Wipe Out!

Well, I never thought I'd be feeling down about only running 13 or so miles. Like Kim, I knew something was wrong when I started feeling the urge to lie down and just sit down for a while. I ran with the "Kelvinator" and he slowly started pulling away from me, and I was struggling just to keep him in sight. I wrote that off as just drug induced performance-enhancing drugs he keeps telling me about. He was chugging some vile stuff that tasted like baby aspirin mixed in milk, and bragged about how good he was feeling. I could not explain why my heart rate was staying so high, either. I have a heart rate monitor/watch, and I couldn't understand why even after walking my BPM was about 15bpm higher than normal, and it would not go down. The energy in my body slowly drained like water going out of a bath tub. When I hit the landing I plopped down on an ice chest, and started fading even more. I soon found myself in a "full-Phil-ing" horizontal position under the tent. Fortunately, Phil Purser's support team was there(Patti), and I was revived with ice cold towels and Gatorade.
I realized later how stupid I have been Thursday and Friday. I decided that I did not want to do yard work on Sunday, and Saturday would be out of the question.. Hmmm I know, lets do it on Friday morning. Thursday I took off and finished some work I have been doing on the front door, and strangely enough, this morning before I "suited up", I was about 5 lbs. less than I was on Wednesday... Sheesh. Anyway, no excuses. I am going to work harder on my XT and push hard to be over-hydrated(if that is possible) before the next run. I really need to have good confidence building long run, and I hope the Big-K will share some of his drugs....
See ya next week for our little ole 10 miler!

Not much new...

Not much new with me. I am slowly getting back in a routine with the kids back at school. Soccer season, gymnastics, church activities, etc., have me hoping, but I am getting my runs in. All the blogging is really helpful right now, as I am a little more uptight about the 20 miler. So many of you have such a great determined spirit, and it gets me really motivated to keep going, and believe I can do this. I had a good run with Kelvin this morning on the trails, but this heat is murder. I just know if we can get a break from the weather soon we will all make it. I found out that fleet feet has a five mile run coming up in September, and I haven't checked the schedule yet, but think it would be fun. It is at night, and apparently sponsored by Mizuno..
Keep cool, hydrated, and carbo-load guys! Keep up the great blogging, too- I'll see ya Saturday(after the sun comes up, anyway)


(below from fleet feet)

September Events

We've got a fun-filled September ahead, and you don't want to miss out! Be sure to stop by for these exciting events...
What: Mizuno Fun Run
When: Thursday, Sept. 13, 6:30p.m.

Join us at the store ready to run! Our Mizuno rep will be in town and he'll be giving away some sweet Mizuno swag, so you'll definitely want to be here. We'll run a 5-miler, enjoy some refreshments, and hang out with Mizuno Matt. What could be better?

Slow, but sure...

This morning was great. Up early, and out on the scheduled departure time. Had all my stuff ready, and only had to go inside one more time to get keys. I ran with Kelvin and Phil, and although we were a little slower than normal, I felt pretty good. My knee has been improving dramatically thanks to some excercises Wayne gave me for "Plica Syndrome" and Fleet Feet graciously exchanged some shoes I bought from them on sale for this years' model that apparently runs wider than last years. I will definately never buy anywhere else. I have been tempted to buy online, or somewhere else, but I have officially got hooked. Keeping good company made the time seem like it flew by, and we were done before I knew it. Several of you had some really good runs, and I know Chicago will be a party no doubt.. I am anxiously awaiting to see Suzanne Windsor's blog to see how she did up in Seattle, and hear about all that cool weather. Something in the air tells me that Fall will be here soon, and all this hot weather will be a fading memory. Bring on the cool, crisp fall air, and bring on Chicago!

Going to Chicago, Forrest Gump style......

I had a great run with Kelvin this morning on the trail in Ridgeland. What little rain we got yesterday just made things more humid. After the run, Kelvin and I were talking about the Nike + thing I wear with my iPod Nano. He asked if it keeps all the miles and workouts, or just the last one I ran. I explained that is one of the things I like most about it, as it takes you to a Nike website that graphs all your runs, and you can track your pace, total miles, miles by week, month, etc.
Anyway, he asked how many miles total, and I currently have about 400 since we began the MM training. I haven't worn it for various reasons on every work out and run, so If I add in just a few, I figure we have about 450 miles. Some of you obviously run faster, or more miles, and some less than me, but for the most part we are probably all around the 400-500 mile range. With that said, and with playing with Mapquest, we have all trained a distance far enough to be in the state of Illinois by now.... In fact, I am somewhere around Benton IL, which is just East of St. Louis, MO. By October, we will all have made it to Chicago, and just in time to start the marathon. Cool, huh? If we did this thing Forrest Gump style, we could all get there in time for the race. I can smell the cabbage already! Whew!!!

