Here we go AGAIN

Tomorrow I will run the St.Jude Marathon in Memphis. As you all know what was supposed to my first marathon in October in Chicago turned out to be disaster for race officials and Kim and I only made it to mile 17 before they shut down the race. So I went home and signed up for the marahon in Memphis wanting to make sure I FINISHED a marathon this year. A lot has happened since then and my training has not been what I would have wanted it to be. I have gained some weight and we have lost Kim's dad in his battle with cancer. But tomorrow I will be there and this time many of my friend's are comiing to run the 5K and say they will stick around for me to finish the marathon (they will have time to go eat and do some shopping, get their nails done and read a book by the time I finish) I have to tell you that I am thrilled that they will be there, but at the same time very nervous about this race. Anyone who knows me, knows that when it comes to some things I am not my normal happy go luck let the chips fall where they may self. Traveling, and athletic events. I like to be prepard, I am even a little on the freaky side when it comes to this kind of stuff, I used to get to the locker room over an hour before football practice and over 3 hours before games just to make sure I had it all together. I have to admit I don't feel prepared for the race tomorrow. But a couple of things have happened in the last couple of days to remind me that I can do this.
Tuesday night we did a little 2 mile run with our kids called the "Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis" and wathching little Kiley run beside Kim and I with all she had for the better part of a mile and just loving it brought tears to my eyes, running with her was something I could not do and would not have encouraged her to do 2 years ago, but this week we were all running together (Robyn was in the stroller) and it was one of the neatest feelings I have had. I went to Starbucks at Barns and Noble today to get some coffee and a couple that were in my weight loss class came in and then two more people who had done the same program came in and then another guy that I have run with came in, and we all there taking about running and weight and they all talked about how good I looked and that they could not tell I have gained a pound, much less the 20 or so I gained over the last month in Chattanooga. They were very encouraging and reminded me again that I run for health not just the numbers and that I can lose this weight I have gained and it should not affect my feeling toward this athletic goal that I am about to accomplish, so it won't. And finally my dad emailed me th picture of me crossing the finish line of my first triathlon today and reminded me of my miles I dedicated before Chicago. For those of you who don't remember, here they are

Mile One and mile 26 is dedicated to my life partner, supporter, running partner and mother of my childern.. Kim, I love you and appreciate your encouragment on this journey.

Miles 5 and 15 are dedicated to my sister Shelena, she likes the number 5 a lot and she is the best sister I have so it was only natural

Miles 13 and 20 are dedicated to my parents for putting up with me, I love and apprecaite their support so much, and they continue to be great examples for Kim and I, our marriage and our parenting.

Miles 24 and 25 are dedicated to Kiley and Robyn because I might want to quit then, but can't imagine coming home and not showing them my medal.

Mile 7 and 12 are dedicated to my father-in-law who is struggling with cancer, Larry and Susan were going to be in Chicago to see Kim and I, but they are in a hospital in Chattanooga.

Mile 15 is dedicated to our house church, thanks so much to Debbie, Chris, Polly, Dan, Scarlett, Greg, Carolyn, Jason, Julie, and past members Philip and Brooks who have moved to Hot Springs.

Finally Mile 16 is dedicated to all you people who read and comment on my blog and have been supportive and cotinue to motivate me on in my weight loss and physical endevors. This includes you Kevin, thanks for using ass or damn in every comment you have ever posted.

As I look over this I realize how precious life is, Larry is not with us anymore and that really makes me sad, and I realize how quickly life can slip away from us. If you have read this far, you have too much time on you hands, but you have probalby been a big support to me in my journey and I appreciate it. I know tomorrow will be a great marker on this journey, one that I know will continue to bless my health and overall outlook on life.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I have so much to be thankful for, but the ability to go out and run this morning 100 pounds lighter than last year at this time is just part of it. I get a little extreme with my weight loss and running sometimes and it can monopolize my time. Last night I realized how I wanted to run as far as I could this morning so I could know I was back on track for the marathon, but my priorities changed when I remembered how much Kiley likes for us to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade together. So I left the house a little after 8:00 with my goal for today to run 3 miles with my only time goal to be home in time for the parade...I have to go, it's about to start.

