Good news and Not so good news

First the good news. My training plan has resulted in a 12 pound loss so far with increased strength. All of this in just 5 weeks. My workouts are really going well and I am seeing some real improvement. I am spending a lot of time in the gym however and am struggling with the time spent with my very busy schedule. I really need to work on my time management skills.

Now the not so good news. I am struggling with adding distance to my runs. I cannot seem to get past the 4 mile mark without some real serious struggles. Some of it has to be what I am eating since the carb load of my meals is pretty low. But, it is still frustrating to me that the distance is just not coming along.

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year to you all!! As the sun sets on 2008 and rises again in 2009 I am anxious and excited to see what 2009 has in store for me. Some things will stay the same however. I have my wife and daughter to share this year with me. My daughter will turn 14 and I hope she finds the brain that she lost this year. I will continue to have my good friends around me and I hope to be as good a friend to them as they have been to me. I will continue the ongoing battle of eating right, working out and taking care of my health. As I get older it only gets harder. Finally, I have my profession that is my passion and know that this year will bring exciting challenges and inevitable disappointments.

As for my running. 2008 was dedicated less to my distance running and more to strength training with a bit of cardio thrown in. To be honest, I missed my long runs and the peace that comes from that time on legs. This year I am going to try a new strategy. I will keep with the strength training, but throw a full schedule of running into the mix. It is my goal to get back into distance shape.

As for races, I am toying with a spring half. It would be the Colorado Marathon/Half- Marathon. When I ran it last it was a 15 mile race and has been converted back to a half. We will see. I am definitely going to catch a few local 5 and 10Ks this year.

On top of all that, I have headed back to school to get my masters degree. I figured since I didn't have anything else to do I might as well.

Good luck and best wishes to you all in the coming year.

Merry Christmas to all!! This is absolutely my favorite holiday of the year. To me Christmas is all about family and the blessings of the past year. I am truly blessed with a great family and God has blessed me this past year. I have a beautiful and talented wife, a wonderful daughter and more from my family than I usually deserve. I thank God each and every day for these people who make it possible for me to be successful.

My wish for each and every one of you is that you have a safe and happy new year. And of course a very Merry Christmas or Joyous Holidays.

TOL - Been Gone, now I'm Back

Sorry it has been such a long time since I have made any entries on my blog. I promise to be back more often.

It has been a very busy time for me. I spent my entire summer away from home in Virginia for a school. Left home on July 3rd and did not get back until September 22nd. A long time away and I missed my family a ton. Living in Colorado I have never experienced that much humidity before. It made the running very difficult, but somehow I managed to get some runs in. My hat is off to those who endure that kind of humidity on a regular basis.

I have cut back on my running a lot. I have also been focusing on more cross training. Seems to work pretty good. Lost 30 pounds and 10% body fat. Happy with that, but not sure I could make it past 5 miles just now. I miss those long run days.

And yes, I did get to party in New York City a few times while on the East Coast. What a great city!

More to come...

Blogging again

It has been a bit since I have made an entry on my blog. Work has just been demanding all of my attention and has been dominating my life. I try to live by the motto of, "Work to live, not live to work." That has just not been the case lately.

My workouts have been going really well. The weight loss has not been what I want but I have lost 15 pounds. Even better I have lost over 6% body fat! All of this in 7 weeks. I am only getting about 9 miles in a week. The lifting has been going really well and I am really enjoying it. This lifting thing is really foreign to me.

So far I am really enjoying this workout plan. I cannot wait until the weather warms up a little so I can get out on the trails for some longer runs.

Just a short note on how things are going. The workouts are progressing really well. i am really getting into the lifting. There is a very little running n this plan so far, only about 6 to 8 miles per week. I feel like such a slacker. The weight is coming off slowly too. Only about 6 pounds over the two weeks. Not a lot but I will take it. Enjoying the plan so far!

On a side note it looks like I will be spending my summer in Virginia. Good for the job but a long time away from home.

Happy Holidays to all!!

Time for a change

"Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death."

--Anais Nin

It is now time for a new state of being. This winter I have some specific goals that will require that I change my current obsession with running. It will involve a more global approach to my everyday living and exercise. So far, I have not been paying very close attention to my nutrition. I have kind of been watching what I eat, but not very strictly. That is about to change. One of my goals is to reach a goal weight of 195 pounds. That will require about 30 pounds of weight loss. I also want to build my overall strength, specifically my upper body strength. For the first time in my life I am going to engage in weight training.

