Dark Clouds=Silver Linings

My yard is not what most people strive for. While my neighborhood is old enough to have yards large enough for the kids to play, it is also old enough to have an abundance of weeds in just about every yard.

While that doesn't bother me too much, I do dream of a well manicured lawn of fescue, free from the ravages of clover, dandelions, and numerous other broad leafs and this spring I raked out several bare spots, reseeded and thought I was on my way. I treated the yard with a broad leaf killer and it did its' job. But then other things took priority and the yard returned to its' native state.

Flash back with me for a moment to my childhood. I lived in this same neighborhood, ran the streets and the yards with my friends and in those days the clover patches led to many honey bee stings on bare feet. Fast forward to early spring 2007 and the local news was reporting a steep decline in the number of honey bee hives. This was a nation wide problem, and the impact on honey producers and agriculture (remember from biology class, plants need bees to help in pollination) could be calamitous. For the past several years I had wondered what had happened to all those honey bees which plagued us in my childhood, and my own observations seemed to confirm the news story.

As the clover reestablished in my front yard I began to see an occasional bee, even pausing once on the lawn tractor before trapping one beneath its' mower deck. The other day I counted four bees in the patch just outside my front door. I still want that perfect lawn, but I'm not sure it's worth it. The clover isn't the best looking ground cover, but the tomatoes in the back yard are twice the size of any we've ever had. Maybe they aren't related, but don't tell me that, I'm happy believing that I'm feeding them and they're feeding me.

If you're looking for my running stats, they'll be absent for the next week. I finally got around to seeing my doctor about my injury. Thankfully, no sports hernia, but the tissue that would be torn in a hernia is inflamed. So I'm following doctor's orders, cutting back on my physical activity and taking anti-inflammatories. Like my clover and bees story above, the restrictions have not been a bad thing. They have meant more energy when I come home from work, and therefore more time spent playing with the kids, something that we both needed. Every cloud can have a silver lining, it is just a matter of looking for it.

20 ozs of Coke in a 12 oz Can

I didn't run this morning, couldn't get out of bed, which got me thinking. Why? Why didn't I get up?

Let me recap yesterday for you.
0600 4 mile run
0800 Work
1800 Grocery
1900 Home and playing with kids
1920 Dinner (cram in 10 more minutes of playing with my kids)
2000 Leave for Softball Game
2200 Stop at store on the way home, complete earlier errand.
2215 Get home, put away toys in back yard (chance of rain)
2225 Take Shower
2245 Break out computer to update Blog and eat watermelon (no the computer wasn't necessary for eating watermelon)
2330 Lay down in bed, converse with wife recapping the day and catching up.
0015 Lights out.

Tonight will require Kindergarten orientation for my oldest and then Jina will be off to play softball. Somewhere in between is dinner. Running is pretty much out of the question, unless I opt for the treadmill after the kids are in bed. I'm not happy. I hate missing a run for no good reason.

What else am I missing out on because I'm trying to put 25 hours into a 24 hour day? Why can't I slow down? Priorities!

Like most Americans, my priorities are way out of whack. Like many Christians, I'm too locked in to what this world has to offer. While driving to work this morning, grumbling about not running, I started to rank my priorities. The categories were: God, Family, Friends, Myself, and Work. Those are not listed in my ranked order. How would you rank them?

OK, as Christians, we know that at the top of our list is God. Right? Now think about your typical day for a minute. No one else is going to know your answers. Is God really #1, or does he fall into place somewhere between family and work, or soccer practice and your social obligations? Now where does your family rank? After reflection, did your list stay the same as when I first posed the question? Anything you want to change?

Well for me there are definitely some things out of order. More work to do on project James.

"The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature." Luke 8:14
"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God." Colossians 3:1

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

Look full in His wonderful face.

and the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

in the light of His glory and grace."

Numbers

Day 29
Weather: Indoors
Distance: 4.0
Weekly Mileage: 7.0
Type: Treadmill, Tempo
Pace: 8:00 min/mi

Day 30
Weather: Cool, Clear, 59-60
Distance 4.0
Weekly Mileage: 11.0
Type: Easy
Pace: 8:28 min/mile

Just Numbers today, I have some thoughts to post, but considering it is almost 11:30pm and 5:30am comes a bit early, I'll save it for tomorrow.

Something I intend on expanding on in the near future is what I will now classify as "Old Lion" syndrome, as I sit here with an ice pack attempting to limit the damage caused by playing softball tonight.

Unfortunately, despite being in the best shape of my adult life, at 37 the mind is almost always willing, but the body is showing signs of wear.

Why is it old lions will never just slip slowly into an easy life? Why not let the young pups have the big rock?