Home court advantage....

I never thought I would enjoy a 9 mile run, but I really did... I decided that with the dark and heat, I might do better running intervals, with company, and ran with Kelvin and Vickie. Kelvin kept promising us he would slow down after a few miles, and he did, but so did we. At any rate, I felt I had an advantage on the trail without the need of lights, and felt fine. Going on those trails 3-4 times a week does have its advantages. Anyway, I hope you all appreciated the extra pot-hole work and tar in the cracks we have been doing. It still is not perfect, but it is a trail. I have been badgering the Public Works Director to fill a few potholes, and I guess they decided they were tired of hearing me whine. They have made a lot of progress on the new extention, and we will eventually be able to stay on the trails all the way to Highland Colony Parkway. It will be 7.2 Miles from the gravel lot to the end. It you add the distance from Fleet feet, we will have about 10 miles one way. Scary, huh?
I enjoyed several cups of coffee and an egg and cheese bagel alon with good company at Beagle Bagel. Later, Saturday, I vegged out, and then went to the Special Olympics countdown dinner. Lots of fun. Spent too much, and didn't win the trip. Sunday, I couldn't manage getting my planned XT on the bike, and settle doing some sit ups, some Plica syndrome excercises that Wayne showed me, and ATE....
To save you from getting hungry, I will not go into detail. However, for Carols sake, I unfortunately had more food available, not to mention Gingi had made homemade chocolate chip cookies for a 1st grade party tomorrow... YIKES!

Jon "Blaze Man" Blais on You tube...

I meant to blog this yesterday but was too choked up, and then had lots of activities planned, but Lisa the Horn Playing Turtle reminded me of the Ironman special that was on TV yesterday. I happened to catch the last 30 minutes or so, and got really choked up. Okay, I cried like a hungry baby! Anyway, Jon Blais was an Ironman marathoner that got ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and still competed in the Ironman. It was an amazing story. It also reminded me of the "Find your Why" speech that Mark gave us. I sure could have used a refresher on that at about 8am last Saturday... Anyway, I found the segment on Youtube, and although I don't know how to imbed the Youtube window below, hit this link so you can go there yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vrjp2P0GlE

If it does not take you there directly, then just go to youtube.com and search "Jon Blais" for the video. Get your kleenex handy!

Can't we do one of our training runs in Chicago?

Wow! 18 miles... It was 80 degrees when I got of the car according to the car sensor, and it was 86 when we passed M&F bank on the spillway. Of course with the humidity, it felt like 110. We could have cooked the Boston Butts on the asphalt of the parking lot today.
Congrats to everyone that finished today. I saw some awesome performances and a lot of determination. I have to believe that with this heat and humidity, Chicago will feel like a 3 mile gym workout. Anyway, I felt great this morning, and shaved off a lot of time at the 13.1 mile mark, compared to the 1/2 marathon we did earlier, but the heat finally took it's toll, and I was walking a lot more the last 5, and when I did run, I was really slow. It was certainly tempting to stay or quit when I returned to the park, but I managed to take off, and took a monster drink to go. I should have run with Suz and Debra, as they did the spillway leg first, and got that out of the way. I missed my running buds, and my pace was a little erratic. Kelvin and Phil left early, and Steve Romano is out of town. I can't say enough how nice it is to have people nearby to gauge your run and encourage you along the way. Congrats again to all. Now, it is time to shave, shower again and head to the Butt cook-off! Easy week ahead everybody!!!

A New Cross Training Sure to Help-

With Debra Ferguson's a.k.a. "F-Stop" assistance, I have now found what will surely be my next cross training. Yes, of course, wife carrying! Why didn't I think of it before? I am not carrying enough weight on our runs, and just the thought of me carrying my wife out for a spin through the neighborhood already has me knowing that if I can do that, 18 miles will be nothing.

I can't help but notice the irony of it all, too. Here we are, planning a "Butt Challenge" and now we have a way that all the married men can enter, even if they don't cook! Check out the picture I found from the wife carrying website!