So, my workouts will consist of weight training, short intense aerobic sessions and just so I can feed my need for running I will be taking a long run (about 5 miles) each week. I want my running fitness to be up to the challenge of running a 10K.

So here goes, tomorrow is a new start to a different state.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

It is Thanksgiving day and time to reflect on what we have and what we have to be thankful for. For me I always turn my thoughts to those away from home and loved ones. Those who stand on the front lines protecting me and my family from evil. Those who willingly put themselves in harms way so that I can relax in my warm home and safely break bread with my family and friends on this day.

I am thankful for our men and women in the Armed Forces who are standing tall for our freedoms. I am also thankful for the men and women in law enforcement across the nation who left their warm home and loving families to patrol our streets and keep us safe.

Each Thanksgiving I set aside a plate in remembrance of those men and women so that I do not forget the sacrifice they have made for me.

God Bless those men and women and God bless America.

Back to Reality

It is time to return to reality, and of course my work. I tried to get work to keep sending me a paycheck, but they wanted me to actually show up. I though that was pretty narrow minded of them.

The trip to Europe was nothing short of amazing. I cannot possibly begin to journal it all on one sitting. The photo to the left is my lovely bride and I at Park Guell in Barcelona Spain. My favorite place in the entire trip was Barcelona. During our travels we visited Italy (Florence, Rome, Naples), Greece (Mykonos, Santorini, Athens), France (Villafrance, Monaco), Turkey (Kusadasi) and Spain (Barcelona). We spent a lot of that time on a cruise ship with several extra days spent in Spain. What a trip!!

I must confess that in spite of my good intentions, I only ran twice the entire trip. i do not know how those that travel a lot get their runs in. One on my runs was on the treadmill on the ship while it was at sea. That was just short of a treat. It takes a lot of concentration to keep your footing on a speeding treadmill while the floor is moving with the sea waves. That just added to my dislike for spending too much time on the "dreadmill". I had really hoped to get more runs in, but the schedule was just to busy (read I was lazy) to get them done. Now that I am back to work it is time to get back into it.

Of course 2 weeks on a cruise ship did not at all equal to any weight gain on my part. If you believe that then I have some swamp land for you. I am finding the motivation hard to come by. It might be that I need to find myself a spring race to train for. There is nothing like a good race to get motivated for. I have been considering lately on backing off on my mileage and training for a shorter distance. Something in the 10K range. Wit that I would up my cross training and get some weight lifting in. I have never been a big fan of weight lifting but really need to work on my "chicken arms".

Tomorrow however is a new start...

Today was the day for my run in the Phedippidations World Wide Half Marathon. I had slacked off some on my training since my Half Marathon 3 weeks ago so my run was less than stellar. I choose one of my long run routes for today's run. I turned out to be a good day for the run as a cold front had moved in so the temp was about 55F. My time logged in at 2 hours 12 minutes and 27 seconds. Not a PR but still a good run.

On another note, I will be away from the blog world for a bit while on holiday. We have been planning this trip to Europe for over a year and the time has finally arrived. Best wishes to those who who have races coming up. I promise photos and reports when I return.

Crossroads Half Marathon Race Report

September 16th saw the 2007 running of the Crossroads Half Marathon. This is a charity run. Crossroads is an organization that offers assistance to victims of domestic violence. Hard to think of a better way to spend a Sunday morning than by raising money for this worthy cause.

The start was scheduled for 8 am and when I left the house at 7 it was already 67 degrees. The scheduled high for the day was 88 degrees. This was going to be a hot run. Hooray!

My goals for this race was to PR with anything less than 2.05:59. It is a pretty flat run but my PR came from a mostly downhill race so I had my work cut out for me. I also had been slacking on my training program.

The start was pretty subdued with the race organizer standing at the front and when the time came he said "Go!". I was near the front, in a pack of 500 runners, and only knew we were starting because the front of the group was off and running. The start was downhill and I was feeling really good. At the first mile I looked down at my trusty Garmin and was amazed to see a pace of 8.37! I knew I needed to slow down or I was in for a long day.

I backed of on the speed and set myself for a steady pace. The race course is a mix of residential streets and our local bike paths. The paths are my favorite place to run so this was familiar territory. Miles 2 through 7 were a good comfortable pace. That is if I was only going to run 7 miles. My average pace was now at 8.50. I just knew that I was going to pay for that pace at some point and really concentrated on slowing down some more.