So much to be thankful for.

Back On Track

Well I am a few hours back into weight loss mode today and all is going well. It seems like it takes one good day to get my system back on track. I did a really poor job of eating in Chattanooga. I ate poorly on the road, I ate poorly at the house and I ate poorly at the restaurants. I have had more pizza, burgers, steaks, and chocolate in the last 3 weeks than I had all this year. My weight went up, but the most disappointing things are that my clothes are much tighter, my gout arthritis is hurting my foot, and I will not be able to eat and feel like I deserve to enjoy the food at Thanksgiving this year. Also I have no idea if I could go out and run 10 miles much less a marathon by Dec 1.

OK now I have vented about it, so what am I doing about it? I have done very well today back on weight loss mentality. I am not sure my foot feels good enough to run today, but I will lift tomorrow and try to run a little. Not eating a lot for Thanksgiving should not be that big a deal considering it was a year ago this week that I started this weight loss journey and had nothing but my protein shake for Thanksgiving last year.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support during these last few days with Larry's illness and death. We are very blessed.

Life is HECTIC!!

I have gained about 16 pounds over the last two based on my scales this morning. I have been in Chattanooga with my wife and her family waiting for the death of her Dad. He died last night, so we will be going back for the funeral this weekend. We have put our lives on hold for the last few weeks and I have not run or even tried to eat well. As a matter of fact I have used the situation as an excuse to eat very poorly. I am not saying that the situtation is not much more important than my weight loss, but I have an obligation to protect my weight loss and to continue on my health journey. In our house church last night we talked about getting back up from mistakes quickly and not dwelling on our failures and that is what I intend to do. I have packed my scale for this trip and I plan on sticking to at least eathing healthy throught the rest of the week and weekend. I know based on my past that after a binge like I have been on and a big gain that if I just try a little I can lose 8-10 pounds in a week or so. SO here I go BACK ON TRACK,

By the way I still plan on beating Debbie to 30 pounds as soon as I get this extra 16 off. I am going to kick it in and lose 46 faster then it takes Debbie to lose 30!!! Yeah I know bold statement, but what do I have to lose??

Long Time No Post

It has been busy. First let me update you on the situation with Kim's Dad. He is in the last stages of cancer, but his body continues to work somewhat. The hospice people are convinced he will not be with us much longer, but they said 5 days last Tuesday, so what do they know. We will continue to tralvel to Chattanooga on the weekends until he passes.

That brings me to how poorly I eat on the road. I am holding my weight, probably becasue of the 18 miles I ran Saturday and the weight lifting program I am know on, and the other running during the week, but it is not because I am eating well. I am really trying to lose weight not stay the same, especially with Debbie www.debbiecook.blogspot.com beating me in the race to lose 30 pounds. But I feel a loss coming on this week and I am thinking I will close the gap a little bit.

The marathon is coming up on DEC 1 and I am getting more and more excited about that.

Happy Halloween!

Prayers Needed

Kim is on a plane to Chattanooga to be with her dad, and I am about to get in the car and head that way. The doctors have told the family that there is nothing more they can do for him. They said it could me a matter of hours or days. Please pray for our family for Larry that God will give him peace and comfort him. Pray for Kim and her family that they will be comforted and find some peace in all of this.

Running Always Helps

This weekend, I think I have finally put Chicago behind me. I ran the local 1/2 marathon, the Fergus Snoddy, www.fergussnoddy.com. It was a great experience. I had a PR with 2:16:53 on a really hilly course. My friend's Greg and Chris ran the 5k and it was just a really good day. I am getting more excited about the Memphis Marathon on Dec 1.

