Was it a year ago, that I started?

I remember a year ago, I was sick with marathon flu, my feet were severely damaged with really big blisters, and I was signing up for the GOOFY race and a half challenge, that was to take place on January 10-11, 2009. Well here I am almost a week later and I am happy to say that I not only survived it ; but that I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the 2 races. I went up On Thursday before the race, with my friend, Barbara. We did the expo on Thursday and Friday. Friday was a day to spend at the lecture series. hearing greats like Alberto Barrios, Jeff Galloway, John,the penguin, Bingham, and coach Jennie. It was such an educational time as well as a fun time spending it with Ileana, Nancy and Marilyn. I was inspired and humbled by the Hoyt team. A father and son who not only shared when the human spirit can do, but what agape love is all about.

The first race, the half marathon , came and we were all ready.It was in the upper 40's when we started and about 64 when we finished. Barbara did great,she got her Donald. -All of us did great. Nancy and I stayed together the whole race, who was pacing who was hard to differentiate; but we finished well with the 3:30 hours I had to finish it to continue in my goofy quest. We finished in 3:17 not our best but certainly not our worse.Nancy left then and I continued the next day to the full marathon. That day after the half I sat in an ice bath for 15 minutes, great for the legs not good for the ego.
The next morning it was not as cold, must have been about 54 to start; and it warmed up to close to 80 by the time it was all over. Barb T met me and we did the marathon together. We went fast at the beginning, faster the I thought I would do. But I was playing a catch up game because I knew it would get warm at the end and so it would slow us down. There was plenty of support throughout the race. I love Disney races. Barbara was our personal cheerleader throughout the course, seeing us at three different places mile 4, 9, 12 and then at the finish line. She not only cheered for us , she cheered for all the FIT members. Throughout the whole experience I kept thinking I just want the three medals, but down deep I wanted to beat my time from last year too. As the finish line came into view, i saw the characters waiting for us, Lilo and Stitch, Pinocchio; I also saw Barbara and Janet with the GO EMMAUS sign. I knew I was going to make it. I ,also, knew that I was below my time from last year and even the marathon in San Antonio. I finished almost 13 minutes from last year's finishing chip time. I not only completed it but I had another P.R.

Another ice bath and I was ready to go out and celebrate. The next we spent at the parks and then Tuesday after a visit to Hollywood Studios, we headed back. And now it is back to the routine. Work, train, and race.

I have to thank God for giving me the strength and knowledge to train. For my friends and acquaintances that believed in me. I also would like to thank those that thought I was crazy when I signed up. My determination to prove you wrong, got me over the top when I did not want to continue. Today I did a recovery training sessions. We did almost 6 miles and when I plotted it down, I saw that I have trained over 1033 miles. Neat to say the least. I look forward to the road ahead and hope to continue to be able to share it you.

I know that I am not alone.....and I thank you.

Here I sit at the beginning of a new year. I am only a week away from the Goofy Challenge and I look back and marvel at what I have accomplished. Although I am not slim, I have lost weight. And although I have not trained on a daily basis, I have been faithful in my training and I am happy to say that since March 2008 to yesterday, I have trained a total of 967 miles. I have done most of my training already for the races of next week, completing my 21 miles last Saturday. I improved my time from the last time I did it by about 12 minutes.

Yesterday, I continued the tradition that I started in the year 2000, of getting up and watching the first sunrise of the year. I went and walked by the beach for 57 minutes with my friend, Barbara Flynn. This woman has been a great inspiration for me because no matter how many challenges are placed in her path she has continued to forge ahead and stick with her training. She will complete her fourth half marathon next week. She has ,also, provided me with encouragement throughout my journey.

The second woman that has been a key player in my life, is Nancy Page. As I have mentioned before, Nancy trains with me at least 3 to 4 times a week on the beach. She has always been faithful in her commitment to be better, and has always provided me with encouragement. In the process she has become a good friend too. Nancy finished without too many complaints her first 21 miles last week. Without her I would not have been able to do that crucial part of my training.

So I not only thank God that I have come this far; I thank you, Barbara and Nancy, without the two of you it would not have been so much fun. I look forward to this year, as we all continue to evolve in this exciting world.

What is a PR? What about 3 new PRS??

Hello, I know it has been awhile since my last entry, but it seems that life gets in the way some times of allowing time to write an entry. A lot has happened since my last posting. So I will try to recap all these events here.