The payment for that effort came at the 10 mile mark. I was entirely out of juice. The miles between 7 and 10 saw my average pace slowly creep past 9 minutes. And finally, I had to walk. I would walk a total of 4 times between miles 10 and 12. At 12 miles I promised myself that I could make that 1.1 miles all in one push. I lived up to that promise.

The last mile of the race follows a very beautiful tree lined residential area in downtown Fort Collins. This leads to the finish, which is in the same place as the start. I finished the race strong with a final time of 2.04:59. A new PR!

I am conflicted. I am excited about a new PR and am proud of that effort. I am also very disappointed in myself in how I ran the race. If I had shown a little more discipline in the early miles, I am convinced I would have run a better time.

So now after an earned shower, and an ice cold New Belgium Skinny Dip Beer, I have a date with my easy chair and a day of football. Go Broncos!!

Where in the world is...?

I offer no acceptable reasons for my absence, but do ask for forgiveness. Like most of my friends out there my training has been pretty miserable. My summer has been packed and has left little time for my running. I have managed to get some training in and with my half marathon only a week away I am marginally prepared. But, the cooler weather has arrived and the running is getting better. I have an alternate plan for this winter and will share that in a future blog.

I just arrived home from a weekend in Breckenridge Colorado. The photos I offer this post are all from the area. This was a weekend for getting the ATVs out. For the sake of my friend Charles, we were on the Wise Mountain /Radical Hill Loop. This was a great ride that took us to 12,600 feet in elevation.

The wife and I enjoyed the wonderful views at the top of this fun ride. We had perfect weather with sunny skies and moderate temperatures. we shared the ride with our close friends and this will be our last camping trip for the summer.

There was a mishap however and the photos below show the aftermath.















This is a good news / bad news story. The good news is that the young man (21) who was riding this machine is fine and only suffered a slight bruise when he flipped the ATV into a creek. The bad news is this is my wife's ATV.

Until next time...

Twist and Shout!

This summer has just been cruising by at a rapid pace. Life has been in the way of being faithful to my blog. With the winding down of the summer (I hate how that sounds) I now have a little time to blog.

The running has not been going so well. I seem to have lost a little of that loving feeling and my motivation has dropped. I decided to take a week off to rest and ponder my training plan. it turns out that was a good idea. In a freak simple move, I wrenched my lower back. I am not a person who has back problems. but this dropped me to my knees. The good news is that slowly the pain has gone away and tomorrow I will head out for a 5 miler to get back into my running groove. It is just 5 weeks before my half marathon and I need to get back to my regular running. I hope the week off has not hurt me too bad. I just need to remember that I run for me and I do it because I love it.

After the half I am off to a conference in Milwaukee. I have never been there and am looking forward to the trip. It will be an exciting conference. There is a 5k fun run that everyone participates in and it is a great time.

Time on Legs - Dog Days of Summer

It has been a bit since I have last blogged. That seems the norm during these busy summer days. I am ready for this heat to give way to the fall. My runs have been taking place in 90 to 100 degree weather and it is taking its toll. I am finding that my motivation to run wanders all over the place as I contemplate the heat. It does build character however!

My training however is going pretty good. I will be more than ready for my September 16th half marathon and the World Wide Half.

Time on Legs - Heart Rate

First a report on my 5K race on the 4th of July. This was a local race that benefited our local running club. They had a record turn out of about 900 runners. The course was set up around our local City Park and is a very flat course. I ran this as a training run and vowed that I would not worry too much about time. When the gun went off, I forgot my vow. I shot out of the starting line at a blazing pace and realized that I would have to slow up considerably. I finished the race with a PR of 25.53. What a great way to start the day.

This is the end of my first week running with my new Garmin 305. I found that in order to keep my HR in the desired range I had to run a lot slower than I wanted. Today I went for my long run of 10 miles and kept my HR at or below 150. This slowed my pace by about 45 seconds per mile. I was a little frustrated. What helped me was that I felt really good following the run. It is clear to me that I have been over training and an injury was just around the corner. I like how watching my HR keeps me in check. I think I will leave it off on the days I go for a specific tempo or speed workout pace run.

Upgrade!

Today I traded my beloved Garmin 205 for the heart rate version, the 305. I have been wanting to see what my heart rate has been on my training runs and now I can. I have always been a "pace runner" and I am sure there have been times that I have over trained. I am not too sure how I will incorporate the HRM into my training, but am open to ideas. Tomorrow's training run will be my first with this new device and we will see how it turns out.

