Marathon Madness

whats going on?

2011-01-01T22:29:00.004-05:00

wow, i guess it's been a while, huh... anyway, my buddy darrin and i have FINALLY decided to get off our butts. heck, it's only been like 5 years... anyway, check it out here.

running log - 4/25/06

2006-04-25T23:39:00.000-04:00

35 minutes in the dark. alone, but with encouragement.

yeah, darrin wimped out on me. actually, he'd already run 6 miles with his training group for the indy mini, so instead of running with me, he simply encouraged me by sarcastically yelling "looking good" or "c'mon pick it up a little" or trying to hand me water each of the 10 times i passed his house last nite. this was usually followed by me cussing at him. ahhh well, at least it made the run more interesting. and that was good, because i didn't feel especially strong last nite. my pace was pretty slow and i had trouble settling into a groove. but i guess i'm still getting my "legs" back after being off for a while.

on a happier note, my son andrew, who runs track for his middle school, set a 6th grade school and county record monday nite in the 1600. he covered the mile in 5:39. yikes. i can't come close to matching that. he's undefeated in the mile and the 800 so far. what a freak! he and his twin brother nathan are really enjoying track this spring and plan on continuing to run through the summer. way to go boys!

well, no running tonite, but i've got 3 miles or so to do on thursday. yessss!

and they're off...

2006-04-25T15:28:00.000-04:00

days 1 and 2 - check!

well the marathon training has "officially" started now. i did 4 miles on saturday and another 3+ last nite. the schedule i am using has me running by miles on the weekend long runs, and in minutes on the weekdays. that's good, plus the midweek runs are never longer than an hour which is important since i do this running at nite and anything too much longer than that in the dark becomes unbearable.

at this point i'm running a nice easy pace for me, in the low 9's. i have no reason to push it, plus i want to enjoy as much of this as possible. darrin and i ran together last nite. he's training for the indy mini in a couple of weeks, and also ironman wisconsin in september. he's been doing quite a bit of biking and swimming, but running? notsomuch. we're fairly close in ability still, so it works well.

i haven't had any muscle soreness after running lately, which is a good sign because it means i'm regaining some of the fitness i'd lost when i was recovering from the surgery. i'm eating too much, though. i still weigh almost exactly the same as i did in january, but i had been a few pounds under. i might start up a food log like i did in january. a food journal is quite a deterrant to eating when after eating something, you have to enter the food and the calories into a database. anyone who wants to lose weight should try this. it's really an eye-opener.

oh well. 35 minutes is on the schedule for tonite. it's a nasty day here and i hope it stops raining before i run later. fingers crossed!

a new goal

2006-04-21T14:24:00.000-04:00

day zero

first off, i just want to catch up and say that the transplant went better than ever could have been expected. my sister is doing wonderfully, and i came through it much more easily than i ever thought i would. ok, nuff said about that.

after a couple of years of dawdling around, trying to convince myself that i wanted to do another ironman, i've finally come to peace with the fact that an ironman is just not in the cards for me right now. that doesn't mean i'll never do another one, but it'll be a while. i just do not have the time to adequately train for an event like that. i suppose i could probably get myself to the point where i could finish under the 17-hour cutoff, but i'm not sure i want that at this point. i did alot of running before the transplant surgery, and really started liking it. after thinking about it a bit, i realized that while the best i could do in ironman right now is a total back-of-the-pack finish, i could train enough to become a middle-of-the-pack marathon finisher. run training i can do anytime. i always run at nite anyway, and long runs on weekends are doable. the problem with ironman training is that biking is difficult because i don't really have any daytime hours free, especially during the week. swimming is almost impossible, because the town where i work now doesn't have a facility like a YMCA where i could go swim. when i trained for my ironman a few years ago, i had a work schedule that gave me the morning free (to bike), and was located only a couple of miles from the IU natatorium in indianapolis. this allowed me to get in sufficient time swimming and biking, and i just can't see that happening in the foreseeable future.

so what's the plan now? the chicago marathon. that's my new adversary. tomorrow is officially day one of my 6-month training plan. i've been running semi-regularly since the middle of february, so it's not like i'm starting completely over, but i'm not in as good shape as i was in late january. i ran 4 times this past week, 3-4 miles each time. tomorrow calls for three miles, but i might do more since i'm a little ahead of the game at this point.

i'm very excited to finally have a long term goal. i'm working on some targets that i'll be shooting for, and i'll post them in the coming months. this is going to be a fun summer of training. the weather is already looking up, and i feel great.

day one is tomorrow. i can't wait.

the half

2006-01-28T23:19:00.000-05:00

13.1 miles. my own half marathon.

i set my alarm clock for 7:30, and it performed its duty well as i flailed and swatted at it so that it wouldn't wake up everyone else in the house. the weather called for a rain today, but probably not until later. as i lay in bed, i listened closely for any rain-type sounds but was pleased to hear none. i put on my running clothes and bodyglide and went downstairs to have a little something to eat. i turned the tv to the weather channel and was delighted to see that not only was it was already 49 degrees, but judging by the radar, i shouldn't be seeing any rain for quite a while. cool.

i drove out and dropped water at the 4-mile, 7-mile, and 10-mile points of the course, just as i had planned when creating the route. i'm going to carry GU and a couple of salt tablets with me. it was overcast with a slight southerly breeze, aka: a beautiful day to run. i returned home, finished up my toast with peanut butter, drank some water, and put my shoes on.

on virtually all of training runs, i made a conscious effort not to push it too hard. i didn't want to burn out and have it become a chore. but today would be different. i was planning on pushing it as much as i could today. i want to see exactly what the final result of these last six weeks or so of consistent running would bring.

i toed my homemade starting line and pushed the start button on my watch as the imaginary gun went off in my head and i began my journey. the first 8 miles or so is a course that i've run many times in my life so obviously i'm very familiar with it. miles 9 and 10 include a very long hill that i've never run before, and the last two miles are those same neverending rollers from last week's run. the second half of the course is definitely tougher than the first. i knew i'd need to finish the first half in 55 - 57 minutes to have a chance at 2 hours. i started out and tried to run just a little faster than i usually do. i've been running for so long at my "comfortable" pace of 9:15 - 10:00 per mile that i had a hard time judging what my pace was for the first mile. i hit it in 7:56. i knew there was no way that i could maintain that, so i consciously slowed down. mile 2 was about 8:45. that's more like it. i needed to maintain a 9:10 pace to finish under the mystical goal of a 2 hours, so averaging 8:30 - 9:00 miles was good for now. since the second half of the course is more harder than the first, putting some time in the bank now was necessary. i hit the 4-mile water stop feeling good. i only walked a few steps as i didn't want to choke on the salt pill. i was trying not to waste time at the stops. during last week's 12-miler, we probably wasted 4-5 minutes dillying around. mile 6 presents the steepest climb of the day, and i felt good going up it. i hit the halfway point at 57 minutes. good. i'm right where i want to be. but just as i was congratulating myself for a great first half, i started to feel a blister develop on the arch of my right foot. that's just what i need... i haven't had a problem with blisters up until now. so why now?? with over 6 miles to go? sheesh. oh well, i'll have plenty of time to heal.

the water stop at mile 7 came just in time. i was starting to feel thirsty, which again, i normally don't do. obviously, i was pushing my body harder than it was used to and it was telling me so. i was running hard enough - just up to the point where it started to feel like i was really working. and my body was responding wonderfully. my form felt good. my legs felt like they were bouncing, with my joints, tendons, ligaments and whatever other thingamadoobers all happily playing along.

i entered unknown territory as i started the long climb up US40 to thorpe road. it started out pretty steep, and it was long, but it wasn't as tedious as last week's long climb up the other side of this hill on US40. at the corner of thorpe road and US40 i had my 10-mile water point. i looked at my watch, and it read 1:25, so i knew i was close, and i couldn't afford to walk at all here. i reached down and grabbed the water bottle i had left earlier without really breaking stride at all. i carried it with me for almost a half mile as i drank down all eight ounces. i hit the 11-mile mark at about 1:35 and felt pretty good about the time, but knew it was 2 miles of neverending constant rolling hills home. this stretch seems to take forever and i started to worry that i wouldn't make it. i really pushed it hard over those hills and my blistered foot began to hurt in earnest. finally the hills gave up and i turned the corner into my neighborhood with 1:55 on the watch. with only a few hundred yards to go, i finally felt sure that i had done it. i slowed down a little to enjoy the last segment of this journey. i threw my arms up as i crossed in front of my driveway at 1:57:55. i don't know if any of my neighbors saw me or not, but hey, they think i'm nuts anyway so who cares.

it's 12 hours since i finished, and aside from that huge blister on my right arch, i'm no worse for wear. my knees hurt for a short while afterwards, but that went away quickly. obviously i have some leg soreness, but nothing that i wasn't expecting.

it's really amazing how quickly the body can respond if it is properly treated and trained. a scant six weeks ago i was almost 25 pounds heavier and could barely run three miles in 35 minutes. i trained hard, but more importantly i trained consistently. i ran 5 days a week EVERY week. i increased mileage every week. (i know you're supposed to take a "recovery" week every 4 weeks or so, but since i knew from the beginning that this would be only a short term project, i skipped that.) i kept a journal of my eating habits. anyone who wants to lose weight needs to do this. holyhamsandwiches, does this tell a story. i logged everything i stuffed into my mouth for six weeks, and doing that really makes you think about all those forgotten calories that are consumed every day. what an eye opener.

all in all, i'm totally thrilled with today's performance. my body responded beautifully to the challenge i gave it. i can't wait until i'm recovered and can start running again.

good job, me! heh.

running log - 1/26/06

2006-01-26T23:04:00.000-05:00

3.2 miles with darrin

after not feeling quite right during yesterday's run, i knew that i needed to take this one very easy. and we did. we averaged just a hair under 10 minutes per mile during our 9 lap, 3.2 mile stroll. it was cold again, but clear. i had on my hat, gloves, and sweats, and after we were done, i had frost built up on my hat from where i was sweating. i was surprised that happened, because i didn't realize that i was actually sweating.

saturday is the big 13.1. the culmination of 6 weeks' training before my surgery, which will leave me unable to do much of anything for a while. how long i don't know.

darrin won't be able to join me tomorrow. he just has too many other commitments. i'm planning on starting around 9:00, and hopefully i'll be done by 11. i've set 2 hours as my goal for this. i've tried not to focus on time during my training runs so far. i'm treating this as a race, though, and i'll push it to hit my target if i have to. there's nothing to lose, since it'll be my last run for a while anyway.

running log - 1/25/06

2006-01-25T23:46:00.000-05:00

4 miles with darrin

i'm considering this week to be somewhat of a taper, so last nite, which is normally a medium distance run, was cut to only four miles. it was a little cool and i ran in long pants for the first time since before christmas. darrin and i did our standard out and back into illinois to the railroad tracks. the pace was decent and we finished in 35:42/8:56.

for some reason, i still didn't feel great. i don't know that i'd call it struggling, but i definitely didn't feel as strong as i had been feeling the last week or so. i'll have to take it easy on tomorrow's run. speaking of tomorrow, it will be the last run before my little half marathon on saturday. in one sense, it's kind of exciting, but in another, i also know that it spells the end of my training for a while. it's going to be so depressing to be unable to run. i still worry about how bad my fitness will be when i'm finally able to run again. i guess there's just some things that are out of my control. dwelling on it won't help. ..sigh..

running log - 1/24/06

2006-01-24T23:02:00.000-05:00

3.2 miles

the original plan was to run yesterday then take today off, but i still felt some soreness so i took yesterday off instead. darrin is running the indy mini again this year and his training group met today, so i ran alone. and that was fine - i normally don't mind running alone. there was no moon visible even though it was clear out, which meant that it was very dark outside so i stayed in the neighborhood for nine laps. but holyhurricanes, batman, was it windy. mr. weatherguy said we had gusts in excess of 45 mph. this felt great on the easterly portion of my circle, but going west wasn't quite as fun. anyway, i did 3.2 miles in 28:28/8:54. my legs still felt a little heavy, but other than that it was pretty uneventful. there were 3.2 miles to do, so i did them.

when i was getting dressed to go run, i pulled a pair of compression shorts off of the shower door. by the way, is it just me or does everyone seem to use anything they can find in the house as some sort of makeshift drying rack for running clothes that you've sweated and stinked up beyond all recognition? anyway, i put the shorts on, and even i couldn't take it. they just smelled too bad. normally this only bothers me if i'm running with someone. i mean, if you're going to run in a group, please de-stink, but alone - hey, you do what you gotta do. but these were just too much for me. i had to change. i mentioned this to my wife, who was predictably grossed out, but it got me thinking. how come there is no quantifiable identifier for stink? how loud is something? decibels. how bright is something? lumens. how heavy is something? pounds/kg. how stinky is something? no. i got nothin'. hmmm. well hey, at least this gave me something to think about during my run...

speaking of running alone, i might have to do the half on saturday that way. darrin's wife has some stuff planned for them, and his daughter has a basketball game, so he might not be joinin' me. while it would be nice to have some company on such a long run, it won't be so bad if he can't make it. i'll do it either way. i've got the course lined out. it's not as hilly as the 12-miler last week, but it's certainly not flat either. there are nasty climbs at the 6 mile and 9 mile points, along with 2 miles of constant rollers at the end. i'd love to come in under 2 hours, but we'll just have to see. the weatherguy says it might rain, which would really suck. cross those fingers and sacrifice those chickens!

running log - 1/22/06

2006-01-22T23:18:00.000-05:00

3.2 miles with darrin

this was a little "recovery" run just to see how my legs would respond. and they were... a little tired. a little heavy. not too much, but just enough to let me know that not everything was perfect. we certainly didn't push it. our pace was a nice comfortable jog and that's all.

as i sit here now, an hour or after the run, i can feel more soreness than normal. just maybe, the legs weren't quite ready to come back so soon. oh well. i'm gonna go relax now. until tomorrow, anyway...

running log - 1/21/06

2006-01-21T23:33:00.000-05:00

12 miles with darrin

12 hilly miles. REALLY hilly miles. i was really looking forward to this run, especially since it almost didn't happen. the weather was nice - sunny and around 37 degrees with just a little breeze. considering it's mid-january, we certainly can't complain.

the first 3.5 miles or so are just teasers. they start out flat, then down, up, and down a long hill. at about the 4-mile mark sits the steepest hill of the course. i've ridden my bike on it many times, but until today had never ran it. well i'll tell ya - it is steep. and pretty darn long too. i shortened my stride and got up it very well. a combination of rolling hills and longer hills are the norm until the 7-mile mark. about 6 miles in my legs started to feel heavy. i was concerned for a little while, but the feeling went away after a mile or so. maybe the GU that i took at our water stop at mile 4 finally kicked in. mile 7 brings us to the second water stop. we made it here in about 1:05. i was feeling very good at this point, knowing that we were more than halfway done. a 1-1/4 mile long hill west on US40 was next up. obviously i have driven this countless times, but again, this was the first time i'd ran it. and holybarnyardanimals, did this thing seem to never end. darrin started walking about 2/3 of the way up. afterwards, he told me he started to feel a little dizzy, so he thought it best to recover for a little while. i pulled away from him at this point, as i was still feeling ok. FINALLY, the turn to thorpe road came, and the road flattened out and actually went downhill for just a moment. this was plenty for me to recharge the legs. the two mile stretch of road that takes up back to our neighborhood resembles a rollercoaster. it is just constant up and down. none of them are all that long, but you are literally going up or down the entire time, and it starts to wear on you after a while. the turn into the neighborhood was a welcome sight, knowing there was only 300 yards or so to the end of my driveway, which signalled the end of the run. i crossed the line at 1:53:48. a 9:24 pace for just over 12 miles of constant hills?! awesome. honestly, i was sure this would take 2:00-2:15. i am beyond ecstatic with my time. i felt in control the whole time. darrin finished about 1:30 behind me, so he recovered nicely. he said he could have used another water stop. oh well. next time.

aside from some mild protesting from my legs, i feel great afterwards. the post-run whirlpool, which i was planning on taking, was eliminated because justin had a basketball game i needed to get to. the shower still felt good. as long as i'm still feeling good, i'll do 3 miles or so tomorrow just to see how the legs respond. it's about 11:00pm now, and there is a dull ache in my legs, but nothing unusual or serious. more than ever, now i'm looking forward to that 13.1 next weekend.

