yesterday turned out to be a great day.

It started off with going to get my blood drawn for Fridays Dr appt. Then Lori and I took our son to his Dr appt, which was clear across town. His appt went well and his Dr wants him to start running, exercise and build some muscle. When we left the Dr. we got a call from Chad and Julie and they both took the day off work and were running around, so we agreed to meet up for lunch. We drove about 30 miles to meet up with them and had a great lunch and conversations. When we finished lunch, Lori, Nicholas, and I headed to Roadrunner Sports to look at new shoes. Nicholas got a new pair (that is now wrapped for a Christmas present), and I picked out my next pair of Asics which I will buy on Friday (payday) and wrap them up for a Christmas present to myself. When we got done there, I had plans to go to REI sports, since they have rock climbing gear there and my son really loves rock climbing. We went there and I told him to look around and Lori and I would be looking ourselves. We found him in the rock section, trying on new climbing shoes. He also got fitted for a new harness and rigging's. I will have to return and get some more Christmas presents for him. I picked up my copy of Fixing your Feet, and then we went to pick up our other son who was in school.

We got home and I grabbed my bag and headed to the gym for a good interval run.

2 minute at 12 min mile

4 minute at 8:34 min mile

2 minute at 12 min mile
4 minute at 8:34 min mile

2 minute at 12 min mile

Headed home and showered and ate dinner with the family.

Oh, yea while I was out all day, FEDEX came bearing gifts:

I got an email from OutsidePR and Sports Marketing and they came across my blog and was interested in sending me some Gu Roctane to try out, well the sent me two display cases full of the stuff. Just in time for Across The Years and my long run this weekend. I will give some feedback to them and you as to my liking of the product.

The good, the bad, and the ugly

2008-12-12T09:46:00.003-07:00

The good news is that I have been on adipex for 31 days and the results show:

I have dropped 20 lbs in 31 days, (and a grand total of 65lbs for the past 21 months) however as you can see from the chart above the weight loss is starting to taper off. I will probably take the medicine for another 10 days, since that is how many pills I still have. My goal is to get to 165lbs and from there start building muscle, get more endurance, and continue to eat healthy. I would really like to not focus this next year on weight loss and on improving on what I got. For the past couple of weeks, Lori, Ben, and I have started lifting weights at the gym after our runs. For me the run is to go 1.5 miles from my house to the gym and then 3.5 on the treadmill. They show up shortly after I do and they run for 25 or so minutes. The weight lifting program has us doing 3 sets of 15 reps each, so the weight is not too high, but by the 15th rep we are suppose to be expended. Last night we did our routine, and we did bench press, incline bench press, cross overs, pull downs, dips, and crunches. They all felt great and we were all able to bump up our weights. The program we are on is a 12 week transformation program, and it seems to be doing well for us.

Now for the bad news, sometime during my workout, I hurt my foot. The pain is on the top of my right foot, around where the tongue of the shoe would be. I am limping and massaging it now, and if it continues to hurt through the weekend, I will schedule an appt to have it looked at. The good part about this, is if I do not move it, it does not hurt.

The ugly part is that that I have 19 days till I race the Across the Years, and I plan on being on that foot for 24 hours.

Objective #1 - Stay away from here.

2008-12-10T14:29:00.001-07:00

Beware of the Doghouse- Hilarious! - video

Luckey number 7

2008-12-07T07:23:00.003-07:00

Today was the first time I saw a 7 on the scale in the tens column (and Lori was my witness).

Taking the kids today to see santa at Bass Pro Shop, I think I will ask for a 6 for Christmas.

Now off to church to give thanks for that 7.

6 THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY

2008-12-01T09:57:00.004-07:00

I was tagged by Amy to list 6 things that make me happy.

My kids make me happy, not when they are arguing with each other, but when they are listening and being will behaved.

The joy of running, it is hard to believe that 18 months ago I began with a morning 5 minute walk, and now I will go out for a strong 2 hour run through the desert.

Having a secure job, there are so many people out there that are stressing over layoffs, etc. I am glad to have been in my job for over 10 years and have a union contract that spells out how layoffs would occur and I am way down the list.

My over all health has never been better than it is now. I may have had less body fat on me when I was in the military, but I have never been so fit in my life.

Rediscovering God this year.

My ever special and carrying wife. I do not know what I would do without her by my side, in good times and bad times. She has been there to hold me up and to support me when I have fallen.

Thanks Amy for the Tag.
I will now Tag Chad, Julie, Java Mom, and Pat

Post Thanksgiving reflection.
Wednesday after work, I drove my son and I up to the in-laws house in Kingman, AZ. Lori and the rest of the family went up on Tuesday, so they got a longer weekend than I did. The ride was pretty un-eventful, dark, long, two lane road.
Thanksgiving day, while the food was cooking, I ended up chopping down a couple of LARGE trees, without falling it on the house or solar panels. Then, I had to cut the branches off and haul them off to the landfill. With the useful wood, I cut and stacked it for next years fires. Turkey dinner was good, a little blan for me, but I was limited to 500 calories for the meal. (One serving of Turkey white meat is about 200 calories).
Friday, I had my father-in-law put me in the bucket on the tractor and picked pecans for most of the morning and then husked them which left my hands black. They still are and now only looks like I changed the motor on an old car. The stains which penetrates several layers of skin takes several weeks to wear off. We also used the tractor to remove the stumps from the trees that I cut down.
Saturday, I ended up climbing up the windmill and oiling the motor, and repairing a couple of the blades. We then finished harvesting the remainder of the pecans and got more stains on my hands.
Sunday, I got up and went for a nice two hour run. There are lots of trails by my in-laws live and since I did not have a water bottle, I limited my self to two hours. I was able to pull 10 miles and 1500 feet elevation change up and down. The trails were some of the most scenic trails that I have ever been on and they are just right there from my in-laws house. Afterwards, we headed to the cabin in the Haulipai mountains to pick up some stuff we left over the summer. As we were pulling out and locking the gate to the cabin, there were about 6 deer, and I rolled down my window and had Kimberly unbuckle and she climbed on my lap. One of the deer came to the window and she handed the deer an apple. After the deer ate the apple, she came back and kissed Kimberly's hand. I tossed a couple of apples to some of the baby deers that were no taller than 2 feet tall. After watching them for some time we drove home.

On the weight loss front,

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T13:16:00.001-07:00

I am now wrapping up the week of work (all 3 days) and getting ready to head out of town for the weekend. I just wanted to wish each and everyone of you a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Weight loss in the right direction - DOWN

2008-11-24T13:03:00.003-07:00

First off I was able to get out and get in a one hour run in this am. I discovered that If I get up at 4am and I can be at the gym and on the treadmill by 4:30am for an hour run and get to catch up on the news. When I got up, I did my usual routine and got on the scale, (who is one of my new friends, although still on probation) and he told me that I am looking marvelous. Oh yea he also said that I now weigh 185.0! WOW, I have not weighed that much in years (and lots of them).

Well, the new medicine that the Dr has me on has done a number on me, like 12 lbs in 11 days. That is more than a pound a day. At this rate, I should be light enough to be blown across the track at Across the Years.

I have about 15-20 lbs to go, which will put me at about 10% body fat, and I can then restart on building lean muscle mass. I would like to have my body in top physical, mental, and spiritual shape with no problems of cholesterol, excess fat, stress, etc.

JJ100 Race weekend Recap Part 2of 2

2008-11-20T09:30:00.003-07:00

And the story continues......
I was prepared for when Leigh came thru after her fourth loop (60 miles) to pace her even though earlier she told me that she wanted me at mile 75 (loop 6). She came in and it looked like the full day of sun beating down on her had taken some of her spunk out of her, so I asked if she wanted me to pacer her from this point forward. Her reply was that she would really like me to join her, but the really needed me later. I told her that I will be there for her when she needs me, and does she want me now. She said Yes. So, while some of her friends/crew took care of her. I got on my bottles/fanny pack and lights(s). We headed off for our 40 mile run.
The small talk started with introductions if each other, how ever she could have called me any name during the run and I would be ok with that. Discussed some logistics as to her preferences for me running in front, beside, or behind her. Whether she considered a slight incline as a steep hill yet, when she would walk, march, or run. I was trying to sum up her mental and some physical conditions after going 60 miles. Leigh seemed extremely coherent and alert, which makes my job of pacing and caring for her much easier. Later on during the first loop, I learned that she was having some stomach pain and so we went thru the nutrition checklist, since it was not morning yet, I ruled out morning sickness. It looks like we will have to suck it up and keep going. We managed a good pace that was manageable for her and I knew that I would not have any trouble keeping this to the finish line. Just as we left the second aid station (Jackass Junction) a runner indicated that there was a snake on the trail ahead. In the distance I could see another runner shining their flashlight on it, so as we approached Leigh swerved away and I shined my flashlight in the 15in long Diamondback Rattlesnake, this snake looked like it was sleeping and it was actually very cold out for snakes, so seeing one was a surprise to me. I looked for a marker and about 100 feet down the trail was a glow stick hanging on the tree. Now on our way back we could be alert to its presence.
The end of lap 5 (mile 75) I was feeling wonderful, and Leigh's friend from Fleet Feet came over and took to her needs while I restocked my supplies for the next 15 mile loop. It was around 1:15am when we came into the headquarters, and my son is sitting at the computer with Jamil. I told him to go to bed like his brother has done and I would see him in the am. As we were leaving, I asked Leigh's friend from Fleet Feet, if he sees my son up, to let him know that I told him to go to bed. If us parents don't stick together, then the teenagers will walk right over us. We were heading down the trail on loop 6 and only got about 1 mile down the trail when Leigh indicated that she intended to change her shoes out at the last stop, I looked at my gps and we were one mile out, I could run back and get the shoes for her and run and catch up to her and make the change at the next aid station, but not knowing which pair was hers and where they were, and leaving her on the trail alone. The risk was there for allowing Murphy and his laws to step in. I suggested that we change them out the next go around, and she seemed ok with that. We continued marching up the 7 mile hill and as we got to the glow stick, we both started looking for the snake again, it had crawled away and went to bed. We got to the next aid station and got some soup and took a quick potty break. As we left the aid station and took the left turn at the end of the park to head south, the full moon was out and the silouets of the mountains made is such a beautiful night. The trail seemed to go on forever and I even started looking for orange markers, and I put them out there. We never left the trail, but it seemed to go on forever. We did manage to get some good runs in during this segment, then we finally made it Jav. Junction. where she as a close friend at that gave her a chair massage, while I let the rocks out of my shoes and inspected my feet and applied some Vaseline to them. Leighs friend gave me some ginger cookies to feed to her every couple of minutes for the next stretch, which I did until she threatened to bury me in the desert if I gave her one more. I still have the cookies in my coat pocket, maybe I will mail them to her, or save them for the next time I pace her. We finally got thru the rocky down hill section and the sun came up, we could finally turn the lights off. With about 2 miles to go on this loop, we passed Anthony as he was taking the final loop, offered congrats to him and we headed in from Leigh's 6th loop. We got to the Start/finish headquarters area around 6am or so, the computer was down and timing was now by stopwatch. I indicated to Leigh's friend that she needed to change out her shoes and her blister popped an hour or so ago. I wish I knew this individuals name, but he was a wonderful resource and cared for her very well, what a great friend. After a few minutes of rest, we shook the dust off us and headed out for her final lap (10 miles). We both found some stored energy and were able to make some time up with short quick runs every minute or so. We came across Bob one mile out and he was heading in from his 6th loop (about 2 miles behind us). As we approached the final aid station I was running low on Gatorade and water, I forgot to refill at the last aid station, so I had to stop and fill up and we got some fruit and we were on our final 3.8 miles downhill to the finish line. We were doing some runs, but mostly walking because Leigh felt her heart pounding hard and I told her that we will only go as fast as her heart allows. Then on the down hill, I looked back and Gary Culver was right behind us. Gary is a runner that I run with each weekend for our long runs and canal runs on Thursday nights. The two of them started talking, and then Gary politely departed and headed down the trail with his long legs. Gary only beat us by 9 minutes.
When we got down the hill to the bottom of the riverbed and the 1 mile to go sign that I placed there on Friday, Leigh started to thank me for helping her and we were both a little emotional about the entire thing. For me it was making sure that she got to the finish line safely, and for me it was the first time I ran over 26.2 miles and I was wrapping up 40 miles. We got to a short distance from the parking lot and I saw my son sitting on his bike watching for us, I took off my waist belt and jacket and gave them to him so Leigh and I could go across the finish line together. We made it across the finish line at 28hours 7 minutes. I proceeded to escort her to the medical tent to have her blood pressure checked and make sure her heart was doing well. I gave the medics the information that I could, as to the times when we noticed issues, etc. I then went to get a quick snack, said goodbye to some new and old friends. and had to take off for home.

I got home and took a bath and crawled into bed while my wife took our daughter to a birthday party, I for some reason was to tired to attend. Got up after a couple of hours of rest and went to dinner with the family. Monday I was back at the gym doing jogging laps in the pool. wanted to take it easy for a day or two, but now I am back at the usual routine.

Now that things are back to normal, I can focus on family, training for ATY, and weight loss.

I am now about 6 weeks out from ATY (Dec 31, 9am) 24hr run. I can not thank Leigh enough for giving me the training I needed for the ATY, I can now taper from the long run and get a couple 25-30 milers in over the next couple of weeks. I am following a strict schedule on my running as soon as I write it down. In short I have no clue what I am doing. I figure it is like training for a 5k just multiply each days distance by 20...?

On the weight loss front, this past week, even with running 40 miles I was able to drop 8lbs in 7 days. I did only drop an additional .7 lbs yesterday, since I had birthday cake (my lovely wife turned 28 (again))....Happy Birthday Lori, I love you.