As for my training, this week has been pretty good with nice strong runs. The weather was cooler mid-week and stayed pretty cool for my 9 mile long run on Friday. My long run made me more sore than normal. Nothing to worry about, but a little knee pain has crept in some.

Wednesday is July 4th and I will be out working. My City puts on a fireworks show in our City Park and I will be coordinating all of the security for the park. I will, however, get a chance to run in a local 5k called the "Firecraker 5". Many years ago this was a 5 mile race and I ran it a couple of times. This will be my first time with the 5k. I was scheduled for a 3 mile training run that day so this will work nicely.

I hope all enjoy a safe July 4th!

Back to the Grind

Time to get back to the grind of everyday living. Vacation was excellent! Spent a lot of quality time with my family as well as my friends. The major players of "F Troop" are pictured here. I also took the time to update the photo on my blog of my family at the same waterfall the previous picture was taken from. The week ended way too soon.

I was, however, very faithful to my training schedule. I had 4 runs scheduled for the week and was able to make each on of them. I really concentrated on taking it easy and enjoy the lite training week. All in all I did only about 20 miles. The highlight for the week of running was when one of the teenagers wanted to join me for a 5 miler. He plays football and thought it would be easy to hang with the "old guy". At a mile he asked when we stopped to rest. At 1.5 miles he suggested we cut the run to 3 miles. We did just that and had a nice 3 mile run at 30.18. He was sore and tired for 2 days. The young man said he enjoyed the running and asked me for tips on how to start his program. I gave him some tips and invited him along whenever he wanted a partner. It was fun to see the start of a new runner. I do have to admit that it was also fun for this "old guy" to show up the young teenager.

As anyone can see the scenery was "terrible". I took this picture just after hauling in a nice sized rainbow trout. For Charles, this is the tail waters of Stagecoach Reservoir.

I also want to mention my friend who ran with me in my "mini-marathon" completed the Coeur d'Alene Ironman, BIB 702, this Sunday. His final finish time was 14 hours 33 minutes and 31 seconds. He had hoped to finish in 14 hours, but there was considerable wind on the course. I was able to watch him finish on the live video feed. Man, do I love the internet!!!

ahhhh vacation!!

This week I am on vacation in Steamboat Springs Colorado. This is an annual trip we take called the "Father's Day" trip or also known as "F Troop rides again". Long story how that name came about.

This week is also an easy week for my running training. I ran 5.25 miles yesterday on a beautiful bike trail that follows the Yampa River through the town. I hope to stay true to my schedule this week. I can be a little difficult but I am committed to making it work. Now if I can only stay out of the wine everything should work out.

Happy training all....

Time on Legs - Priorities

Today my training schedule called for a 5 miler with speed work. But, since it was my daughter's birthday we went out for Chinese food. She is the best 12 year old I have ever known. My wife and I are truly blessed with such a sweet child.



As for the running, it has been going pretty good. The heat has been cranked up some which has led to slower workouts. But, it is all about getting some time on my legs as I train for my fall half marathon.



I have been tagged! Melisa has tagged me and the rules are 6 things about me that are weird.

1. I am afraid of the dark!
2. I always sleep on the side of the bed the farthest from the door.
3. I always sleep facing the door. (I guess first three are all related)
4. I don't like for my food to touch on my plate.
5. In a 22 year military career I served in all of the services except the Coast Guard.
6. I love to run. Some will say this is the most weird thing of all.

So there is the list. My wife had a lot of additional entries but will save that for another time.

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Time on Legs - Playing Hooky

Pardon my rant for a bit, but I am tired of spending all my time at work. 7 day weeks, 14 hour days is taking its toll and it was time for a break. So, I played hooky and took some time to go fishing with a couple of friends. I even caught a few fish. All of them were sent back to the river for another day. Thanks for listening.

The running has been going great! Each run these past couple of weeks has been really enjoyable. Sunday's run was a little freaky. I headed out for an easy 4 mile run. I started out on my usual route and after about 1/2 mile I glanced down at my Garmin to be surprised to see my average pace at 8:28! Wow!! So, like a dummy I kept up the pace for the entire run and ended what was supposed to be an easy 4.04 mile run with a time of 34:30 or a 8:32 pace. Even though I was proud of my time, I have to admit that if I keep on disregarding my training plan I am going to injure myself. It is the competator in me that pushes each day.

New blog out there for people to view. It is called "What's a few miles among friends". This blog is a place where those training this summer for the Phedippidations World Wide Half will share their training logs and comments about their journey toward the race. Check it out.