12 tomorrow

2006-01-20T20:43:00.000-05:00

we worked it out. between 11:00 and 2:00 darrin and i will fit in 12 very hilly miles. after the first mile, the course is rarely, if ever flat. i don't know if there is another 100 yard stretch of flat ground the rest of the way. there are some significant hills, particularly between miles 3 and 7. i've never run this course before, so at least i'll have something new to look at. yes, it will be grueling. yes, it will be difficult. but i feel ready. i might not finish with the fastest time ever, but i'll finish.

the nice thing is since we're not starting until 11, i'll actually be able to sleep in a little. hopefully that will get me refreshed for the run. getting enough rest has been a challenge for me. i usually run weekday nites, then do some homework, so getting a couple of extra hours of sleep tomorrow morning is something i desperately need.

ok. well, i'm going to stare at the tv for a while now. then i'll dream about abusing my legs tomorrow. yeah.

running log - 1/19/06

2006-01-19T23:42:00.000-05:00

4 miles with darrin

darrin and i ran the same route tonite as we did yesterday. the weather was unreal. mid 50s and breezy. i purposely ran slower tonite, the main reason being that i didn't want to beat yesterday's time. i do not want to feel pressured to run faster and faster every time i go out. when that happens, running suddenly seems like work. so slow down. no pressure.

slow down we did. we finished in 36:11/9:03, which is still a good time. well for me at least. other "real runners" may feel like this is terribly slow, but oh well. i put "real runners" in parentheses because i don't yet feel like i fit in to that category. i'm still just starting out, and though i did alot of this a few years ago, it feels all new to me again. i don't know exactly when if ever i will feel acceptance into the "i'm a runner" club, but it hasn't happened yet. i realize i'm probably not the slowest runner out there, but there is more to the club than that.

longevity.

accomplishment.

from a runner's perspective, i have done neither. i am working on that, but it is a deliberate and consistent process that takes time and dedication. i've done well this past month, but a month does not make a runner. my upcoming surgery-imposed exile will stall my quest to runnerdom, but won't extinguish it.

i'll get there though. save me a seat.

running log - 1/18/06

2006-01-18T23:47:00.000-05:00

4 miles with darrin

twas another clear, cool and breezy nite here. we just got done. i took a nice hot shower and am sitting here sipping some water with a blanket draped over my shoulders. i took yesterday off as promised and i felt much better today. i had a nice easy bounce in my stride and enjoyed the run tonite. since it was a clear nite and the moon provided some light, we did an out and back instead of just laps in the neighborhood. as a result of that i didn't look at my watch the entire way, since there are no street lights there and i am simply not coordinated enough to push the light button on my watch and try to read the display while still running. so when we crossed in front of my house at the end of the run i was pleasantly rewarded with a 34:34 as the time. that's 8:39 per mile. heh. i knew we were setting a pretty good pace, but it didn't get uncomfortable. we're planning on another 4 tomorrow.

the bad news is that since both of us have very busy weekends coming up, we may not have time to get in the 12 mile run. we might slice it to something like 7 miles. we could do the 12 if we got up really early saturday morning, but i was hoping not to run too early so that it might warm up a little. oh well, we'll see.

anyway, that's enough for now. me tired. nitey nite!

running log - 1/16/06

2006-01-16T16:02:00.000-05:00

3.2 miles

i know. i said i wasn't going to run today. but i had a notion that i might when i went outside as i left for work and it was like 60 degrees. the weather channel told me this evening was going to be nice and toasty, but tomorrow is supposed to be cold and nasty. so i couldn't resist. i ventured out alone about 10:30 in the 55 degree night and did 9 laps in 29:21/9:10. i really didn't feel good though. my legs felt so heavy, especially in the last mile. usually i speed up towards the end but i just didn't have it in me. oh well. i guess i really do need to take a rest day.

i've pretty much decided that i'm going to do a 12-mile run on saturday as opposed to taking it easy with something shorter. with as little time as i have until i'm unable to run for a while, i don't see the point in slowing down now. so i'll press on, but i'm not sure to what end. i have no idea what 4-6 weeks of non-running will do to me, but hopefully i'll be able to regain my lost fitness quickly. but until then, i'll push on. and push hard.

running log - 1/15/06

2006-01-16T12:29:00.000-05:00

3.3 miles with darrin

darrin and i ran a little 3.3 mile out and back tonite and i'm happy to report no residual soreness from yesterday's 10 miles. it was clear and crisp, with temps in the mid 30s and bright moonlight. the first mile was worse than normal for some reason, but after that it was smooth sailing. i negative split the distance by about 1 minute and finished in 30:22/9:12. my plan is to take monday off, then do 3 or 4 on tuesday. i haven't decided how far to do on saturday, but after originally leaning toward backing off a little, i'm now thinking about doing 12. i think this would be a good prep for the 13.1 the following saturday.

running log - 1/14/06

2006-01-16T12:18:00.000-05:00

10 miles with darrin and donnie

my slight nervousness concerning this run was not being helped as i lay in bed friday nite listening to the rain/snow mixture pour down and the wind blasting against the side of the house. i was relieved to awake to bright sunshine and 32 degrees. the northwesterly wind had calmed down a little, but was still blowing 15-20mph with gusts to 30mph according to the weather channel.

another friend of ours, donnie, was to join us today for part of our run. he is a much more accomplished runner than either darrin or i, but he said he wanted to get in a slow 6 miles or so as a precursor to the 13 he would run the next day. our 10-minute pace would suffice him nicely. after some bran flakes and a piece of toast with peanut butter, i went to darrin's house a few minutes after nine. after waiting 20 minutes or so for him to get ready, we left, picked up donnie, and dropped some water at the 4-mile and 7-mile points of our course. we drove back to darrin's house and took off. the first three miles were pretty much directly into the wind. thank goodness i had on a hat and gloves, but my face was still pretty numb. i felt fine during these flat miles and we covered them in about a 9:30 pace. mile 4 has a gradual uphill, then a steep downhill which leads to our first water stop where i also had a GU and a thermotab. i felt great during the next couple of miles, which took us back to state line road, where donnie turned north to go back home, and darrin and i turned south to finish our route. i hadn't run with donnie before and it was nice having a third person in the group. as a plus, he wasn't overly chatty. i'm not an especially social runner. i don't really talk all that much, but a comment here and there is fun. both donnie and darrin seem to feel the same way. heh.

the beginning of mile seven has the first of the two big climbs of the day. ok, shorten stride, breathe normally. i went up it and felt good. darrin opened up 10 yards or so on me by the top of the hill, but made that back up in the next half mile or so. at the seven mile mark we had our second stop for water, another GU and a thermotab. we were off after a quick break. when i resumed running i felt a little soreness in my right hamstring, but this quickly went away. mile 8 takes us behind an I-70 weigh station on a wonderful newly paved flat road. mile 9 has a rolling hill and i was beginning to tire at this point. nothing serious, but my quads were starting to complain. mile 10 has the second big climb of the day, and of course by this time we were headed back into the wind. i shortened my stride again, and got up it fairly well. i was tired by the time i reached the top and was glad i only had a couple hundred yards left. darrin opened up a gap on me again here and ended up beating me by about 30 seconds.

my final time for 10.3 miles was 1:43:55. that's a 10:07 pace. this includes the 4 minutes or so that we spent at the two water stops. those were the only times i stopped or walked. my times for runs are always the total time it takes to complete the distance - breaks, potty stops, whatever, included. my legs felt great the rest of the day and that thingy on the bottom of my foot didn't bother me at all. overall, i'm happy with the effort.

running log - 1/12/06

2006-01-13T09:24:00.000-05:00

ok, some adminstrative business: i'm getting tired of thinking up titles for these endless running log entries. so for now on, entries that mainly deal with a completed run will just be called running log - date. there, that was easy.

ok. now onto whatever it was that i was supposed to be talking about...

last nite, darrin and i both agreed that we should really take it easy on our run. and we did. we ran 9 circuits in the 'hood for 3.2 miles in 29:32/9:14. i felt some dull soreness in my legs, especially towards the end of the run. maybe the 5+ from wednesday was still lingering in my muscles. it's weird because i haven't felt any soreness at all since the very beginning a few weeks ago. maybe the increase in distances and intensity is taking a toll. anyway, i'm glad we didn't push it, and we're taking today off in preparation for the 10-miler tomorrow. as a side note, it was about 11PM when we ran last nite and it was 55 degrees! and with a slight drizzle, it felt awesome.

i seemed to have developed some kind of painful growth on the bottom of my left foot, between the metatarsal head of my big toe and the arch. it's kind of like a callus, but this is painful when pushed on. for some reason, it doesn't seem that bad when i run, but i can still feel it. i'm worried that it'll start gnawing on me at mile 2 of tomorrow's run. i'll have to research this.

i'm excited, but still a little nervous about tomorrow's 10-mile run. leg soreness, painful shit developing on my feet, and those little pesky "doubt" gnomes running around in my brain are all trying to derail me. but i must remain strong. anyway, we're dropping water and gu just before the 4-mile mark and then between the 7 and 8-mile point. i'm also going to be including some thermotabs. one of the the hard parts about this course is that aside from the last 200 yards or so, the last mile is all uphill. that'll be a nice test on tired legs.

i'm going to eat somewhat normally today to increase my energy supply for tomorrow. maybe that will also help get rid of the leg soreness that i was feeling last nite. have a great weekend everyone!

short term plans

2006-01-12T11:25:00.000-05:00

it occurred to me today that there's only 19 days left until the surgery. while simply the thought of having surgery at all is freaking me out enough, the other thought is that of losing all of this recently gained fitness. it'll surely be a month or so until i can resume running, and by that time i could be back at square one. well, realistically i was at square zero, so i guess even square one is an improvement. but seriously, it has been bothering me that all this working out might be for nothing. but then again, i am enjoying it. i've found that passion for running and a healthy lifestyle again. i just need to make sure i keep it up through my layoff and not gain any weight back. anyway, those thougts have been festering inside my mind for a while, so i thought i'd let them out.

i've come up with some short term plans leading up to my month long sentence of inactivity. first of all, let me show you this cool little route tracker i've been using, courtesy of the USATF website. it's pretty cool, and the distances seem to be very accurate. anyway, darrin and i are going to do a 10-miler on saturday. i'm really looking forward to it. this will be the farthest i've run since IMFL in 2003. next week, i'm thinking of cutting back a little, then on the 28th, which will be my last run before d-day, i'm going to do a half marathon. well it's not actually a race, but i'm going to do a 13.1 mile route. just to prove to myself that i can. darrin hasn't actually committed to doing it with me yet, but he will. or i'll have to kill him. or at least call him a big pussy. either one. anyway, i thought this would be a neat way to end the first phase of my getting back into fitness and racing.

last nite, darrin and i did 5.4 miles in bright moonlight. it was crystal clear out, and it must have been a full moon. we did a 3.3 mile loop, then ran 6 laps in the 'hood to finish the distance in 49:18, or 9:08/mile. while i did feel like i was working the whole way, my breathing was never labored. i still felt like i had a good reserve if it was needed. tonite we'll do 3 or 4, then take friday off in preparation for a big day on saturday. happy running!

progress

2006-01-10T10:37:00.000-05:00

lately on my weeknight runs, the distance i run has largely been affected by how i'm feeling. there have been a few times recently where i've been feeling good and extended my planned 3 miles into 4 or even 5 miles. since i put 12.5 miles on my weary legs over the last two days, i started out last nite planning just a little, slow 3 miler. darrin, whose nether regions were apparently feeling better (but i wouldn't ask to borrow his bodyglide if i were you...) went with me, and as we were finishing the first mile i was thinking that i just couldn't get in a rhythm. i seemed to be struggling a little. oh well, i figured, i hadn't really had a "bad" run yet, so i'll fight through this one if i have to. then, as we passed the mile marker, i noticed that we ran it in 8:50. okay, that would explain the struggling.

i told darrin that we should just go for it and make this into a 3.2 mile time trial. so we did. during mile 2 i sped up slightly and my legs responded well. my breathing was still under control. mile 3 started well, but by the halfway point my legs started feel heavy. the last third i just let it all hang out, and finished strong but spent. our final time for the 3.2 was 27:47, for a pace of 8:41/mile. my previous best for this distance was exactly one week ago when i ran hard and finished in 29:17. not three weeks ago i ran this exact same course and made my legs sore by running 35:10!

i love progress.

weekend running

2006-01-09T15:16:00.000-05:00

my,my, what beautiful weather we've been having lately. certainly un-januarylike, and i certainly appreciate it. as a sign of appreciation to mother nature, darrin and i took off on an 8.2 mile run saturday morning. a fairly flat course the goes out crews road, crosses into illinios, does a loop that links back to state line road, then back to crews road, and home. there's a nice downhill at mile 3, and then an uphill, downhill, and uphill again at miles 6-7. the last uphill is the most difficult. it was sunny and 35 degrees as we started out, which is wonderful for january. the first couple of miles were ok. we had driven out and dropped water bottles at mile 4, so we took a minute walk break there. i felt stronger and stronger after that. i cruised up the hills at miles 6 and 7 and came home strong in a total time of 1:19:09, or 9:43/mile. i'm very happy with this, as not only do i consider it a good time for me right now, but i felt like i could have run another 8.2 if i really had to. plus, i beat darrin by 20 seconds. he had to take a walk break in the last mile because he wasn't feeling well. i remember last year when i wasn't training consistently at all, darrin was beating me by a minute or two on 3-mile runs. i think i've reeled him in now. cool! i did feel tired most of the day, but i didn't have any leg soreness at all.
on sunday nite, i called darrin about 9:00 to see if he wanted to get in an easy 3. he declined, because apparently his bodyglide failed him during saturday's run in regions of his body i'd rather never think about. so i ran alone in the amazing 52 degree weather. i felt really good again and tacked on an extra 3 laps, and ended up running 12 laps in the neighborhood for a total of 4.3 miles in 40:10/9:20.
i decided to let myself eat normally over the weekend. now i didn't go crazy, but i didn't track what i ate, and i know i went over the 1,000 - 1,500 calories that i've been restricting myself to lately. it felt good to eat. i'd been craving normal meals for a while and it was good to let go. and, i didn't gain any weight either. i guess the 12.5 miles of weekend running helped with that.
all in all, i had a good weekend running-wise. i feel very good about my progress so far and i can't wait until next weekend so i can tack on a few extra miles and really push myself. i hope everyone else had a great weekend as well.

done deal

2006-01-06T13:19:00.000-05:00

finally. all the tests and retests are completed and passed. january 31st it is. i'll be less one kidney and my sister can finally be on the path to get her life back. the hospital was happy with my blood pressure readings, so they gave me the confirmation of the january 31st date. whew. i'm glad all that's over with. but now that the date is actually set, it's becoming real. i've never had any surgeries or any serious medical condition, so i'm a little nervous to be honest. i'm sure i'll start really freaking out about it in these coming weeks before the procedure.

anyway, onto other things, i ran a nice 5.2 miles last nite. the original plan was to get in 4 with darrin. well he abandoned me after 2 miles to go watch a movie with his wife. geez, how lame is that? well after he took off, i was feeling great. i stayed in the neighborhood since it was after 10:00 by this time, but even the endless redundant circles (look kids, big ben, parliament! - European Vacation, remember?) could not slow me down. i decided to tack on an extra mile just for the hell of it and finished the 5.2 total in 48:22, for a 9:18/mile pace. i was thrilled at the pace time especially considering i still felt great at the end. i didn't feel like i was pushing it at all. i could have gone longer if i wanted. i'll do an easy 3 tonite, and i can't wait for the long (8+) run tomorrow.

have a great weekend everyone!

i guess i'll just have vanilla

2006-01-05T14:22:00.000-05:00

i just started up classes again after a two week christmas hiatus. web development is the new adversary. i've worked in networking for 8+ years, taught numerous computer courses, and have a little blog going, so this should be no problem, right? yah! whatever. see, as the blandness of my blog reveals, i have no graphic design ability whatsoever. but this is almost irrelevant, as i have virtually no creative instincts either. i was finishing my weekly assignments last nite.

read chapter 3? check.
do silly postings that we have to do in the class forum? check.
load photoshop elements 4.0? check.
create sample drawing? felt my way around somewhat like a clumsy teenager removing his girlfriend's bra for the first time - but, check.
create a header for a website that we will be creating over the 5 weeks of the class? - hmm. this requires creativity AND some technical knowlege of photoshop. not a good combination for me. grr. in the end, i came up with something that will pacify my instructor for the week. it's horrible. it'll definitely need to evolve as the class goes on. check. kinda. sorta. for now.

as i was doing these assignments i kept thinking of all of you guys and how creative and talented you are at doing this type of thing. i envy you! i wish i could come up with something to offer you guys in return for some tips and tricks for this stuff. but i've come to the realization that i really don't have any talents that i could offer as exchange. i mean, "writing up documentation detailing our plans to reconfigure our servers so that the Sarbanes Oxley auditors are satisfied" doesn't sound like anything any of you need. neither does "how about if i entertain your kids by juggling a soccer ball on my head 100 times." see what i mean? no useful talents. DANG! i guess i'll just have to hack my way through this class. sheesh.

as a result of this lack of creative energy, i was doing the assignments until past midnight, so i did not run last nite. that's ok. a day off won't hurt. i'm going to do 4 tonite, 3 tomorrow, and then 8 or so on saturday. bring it on.

i think i've been uncoordinated

2006-01-04T12:18:00.000-05:00

getting medical test results is always harder than it should be. by the time the lab here finally managed to successfully fax the results to the transplant hospital yesterday, sandy, the transplant coordinator had gone home, so i didn't find out anything. i called her this morning and whaddya know - blood glucose levels NORMAL! ha! then sandy hit me with:

"but the doctor wants to see a 3-day log of blood pressure readings before we can go on."

excuse me? are you kidding? blood pressure readings? i suppose this isn't something you could have told me about 2 months ago when i had the initial tests??!! keep in mind that i haven't heard anything from the transplant team since i was there in late october. they just told me at the time that i'd need to have my glucose level retested before the procedure, which we had penciled in for january 24th. i reminded sandy of this date. sandy then produced another blow:

"oh, we won't be able to do it then. the 31st is still open, though."

tell me you're kidding. TELL me you're kidding.