JJ100 Race weekend Recap Part 1 of 2

2008-11-18T09:30:00.003-07:00

I am doing this recap in two parts, the first being a volunteer and the second being a pacer. Thursday night, I decided to invite my two boys out to the JJ100 to camp and volunteer. Friday am I told them that if they wanted to go, they had 30 minutes to get ready and have their stuff in the truck. Nothing like being well planned. Nicholas and I dropped Ben off at school since he had a presentation to give on Friday, then the two of us went to the local fire wood store and filled the remainder of the truck with firewood for the weekend.
We got out to the starting area of the race and unloaded the truck and set up camp. By about 10:30 we headed out on our mountain bikes to flag the course (another one of my duties). I spent the next 4 hours riding and stopping every 100 yards to .1 miles and placing flags so that people would know that they are on the correct trail. Then where other trails merge with the route, I would put lots of Blue flags so that Bob would know not to go down this trail. It worked, he stayed on the main trail most of the time, and even found the finish line. Good job Bob.
Back to my story, when we finished, we headed back into town and picked up Benjamin and the three of us went back to camp. We got there in time to meet Bob, Tony, Jamie Donaldson (Badwater Course Record Holder), Rick, Dusty, Angie, Leigh, JavaMom, and many others.
I was suppose to pace Tony a lap, and Rick was going to pace him the remainder of the race, but it was determined that Rick would pace Tony the entire time (laps 5-7). I was OK with that, there were many other people that could use a pacer, and Bob mentioned that Leigh did not have one, and asked her if she wanted one. She did and so I planned on pacing her. When she would want me and for how long she would put up with me was still unknown. We tentatively planned on me going with her from mile 75 thur 100, but things can change. I did not have a problem with going 10, 25, or 40 with her, but we would leave that up to her.
Was able to sit down with my boys and some other runners that were camping near us and got to know each other a little better. Really great company the entire weekend. After dinner, the place cleared out and so we started a campfire and was sitting down with some new friends from Berkley and one of them looked over towards me and said what is that? I turned around and about 10 feet away was a pack of 5 Javalina's heading in to see what is left over to eat. After a while of socializing, after a while, we figured that the night would be too short, so we all headed to bed.
At 4am bright and early, I got up and turned on all the coffee pots for the racers, fixed some eggs for my boys and myself. Then I started checking in the runners. At 6am the racers were off and running, and I sent my two boys out to a remote aid station for an 8 hour work day. The did wonderful, many of the runners and volunteers that knew that they belonged to me, said they did a great job. (I guess I can hang my head high). I went out for a easy 4 mile run with Chad and then took a shower, while he did another 4 miles. At about 9am Chad headed out and was not able to meet up with some of the other blogger. I stayed around the headquarters (start/finish) area and helped runners as they came through with their water bottles, food, etc. until 8:44pm when Leigh came in from her fourth lap and looked like the past 60 hours was starting to take a toll on her. I asked if she wanted me to start pacing her now and she agreed. So I filled up my bottles and grabbed my lights and we were off.
To be continued in part two.....

photo credit to Will LaFollette

Ropelling and Zip Lines

2008-11-10T12:23:00.003-07:00

The last of our pictures from Mexico came today, so I thought I would share some with you:

Cabo Dolphin Adventure

2008-10-26T09:54:00.003-07:00

Here are the pictures of the Dolphin Adventure in Cabo San Lucas.

Royal Caribean Vision of the Seas cruise review

2008-10-23T10:26:00.015-07:00

I am taking one blog and dedicating it to the review of my cruise and the accommodations.

We arrived at the Long Beach terminal at 1:30pm on Sunday and proceeded to check in, before we knew it we were on the ship without our kids :) We went to our room and dropped off our carry on bag and proceeded to explore the ship. First off on the 10th floor is the running track (1479 feet around, or 3.5 laps to about one mile). On the three days at sea, I was able to get in a 10, 14.5, and 5 mile runs) That would be my first international 1/2 marathon! :) The fitness center is also on the 10th floor. In the fitness center they have about 10 treadmills, a aerobics floor, some machines, and dumbbell's. We checked into the Vitality program and that is a program where if you partake in one of their fitness activities they give you a vitality token which you can cash in at the end of the cruise for some gifts. I still have 4 or 5 left, so if someone is going on a Royal Caribbean cruise and would like them, send me an email. Also on the 10 th floor is the shuffle boards. From there we went up to the 11th floor which is a night club. We then proceeded to the 9th floor where at the front of the ship is the buffet, then making our way back is the main pool and 4 hot tubs (although not too hot more warm, this is one of my few complaints about the ship). Behind the main pool is the indoor pool with the glass roof and two more hot tubs, this area is for adults only, is seemed to be a social area for adults and was decent area to hang out, because you do not have the wind that you get at the other pool, remember the ship is going around 25 miles an hour. Finally behind the indoor pool is the spa, where Lori and I both got a couples massage (90 minutes) which was in a corner room with the wall of windows looking out the side and back of the ship. I wanted this room for my cabin. The two ladies that gave us a massage, did an excellent job.

Some other notable items about the ship, our room was on the fourth floor inside in the very front of the ship, next to the main theater, so we hear the music/ performance each night. Although this was not too bad, we could have had the dining room next to us or above us. I heard from someone on the 8th floor, that they could hear people walking by the pool above them, if they listened carefully. While researching the cruise ship, I learned to bring clothes pins to hang up the wet clothes in your cabin, however I did learn that the hangers will hang from the privacy screen in the room, so you can hang the clothes from the hangers.

This being our first cruise, I brought the sleeping pills, and we did not need them, the ship literally rocked us to sleep each night, it was so peaceful and great. I did set my alarm to go off at 5:30 each morning, so I could get up and go running. I would start in the pitch dark and watch the sun slowly creep up into the sky. With that and watching the dolphins in the water while running, was a nice treat. Running on a moving ship, is a lot like trail running. Although the surface is flat, with the movement of the ship, the track would go up and down very slowly with the waves, I have heard some people complain about it, but I loved it. The track went from the front of the ship to just before the smoke stacks, so you never smelled the exhaust of the ship.

The first night we went to the dining room and was escorted to our table, and was greeted by our waiter and assistant waiter. Boon was our waiter and he was from China I think. The assistant waiter was Mariska and she was from South Africa. I told her that I want to bring her home with us (OK, her fiance can also come along). This was her first cruise as a employee, and she did an extremely wonderful job. I ordered a coffee and Lori ordered hot decaf tea with dinner. Each night, we would get to the table and my coffee cup and creamer was on the table and Lori's tea cup and teabags were there waiting for us. By the time we would get seated, the hot water for the tea and coffee would be pored for us. We shared a table with two other people, a lady and her 4 year old son. We somehow only had dinner with them 3 times during the entire cruise. Very nice people and a pleasure to have at the table.

We were anchored in Cabo San Lucas, because of the shallow bay, on Tuesday and we signed up for the activity of swimming with the dolphins at the dolphin pool, worth every penny that we spent. After the briefing and getting life vests on, we were able to sit on the side of the pool and pet the dolphins, then we would jump into the water one at a time and the dolphin would come up and kiss us on the cheek, and then we would be able to kiss the dolphin. We then went into the middle of the pool with a bar and held it up for the dolphin to jump over (I did it twice, holding the bar not jumping). I then had the dolphin roll over and laid on its stomach and went for a ride around the pool WOW that is awesome. Near the end we all (about 8 of us) got into the pool and the dolphin swam around us and we got to pet it and splash around with this awesome animal. We decided to purchase pictures of us with the dolphin and they cost $25 each or a CD with 8 for $100.00 which is what we did. I will upload them later. We then proceeded to go to Poncho's Mexican restaurant. Lets face is around the bay, is the tourist trap area and even a Hooters there. We started to get away from the main area and asked a taxi driver where he would recommend and he sent us to Poncho's which was real good food and great Margaritas. The restaurant is located at N 22° 52.900 W 109° 54.795. After lunch, we did a little shopping and made our way back to the ship.

The next morning we docked were in Mazatlan and when we got off the boat, we walked along the dock to the front of the ship between ours and the Princess cruise ship in front of us and caught a catamaran boat that took us to the island across the water way, where we walked a short distance to the beach where we put on life vests and went for a short 4 mile paddle in a kayak and this was done as a large group of 10 to 15 boats of two. About 1/2 way around cactus Island I decided to jump into the water to cool off. Very refreshing. We then proceeded to paddle the boats back through the surf and to the beach, where we had food and drinks available to us. The group then had the option to go hiking, or swim. Lori and I decided to go swimming in the ocean, since we can go hiking anytime at home. Lori got her hair braided on the beach and I bought a hammock swing. We made it back in plenty of time to do some shipping near the port terminal.

The next morning we arrived in Puarto Viarta, where we caught a zodiac boat and took it to the small town of Boca located at N20 30.760 W105 18.949 where we then boarded some big trucks and that took us to the to the base camp for the Zip lines at N20 28.776 W105 16.044. Here we got fitted with equipment and got on some mules to take us to the top of the mountain where we did about 12 different zip lines ranging anywhere from 50 feet with a angle of 50 degrees to 600 feet with a much less angle. The first several zip lines are above the jungle trees and have a great view and maybe 300 feet down to the ground. After about 7 different zip lines we then rappelled down a waterfall into a crisp clean pool of water. A couple of more zip lines then we walk out onto a platform over a waterfall and do a free fall rappel. The last zip line is set up as two, so two people can race across the 500 foot canopy covered run. You get going about 50 mph at the fastest part, this was such a rush, and once again worth every $$. The pictures that their photographer took sell for a couple $100.00 for a CD. They do not print pictures there, but you get a CD.

The next two days at sea started with the captain getting on the intercom to announce that we would be pulling into Cabo San Lucas to drop off someone that needs medical attention. Some elderly lady was walking on the deck and apparently slipped and broke her hip. So, we pulled in to the bay and dropped a lifeboat that they loaded her into and drove her to a waiting ambulance and the boat returned and we headed back out to sea.

We were in Long Beach on time on Sunday morning where we elected to take our own bags off the ship rather than having the valet service do it. We were one of the first off the boat and were heading to Six Flags for the day. We got there 10 minutes before it opened.

Let me say this about Six Flags Magic Mountain. If you are going there for any other reason than roller coasters, you will be very disappointed. It is full of teen agers and dirty. There is gum everywhere from people spitting it out and even throw-up on some of the ride platforms. They have about 12 good roller coasters and it costs $60 to get in plus $15 to park. Weigh your options before going. We did have fun riding the rides and some scared me to death (X2 ride).

Over all a great vacation, and now back to catching up on all the work.

Race Report for Cactus Cha-Cha 2008

2008-10-11T14:34:00.006-07:00

The race was great, it started off cold (for us thin blooded humans). It started off almost on time. First Lori was part of the 5K wave, and she did awesome. She ran the entire time, with out her ankle giving her any trouble.
The called the 7 miler group to the start and I headed for the middle of the pack. Chad headed for the back of the pack. Within 1/4 mile Chad had passed me, so I just paced my self off of him. We got to a sign that indicated it was 1 mile for the mini-cha-cha. They take an additional loop so it was only about .7 miles in for us. It caught some people off guard that there was the first mile. I continued to pace behind Chad for a few more minutes, then I continued to pass him up the hill. I never looked back for him after that, I just focused on running the best I can for the entire time. At about mile 3.2 we encounter 4 switchbacks and the person that was following behind me asked if I was going to run the entire way up. I said "you bet I am" I then asked the only person in front of me if they were going to run up them and the person just got out of the way and I took off up them. At about 3\4 of the way up, I came upon a large group of people that were briskly walking so I just fell in behind them for about one minute. When I crested they all seemed to pull off to catch their breath, and I took off down the other side of the mountain. I was out of the technical area and along a flat area, so I looked down at the distance and it read 4.88 miles, then BOOM, down I go. Got the knee and wrist banged up, but I do not think I missed a beat, I was up and going, only this time focusing on the trail. I then came across the finish line at 1:12:58. 5 minutes better than last year and a new PR for me. Oh yea, Wes I did beat Chad, but that will be short lived (I will gloat in the mean time).

In the morning I head to this:

To go here:

The deep FREEZE Arizona style

2008-10-10T07:41:00.003-07:00

I was reading our local trashy newspaper, and here is what is heading our way:

If you have been waiting patiently for fall, your perfect weekend has arrived.
Today will be warm, but it all begins to change on Saturday when cool weather - yes, actually cool - rolls into the Valley from the north.

High temperatures Saturday and Sunday will remain in the 70s, according to the National Weather Service. The last time a weekend stayed below 80 degrees was in March.

Last night I went for a run with Chad to stretch our legs, before the Cactus Cha Cha run on Saturday. With the forecast, I will need to find my parka and Yacktracks for the early morning run. I think we will hang out with Chad and Julie on Saturday and Sunday before we get snowed in, we will head for Mexico.

Just keep swimming

2008-10-09T09:45:00.005-07:00

Last night, we went to the gym for a swim. we did 700 yards. Lori wants me to start swimming, to help build my cardio and as a preventive measure for injury. I need a goal for most activities that I get involved in, so I found a training plan that is 0 to 1760 yards in 8 weeks. It has me swimming 3 days a week, starting with 700 yards 4@100, 4@50, and then 4@25 with no more than 15 seconds rest between each set. For the most part, I did well, and then hit the spa. We started packing for the cruise, and I think I packed more workout clothes than any other clothes. I even packed The Stick and the Trigger Point roller and ball. Tonight Lori and I are getting together with Chad for a run, should be a great evening with the weather, etc.

My friend Michelle has given me an "I Heart Your Blog" award!

Thanks a lot, Michelle!!!

This comes with another responsibility: to post another six random facts about myself and "tag" another six bloggers with some blogging love.

Here goes nothing:
1) I have OCD, Once I get something going, I do not let it go.
2) I LOVE politics, you know there is the right way and the wrong way to look at things.
3) I have a slight fear of snakes, I can look at them in a cage, and even hold them if they are handed to me, but I fear comming across one in the wild. I am prepared for when it does happen, I know what to do and that is to get Chad between the snake and I.
4) I hated school until I went for my master(s) degrees. From grade school through college I was happy with just a passing grade, and they were not all passing. My first graduate degree I graduated with a 3.2 gpa and my MBA I graduated with a 3.8 gpa.
5) If I could go back to school, I probably would choose Law school.
6) I am the black sheep of the family.

So there you have it.

I am hereby tagging:1) Bob2) Chad3) Julie4) Lisa5) Pat and6) Poke

Weight loss in the wrong direction

2008-10-08T06:15:00.013-07:00

First off, the food intake has not change, and the exercise has only increased and I gained 5 lbs since Friday. Now for the truth behind the numbers, DRUGS (Legal prescription drugs). I am one of the many people each year that seeks treatment for ADHD each year. I have been taking medication for about 4 years now, and the drug I have been on has a side effect of weight gain, high heart rate, excessive sweating, etc. About a month and a half, I started a reduction of the quantity I was taking and started to see results on the scale, with minimal effects, which was good. As of a week or so ago, I had eliminated the medication. The results were a successful/failure type of results. I was short tempered, dizzy, shakey (more than normal), and the weight was pouring off. Saturday, I got to the point where I had to go back onto the medication. I followed up with my Dr. yesterday and he had some good news for me. He is removing all his patients that take the drug I am on, and changing them over to a new drug, that does not have the side effects of the old one. Needless to say, I am optimistic and happy. I started the new drug today, and will see how it does over the next month. He also wanted me to follow up with a local Internal Medicine Dr (that he goes to) to have my metabolism, cholesterol, and other checkups, to make sure that we do everything possible to get me in top mental/physical shape.

I know that you are thinking that this is maybe TMI, but I wanted to share this with you, and get some frustration off my shoulders.

Another slide in the right direction.

2008-10-03T09:03:00.005-07:00

New Book for the Vacation in 9 days:

This morning, I weighed in at 186.8 (187) and only 9 days to go till I go on vacation.
I lost 10LBS in the last 18 days.