Tomorrow starts my first training session with my trainer and our friend Karen, who has completed a couple of Ironmans and is a pretty darn good triathlete. She is going to help me lift weights for better endurance. As an ex-football player who has only known how to lift weights to get bigger and stronger I need some help in learning how to lift for endurance and sculpting and strengthening my core. We will lift together on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

As some of you may know Debbie is a good friend of mine www.debbiecook.blogspot.com She has lost over 80 pounds and has now challenged me to see who can get the next 30 off the quickest. We have big money on the line, and as much as I like Deb, I hate losing, so I have no choice other than to BEAT HER INTO THE GROUND, AND TALK TRASH WHILE I AM DOING IT. With the love of Christ, of course.

VERY DISSAPOINTED

I kind of thought I would be over the anger and frustration by today, but as you will be able to tell I am not. Let's cut to the chase, me and about 24,000 other race participants did not get to finish the Chicago Marathon this weekend. I think what makes me most angry is the reports on the news with the race director saying they had plenty of fluids on the course, that is bull crap.

Here is how is went down for us. Kim and I started between the 5:15 and the 5:30 pace group thinking that since it was a little hotter than we anticipated that we might not want to push it as hard at first, but if things were going well we would kick it in toward the later miles. That means we lined up with people who were supposed to be able to run between 10 and 11 minute miles, this is what we have run on training runs in Arkansas through one of the hottest summers on record. It took us over 20 minutes to get to the start line, which was no big deal considering the mass of humanity. Our first mile time was just over 10 minutes, right were we needed to be despite having to weave in and out of lines of people who lined up with us that had no intention of running! They started in the 5:15 pace group and knew they were going to walk?? I did not understand that, but hey we were moving right along and got to the first water stop around the 1.83 miles mark. Everything I have read says to take on water early and often in a marathon, especially a hot one, so even though were not in desperate need of water we knew we needed to drink. THERE WAS NO WATER OR GATORADE! We were in the middle of pack and they had already run out and folded the tables and put them on the side of the road! We were a little mad, but knew there would be another stop in just over a mile around mile 3. Again NO WATER and NO GATOR AIDE! At this point I think we were both a little freaked out but tried not to show it, Kim was more mad that we were running in the 30th running of the Chicago Marathon and something as simple as aide stations were not being run properly. Between mile 3 and the next water stop a church that was a cheering station had heard that they were running out of water and started giving out water in little dixie cups like you wash your mouth out with with mouthwash in your bathroom. We thought this was like getting manna from heaven we were so worried about water at this point. Just a couple miles up there was a band playing and one of the runners went over during the song and yelled in the mic, WE WANT WATER ON THE COURSE!! and everyone cheered. There were 3 water stops that I remember between there and mile 16 that had water, only one with Gatorade,and none that just had people handing you water like a normal race, every time someone saw some it was like throwing one bag of dog food out to 10,000 starving dogs, everyone pushing and shoving to get in line for a little cup of water. Around mile 15 a little girl must have seen the look on our faces and offered us her bottle of water and we shared it. We had been turned from runners to scavengers, I told Kim I signed up for a marathon not an adventure race. But we got mad at the course and said we are not going to let this beat us, we trained too hard and too long and if we have to walk, which we did some of, but were really beginning to get in a good groove after the halfway point, we would do what ever it took to finish. That is when people started yelling to STOP RUNNING, you are being diverted to Grant Park, the race is over!?? What?? No WAY! was our response, then a helicopter started flying over and giving the same instructions on the loud speaker. Our dream of finishing the marathon together was over, not because of anything we could have prevented, trust me we have gone back and forth, but us and everyone else were diverted to Grant Park. We had a couple of friends that started in pace groups ahead of us, and they said that even though they got past mile 17 before they closed in they were still told to stop running. We later heard that all the ambulances in Chicago and surrounding areas were being used and that the race could not support us any longer and that someone had died.

As Kim and I walked down that street towards Grant Park, I have to tell you I teared up a little, I realized how much closer Kim and I have grown together through this experience and was happy for all our long runs together and the weight I am losing and all the good things that have come from this experience, but at the same time I was so disappointed not to get to cross the finish line together holding hands and really getting to celebrate. I just don't understand how they could have called the whole thing off because of heat? They run marathons in Arizona and Arkansas and Tennessee, and I have never heard of an Ironman being called off because its hot outside. The bot tome line is this was poor preparation for the conditions from the race organizers and they need to step up and take responsibility.