"so, sandy, exactly when the FUCK were you planning on telling me this information??!!"

well maybe i didn't say "fuck", but i think i got my point across. i mean, she's the freakin' coordinator! communication is her JOB. yet i can never get any information out of her. it's a good thing i hadn't gotten my airline tickets yet. anyway, i am going to keep a log of blood pressure readings until friday (which my wife will perform), fax that to her, then, gee maybe we can actually have a concrete date for this. i'm hoping for january 31st.
needless to say, i wasn't real happy with sandy this morning. i could rant on and on about it, but i don't think that would do any real good. on to other things, i ran alone last nite, as darrin wimped out, muttering something about having a presentation to do for work. here's the results:

3.2m@30:21/9:29
another mindless 9 laps. not as fast as yesterday, but it was a pretty comfortable pace. the weather was still pretty nice too. i'm hoping that all the really cold weather happens in february when i can't run anyway due to the recovery!

catching up

2006-01-03T10:27:00.000-05:00

well, well, the new year is upon us. first of all i want to wish everyone a happy new year! since i don't normally get on the internet at home (thanks to that dreadful thing called dial-up) and i haven't been at work since december 23rd, i haven't updated lately. i have been keeping a log, however. i've been running consistently and even managed to keep my food intake in check.
the family and i had a great christmas and new year's. my kids are, of course spoiled, so they got all kinds of goodies. one of things i was looking forward to was the MP3 players that andrew and nathan got. they're from Dell, and about the size of a pack of gum. not only do the boys love them, but now i have something to use when i run alone! heh, it was like buying a present for myself! too cool. i had never, ever used any kind of music when i ran. i've only used it once, but it was pretty neat listening to Green Day, Train, and some others while running. the good thing is that my kids like alot of the same music that i do, so i don't have to skip past too many songs i don't like.

surgery update: the kidney transplant is scheduled for january 24th. as you may recall, my blood glucose level was high when i was initially tested, and i needed to retest. well, i retested yesterday. i'm going to call the hospital in florida later this morning to get the results. keep your fingers crossed! this is the last hurdle we need to get over before the transplant date is set in stone. here's what i don't get, though. i did the 3-hour glucose stress test yesterday at a local hospital. they get the results immediately, but they couldn't give them to me! huh?! they said they had to get the requesting doctor's permission before they could release the results. i understand the concept of data security and even the idea that they are not qualified to give me a diagnosis on the data. but all i wanted was the raw data. at this point in the process, i know what the raw number mean! anyway, i'll call in a couple of hours and find out for sure. when i tested originally, my fasting blood sugar reading was 109. the transplant team needs this number under 100. i have one of those "Accuchek" home testing kits for diabetics, and it gave me a reading of 85 just before i left for the hospital. i managed to get the lab staff to tell me that my fasting blood sugar level was "normal", but they wouldn't give me a number nor would they tell me anything about the results of any of the "stress" samples that were taken after i drank the sugar juice.

i really only started my new weight loss/fitness regimen on december 20th. don't ask me why. i really don't know. anyway, since then i have lost 10 pounds, and judging by my runs, gained quite a bit of fitness. i feel so much better, even after only a couple of weeks. i'm posting my run workouts below just for my information. you can read it if you want to be even more bored than you already are...

12/21/05
3.2 miles, 34:34 total time, 10:48 pace
9 laps around my pancake-flat neighborhood. first run in a while. not pushing it.

12/22/05
3.2m@35:10/10:59
another 9 laps. legs were a little sore from yesterday, hence the even slower time...

12/23/05
3.2m@34:48/10:53
9 laps again. legs still sore.

12/24/05
6.4m@1:09:05/10:48
did 18 laps. yes, this is wayyy too many times around a circle! weather was great. took a couple of walking breaks. actually felt quite good. the leg soreness is almost gone. finished at just about exactly midnight. hello, santa!

12/25/05
4.0m@42:17/10:34
did a little out and back into illinois. weather was unbelievable for this time of year. i felt very good even after the longer run yesterday.

weekly totals for 12/19 - 12/25: 20 miles. total time: 215:54. average pace: 10:48/mile.

12/28/05
3.2m@32:15/10:05
9 laps again. i ran with darrin for the first time in a while. he hasn't really been training either.

12/29/05
3.2m@30:35/9:33
9 laps. darrin and i did a much quicker pace today, and i still felt very good. developed a blister on my right foot. i hate that!

1/1/06
6.7m@1:07:56/10:08
another beautiful day. cloudy and about 50 degrees! darrin and i did the standard State Line Road loop with a little extension that takes us over a little bridge that crosses Interstate 70. this course has 3 fairly significant hills. we took a couple of 30-second walk breaks, but we ran all the hills. i felt great. i haven't felt this comfortable running in over 2 years. 10:08 pace time for this course at this stage in my fitness is wonderful.

weekly totals for 12/20 - 1/1: 13.1 miles (i took 2 days off for blisters to heal). total time: 130:46. average pace: 9:59.

1/2/06
3.2m@29:17/9:09
9 laps in the neighborhood with ridiculously warm weather (but i'm not complainin'!!) darrin was pushing the pace, and originally i wasn't going to speed up, but i was feeling good, and so what the heck. did the last mile in about 8:40. sweet!

i've always been a competitive person, and i think in some ways that's sabotaged me in my efforts over the last year. i'm finally learning that it's ok not to go all out in every workout. that it's ok to walk for a little while on a longer run. before my 6-miler on christmas eve, i had never walked during a training run before. it's amazing how 30 seconds of walking can make the next 10 minutes of running that much more enjoyable. and that's what i'm trying to do: keep it enjoyable. don't push it so hard that it becomes work. that's what i have done in the past. push, push, push, and suddenly you don't want to go out and run anymore because of the pressure to do better than last nite's run. if i don't feel too good during my run tonite, i'll slow down. in fact, i don't plan on matching the 9:09 pace i did last nite. and that's fine with me.

anyway, here's hoping that everyone had a great holiday season, and looking forward to an even better 2006.

get a room

2005-12-22T11:38:00.000-05:00

as most of you know, i run mainly at night. i do endless laps around my 1/3 mile semicircular neighborhood. roam outside the neighborhood and you are pretty much out in the country. i usually stay on the 1/3 mile track at night. i like the having the streetlights, and my chances of being attacked by some wild dogs, coyotes, or even a crazed hillbilly unabomber-wannabe are lessened. but running in circles does spot-on nothing for the ol' excitement level. running 10-20 laps around the same circle in the dark has roughly the same excitement factor as reading the textbook from my recently completed Strategies in Marketing Management class.
things have improved recently, though. with all the holiday decorations people have on display, at least i have something to look at. the people who live next to me are an incredibly friendly couple with grown children. they are christmas fanatics. they are also affectionately known as The Griswolds (from Christmas Vacation, for those of you not in-the-know...). they have been overdecorating for years. recently, other families in the neighborhood have been attempting (unsuccessfully, i might add) to outdo The Griswolds. so now, there are 4 or 5 homes with outlandish lights, stars, statues, and of course those light-up wire mesh reindeer. this is where is gets fun. you see, last nite i passed all of these homes 10 times in my run, but it wasn't until the third lap that i noticed that something was, well, unusual. as i was passing The Griswold's house, it seems that someone had, ummm, "strategically" positioned the reindeer so that they appeared to be taking part in some sort of rudolph-led anim-orgy the likes of which i'm sure the north pole has never seen. i never realized how flexible reindeer were... i laughed so hard, the tears were freezing on my cheeks. but it didn't end there. of the 6 homes that have outdoor reindeer, 4 others were also in on this holiday rumpfest. sheesh, that's alot of action!
so at least my run was somewhat exciting last night. the best part is that as of this morning, none of the 4 homeowners had noticed it yet. looks like it's partytime again tonite!
merry christmas, everyone!

bearing down

2005-12-21T15:43:00.000-05:00

Over the last few weeks, i've really started to want this again. that feeling of working out. of being in shape. i don't know why i finally am getting it, but hey, i'm not complaining. i started lowering my calorie intake in order to finally dump this extra weight. i've gone from unlimited calorie intake, to around 2,000 per day the last couple of weeks. this week i began living at the bottom the proverbial calorie intake barrel. i'm going on 1,000 - 1,200 calories per day. after doing some research on BMR(basal metabolic rate) and exertion levels, i've come to the conclusion that i am using between 2,500 to 3,000 calories per day, depending on if/how far i run or do whatever else during a particular day. this means that i'm in calorie deficit of about 1,500 to 2,000 per day. yeah, i know. that's alot. and it's probably not the "recommended" thing to do. but heck, i've always been one to learn for myself anyhow. the important thing now is to maintain appropriate exercise (running) levels. otherwise, my body will sense the reduced intake and go into conservation mode. so, i've started running according to a strict schedule, instead of just whenever i feel like it. yeah. ok. i know, you all think i'm nuts. and you're probably right.
i can't remember it being this cold for this long this early in the winter season. hey, come to think of it, TODAY is the first day of winter. sheesh, as cold as it's been already, i hope it doesn't get any worse. actually, according to the forecast, it's supposed to be getting warmer this weekend for Christmas. while that may not be the best thing for holiday traditionalists, i'll welcome the balmy 42 degrees forecasted for friday. since i am not working that day, i'll try to get out for a run during the day. in the sunlight. how cool!
well if i don't update, i want to wish all of you a merry Christmas. (or Hanukkah, or whatever it is that people celebrate nowadays...) be safe and be happy!

craziness

2005-12-16T15:31:00.000-05:00

i've gotta be honest. my life is just nuts. there's just so much going on. it's been a while since i've updated, so i figured i'd catch up a bit. first off, the transplant has been postponed until january 24th. apparently, the hospital had problems assembling the required staff during the week between christmas and new year's. important note to self: don't get sick and need professional medical attention during holiday seasons!
i've been working out a fair bit. running mostly, but geez it's been cold lately. my weight is down, but not quite where i wanted to be at this point. i need to drop another 7-10lbs by the first week of january. i'll have to exhibit some serious self control during the christmas break. this has been particularly difficult here at work. it seems that every day someone else is hauling in the latest exhibitions of their baking prowess. the area outside my office is constanly filled with cookies and pastries of all sorts. fortunately, i'm taking vacation the week between christmas and new year's, so i'll get away from it for a while.
i was in detroit last week on business. i had never been there before. i didn't realize that it bordered canada... but it was pretty much like i expected - crowded and noisy. nothing really stuck out. the people were great though, and i had a good time with them.
as some of you know, i'm currently in school finishing my bachelor's degree in business information systems. i'll be done this summer, and then i have a decision to make. this program can transition directly into an MBA program through the university. i'm thinking that adding an MBA to the technical undergrad degree, along with my 8 years of network adminstration experience puts me in a good position for the future. i'm not looking for a job - in fact, i love the one i have. but even in terms of advancing within the company. i'd like to move into a managerial position eventually, and it seems that the MBA could be beneficial in that regard. plus, i know if i don't start it immediately after finishing my BS degree, i'll probably never go back and do it. i realize that having an MBA isn't what it used to be years ago, but i figured it's still worth something. what do you guys think? is it worth another 2 years? any insight would be appreciated!

just an update

2005-11-15T09:31:00.000-05:00

i've gotta be honest. my initial reaction to the last couple of weeks was that this crash diet thing is more difficult than i remember! i've lost about 7 pounds, but feel like i've been doing more. then i realized the real reason: the workouts are killing me because i'm in such pathetic shape! on sunday, darrin and i took advantage of the near 70 degree weather to get in a late season bike ride. it was a simple 20 miles. but i worked really hard to average just a little over 16mph. granted, it was fairly hilly, and the 20-30mph wind gusts were relentless, but i just had no power whatsoever. it was all i could do to keep 13mph on a flat 2-mile stretch into the wind. it was encouraging, though, that at the summit of the climbs, i recovered well and was able to get back up to "speed" in an acceptable time. i was going to run last nite, but it poured all evening and then thunderstorms moved in later. i thought it best to stay in, to avoid another confrontation with nature!
but i will say that i do notice a difference already. it feels good to be on a healthier diet, both physically and mentally. i've come to realize, though, that the company i work for is obsessed with food. practically every day shortly after noon, i get an email stating that there is left over food from some meeting or event that has taken place earlier in the morning. within seconds of that email hitting my inbox, my phone rings with the numbers 5521 on the display. that's danny's extension. he's our web developer, and he always knows where to scam some free feast. yesterday was no exception. it was just before 1:00. danny actually called me before i got the email. he must be getting inside information from someone. i took the trip downstairs with him to see what was there. sometimes there's a fruit tray or something like that. and whaddya know? sure enough, orange juice and a nice tray with grapes, honeydew, and good stuff like that. oh, and a big chocolate cake. two of them actually. i resisted, though, and stuck to fruit and a cup of juice. i felt good about it afterwards. danny understood and was impressed at my self control. but he still managed to gulp down a big honkin' piece of cake and some chips. and yeah - i was a little jealous...
i do want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement. the little community that has evolved here is filled with such inspirational people. i'll continue to draw alot of energy and motivation from all of you!

a new perspective

2005-11-02T11:42:00.000-05:00

for what seems like forever now, i've been trying unsuccessfully to motivate myself to get back into some semblance of good physical condition. i just haven't been able to get into that groove where eating right is natural and workouts are anticipated and enjoyable. i was in that groove for a couple of years, but have really tanked in the crapper since the beginning of 2004. since then, i've been searching for something to push me over the edge.
which brings me to now...
as i noted earlier, i was in gainesville, florida last week to undergo some additional testing in my quest to donate a kidney to my sister. i met with the transplant coordinator early in the morning. she informed me that i am a perfect 6-antigen match with my sister. even with siblings, this is unusual, occurring only 25% of the time. this great news, as not only does evidence suggests a higher success rate, but also in that she will be allowed a lesser dosage of the antirejection medication afterward. i talked to several transplant recipients while i was there, and they all complained of the side effects of the antirejection medicine. after my meeting with the coordinator, it was off to the testing.

first up: blood work. several filled vials, a cotton ball and a bandaid later, and i was finished. i'd have to wait a few hours for the results...

next up: EKG. i've never had one of these before. after 9 probes and a couple of shaved spots on my previously hairy chest later - the results were good. check!

next: ultrasound. i've never had one of these either. my wife has. that's how we found out we had twins so many years ago. good news this time: i'm not pregnant. whew! more good news: i do actually have two kidneys. apparently, there have been potential donors who, until this test, did not know that they were born with only one kidney. check!

next up: CT scan. this one was new for me too. they had to start an IV (ANOTHER first for me...), as they were going to do the dye test also. they ran one scan, then injected the dye. waited a few minutes, then ran another scan. i was in and out in 30 minutes, and the IV wasn't as bad as i'd feared. and the results? perfectly normal. check!

next: meeting with the surgical team. i learned all about the laproscopic technique, recovery time, how my one remaing kidney will enlarge and have about 80% of the capacity of the two that i have currently, but that's more than enough. cool. they also took my blood pressure, and had the results of my blood tests.
blood pressure: 120/80. check!
cholesterol: they didn't actually tell me the number, but they said it was OK. Check!
fasting blood sugar: 109. uh oh. this is very high. pre-diabetic, actually. anything over 100 raises a Big.Red.Flag.

next up a chest X-ray. not a problem. check!

finally, a psychological evaluation. they asked me questions like do you think your life expectancy will change as a result of your donation? and do you think you will be perceived differently by others as a result of your donation? i guess i did ok, because they didn't admit me! check!

in the end, everything was fine except for my blood sugar level. this will need to come down before the transplant.

