Drama Queen

3 miles tonight. Felt good.

I don't want this to be some big dramatic thing.

But here's the deal. I've got some stuff to get done. I love you all and will be cheering for you. See you around. If not, I'll see you at the Bayou City Classic. :)

I got my life back...

Well, I got my life back but could someone please give me my fitness? And could someone please give me back my endurance?

I know it's probably unrealistic to expect to do 17 miles after a 10 day layoff. But I just wanted to cover the distance. No heroism. No TLT or middle 6 at marathon pace or anything like that. Just cover the distance.

Well, I covered distance alright but it wasn't 17 miles. It was about 12 and it was a struggle. I felt good enough through 10 but faded fast after that. I don't know what the deal was. I was weak and hungry. And I stopped 3 times to "go to the bathroom" with stomach problems. Guess it's going to take more than just a day of eating right to actually make and impact on my long runs. I'll need a good week of hydrating and eating right to really feel up to par I think.

Next weekend, I'll see how it goes. One more long run like today and I'll have to reset my training plan back a few weeks for Austin. It's just too late to not be doing these long runs.

So, the plan for next week is:
Monday - 5 miles
Tuesday - Silly Walks, 5x180/180at 5k race pace, 2 mile CD
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - TXU Turkey Trot 10K (PR!!! You can bet the ranch!!!)
Friday - rest
Saturday - 18 miles (Tour de Memorial)
Sunday - rest

Sorry there wasn't better news to report on the long run today. But not to worry. I still have my life.

What a day for a comeback!

I awoke this morning to temps in the 40's and absolute perfect running weather. More importantly, I woke up not worried about all I had to do at work today. It's a relief.

Today's run
Purpose - To work out a few cobwebs and put some calories in the bank to start my day
Total distance - 3.0 miles
Average pace - 13:15

I'm a bit anxious about tomorrow's run. I'm not looking to break any records tomorrow. I just want to cover the distance and get to the house. 16-17 miles. Happy running tomorrow, everyone.

Note to self

"...whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus..."

The Message says, "...let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way."

To the point, I've come to the realization that this verse does not mean that I have to work and work and work and work at a job and work and work and work at a job until it totally consumes me. Surely God doesn't want us, eh, ME to sacrifice my family, my fitness, my health, even my church for the sake of "doing a good job." Well for the past 2 or 3 months, that's exactly what I've done.

On the way home from another 13 hour day... That's right! on the way home and not on the way to Terry Hershey park... I called DW and told her that I was giving up the Houston Marathon. I told her that I just couldn't do what it takes. I tried as best I could to explain that marathon training (for me at least) wasn't just about getting in the runs. It's about preparing mentally, being well rested, eating right, planning your meals, camaraderie, family support, and a concentrated consistency week after week, right up until race day. I told her that I just can't do that right now with this project we are doing at work. I'm working 12 hours a day, bringing work home after work and on the weekends. When I'm not working, I'm worrying about not working and how I'm going to get everything done I have to get done. I'm thinking about deadlines, who I'm going to let down, how I'm going to get more organized, how I need to be doing this and that instead of working... I think my desire to do a good job has evolved into something else. Something not good.

DW has been telling me for weeks that it's not worth it, how in 10 years I'm going to look back and not remember how many hours I put in at work this week or how I helped meet a deadline or how we met budget. I'm going to remember things like my son's last freshman football game, the year we invited 30+ people over to our house for Thanksgiving, the first time I went sub-6 for a marathon, soccer games, the first year DW coached a neighborhood basketball team, and the good times I had with my friends and family. I think tonight I finally heard her.

Note to self, "Would it be too much trouble if I had my life back please?" I hereby reclaim my life. I can do a lot in 8, 9, 10 hours at work. I can do a good job. I can do my job "as unto the Lord." But my job is not my life any more than running is my life. My life is my life and there are important things that need to be tended to and experienced. My health, my goals, my children, my church. so, I hereby reclaim my life, not for myself alone but for Him.

