Getting ready for Disney

"Some runners judge performance by whether they won or lost. Others define success or failure by how fast they ran. Only you can judge your performance. Avoid letting others sit in judgment of you." HAL HIGDON



This is truly words to live on. On my last couple of runs, I have pondered this quote and it has finally hit home with me.

Friday night I went running with Steve and we talked about a lot of different things. We discussed running tactics, work problems and overall life discussions. One of the things that was brought up was the issue of speed or not. We ran 6.5 miles tonight before calling it quits and showing Steve on of favorite eating places and getting some chicken pad thai. I think he is hooked now.


Saturday I ran with Steph as we prepared for our last big run in prep for Disney marathon. We had talked about going 20 so that I would have 26.2 in 2 days. Well we got in 15 before calling it a day. We talked about everything dealing with Disney cause Steph ran the half last year. We both agreed that the humidity was up and there was no reason to stay out and possible injuring ourselves. We agreed to walk back to the track on base and wait for Kenny to bring us some much needed Subway for lunch. Kenny drove around in front of us the whole time handing us water and pretzels if needed. If that is not the coolest thing I don't know what is. Tommy was out running some 18 miles with Carol riding in front of him also helping him out.


During both runs, it was brought up about speed. Looking back at the quote above, I think it sums it up the most. Judge yourself on your own improvements/faults and not on someone else. You are the only person who truely knows how you rank!!!!!!!!!

Disney might be off?????

That's right. You heard it hear first. I might not be able to run Disney. I am still upset and it hurts me to talk about it. I don't know what I am going to do about the whole situation. I will try to pull myself through this grueling time and discuss it.


I am had a great day at work and some friends of mine called me to see about going horse back riding with them to just go out and have fun in the woods. After we were going to camp out and roast marsh mellows and sit around the camp fire.


It has been a long time since I have been on a horse. But it did not take long before I remembered what to do. It was like riding a bicycle. Before long I was riding like the wind, jumping fences and looking like John Wayne.


And then it happened. I feel off the horse and got my shoes hung up in the stir ups. I was being dragged around like a rag doll. I literally saw my life flash before my eyes. I thought I was going to die. But there in the distance was my hero. The store owner of Wal-Mart. He rushed over and unplugged the horse carousel before it did anymore damage to me. I was so thankful he got there when he did.


He even gave me my 50 cents back and told me that the ride was probably too much for me. Have a great weekend and don't always believe everything you read.

Track work

Tuesday nights are normally for our track workouts and speed work. Well I decided to just go out and run so that I don't injure myself.

Tonight I started about 5:30 before everyone showed up and started running at a 3:1 ratio. Normally I have doing 5:1 and I wanted to compare the two and see if there is a difference. It was cold at first but after the first mile it really warmed up.

Michelle kept me company for the first of my 2 miles while we talked about our possible plans at Disney. We are both doing the full marathon and trying to plan out speeds and ratios for what we are going to run.

Amy and Troy showed up and everyone started doing mile repeats, well everyone except for Amy and myself. We continued on 3:1 runs with an 10:27 pace for 8.22 miles. I figured that out to put me on pace for 4:34 marathon if I was able to maintain that pace. My goal is to PR at one of the races with a time of less than 5:08. I think I might have a shot at it:)

I am going to take the next couple of days off so to all a good night and Merry CHRISTmas.

Sunday run???????

Today I was suppose to get in a long run for at least 20 miles. I only have 3 weeks before Disney and mentally it is not looking so good. I need some good runs to get me going again.

Last night, Mandie and myself went out with some of my running friends, Steve, Troy and Amy. We went carb loading in preparation for today's long run. I had lots of pizza to get me ready.

I got up this morning and started to go put the door. I had everything ready. Cereal, lights, shoes, socks and clothes. I headed out the door and got down my driveway and forgot my Garmin. So back inside and now I am running behind schedule. Troy and I meet at the triangle about he same time this morning to start our long day.

We started out on our journey, both of us forgot our safety vests :(, at 5:45 a.m. I got about a mile into the run and the storm let loose on us. It did not take long before my shoes were soaked and my contacts were drying out from the hurricane force winds so it was back to the truck for me. I did not want to take a chance on getting blisters or making my sinus infection any worse.

I went back home and took a nap and later on that morning I took my son to WRAFB to see a model train exhibit and to look at airplanes. I had decided to run later on today.

Well it was now about 3:15 and I had put it off long enough. I need to go running. So I was off to log in some long mileage. I got about 3 miles into my blustering run when I encountered my soon to be new running partner for the day, Bambi.

I was running down our river walk when this deer that I have seen before comes up to me wanting something to eat. I had to take this picture. Some man was out there petting it on the head. When I tried to start running, it would jump in front of me like it did not want me to leave. So I stayed for a while watching it eat and have its picture taken from the people who were passing by.

Well once aging I misses out on my long run but today I got a chance to change my long day to a nature day and also got time in exchange to spend quality time with my son. I will have plenty of time to go run with a mouse but not to many days to run with a deer.

Have a great week.