Last night, I got with the running group and knocked out 7.63 miles in 81minutes. I ended up burning 1341 calories :)

Here is what I did yesterday:
Run:
7.63 miles

Food Intake:
Honey Bunches of Oates: 130 Calories
Milk: 60 calories
Cliff Bar: 240 calories
Salad w/ South Beach Italian Dressing: 100 calories
Carrots: 25 calories
Celery: 35 calories
Sugar Free Jello w/fruit: 50 calories
Almonds: 50 calories
Redvines: 420 calories
Beef Tip Meat: 200 calories
Steamed Veggies: 70 calories
Water: LOTS AND LOTS
================================
Total: 1380 calories

Final Result (This morning), 187 lbs. 17 to go
Total Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) (2129) - 1380(Consumed) = 749 deficit
Total Calories burned exercising = 1341
Total FAT Calories used = 2090

Moving down the scale again

2008-10-02T10:35:00.004-07:00

This morning, I weighed in at 188.0 and only 10 days to go till I go on vacation. I would like to be at 180 by next Sunday morning, but we will see what the big man wants for me.

Last night, I was able to kick some dirt and scored 5 miles in 50 minutes. For those of you in congress or our banking industry and can not do any math, that would be a 10 minute mile pace per mile. I ramped up the pace to see how the calories would pay out. I ended up burning 755 calories :)

Here is what I did yesterday:
Run: 5 miles

Food Intake:
Honey Bunches of Oates: 120 Calories
Milk: 60 calories
Cliff Bar: 240 calories
Oatmeal to go: 220 calories
Tomatoes: 25 calories
Celery: 35 calories
Apples X 2: 70 calories
Almonds: 150 calories
Cheese (laughing cow) X 2: 70 calories
Banana: 90 calories
Carrots: 50 calories
Hershey's miniature chocolate: 125 cal

South Beach Turkey Dinner: 240 Calories
Water: LOTS AND LOTS================================

Total: 1490 calories

Final Result (This morning), 188 lbs. 5 down and 18 to go.
Total Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) (2129) - 1490(Consumed) = 639 deficit

Total Calories burned exercising = 755
Total FAT Calories used = 1394

Flat Line Day

2008-10-01T09:49:00.008-07:00

When I got on the scale this morning, it showed a little less than yesterday, but basically the same 189. I did return my shoes AGAIN to REI. I got home and realized they gave me a pair of 4E width, so I went back and got a normal width.

Here is what I did yesterday:

Run: 5 miles

Food Intake:

Oatmeal Pancakes X2: 283 Calories

Jelly: 100 calories

Egg: 70 calories

Carrots: 35 calories

Chicken Breast: 185 calories

Yogurt: 100 calories

Apples X 3: 105 calories

Banana: 108 calories

Healthy Choice Chicken Dinner: 290 calories

Milk: 90 calories

Cliff Bar: 250 calories

Recees Peanut Butter Cup (1 cup): 130 Calories

Water: LOTS AND LOTS
================================
Total: 1746 calories

Final Result (This morning), 189 lbs. 4 down and 19 to go.

Total Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) (2129) - 1746(Consumed) = 383 deficit
Total Calories burned exercising = 732

Total FAT Calories used = 1115

I did drop .5 lbs, but rounding has left me the same as yesterday for the weight loss.

Here are some of the more fun foods that some of us love and their caloric values:

Candy Corn: 20 pieces, 140 calories, 36 grams of carbs, and 28 grams of sugar !

Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll: 730 calories, 24 grams of fat, 114 grams of carbs, 1.5 grams of fiber !!!

I hope that none of you are picking up a 6 pack of Cinnabon Cinnamon rolls for a lunchtime snack.

Here we go for another good week

2008-09-30T08:19:00.005-07:00

I went to REI yesturday and returned my trail running shoes that caused the blister and picked up the old trusty Asics 2130's.

The Blister is feeling much better and was able to get in a run last night.

Here is the results from yesterday:

Run: 5.0 miles along the canal, avg pace 11:59

Eat:

Honey Nut Cheerios: 120 cal

Milk: 45 cal

Apple: 35 cal

Carrots: 50 cal

Yogurt: 100 cal

Celery: 35 cal

Bread with Almond Butter: 320

Hershey's miniature chocolate: 125 cal

2 Apples: 70 cal

Chicken Breast grilled: 210 cal

Almonds: 100 cal

Water: LOTS AND LOTS

================================

Total: 1209 calories

Final Result (This morning), 189.0 lbs. 4 down and 19 to go.

Total Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) (2129) - 1209(Consumed) = 920 deficit

Total Calories burned exercising = 813

Total FAT Calories used = 1733

Weekend from Hell

2008-09-29T11:16:00.003-07:00

Well it all started on Thursday night run, some time during the 7+ miles, I managed to get a blister the size of a quarter on the arch of my foot. This really started to bother me on Friday to where I was walking on the side of my foot to avoid it. I did not get any running in this weekend because of it.
Saturday morning I drove out to the trails for Chad to run with Lori to show her the course for her 3 mile trail run in a couple of weeks. I stayed at the van and played with the little one that came with us. I ended up doing yard work the rest of the day.
Sunday in short it was Groceries, yard work, birthday party for Kimberly's friend, then to Chad and Julies place for Turkey dinner. Julie out did her self again.
On the weight loss front, I back tracked a couple of lbs from Friday morning. The weekends are the hardest for me on the diet front, but I did fair ok considering what I consumed.

Another Big Day

2008-09-26T07:56:00.005-07:00

Here is the results from yesterday:Run: 7.45 miles along the canal, avg pace 11:49
Total Miles for the Week 33.75

Eat:
Ezekiel 4:9 Cinnamon Raisin Cereal: 190 cal
Milk: 45 cal
Grapes: 110 cal
Tomatoes: 16 cal
Yogurt: 100 cal
Celery: 35 cal
Oatmeal to Go: 200 cal
Cupcake (Kimberly made it): 300 cal
2 Apples: 70 cal
Chicken Breast grilled: 170 cal
Cheese Bread: 170 cal
Stir Fry Veggies: 35 cal
Almonds: 100 cal
Water: LOTS AND LOTS
================================
Total: 1541 calories
Final Result (This morning), 189.0 lbs. 4 down and 19 to go.

Total Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) (2129) - 1541 (Consumed) = 588 deficit
Total Calories burned exercising = 1405
Total Calories used = 1993

Moving in the right direction

2008-09-25T08:22:00.004-07:00

Here is the results from yesterday:
Run: 5 miles along the canal

Eat:
Organic Grain Shop Cereal 1/2 cup w/ skim milk: 200 cal
Grapes: 100 cal
Apple: 60 cal
Albacore Tuna: 90 cal
Yogurt: 100 cal
Apple: 60 cal
Celery: 35 cal
Cheese Stick: 100 cal
Turkey Burger w/ cheese: 185 cal
Corn: 150 cal
Baskin Robins Strawberry Ice cream cone: 265 cal (220 for ice cream and 45 for the cone)

Water: LOTS AND LOTS

================================

Total: 1345 calories

Final Result (This morning), 190.2 lbs.

Total RMR (2129) - 1345 = 784 deficit
Total Calories burned exercising = 952
Total Calories used = 1736

And The Race is ON.

2008-09-24T08:08:00.005-07:00

Well, on the last post, I intentionally left out the part of the competition that Chad and I have. We have a bet of who ever gets to 170 lbs first, gets treated by the other person to a dinner at:

I guess the best way to look at it is, we are both going to get sea food. Well, I am going to be using this blog to track my progress on both the input and exercise aspect of the weight loss.

Here is the results from yesterday:
Run: 5 miles along the canal

Eat:
Organic Grain Shop Cereal 1/2 cup w/ skim milk: 200 cal
Cheese Stick: 90 cal
Cheese Stick: 90 cal
Carrots: 50 cal
Albacore Tuna: 90 cal
Yogurt: 100 cal
Apple: 60 cal
Hershey's miniature chocolate: 125 cal
Grapes: 50 cal
Pork roast: 220 cal
Corn: 150 cal
Water: LOTS AND LOTS
================================
Total: 1225 calories

Final Result (This morning), 191.2 lbs.

According to my RMR Assessment my base caloric burn a day is 2129 and not to fall below 1200 calories a day intake. So in theory I saved 1000 calories from my diet and burned 700 calories running.
Total deficit is around 1700 or .5 lbs of fat.

What is happening in my life

2008-09-23T14:42:00.002-07:00

Here is where I am and where I am heading. With a little luck, prayers, and lots of mileage and little calories, etc. I should make it. I was only able to complete 12 of the 24 miles on Friday night, I was having some stomach issues, but I made the best of a bad situation. Saturday, I went out at night for a nice 5 mile run along the canal near my house (my new running trail). Sunday, I went to Lifetime Fitness and swam with Kimberly and then I hit the weights and machines. Yesterday I was able to get to the gym again and did a 30 minute warm up and then worked out with the family on our upper body. Tonight is another 5 mile canal run. I have also been watching what I am eating more closely and making sure that I am burning more than I put into the system each day.
I did register for the Cactus Cha Cha 7 mile trail run on Oct 11th. I ran the race last year in 1:18, and I expect to do about the same time this year. I am not out there to break any records, just to be healthy and happy. I do leave the next day for a 7 day Mexico cruise, so I do not want to be too sore.

Running and training

2008-09-18T13:36:00.002-07:00

The past two weeks I have been able to average between 7 and 13 miles per run. Friday night, I will be doing a 24 mile training night time run with some people from the South West Valley running group. I finally found a group of runners that live near me that run together several times a week. It seems to be assisting me in getting out in the warm weather more. I also picked up a pair of Salomon Wings trail running shoes. I am looking forward to breaking these in.

Weekend run worth a million words

2008-09-02T13:36:00.004-07:00

Friday we drove up to Kingman, AZ for the long weekend, Since it was my sons birthday and he loves seafood, we took him to Laughlin, NV for the Friday night Seafood Buffet. He was in heaven. Saturday I got up around 4am and got ready to run the 16 miles from my in-laws house to the cabin. I was able to complete the 16 miles in 4:47 which was not too bad for a long slow run. Oh yea there is 3000 feet elevation change from start to finish. I got the garmin out and turned it on and it told me that the battery is low. Oh well I put it up and headed out for the run. The first .75 miles was completely dark and no street lights, I knew where I was going so it was not too bad, actually enjoyable to run in the dark. I then ran along Route 66 for a couple of miles. Then the foothills came into play, they were just fine no more than a 5% elevation gain. I would run for 15 minutes and walk for 5 minutes. Once I got a couple of hours into the run I stopped by some distant in-laws house and refilled my water bottles. From their house the next four miles turned into a brisk walk/hike because it gets to be a 15% elevation gain and that makes it tough to run. I finally to to the top of the mountain and the last mile down the other side was fun, and could feel it on my legs as I ran down the steep slope. I got to the cabin and called Lori and she indicated that her dad was already on his way up to the cabin and she was heading up shortly. I decided to stretch and relax till they got there. I will definitely do this run many more times.

Missing in Action on the running trails

2008-08-22T09:16:00.002-07:00

Back on the 10th when I was handing out the race numbers for the Summer Series 5K, I came across this lonely race number of someone that did not show up. Rumors are circulating that he has also been absent from the Gym. If you see this individual, please contact the local authorities.

As for me, I was able to do a lot of hill training and HOT weather training. I ended up getting bored during one of the sessions, so I went for a six mile hill workout and the weather man on the radio indicated it was 109 outside. I feels like home. I did my other hill workouts in the early mornings while I was in Lake Las Vegas. Monday, I did a nice 10 mile run and today I did a short five mile run.

I am alive and kicking or RUNNING

2008-08-10T16:32:00.004-07:00

Well work took a turn for the work. It is feeling like a real job. Enough of that, Here is what I have been up to over the past too long.
I finished the 2 month fitness challenge and I lost 15lbs and 6% body fat. I am working on getting fit and a lower body fat.

I have also completed all five Summer Series 5K's and I am now officially scheduled for running the Across the Years on December 31st. I will be doing the 24 hours run and looking forward to going as far as I can in that time. Prior to that I will be doing either the Mad Dog 50K or the Javelina Jundred 100 mile run. After the ATY, I will start training for a run from the South rim of the Grand Canyon to the North rim and back to the South rim in one day (total 50 miles).
Right now I am at Lake Las Vegas at the Ritz Carlton for a conference and that will give me some time to catch up on some blogging, reading, and running.

Motovational Trail Running Video

2008-06-26T08:34:00.001-07:00

Weight Loss Continues...

2008-06-24T06:58:00.002-07:00

Well, the past three weeks, we (Lori and I) have been working out with a personal trainer, with the objective of fat loss as our goal. We weighed in yesturday and I have dropped 5 LBS and 3% body fat. We will take the assumption that the calipers are accurate... What this means to me being that I weigh in the neighborhood of 200lbs is, I lost 6LBS of fat (3%) and gained 1 lb of muscle. Or something like that. Either way you look at it, I am getting fitter and thinner. I will start running again this weekend, since I have taken some time off to recover from the marathon.
My running plans for this year are several 5K's, Jerome Hill Climb, Mad Dog 50K, Across the Years 24 hour run.
We have finally moved all of our stuff to the new house, and I do not miss stairs one bit. They are fun at the gym, but not in the middle of the night.

I Am A Marathoner.....

2008-06-03T07:55:00.002-07:00

I completed the marathon, and Bob I would not except a NDF. The official time was 5:38:21 which is a PR for me. OK all first races are a PR. My mind is so fried even after two days of recovery, I will try to tell you all the highlights of it. Jess is not allowed to correct this grammar or spelling on this posting.

Started off on Saturday am when Chad picked me up and we drove 5 hours to San Diego. Stopping in Yuma AZ for breakfast. As we headed over the border to CA, I told Chad that I would hold my breath till we got back into AZ. Yea right. We were crossing the mountains in CA and saw a sign indicating "Wild life lookout ahead" and what we saw was truly wild, a couple hundred yards ahead there was some 400 lb+ guy outside his car and I said look, there is a hippo, the sign was right. OK that was probably mean, lets face it he and his kid probably keep some small food chain like McDonald's or Burger king in business.

We finally got to the expo got our race numbers, some shopping and had a seat to wait for Dean Karnazes to discuss nutrition and endurance running. What a good presentation, Chad and I got up when he started to do the QA and was first in line to his signing. When he got to the Accelerade booth we spent several minutes talking to him and even spent some time talking with his mother. Both of whom are extremely pleasant people and someone that I could hang with.

We headed to the hotel (on the beach) and grabbed a bite to eat. We elected to do a short 20 minute jog, ten out and back. We ran along the boardwalk along pacific beach and enjoyed the late afternoon sun. In short Chad's knee started hurting him and I told him that I did not need him to pace me in the morning if his knee was acting up. I would rather run solo for 26.2 miles than have him hurt his knee beyond repair. Knowing that his knee has been bothering him some in the recent past, I found the respect for him to pick up his timing chip and number earlier in the day. We both knew that he would probably would not run the entire marathon, but now the pain on his face indicated that even getting to the start would be too much.

