First group run attended by the missing runner on Wednesday this week. Lots of Hi's and High 5's when I showed up after an extended absence. Some thought I had just decided to give it all up. No getting rid of me that easy.
This was a 5 mile run and it actually felt good to be running again. I wasn't sure after mostly walking in Va. how much running I would be able to do. I started out slowly and continued slowly but most of the distance was running. I made the first half in 32+ minutes and the return in 35+ minutes for about 67 minutes for all 5 miles. For the mathematically challenged, that is a 13:24 pace. Not bad considering we did not break 14 in California.
I wore my new belly band support and that reminded me to engage my abs and use my QL's as I ran. My Piriformis and my Psoas reaped the benefits of better posture and form but yesterday I was feeling new Hamstring tightness that was not previously apparent. Continuing to see improvement even with an extended lay off.
Special thanks to two people in my company for an assist this week. I cornered Doris JamalDin while she was in the office and told her about my training and fund raising. Next thing you know, she was flashing money and saying that she wanted to contribute as well. Thanks so much to her. Another Hero!
Also, I have to be oncall every 4 weeks for the after hours duty. This Wednesday, Harriet Ngum, was kind enough to wait until I had just returned from my running before she called me with a possible run to Hawthorn FL. We learned that this was more in the area of our Ocala rep and he ultimately took the call. Thanks to Harriet for her excellent timing.
Long run scheduled for Saturday AM
Go Team
Friday, November 30, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
What? No blog for 3 weeks?
There was a terrible mixup and these two aliens banged on the door in the middle of the night on Nov 5 and dragged me off kicking and screaming (not loud enough to wake Judy) and took me to the Mother ship where I was examined for 3 weeks. They had left a shape shifting alien in my place so that no one would notice. They had been very careful to study me before they took me, so they had all the Buppa information down well and Miranda did not guess that this was a ruse during her visit. Fortunately, the replacement was a grandfather alien and knew all about granddaughters so he fell into the role quickly.
When they found out that I had no government secrets or answers to the major questions of the universe they just agreed that though I am fun, I would probably do better back on Earth and they would reassign my double elsewhere. You may see him at a Republican Candidates debate in the near future but you won't be able to distinguish him from the orginal. They are that good.
Well, before they brought me back, I got to see the video of what my alter-ego had done over the last 3 weeks. He did try the Lotus Room for Yoga on Tuesday and found that to be great for stretching and psychological enhancement. He told everyone that I enjoyed it a bunch. He made arrangements to do it again when Lisa came to visit the next week.
That Saturday was a group run that was missed because Lisa, Frank, and Miranda came to visit on the nite before and since they were still on West Coast time and she and the alien caught training later in the day.
The alien took her to the yoga on Tuesday. Additional training went on through the week. A trip to Disney on Weds, Thurs and Friday included treadmill time in the exercise room. The next Saturday was still too early with West Coasters going home the next day. Then after some training over the weekend, I was returned. The return was just in time to make the Thanksgiving trip to Charlottesville to visit with Jenn at her place. Two training activities for 3 milers each using a 1/2 mile to the soccer field, several trips around the track for 2 miles and the 1/2 mile back to the house. Thursday included a lot of walking around the Natural Bridge where George Washington did his training apparently. After a great meal at the Hotel we walked down to the bridge and saw a great light show after sundown ( the show was cool but the weather was getting cold). By Saturday, we did a 7.5 miler in Charlottesville and started in mid 20 degree weather. Coach Steve said try anything new during training so there would be no surprises and nothing new on race day. Well, I got a chance to try out exercise with gloves, several layers of shirts, and "woosh-woosh" pants over my shorts. It does not seem likely that Flagstaff will be any colder than that and I survived. What seemed like a really adverse weather start turned out to be a good training opportunity.
Thanks to the Charlottesville Running Store, I am in a second pair of running shoes. Great help by the staff that assisted with a video assessment of my running while on a treadmill. Big help with the Saturday training and now we're ready for the longer runs that will be in store over the next 8 weeks.
Thanks to Lisa for keeping the alien in shape and to Jenn for keeping me going.
Also thanks to Uncle Bob and Aunt Betty for their very generous financial support and words of encouragement. You two make great heroes in many ways.
Go Team
When they found out that I had no government secrets or answers to the major questions of the universe they just agreed that though I am fun, I would probably do better back on Earth and they would reassign my double elsewhere. You may see him at a Republican Candidates debate in the near future but you won't be able to distinguish him from the orginal. They are that good.
Well, before they brought me back, I got to see the video of what my alter-ego had done over the last 3 weeks. He did try the Lotus Room for Yoga on Tuesday and found that to be great for stretching and psychological enhancement. He told everyone that I enjoyed it a bunch. He made arrangements to do it again when Lisa came to visit the next week.