Good..ouch....ohhh....uggghh...ouch...groan....night

Training Resumed-Day 28

Weather: Indoors
Distance: 3.0 miles
Type: Treadmill Easy Run
Pace: 9:00 min/mi

Now I know why I don't usually quit running, getting started back stinks.
Jet Lag made getting up a bit tough this morning, so I ran after work and hit the weights pretty hard. Something I'm starting to enjoy.

While in Hawaii, Jina and I agreed that we needed to get a few things into shape. Not just our physiques, but also our family, in particular how we interact or lack thereof with our kids, an lastly our spiritual life.

We've committed ourselves to a time of Bible study with our kids (for now the oldest one) prior to bed time each night.

Last night we read the story about Jesus walking on water. Answering my 5 year old's questions forced me to think about the story and simplify it for him to understand, faith is still a little hard for him to grasp, but it was a start. I have a feeling I may learn more than I know doing this nightly.

Back in The Saddle

Vacation is over, tomorrow I start training seriously again. I'm not injury free, but unless I'm sidelined with it, this is the last mention of/whining about it.

I got in on good run in Hawaii. Here's my route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1161645.

I enjoyed this run because it was one I had wanted to do on my first visit. The elevation around the Diamond Head Crater draws numerous runners and cyclist each day and I was thrilled to get a chance to "conquer" the hill.

Distance: 8.86 miles, time 1:30, pace 9:48 min/mi.

Beyond that, I got fat, estimate about 7 lbs added in 10 days. Even as I write this, I'm digesting a bowl of Ice Cream. That will have to end tomorrow.

I am coming back with a new perspective on my life, my family, and what I want to accomplish. More to come on these topics in the weeks to come.

Thanks to all for reading and keeping tabs on me.

God Bless,

Taking a Break

All is well, my travels have me in Waikiki again. Finally after minding the Fort while I travelled, Jina got to go with me.

I'm still dealing with a nagging injury and I'm fearing it may be a sports hernia. I've laid off this week, spending time on the elliptical and lifting weights.

Looking forward to running again and posting again soon.

Mahalo (Thanks)

James

Day 17

Weather: Indoors
Distance: 2.0 miles
Week Total: 10.5 miles
Type: Tempo
Pace: 8:13

30 minutes of upper body weight training.

Softball game aggravated my injury. Time to hang up the spikes?

Traveling tomorrow, so no run scheduled.

Day 16

Weather: 72
Distance: 5.0 miles
Week Total: 8.5 miles
Type: Intervals (.75-1.0 miles at comfortably hard pace, walk 1 1/2 - 2 Minutes for recovery)
Pace: 8:57 per mile average for entire run

Not sure the pace I was running during my intervals left my GPS at home and just took my watch.

New Shoes worked out nicely with only a slight nagging reminder of my injury towards the end of the run.

Tomorrow will be Treadmill run and weights.

Week 3-Day 15

Weather: Inside
Distance: 3.5 miles
Week Total: 3.0 miles
Type: Treadmill
Pace: 8:34 per mile - 3 miles .5 mile cool down

Tread mill did the trick, little stiff, but no major pains. Our treadmill has adjustable platform cushioning, and the softer surface seems to have done the trick and gave me reason to get a new pair of shoes.

I almost broke up a long term relationship today. My first pair of properly fitted running shoes was a pair of New Balance 766. I continued with the NBs after the 767 replaced the 766.

Today I tried on a pair of Saucony and a pair of Mizuno. Mike at the store questioned my unfaithfulness to the 767, I justified my "wandering eyes" with some weak excuse as I flirted with both of the sexy new shoes, took them out for a short jog, I liked them both. I was torn I didn't have to justify myself to anyone. The thought of something new and different was so intriguing, and felt so right. Yet in the back of my mind I could feel that something was not right, a knot in my stomach casting a shadow of doubt across my thoughts and feelings.

I put on a new pair of 767s and took a slow jog out the door, but stopped after only going half the distance I had in the other shoes. I knew what I wanted, what I needed. I decided to dance with the one who brought me, and walked out with a new pair of 767s.

Maybe they're not flashy or sexy, but they've seen me through some tough times, my highs and my lows. My victories and my agonies. The GPS has been left at home, the MP3 player left behind, and different shorts and shirts have accompanied me on my runs, but the 766/767 has been there from the start, patient, comforting, forgiving, reassuring.

Now if I'm forgiven, I'll resume our relationship tomorrow and start logging miles again.

Week 2 Wrap Up

Day 13
Weather: 70
Distance: 9.75 miles
Week Total: 19.25 miles
Type: Slow easy
Pace: 10:13 per mile

I survived a long run Saturday, thankfully I picked up a couple of partners half way through and pushed through some soreness and pain to log some much needed miles.