First, I would like to recount my trip to San Antonio, Texas. It was an exciting time because I went with the training group,FIT, to do the inaugural Rock and Roll Marathon. Yes, I did do 26.2 miles, and I started to question like around mile 19 , why do I subject myself to this, when I could have gotten a nice medal with just doing 13.1 miles. The trip was good, I traveled with my friend, Barbara and Dennis met us there. Barbara after all her injuries was recovered enough to complete the half marathon and Dennis, just a year after his surgery was able to complete the full marathon. I was happy and proud to have been able to share both of these accomplishments with them. More about the marathon later, but I wanted to say a few words about the expo. It was such and exciting time. I got to meet one of my heroes, John, the penguin, Bingham. I met Frank Shorter and David Beardsley. Coach Jenny was there and suggested that after the marathon , best thing was to soak your legs for 10 minutes in ice water, and to use salt packets before and during race.
So I did the full marathon. It was cold at the start in the 30's and after using the salt packet, started the race with Barb T, along side me. We had been training together and this was her first full marathon. We met Steve along the way, from San Antonio, and walked most of the way with him too. We passed the Alamo, the missions and a lot of boring places, but we finished. At the finish line , the penguin was there to shake my hand, and as I looked at the time, I realized that I had done it in 7 minutes faster then Disney.....wow I had a new PR. PR is a personal record. I went to the hotel , and as my friends went to the pool, I went to my tub , sat in cold water and poured ice into the bath. It was cold , but I sat there for 10 minutes and I am happy to say that my legs felt better. The rest of the time I did sightseeing trips, even went to the caverns north of the city and climbed over 380 steps.
I move ahead to Thanksgiving Day. I had signed up for the turkey trot in Miami's Tropical Park. I was there by myself, after the race I was headed over to the west coast to celebrate with my family. I started the race, it was a 5K, and started running along with having some walk breaks. I came to mile one, and I was lower then 13 minutes. By the end of the race I had done it in 42 minutes and my pace was a 13:01 minutes per mile. I was excited, another PR for a 5K for me.
And I finish with yesterday, it was the Half Marathon of Palm Beach. I was there again with FIT. Barbara was there and my training partner from the weekdays, Nancy and her sister,Alex. Nancy and I were going to try to break the 3 hour mark for the half marathon. It was cool and foggy to start. We were doing good, but not good enough. I played it too conservative because I kept thinking I still have the Goofy in a month. We finished in 3 hours 1 minute. Well we will try again, but it was a PR for both of us. I thank Nancy for her commitment to train and follow sometimes my foolish actions. So that was the third PR. I know that if I continue to train I will achieve better times for each race. But the best part is that I enjoy when I am out there. I never thought it would be me finishing those races. Barbara and Alex did well yesterday too, and I look forward to other races where we can challenge each other. Enjoy each day, and walk a little bit more closer to your goals.

It's been a long time...a long road ahead.....

Yes, it has been a long time and a lot of things have happened in my world and in the whole world. Too many things to dwell on , but I want to update and tell you that next Sunday November 16 , I go for my second marathon. I will travel to San Antonio and hope to have a great time, since 30,000 people have signed up for it. I will be traveling with my friend, Barbara, who after many trails and tribulations seems to be ready to tackle the 1/2 marathon there. Dennis who will be trying to do his first marathon and about 40 -50 folks from my training group, FIT.

I have been training and am doing well. I started to incorporate some running in there and on my birthday did a PR for myself. Yesterday on Nancy's birthday eve, we did another PR for each of us. I think we are well on track to do a PR at the Palm Beach 1/2 Marathon. And good luck , Nancy on the 13.1 race next Sunday too.

I have trained and I have traveled. I went to see fall in the smokies with mom and Barbara. It was a beautiful time and the picture is from the road I trained while I was there. I also did the Everest Challenge where I was not only inspired by Jamie Clarke, but also had a very good time doing the race , obstacle course and scavenger hunt.

I have done almost 800 miles in training since this season started only a few shorts months ago, I have lost over 20 pounds and I look forward to each days challenges since I now consider myself an adventurer.

Wish us luck, and heehaw y'all.

I revisited the yellow brick road again today.

I am not sure if when I started to write my blog, I mentioned that one of my mantras to get me going on my long miles and through the marathon experience was to think of The Wizard of Oz and the whole yellow brick road experience. Well as I walked along I would think about the different things that I encountered and I would associate it with different things from the movie. My companions were three friends from church so the logically became the scarecrow, the lion and the tin man. These were Dennis, Barbara and Erick. Well about a year ago today, I went out with the three of them and did an incredible race with lightning before and after and a lot of rain in between.. It was great fun and something I will never forget. Today the race happened again, it is the Haulover 5K. Although I was by myself today, I felt their presence. You know it is funny how lives change and we might walk in different paths but we are still connected somehow.