SO, here's the plan. since everyone obviously wants to do this procedure as soon as possible, i convinced the transplant coordinator to go ahead and schedule the surgery with the stipulation that i will have my blood sugar under control by that time. the transplant is scheduled for december 27th. sometime by the beginning of december, i need to take a glucose tolerance test to verify that the level is under 100. in order to do this, basically, i need to lose some weight. the doctors think that losing about 15 pounds will do it. so here's my goal:

lose 20 pounds by december 2nd.

then take the glucose tolerance test on december 6th and pass with room to spare. i've lost weight like this before and i'll do it again. here's the stats so far:

weight as of october 27th: 214.5 (eek! holy s#%&)
weight as of today: 212

obviously, i've really been watching what i eat. no halloween candy! i ran saturday, monday, and again last nite. it's time to get serious.
i have no doubt i'll achieve this goal. not only will that allow me to get through this procedure, but also to finally lose the weight i've been so wanting to lose. it's amazing what the proper motivation will do for you.

fun in the sun

2005-10-21T15:14:00.000-05:00

it figures. today's probably the nastiest day we've had since march or so. it's rainy and in the low 50s. and, since i can actually sleep in tomorrow, i'm going to do a longer-ish(?) run tonite. something in the 6-mile range, maybe. longer-ish for me, anyway... despite being wet and cold, it'll be fun i'm sure. i'm gonna try to convince darrin to join me. i haven't talked to him yet, but i'll guilt him into it.
but, there is some temporary light at the end of the tunnel. see, i'm going to florida for two days next week! (that is, if hurricane wilma doesn't take florida with her - hang in there, oldman!) fun in the sun! well, not exactly... i'm going to Shand's hospital in Gainesville for some medical testing. you see, my 29-year old sister, who lives in orlando, is in total renal failure and needs a kidney transplant. as the only full blood sibling, i'm medically the best choice as a donor. besides, she and i have always been extremely close, and as soon as her doctors realized she needed a transplant, i wanted to be the one to donate. we've already done the blood and tissue tests, and i'll be going there for two days of CT scans, MRIs, more blood tests, and even a psychological evaluation. assuming everything goes fine, the actual transplant will take place sometime before the end of the year. since she became ill way back in may, it'll be nice to get this all over with so that she can resume her "normal" life. the doctors say that i really won't have any restrictions after the procedure, and that i can live a perfectly normal life with a single kidney. cool!
in other news, my twin sons, andrew and nathan, tried out for and were selected for their middle school basketball team. now, what you have to understand is that they are the 2 shortest 6th graders in the entire school. since their practices are not open to parents, i haven't really seen the rest of the team, but i hope they're not expecting alot of rebounding from the guard position. kudos for them to make the team, though, as well over half of the kids who tried out did not.
have a great weekend, everyone!

no sleep for the weary

2005-10-14T13:57:00.000-05:00

what a fun week it's been here at work. thank you Enron, thank you Adelphia, and all the other greedy bastards and corrupt a-holes whose deceptive practices necessitated the government to develop an auditing standard designed to eliminate such activities. many of you probably know what i'm talking about - the Sarbanes-Oxley Act - or SOX, as we affectionately call it. anyway, my week has been spent hanging out with 3 auditors from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, who have requested documentation regarding every little aspect of what my department does, from windows server security to emergency lighting inspections in the ladies' room. fun fun fun..
this weekend andrew and nathan are playing in a soccer tournament in indy. so, we're leaving at about 6:30AM tomorrow to play two games, then, as we have a game at 8:30AM sunday, we'll leave even earlier. oh well, at least the weather looks to be wonderful for both days - sunny in the low 70s.
i've run just a couple of times this week. my nighttime runs have been interrupted lately by this pesky database management class i'm taking. man, these classes have become a big pain in the ass.

** note to all high school students who think that taking time off before starting college is a good idea or that not finishing college is ok:
get that dumbass idea our of your head now! get your freakin' college done before your life really begins. you'll appreciate it later - trust me.

sincerely,
former high school dumbass who is now 37 and is forced to juggle kids, a wife, bills, and a full time job, instead of just school

ok. i feel better now.

hey, i wanted to wish a special good luck here to shelley, who will be sprinting down the magical Alii drive this weekend in her kona debut. i know she'll kick some serious butt.

anyway, i hope everyone has a great weekend. i actually have some interesting news that i'll announce next week. so stay tuned!

chugging along

2005-10-07T14:05:00.000-05:00

not too much interesting going on. i ran tuesday nite in the relative warmth, then ran last nite in the coolness that is the fall. currently, it's only 61 degrees here, and it was probably about 45 when i ran last nite. the cool crisp air actually felt pretty good.
since my weekend will be unusually devoid of kids' activities, hopefully darrin and i can get in a long-ish run or bike on sunday. i haven't done a long bike ride in quite a while, and this may be one of the last weekends with good enough weather to do that.
i wanted to wish good luck to those racing late year events this weekend. wil and kahuna come to mind. also to shelley, who's in kona getting ready for her big day.
have a great weekend, everyone!

down but not out

2005-10-03T15:01:00.000-05:00

deep down, i knew it was only a matter of time. but it still bothered me. you see, last thursday darrin and i agreed to go run at 10PM. i got my running stuff on, put on my shoes, and stepped outside. and then it happened. on the very first exhale.
i could see my breath. and it was cold.
i knew this meant the demise of summer. plunging temperatures, sweaters, coats, and the next ice age are right around the corner.
ahh - but wait. we hit 80s this weekend. could possibly nip 90 today or tomorrow. summer is fighting back. you go, girl!

yeah, i'm hoping this summer hangs on. thursday's run with darrin wasn't actually "cold", but it did kinda suck to walk outside and see my breath. the run itself was fine. 3 dark and relatively uneventful miles. on saturday, my kids and i participated in a 1-mile children's race, for kids in grades K-8 and their parents. justin, my 9-year old, and i ran together and finished in about 9 minutes. he did great, even on the uphill section that finished the course. andrew got nipped at the line by an 8th grader and finished second overall, but he busted through the 6 minute barrier with a time of 5:59. nathan finished 4th overall in 6:12. my 6-year old daughter sara tore up the course, finishing in a little over 12 minutes. she was not originally going to run, but when we got there, she realized that the racers all got these cool t-shirts. being female, she can't pass up clothes. she was even more excited after she finished when she was handed a goodie-bag with an apple, a banana and other stuff inside. she thought she was hot stuff... and she was right!
anyway, darrin and haven't made any formal plans yet, but i'm sure we'll get out for a few miles tonite and enjoy the waning moments of nice weather. by thursday, the low temperature is supposed to be in the low 30s. eek. i'm not looking forward to that. is it almost spring yet?!

sanity ensues

2005-09-29T15:42:00.000-05:00

yes, i'm still alive and kicking. i am really sorry that i haven't updated anything in such a long time. thanks so much to those of you that have sent me messages asking if i was ok and when i was going to update this. you guys (and gals) are so cool.
i am fine and have only my own humility to blame for my falling off the face of the blogosphere. i don't really have a valid reason why i suddenly disappeared. i have been keeping track of everyone and have been visiting everyone's blogs regularly. so why have i been so quiet? i guess it's just that i really haven't done much of anything training related this summer. with all the kids' activities, work and school, i just couldn't get motivated to train. i don't know why. i wish i did. and as i read more and more about everyone else's awesome accomplishments, i started feeling almost embarrassed about my own lack of self discipline to do anything useful. hence, i stopped updating and even commenting to everyone. i now realize how selfish that was of me. so i want to say sorry to everyone about that. *SORRY!!*
so what have i been doing? well actually i have been doing some training. my friend darrin finally bought a road bike a couple of months ago, so we've been riding a little. he got himself an awesome yellow felt s25 with all the goodies. he hasn't named it yet. come to think of it, i haven't named my bike yet either, and i've had it for about three years... i haven't been running that much, but i did do 3 miles monday and tuesday nite, and i was going to do another 3 miles last nite, but we had some pretty nasty thunderstorms, so i thought it best to stay inside.
you may remember that my original plan was to do IMMOO in 2006. well, for financial and other reasons, that didn't happen. but i am going to sign up for an IM for 2007. i promise! i'm not sure which one. darrin signed up for IMMOO, so i'll train with him and that'll start getting me into shape.
finally, i want to belatedly congratulate you guys for having a great summer. some of you achieved milestone distances, such as wil, kahuna, and vertical man. and i know at least one of you (shelley) has a little race coming up in a couple of weeks that's kinda important!! i'm sure i've forgotten someone, but those are the ones i could think of off the top of my head... sorry!
anyway, i think i've returned to sanity now after my goofy summer hiatus. thanks again to the tri-alliance group for pulling me back in to where i want (and need) to be.

comings and goings

2005-07-18T12:49:00.000-05:00

yes, yes, i'm still here. this stupid pulled calf muscle is not allowing me to run yet, though. it is feeling alot better, but it's just not ready to do any real work yet. i can jog very lightly for a few steps, but if i try to really run - forget it. oh well, the pains of being old, i suppose...

anyway, even though i've been laid up, the kids have been quite active:
andrew and nathan have been very busy with their 3v3 soccer team. we've played in two tournaments in the past two weeks, and took third place in both. a little disappointing to be honest, but these were very competitive tournaments and the teams we lost to are ones we are familiar with, and they are very good. nathan was our leading scorer this past weekend with 12 goals in 4 matches. we outscored our competition 39-9 in the opening round before falling 8-5 in the semifinals. it didn't help that one of our players was sick and didn't play hardly at all in that game. oh well. these tournaments are really just tuneups for the 3v3 regional championships in clarksville, tennessee on august 13 - 14. we need to finish in the top 5 there to qualify for nationals at the disney complex in january. hmm... orlando in january... what nice thought!
justin's playing baseball allstars and has practice virtually every nite. although his team hasn't been winning too much, he did bat 1.000 in his last tournament. he also had his 9th birthday last week. happy birthday, justin!!
sara is still going to three different dance/gymnastics classes per week, but she hasn't done any competitions lately. she's finally mastered her back tucks and is now getting her aerial carwheels down. she's also started on the balance beam, parallel bars, and vault. she seems to like the beam the best. for me, the beam always seems like the most difficult. i could just imagine myself slipping and straddling that thing. yowsa!

and finally, my tour de france note... doesn't it seem like that at times lance is just toying with everyone else? don't you just get the impression that if he really wanted to he could just accelerate past everyone whenever he wants? like a couple of days ago when ullrich, basso and vinokourov worked so hard to get 15 seconds in front of lance, only to see him eliminate that advantage in practically no time. how demoralizing that must be. he is just so superior to everyone else. i think basso is the only one who would even stand a chance if lance ever really got motivated to crush the rest of the field. man, that dude's impressive.

anyway, my goal is to start running again next weekend. with 5 more days rest, i think i can do it. hopefully that will give me enough training time for the 1/2 marathon i want to do in september. we'll see. keep yer fingers crossed!

somebody up there...

2005-07-07T13:32:00.000-05:00

is giggling like a crazed hyena at me right now. has to be. there's no other explanation for the ridiculousness of the past few days. let me explain. on saturday i played in a little informal 6v6 soccer tournament. now let's remember that i've played soccer literally my whole life, at times at a very high level. and i've never been injured during a game. well... here's how it went: we were playing against a local high school, and i received the ball with my back to the goal about 15 yards out. i twisted around, made a move to lose my defender, and pushed off my left foot and was one step from finishing a marvelous goal, when... someone kicked me on my left calf. i went down immediately, cussing the nastiness of the foul. as i got up and turned around to see who committed it, i then had a full realization of what happened. see, nobody was behind me. and when i got up and put weight on my left foot, i went straight back down. the "kick" i thought i received to my calf was actually my calf muscle pulling. owwww! in all these years, i've never pulled a calf muscle. i know, i know, i'm getting old. i shouldn't be playing against these younguns. bah! for the record, my team, featuring only players 30 and older went 4-1, only losing (7-5) to Butler University, who was ranked in the top 20 in division 1 soccer last season. hah, we showed those high schoolers! well, for 3 1/2 games, anyway...

but wait, it gets better!

so, saturday nite, i'm sitting at home at 11:30PM watching the opening stage of the tour de france, with my leg on ice, and i noticed it. it was like a little tickle in the back of my throat. it was the type of tickle that forewarns me that i'm about to get a sore throat, fever, etc.... hmm. no way. maybe i'm just imagining it.

fast forward to sunday morning.

nope, not imagining it. throat's killing me, and i'm either freezing cold or boiling hot. are you kidding me? it's freaking JULY! who gets sick in JULY??!! so now, not only am i limping around, i'm also achy and lifeless, popping advils like tic tacs, and walking around like some sort of drugged out quasimoto. to make a long story short, i finally went to the doctor yesterday, and sure enough i have strep. i got the requisite ass-shot and i feel alot better today. on another good note, the calf feels way better than i thought it would already. i can almost walk without limping. i hope to be back running next week.

andrew and nathan did ok in their mile race on the 4th. andrew wasn't feeling well, but still pulled out a 6:33. i really think that with any kind of formal training program, he could be under 6:00 in no time. nathan finished at 6:42. the good news is that they both beat darrin, who ran a 6:47. the poor guy missed 3rd in his age group by 2 seconds. i knew he shoulda tripped that guy... the better news is that because i was sick and have a pulled muscle, there was no way that i could have run it and been humiliated again by my boys! ha. i knew there was some good to all of this.

anyway, that's what's been going on here. injuries and sickness. as good as the calf feels already, i should be running sometime next week, and i should still be on target for the races i want to do later this summer.

akkilokipok

2005-07-01T13:17:00.000-05:00

i'm sorry, but this is freakin' hilarious. check it out.

well, i got my 3-miler in last nite, but again, i had to finagle a little to get it in. the kids had soccer and baseball practice last nite, so we didn't get home until after 8. by the time we finished dinner and the kids were showered and settled in, it was after 9:00. i called darrin to see if he was ready. his wife is a nurse and she had to work last nite so that ruled out darrin, as it was late and he had no one to watch his kids. i ended up doing the three miles myself around 10:30. it wasn't quite as humid as wednesday's run, but it was refreshing nonetheless.

tomorrow i'm playing in a 6v6 soccer tournament. it'll be alot of fun. we're playing in a men's open division, so i'm sure we'll go up against alot of high school and college kids. and that's good because we have a loaded team and i always enjoy kicking their young and usually arrogant asses. regardless of the outcome, it'll be a great workout. it's supposed to cool down tomorrow also - only 83 degrees. brr!

every year on the 4th of july, there is a mile race here in town. andrew and nathan are going to run it this year. i'm hoping they place in their age group. their goal is to come in under 6:00. they've been running quite a bit this summer, so i'm sure they'll do great.

anyway, i hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of july weekend. and good luck to any and all that are racing!

better late than never

2005-06-30T08:54:00.000-05:00

i got home last nite around 5:00 as usual, and i was looking forward to making some dinner and running with darrin at 7:30. as i walked in the house, kim came downstairs and began putting her shoes on. hmmm.

"hey, where are you going?"
"i have class tonite -- duuuh!"
"oh....yeah....right..."

i totally forgot that 1) kim has class on mondays and wednesdays, and 2) that it actually was wednesday. so neeless to say, the 7:30 run was out. i called darrin and we agreed to run at 9:30, after kim got home. we were both disappointed in that we wanted to run while the sun was still out and it was still broiling hot.
so we did 3 miles in the dark, but geez, was it humid!
i took a shower and caught an episode of Chasing Lance on FitTV. pretty cool show, actually. it's kinda neat to see some of the behind the scenes stuff that goes on during a race.
well, 3 more miles on tap for tonite. 'till, then......

alrighty, now...