Running with friends

I had a great run last night with my friends Amy and Steve. We ventured off for a 4 mile run. We left from downtown on our way to meet up with the Mercer run group. We went through the campus that has some hills through it but when you run with friends it makes you forget about what is around you.

We were suppose to meet a specific time but we were apparently a couple of minutes behind schedule. I did not realize that some people in the world are so anal about having to go on a fun run at a specific time. Then as to add salt to a wound, I was told that I was not running fast enough. I have never classified myself to be on great speed. I am a runner, not someone who goes everyday of my life trying to prove something to myself. I know that I am getting better over time and not going to push myself to a point of possibly injuring myself.

One of the guys in the group who loves to run long distances, Kevin Hatfield, has celebrated his birthday last week. He is going to attempt to run 300 miles next week. Kevin is the one who puts on the annual Bartram 50K race that I am going to do again next year. If you love to run trail, grass and gravel through the forest, I truly recommend this race to anybody wanting to run from 5.25 miles ( 1 lap ) to over 31+ miles ( 6 laps ).

When we got to about 3 miles Amy, Steve and myself broke off from the rest of the group and continued back to our cars. We turned on our downward approach to the finish and started to pick up the pace. At one time, I looked at my watch and it said we were keeping an 8:30 pace. Amy told me she thought we were going a little bit faster than normal. We got near the finish of the run and I looked at Amy and asked her if she was ready to turn it on. We were about 1/4 mile out and then we were off. Finishing strong with a 6:15 mile pace on the end. WOW!!!!

Amy had to leave to go to Fit Camp so Steve asked me to finish up a cool down lap so we went out for another mile. We were going for a few minutes and Steve told me we were keeping an 11 minute pace. He laughed and said this was faster than his normal pace and wanted to slow down a little bit. We then finished up our COOL down lap and headed home to change clothes and head to a Christmas party that was catered by Olive Garden so I had no problems getting some good carbs back in the ol body.

I am taking today off cause either tomorrow or Sun will be a long run for me 16+ miles. I don't have much time left to get ready for Disney so the runs I get in now are maintenance runs. 3 weeks to go and I am so ready for Mickey Mouse.

Court day

Today I had to take off from work and serve on a jury trial. I have never had to do this before because normally any public safety officer normally gets out of jury duty. Well this was not the case for today. I got picked. Luckily it was a short case and only lasted half a day.

When we got through we took my son to see Santa and get some pictures made and then went to Ryan's for supper for an early carb load dinner for this weekend :) So much for my diet. Maybe by Monday I will have run off what I just got through eating. I have learned in the last couple of weeks on how to eat right ( 6 small meals a day ) and for the next couple of days I will get the weight right back off AGAIN.


Tomorrow I am going out for about 4 or 5 miles before going to another Christmas party with lots of good (Carb loading) food. I am trying to psych myself up for this weekend and get another 19 or 20 miler in for Disney that is about 3 weeks away. WooHoo!!!!!


See yall later and could someone pass me the Tums :)

Tuesday track workout

Before going to track workouts tonight, I met up with Steve and Amy for a pleasurely 3 mile run down at Central City Park and ran around the 1 mile track. It was still a little muddy in some spots from the rain we are still getting. I think tomorrow I will work on my ark :) Tonight was Amy's first night back to running after having foot problems. We kept it easy while trying to talk about why cars were parking and flashing their lights at passing cars. Thanks Steve for the 411 on 5-0.


Tonight at track workout, Kerry told us we were going to work on short runs. Yeah, my favorite. We were going to run 100's,200's,300's then 400's with 3 repeats. On the first 100, I lined up on the front row, ad we were off. WOW.



15.42 with an average pace calibrated at 4.08/mile pace. OMG I thought my shoes were going to fly off my feet. We then lined up for the 200 and we were off.



35.12 with an average pace of 4.16/mile. I know thought I was crazy. I was staying in the top 4 of the whole group. Now going to the 300's I slowed down just a little to 1.15 cause my sprints are only good at short distances like when I try and Sucka people at the end. We were getting ready for the next round after I skipped the 400 when we started and one of the guys pulled a groin muscle. OUCH. I stopped to go get him an ice-pack and to rest up for the next group of runs.



I guess I proved once again that I will not accept the fact that I am slow. I might be overweight at 254 pounds but I carry it faster every day. I know that going to track workouts I will improve on my time gradually just like my weight loss. Once again I would like to say a special thank you to my friends that will take the time to run with me and let me vent off some frustrations in my life so that I can go on another day.


Have a great day and keep up the good work.

Weekend run

Today I slept in late cause I did not get to sleep until about 4:30 this morning. I had a crazy night and could not sleep from one of those late afternoon naps. I went to my Christmas party at work and missed getting ready to go to the Christmas Lane run because I hate to be rushed. My wife kept informing me that we would have enough time but I hate to be rushed. I would not have had enough time to get there and stretch and just get my mind into the race. I was mad.