The race was great, beautiful day this time and a breeze coming off the ocean. I did a PR during the race, so this year again it was a memorable day.


You know I mentioned that I had gone to a Jeff Galloway running school last week. I had done it before but I guess last year I just heard him. This year I not only heard him but I have put some of his suggestions into action. He not only revitalized my training, he has helped me improve my workouts and time.

Things are going well with the weekly training. SM (perfect specimen man) is back to running in the mornings. A funny line from one of the guys we bump into each morning was in reply to asking him how many miles he was doing....he said " 4 or 5 miles depends on how strong I make the coffee in the morning'.

This week I did a total of close to 30 miles and I FINNALY lost a little weight.
Have a great week and enjoy each day of it.

It has been awhile, but all things start anew....

Ok, it has been awhile, and I have missed communicating and telling you about my life , especially as it concerns my training for the races. I think allot of it spills over to my life and changes and affects the path that I am on.

Since it has been a couple of months since my last entry, don't worry I won't bore you with many details of those days. It goes without saying that we have dodge the bullet with about four tropical storms or hurricanes in our area. I have done a couple of small races 5K's specifically and I went to Los Angeles to do the Disneyland Half Marathon. The trip out there was fun, I went with my friend , Barbara. Thank you for showing me the sights out there. The race was spectacular it went through both Disneyland and California Adventure. It was fun , and I not only got the Disneyland," The Happiest Race " castle medal, I also got a medal for doing the full marathon in Disney World and going cross country to do the half marathon in Disneyland. This was the first year that was being done. Although, I enjoyed the trip southern California is not a place I will soon return to.

The weekly training has been going well, although it got disrupted with my trip and then the approaching Ike. I miss going out early in the morning but hopefully the routine will soon be in place again. Nothing really exciting to report on that front, all the players, Nancy, Rita, and all cast of characters,Kevin, 6, clapper guy , etc are all doing well.

Yesterday in our training we did 16 miles. By the time we were heading back I kept thinking I can't do another 10 miles to do a full marathon. Well the heat and humidity must have gotten the best of me , because I know that I can and I will do it. I have done it before. In the afternoon , I was fortunate to be able to attend a running school held by Jeff Galloway. He is my hero and because of him and his books had I attempted to train last year. He was such an inspiration and I learned allot of new information that I could use in my training. I COULD LOSE WEIGHT DURING TRAINING. I WOULD NOT HURT MYSELF IF I INCLUDED SOME RUNNING WITH MY WALKING. And he gave me some insight on how to do prepare for the Goofy Challenge in January.

It was a great time spent with someone I have looked up to for awhile now. The training is going well though. Steady , if not exciting. Now I plan to make it exciting too. I am working on a new training schedule for the coming weeks. I have not lost any weight during this period, and I have walked an average of 20-30 miles per week. The grand total of miles done is 579.34. I hope to be in contact soon again. The picture of the sunrise was take before the Fireman's Challenge 5K in Hollywood last weekend. It reminded me that all things can and sometime do start all over again.

Peace.

A great week has just ended...

I had a great week this past week. My training was on target with 15 miles during the week. Yesterday our weekly long training session was 12 miles. It was a challenge because we were starting a new sign up session for winter and one of our assistant coaches was gone. So we started and went out for 4 miles, came back to the park and picked up the half marathoners and did 8 more miles. To the top of the 17th Street causeway bridge and back. Then we met some of the new guys that were starting their training yesterday. The miles were really without much consequence nor interesting stories to tell, but it was good that we were able to finish with the high temperatures and humidity. Cat walked with us and told us about her joining the 50 state/50 marathon club. One one thing that happened was that Barbara was out doing 6 miles. Her speed is improving and she is excited about getting back into training. Disneyland will be so much fun with her walking the course with me.

As I have mentioned before, I am training amongst other things for the Goofy Challenge in January. A half marathon on Saturday and a full marathon the next day, Sunday. Today I started to train a bit more specific for that. I did 4 miles instead of taking today off, Sunday. I feel good. When I woke up this morning it was raining so I thought good excuse I can skip. But something deep inside said don't skip today or else it will be easy to skip every day. I went to my apartment gym and did 4 miles on the thread mill. Not as good as outside, but I got the miles in.

This week I did over 31 miles in training. I lost a little over 2 pounds. i feel good and I hope to keep the momentum going. I thank you all for your support and I can feel the difference. Have a great week and continue on.