2005-06-29T08:50:00.000-05:00

enough's enough. sorry it's been so long since i've updated. i've kept tabs on everyone, though! i've just been so busy lately. the kids' summer activities are in full swing, and i'm very involved with andrew and nathan's soccer team, and justin's all-star baseball team. between practices, games and traveling, i haven't had alot of time to update this.
anyway, i'm not going to be able to do alot of races this summer. the main reason is that i'm just not in good enough condition yet. i've narrowed it down to a scant two - the Mideast Regional Triathlon Championship, which is an olympic distance event in indianapolis on august 28, and the wabash valley half marathon, here in terre haute, on september 10.
these races are far enough out that i'll be able to do some serious training to prepare. i'll be doing both races with darrin. we've also started a "formal" training program for the half marathon. sunday was our first "real" day on the program and we did an incredibly hot and steamy 5 miles at 3:00 in the afternoon. in the past, heat and humidity never bothered me too much, but sunday's run was truly brutal. we actually walked for a couple of minutes at the turnaround. after i returned home and showered, we left to go to justin's baseball game. the bank a couple of miles from my house read 98 degrees. poor justin pitched 4 innings in the heat. he did great, though and never complained.
darrin and i took monday off and did another 3 miles last nite. it was so humid. i worked up a great sweat. i bet i lost 5lbs on sweat alone. it felt good.

i've been a real lazy ass this year and i don't know exactly why. for the most part, everything is going very well. unlike last year when i was searching for a job and wondering if i was going to have to sell my house, this year there is much less stress. yet for some reason, i can't seem to get motivated. yes, my life is totally crazy, but really, how difficult is it to go run for 30 minutes a day? time has become just an excuse i create for myself to justify my laziness. and i'm done with excuses. i'm gonna stick to this plan i have, do my two little races in a couple of months, and get in some semblance of physical condition, so that i can focus on specific training for IMMOO next year. i'm sure that wil and verticalman will beat my ass on that course in 14 months, but it'll be an honor to toe the line with them and thank them as they wait around for me to finish! kudos also to these two (and anyone else), who finished a triathlon this past weekend in the unrelenting heat.
OK. enough said. now i must do. let's check the schedule..... 3 miles tonite. i just got off the phone with darrin. we're running at 7:30. andrew and nathan are going with us. check back tomorrow. i'll be here.

it's heatin' up

2005-06-14T10:24:00.000-05:00

well summer certainly decided to show itself here lately. it's been blazing hot with very high humidity here for the past week or so. and i love it! (well, i usually love it - more about that in a minute...) yes, i'm weird in the sense that i love working out in hot weather. give me 90 degrees over 30 degrees anytime. i get kind of a strange sense of accomplishment when i get back from a run when it's hot and humid and i'm completely soaked in sweat. then i'll take a cooldown lap around my neighborhood, go inside to the cool air conditioning, take a shower, and feel wonderful.
when we came back from the soccer tournament in evansville the other weekend (we lost in the semifinals - crap!), i was looking forward to that exact sequence of events. not quite...
soccermom was the first to walk into the house upon our return. then, as i was unloading the minivan, i heard what every husband dreads. in a puzzled voice, she said:

"honey, come here for a second and take a look at this"

i stepped into the house and immediately noticed how hot it was. i figured she probably turned the air conditioning off before we left. nope. the air was turned on, alright, but the breaker was tripped and wouldn't reset. the bottom line was that it was 91 degrees in the house and i know exactly nothing about geothermal heat pumps and air conditioning systems. after opening all the windows and cranking up all the ceiling fans, we managed to get the temperature down to a chilly 86. grr.
well, i figured since i was sweating just sitting there, i might as well go running and sweat for a reason. so i did. 5 very humid miles. i got back with that very familiar and enjoyable waterfall of sweat running down me, took a lap around the block, and went inside to cool off in the air condit..... uuuhhhh, wait - there's no air conditioning. ok, skip that step and go right to the shower.
i took the coldest shower i'd had since i dated that catholic girl in 12th grade, and like then, it did no good. i got out and trying to dry off was useless. i was sweating too much. we lived all last week like this. as it turned out, the compressor died. the a/c guy called friday and said the part came in. he replaced it saturday, took my $900, and the house is back to 74 degrees.
saturday nite it was still very hot and muggy. i did a hard 6-miler and purposely heated myself way up, did my lap, and hit the air conditioning. ahhh. bliss. so sweet. much much better...

hey, i wanted to give a congratulations to all of you who completed milestone events over the past couple of weekends. in particular, wil, who nailed her first marathon, and nancy, who completed her first half ironman on the challenging eagleman course. congrats, guys! you rock!

hill work

2005-06-01T08:58:00.000-05:00

from what i understand, there might be a hill or two on the IMMOO course;) now i know that the race is still 15 months away, but the weather's been beautiful and i was feeling motivated, so i thought i'd try a little hill training.
as i've mentioned, there's not an overabundance of hills here, but there is one Pretty Damn Steep (PDS) hill about 6 miles away. so, sunday afternoon, after doing a 15 mile ride with andrew and nathan, i set off to Old Paris Road, past Pumpkin Works, and came across my training partner. it's about 3/4 mile long, has a fairly sharp curve, and, like i said, is PDS. i don't know how to measure % grade or anything like that, but it'll suffice for my needs. the first time i trekked up it, i hit it pretty hard. i was out of the saddle for a while and was fairly winded by the time i hit the top. i turned around, coasted down, and went up again. surprisingly, i didn't feel that much worse the second time. the third ascent was more difficult. in all, i went up that thing five times. by the time i reached the summit the fifth time, i was toast.
i spun easily for a couple of miles before turning to go home. on the return home, i was looking forward to cranking down that hill for the last time. it was on this hill two years ago that i reached my fastest speed ever on the bike - 52mph. i usually hit 35 - 40mph if i just coast down it, but i thought maybe i'd like to break that record.
the beginning of the descent is not too steep and is a good place to gain some speed. and i did just that. unfortunately, there was a car coming up behind me. hmmm.. decision time. do i let it pass me, but in the process slow down and ruin all the fun of the descent, or do i hammer it and stay ahead of the car? because this hill has a curve on the steepest section, i can actually go faster on it than a car can. i started to hammer it, but the car came up too fast. he was just past me as we started the steep curvy section. i hit it, and closed the gap on the car to about 10 yards when i decided to slow down because i didn't want to get any closer. i managed to hit 48mph. i could see the driver's face in his rearview mirror. man did he look surprised to see a guy on a bike come up behind him because he was going too slow down a hill! heh.

buying a decent road bike: $1000
shoes, pedals, and accessories: $250
the facial expression of a Common Man glancing in his rearview mirror as i get ready to pass his car while riding a bike at nearly 50mph: priceless

folks, it's moments like this that make all the work worth it.

MOO!

2005-05-26T12:57:00.000-05:00

whew. what a week it's been so far. work has been hectic, the kids' activities have been nonstop, and this freakin' java programming class i'm taking is consuming waaaay too much running time. i was up until almost 2AM this morning finishing up a program. geesh. oh, and hey, there is some good news:

1) it was my birthday this past tuesday. i'm now 37. i'm hoping that in races from now on, the organizers will accidently transpose the digits of my age. i figure that's the only way i'll ever have a shot at an age group award. but even then, i'm not so sure. there are some truly amazing 70 year old triathletes.

2) i've been out running 3 times lately, if you include sunday. i know, big deal, right? but, hey, that's good for me. i did a 6-miler on sunday. nothing spectacular, then a couple of 4-milers this week. the weather at 11PM when i've been running has been wonderful. a little cool, but perfect for working your body a little. i almost had a disaster, though. while running monday nite, i stepped right into a pothole that i didn't see, since i was running in total darkness. now, my ankles are horribly weak, primarily because of the zillions of sprains i incurred during my competitive soccer playing years. i mean, it takes very little for me to twist and roll my ankle, causing a painful sprain. well, i hit this pothole full-force and went straight down. i immediately assumed that i sprained the crap out of it and was envisioning a week or two of total downtime. fortunately, after getting up, it felt pretty good. i finished the last 1/2 mile to my house and was worried that it would swell like crazy overnight. but no! it was fine tuesday morning. i did another 4 miles tuesday nite, and it was rockin'. cool! i got lucky. normally, any minor twist to an ankle causes serious damage, but i escaped it this time. hah!

then the really good news:

the official formation of TGD Team MOO! yes, current members wil, steve, and i are taking on the insane task of the daunting IM wisconsin course. i know a couple of people who have completed it, and i've been told it's quite a challenge. but that's good. lord knows i need the motivation! just take a look at the crazy elevation charts that wil posted. heh. bring it on. i'm not really sure how i'm going to train for those hills here in the flatlands of indiana... but that's ok. i'll work it out.
i think it'll be alot of fun to track the progress of the florida team and the MOO team over the next 18 months.

now, if you'll excuse me, i need to go locate some hills...

someone moved my cheese

2005-05-18T09:02:00.000-05:00

i had already begun salivating. the anticipation was beginning to build. then in a matter of an hour, it was all torn down.
most of you know about my insanely busy life. very rarely do i have an evening free, and even more rarely a weekend free. i thought this coming weekend was going to be one of those rare ones. the kids had no baseball games scheduled, and even more strangely, no soccer games. i was envisioning waking up saturday morning around 8, hopping on the bike and putting in 50-75 miles, and getting home before noon. then sunday putting in a 10-15 mile run. yes, i was actually eagerly anticipating this.
then i was handed the paper after our soccer practice last nite. it said that we had to reschedule a future game that conflicted with a tournament we are going to in june. it will now be played sunday. in indianapolis. ok, scrap the sunday morning run. from soccer practice, andrew, nathan and i cruised over to the baseball fields where justin (my 8-year old) was starting his game. soon after i learned that we were going to make up a game that had been rained out last week. on saturday. at 10AM!! GRRR! scrap the long ride.
i know... some of you are wondering why i don't just get up earlier and get my run/ride in before the kids' activities. well it's still pretty cold here early in the morning, so i really don't want to start the ride too soon and freeze my soon-to-be sore ass off. and the run? yeah, it'll only take a couple of hours, so i'll probably still do that. but i was just looking forward to rolling out of bed at a nice, late hour and not having to rush to be anywhere. so i'll probably still do the long run saturday, but i'll have to start around 7:00 so that i can be done by 9. convincing darrin to get up that early to run with me will be a challenge also. he's probably less of a morning person than i am. and that's sayin' something.
in current news, i did a little 4 mile run solo last nite. nothing special. my right foot had been hurting for the last couple of days, but now it's fine. maybe it was trying to tell me it needed to run. way to go, Body! perhaps now when i get a headache, i should start studying more for the programming class i'm taking. and when my back hurts, i should do more yardwork. does this mean that when my stomach hurts, i should eat another piece of cheesecake? hmm. i just might have to test that theory...

lovin' every minute of it

2005-05-13T14:39:00.000-05:00

yesterday was so cool. you see, my older sons took a field trip with their school to st. louis. my wife chaperoned so instead of trying to figure out who we could get to see my other kids off to school, off the bus, etc., i just took a vacation day. after i dropped my daughter off at kindergarten and quickly ran a few errands, it was time. it was time to do something i haven't really done in almost 18 months. it was time to take a "real" bike ride. not a ride around the neighborhood, not a ride to a friend's house, and not a slow 10-miler with my kids. a real ride. the weather was beautiful - around 80 and not a cloud in the sky. i put on my vioxx cycling jersey (darrin is a merck pharmaceutical rep and he got me the jersey last year. i wonder if it's worth something now...) and padded shorts, grabbed a couple of gels, stocked up with one water and one gatorade, and off i went. my 30-mile loop has several rolling hills and one fairly significant hill at the 6.5 mile mark. a quick summary of my ride, stage 1:

- geez, that was a hell of a skunk
- my ass hurts a little
- why does it hurt to stay aero?
- #!@*, i don't remember this hill being this %$#!ing long!
- can somebody please find my lungs?!
- ok, i've gotta stand up for a second to get this seat out of my ass
- c'mon, i know i can do better than 17mph!
- the feel of sweating inside of my helmet is.... pleasing, actually!
- no, that's ok, dodge caravan, i didn't need any of road

stage 2: at the turn around point of my ride, there is a walmart and a little convenience store where i bought another gatorade

- ha! dodge caravan! goin' to walmart eh? ooh, the temptation to get revenge is almost overwhelming...
- the sun is feeling really warm on my neck and back
- i can't find a position where my ass does not hurt
- oh yeah, here it comes. now i get to go down the big hill!
- yee-ha! (i hit 44mph)
- did i mention that my ass really hurts?
- and here's the finish line!

all told, i covered 30.1 miles in 1:43, for an average speed of 17.6mph. certainly not lance-like, but acceptable under the circumstances. despite my back and butt hurting and getting sunburned on my neck, i loved every second of it. i had almost forgotten how enjoyable it is to ride and feel the wind and sun on me. i've been dying to get back on the bike. and i think my bike was smiling too.

announcements

2005-05-10T09:03:00.000-05:00

first off today i'd like to offer up congrats to my training partner darrin, who completed the indianapolis mini marathon this past weekend. he cruised through the 13.1 miles (which features a lap around the indy 500 track) in a great time of 2:00:12, which computes to a 9:11/mile pace. he placed 6482 out of 25029. good job big "d". he said the he contemplated a crazy sprint to the finish to try to come in under 2 hours, but quickly struck down the idea because he realized that if he did that, he might have received his finisher's medal posthumously. probably a good idea...
i've pretty much decided to do the wabash valley half marathon in september. it's a local race on a course with "rolling hills". even though they run this every year, i've never done it. the website really doesn't give much info about the course other than to say "rolling hills", but obviously i know the area and there aren't any real hills near there, so it can't be too difficult. i'll probably do a couple of sprint tri's this year just for fun also.
and, OK, well, i guess i'll say this now...... it looks like i'll probably do IMMOO in 2006 and not IMFL. as much as i would absolutely LOVE to meet everyone in florida, it just doesn't make any sense for me to do that race. first off, i've already done IMFL, so i'd like to try a different course. and second, and more importantly, my family could watch me race IMMOO, and they wouldn't be able to go to florida. see, madison is only a few hours from where i live as opposed to 13 hours to panama city. assuming darrin does the race with me, we'd drive up tuesday or wednesday and our families could drive up saturday. the race is on sunday, and the sweet thing is that monday is a holiday, so we could all drive home then. this way none of my kids have to miss school, and they get to take a cool trip that's not too far. the thing i always wanted to do was cross the finish line with my kids. i've seen so many pictures of others with their kids on their shoulders running across that line. what an awesome feeling. i missed that when i did IMFL.
so, sorry you guys! *sob* this is soooo difficult *sob sob*. obviously nothing's in concrete yet, but it really looks like i'll be kickin' it off in the murky waters of lake monona and not in the refreshing gulf of mexico in '06. anyone have a kleenex?
or maybe some hills for me to train on...

the madness never ends

2005-05-03T14:31:00.000-05:00

well as usual we had super busy weekend. the kids and i spent the whole weekend in indianapolis for the first round of the state soccer championships. soccermom was unable to go because of her affliction - called "term paper procrastination" (it was due monday!). we left saturday morning and didn't get home until sunday afternoon. we played poorly in the second half of our first game and went from a 3-1 halftime lead to a 5-3 loss. not good. this, however, is when things got interesting. we went back to the fields later that day to watch a game involving the team we were playing sunday morning. with about five minutes left in the game, we got hit by a hailstorm! wow! it must have dropped at least 20 degrees and added 30 mph winds in the matter of two minutes. we had ice caked on us. it was so utterly ridiculous that we just had to laugh. the kids thought it was great. then we went back to our hotel, got changed, and went out to eat. by the time we got back to the hotel, it was close to 10pm. that's when justin told me his ear hurt. now, if any of my other kids had told me that, i would have just told them to go to sleep and they'd feel better in the morning. but not justin. he never complains. so when he does say something like that, i know it must be hurting him pretty badly (as it turned out, he has an ear infection). of course, i didn't have any tylenol or motrin, so off we went to hunt down some medicine. i found a little minimart not too far from the hotel, and ran in. i left the kids in the van (i could see them from inside the minimart), and turned the interior lights on (this is important later). we got back to the hotel, i gave justin his medicine, and we went to bed. we woke up early the next morning, went down and ate breakfast, and walked outside to get in the van. i pushed the unlock button on the remote. nothing. hmmm. i pushed it again. nothing. huh. i unlocked the door with the key and pushed the button to open the side doors. nothing. this isn't good. apparently, i forgot to turn off the interior lights when we got back the night before. fortunately, we were able to jump it and it seems OK. things got better from there. the boys went out and kicked the snot out of their well respected evansville-based opponents, scoring a lopsided 6-1 victory. as a result of this and other games, we ended up winning our group and qualifying for semifinals, which take place in june. nathan played great in defense, and andrew, although he didn't score, did assist on five of our nine goals. great job, boys!
as for me, obviously i didn't get to do any training saturday, but i did get in 5 miles sunday nite. and i was in weird mood too. normally, i just take it easy and don't push too hard. but for some reason - maybe i was inspired by the boys soccer success this weekend, or even by TGK, robostu, and headdoc - i really ran hard. i finished the flat five in 41:58. and yes, i sprinted like a madman the last 30 yards or so to come in under 42:00! i walked a couple of laps around my neighborhood to cool down and felt good about my effort. yee ha.
there's been alot of talk amongst the "tri-alliance" group about IMFL in '06. i've gotta admit, i've been thinking alot about it also. i haven't proposed it to my wife yet, but i'm pretty sure i'll either do IMFL or IMMOO (wisconsin, for those who don't get the "MOO" part...). IMFL would be great because i'd love to go meet everyone. that would be so cool. but IMMOO just works out better logistically. it's alot closer, the family could come, not to mention i've already done IMFL, etc... but i've got time. we'll see.
finally, i have this to pass along. WARNING! if you get offended easily, do not click it. it is not g-rated. barely r-rated, maybe. but hilarious, nonetheless. click at your own risk!

remind me not to fiddle with my towel...

