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!