I gave my marathon shoes away . . .

My office is filled with old running shoes. "Old" in that they all have 500 miles on them. However none of them look old.

The shoes that led me on my first 26.2 mile journey found a new home last night. I gave them to my step dad. Instead of spending the rest of their size 11 life sitting on the shelf with 10 other pairs . . .I gave them away. Instead of wasting away remembering all of the training runs, rainy runs and ultimately the BIG run . .they have a new purpose now. I am sure in a day or two . .they will be mowing a lawn, going out to eat, being paired with jeans, maybe khaki shorts . . .they gave me a good life . . .I am sure they will give him one too.

11 miles Tue. Wed. Thur.

11 miles so this week.
I have 5 miles today . . .I am going to run on trails.
I have 9 miles tomorrow.
It has been 100 degrees two days in a row here and today and tomorrow will be close to the same.

I am running out of time.
You are running out of time.
People I know and have known are dying.

This week I let the pressures of my work dictate my thoughts while I was running. I hate that. Running is a form of escapism for  me . . the same reason people read fiction I guess. 3 miles into a run I don't want to be having conversations in my head about work . . .I just want TO BE.

I need to weigh myself . . .

Days 6 and 7 . . .

Saturday
Trail run with my son.
Hills. Hot. I wish that I could bottle up the smell of the woods.
2.5 hilly miles

Today
8 miles
95 degrees and humid
On a scale of 1 to 10 . . .this run had to be a 9 on degree of difficulty.

At mile 6 I stopped at the public pool and dunked my head. I don't think the mothers at the pool were impressed. My hip held up alright. It is barking now.
I immediately iced my hip, my butt, my knees when I got home.

I listened to The Killers. I wanted to stop several times it was so hot. I kept having to tell myself one more step . . .one more step.  I drank almost 20 ounces of water.

I am going to lift weights tomorrow morning and weigh in . . I wasn't a very good boy this weekend . . .several rounds of eating crap and about 4 Blue Moons . . .although I put an orange in the Blue Moon which made it healthier . . .

Before most runs I focus on who I want to be as a follower of God, as a husband, as a dad, as aprofessional - -I try to think about what it feels like, what it looks like to be that person . . .I am convinced every mile gets me closer. That's why I don't skip runs. I don't want to short change myself. Today for instance . . .this run was much more than just 8 miles in the 95 degree heat.

I'm turning into my grandma . . .

6:20AM
Saturday
My left hip hurts. My toe hurts. My tooth hurts. I am losing a toe nail already. Sound like a grandma don't I?

Day off yesterday. I bought another pair of shoes yesterday. My 4th pair . . .Mizuno Wave Nirvana 8's . . . .size 11. Tanner gets mad at me for buying the same shoe every time . . .when Tanner gets 43 he can buy whatever kind of shoes he wants to buy.

Yesterday
Banana
2 bagels with peanut butter
 3 pieces of pizza and some chips

Tanner is running in a 5K this morning. We are then going to go to Jubilee State Park and run/hike. After that, we are going to Running Central, Bushwackers (cool outdoor store), Bass Pro Shop, Starbucks, Sully's Pub downtown for lunch . . . .Full day.

 Tonight I am going to enjoy a nice Blue Moon with an orange under a full moon in the country.

Back to me sounding like my grandma, I have already popped ibuprofen this morning and I haven't even run yet . . . ..this hip thing sucks.

If I start name dropping Calvin Klein during some of these posts . . .there has been some interest on their part of me doing some side work for them . . .they are trying to get me to do some underwear print ads for them but I am still reluctant.

THESE ARE MY NEW SHOES. MIZUNO WAVE NIRVANA 8

Marathon Training Day 3 - 3 miles

6:00AM
Rainy
3 miles
Left butt cheek and left toe hurt the whole time. Yes, butt cheek is the medical term.

I am back on the popping ibuprofen bandwagon! They start to taste like tic tacs after awhile.

I have a break today (Friday).
I don't want a break.
I haven't logged enough miles to really need a break.
However . . .. I have learned that rest days are crucial to fitness.

My training calls for 5 miles on Saturday and 8 miles on Saturday. I would like 5 on the trails (outside Peoria) and the 8 miles somewhere by myself early.

This is what I ate:

Banana

Bag of mixed nuts

2 chicken legs
a couple of potatoes
salad
2 rolls
2 chocolate chip cookies

2 bowls of Rice Krispies

4:45AM Day 2 Marathon training . . .

4:45AM
Me and a 14 year old boy who shares the same last name as I do ran 5 miles this morning at 4:45AM.
It was hot and windy. After 2.5 miles I dropped in the middle of the road and did 35 pushups. My son has lived with me too long to be impressed by me. So has his mother . . . .I on the other hand think I am cool . . .and that is really all that matters considering I live with me alot more than they live with me.

Only 3 miles tomorrow.
The Smashing Pumpkins have a new album coming out . .without even hearing it I bet that it will be the theme album of my second marathon.

Ate like an idiot again today . .

Banana

Subway for lunch

Snickers

Wendy's
2 Jr Cheeseburgers
Chicken Sandwich
Fries

I didn't burn enough calories today to eat all of this crap an hour before I go to sleep! My discipline when it comes to food is  . . . .zero.

Oh . . . .a couple of days ago I wrote about how boring my brother thinks my writing is. I mentioned I didn't know if anybody read this (I actually know HOW many people do because of the stats) . . .thank you for your words of encouragement . . .even those of you who sent me notes in languages that I don't understand (750 different notes and comments from readers worldwide). Who knew that I was BIG in Indonesia. Sleep on THAT little brother . . . .

Maybe 750 is a stretch . . .