That Saturday was a group run that was missed because Lisa, Frank, and Miranda came to visit on the nite before and since they were still on West Coast time and she and the alien caught training later in the day.
The alien took her to the yoga on Tuesday. Additional training went on through the week. A trip to Disney on Weds, Thurs and Friday included treadmill time in the exercise room. The next Saturday was still too early with West Coasters going home the next day. Then after some training over the weekend, I was returned. The return was just in time to make the Thanksgiving trip to Charlottesville to visit with Jenn at her place. Two training activities for 3 milers each using a 1/2 mile to the soccer field, several trips around the track for 2 miles and the 1/2 mile back to the house. Thursday included a lot of walking around the Natural Bridge where George Washington did his training apparently. After a great meal at the Hotel we walked down to the bridge and saw a great light show after sundown ( the show was cool but the weather was getting cold). By Saturday, we did a 7.5 miler in Charlottesville and started in mid 20 degree weather. Coach Steve said try anything new during training so there would be no surprises and nothing new on race day. Well, I got a chance to try out exercise with gloves, several layers of shirts, and "woosh-woosh" pants over my shorts. It does not seem likely that Flagstaff will be any colder than that and I survived. What seemed like a really adverse weather start turned out to be a good training opportunity.
Thanks to the Charlottesville Running Store, I am in a second pair of running shoes. Great help by the staff that assisted with a video assessment of my running while on a treadmill. Big help with the Saturday training and now we're ready for the longer runs that will be in store over the next 8 weeks.
Thanks to Lisa for keeping the alien in shape and to Jenn for keeping me going.
Also thanks to Uncle Bob and Aunt Betty for their very generous financial support and words of encouragement. You two make great heroes in many ways.
Go Team
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Back in the routine
I took Saturday off since I could not go to the group run because I had another appointment for the morning. Went to the Home Show later that day and bought some orthotics for my shoes. After wearing them for about 4 hours my leg issue had completely resolved despite walking around on concrete for several hours at the home show and then later at the mall.
Thought I would try them tonight in my run. Daughter Jenn warned that the muscles that had not been worked by my misaligned posture might complain mightily if I tried to run a long ways with the orthotics as now I would be calling on the proper muscles to do the work.
Ran 3 miles just to try out the new feet and it went pretty well. I ran the whole thing, no walk run combo and finished the 3 miles in 45:45. I was 1 mile shorter than last time but about a half a minute faster. I feel good and will try for a longer distance the next time to see if the new feet continue to work well.
It was chilly tonight and I went back to regular cotton rather than a wicking shirt and I worked up a good sweat. Trying to see what I will want to wear when we start the race in Flagstaff.
Oh well, I keep on experimenting. That's all for tonight.
Go Team.
Thought I would try them tonight in my run. Daughter Jenn warned that the muscles that had not been worked by my misaligned posture might complain mightily if I tried to run a long ways with the orthotics as now I would be calling on the proper muscles to do the work.
Ran 3 miles just to try out the new feet and it went pretty well. I ran the whole thing, no walk run combo and finished the 3 miles in 45:45. I was 1 mile shorter than last time but about a half a minute faster. I feel good and will try for a longer distance the next time to see if the new feet continue to work well.
It was chilly tonight and I went back to regular cotton rather than a wicking shirt and I worked up a good sweat. Trying to see what I will want to wear when we start the race in Flagstaff.
Oh well, I keep on experimenting. That's all for tonight.
Go Team.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Wow! What a long layoff!!!
I am back. The groin is all recovered. I spent most of the afternoon in the car today travelling to Port Charlotte and back. Lots of clutch work and no problem walking. Decided that this would be the time to try distance again. I felt that maybe walking 3 miles would be a good idea so as to get some miles under my feet without straining the muscles. I started out but felt a little tight in the left leg more, I think, because I was trying to find an issue than noticing one that was there. After the first 1/8 mile or so, I tried a little jogging. My pace was only slightly faster than a walk. Mostly saying that I was off one foot before being on another. I started around the 1/2 mile mark and noticed that my breathing was well under control and a check of the watch showed the heart rate in line. Before I knew it, I had run the whole rest of the mile. I continued running until I passed the mailbox for a second time. I got a water out for hydrating and completed my third. About halfway through the third, I got a call from daughter, Jenn, and talked my way around the rest of mile 4. I finished in just over 1 hour 4 minutes. That is just over a 16 minute mile. (Good enough for the half marathon in under 4 hours...actually about 3 and 1/2). It was very comfortable, no wind issues, no heart rate issues, great fat burn and I completed feeling GOOD!!!