Race morning, 16,373+ individuals at the start. (16373 finishers), PortaPotty was in full swing, and even the bushes were getting a good watering that morning from both guys and girls. I guess 50 deep waiting for a PortaPotty is not an option.

Here is my race report: Kept with the 4:45 pacer lady for 9 miles, then fell back to a heart rate of 168 - 180 (Training zone 3) which allowed me to incorporate some walking breaks. About the 1/2 way point I started to feel my knees giving me some discomfort. About mile 15 I thought I might not be able to make it to the finish, but turning back and going to the start was even further. This is where I started implementing Dean's strategy One foot in front of the other/Baby steps. I would jog for two minutes and walk for one. I make it and I felt that I could have continued for some more distance after the finish line with this strategy.

Now for the interesting sightings, with that many individuals in one place you are bound to see some interesting things. Here are the highlights:

Lady trips over trolley tracks and falls while running and Text messaging. (she deserved it)

I witnessed 5 individuals on stretchers.

One line of bushes with 45 men standing with their backs to the race, all watering the bushes.

Numerous women running behind (other) bushes to do their part in watering the bushes.

One Pamela Anderson bikini Poster

4 or 5 water stations sponsored by gay pride group (Thank you all for the entertainment)

Can we say that there was more than one Elvis sighting

One lady wearing her thong leatar over her spandex (isn't that so 80ish)

Some other lady wearing her underwear over her running shorts (non spandex)

OK Bob here you go - Lots of spandex and even several female blond officers along the route

The most inspirational sighting for the day goes out to the BLIND lady with the cane and no support crew. I hope she made it to the finish line, she rocks.

Now what is on the agenda. Well yesterday I did the chiropractor and electrical shock therapy on my back. I also got in an hour of personal training at the gym. I am actually feeling really good considering what I put my self through. I felt about the same or better after the marathon than I did the Half in January. That is progress.

I now focus on the gym and FAT loss. Lori and I have 24 personal training sessions over the next three months all geared at burning off FAT. Her doctor wants her to be doing it at least three times a week. So for this month We meet with the trainer 3 times a week for four weeks then 2 times a week for four weeks and we do one workout on our own during that time. Then the last four weeks we will meet with the trainer once a week and do two workouts on our own each week. After that we will be on our own.

Also we are moving this week starting on Thursday.

Thank all of you for cheering me on, I thought of you during the race. Steph, I thought of running with you along Friars Rd back in Oct. around mile 12-13.

San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon Here I Come.

2008-05-30T08:48:00.003-07:00

The official count down is on. With just under 46 hours, I will be running my first marathon. I have a wonderful pacer/crew that is accompanying me for as long as his knee can hold up. Chad. I did find a wonderful quote for someone that is willing to do that. "A race is just a race, but a friend who paces you is a friend for life." - Joseph Franko.

We leave in the early am tomorrow and get our packets and check out Dean Karnazes at the expo. The start of the race on Sunday is 6:30am California time. I am hoping for a 4:45 time for my first marathon, but will take anything short of a DNF.

My tapering for the race is more like a cliff, I feel that I have tapered too much, but isn't that the way it usually feels with a taper. After the race, I am focusing my attention on the gym and shedding 12% of my body fat. I have been tested and got my RMR (resting metabolism rate), VO2 max, and my actual training zones for me.

Here is a printout of the VO2 and training zones from the test.

I am looking forward to the new competition that I entered at Lifetime Fitness. That is the body fat loss challenge. I am at a 26% at the initial weigh-in. I have 2 months to shed off the most fat, and I could win the first place is a package valued at $1,900 or so of massages, personal training, Polar 200 series watch, etc. If my current weight is 204 and I want to loose 12% body fat (not factoring in new muscle) that would be about 25 pounds of fat. That would put me around 180+/- for my body weight. I honestly could care less about the weight, as much as the body fat and feel good about getting rid of the man gut. My trainer, yes there is a trainer assigned to me for the next couple of months to assist me in getting through this competition, feels that I can complete it in the two months, or be really close.

Best of luck to all the runners out there running a race this weekend, and everyone be safe.

Where has the time gone.

2008-05-06T07:07:00.002-07:00

I have been so busy for the past month, I want to apologize for not posting more. In short, here is what I have been up to.

Running - Training for marathon in less than 4 weeks.

New job assignment at work

Running a PR at the Enviro 5K at the Phoenix International Race Way (Nascar track)

Carrying the torch for the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics

Preparing to move

Company from Germany

Birthday (25th again)

Moving the wife out of her classroom

Buying a new car. 08 Honda Civic (non-hybrid)

First off the Running - This week will be my peak of 40 miles this week running with a 20 miler on Saturday at 4am.

New Job assignment. I am a computer programmer/analyst that is now assigned to support the Police Department. I did this job about 5 years ago, and they asked me back. I have been so busy; they all seem to have requests for me to do my magic for them.

Running a PR at the Enviro 5K at the track, I was able to complete the 5K in 28 minutes 8 seconds. My previous PR was 30:20 which I beat by over 2 minutes. I would like to shave another couple of minutes off it in the next several months. Ended up coming around the last curve and a bunch of kids started to try and pass me, so I took off on a sprint and passed three more people before hitting the finish line. I was so close to being the first person to throw up on the track at PIR. That would have been an honor worthy of blogging about.
Friday I ran 5 miles with Tempe Police officers for the last five miles of the Special Olympics torch run. I did learn that one of our officers is a ultra marathoner, (maybe a new mentor, we will see)

We are moving to a smaller house a couple of miles away. As Jay-say would put it is still not close enough to them. But it is about a half mile from Lifetime Fitness. We needed to move into a one story house, and reduce our mortgage pmt, because my wife will be going through some surgeries over the next year. More on this later.

A couple of years ago, my brother-in-law and his wife sponsored an exchange student from Germany, the next year had her sister come from Germany as an exchange student. Now, their parents came from Germany for a visit and they came to Arizona to see some hole in the ground, which was caused by a lot of erosion and maybe even global warming. The Grand Canyon. They stayed a couple of days at our house and were really nice people. I told them that if I come to Berlin to visit, they have to take me to all their favorite hiking trails. They are avid hikers. They also inquired about my boys going to Germany as exchange students.

Yes, I did have another birthday, and I want to say that I am 25 again. Remember that age is relative; it is what is in your mind. My id says that I am now 39, but I do not feel that old.
Part of my wife's medical issues was her moldy classroom that was sending her immune system into overdrive. With the consent of her doctor, she resigned early from teaching. Thank God for that. Since she has been home, she is feeling somewhat better.

With great sadness, I have to retire my 1996 Ford Ranger with 177,000 miles on it before it made it to 200,000. It got to the point where the repairs each month were exceeding the value of the truck. We felt it was best for me to get a new vehicle. I did my research and decided to get a Honda Civic. I am now getting 32 miles per gallon compared to 13 in my truck. The dealer did not want my truck as a trade-in that is how bad of shape it is. I would not say that it is the car of my dreams, but it is nice and economical and that was the objective we were after. Also it is automatic; I have replaced the transmission twice in my truck from being stuck in traffic 2 hours a day going to and from work.

I will try and post more than once a month from now on. Sorry about that.

Feeling Better

2008-04-12T10:21:00.003-07:00

First off I want to thank ALL of you for your words of encouragement, I really needed it lately. You guys/gals really rock, I owe you. Yesterday I did some automotive work, and was feeling tired, so I went to bed early. I got up this morning around 2:00am and was running by 2:30am. I went for a long run, and when I finally got to Chads house, I had logged 13.2 miles. I was to meet him at his house around 5:30 so we could go for a trail run at the White Tanks regional park. Once we got there we did a 7 mile trail run (very slow for me). I had logged just over 20 miles for the day. My first half marathon pace was a nice 11:27 per mile. I had my head phones on and was singing all the way. The trail run was a little different, for starters I had rested about 1 hour and the muscles were tight. I ended up walking some and had to take a couple rest stops. My average pace for the 7 miles was 14:23. The last time I ran that trail was on March 15th and I had an average pace of 12:38. So with that said I was just under one minute slower per mile today after running a half marathon. I am proud of what I accomplished today all before 8am. I am not too sore, more tired than sore, but I did read an interesting article in the paper that I thought I would share with all of you, since Ironman AZ is this weekend.

Ironman dad driven by gift of son's life
The father looks into his son's eyes and sees himself.
They're the same eyes Lamar Sepulveda looked into 24 years ago. Brave. Strong. And 3 years old.
Eyes Sepulveda at one time thought he'd never see again.
Sepulveda's son, Nick, was diagnosed with leukemia.
So, the two walked into the cancer institute at Children's Hospital of Orange County in Orange, Calif., without enough money for treatment. Thanks to donations and the hospital's fundraising, Nick was able to get the care he needed.
Now, he stands before his father at 27. Healthy. Productive. Cured.
Lamar Sepulveda, who is from West Covina, Calif., but has family roots in Fort Huachuca near Tucson, always wanted to give back but didn't know how.
He figured out how a year ago. He created the Pay It Forward Challenge.
From Saturday to Wednesday, the 50-year-old endurance athlete embarked on a 428.6-mile solo triathlon from Venice Beach, Calif., to Tempe.
He started with a 3.2-mile swim from the Venice Beach Pier to the Santa Monica Pier, then cycled 373 miles from there to his brother's home in Litchfield Park, arriving Tuesday night. The next morning, he ran a double marathon - a 52.4-mile jaunt from Litchfield Park to downtown Phoenix before running what would be the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon course to Tempe. By the time he reached downtown, he was eight hours ahead of schedule.
"We were flying," Sepulveda said on Wednesday as he sat in a makeshift ice tub in the middle of Carnegie Library Park wearing nothing but bike shorts and a grin.
Oh, by the way, he also is competing in this Sunday's 140.6-mile Ford Ironman Arizona triathlon.
Sepulveda is pushing himself through this grueling challenge to raise money for the Orange County cancer institute, the only health center in the Southwest to receive the prestigious Phase 1 clinical-trial designation from the Children's Oncology Group.
He has raised $7,500 of the targeted $59,620 so far, with 100 percent of the donations going to the cancer institute.
"I'm just so amazed at what's he's done," said Sepulveda's sister-in-law, Esther Lumm of Litchfield Park. "My husband (Randolph Lumm) can't even talk about it without tears coming into his eyes. The thing about it is that hospital doesn't just serve California, they serve the whole Southwest."
Light post to light post
The middle child of 10, Sepulveda dismisses the severe toll this journey can take on his body.
When his legs burn, his lungs gasp and his resolve wavers, he realizes it's nothing compared with the suffering experienced by his own child years ago.
So, he just goes forward. His goal is to go from light post to light post. Count the burned-out cars by Interstate 10 as he speeds past them. Remind himself to get into the bungee-cord business after seeing so many on the side of the road.
Anything to keep his mind from breaking down.
"You want to quit all the time. All the time," Sepulveda said. "But you have to get past that."
"It's not about glory," said his cousin Russell Sepulveda of Phoenix, who is also a triathlete. "Completing an Ironman is already an unbelievable goal. It's amazing to me how people find the time and dedication to do them, and for Lamar to go through this right before an Ironman, I don't think it's human."
He is nearing the end of this challenge, the completion of an objective that seemed so far away just days ago.
What has been the most satisfying part? "Of course, it's the sight of my son," Sepulveda said, his eyes starting to well, his voice beginning to crack. "To pay back the Children's Hospital. To help somebody else. It's a lot of years later, but it's something I never forgot about."
So, he keeps on going, running to the next light post and the next until he reaches his destination. Until he reaches his goal. So that maybe another father can look into the eyes he thought he would never see again.

by Odeen Domingo - Apr. 11, 2008 12:00 AM The Arizona Republic

I am fat and slow....

2008-04-10T13:34:00.004-07:00

Well I am feeling discouraged today, I went for my lunchtime run of 5 miles. During which I went by the registration tent for Ironman AZ, and most of the individuals looked so much more healthier than I am. Granted there were the skinny as a rail individuals, but most were looking rather fit.

If I was entered into IM AZ, I would need a scuba tank, because I would be the one walking along the bottom of the lake. Swimming to me is controlled drowning. Then biking for 112 miles in mid 90 degrees temps, with a seat that is small and hard as a rock giving you a 6 hour wedgie, is not for me. Then to top it off do a marathon as a cool down. I could handle that part. I will say that I hold the utmost respect for all the competitors, and wish them well. I can without hesitation say that I would rather run Badwater than do the IM. I am a runner, not a Triathlete. I am certain that I have found my calling as a runner and I am more than happy with that, even if I am slow and do not have the body of an Olympian. I am a legend in my one mind.

When I got back from my run, I learned that Pincorker had tagged me to play a little game called "six word memoir".

Here are the rules:
1) Write your own six word memoir
2) Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want
3) Link to the person that tagged you in your post, and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere
4) Tag at least five more blogs with links
5) Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

I love reading to my daughter

I reade several books to my daughter every evening before she goes to bed, this routine has been good for both of us. It gives us a bonding time that I rarely did with my older boys. Each night after we brush her teeth and she has her pajamas on, she picks out three books from her book shelf for me to read. I spend the time reading to her then tuck her into bed each night. She does not like it when I have a substitute reader for her, she wants her daddy to read to her. She is 3 now and in a couple of years, she will be reading to me. I am not sure exactly how that will play out, but I am sure we will have our time together still.

I here by tag the following individuals:

Pokey

Lana

Chad

K - Doing it for the kids

Nancy

Considered yourself tagged.

Have a safe weekend everyone.

Graduation time - come on.....

2008-04-09T09:33:00.003-07:00

Well it is official, I are graduMutated. Last night I finished up my physical therapy. It has been a long time since I injured my achilles tendon. In fact it was during the famous 9 on the 9Th race. The total cost of that event was many miles and lots of $$ to get back to normal. Thanks a lot race director Nancy. In all honesty, Nancy is a wonderful person and I would never hold her accountable for my actions.

I am now running further and slower than before. I am focused on this year's races. Other than many 5K's a half marathon, one marathon, one 50K, and who knows beyond that.

Work has kept me extremely busy, and got a new assignment supporting the Police department's computer stuff. "STUFF" is a highly technical term that means stuff. I did learn that they will not allow me to wear shorts to work, when I am there. How dare they tell me not to wear shorts, I have wonderful looking runner legs, I have been told that they are even sexy. I will have to buy more pants, since I have worn shorts all winter.

My commute is taking longer this week; there are road closures near my work. There is some small event, called IRONMAN ARIZONA happening near my work. If you remember, I run their marathon trail during my lunches. I will be avoiding this area Saturday. I do with that all the athletes that are racing this weekend to be safe and earn lots of PR's.