I listened to this song 4 times today while I was driving .. .

Horse Feathers
A Heart Arcane

Day 1 of 18 weeks of training . . .

5:45AM
3 miles
Ran hard
Hated every minute of it.

35 pushups
banana for breakfast

ham and cheese sandwich for lunch

3 hot dogs and chips for supper

When I was running I was thinking about a guy I know who is battling cancer and I thought about him playing in the backyard as a young boy having no idea that one day he would be laying in a bed fighting for his life. I think it is better that young boys do not know.

Marathon training started today . . .

5:15AM
YMCA
I weighed in at 180.4 pounds.
My goal is to weight in the 160's.

When I started training last year at this time for the Quad Cities Marathon I weighed 181 pounds- - -I got down to 174 pounds.


With one marathon under my belt . . .this will be a different training experience for me. I am not training to see if I can finish (because I know that I can) . . I am training so that I can run 26.2 miles feeling fit and healthy. There is a difference. Last year I wasn't in great shape . .I made it based on shear determination. This year I want to cross the finish line fit enough to run another 5 miles if I had to.

Father's Day . . .

I am going to trail run at my dad's this afternoon. It will be in the mid 90's. Tanner is going to skip this run as he ran 8 miles on Friday (!) and has another 5 tomorrow for his high school cross country team.

I drove in the country this morning with Tanner. He asked me if this day was any different for me. It is not. I would be a pretty bad dad if I tried harder today than any other day . . .I would also be a pretty bad son if I tried harder.

I am going to start training for the Des Moines Marathon on Tuesday.

I was reading the bible this morning and came across this . . . basically, it is saying that you need to carry the same self discipline into your christian walk as you do your athletic training.

1 Corinthians 9:25-27

New International Version (NIV)

²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

More later . . .

8:45PM
5 miles
85 degrees
straight up and down hills on a hard road out in the country at my dad's house. Instead of trail running by myself I walked them with my son.

Several trucks passed me as I was running . . .if I got ten bucks for every "your a dumb ass" look I got I wouldn't have to go to work tomorrow.
I think I have a hernia. My stepmom told my wife that I have to get it checked out. I am starting to train for the Des Moines Marathon tomorrow . . better be an in-out surgery.

I'm still breathing . . . .

Been awhile since I've been on here.
I have run almost every day for a week.
I saw another coyote yesterday at 6:00AM . . .
My brother says that my website is boring.
I think that he might be right.
My brother thinks that I pose for my pictures.
I think that he might be right.

I will get motivated very soon to use colorful adjectives and action verbs to write about my running and how it makes my life complete. However . . .. I write for a living . . .and so sometimes this seems like a chore. And then I think . . . .why do I do this anyway? Does anyone really read this? And then my brother texts me and tells me that it is boring . .which means that I have a reader . . . .and it is my brother . . .. so I will continue to write boring, useless information  . . .if for no other reason than to piss him off.

On a more cheerful note . . . .my butt hurts. I pulled something in the half marathon and every couple of days it gives me twinges of pain. I am going to trail run this weekend. I am going to run 4 miles tomorrow morning at 4:45AM.

I am quite certain that I am going to sign up for the Des Moines Marathon this weekend. If so,my training will start next week. It is an 18 week plan.

Man he is right . . .this IS boring.

But this song by The Killers isn't:

Ran 4th Half Marathon today . .

Galesburg Half Marathon Express

8AM start
felt like 70's
hot and hilly

I didn't plan on either.

I finished.....I was trained for about 13.1 miles! If it was 14 miles I may have been in trouble! I talked with a ton of cool people.

More importantly . . . .our son had a great 5k race. HE is the one with a future in running. I don't have a future in running .. I just run. He, on the other hand . . . .

As usual, I have been cramping like a mad man! My family doesn't even pay attention anymore as they see me hop around the house, hop around the yard, in the garage . . . when my calves cramp you better get out of the way because I move fast!! Everything will be fine and then boom . . .. . the calves get rock solid and I am on the ground running, hopping, screaming . . .IT IS AWESOME to shock your body to the point of pissing it off even 7 hours after running.

I'm not sure what it next . .going to the Y tomorrow. I really am not in very good shape. I am either going to sign up for the Des Moines Marathon or a 50K in Nebraska. Either way . . .I will be running on Tuesday and I can't wait. . . .

Our son finished 1st in the 19 and under age group in the 5k .. his goal was to run sub 7 minute miles and he did. At our house, we set goals based on time not placement . . .if he ran sub 7 minute miles and finished 110th it wouldn't matter . . .he hit his goal. He will get more fulfillment out of running that way. I was way TOO hard of a charger when I was younger and as a result had moments of self destruction .. I don't want that for him!

90 minutes to half marathon. ..

6:30AM
I have no idea what to expect out there today.
Nervous anticipation . .this is what makes my world go around.

__________________________________________________________

Half Marathon Tomorrow

I haven't run since Thursday morning.

I don't feel like I am in very good shape. With this being said, I am looking forward to running 13.1 miles tomorrow. I always look forward to running new routes, sweating, pushing myself. . .this time though it cost me $75.00!


The Health blog on the  New York Times said that if you have had ACL surgery and you run that it could take as little as ten years to sideline you forever. I have been running for 7 years. . . .whereas there may be some truth to that (for some people) . . .it only has motivated me to do another marathon, a 50k, a 50 miler and then a 100 miler. I understand that these are just words on a page until I starting crossing these off my list . . . .

Though I have ran in 3 half marathons and have run over 13 miles several times . . . .make no mistake about it . .13.1 miles is a long ways. I ALWAYS respect the distance . .regardless of the distance.