If you have read this long I am sorry that you have had to read all my frustrations, but hope you realize that we are getting to be a peace with the fact we did everything we could, and there is no reason to second guess ourselves.

My plan is to run the local half marathon on Saturday here in Jonesboro, and then there is 5K and 10K I plan to run over the next month and keep my training up and then run the Memphis Marathon on Dec 1 in Memphis TN. Even though we got the medal and the t-shirt and all that crap in Chicago, I have not finished a marathon and I will on Dec 1.

Mile Dedication

I have decided to dedicate some miles in the marathon to my friends and family. Especially the hard miles, some would say this cheeesy, but it is a big deal to me.

Mile One and mile 26 is dedicated to my life partner, supporter, running partner and mother of my childern.. Kim, I love you and appreciate your encouragment on this journey.

Miles 5 and 15 are dedicated to my sister Shelena, she likes the number 5 a lot and she is the best sister I have so it was only natural

Miles 13 and 20 are dedicated to my parents for putting up with me, I love and apprecaite their support so much, and they continue to be great examples for Kim and I, our marriage and our parenting.

Miles 24 and 25 are dedicated to Kiley and Robyn because I might want to quit then, but can't imagine coming home and not showing them my medal.

Mile 7 and 12 are dedicated to my father-in-law who is struggling with cancer, Larry and Susan were going to be in Chicago to see Kim and I, but they are in a hospital in Chattanooga.

Mile 15 is dedicated to our house church, thanks so much to Debbie, Chris, Polly, Dan, Scarlett, Greg, Carolyn, Jason, Julie, and past members Philip and Brooks who have moved to Hot Springs.

Finally Mile 16 is dedicated to all you people who read and comment on my blog and have been supportive and cotinue to motivate me on in my weight loss and physical endevors. This includes you Kevin, thanks for using ass or damn in every comment you have ever posted.

Last Training Run Down

I just got in from my last training run, we leave in the morning for Chicago!!!

Thanks to all of you for your support and good wishes.


I will give a full race report when I return on late Monday night or Tuesday morning.

GAME WEEK!!

This is the week, the CHICAGO MARATHON is just 6 days away!! After a week of physical therapy and really good drugs, my back is feeling close to 100% Kim and I ran 9 miles Saturday and it went great. I appreciate all the prayers and concern for me, it was a very depressing couple of days last week for me, but all seems to being going well now.

The plan is to leave Friday morning and get about 2 hours outside if the windy city and then head in Saturday morning. We will go get checked in and go to the expo and hope to eat with some friends on Saturday night. Then the big race on Sunday. After my back problems and not getting as many training miles in as I wanted I am not going in with any finish time expectations other than to to finish. I am excited and look forward to reporting on the race and the trip.

Houston We Have A Problem!!

This weekend we took the motor home to Knoxville to tailgate and watch the Vols play the Arkansas State Indians. It was a great trip, but on the way home I jumped out of the RV at a gas station and missed a step, I landed upright, but had a really bad pain in my lower back. When we got home three hours later, I could hardly move. I could not bend over at all and I looked like I was a 98 year getting in and out of my car. I had ruptured disc surgery in high school because of a football injury, and I have not had pain this severe since then and two weeks before the marathon. I am taking drugs and going to therapy and if it does not get better by Friday I am supposed to have an MRI. My doctor really thinks it is just ligament damage because there is no pain going down my legs like the last time, but he says if it does not get better, then that he could be wrong. Of course I asked him about the marathon and he said if I can run without pain,and we rule out the disc problem then I can go for it, but I am not supposed to do any running till Friday, I will miss a whole week and a half of training, but at this point I really feel like you would have to take my leg off not to try and do the marathon. I don't really have any pain standing or walking, so I am thinking I won't have pain running. I am going to give it a try tomorrow, I will let you know how it goes.