Race Recap

2008-04-03T11:45:00.003-07:00

Well, I completed the Laughlin 1/2 marathon this past weekend, which was as hilly as south Florida. I think the only hills were the rocks on the trail. There is like 40 feet elevation change from the start to the half way turn around. It reminded me of South Florida. I set my pace for the first half at a 10 minute mile which was about the correct pace for me. I decided on the second half to slow it down to an 11:40 minute pace and play it safe on my ankle and tendon, since it was on a dirt road. I finished the race in 2:21:58 and felt great. Afterwards we went for Mexican fajitas.

Over all, the body felt great and had a great weekend. Back to training for the RNR Marathon.

I’m back from my self-imposed sabadical

2008-03-21T10:01:00.003-07:00

Good morning everyone, I had to take a couple of weeks to get my life in line. I know have it in order and as straight as a circle. I have been running and tending to my achilles tendon. I have not had any problems with it in a couple of weeks. I have been going to Physical Therapy twice a week for strengthening and flexibility of my legs. When I first went to PT, they noticed that my legs are not the same strength or have the same flexibility and my left (injured) leg was over compensating for my right one.

I am still on the training plan for the RNR marathon in San Diego, June 1st. I have five races to do before then.

I am actually looking forward to a NEW 5K that is happening on the Phoenix International Raceway (Inaugural Enviro 5K) on April 26th. You actually get to run on the PIR track. My wife is also going to run this race with me.

Last night after dinner, I went for my 5 mile run at a 10:32 minute pace, and is feeling good.

Happy Easter to everyone and do not eat too much chocolate this weekend.

Ragnar Del Sol Relay Race Report for Team Chances for Children

2008-03-02T23:55:00.004-07:00

Here is the long version of what occurred during my adventure of representing the Chances for Children Charity in the Ragnar Del Sol Relay Series. So, it is my recommendation to get comfortable, sit back and come along with me on my journey.

The Alarm went off at 5am; I tried to keep to my usual routine of getting ready for a typical day, even though this was a day that was anything but ordinary. Our first vehicle of 6 runners was to meet at Bass Pro Shop in Mesa, near where the finish line at 7:30 am and drive to the start. So I decided to leave around 6:00 am. With the van all packed with Gatorade, towels, flashlights, reflective vests, I thought to my self “Am I missing anything for the race?” Oh, Yea my toothbrush. This was the first time I had to take a toothbrush to a race. Even an Ironman race would finish long before we would come across the finish line. So, Off I went to pick up the rest of the crew. At 7:30 AM we were all loaded up and ready. We had a full tank of gas, luggage, videos, ice chest, water jug, junk food, etc. We started driving for about 90 minutes to the start of the race in Wickenburg AZ. We got checked in, got our running shirts (They are awesome long sleeve blue shirts), goody bags, and race numbers. We are team 150. There were 151 total teams entered, and we entered our team on the last day to enter a team in the race.

Let me explain to you about the race before we get started on the run. The race is a total of 181 miles from start to finish. Based upon your teams (12 members in our case) projected time per mile to complete the race they place you in a start group. The slowest teams started at 9am, we were set to go at 10:00am, with an average of 10:00 minute per mile speed. The fastest teams left at 6:00pm (8 hours after us, freaks). At different transitions, if you arrived too early you would be penalized time, but with starting an hour after the slowest teams, we did not have to worry about that at transitions 6 and 12, but it was possible that we would have to slow down at transition 18 because that is where it is statistically for the faster teams to really catch up and pass the slower teams. From that point on, it would be impossible for our team to be too early. Van 1 (my van) carried runners 1 thru 6 and Van 2 carried runners 7 thru 12. Runner 1 would run segments 1, 13, 25; runner 2 would run segments 2, 14, and 26, and so on all the way to the end.

At 10 am, Stan (our first runner) started and was out the gate with a great pace, the other five of us piled in the van and headed out to find a location a couple of miles up the road to pull over and wait for him to cheer him on. We tried to do this every couple of miles. After 5.2 miles he came into the first transition area and passed the armband off to Beth (our second runner). She is lightning fast, and flew past several other runners on her 7.2 miles of running up and down (Total Elevation loss/Gain of 267 feet and Loss of 317 feet) she finally made it to the second transition. Jeff took Leg 3 where he also passed a couple of individuals and made his 5.9 miles (-167/+215 Loss/Gain) segment look like a walk in the park down Highway 74. We pulled into Exchange 3 and waited for him to come down the road. It was now my turn to show the team what I am made of, yea right.

Jeff handed off the armband to me and I was off for my lovely 5.6 mile (-239/+135) run at 12:03 PM. I was figuring that this would take me the better part of an hour. It turned out to be a great sunny afternoon around the low 80’s with just a hint of white clouds in the air and all the beautiful cacti (that is plural for cactus) all around. I never ran along a highway before, so I did not have any idea to expect. First word of wisdom, Never litter, you don’t know who might be running on the side of the road. The only bad part of this run is that my feet got num because I had my shoes tied too tight, oops. The cars were passing by and I would wave back to them. I was really fun to run on such a beautiful day. I came across the transition in 54:33 minutes. I did get my heart rate up to 193, but my average was only 155, it must have been one of those hills. I was so glad to be done with my first segment of the race, I tried to use a Shot block, and it did not seem to help me on this run.

I handed off the arm band to Gary who had a 5.8 mile (-365/+217) run. He seemed to do quite well, as we made the two stops to cheer him on and then made it to the fifth exchange where we would watch him come in. His final 2.5 miles were down hill and when he came across the exchange, he was foaming at the mouth and totally spent. The spring weather had caught up to him and he still did one hell of a run. After several minutes of resting and bathroom, ext. we were able to get on with our adventure. John had now taken the armband and was headed for a brutal hilly run of 4.7 miles (-603/+554). John claims to be a casual runner, but he runs like a wild man. He never slows down, never drank any fluids, and was a great asset to the team. His leg of the race ended at the Lake Pleasant Regional Park where we met up with the rest of the Team (Van 2). When John came through the shoot at the transition, runner number 7 from van 2 took off and van 1, now had some well deserved rest, before meeting up with van 2 around 9:00 PM. I do not have much to discuss about van 2, I was not there, but I want to say that all the individuals of van 2, (Mark, Rebecca, James, Vicky, Diana, and Margaret) thank you for participating in the race with me and making this experience ever so memorable.

Van 1 left the park and headed into Scottsdale, where we had reserved a hotel room. We checked in and took turns showering and getting a clean pair of running clothes on. Thank you for showering, I really appreciated it. We then headed out to get some dinner in us. We ended up at PF Chang on Scottsdale Rd in North Scottsdale. I got to use my gift card from the Rock and Roll marathon. I had Cashew chicken and that was just what the doctor ordered. How ever several hours later a couple of nameless individuals indicated that Chinese food was probably not the best suggestion for them during a race. I will take note of that for next year. We went back to the hotel and rested and watched some ESPN, remember we are in a race. Stan decided to leave a present for van 2 when they got to the room while we were running. He TP’d the room for them. We thought about short sheeting the beds, but we did not do it. Oh, yea Jeff’s mom flew in from Seattle to see him and drove up to our hotel to see him for a couple of minutes before heading to his place. It was a pleasure to meet Jeff’s mom, she is a nice lady. I got a call from Mark that Van 2 had completed the 10th leg of the race and had two more to go. So we headed out to the 12th transition. When we got to the transition at a junior high school, there were people who were sleeping in the parking lot in sleeping bags and the gym was also open to sleep in there also for $5.00 and they let you use a mat to sleep on. There was even a couple of girl scouts there selling their cookies. Who can resist those little cookies?

Shortly after arriving, van 2 drove in and their runner was just down the street and making good time. When they handed the armband to Stan, there was only a hand full of teams in front of us. I do not recall the exact time, but I am guessing it was around 8 PM. Stan took off for his 7.2 miles (-116/+537) with John on the bike following him, and the rest of us got in the van and headed down the road, we pulled into an area across the road from the Boulders Resort in Cave Creek, AZ. They were doing some great time considering it is dark out and few if any street lights. Shortly after they padded Stan’s light fell and hit the ground and broke, so he took the light off the bike and continued running. We loaded the bike on the back of the van and started to leap frog with the runner which seemed to work very well. We would drive ahead of the runner till they were a ways behind us, but we could still see their light, and wait for them to pass us. We continued to do this till they were about 2 miles from the exchange and then we would need to get the next runner there so they could be prepped to run. Stan then handed the armband off to Beth and she took off for a 6.8 mile (-561/+0) down Pima Road and turned left at Lone Mountain Rd. Both roads were pretty level but a constant downhill slope, so we were able to keep her in sight all the time. She made it to the transition 14 and Jeff was on his way to conquer his 6.9 mile (-254/216) segment. While he was running we needed to fill the van up with gas. We did get him his water and GU at mile 4 of his leg. We then made it along to Exchange 15 and I am now up.

Jeff handed off the armband to me at 11:42 PM, I headed off into the dark residential neighborhood for my 6.0 mile (-259/214). One of the first things I did was to shut off the music and took off the headset to enjoy the quiet night. I had to make it through a maze of dirt streets and almost twisted my ankles several times, so I slowed down some to compensate for that till I got into some solid ground. I looked at my watch just as it turned 12:00am. I am running straight through two months? That almost sounds odd. Anyways, back to the race, the van took a wrong turn and they finally found me, and leapfrogged for the remainder of the run. I did have them hold my water bottle till I got 3 miles into the run which freed up my hands and was a nice change to not run with the water. They then headed to the next transition while I finished the last three miles. There I was running solo again and it was great, I even took the opportunity to run down the middle of the road. I think I went about 15 minutes without seeing any signs of life. What a total thrill. I ended up getting to transition 16 in 62 minutes for an average pace of 10:20.

We called the Van 2 and told them that we were on schedule to get to transition 18 at or before 2:15 AM. This is the time that we could not arrive before without getting penalized for getting there too early. I was really feeling good about the run. Handed the armband off to Gary and he had a nice 4.4 mile (-146/+277) run and it had some street lights and sidewalks. He seemed to have recovered from his earlier run and made it seem like a walk in the park. He got to transition 17 and handed it off to our hard core runner John. He took off up Pima road and turn onto Happy Valley RD. We got into the van and after getting situated, we drove up Pima and looked for him, we then turned onto Happy Valley and drove up a mile and no sign of him. We discussed the possibility of him missing the turn. We turned around and headed up Pima and found him a mile up the road, we pulled over in front of him and he passed us. We had to yell at him to stop. We had him get into the van and drove him back to the intersection where he missed the turn. The sign to turn was in the middle of a bunch of construction signs. We then headed to transition 18 which was in the parking lot of Pinnacle Peak Patio restaurant. We set up Gary about 200 yards down the road from the transition, to stop John so he would not enter the shoot before 2:15am. We were the third team to leave transition 17 and john passed one of teams ahead of us with ease early on. The team in front of us went through the shoot before the allocated time and had to wait there till 4 AM. I asked the official what time she had and she indicated she had 2:14, so I sent a runner down to let them know to come on in. We crossed the shoot at 2:15:10 and were now in first physical place.

Remember that some teams left 8 hours before us and were probably eating up our times like cheerios. We liked looking at it as we were in physical first place. Van 2 got some rest and food in them and was ready to make it happen. Van 1 drove back to the hotel and showered and laid down for a quick rest. Van 2 did not pull any pranks on us, they were really nice. I called Van 2 and told them to call us when they finished their fourth segment. We got the dreaded call about 4:30 am. We packed up and headed up to Fountain Hills Middle School. When they finished their segments our team was still in FIRST PLACE.

Stan took off running and a team of Air Force personnel from Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson. They had on the side of their van “Either you are in first or you are last” We will make them eat those words (they started at 1PM, 3 hours after us) I figured if we could keep up with them, we were doing well. Stan wan on his last leg of the race and got to run around the famous lake and fountain in Fountain Hills. If you are not familiar with the fountain, check Guinness book of world records for the largest fountain. The Air Force team was able to pass Stan with only one mile left in his leg.

Once Stan handed off the armband to Beth for her 6.4 mile (-268/+271) run, the sun was starting to come up so there was now no need for lights or reflective vests. Beth took off after the lead and her leg was down hill for just about all 268 feet elevation and then back up the rest of the way. She flew down Beeline highway after the other team. As we watched her from across the highway we all commented on what wonderful running form she has. With just about a half mile to go on her leg, as she turned off the highway she passed the Air Force team member, (right in front of his entire team). She got to the exchange and Jeff then had to complete his 5.5 mile (-358/+559) very hard run along dirt roads. On one of the hills that he was running up we were passing him in the van and we were spinning the tires just to get up the steep grade. Jeff never faltered or stopped to walk the entire time. We then pulled up to exchange 26 and my turn to run.

As I put the van in park behind the SUV, I looked at the custom plate and it was like????MO…. Could that be Mo’s SUV…? I then look up and there she is smiling at me. I could not help myself but to get out and give her a big hug. It was so exciting to see someone that I know at this point in the race. We talked for just a moment and Jeff came up over the hill and handed off the armband to me. That is the last I saw of Mo for the rest of the race. Thank you, Mo for volunteering for the race and giving me some words of encouragement. I was off for my 4.3 mile (-123/+401) run, I am physically in first place, what a rush it is knowing that there is no one in front of you and 150 people chasing after you. I will never forget that moment. I got down boot hill and turned up beeline highway. I decided to give it everything I had for the next 4 miles. I wanted to continue at a good pace of about 10 minute miles, with the incline that I have never run before, I was set. After about 5 minutes of running up the incline, something blew past me with orange shoes, two long legs, and one skinny body. At first you would think to try to keep up with someone that just past you, but I did not skip a beat and even think about that, I knew better. About 2 minutes later my teammates came by and told me to ignore that person, and my response was WHAT PERSON???? I finally made it up the hill after a total of 39 minutes since I left the exchange. There were three sheriff officers that stopped all the traffic on the highway for me to cross without even slowing down. Thank you, mister officer for doing stopping traffic for me. I then had about a half mile of running down Bush highway towards Saguaro Lake. The road was under construction and I ended up running in the road with traffic coming towards me. It sounds worse than it was, with all the construction workers and police the traffic was not going very fast. I then got about 500 yards from the exchange and saw the volunteers that radio ahead the number on the individual coming in to the exchange so the team can be ready for the hand off. I will say that the last half mile was average paces of 8:37 with the last 100 yards being a sub 8 minute pace. I wanted to end on a strong note and I did. My 4.3 miles took 44:31 with all the elevation change.

I then handed the arm band to Gary who was off for his final 4.9 mile (-491/+87) almost five miles of down hill. He did survive, but his quads were to say the least a little tender when he finally passed the arm band off to John for his last 2 miles (-150/+0) which was a cake walk for him. Once he took off we had to make a mad dash to the transition 30 to watch the handoff to the Van 2. He must have flew down that hill, we barely got there to see him hand it off.