2005-04-29T12:56:00.000-05:00

this was just too funny not to pass along.
at least this guy had the decency to wait until his wife was at a funeral! and what's with the dog?!

slacker

2005-04-29T08:38:00.000-05:00

yeah, i know, i haven't updated in a while. i'm a slacker. really, i am. i'm intrinsically very lazy. but ironically, i think that's why i am motivated to work hard. i'll explain.
let's take work, for example. i don't like working. i got into the IT field because 1) it makes pretty good money, and 2) i don't absolutely hate it. although i could think of a bzillion things i'd rather do, i bust my ass here to do as good a job as possible. that way, i'll earn promotions and make more money. the more money i make, the more i can stuff into my retirement account. ahhhh, retirement. that's what i dream about every day. not having to come to work. i don't want to work until i'm 65. or 60. i'd retire today if i had the money. and i sure as hell wouldn't be one of those retirees that take a job handing out carts at walmart because they're bored! no way. i'd get up in the morning (or afternoon?!), and if i want to sit on the couch all day, then by golly, i'll sit. if i want to run for a while, i'll run. to summarize, i work hard in my career so that i can quit my career sooner. crazy? yeah probably...
so what about training? well i actually enjoy most of that. to a point, anyway. if i had more time, i think that i would enjoy training to the point where i could become a midpack IM finisher. if i ever had to train to finish an IM in say 10 hours, that would be too much, and would feel like work. and we can't have that. one of the reasons i like to do a long sunday run or bike is that it gives me justification to take monday off and be lazy. do a killer workout wednesday? sure, take thursday off and eat doritos. you've earned it!
for me, it's all about work and reward. but at least i'm willing to do the work first.
i have to do a tough workout tonite. see, andrew and nathan have a soccer tournament this weekend, and we'll be gone until sunday nite. i'm sure we won't eat well, and i don't want to feel guilty about not running all weekend. and i won't. spoken like a true slacker.

small victories

2005-04-25T10:19:00.000-05:00

i am probably one of the most competitive people anywhere. i HATE to lose. at anything. i mean, i've never really played tennis, but if andre agassi called me up and wanted to play a match with me, i'd still be pissed off when i lost. this is why i don't play softball or bowl anymore. but for some reason, running and triathlon are different. i can accept my place in these events. the only expectations i have for myself are 1) have fun, 2) don't get seriously injured, and 3) don't finish last. anything but last is OK. 300th out of 400 in a road race? cool. good job. 1826th out of 2100 in an ironman? wonderful. couldn't be better. finishing 1-2 in a soccer tournament? oh.my.god. no way. (insert expletive-laden tirade here). you get the idea.
on saturday, i ran the 10k loop again. it's all country roads here, and there is never a shortage of interesting smells and roadkill. while running i remembered some of you discussing roadkill and your disdain for it. i realized that i have a different perspective. i mean, it's obvious that flattened squirrel just didn't have what it takes to finish the course. rabbit with the squished head? nope. you lose. what was that, a cat? oh well, i'm demonstrating my superiority over you too. see, on the other hand, I'M going all the way. the order of finish:

1) me
2) flattened squirrel, squished rabbit, cat(?)

as you can see, i wasn't last. it's little victories like this that keep me going. (aren't you glad you're not my psychologist??)
i'm happy to announce that saturday's run was devoid of any storms. thanks to those that offered their encouragement and support on my previous battle with the elements. but while there wasn't any lightning, those of you that live in the midwest can attest to the fact that it suddenly became january again! it was FREEZING. have i mentioned before how much i enjoy the cold? i mean, wasn't it like 80 degrees a couple of days ago? i walked outside, saw my breath, then got blown over by the 25mph winds. wtf? are you kidding me? the weatherman had said it was going to be really cold, but since i'm a stubborn bastard, i refused to believe it, and now found myself standing outside in shorts and a tshirt with wind chill in the teens. i went back inside and put a sweatshirt on, but refused to wear sweats. anyway, off i went. now, the 25mph winds were coming out of the northwest, and the first mile or so of my run was directly into the wind. this was not the most pleasant experience i have ever had. my face and hands were well past numb. strangely, my underdressed legs were not chilled at all. a 90 degree turn to the south helped out alot, as now the wind was pretty much at my back. this and another turn east were wonderful, until i came to the final turn north. the last two miles are pretty much all uphill, and now were also pretty much directly into the wind. some of my thoughts:

why am i doing this?
i don't even have a race planned!
would it be easier if i ran backwards? nope. yeah, i tried it. go ahead and laugh.
if i was in a vehicle traveling at the speed of light, and i turned the headlights on, would they do anything? (i told you my mind tends to wander sometimes when i run...)

i actually found myself giggling during these last two miles at the silliness of having to brave this ridiculous temperature, winds, and go uphill all at the same time. at least i think i was giggling. my face wasn't actually capable of moving.
a more normal 4 mile run happened yesterday. it was warmer. nothing really spectacular happened. and i was pretty happy about that!

ridin' the storm out

2005-04-22T07:58:00.000-05:00

it's no secret that i've been slacking a little. uuuh, well, ok - alot. i'd kill to have the inner drive (or good fortune) of someone like wil. unfortunately, with family in town this past weekend and my kids' activities ramping up to full speed, it's becoming more and more challenging to find any reasonable time to run. but after contemplating wil, and her insane-o'clock morning runs and workouts, i decided that i needed to run - even if was at an unreasonable time.
last nite, after returning from andrew and nathan's soccer practice, eating dinner at a stupid-late hour, getting the kids showered and in bed, my wife came home from her class. we watched a movie and went to bed. it was almost midnight. as i got ready for bed, i proposed to myself two options:
1) run now, and don't get to bed until after 1:00, or
2) get up at insane-o'clock and run before work
either of these certainly qualifies as unreasonable. i chose option 1. i knew that there was absolutely no possible way that i would have gotten up to run when my alarm rang at 4:30 (sorry wil!) so i got dressed and went out. when i got outside and felt the stiff it's-going-to-pour-rain-at-any-moment wind in my face, i remembered the less than encouraging weather forecast, which called for heavy thunderstorms throughout the nite. hmmm. screw it. i ran anyway. now i hadn't really thought about how far i was going to go. i just headed toward state line road (which really is the border between indiana and illinois) and figured i'd make a decision then. i got to state line road and made a left. making a left there means that i'm going to do a particular loop, which happens to run for exactly 6.2 miles. a built in 10k - how cool! i hadn't really planned on running that long, but i felt pretty good, so i just kept going. the end of state line road represents approximately halfway, and is also the furthest point from home on the loop. i was still feeling good. here's the splits:
mile 1 (flat): 8:45 - uncomfortable, as usual.
mile 2 (flat): 8:30 - getting into a rhythm. noticing ominous rumbling somewhere far off...
mile 3 (2 big uphills, 1 big downhill): 10:15 - hitting "cruise control". rumbling getting much louder.
now, as amy has so eloquently stated, if there is any possibility of getting rained or dumped on, it will happen when you are furthest from home. and that's exactly what happened. the skies opened up and punished me worse than a boy attempting to escape from neverland. and the LIGHTNING! wow! eek! duck! then wind!
i started running faster, to try to get to the wooded area of the course, about a mile further.
i've gotta go now. we have cows!
fortunately, it settled down quickly. by the time i reached the end of mile four, the lightning subsided, the wind died down, and the rain was now a rather pleasant light shower. the rest of the run was quite enjoyable, and i'm glad i chose to do the full 6.2 miles. here's the rest of the run splits:
mile 4 (constant slight downhill): 7:55 - it's amazing how fast you can run when in a massive lightning storm and YOU are the tallest thing around!!!
mile 5 (small downhill, small uphill): 10:30 - paying for mile 4.
mile 6 (all uphill): 10:35
total time for the 6.2: 58:30.
not bad, i guess, for a relatively hilly and stormy 10k. i'm not sure if my shoes will ever dry out, though!

reflections

2005-04-20T09:14:00.000-05:00

before we were married, my wife and i often discussed having children. she wanted several, but i said i would be content with just one. one always seemed easier. no fighting, no arguing, etc... unfortunately, considering that she had multiple reproductive issues (endometriosis, etc.), her doctor told us that having any children at all would be extremely difficult (although eventually we would prove him wrong!) so after we were married, she was put on fertility pills, and whaddya know, after a month or so, she was pregnant.
about 12 weeks into the pregnancy came that fateful night... about 1AM she started bleeding profusely, and we found ourselves in the emergency room. after being stabilized until morning, an OB nurse came in do an ultrasound to prove what we had feared: she had lost the baby. now, neither my wife nor i had ever seen an ultrasound, so we had no idea what we were looking at. the nurse spent a couple of minutes probing around, as we nervously waited. then she spoke:

"is there a history of twins in the family?"

"wh-what? no, there's no twins in either of our families"

"well there is now!"

the emotions of going from thinking you had one baby, to no baby, to two babies - all in a matter of hours, was unbelievable. her doctor thinks that she originally had triplets, and that one of them was not doing well. apparently, the mother's body can sense this and aborts the dying one so that it won't unintentionally kill the others. amazing.
the rest of her pregnancy went as well as could be expected from a 5'1", 100lb mother carrying twins. and after 35 weeks and more stomach stretching than my wife would like to remember, the call came:

"i just tripped over the cat. now i think i'm in labor!"

after pausing a moment to pity the poor cat, we were off to the hospital. eight hours later, andrew was the first to emerge. he cried for a second, the nurse plopped him on my wife's still-pregnant belly, we smiled and cried, and they took him away to do.... whatever it is they do with healthy newborn babies. nathan was next. he came out, and... nothing. no kicking, no crying, no breathing! suddenly this joyous occasion was turning into a nightmare. no plopping on the belly, no smiling, but definitely some crying as the nurse rushed him over to the doctor where they began resuscitation and to do.. whatever it is they do with non-breathing newborn babies. a short while later, we heard the glorious cries of our second newborn baby boy. although relieved, my wife and i were still shaken and concerned about the incident. the doctor, a backwoods country guy who also raises pigs (no kidding), came over and assured us.

"sometimes you just gotta kick-start 'em"

i swear that's exactly what he said. i remember it like it was yesterday. well, it wasn't quite yesterday. but it was exactly eleven years ago today. it's amazing how the time goes by so fast. for those of you with infants, i know you've heard it all before, but i'll tell you again: appreciate these times. before you know it, they'll be gone. and soon they'll be riding a bike, going to school, and maybe even kicking the pants off of you in a 5-mile race! although my desire to have only one child lasted all of 8 minutes, i wouldn't want it any other way. i feel blessed for every moment i can spend with any of my (now, 4) children.

anyway, happy birthday andrew and nathan - this day's for you.

new directions

2005-04-15T08:40:00.000-05:00

i'm starting to think i may need to enhance my blogging resume with some new skills. professional writers (TGK, robo-stu, playboy joel) and graphic artists (rett, flabbyironman, mr. iron wil) are starting to dominate this market! besides, if this pope gig doesn't pan out, i'll need something to fall back on. that, and with the paternity payments which i'm sure britney is going to make me pay, i could use the extra income.
on to other things... i didn't get out to run last nite, as it became My Parents Are Coming In Tomorrow So We Have To Run Around Like Headless Chickens And Clean The Whole House night. it was after midnight(and two hours after soccermom fell asleep, i might add...) when i finished. i think it was actually a harder workout than the 4-mile run i was going to do.
anyway, with the family in town this weekend, i'm not sure what i'll be able to accomplish workout-wise. we'll see...

thanks, more bragging, but no snow

2005-04-13T09:03:00.000-05:00

thanks everyone for all the kind words, especially those directed toward andrew and nathan. andrew's a trooper, and doesn't let a little thing like vomiting during a 5-mile run ruin his 5th place 15-and-under age group finish. and yes, his natural position in soccer is midfield. nathan (6th in the U-15 AG), while perhaps not blessed with the same level of natural athletic ability as andrew, has a never-say-die attitude. he always gives 100 percent. at 10 years old, he and andrew were the youngest male competitors and finished 56th and 69th overall.
OK, i'm done bragging on my kids -- for now!
i had planned for a 3 or 4 mile run last nite, but the weather was not cooperative. we had thunderstorms practically all nite, and while i will run in the rain, i'm not sure running through open cornfields on the indiana-illinois border during lightning is the wisest idea. so i stayed home. it's supposed to clear up today, so i'll make up for it tonite. i can't really complain, though. at least i'm not having to shovel snow, like flabbyironman! dude, i'm sure you know about my hatred for cold weather, so i really feel for ya. i hope it's clearing up!
anyway, thanks again everyone. it's so nice to have a community of people like this for motivation and support.

the king is dead!

2005-04-11T08:59:00.000-05:00

and buried. at least it was a quick kill at the swamp stomp on saturday. since the official results are not yet posted (thank god), i'd estimate there were about 200 people in the race. at the start, nathan was directly in front of me, and andrew was about 10 feet ahead of us. that was the last i saw of andrew.

on your mark
get set
go!

where's andrew? nathan skirted around some "slower" runners and was gone. i saw him about 1/2 mile later, about 100 yards ahead of me. that was the last i saw of nathan.
i'd never done any trail running, and it's alot different than road running. usually, i get to a point where i'm kinda like on cruise control. the legs do their thing, and the mind wanders about. not so on trail running. with mud, roots, railroad ties, rocks, etc.. you have to pay attention to every foot placement. i could never get "in the zone." the first two miles were pretty easy. most of that involved the roads around the park, and a stretch around a lake. then came the trails. at the start of mile three, we were introduced to what the locals here call "Mt. Breathless". you can't really run up this thing. it's practically straight up. many people were using small trees to pull their way to the top. those last three miles were all on these trails, and included lots of hills similar to this, including another foray up Mt. Breathless in mile five. so this certainly wasn't your typical five mile run. but it was a blast.
i actually didn't do too bad. aside from a 5-minute spell when i walked with darrin's daughter who was having stomach issues, and the two hikes up Mt. Breathless, i ran the whole way at a pretty consistent pace. consistently slow, but consistent nonetheless.
the unofficial results are:

andrew: 44:30
nathan: 46:00
me: 53:00

yeah, that's right. andrew beat me by nine minutes. and this includes when he walked for five minutes after having a coughing fit and vomiting. now, before anyone gets alarmed, he is still suffering the late stages of pertussis (also known as whooping cough - yes, he's had the vaccine, but recent research is showing that the current vaccine may not be sufficient). this is a "normal" symptom of pertussis, and unfortunately, he's somewhat used to it. vomiting is also a normal reaction. then he just needs a couple of minutes to catch his breath, and he's as good as new. according to one of the course volunteers who was talking to us after the race, he was in the top ten overall at mile three! geez... heck, i wasn't in the top ten at yard three! anyway, i'm glad they did such a great job. i'm so proud of both of them.
the twins capped off the weekend by going to indy yesterday and winning their soccer game 3-2. andrew scored our 3rd goal.
all in all, we had a very successful weekend. even though i had to give up my throne, i couldn't think of any more worthy successors. and besides, i can still take 'em at soccer!

it's the end of the world as you know it...

2005-04-08T14:56:00.000-05:00

i heard that song when i went out for lunch today. actually, it may be prophetic. tomorrow could be the end of an era for me. it may be the day that officially proves that i can no longer beat my kids in running. realistically, i've known this for quite a while now, but we've never had a timed race to prove it. i'll do my best, though. i won't hold back! if i have to trip one of them on a sprint to the finish line, then by golly they're goin' down!

the ideal order of finish:
1) andrew, nathan, me
4) meb kflezighi
5) paul tergat
6) haile gebrselassie

the predicted order of finish:
1) andrew
2) nathan
10) local running club guy
24) girl who's been training alot
57) guy who trains occassionally and just decided to do this race yesterday
168) woman who recently lost 20lbs and is doing her first race
224) overweight guy who hasn't run in 10 years that was tricked into running this race by his buddies
371) 67-year old woman who had hip replacement surgery 2 weeks ago
397) me
398) 88-year old guy who finished in last place because the second-to-last-place guy pulled his walker out from under him during their sprint to the finish

oh well. we'll just see. anyway, i need to get home so i can plan a full night's worth of activities to ensure andrew and nathan don't get to bed too early!

on the road again

2005-04-06T21:22:00.000-05:00

hello from findlay, ohio! yes, i'm on another business trip, this time at our company's headquarters. fortunately, i'll be home tomorrow. i did a little workout tonite in the hotel's fitness room, then i did some "swimming" in the pool. i said "swimming" because considering how small the pool is, i really don't consider it a workout. it's more like wading and splashing around. plus, the pool was full of kids. and speaking of the kids... there were 3 or 4 boys and probably about 8-10 girls between the ages of around 8-18. from the way they acted, i'm pretty sure they were all related somehow. here's the weird thing. all of the girls were at least 50lbs overweight - even the young ones! BUT, the boys were all rail-thin! i don't get it. do the boys go out to hunt for the food and give it to the girls, like cavemen? are they fattening up the girls so they can eat them? hmmm. anyway, i thought that was strange. there's nothing like being surrounded by a herd of fat, obnoxious girls. i can't wait until i leave tomorrow.
on to other business... wil made a good comment to my last post. i was complaining about my slow 9 mile run, she astutely pointed out that there are so many people that couldn't run 9 miles at all. that's so true. you know, sometimes when we do these runs we just take them for granted. 6 miles here, 8 miles there, etc. for me, i get to the point where i don't fully appreciate that, although i am a middle to back of the pack runner/triathlete, the fact that i am any kind of runner/triathlete means that i am still fitter than 95% of the general public. thanks, wil! sometimes i need a little slap like that...

finally, a race

2005-04-04T09:26:00.000-05:00

i signed up for my first race of the season today. next saturday, i will be running in a local 5 mile "swamp stomp". it's run over trails, hills, and i assume... swamps. the organizers said not to bring your good shoes. take notice that i said i was running, and not racing. with my current level of fitness, racing is definitely out of the question. so, while i will be in a race, i will not actually be racing. darrin is doing this race and talked me into it. the cool thing is that my 10-year old twin boys will be joining me. although they've run with me and on their own many times, this will be their first "official" race. my first thought was that i would have to stay back and run at their pace just so i would know that they were ok. then it occurred to me that their pace is probably going to be significanty faster than mine... they have already established through our runs and the work they have done with a local youth running club, that they can toast me at the 5k distance, and although they have never done this long of a distance, i have little doubt that they will be waiting for me at the finish line as opposed to the other way around. so - that has become my goal. don't get beat by my 10 year olds. is that pathetic or what? i mean, for their age, they are very good runners, but they are 10! i should still be able to beat a 10 year old shouldn't i? oh well, at least this is a win-win situation. if i win, then i will temporarily hold onto my place as king. (oh, and i will tease them!) and if they win - well, they are my kids. and i do want them to excel. and after i am mercilessly mocked by my kids, my wife, friends, parents, whoever actually reads this, and probably even the dog, i will feel good about it. after all, i'm rooting for them already.
this past weekend didn't exactly go as planned. i thought i was going to a 12 mile run with darrin, but he ended up running with his group. i went out and did about 9 miles, though. i should mention that those were 9 s...l...o...w miles. it took me about 1:25 to cover the 9. about a 10min pace. i felt pretty good though, and the leg soreness has pretty much subsided this morning. i didn't get to bike on sunday as i had hoped, because i got busy doing father/husband/friend/volunteer/slave duties. one thing seemed to lead to another, and i just didn't get time. it was soooo nice, too. oh well. there will be other opportunities, i suppose. tonite i'll do a little 3-5 mile run to get the rest of the soreness out of my legs from saturday. i'll be sure to load the kids up on greasy burgers and ice cream this week...

it's not just a physical disability

2005-04-01T10:21:00.000-05:00

ok, even though this is on the cnn website, i refuse to believe it's not an april fools joke. "get back in that chair, you helpless cripple!" what is the world coming to?
anyway, i've got an evil 12-miler scheduled for tomorrow, and then hopefully some biking on sunday, as mr. weatherman is calling for mid-60s and sunny. and yes, white salamander, mid-60s is WARM!

its bikin' time

2005-03-30T10:54:00.000-05:00

i love the bike. of the three disciplines in triathlon, the bike is by far my favorite. as i do not own a trainer, and the weather here has been about as cooperative as mark mcguire at a steroids hearing, i have not ridden my bike since last fall. but alas... i got home from work yesterday to a balmy 68 degrees! knowing i didn't have much time, as i had to take my son to baseball practice, i ran upstairs, dusted off my bike shorts and shoes, aired up my tires, and took to the streets. the first half mile was pure bliss. then, as i turned a corner to go west, my old nemesis returned.