Now, down to business. Here's my situation. There are 59 days left to Houston. I haven't run in about 10 days. My last long run was weekend before last and it was a strong 15 miles, no problem. I'm up about 6 pounds from my low mark at the Fired up 5K. I feel good. I'm staring at about a 16-17 miler on Saturday. I'm looking at doing an easy 3 or 4 miler in the morning. Yes, it's the day before my long run but I think I need to shake out a few cobwebs before Saturday. I'm still confident after my half marathon race just a few weeks ago. No doubt I've lost some fitness but I think Houston is salvageable.

Daily updates to follow. Wish me luck. Oh, and one more note to self...Thanks!

It takes a village

Friday was a bust. I just could not afford with everything that's going on at work to come in late. I had made arrangements to come in to work around 10 with plenty time to do 15 but I just have sooooooo much work and so much to do before the week ended. No way I could have missed 3 or 4 hours of work.

So, I was really bummed. I'm on call this weekend so a long run was not in the cards. But conversation at lunch turned to why Vic didn't run Friday morning. I shared my sob story with my co-workers. I said that this job and this project makes it really hard to train and that I was going to be behind after this weekend. Then my buddy said, "I'll cover call for you Saturday morning." WOW!!! What a friend. It really is the case that we can't do this alone. It takes a lot of support and sacrifice from family and friends.

.

So, I ran an easy 15 miles this morning with my running group. We had a blast!!! Martina, Faith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W Smith, and a bunch more. We ran to down to Sabine, back to the park and around for 2 more loops to make right at 15 miles. Here's the shakedown:

Total distance - 15 miles
Splits - 13:56 / 13:38 / 13:45 / 13:40 / 13:36 / 13:27 / 13:27 / 13:23 / 13:15 / 13:12 / 13:13 / 13:13 / 13:36 / 13:37 / 13:35
Total time - 3:22:45
Average pace - 13:31

I'm tired. I'm going to bed.

Ten weeks

Ten weeks. That's what's left. How am I going to go faster? How am I going to go farther? If I asked ANY Joe on the street, the answer would be obvious. YOU'VE GOT TO DROP SOME WEIGHT.

For the past couple or years, I've wondered why I've been able to remain for the most part injury free, especially at my weight. Yes, I'm disciplined about listening to my body. I know what I can take and what I can't take. But another reason I don't injure myself is that I don't really push myself. I always seem to get to a point where I'm making progress, training hard, ramping up the miles, and then I back off, go into hiding. REST!!! Those seems to be my favorite words. REST! RECOVER!/p>

Don't get me wrong. Rest is good and recovery is the time when all the desired post-stress adaptations take place. But there are most certainly two extremes, overtraining and undertraining. Our job, MY job is to find the fine line between the two. For me, I tend to err on the side of undertraining and if you're going to err, I'd suggest you stay over here with me. But dang it, I want to run better. I want to run faster. And I want it now.

Ok, back to my real topic...It's sooooooo obvious that shedding this weight is going to get me a lot closer to what I so impatiently want. So, why don't I just do it? I know how. I guess it's just a matter of how MUCH I want it. Let me tell you...today, this morning, right now, I want it BAD! But it's not enough to say it. How bad I want it is directly measured by the actions I take to get it. I can't say "I want it BAD!!!" and then eat so much of the wrong stuff. So, maybe it's better to just not say "I want it BAD!!!". Maybe I should just shut up and sing, as they say.

So, I stand right now, on the scale, at 297. That's bascially up 5 pounds from my low mark back in September. Yes, there's good news. I've only gained 5 pounds. But the bad news is that I haven't LOST the 20 pounds I said I wanted to lose by now. Obviously, my goal of running Houston 50 pounds lighter than last year is gone. But running it 25 pounds lighter is not out of reach at this point. And the beauty of this whole thing is that 25 pounds will most certainly shave a lot off of my finish time. I may get more benefit losing 25 pounds than I would from my training. As far as training goes, it's all about the long runs now. That's the key.

Ok, rant over...

4 miles last night at ~13:00 pace. I wasn't fueled properly and ran out of energy early in the run. Luckily, it was just 4 miles and I pushed through and finished decent. I started with the Striders. The plan was to go out 2 and turn around to get back by the time Jen was returning. But Jen must have already turned around and passed me while I was in Starbucks for a potty break. I so wanted to wish her good luck in NY, in person. Good luck, Jen!!! It looks like PERFECT weather. You are gonna rock it. I'm sooooooo proud of you. We'll be watching.