Last post of January

Wow, I haven't missed a single training day yet since I started this adventure.  Last weeks 11-miler in 26 degree WI weather was nice and easy.  I started off running pretty fast (well, faster than my MP of 8:30) but the second half got really slow as my hams started to hurt.   Still hurts today.  Ice and heat Troy!  I prolly should retire those shoes as well.

I bought a Garmin 405 (used, but so what).  What an awesome tool for a runner, biker, walker, boater!  I even got a new friend out of it, my "Virtual running partner" named Egon (a play on the word 'Gone'). He beeps at me when he is catching up. It is too cool!  (I know, I should find a running partner)  My max heart rate is about 180 (well, thats the max it got running a 7:10mm in a 5k).  At MP I am at about 165.  It also gives me the calories burned (118 per mile on average).   No need for me to skip the deserts anymore (well, besides the cholesterol problem)

I am also taking a breath on the indoor running and all the nOObs.  Those poor people need the exercise more than me, so I am just being patient.  Being angry at them will not make me any younger.  I should be happy when I run, right!

So by the end of this month I will have logged 125 miles.  Keep this up and I will have 1,500 miles for the year.  I think this will be my yearly goal.  Easily attainable, as I will also be doing the same 1/2 Marathons this year as last (the Chicago R&R with Jeff and Beth, and the Madison NFEC again).  I might even do the Urbanathalon in Chicago as well.  We'll see.

WTF

Just picked up some cholesterol meds today.  I am depressed that I cannot control my bad cholesterol with diet and exercise.  I do not like to be on meds.  Especially these meds.  It is another thing that I have no control over and makes me feel weak.  I got to keep thinking that taking these meds is actually better for me. 

A month from now I get another blood test to see if this small amt (10 mg) will bring it down to managable levels. 

UGH!!!

Rec Plex rant

I was having a terrible indoor 6-miler this eve.  nOObs all over the track.  While running past some I was being sincere when telling them to move to the outside, but being breathless and sweaty doesn't make these discussions nice.  I scared the crap out of a threesome walking the entire width of the track at one point.  I felt like a heel.

My 6-miler was supposed to be my goal MP (8:30), but it turned out way different:

1st mile: 7:44

2nd: 8:35
3rd: 7:39
4th: 7:57
5th: 8:11
6th: 8:29

I think it was the the extra meatloaf sitting in my stomach.  I should have waited another hour to run.  I did however meet another marathoner, Dave, who I hope to run with again.  He caught up to me at the beginning of mile 5.  We chatted about the running club and our where abouts to run.

 

Great quote from Runners World:
...the rewards of running go far beyond what the finish-line clock says.
David Wiley, Editor in Chief

2010 Kenosha Running Club Holiday Party and other training ideas

I joined the local running club and finally got to meet some people.  They have just as much energy as I do.  A very fun group.  A lot of them are running in the May 2010 Kenosha Marathon so I will have to make some plans to run with some of these guys and gals.  They have runs every Tuesday's and Saturday's that I can easily join in on (I just have to get myself outta bed) ;)

Also, I just made a double training date with another 'Actuarial Outpost' buddy, Rich Davey (AKA Sotally Tober) who is 1/2 responsible for getting me into this lifestyle.  We traded weekends both here and in Cincinatti to run my distance days.  Both weekends are filled with 25+ runs! 

2010 Cheesiest Marathon

It is official.  I am signed up for the May 2, 2010 WI Marathon.  I have a schedule of running to do from 12/28 and on.

Background Pix

Some things about the background pick that I like.  It was taken during the R&R marathon. 
(1) I am physically at the healthiest point in my entire life (and will brag about it - that was very hard and rewarding work)
(2) I didn't take this picture, nor did anyone that I know (It is on the Chico R&R facebook page)
(3) Mostly it is artsy (what I don't know is how/why it is artsy, but to me it is really representative of what I learned about me and explained below)

Everything in the pic is out of focus instead of my head.  Everything is going by me fast, and I look determined to outrun it, beat it, with my own thinking/control.  Very metaphoric if you ask me.  This is something that I'd like to (I want, and I will) change.  For my entire life, I always tought I had everything under control and I could fix things easily, or ignor them if I felt it was unimportant.  That is so far from the truth.  If you learn nothing from my blog, at least keep this in the back of your head.  It took me 36 years to figure that little bit out, and there is more that I still have to learn.

I have been reading a lot.  Different books, ranging between Malcom Gladwell to Stephenie Meyer, and Al Switzer, et al "Crusial Conversations" to Dr. Meg Meeker's "Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters".  I have become enlightened & enthused about becomming a better person, a "thinker" instead of an "instant reactor", a "questioner" to add more to the conversation.  Reading is healthy too, not only does it give you a better vocabulary, it also helps you be able to "read" people - the way they react, say things, and how they feel.  I am surprised to see this and never really payed much attention to these several things.  But it is empowering.