Wind.

even the times when i was "in shape", i was never considered "thin". i was always stocky or muscular. now that i'm not "in shape", it's even worse. at my size, i might as well raise a sail on my bike, and when Wind decides to play against me, it is the challenge that i dread the most. give me heat, hills, unleashed dogs, a swarm of insects... even give me paula abdul at the wheel, but please, do not give me Wind.

anyway, because of my limited time, i only did about 30 minutes - good enough for almost nine miles. i had a blast. i hope the weather holds out for this weekend when i might be able to get in a legitimate ride.
i do need to spend a couple of hours sometime doing a little spring cleaning on my bike. it's been in the garage all winter. unlike the tri geek kahuna, i do not wine and dine, sleep with, or even have a name for my bike... but i do ride her hard...

i want to be a real boy!

2005-03-29T09:27:00.000-05:00

i've been in this job for a little over six months now. but it wasn't until yesterday that i became a real boy! see, up until then i've been working here as a contractor. i've known for about three months that i would be hired on as a permanent employee, but the company didn't want to buy out the contract, so i just remained a contractor for the six month duration. anyway, nothing is really different. pay is about the same, benefits are better, my office chair is still uncomfortable. but somewhere in the back of my mind, i feel a little more comfortable. like i belong here now. it's weird how the mind works.

along those same lines, my mind messes with me in my running also. pretty much all of my runs start out on the same course. where i turn around determines how far i run. i can also do variations of a loop that runs from six to about eleven miles. when i ran last thursday, i planned on doing four miles. i was happy to see the two mile marker (i have spray painted mile markers on all the roads near my house) and even though my pace wasn't very quick, i was glad when the four miles was over. on saturday, i planned on and did about nine miles. i passed that same two mile marker doing about the same pace, and i felt fine, whereas thursday when i knew i was only doing four miles, that same two mile marker was a relief. hmmm. it's strange that just because i knew i was doing nine miles, the first two miles were easy, and when i passed four miles i still felt fine. the same four miles two days before seemed much more difficult, and i think it's just because i knew i was only doing four, and that's what my mind told my body to prepare for...

that reminds me of a quote that i saw on the back of someone's shirt when i was doing tri in indy a couple of years ago:
"the toughest competition you face is that little voice inside your head telling you to slow down"
that's so true. your body can do so much more than your brain wants to allow.

anyway, i still haven't been running as much as i would like. the weather is finally turning nicer, though... or so i thought. see, it was beautiful yesterday. when i got home from work, it was in the low 60s and sunny. i was salivating at the thought of running at nite in shorts and a tshirt. no sweats, no hat, no gloves... well by the time everyone settled down at home (the kids are on spring break), it was late, and i didn't get out to run until after 11:00. i put on my running shorts and shirt, laced my shoes, stepped outside, and.... could see my breath! what the hell? it was 60 a couple of hours ago! well i still ran, and after a mile or two was reasonably warm, but i had been looking forward to sweat dripping off my face, and certainly not having to keep the pace up to keep warm. when i got home, the weather channel said the temperature was 35. wow. that's a big drop. oh well. at least i got the workout in.

i'm back

2005-03-22T09:59:00.000-05:00

i haven't updated this in a while because i've been away on a business trip. i was attending a disaster recovery drill at one of my company's other locations, a little town near ashland, kentucky, right next to the west virginia border. eek. after being there for 5 days, i now know where most of the kentucky stereotypes come from that people always talk about! so many trailers, so few teeth....
anyway, i managed to get in a couple of workouts while i was there, in the hotel's workout room. i normally don't do weights because i don't belong to a gym, so using some of their nautilus equipment was quite fun. i still can't stand the treadmill. sooo boring, and not even a TV to watch. on the down side, i ate like a pig. the lure of eating what i wanted and not having to pay for it was just too much. i'm really going to have to step it up a little. at least it's getting warmer now. it gives me a lot more motivation to go out and run when i don't have to bundle up. a few more degrees and i can finally take the bike out. i'm really looking forward to that.

a work work-out

2005-03-11T13:53:00.000-05:00

for a while now, i have been wanting to start to work out during my lunch here at work. i wasn't planning on starting today... see, we have a raised floor in the server room, and the laminate on the tiles began to peel up, causing a trip hazard. bowing to the OSHA gods, i ordered new tiles, which came in this week. after staring at them for a couple of days, i came to the conclusion that they would not replace themselves, and since i have no assistant, secretary, waterboy, or other gullible person that i can pawn a physically demanding job onto, i figured i'd get to it and get it done today. 45 floor tiles later, and here i am, sweatshirt-less and perspiring. a good upper-body workout, though...
hey, i have a relatively free weekend coming up! the conclusion of my kids' basketball season and the fact that we don't have any soccer games this weekend means that i might actually be able to get in a decent-length run in - during the day! it's so rare that i get to run between the hours of 9:00AM and 10:00PM. i'd like to get 9 or 10 miles in on saturday. in the daylight! woohoo!

miscellaneous ramblings

2005-03-10T09:51:00.000-05:00

wednesday nite is traditionally the nite that i go play indoor soccer with a bunch of guys i know. we play for fun and have a good time. as soccer was the one (and only?) thing i was actually good at, i really look forward to playing. last nite, however, my wife decided that she was going to play bingo at a friend's house. bingo?? she's 35, and her friends are about the same age. bingo?? none of them wear a blue wig or have walkers. bingo?? on my soccer nite?? grrr.. oh how i love being married sometimes...
so anyway, she got home around 10:00 and i wasn't in the most cheeriest of moods. the phone rang about 10:30. here's the conversation:

darrin: hey, dude i need to get 5 miles in tonite. you up for it?
(i'm in a pretty pissy mood, so i'm certainly not up for it...)
me: man, it's really cold outside.
darrin: it's warmer than it has been recently.
me: yeah, but i'm just not in the mood to run.
darrin: you're a big pussy. i'll see you in 10 minutes. we'll only do 4.
'click!'

so, about 10 minutes later, i knocked on darrin's door and we went running. after all, he was right. i was being a big pussy. we did a 2-mile out and back. here's the rundown;

mile 1: felt like crap as usual. working hard to stay with darrin.
mile 2: still feel like crap. barely staying with darrin.
mile 3. screw darrin. he can go on ahead. i'm doing my own pace.
mile 4: actually feeling very good now that i slowed a bit. i can't see darrin anymore.
mile 5: after completing the 4 miles i arrived back at darrin's house shortly after he did. he was standing in his driveway. i figured since we were already out in the cold and i was now feeling better than i had all nite, we might as well do the full 5. i yelled to darrin:

"c'mon you big pussy, we've got one more mile."

in retrospect, i felt really good when i went from darrin's 8:15 pace to my 8:45 pace, and i'm glad we did that last mile.

maybe now i need to focus my newfound anti-pussiness on my marriage. next week, when kim says she's got plans on my soccer night, i'll get right up in her face, and... tell her to have a good time... after all, i know my limitations.

a numbing effect

2005-03-08T09:15:00.000-05:00

on saturday, darrin did his scheduled 8 mile run with his group. i was invited to join them, but since saturday mornings are currently tightly booked with my kids' activities, i was forced to decline. i was looking forward to a long run, though. i am happy to report that i was able to sneak in the 8 miles later on. i did a loop that i haven't done in over 18 months. in fact, the 8 miles was the longest i've run since november of 2003. that's not good. the first mile or so, as usual, was unpleasant. it always takes me a while to get into a rhythm. i never feel good during the first mile. after that, i pretty much cruised. aside from some mild soreness, my legs felt fine afterwards.
it was pretty late at nite when i ran, and i get some perverse satisfaction when my presence causes people's dogs to go completely bezerk, and in the process awaken everyone on the block. there's a couple of particularly loud and rambunctous beasts that i know are on a chain or invisible fence, and i'll bark back or tease them and really get them going! hee hee. one of these days, cujo will break loose and i'll really be in trouble. so, if i suddenly stop blogging...
the only thing that always bothers me on longer runs is my feet going numb. it always happens between miles four and five. it lasts for a few miles, then i regain feeling. i've tried loosening my shoe laces, stretching before i run, etc. this is my third pair of shoes that i've owned since i started running again a couple of years ago, and it's happened regardless of which pair i wear. i need a new pair again, and will have a friend, who is a running coach, and very accomplished runner take a look at my stride and give me some advice on shoes. hopefully she can find something that the folks at my running shoe store cannot.

brrr... still

2005-03-01T08:11:00.000-05:00

ok, enough of this. i remember on february 1st i posted that i was excited because january was over and i could see the end of the cold weather! well here it is, march 1st and... it's snowing, with a wind chill of 7 degrees! yuk! and it's not getting better anytime soon. the forecast is for lows in the teens every day this week. i'm tired of having ice build up on my face and head when i run! speaking of running, i did a hilly 6 miles on saturday. i'm getting to the point where during the run, i'm feeling good enough to pick it up for a while until i tire. then i settle down into a comfortable pace, recover, and speed up a little again. that's good. that means progress. i attacked the hills pretty hard, and then slowed way down for a hundred yards or so to recover. it was tough, but felt great. i did another three miles on sunday. i held about an 8:30 pace and didn't feel any lingering affects of saturday's run.
i've been really hungry lately, and i don't know why. last thursday, my boss took us all out to a chinese buffet, and i really had to hold back. man, that stuff is tempting! i can't say that i contained myself completely, but i felt like i could have stuffed unlimited amounts of egg rolls, chicken(?), shrimp, and broccoli into my bottomless pit. but, alas, i limited myself to two plates. and no dessert.
well, the plan is for 4 miles tonite. i think the snow is supposed to stop, so i should be good to go. i'll deal with the cold. i don't like dealing with ice and snow.
my kids' sports activities (soccer tournaments, etc...) for the summer should be getting finalized soon, so i'll be able to start planning some races. i think i've decided to keep it short course this year. there are quite a few sprint distance tri's in indianapolis that i can do this summer. there's also a half marathon in september here in terre haute, where i live. that'll give me some fun without having to spend massive hours training for a long distance race. i'd still like to sign up for ironmanusa in lake placid for july, 2006. we'll see how the other half feels about that...

back in sync

2005-02-24T08:45:00.000-05:00

well, after a couple of weeks of virtual non-running, i'm starting to get back into it. this month has been one of the busiest i can remember, and the running has been the thing that has been sacrificed. either i just haven't had the time, or i just felt too tired. well things have settled down just a little and i've managed to get out a few times this week. early saturday morning, in frigid 17 degree weather, darrin and i did about 5 miles, which included a couple of pretty good hills. the last mile was flat and because i felt really good, i picked it up a little. i hit the finish line (darrin's driveway) and was surprised at how strong i was the whole time. darrin finished right along side of me. he's really improved in the last month or two. on sunday nite, i did three miles by myself. again, no big deal. i did three more miles on tuesday and really picked it up the last mile. i'm trying to negative split as much as i can.
i played soccer last nite as usual. and as usual, i was terrible. i missed so many easy goals... oh well, at least my competitive playing days are over. i know i should just have fun playing - and i do, but especially in soccer, i have a higher standard for myself. in running or triathlon, i am not competitive. i know i will never win my age group or any podium spots. soccer is different for me. it's what i was good at. at one time i played at a very high level, so playing poorly - even years later - bothers me. aaahhh, i'll get over it, though...
anyway, the plan for the rest of the week is 3 miles tonite, then 6-7 on saturday. darrin's plan for saturday is actually only 4 miles (it's a recovery week), but since we've been in recovery for a couple of weeks, we're going to do a longer run...

focus

2005-02-18T08:17:00.000-05:00

oh my. the realities of life have set in this past week. i was only able to get out running twice despite pretty good weather. i did play soccer on wednesday, although not very well... work has been very busy, and my 4 kids' activities are nonstop. fyi... here's a rundown of a typical extracurricular activity week with the kids:

monday: andrew and nathan basketball practice
tuesday: sara dance class, sara basketball practice
wednesday: andrew and nathan basketball game, justin basketball practice
thursday: andrew and nathan soccer practice, justin basketball practice
friday: sara basketball game
saturday: sara gymnastics class, justin basketball game, sara airborne practice
sunday: andrew and nathan soccer practice in bloomington (an hour away)

add this to the fact that i work full time, my wife works about 25 hours a week, and we're both full time college students, and you can see where free time is at a premium! well, basketball season is almost over, but then justin will be playing baseball and there will be more soccer practices added as the weather gets better. when i really think about it though, yes, it's ridiculously busy, but i wouldn't want it any other way. the kids are involved in alot, but they love it, and so do i. the sacrifice for this, of course, is time to do things for myself. such as run. or sleep... but i vow to do better. i'll get out there tomorrow and do my long run. i'll get more consistent. even if that means running in the middle of the nite and sacrificing sleep. bring it on!

oh, to be young again

2005-02-09T14:17:00.000-05:00

first and foremost, i have to say happy birthday to my daughter, sara, who is 6 years old today! she couldn't get to sleep last nite because she was so excited. remember those days, when it was so cool to be a year older? hmmm, i certainly have a different perspective on that now! anyway, happy birthday, sweetie!
well, unfortunately, not alot has happened since i last updated. i did a five mile run by myself on saturday. it went fine. i took it slow, and sped up toward the end because i was feeling good. on sunday, i went on a very late post-superbowl run for three easy miles. i stayed in the neighborhood, and again took it pretty slow. i didn't bring my watch for either run.
i didn't run monday or tuesday, but will do another three miles tonite. i am supposed to play soccer tonite, but with it being sara's birthday, i may not go.
one last thing - congrats to amy, who set a PR in the san francisco half marathon this past sunday. great job!

pay up, pare down

2005-02-04T09:41:00.000-05:00

$329. that's how much that stupid deer owes me to fix the honda. i'm not sure how i'll get him to cough it up, but hell, i live in indiana, so i know lots of people around here that can make him pay in venison!
work has been crazy lately. our automated tape library went bezerk and i've been working on that all week. because of that, i was not able to play soccer on wednesday. i did, however get out for a 3 mile run with darrin. i felt AWFUL. i never got going, and darrin left me in the dust. oh well, that happens. last nite, we did four miles. i felt much better. averaged 8:55/mile, which for me is pretty good. darrin, though, has been unbelieveable. once again, he left me behind at about the 2.5 mile mark and beat me by at least a minute. the last week or so, he's been very impressive. i thought my 35:40 last nite was pretty darn good, and if i didn't know better, would have assumed that darrin would have had a tough time keeping that pace. but no. anyway, way to go darrin!
this weekend, i have a five mile run on saturday, and three more sunday. i need to get that in before the superbowl...
hey, before i go, i want to wish amy good luck this weekend. she is running a half-marathon on sunday. kick some butt, girl!! i know you'll do great. and, hey, watch out for slippery water stations!!
oh, and one more thing. i weighed in this morning. it was a little emotional, actually. the scale here at work is one of those slide types, where you push the big weight to 100, 150, 200, or 250, then slide the small weight on top to increment your exact weight. well, today, i have graduated into the 150+ category. no longer will i have to move that big bastard all the way to 200. no, folks, the scale doesn't lie: 199. that's 10.5lbs in exactly one month. i'll take that. next!