Once runner from the other van was off and running we took a couple of pictures and headed back to the finish line to wait for them to get there. We got back to Bass Pro Shop and decided to get some breakfast. We went to Denny’s and then went to the finish line. We got there about 11:45am and that team that had blown by me earlier in the morning on the highway was already finished. They finished in like 17 hours or something (Freaks). They did have free massages and I was the second in line for one, I told the lady that we were going to kidnap her for our personal masseuse for the race next year. Called the Van 2 and found out that they were about 10 minutes out and wanted one of us to run and find John who was running the last leg and run in with him for moral support. So two of us ran and found him with just about .3 miles to go and he looked very warn out and glad to see John and I. We then coached him to the finish line, gave him encouraging words and he picked up his pace to where I could barely keep up with him. We got to about 100 yards from the finish line and the rest of the team joined us in running across the finish line as one big group. We got a group picture with most of the team there, got our metals and had a few laughs. We ended up being the sixth team to cross the finish line and it only took us 27 hours and 11 minutes. In the end we ended up being the 15th place for the open male division and 80th overall. But to the twelve of us, we are champions.

I want to thank all my team mates for making this experience of my life possible, you all did awesome. Most of all I want to thank the Ragnar Relay Series and Chances For Children charity for allowing me to run on your team.

I will post pictures in the next couple of days.

Race Report in Brief...

2008-03-02T08:31:00.002-07:00

As I collect what thoughts I still remember here is the short of it.

27HOURS 11 MINUTES
181 MILES
6TH TEAM TO CROSS THE FINISH LINE.
80TH PLACE

Eric

Final run before the race

2008-02-27T07:38:00.002-07:00

Last night I did a quick 3 mile run at race pace and it went off without any problems. NO pain or aches. Maybe lack of nutrition/hydration, but that was not the focus.
Our team starts the race at 10am and I will run somewhere around 1:30pm. We are getting a hotel room to crash in and I will try to post updates at that time. If not you will get the entire recap of the race over the weekend.

On the road to recovery with Cliff Shot Blocks

2008-02-26T08:13:00.004-07:00

This weekend, I was able to get in a 4 and a 5.5 mile run in. Both felt good and the times were about what I want for my marathon pace 10:45. I am still taking it slow for recovery, however on Friday I got my new shoes and heel lifts, which was a world of difference. I went into Road Runner Sports and returned the trail shoes without any problem and got a pair of Asics Evolution 3. I was in and out of the store in about 5 minutes.

When I was checking out I saw Cliff Shot Block Strawberry. I picked up a couple of bags, since I never tried them before. Some of you have mentioned them before and I figured what the heck, I will pick up a couple of bags of them and give them a try, since I am not a big fan of gels. Even though my difference is down for recovering from injury, I tried them on my run on Sunday and I loved them, they are awesome. I did not even get my hands sticky. I started comparing them with gels and here is what I found.

Cliff Shot Blocks: Cliff Shot Gel:

Carbs: 24mg 25mg

Potassium: 20mg 30mg

Sodium 70mg 40mg

Fats 0.0 0.0

Sugar 12mg 8mg

The numbers are pretty comparative, except for the sodium which is ok with me, since being in AZ during the summer you need the sodium. I did see that they have a cola, lemon lime, and Pina Colada flavor. I wonder if the Pina Colada has anything to do with their winery. Wrong alcohol, oh well, I will have to find a location that carries them in those flavors.

Saturday I ended up back at Road Runner Sports and ran into Pokey and company. You know you are becoming a runner when you know people at the running store. I got the little boy a pair of running shoes and grandma picked up a pair of walking shoes. We also went by the park where the Ragnar Del Sol race will end this weekend. How can you go by a park and not let the kids play on the equipment and feed the ducks. I try to be a good dad. We then went to Bass Pro Shop. The boys have never been there, and they were in heaven.

I will do a couple of easy runs this week, in preparation for the race on Friday. We start at 10 am and will finish around 1:30pm on Saturday. I will take some pictures of the crew as we run for the Chances for Children Charity.

Another successful Run

2008-02-22T11:32:00.002-07:00

Well last night, I stretched and went for another slow run. I made the two miles with little pain. I get my heal lifts today, and returning my shoes to roadrunner sports, the Dr thought that staying in the same shoes that I have put 500 miles in would be a safer bet than switching to a different pair. However the pair I will be getting Asics Gel Evolution 3 (Motion Control Plus) rather than the Asics 2130 trail (more of a stability shoe). On the Asics web site they show that the two shoes do overlap some with regards to support, but the evolution is something that I have had success with.

Best of luck to everyone this weekend, and be safe.

And the Diagnosis is....

2008-02-21T08:43:00.002-07:00

Well I went to the Podiatrist yesterday and he looked at my Achilles Tendon. His diagnosis is that I had an early stage of Achilles Tendonitis and the 11 days of rest he felt has cleared it up. There was no swelling and only minor pain. He proscribed for me a pair of heal lifts (that is one way to be taller) of 1 cm in height. In addition to stretching exercises, to start running (YEAAAAAA) with one mile, two miles, three miles, four and half miles, seven miles, ten miles. I can be back in service in about a week. I did my first mile last night with a lot of success. I could feel my tendon, but I was also thinking about it. I wanted to keep running, but I stopped after the mile. This was also the second time this past year that I have been out running during a lunar eclipse, is that an omen or something?

I will be running the Ragnar Relay next weekend and then back to the Podiatrist later the following week for a followup.
Keep streatching and running.

New 30 day Challange

2008-02-19T14:24:00.003-07:00

After reading this article on the My Fox Tampa Bay website, I got a new 30 day challange for all the people in Bloggerville.

==========
TAMPA - A pastor has a new challenge for his parishioners. It involves sex - a subject that may be taboo in many congregations.
The Relevant Church in Tampa's Ybor City has issued a 30-day sex challenge.
"It's going to be tempting and awkward at the same time for sure," said parishioner Brent Cayson.
Single men and women can't have sex for 30 days, and married couples are urged to have it every day.
"If you look at studies, studies say in 30 days you can develop a habit," said Pastor Paul Wirth.
It definitely caught wives in the church by surprise.
"Our married people are far more fearful than our single people," said Wirth.
"Sex is about more than intercourse and that's what we're trying to tell people," said church member Jarret Haas.
Wirth has found biblical references that he says suggest Jesus disapproved of pre-marital sex and promoted sex in marriage. So, he believes people connect to God through life-long commitment.
That's why he tells his single followers to abstain, and his married followers to indulge.
Wirth is a former Baptist. He founded his non-denominational ministry three years ago. And he markets his church by tackling unusual or controversial topics.

=====================

OK, Now for our challange. For those of you that are not married, None for you. Sorry.

For those of us that are married, I will make it a little easier, Spend at least 15 minutes a day with your spouse, in a romantic way. I will let you decide the definition of "Romantic Way".

If you are up for the challange, let me know and those of you that HONESTLY complete the challange, there will be a prize for you.

Five days and counting of no running

2008-02-13T13:13:00.003-07:00

It has been five days since I last ran. I just want a short slow run, please. Well let me explain, Friday I ran the 9 on the 9th, and well I kind of hurt my Achilles tendon on my left ankle. I am able to stand on it, walk on it; I just feel tenderness with it. I can massage it and do not have any pain, but when I stand on my tiptoes, to work the tended it is sore. The biggest difference between my two tendons is when I hold the tended between two fingers and rotate the foot up and down. My left foot feels like there is slippage and the right one is smooth flowing.
I am scheduled to go to the podiatrist on Wednesday (next week) to have him look at it. From what I have read, I need to ice, Motrin (anti-inflammatory), stretch, massage, and not to over work it. One viable solution to assist in healing it is custom orthotics. We will see what the Dr has to say.
I still plan on running the race the end of the month, unless the Dr says different. I have 16 days to rest and be ready for the race. I will work on weight training/core workout for my taper.
I am able to go walking but holding off on jogging just yet.

Can We say PR. . . I Can't Hear You. . . PR

2008-02-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

Well, today I ran the 9 on the 9th. Tomorrow is my rest day and Sunday is my long run. So, I elected to do it a few hours early. The morning started off just beautiful, I walked down to the Tempe Town Lake, where the RNR AZ had its concert - for those of you that were here. On my walk down there 1/2 mile, I pondered how to run the 9 miles, what I mean is where am I running to. I decided to run for 4.5 in one direction and turn around and head back to the start. I was figuring that my average speed at the RNR 1/2 was 10:15 minute mile so if I could get it done in about 92 or so minutes I would be happy.

Here are the splits:

1 - 6:01:49

2 - 6:08:27

3 - 6:12:53
4 - 6:12:03

5 - 6:11:72

6 - 6:07:43

7 - 5:58:91

8 - 6:30:06

9 - 6:15:77

Total Time: 56:38:21

My legs were killing me after this and I had to go to the restroom so bad, each bush was looking very attractive. I did have a water bottle with me, but I was still dehydrated from the run. I think the most frustrating part of the run was that my iPod some how got stuck playing the same song over and over. I was concentrating on running to notice it till about the last 15 minutes. When I finished, I had to walk slowly and stretch my legs. I did receive my race shirt, and I was able to get a picture of it:

However when Marci, Vicki, Pieces of Me, and Laura N chase me all they are going to see is. . . . .

Oh wait. . . .

I just realized that the splits I gave you above are for Kilometers and not Miles, oh well here are the splits for the miles.

1 - 9:42.19

2 - 9:50.88

3 - 9:55.85

4 - 9:53.86

5 - 9:54.55

6 - 9:50.78

7 - 9:38.67

8 - 10:28.74

9 - 10:05.03

Total distance: 9 Miles

Total Time: 1:29:20.55

Average pace: 9:55

This is still a PR for me, and I committed to a 10:00 mile pace for the Ragnar Relay and it looks like I can do it.

One last note, in the past 12 months I have now dropped 50 lbs, 20 more to go by June 1, I hope.

Super or not Tuesday and Wednesday

2008-02-07T08:52:00.000-07:00

On the left side of my blog I added a advertisement/link to see who is your perfect candidate is. You will be scored based upon how well you match the current views of each of the 2008 presidential candidates.
Tuesday was a busy day for me at work. After work I met Lori and waited in line for 2 and a half hour to perform our patriotic duty, and selected who we felt was the best qualified candidate for the President of this wonderful country. We did run into our sons’ choir teacher and Big Pete Pearson, who is nominated for a Grammy in Jazz music. She told us that it was such a shame that our son has such poor grades. (He is in the 7th grade and has only received one B, and the rest A's) He is in the honors program and talks about going to MIT. We had many great laughs during the wait to vote. His music teacher remembered that she was missing American Idol, so I called home and had my son TIVO it and put it on a tape for her. When we FINALLY casted our vote, I got to my truck and it did not start, so I grabbed my stuff and climbed in my wife's vehicle, leaving mine in the parking lot, till I could get back to fix it.
Wednesday, I grabbed my multi-meter and tools, then ran back to the poling place 2.5 miles away, and fixed the truck. Corrosion on the battery terminal. Drove home and ate, and then went out for another 4.5 mile run. Total for the day 7.0
After dinner, I took my youngest son to the Phoenix Suns game against the NO Hornets. The game went into double overtime, where we lost when the Hornets, with .001 seconds on the clock scored their last two points. It was still a good game, and Shaq was there also.
Today has more running in the schedule.

Time is flying by this year

2008-02-05T06:24:00.000-07:00

Well, time is flying by and I have not posted a message here. Well, I have not posted since Thursday, so here are my running accomplishments:
Friday, I ended up leaving work early to go see my Chiropractor because I had a rib out of place and it was hurting. (Where the rib meets with the spine.) We were unsuccessful on resetting it, but we did get a lot of movement in my spine, etc. I went running later that evening with my son. We decided to run 1/2 mile then walk one minute, and after two miles, I started to get tunnel vision/blurry. I elected to stop and walk back home. 2.58 miles for Friday.
Saturday, I got up and both my boys wanted to go running with me, so I took them out for a four mile run, when we got back to the house I told my wife that I was going to go do another 8 to 10 miles for a total of 12 to 14 miles. I grabbed the mp3 player and a water bottle and continued on my journey. At around 10 miles, the water bottle was empty, so I figured I would stop into Leaps (Frozen Custard shop) that is about a half mile away and fill up the water bottle with WATER and not ice cream. I passed a lady pushing her son in a stroller, and about a minute later, I feel something on my foot. At first thought it was her with her stroller, so I turn around to look, and it is a BIG DOG. Boxer mix? The dog was looking for someone to play with, and I was parched and not in the mood to play with a stray dog. I finally made it into the store and got some water and was out to finish my last couple of miles. The dog continued to follow me. I did everything reasonable and humane to get it to quit following me. Finally at my 12 mile mark, I am getting frustrated at the animal and think of how to get rid of it. Some guy that was out running FAST or at least in comparison to me ran by and I asked him if the dog was his. He said no, but the dog started following him, so I ducked around the corner and into my house without the dog seeing me. For the 12 miles, I had an 11:24 average minute pace with an average heart rate of 165. That was my resting heart rate just last year. My back felt good during the run, but afterwards it started to hurt again. I think with the blood flow and energy it was blocked from my mind.
I took my wife out for a date that evening, ok it was only a movie but without kids and not a Disney movie, I was in heaven. We saw the untraceable, which we both liked. It is similar to a CSI, but the bad guy is showing his killings live on the web. There was more than one image that would make your skin crawl. I will say the special effects made it look so real. I will say that we would have passed on this movie, but the selection that is in theaters is pretty lousy.
On Sunday, I ran to the store and picked up some fruit and veggie trays. Oh yea Chad forced me to picking up the Chocolate Cheese Cake for us to snack on. I then brought the kids over to Chad and Julie's place to watch the big event on TV. Montréal Canadians Hockey, yea. Then we caught some little golf game that was happening down the street, but when that was over we then watched the amazing 18-1 season come to a screeching halt. All honesty, I am not a huge fan of either team, but after the past couple of weeks, I was hoping that NY would shove the football in everyone's mouth that was writing them off as loosing the game that was not even played yet. I felt they had nothing to loose by getting out there and bust their butt and beat NE. That turned out to be one of the best games I have seen in a long time.
On Monday, I went back to the chiropractor and was able to get everything to align, then gone in for an hour deep massage. I am feeling so much better today, with just a little ache in my back, but nothing that biofreeze can not fix. I am back to running today after a couple of days of rest.
As for the first week of the Walk Across Arizona, I ran 42.34 miles, plus what I had on the pedometer which I put on in the morning and only remove it to go running. So if I recall what I sent to Pat it was in the neighborhood of 53 miles or so. I did have two long runs in there, so that number will not stay up their for ever.

Month in Review

2008-01-31T05:56:00.000-07:00

Being the last day of the month, I thought it would be appropriate to recap what I have accomplished and failed at. OK, I might use this time to brag just a little.