I seem to be getting better, and I sure am glad. I talked my injury over with a veteran tri and ultra marathon runner. Based on my description, he thought that it could possibly be a sports hernia, WebMD's info pointed in the same direction, and that points toward surgery and six weeks of recovery.

Surprisingly, I think part of my problem might be traced to some broken down shoes. In the past I've gotten some early warning signs from sore knees as it got close to time to replace my shoes, but not this time.

In closing out today's post, I'd like to share a Bible verse that stuck with me this past week.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:34

How many of my burden's and worries do I create myself?

Side Lined and Grounded

Day 11

First for the "side lined" part, my groin injury intensified on Wednesday and I spent most of the day walking gingerly and hurting every time I moved. Some pain medicine and anti-inflamatory meds seemed to have helped get me moving towards recovery, so for now I'm still planning for a long run on Saturday.

Today and tomorrow, I'm going to lift weights in the gym at work, upper body only.

Now for the "Grounded" part. No Air Force Marathon for me this year. Travel for our industry's convention will force travel during that weekend. All is not lost though. I get time to heal, more time to train, and a flatter course for the Louisville Marathon in mid-October, but also a smaller medal.

Silver lining for every cloud, just have to look real close sometimes.

Day 10

Cross Training on Bike: 13 miles.

Hey, I finally held a sub 6 minute pace! Now if I can get there running, I can give the Kenyans a run for their money.

I read that cycling focuses on the Quads, not the hamstrings, as does running. I got a good feel for that today.

My pain/injury has moved on me, riding was bearable, but man, people in cars don't give you much cushion when they pass. I will probably head out again, but I've got to decide where I feel safe riding.

Tommorrow's a new day!!

Ugggghhh!

Day 8
Weather: Indoor
Distance: 4 mile run and Weights
Week Total: 4.0
Type: Tread Mill/Weights
Pace: 8:45 per mile

Day 9
Weather: 60
Distance: 5.5 miles
Week Total: 9.5 miles
Type: Slow easy
Pace: 9:52 per mile

Take a look at my Day 9 time. I'm not sure what is happening, but leg fatigue is setting in big time. If that wasn't enough, the nagging groin injury is back and it is difficult to walk, much less run. As I sit typing this morning, I'm debating on whether I'm going to attempt a bike ride, something I had planned to add in to maintain my conditioning, while taking some stress off my legs this week.

One of the reasons I started this blog was so that some friends, and perhaps someone else who stumbled across the blog, could follow my training for a marathon and so I could share some of my thoughts on my faith and my life.

Having done one marathon, I felt the urge to do another, but after one week I'm pretty disgruntled. I feel more beat up/broken down than last time I trained. I think this is because my running has increased in distance and intensity. This I can work through and tough out, the physical and mental challenge is one of the reasons that I am proud I did one marathon and why I'm going for another.

More importantly is the time requirements for training. Even if I get up early, before everyone else and get my runs in, there is still the fatigue component which can rob time from my family. After one week, the running, coupled with less sleep than I should be getting during training, has affected my mood in a very negative way. Just ask my wife.

Now what? Time to refocus and readjust. I took up running for fitness, to try to stave off the heart disease and high cholesterol that plagues my family. I have to remember that staying healthy and sticking around for my wife and kids is why I started running and that has to be my focus. I have to realize that if I want to do "crazy" stuff like run a marathon, or maybe an ultra one day, I can not sacrifice my family, because that's the whole reason I started this silliness to begin with.

Why am I being so personal about this? So that if anyone else decides that they want to do a marathon, they are fully aware of the time necessary to train, even the minimum required to "just finish", and will not go into it with false assumptions. Is it worth it? Yes, like my college degree, I have a marathon in the books and no one can ever take away that accomplishment. Is it worth making my wife and kids miserable, well maybe when they are being mean to me, but as a general rule, NO!

I'm going to try that bike ride now, wish me luck...

Week 1 Wrap Up

Weather: 85 (Ran at 4pm)
Distance: 10 miles
Week Total: 28.1 miles
Type: Long Run
Pace: 9:07 per mile

Week 1 is in the books. My long run today felt pretty good. My plan is to hold my daily runs in the 5 to 6 mile range and bump my long runs by 2 miles each week up to 20, then start my taper and shoot for the Mid-September Air Force Marathon.

I was pretty pleased with how my long run went today and I mixed in walking during my water breaks effectively. There are two long hills start and finish at the AF marathon. It is an out and back course. Walking will have to be part of the equation, but done efficiently, all my readings indicate that it can be used to effectively improve your time. We'll see? Goal is going to be sub-4 hours.