I guess speed will not be part of my training. I will start slow and continue slow and complete whatever I need to do that day. (Sounds simple)
For those of you who have not heard me say, the Daniel Family, John, Lisa, and Jenn, will be raising over $10,000 with our fund raising campaigns. That is a very cool result from my offhanded comment about wanting to lose weight made in from of my daughter, Lisa. Special thanks to my wife Judy for her efforts to both make personal contributions to all three of us, but also for her efforts to get the people in her office to make contributions as well. She is using the power of gift matching to multiply the value of those contributions. She is also providing great moral support as I try to find the time to do my training and fund raising. This is truly a family event.
Speaking of donations from her office, three cheers to Rocky, Rah Rah Rah. Thanks so much for your very generous donation.
Also special thanks to Dick and Ron from my office. They made generous contributions during my down time which added further support for getting back to running. If they are going to do their part by contributing, I know what I need to do in regard to running.
Thanks also to Karen, my neighbor on the next street. We traded donations and helped each other. Her claim to fame is the 3 day walk for Breast Cancer. Wow!! She is terrific!
Got some great fund raising down when I wasn't running. Setting up for a Silent Auction to auction off the wonderful dinner certificate donations received from many of the local eateries. It was far easier than I thought to get these. These people are very quick to respond to this type of fund raising and it was a fun day spent meeting these wonderful people who depend on all the local folks that regularly visit their restaurants and keep them in business to be able to help for our cause. More will be added as the auction comes to fruition. I am working out the details for the location of the auction thanks to a very cool donation of space which will be announced shortly when the plans are finalized. Stay in touch as this looks to be a lot of fun.
I spoke with Jenn tonight and told her how I ran the whole 4 miles and liked it and it felt good. She then pointed out that, in fact, I have learned to like running which is what was my goal when we started all of this in July. She is right, I do. I may not be fast and I may never be a great speedster but I have learned to enjoy something that I know a lot of people would say "Wow 4 miles, I can't even run 4 blocks." It has been a fun journey so far and now the big stuff lays just at my feet. The 8, 9 mile runs are coming now and the even longer ones are in place for December and then the big 13.1 in January. I am very confident now that I have started again.
Oh yeah, maybe we will need a new picture soon. I saw 229 on the scale today. That is more than 20 pounds since we started in late July (3 months). That is in comparison with the 25 that my doctor said I could lose in a year if I just walked 3 times a week for a 1/2 hour at a brisk pace.
What a great day!
Go Team!
I guess speed will not be part of my training. I will start slow and continue slow and complete whatever I need to do that day. (Sounds simple)
For those of you who have not heard me say, the Daniel Family, John, Lisa, and Jenn, will be raising over $10,000 with our fund raising campaigns. That is a very cool result from my offhanded comment about wanting to lose weight made in from of my daughter, Lisa. Special thanks to my wife Judy for her efforts to both make personal contributions to all three of us, but also for her efforts to get the people in her office to make contributions as well. She is using the power of gift matching to multiply the value of those contributions. She is also providing great moral support as I try to find the time to do my training and fund raising. This is truly a family event.
Speaking of donations from her office, three cheers to Rocky, Rah Rah Rah. Thanks so much for your very generous donation.
Also special thanks to Dick and Ron from my office. They made generous contributions during my down time which added further support for getting back to running. If they are going to do their part by contributing, I know what I need to do in regard to running.
Thanks also to Karen, my neighbor on the next street. We traded donations and helped each other. Her claim to fame is the 3 day walk for Breast Cancer. Wow!! She is terrific!
Got some great fund raising down when I wasn't running. Setting up for a Silent Auction to auction off the wonderful dinner certificate donations received from many of the local eateries. It was far easier than I thought to get these. These people are very quick to respond to this type of fund raising and it was a fun day spent meeting these wonderful people who depend on all the local folks that regularly visit their restaurants and keep them in business to be able to help for our cause. More will be added as the auction comes to fruition. I am working out the details for the location of the auction thanks to a very cool donation of space which will be announced shortly when the plans are finalized. Stay in touch as this looks to be a lot of fun.
I spoke with Jenn tonight and told her how I ran the whole 4 miles and liked it and it felt good. She then pointed out that, in fact, I have learned to like running which is what was my goal when we started all of this in July. She is right, I do. I may not be fast and I may never be a great speedster but I have learned to enjoy something that I know a lot of people would say "Wow 4 miles, I can't even run 4 blocks." It has been a fun journey so far and now the big stuff lays just at my feet. The 8, 9 mile runs are coming now and the even longer ones are in place for December and then the big 13.1 in January. I am very confident now that I have started again.
Oh yeah, maybe we will need a new picture soon. I saw 229 on the scale today. That is more than 20 pounds since we started in late July (3 months). That is in comparison with the 25 that my doctor said I could lose in a year if I just walked 3 times a week for a 1/2 hour at a brisk pace.
What a great day!
Go Team!
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