Accomplishments:

Ran 90 miles (Updated - YEA 90)

Completed two runs greater than or equal to 13.1 miles

Started back running trails

Loss 10.2 lbs

Kicked off Walk Across AZ race

Gave up Soda - NONE, Notta, Zilch, No Mo

Got invited to run the Ragnar Del Sol 183 mile race (relay)

Gave 2 presentations on my weight loss and fitness successes

Went to the gym with Chad and had sore muscles 3 days later.

Failures:

Not keeping my cool with the kids more often.

Not lifting weights more often.

Not counting calories/documenting what I am eating more often.

Well, all in all not too bad of a month. I, like most of us still have some areas of improvements. This next month, I will attempt to exceed 100 miles for the month, another 10 lbs of weight loss (but any number will be a success). Lift more weights, do more crunches, etc. Show more patients with the kids.

Now if you are one of those indviduals or you know of someone that seems to have the motovational posters in their office and you are looking for the perfect gift for them then how about one with you picture on it? Check out this site. You can even add custom quotes or choose one of their more popular ones. One of my favorate is "Running is a mental sport...and we're all insane!"

Missoun Accomplished

2008-01-30T07:05:00.000-07:00

I can not think of a better way to put it, than the famous phrase of George W. Bush, "Mission Accomplished" aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. The international phenomena occurred this past evening and in celebration, even the British ship showed its gratitude to me.

Then to top it off, this story must have rocked through the New Zealand media, because 300 people came out to the Wellington castle to show their support for me.

Yes, it is true. You probably read all about it in this morning paper. Last night I completed my 80th mile for the month of January, 2008 and with two days to spare. I set the goal for January back at the end of last month, and I was able to find it in me to accomplish it.

I did have a running buddy with me for the final 4 miles, and that is my American Eskimo dog. She insisted on making 3 or 4 business stops during the 4 mile run, which was acceptable. She pulled me along the first mile then mile two and three we ran parallel to each other. The final mile, she needed some coaching to keep going, like "We are almost home". I will have to take her on more runs, every couple of days. She loves to chase cats, deer, elk, etc. so I need to keep her on a leash. The leash we have is only 4 feet long, which only gives her 1.3 seconds to sniff where another dog was, before getting yanked along. Maybe I need to get her a longer leash, but that may cause her to run on the wrong side of a lamp post or street sign, causing me to have to make a quick detour around it. Lets see if she still wants to go running in a few days before I get her a new leash.

In other news: Yesterday I had to give my speech on my weight loss and running success that I gave last week, however this time it is for TV. I knew they wanted me to give the presentation again for about 40 individuals, but when I got there they asked if I mind that they film it for TV. Well what do you say? It will be showing on the local cable channel for the entire City of Tempe, AZ. When it does get on their web site, I will put a link for all of you to watch and LAUGH at.

-----------------

Walk across AZ update:

Day 1 - Run 14 miles Walk 1.5 miles

Day 2 - Run 2 miles Walk 2.5 miles

Day 3 - Run 4 miles Walked 3 miles

Great Long Run

2008-01-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in the RAIN, I went out for a nice long run. Not knowing just how long, I decided to drive to the entrance gate to White Tanks Regional Park, From there I ran 4 miles of HILLS to the competitive track (where the Cactus Cha Cha is ran). I then ran for 5 miles on the muddy/wet/HILLY track. There were some crazy people that had gone on the track before me on mountain bikes, so I had some idea of where the deep mud was, and tried to avoid it. After I got through the competitive track, I ran back to the entrance and continued past my truck and ran down the road for another almost half mile and returned to my truck. Overall distance 13.75 miles. The longest that I have ever ran. The best part is that the only reason I stopped is that I had to get home to the family. I had already ran for an hour longer than I told them I would be out there.
The desert was beautiful and green. The ground had short green wild grass all over, all the plants were also green, which is rare to see. It is still too early to see any desert flowers blooming.
My intention was to get a hill workout, since there are few hills around my house and with the Ragnar Relay coming up in a month, I wanted to get some hills. This was also my first time running in the rain, and to do it for three hours was fun. I was soaked to the bone, and NO I did not need nipple guards. However the strangest thing happened to me when I was finishing the run about 1/2 mile from completion, I looked down at my legs and from my shorts to my shoes was covered in white foam. I started to rub my legs and it looks like the detergent did not get rinsed out of my clothes well enough, I just thought how long has this been on my legs?

Good and Bad news....

2008-01-26T08:34:00.000-07:00

Before I get into it, I want to introduce to you the newest member of the family.....

ASICS GT-2130 Trail

Finally, yesterday I was able to make it over to road runner sports and get a new pair of shoes. The put me in a stability shoe rather than a motion control, which was my old pair of running shoes (since August).
I also picked up a couple pairs of socks, you can never have enough of those.

I was also able to get in a short 4 mile run in during lunch. Seems to be my usual routine when I am at work.

Mile 1 - 10:46
Mile 2 - 10:56
Mile 3 - 11:03
Mile 4 - 11:35 (through traffic along Mill Ave.)

Now the good and bad news.

The bad news is that I will not be running in the Lost Dutchman 1/2 marathon Feb 17th. I do not want to push myself to much because. . . . .

I have been asked to run on the Chances for Children relay team for the Ragnar Relay Del Sol race. which will take place Feb. 29th and Feb 30th. 181 miles, 12 member team. Cost is zero, the race is to raise $$ for the charity, and so they gave the charity a free entry into the race and I am on the team. How cool is that :)

I will be running anywhere from 12 to 17 miles depending on which position I am placed in. I will run in 3 segments ranging from 3 to 7 miles each.

I am recovering today - doing house work and tomorrow is the start of the Walk across AZ, and I will be doing my long slow run which I will be adding hills and trails to the mix (it is suppose to rain and I am a virgin to running in the rain). I am hoping for about 14 or 15 miles.

Catch up on the week.

2008-01-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry I have not been posting too much this week. I will try to catch you up on my week.
Sunday, I joined Chad and went to Lifetime Fitness for an upper body workout. I was able to keep up with him (for the most part), OK, he lifts more weight than I do. I figure I better disclose this, or he will in the reply to this post. I did not go running this past weekend, after Friday's seven miles, my feet were hurting on the top of them go figure.
Monday, I did run 4 miles:
mile 1 - 12:06
mile 2 - 12:08
mile 3 - 12:21
mile 4 - 12:04

Wednesday I ran the first annual my5K run. The race director was fantastic, and the course was well marked, just where I would have put the course. There was cheering sections throughout the race, even a police escort for part of the run, until he turned on a street. I was able to capture the first pace trophy with an amazing time of 30:20. The trophy that I was presented was a dish towel and allowed into the kitchen to do dishes :( I was hoping they would have been done while I was out.
5K race pace
mile 1 - 9:10
mile 2 - 9:46
mile 3 - 10:18
mile .11 - 1:06

Today, I was asked to give a presentation at the city's welness meeting on my weight loss and exercise routine. The problem is that it was during my lunchtime run. So, since the presentation was 3 miles away at the library, I ran there and gave the presentation and ran back to the office.
Six miles:
mile 1 - 10:30
mile 2 - 10:58
mile 3 - 10:40
Hour and 1/2 meeting
mile 4 - 10:25
mile 5 - 10:28
mile 6 - 10:50

This afternoon, I am going to Road Runner Sports to get a couple new pairs of shoes. Mine have had its better days.

Spirit of the Marathon

2008-01-19T16:21:00.001-07:00

Spirit of the Marathon
1/24/2008

NCM Fathom, in partnership with Active.com and Wasserman Media Group, is proud to present “Spirit of the Marathon” on the big screen in high-definition with Cinema Surround Sound on Thursday, January 24th at 7:30PM (local). Don’t miss your chance to see the Chicago International Film Festival’s “Audience Choice Award” winner!

“Spirit of the Marathon” is the first ever non-fiction feature film to capture the drama and essence of the famed 26.2 mile running event. Filmed on four continents, the production brings together a diverse cast of amateur athletes and marathon luminaries. As six unique stories unfold, each runner prepares for and ultimately faces the challenge of the Chicago Marathon. More than a sports program, “Spirit of the Marathon” is an inspirational journey of perseverance and personal triumph; a spectacle that will be embraced by runners and non-runners alike.

Four years in the making, “Spirit of the Marathon” is the collaborative effort of three-time Academy Award winner Mark Jonathon Harris, Telly Award winner and marathon runner Jon Dunham and producer/marathoner Gwendolen Twist.

A “Behind-the-Scenes” featurette produced specifically for and shown only at this one-night event includes interviews with the director and producers as well as marathon veterans reminicscing about their first marathon experiences. The featurette highlights deleted scenes, dramatic race footage and previews the upcoming 2008 Olympics with a Q&A session with Olympians Deena Kastor and Ryan Hall.

Tickets are limited – buy yours today! Just enter your zip code above to find nearby theatre locations. Please note: this event is at participating US locations only.

After purchasing your tickets here, visit Active.com to enter an EXCLUSIVE “Spirit of the Marathon” sweepstakes for one of 35 event posters signed by Deena Kastor, more information about the film and discussion boards to post group outings for the January 24th event.

Here are some of the RNR half Marathon Pictures :)

Friday 7 mile

2008-01-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I managed to squeeze out seven miles today, between rebuilding computer servers.

Mile 1 - 9:41
Mile 2 - 9:56
Mile 3 - 10:40
Mile 4- 11:18
Mile 5 - 11:42
Mile 6 - 12:02
Mile 7 - 11:48

I started out with the thought that I would keep the pace under 10 minute mile. After 2 I was pooped, so I slowed down to a nice and easy pace. However I already had my heart rate in zone 5 and it did not want to leave that zone the entire time. Better luck on Sunday for a nice long slow run.

Word for the day:
ELECTAL-DYSFUNCTION: What you have when you do not get excited about any of the presidential candidates that either side has presented.

Rest Day

2008-01-17T06:05:00.000-07:00

Yesturday, I was able to get in a four mile run while pushing a:

The first mile and a half went well, I was only averaging about an 11:45 minute pace, still recovering from the weekend. However by the time I was at the 1 1/2 mile mark it felt like I was pushing:

This seemed to get my heart rate up, but the speed kept about the same. Then I got around the 3 mile mark and it started to feel like I was:

Well, I was able to finish the run, it did add a new perspective to the thought of adding one of these to my usual running routine, like Tire Boy. . . . ;)

My brother-in-law drives one of these for a living, and I am trying to get an old tire for Bob so he can train while pulling a real tire. I wonder if UPS or FedEx would deliver it to Florida?

Recovery Over

2008-01-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

Time to focus on the next half marathon only 4 and 1/2 weeks away. Went for a nice slow easy run today to make sure everything is still functioning as it should.
Mile 1 - 11:42
Mile 2 - 11:54
Mile 3 - 11:54
Mile 4 - 11:28
Mile 5 - 11:28
Mile .38 - 4.18

Basing what I did at the RNR (2:15) and the terrain, I think that I am going to try for 2:20 for the next one, due to the elevation changes during the course.

Rock N Roll Arizona 1/2 MARATHON report

2008-01-14T10:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally did it. I completed the half marathon in 2 hours 15 minutes and 30 seconds. Back in September when I signed up for the marathon, I took a shot and put down on the registration for my completion time of 2:15, not too bad for guessing 4 months out. It was a little disappointing that Chad could non run the race with me due to his injury he got at the Across the years where he completed about 39 miles. Can I hold that against him? Hmmm. Also, Momo offered to pace me and we were unable to find each other at the start, so I was on my own with my Garmin. Which was probably a good thing, now that I look back on it. One year ago, I would have asked who your dealer was if you told me that I was going to run a half marathon in January 2008. I had set a goal and I (by myself) had to slay the dragon, and run the race to the best of my ability without any assistance.
Last year when I was over 40lbs heavier and could not walk up the stairs in the house without being out of breath, I started walking to the corner, and now I RAN 13.1 miles. I am so PSYCHED, that I did it.

I got dropped off about 40 minutes before the race and I went and checked in my jacket and sweat pants with UPS at the gear bag check. I finished drinking my Gatorade and found the corral that I was assigned. I stretched and even did some warm up jogs. I even checked out some graffiti on the back of some dumpster ;) The portapotty looks longer than the race line. Took my Hammer gel and settled near the front of the corral near the left side so I could look for momo. About 1 minute before we took off past the start, I called Lori and let her know that we were taking off. As I went over the mat, I hit start on the Garmin and we were off. For the first mile, I ran at a comfortable pace that was not killing me, but was faster than my goal. I considered slowing down, but I know from my training I get slower as the distance gets greater. I told myself that I would not push myself, just zone out everything and feel my body and listen it it for a starting pace. Before I knew it I was passing the 5K mark with a time of 30:45. That is a PR for me for a 5K run, I am feeling really proud of myself at this point. We then turned a corner in the residential area and there is a speed hump (not a bump, but a hump that is a softer grade than a bump) Who added this hill to the course? We got back on McDowell Road and headed for the long stretch East, I knew that about 2 miles up was my wife waiting to cheer me on. I finally saw her waving to me in the distance. I ran up to her and gave her a big hug and kiss and took my next Gatorade, and off I went. This was about mile 5.5 or so. It was a great pick-me-up to see someone in the crowd actually cheering You on and to see the excitement in her eyes, really kept me going. We then get further down the road and hit the 10K marker and my official time was 1:00:53. I have never ran an 10K before. I have run 5 milers and even 7 miler race. But looking at the garmin, my second 5K was faster then the first. That excitement kept me going for a couple more miles. I then came to the famous mile 9 thru 13 which has a gentle grade of a hill, but I was about drained of my energy, the most I have ever ran before was 10 miles, so I did not have much left in the tank. I sucked down my other hammer gel and gave it what I got. I did elect to walk about 100 yards after each of the following water stations, giving me an opportunity to catch my breath and get some more fluid in my system. At about mile 11 we are at the highest part of the course, the rest is down hill. I know I can do it from here, of course the lady on that stretcher getting loaded into the ambulance also thought that. I hope she is doing well now. Enough of this, I am entering the area of town that I train on two to three times a week. I start going over the Mill Ave. Bridge and the 2:15 minute pacer person passes me. He started about 15 seconds behind me at the start, if I can just keep up with him for the last mile I would meet my goal. About a half mile ahead I should see Lori cheering me on. I finally see her and as I give her a high five she tells me go give it my all and I can get the 2:15. So I did and for the last .3 mile I was passing people like they were standing still. I saw the two photographers above on the bridge, and I made sure that no one was in front of me, put my hands up and ran like a wild animal. The finish line is about 100 yards away, I kept the pace and as I crossed the mat I stopped garmin that gave me a 2:15:28 finish time. I made my time. Made my way over to get my metal, get rid of the timing chip, got my picture taken, and headed over to get my metal engraved. I met Lori at the engraving table and the results did not post by this time, so I went with the time on the garmin. Close enough. We got my gear, called Java~mom and told her to keep up the good work. Called Pat and left a message for him to keep going. We walked back to the truck and went to the Bamboo Club for lunch. What a relief to get off my feet. What a high that I am coming off of.
Congrats to everyone that raced this weekend, Stephanie (Catalina 50m), Wes, the entire gang here in AZ, and Tig in Texas (Houston Marathon). As for everyone that I met in AZ this weekend, it was truly a great pleasure to meet all of you. I hope that we can make this an annual event for all the Bloggers out there, even you Non Running Nancy, we do want you to run with us next year.