Today I went out for what was suppose to be a long run for preparation for Disney which is 4 weeks away. Well I got in 2 miles. I just kept looking at all the mud puddles that were still looming from the 4 1/2 inches of rain we got this week and reminding myself about Bartram. I am tired of the cold rain. This week we are suppose to have temps in the 70's for our highs and it will be strange for December weather.


I know physically I am ready for my adventure at Disney and then to follow at Aviation some 6 days later but I am having issues mentally trying to get myself pumped up. I know this is really normal for me but I am so ready and I want to get more excited. I am going to try and get back into the normal running schedule this week so I can get my mind back into it.


Have a great week.

Tuesday night track workout

I had to work late Tuesday night but I was able to get out and run for a little while during track workouts. The group was running 5-4-3-2-1 minutes then taking breaks in between. I got there during the start of the 4 min. run and had to catch up with the pack. It was more of a warm up for me cause I did not get time to stretch.

The three min. run went a little bit faster.

The two min run was a little more faster as I was able to stay with one of the fast runners for 1 1/2 min before calling it.


The the 1 min. sprint came and man, where did I get my power from. I was able to start near the front and pass everyone except for Troy and some other guy. I ran a 5:32 pace for almost a complete min. which was about somewhere between an 1/8 an 1/4 mile marker. I could not believe myself not could some of the other runners believe it also. I just wish I could keep up that speed for 26.2 miles.


Well it is really raining here pretty hard and I am not going to get a chance to run until Sunday so for now, have a good weekend and I will see ya later.

Just when you think it's bad......

I would like to go on record as saying just when you think you have it bad, someone else has it worse than you. When your feet hurt, someone wishes they had feet. When you get mad at work, someone wishes they had a job. Do you get my point?????


As I was running yesterday with one of my friends that I will not mention their name, it was layed on to me that this individual has it worse than me. Normally I think about everything that is going on with my life and ponder how could it get worse. Well I was told last night that my life is a cake walk compared to others. This person is so right. We all need to be thankful for what we have and not try to be something or someone were are not. I am going to try and be myself and thankful for everything.


I know that this has nothing to do with running you might say but it does. When someone asked you to go running, you might think that this is going to be just another run like any other day. But in fact, someone might need to just let off some emotions or someone to talk to while running. I have found that this is some of the best ways to vent. Find a running partner and just go. Don't look at the watch for distance nor time. Just run and let it go.



We might have only gotten in about 3 or 4 miles of running, but it was the simple fact of having somewhere there to listen when needed.


Have a great day and I will be off to the track tonight for some track ( speed ) work.

Sunday of rest

I decided to take a day of rest. I ran the Reindeer run yesterday and wanted to see how the ol body was doing after my big run. Well everything looks and feels great with one little exception and that is a sore big toe. I have been soaking it with salt water and taking Advil for swelling and pain so I decided just to take a day off and sleep and watch football. I now know that the Disney marathon is going to be OK and I wont be going for any PR's that day. I am going to try and go for a PR on the next weekend after Disney at the aviation marathon. Until then, enjoy the day and maybe I will go for about 5 or 6 tomorrow.

Reindeer Run and Santa Stroll

Today was my fist race since finishing my 33.07 mile race this weekend. I am still having old and new issues of black toes. One of them is swelling with allot of drainage. OUCH!!

When I started out this morning was the most pain I have had from my toes all week. The rest of my body feels OK. I was contemplating on whether or not to run this morning or to bow out gracefully. Well, once again I decided I had to go. I am glad I did.

This morning was cold about 29 degrees with no wind. It was a great morning to run for the children and to see Santa so that I could drop some hints about what I wanted for Christmas. :) I hope he was writing it all down.

I decided to run this morning at a conservative pace with Steve and Amy so that I would not injure myself. We started out and were on a great pace. When we passed our first mile marker Steve advised me that he was on a PR time for his 5K. We stayed together for the first half of the course and then I had to see if my legs were truly OK. I picked up the pace and told Amy not to school me today. When we turned for the last 1/2 mile downhill I said I have to go to prove this to myself. I finished today at 32:16 which was no PR for me but it was great to get back out and run with no problems.

I tip my hat to Steve, Troy who won first in his age group, Neel and to all the others who had PR times and awards today. It was truly a great day for a race.

Post track workout

I went out for a possible track workout and got in a mile for calling it a night. The temp were falling, the wind was howling and my foot was starting to hurt. My big toe on my right foot was starting to swell up again and I did not want to take a chance of inj..... I don't want to say that word. I hope to rest up the rest of this week and hit the road Sunday for about 12 or so just to get loose again. Until then, keep running.

Back to training

I am feeling alot better today. I went back to work with a little soreness in my feet and left knee but it is nothing compared to what I have heard from others. I just found out that my running partner Amy is not going to run Disney with me due to her feet problems. I will now have another fan to cheer me on while I am running but most of all she can keep my wife company for me.

I am thinking of going to track workout tomorrow night so I can get out and losen up some of these tight muscles of mine. My shoulders are very tight right now. My toes are still hurting while I am having to drain the fluid off of my big toe on my right foot.

I will write back hopefully after a good night of SLOW track workouts.