fab feb

2005-02-02T07:59:00.000-05:00

yee-ha... it's february! that means we're one small step closer to warm weather. and i am definitely looking forward to that. i am so sick of bundling up to go run. hats, gloves, sweat pants and shirts... yuck.
speaking of running, i haven't been doing as much of that as i would like. i did four miles on saturday, and three on monday. i've been feeling really good during my runs lately. i've been trying to do negative splits. tonite i'm going to play indoor soccer again, and then if darrin hasn't run by the time i get done, i'll put in 3 miles with him. speaking of darrin and soccer, although he had a successful inaugural outing last week, it doesn't look like he is going to make it a habit. i guess he's going to quit while he's ahead.
a strange thing happened to me yesterday. on the way to work, i was driving over the crest of a hill, and as i reached the apex, i saw some deer crossing the road. i hit the brakes pretty hard to make sure i didn't hit any. and i didn't. well, until the suicidal deer appraoched, that is... i was crawling along at like 5mph when this deer comes running out in the middle of the road, runs down the street next to my car for about 10 yards, then veers right into the passenger-side door. i was trying to get away, and this stupid deer hit me! it really didn't hit the door very hard, and i kinda forgot about it. well, until my wife drove my car later that night... what the hell did you hit with the car? i can't even open the passenger door! for a moment, i had no idea what she was talking about. then i remembered psycho-bambi. i went and looked at it, and sure enough the door was dented right where it meets the front quarter panel. and it won't open. grrr. anyway, it's off to get an estimate today. damn deer...

not with my daughter, you don't

2005-01-28T14:37:00.000-05:00

well, i guess i should recap the last couple of days. on tuesday, darrin and i did another 3 miles. nothing special. on wednesday, we played indoor soccer in an adult league for 1 1/2 hours. i know most of the guys, and we don't get too serious. darrin has never really played soccer before, but he figured that he'd get a decent workout, and came along. he did fine. scored two goals in his first game! maybe they were just taking it easy on him... anyway, last nite we did another 3 miles, and man was it cold. we did a little out and back, and on the way out it felt pretty good. then we turned around and realized that we'd been running with the wind. brr. i was wearing a wool hat, and when i took it off, there was ice all around the sides where i had been sweating! have i mentioned my dislike for the cold??
the reason why i've been only running 3 miles each time is because darrin is in training for the indianapolis mini marathon with a local group called wabash valley road runners. they have a schedule that he follows. well, since i haven't decided on which races i'm doing yet, i figured i'd just follow his schedule. he does the long saturday runs with them, and i do the long run on my own. i'm sure our mileage will be going up in the coming weeks. i think the long run this weekend is five miles. not really a long run, but better than nothing.
oh.. i almost forgot...
something really scary happened on tuesday. my kids and i went out to eat at a local chinese place while my wife went to class (she is studying to get her RN). there were two women ordering at the counter when we got there (it's not a buffet). one of the women was VERY large. i wasn't really paying any attention to what they were saying, since i had to figure out what my kids wanted. the big woman had apparently finished ordering and the chinese girl behind the counter told the woman her total, which was $27.58. she then turned around, passed the ticket to the kitchen workers, and said "we have beeg order!" i just figured this woman ordered take-out for her family (naturally, i was wrong about this - apparently, she had already eaten her family.) i did find it strange, though that the woman with her simply ordered a single meal. anyway, they sat down to wait and we ordered. 4 entrees and 5 drinks for $32. we went and sat down, and i really didn't think about it anymore until they brought out the big woman's food on trays! that's right, this beast of a woman was going to eat $27 worth of food herself! she had to put a couple of the entrees on another table because her friend's food wouldn't fit!! i didn't know whether to laugh or be disgusted. either way, it was impressive to see her inhale all of that in less than 15 minutes. i mean, that food was disappearing faster than billy joel's hair (have you seen that guy lately??). i was a little concerned, though. my daughter is only 5, and i feared that she could have been easily mistaken for an egg roll by that behemoth. i'm happy to say that we all escaped unscathed.
oh yeah, i weighed in today... no change. hmmm. i thought i would have dropped a pound or two. must've been those damn cookies from earlier this week....

you can't have just one

2005-01-25T13:15:00.000-05:00

nothing exceptional to report today. darrin and i put in 3 miles last nite. i felt really strong, and pushed the pace a little. we finished up in slightly under 27 minutes, so just under nine minutes per mile. not bad. i was colder than normal though. the weather channel said it was 27 degrees as i walked out, but it felt colder than that.
i just finished up my turkey-on-whole wheat sandwich, and it really filled me up. i've cut my food intake drastically for the last three weeks or so, and i'm noticing that it is taking less and less food to make me feel full. that's a good thing. a couple of weeks ago, it was much more of a struggle to avoid eating. i mean, there were times that our dog was beginning to look plump and juicy, and i found myself imagining him being served over a bed of rice in a nice marinara sauce. but...i have moved on now. i am no longer ruled by the unrelenting dispassionate force of hunger and weakness that bec.... wha? what's this? a coworker just came in my office sporting a homebaked batch of the most beautiful cookies...
ooh.
nice.
chocolate chip.
sure, i'll have two...

hey, this sh@# really works!

2005-01-24T10:07:00.000-05:00

i was hoping to get some good running in this past weekend. hoping is the operative word here... well, saturday was a wipeout. bitterly cold, 25mph winds, and snowing like crazy. sunday, though, was actually not too bad. it was only about 15 degrees, but there wasn't any wind. i was out most of the day with my kids at soccer training, where we will go every sunday until march. it was evening by the time i got home. i called darrin, fully anticipating that i would have to force him to get out run in such cold. but as it turned out, he had already run! he wanted to run while the sun was still out so it would be warmer. grr. well, i ended up eating dinner and helping my son study for his social studies test that he has today, and the next thing i know, it's 11:00, i'm sitting in bed, and everyone else in the house is asleep. i was intent, but not necessarily satisfied, with the fact that yet another weekend had expired with no running gains. then it hit me. i remembered.... the blog. i would have to actually write that i had the entire weekend, with one day of decent weather and i still didn't drag my fat lazy ass out there for a measly 30 minutes of exercise. that put me over the top. i rolled out of bed, threw on a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt, and put in nine laps around my neighborhood. nine relatively enjoyable laps, actually. just so you know, nine laps in my neighborhood equates to a touch over three miles. i did a tenth lap as a cooldown. it was cold, but once i got warmed up, i felt fine. i didn't bring my watch, so i have no idea how long it took me. i felt strong the whole time. i actually got into a groove for a while, something i haven't been able to do so far. hail the blog! hail the blog!

baby steps

2005-01-21T15:25:00.000-05:00

oh, hey, i forgot... it's weigh-in friday. and the scale doth reveal: 202. that's 7.5 pounds since january 4th. not bad, considering i haven't been able to run much. that'll do, donkey, that'll do...

ridiculous reality

2005-01-21T10:07:00.000-05:00

let me start out by saying that i am not a reality-tv fan AT ALL. i have never watched survivor, or any of the other reality tv stuff, and find most of them to be repulsive or annoying. except for american idol, that is... i wasn't planning on watching it, but my wife was watching one of the first episodes last season, and, although i was sure i would hate it, i watched it that nite too. and i've gotta tell you, i found it quite funny seeing people make complete asses out of themselves. now, i have no real problem with folks who sacrifice their self esteem for 30 seconds of national attention. if you want to be humiliated in front of 20 million people on national tv just so mama can have her moment to be proud ("cuz mama, i ain't goin to no kollege!"), by all means go ahead. but... watching the premiere this week, it amazes me that some of these morons get up in front of simon and the crew with absolutely no hint of talent, and then get upset or end up crying because they were mocked, insulted, and rudely disposed of. geez, take your punishment and go away already. i mean some of these people make me sound like Pavarotti (or at least Milli Vanilli...) hey, i have to admit - my shower and alone-in-the-car performances are exceptional. speaking of that, tell me this hasn't happened to you:
you're in the car singing to a song on the radio, and you're thinking to yourself "hey, i really don't sound too bad. maybe i can sing a little".... then the song ends slightly before you expected to, leaving you singing without the music and vocalist. oooh, reality sets in..."oh my gosh, i do really suck!" yes, yes, such are the cruelties of life....
hey, i want to thank amy for being my first blogger buddy. she lives in san francisco and competed the sf marathon last year. she's re-upping this year (right, amy??) and has a half marathon coming up on february 6th. good luck, and remember, this is just a training run!! she is trying to convince darrin and i to come to sf this summer and run the marathon with her. we are encountering some resistance to the trip from our wives, aka: mean, evil people who will not let immature 30-something husbands spend money foolishly, uuhhh, i mean, aka: breathtakingly beautiful women who are the complete and absolute center of our universe, and who we would gladly sacrifice ourselves for their every whim. hmm, i still need to work on that...
anyway, more on that to come.. the weather here is not cooperating, FREEZING cold and snowing this weekend. it's supposed to get in the 40s next week though. it's really sad when the 40s seems warm.
'till next time...

i need a goal

2005-01-20T08:28:00.000-05:00

i am goal-driven. if i do not have something to strive for, i find my motivation waning. i have to find a goal race for this year, so that i force myself to get off my lazy ass and do what i know i need to do. i would like to find a marathon or long distance triathlon sometime this summer. the problem is that most marathons are not held in the summer, for obvious reasons. the spring and fall are difficult for me because my 10-year old twin sons are competitive soccer players, and we have games and tournaments all during these seasons, all around the midwest. i'm involved with their team, and don't want to miss them kicking the pants off of some hotshot team from larger cities. besides that, if i would have to do any traveling to my event, it's very difficult to do that when school is in session. when i did ironman florida, it was in november and i went by myself because we couldn't justify taking the kids out of school for 4 days to see me race. while i enjoyed the event, it didn't feel totally satisfying. i'd love to be able to cross the finish line of something like an ironman with my kids. that would be so cool.... so, that leaves me to find a summer event. there is a 1/2 ironman in july in muncie, indiana, about 2.5 hours from here that is a well run event. i did it in 2003. that race in 2003 was my worst ever. i completely bonked on the bike, and even though i had to walk most of the 1/2 marathon, refused to quit. i learned alot about nutrition from that race... anyway, that right now is my top choice. i'd really like to do a marathon, though. unfortunately, there just aren't alot out there in june, july, or august. the san francisco marathon is july 31, and it sounds like an interesting event. darrin and i both think it would be a fun trip. our wives, however, aren't quite as excited. it certainly won't be a cheap trip, since with my four kids, that makes six plane tickets, but i'm still working on it. i'll have to decide soon, though...
well i ran about 3 miles last nite. the weather was not too bad. mid 20s, but no wind, so it actually felt pretty nice. i ran in a sweatshirt and shorts and was never cold. i covered the distance in about 28 minutes, so a little over 9 minute miles. i find that i am having difficulty getting into a groove. i remember when i was training a couple of years ago, after a mile or two, it felt like i was on cruise control. i was never that fast, but i felt like i could crank out unlimited 10 minute miles. i would run 8, 10, 12, or even 16 miles and still feel pretty good and not get my heart rate up. now, i fight the whole time, rarely ever getting truly comfortable. i know this will come with time, but i'm innately impatient.

i hate winter

2005-01-18T14:32:00.000-05:00

one would think that since i have lived in a cold climate my entire life (i was born in new york and lived in connecticut before coming to indiana), i would like it.... or be used to it... or at least not despise it. but no. every year it gets worse. it's so bad anymore that i start dreading it in the middle of summer. i'll be sitting there watching the fireworks on july 4th, and in the back of my mind i'm thinking "man, in another three months it will be starting to get really cold again..." isn't that pathetic?
well, today i've reached the pinnacle of hatred for cold weather. it was -4 when i turned on the weather channel before i came to work today. -4. negative 4. i assume there was also some wind chill you could throw on top of that, but i think once you get to -anything, all else is pretty much moot. it's the middle of the afternoon now, and it has risen to a paltry 17. it's supposedly going to get warmer, though. i will get a run in soon. we'll see how bad it is tonite. i'll admit that i don't like to run when it's cold. some people would actually run in 0 degree weather. not me. i would much rather run in 110 degrees than 0 degrees.
i suppose that beckons the obvious question: if i hate the cold weather so much, why don't i live somewhere warmer? that's actually a good question. it basically boils down to the fact that my family is comfortable where we are. i have 4 relatively young children who like where we live and i can't justify uprooting everyone simply because daddy doesn't like the cold.
oh well, enough ranting. i know i just need to get out there and run regardless. but... it's cold. really cold. and it might even be windy........

in the beginning...

2005-01-17T14:13:00.000-05:00

oh my... where to start...
i guess the first thing i need to do is say that i've read other people's blogs, and, for the most part i'm doing it for the same reasons they are. motivation. this text is here for me more than anything else. if anyone else wants to read it, then do so at your own risk. i will document as much as i can about what i am doing workout-wise, nutrition wise, and, well, anything else i feel like writing about-wise. hey, it's my blog. if you want anything else, get your own. or ask -- i might agree. then again, maybe not. i tend to let my emotions get the best of me, so don't be shocked if there are some colorful descriptions, or moodiness. some days, i may go on forever about nothing, others i might not log at all. it just depends on how i feel. oh, and in case you haven't noticed, i rarely capitalize. not sure why. don't really care...
ok, now i suppose a little about me. i am 36 years old and am married to a wife who doesn't have any idea what it is like to do any serious endurance events. this is not to say she is unsupportive. she just absolutely cannot figure out why someone would want to do a marathon or triathlon. she has also never crossed a finish line of a race with people cheering for you. i have four VERY active children and am a systems administrator with a major oil refinery in the midwest. needless to say, i have precious little time to train. most of my running takes place late at night when everyone is asleep, or early in the morning on weekends before the kids' activities start. biking takes place almost exclusively on the weekends. swimming takes place... well, rarely. i have a friend, darrin, who is training for a half marathon and wants to do some triathlons with me. we run alot together. well, when we run, we do it together. alot. you get the idea...
ok. a little of my athletic background.. i was always into sports as a kid. i excelled at soccer, and played competitively a long long time ago. well, after i got married and had kids, i also got lazy. i gained alot of weight, topping out at a whopping 220lbs on my towering 5'8" frame. as my children got older and began their own sports endeavors, i realized how out of shape i was. in april, 2002, something snapped, and i became motivated to lose weight. a friend of mine, who had absolutely no athletic background, had recently completed an ironman triathlon, and that seemed really cool. so, i set the same goal for myself. a few months later, in the summer of 2002, i got my weight down to about 170 and completed several short triathlons. in 2003, i completed a half-ironman, then in november, 2003, i accomplished my goal. i successfully completed ironman florida. not with a great time, mind you, but i finished it. it was one of the proudest moments of my life.
then a weird thing happened. i realized that i had no goals after the ironman. there was nothing to train for. in january, 2004, i was downsized from my job and the rest of 2004 was spent depressed and looking for a job. i gained back virtually all of the weight and did no training at all. i got my current job in september, 2004, and started to get motivated to lose this flab. that brings me to now. i would say that my reborn attitude toward fitness has really come back in the last month or so. i can't believe i put all this weight back on. at least i know it is possible to lose it all, as i have done it before. my new goals are to complete a long distance run or triathlon in 2005, and an ironman, possibly lake placid, in 2006. the ironman folks have this saying that i kinda like:
swim: 2.4 miles, bike: 112 miles, run: 26.2 miles, brag: the rest of your life. that really is true, but when i am asked about it, i feel almost hypocritical when i'm discussing completing what is one of the most difficult endurance events in the world, and i am so out of shape. while i don't think i was ever in unbelievably fantastic, 4% body fat, lance - you've got nuthin' on me shape, i wasn't in my present pass-the-donut shape either... oh well, i digress....
my beginning weight for this project was 209.5, on january 4. i will weigh myself every friday. on the 14th, i weighed 206. i lost 3.5lbs, mainly due to the fact that i ate drastically less.
that brings me to today...
the weather has been wacky so far this year here in central indiana. it stared out rainy, but warm, and the past few days its been freezing cold. wind chill to -10. brrr. that's a little bit too cold for me. the weather forecast says it's supposed to "warm up" to the 20s in a day or two. running will commence then. speaking of that, i guess i should mention that darrin and i have been running sporadically for the past few weeks. in between dodging typhoon-like downpours, and now arctic cold, we have been out running a few times. usually 4-5 miles at a 9-10 min/mile pace. nothing special, but it's a start. when my weight starts dropping and i can get a little more consistent running, i'll feel better.