Last day of Nearly Total Useless Information, but FUN.

2008-01-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

Well, not to get political on all of you, and not to push my political opinions on you, I will try to share some fun with you.

Being from the wonderful state of Arizona, we have a relatively unknown individual from our state running for the Presidential Office. He is our SENIOR member of congress (70 yrs old). Well, to get to it, I was on the way home listening to the radio, and they played a parity about Senator John McCain that I thought you might enjoy.

For your listening pleasure... McCainiac!

As they come up with other parodies about other candidates (From both parties) I will pass them along to you also.

Until I figure out which candidate will do the least damage to our wonderful country, I will be an equal opportunity offender.

I do not know about you, but when I heard this for the first time, it gave me the creeps thinking about some 70 year old guy wearing knitted leg warmers and a sweaty t-shirt dancing around a room. I think I would rather have imaged Jennifer Beals, relating to that song.

Update---
Got out and had to streatch my legs for a couple of miles:
Mile 1 - 8:49
Walk - 1 minute
Mile 2 - 8:59
Walk - 1 minute
.26 miles - 2:39

FIRST 2 MILES EVER UNDER 9 MINUTES !!!!!
No, I will not maintain that pace for the half marathon YET.

This is better than any Pollish joke I have ever heard

2008-01-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

Wed Jan 9, 2008

WARSAW (Reuters) - A Polish man got the shock of his life when he visited a brothel and spotted his wife among the establishment's employees. Polish tabloid Super Express said the woman had been making some extra money on the side while telling her husband she worked at a store in a nearby town.

"I was dumfounded. I thought I was dreaming," the husband told the newspaper Wednesday.
The couple, married for 14 years, are now divorcing, the newspaper reported.

(Writing by Chris Borowski, Editing by Matthew Jones)

Meanest Mom in the World lives in Iowa (No its not Nancy)

2008-01-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

Straight from the Fox news website:

'Meanest Mom on Planet' Sells Teen Son's Car After Finding Booze Under Seat
Wednesday, January 09, 2008

DES MOINES, Iowa — Jane Hambleton has dubbed herself the "meanest mom on the planet."
After finding alcohol in her son's car, she decided to sell the car and share her 19-year-old's misdeed with everyone — by placing an ad in the local newspaper.
The ad reads: "OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don't love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet."
Hambleton has heard from people besides interested buyers since recently placing the ad in The Des Moines Register.
The 48-year-old from Fort Dodge says she has fielded more than 70 telephone calls from emergency room technicians, nurses, school counselors and even a Georgia man who wanted to congratulate her.
"The ad cost a fortune, but you know what? I'm telling people what happened here," Hambleton says. "I'm not just gonna put the car for resale when there's nothing wrong with it, except the driver made a dumb decision.
"It's overwhelming the number of calls I've gotten from people saying 'Thank you, it's nice to see a responsible parent.' So far there are no calls from anyone saying, 'You're really strict. You're real overboard, lady."'
The only critic is her son, who Hambleton says is "very, very unhappy" with the ad and claims the alcohol was left by a passenger.
Hambleton believes her son but has decided mercy isn't the best policy in this case. She says she set two rules when she bought the car at Thanksgiving: No booze, and always keep it locked.
The car has been sold, but Hambleton says she will continue the ad for another week — just for the feedback.

Taper Completed - Bring it on.

2008-01-08T12:52:00.001-07:00

Well, I thought I would share some thoughts with you, in a humorus manner.

This one is for Marcy (Bring the training shoes).

And for the teachers and parents out there that just ended a break, here is a noble idea...

A 10-year-old boy thought he had discovered a novel way of getting off school — glueing his hand to the bed. Diego Palacios had so much fun over the Christmas holiday he was in no rush to get back to lessons. He had to be freed by emergency services in Monterrey, northern Mexico, after his master plan went wrong.
His mother, Sandra, spent nearly two hours trying to free his right hand with water, oil and nail polish remover, but to no avail. "I didn't want to go to school because vacation was so much fun," the youngster explained. He told how he sneaked into the kitchen in the early hours and then covered his hand with industrial-strength adhesive.
His mother woke up to find him watching TV with his hand stuck to the bed.
"I don't know why he did it," she said. "He's a good boy but mischievous — like all kids."
His hand was freed by paramedics — just in time for school. (foxnews.com)
========

Well, I got in a 3.37 mile streatch in this afternoon.
mile 1 - 10:40
mile 2 - 10:41
Mile 3 - 11:40
.37 - 4:13

I will get one more streatch in on Friday before the RNR.

Best of luck to everyone, and travel safely.

I am bib number 32128 Corral 12 for the 1/2 marathon.

Tapering for RNR

2008-01-06T22:32:00.000-07:00

Well I have tapered so much that I am wishing I did not taper so much. I have been hating my back this past week, and I have not ran since Monday when I through out my back. I did get 4 miles in today that felt good.
I did go out to my wife's classroom and helped her get it ready for tomorrow, she has been away from it for three weeks. They did test for mold over the weekend, hope it comes out good, but the room smells nasty after being locked up for a couple of weeks.

4 miles - average pace 10:29 seconds

It is back to work in the morning and more running.

Interesting news

2008-01-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

First off no run for me, I pulled something in my back. I was home Monday afternoon when some juvinile deliquents rang my door bell and pounded on the door. To their surprise, I opened the door within seconds and they were heading down the street. In my retired running shoes, and sweats, I took off sprinting after them for about 400 or so yards. I did not know I could run that fast, I wish I had my garmin on at the time. I finally was able to confront them as they jumped over the fence. One of the kids peed his pants :) I told them to stay the $#%&$ off my property, and if I catch them on it again, I will personally restrain them till the police come to haul them off to jail. As I walked back home, I had several neighbors cheer me on and loved the fact that I scared them half to death. I am now sucking down motrin like it is candy. How much can one person consume in a day?

I came across this article on Foxnews.com

Man 'Made' Infertile By Lightning Strike Becomes Dad

A British man who was told he was infertile after being hit by lightning in August 2003 has shocked doctors by becoming a father, the Daily Mail reports.
Doctors thought Campbell Gillespie, 43, would die after he was struck by lightning during jog in a park near his home in Merseyside, U.K.
The strike broke Gillespie's jaw in four places, smashed his teeth, broke his eye-sockets and caused four blood clots on his brain. He spent a week in a coma.
Following his recovery, doctors told Gillespie internal injuries caused him to become sterile.

However, he made a full recovery, running a 10k race the year after his lightning strike.
Last year, he beat the odds again when his fiancee Hazel Topping, 40, became pregnant and gave birth on New Year's Eve to baby Brogan, who weighed 8-pounds, 8-ounces.

Happy New Year

2008-01-03T06:24:00.001-07:00

I hope that everyone had a wonderful and safe New Year.

After Friday's miserable 5 miler, I took Saturday to rest the muscles and to do the dreaded task of seeing my relatives. Ok, I am the black sheep of the family. TMI.
Also, Saturday Chad started his 24 hr run, I was scheduled to go out around 8pm to do 6hrs of volunteer service at the race. I went out around 7pm, and did not see Chad. I figured I will call his cell phone, and he was pulling into his driveway. After doing 1 and 1/2 marathons, he had enough. I then started my work and met a lot of nice people that have some inspirational stories. It seems like most of them have ran Badwater and Western states. Either of which is no small feat. I even met David Putney that ran in some obscure race called JFK 50miler. He was able to complete it this year in just 6:46. I think that he just beat Bob (11:29) by a couple of minutes.

Sunday, I was able to go out and rack in a nice 10 mile run, that felt really good. Later that day, we went over to Chad and Julie's casa, to have dinner and exchange presents.

New Years eve. Chad and company came over for New Years Dinner and to play pool. Another great time, and the kids love to play with each others toys. I then went out to the Across the Years race and volunteered from 8pm till 2am. This was awesome. We rang in the new year with champagne or Martinelli, handed out party hats to the runners. Even spent the New Year running around the track with everyone, while fire works went off. Despite not knowing to many people, it was a great way to celebrate the new year. I was even hooked up with one of the long sleeve, The North Face shirts, and a pair of arm warmers. I guess I provided some excellent service to them. OK, I turned out to be in charge of the Aid Station for the evening.

Some of the important things that I have learned from the Aid Station are:

Cranberry gets rid of Lactic Acid (pills are must effective because of the concentration). one pill = almost 2 quarts of juice.
Warmed up Mountain Dew is more effective at waking someone up than coffee.
Honey on a tortilla is a great source of instant energy.
Java Hammer Gel was first to be used up, over tropical, banana, apple, chocolate, orange
You do not have to be fast to be a runner. I walked with Andy Lovy and Dan Brenden on their 3rd day, and I would guess they were going about 1 step per second. maybe 2 miles per hour. You have to remember this is a time race, not necessarily a distance race
Dirty Girls are your best friend, they keep rocks out of your shoes.

Will I register for the Across the Years race next year. Well I would like to think so. How ever if a year ago you told me I was racing in a 1/2 marathon in a year I would ask you who your dealer is? We will see where life takes me this year and will go from there. Right now I am enjoying running and will continue to run and let the wind take me to where ever it wants to go.

Damn run

2007-12-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

Well I went out for my lunch time run. Well things started off on a bad note and went down hill from there. It was going to be a 7 mile run like yesterday except I would push myself a little bit on the speed. Well I was playing with my Garmin 305 earlier and when I started running the thing was beeping at me every 10 seconds or so.

Mile 1 = 9:18
Mile 2 = 10:33
Walk for 2 minutes to figure out how to shut this thing up. No more beeping on heart rate zones.
Mile 3 = 11:37 - Max heart rate was good, but the legs did not want to go.
Walk for 1 minute
Mile 4 = 12:04
Mile 5 = 11:43

What went wrong. . . . . Where do I start. . . . . . .

I took off too fast.
My nutrition for the day sucks.
My bladder was full.
No MP3 player
Garmin was programmed to beep too much.

Tomorrow will be a rest day for me and then a 8 miler on Sunday.

Mid week run

2007-12-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

Well, trying out the 305 I thought I would take a nice slow run around the town lake, and for the most part I kept my heart rate between 166 and 174. This is a slow pace for me, but it felt good to go slow for a change. The weather was cold (still in short sleeve and shorts) and windy. The only time I felt warm is when some college coed ran past me.
Lap 1 = 11:30
Lap 2 = 11:42
Lap 3 = 11:54
Lap 4 = 12:06
Lap 5 = 12:18
Lap 6 = 12:31
Lap 7 = 12:43

Merry Christmas to all

2007-12-25T18:06:00.000-07:00

I hope each of you had a merry Christmas. I know that my kids must have been good this year. They got everything they could want, and the last check of my bank statement I am broke. Well I was a good little boy myself. Santa brought me a Garmin 305, like most of you have. I wanted to try it out today, to I headed around the neighborhood for a little streatch. My laps were:

Mile 1 - 2:45

Mile 2 - 3:16

Mile 3 - 1:56

That was some great times, but it does not stay on my dashboard like my other garmin 60CS does. Now I did go for a run and had the following readings:

Mile 1 - 9:49:76

Mile 2 = 10:40:17
Mile 3 = 10:55:56
Mile 4 = 10:20:79

Total 41:46

Now I just need to figure out all the bells and whistles. I have most of it figured out, since I have been using a garmin for 4 years. Any advice on some of the neat features let me know.

It was cute watching K-Girl open up her presents at 3 yrs old. She first saw a new play kitchen and all she wanted to do was play with it and not open up any other presents. She finally got around to opening up more.

I hope that you were all good boys and girls, and the spirit of Christmas was able to fill your house.

I am now a perfect 10

2007-12-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

I have successfully ran 10 miles in one stretch, non stop (except for two traffic lights). I was able to get all 10 miles in 1 hr 50 minutes, or so. I have not seen my watch in several weeks. If someone sees it, please let me know.

Jehovah Witness just knocked on the door, and I told them the same thing I am going to tell all of you. Have a Merry Christmas.

keeping moving forward

2007-12-21T08:08:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your input, you are the best. I will start to use some of the ideas and do some more research. Well I am almost done with Christmas shopping, I am a charter member of the Procrastinator Club. I just need to buy a present for my nephew (9 mo old) and Chad's boys (I am thinking of a pair of BB Guns) maybe not.

I tried something new with running yesterday that seemed to work well for me. I went with my wife to Walmart (5 miles from home) and after we shopped, I ran home. What I learned is that I was running one way home, not an out and back or a loop. With a loop I have found that if I get bored, or something I can cut the run short. Same thing with an out and back. This run I was FORCED nicely to run the entire distance. The only problem was it was during rush hour and the cars were not watching out for me. I guess if I was wearing something that stood out more, I might have gotten more attention. I did have one vehicle honk at me from across the street, but she did not stop.

My time for the 5 miles was about normal. 52 minutes or so.

Planning on another run today.

Feeling better

2007-12-18T06:47:00.000-07:00

Saturday, I was still feeling icky, you know that feeling. Well I went for a long run and did another 8 miles, and I could tell that I was sick. It took me 45 seconds longer than last weekend to complete the 8 miles. Talk about slowing down.

The good news is that I am feeling better and will get some more running in today, through Friday and then a long one on Sunday maybe 10 miles.

Now that I am a beginner runner that never took to much time thinking about training, except to go out and run some. When I felt like it, I would stop. Well now I do have some question for all of you, during the week between long slow runs, when I am out running the short/slow runs, how far should I be running? What speed should I be attempting to run? What should the focus be for these runs? Should I be just running 8 miles each day? or should I scale back and if so by how much?

Well, I got it....

2007-12-13T08:26:00.001-07:00

YOU FOUND ME, THANK YOU.

Well with a sick daughter and wife, I finally caught what ever they have. I am coughing up a lung and feel sluggish. I am taking my vitamins (all 13 pills[3fish oil, 3CLA, 2Multi Vitamin, 2Niacin, and 3prescriptions]). I was not able to run yesterday and I feel like hell today. I need to run tomorrow and then on Saturday we are going up to Kingman, AZ for a family gathering before my nephew returns to Germany. Sunday I think we will head up to Flagstaff to play in the snow. Kimberly has never seen snow before and she is three years old. We have to drive a couple of hours to find snow around here. It gets SO COLD around here that I had to buy a new fleece pullover last night for my runs. I am still wearing shorts for the runs. I will try to get a run in while out of town this weekend. I only have 31 days till the RNR 1/2 marathon.