20 MILES

Saturday was the best and longest training run of my program. Now I will be running less and less till the race on Oct 7. It was a beautiful day and the temp was lower than any of the previous runs, my legs and lungs felt great and Kim and I were pumped 4 hours after we started to be finished with it. I can't explain how great it feels to be done with that run. I really did feel like I could make it another 6.2 when we finished Saturday. Now I am concerned with what I am going to do about all this nervous energy that I will have now that the runs will be shorter for the next 3 weeks. I guess I will have time to read and actually have energy to do other stuff.

I hope to curtail my eating as much as the running, so that I won't have a weight gain over the next 3 weeks. As matter of fact I hopw to lose a little more weight before the race. Now that I will not have to fuel for more than 3-8 miles on most days between now and then I think I will have more confindence that I can get those run in and eat a lot less.

I have been thinking a lot about what my athletic goals will be after the marathon and I am not sure that this is the time in my life to train for an Ironman. As much as I still want to accomplish that goal, the time commitment I have had to make to the marathon has caused me to miss out on family things and rush through other stuff. I think I might need to wait till Robyn gets a little older. I may not sign up for the Ironman for next year, but start lifting weights again after the marathon and stay in shape for 5 and 10ks and think about a half ironman sometime next year. With all the things going on in my life it will be very difficult to make the kind of training comittment that an Ironman would take right now. I think I may re-focus my goals to getting my weight to the 200 pounds mark and working towards running a few 5 and 10ks this fall and winter. I am currently planning on running the Grizzly House 5K again this year with my friend's Von and Melissa, it will be their first race ever and I am excited to be there and experiance it with them, and go back to where I ran my first race 3 years ago, but this time over 150 pounds lighter and with a couple of 1/2 marathons and a marathon under my belt.

Better Blogger

I need to be a better blogger, but if I don't have time to run, I really don't have time to blog. I only got in two of my runs for last week, but this is the big week. This is the week that gives you the mental edge to run the marathon. Everyone has told be if I make it through this week the marathon is a done deal as long as I don't get injured. So yesterday was 5 today is 10 and tomorrow is 5 rest on Friday and the big 20 mile training run is Saturday. I have done 18, so I am not sure that 20 will be that much harder, but on the heals of this week and the challenges to my schedule and all the other stuff that has been going on, I think just having the time to prepare for it and lay out the water and feel good about it will be the hardest challenge.

The weather is great and it will be a blessing to out and running in it. I am really excited about the marathon, it is less that a month away. After this week the runs get shorter and shorter till the OCT 7.

It has been BUSY!

I have been running in more ways than one lately. I forget just how hectic the start of school is. I have been busy getting our campus ministry at Arkansas State kicked back up for the fall semester. Last weekend we went white water rafting on the Ocoee River. This weekend I am going to watch ASU play Texas in Austin, and this morning I ran 18 miles. I played Pearl Jam's "Alive" on my way home because I was excited to have run 18 miles and still be alive to talk about it. I was really pumped up about some weight loss last week, but the weekend trip and now this weekend trip has me back to even for the month, and since it is the end of the month I don't have time to lose any, so September will have to be better as far as weight goes, or I will not be able to run Chicago at my all time adult lowest weight ever. I think I can get the 7 pounds off between now and then plus a few.

This week the long run goes back down a little, I think it's only 14 miles and then comes the big 20 miler, after that the program tapers down and lets you rest for the race. Many people have asked me how I feel about not running the whole 26.2 till the day of the race, and honestly I have not thought that much about it. Part of it may be that I used Hal Higdon's plan for the 1/2 marathon and did not go all the way up to race mileage and still made it just fine. At this stage of the game I am very happy to just run the 26.2 once.

I hope to post a couple of pics from the raft trip soon.

Running and Eating

This weekend brought my longest run yet. I ran 16 miles Saturday morning and it went really well. I like getting ready the night before to lay out my water stops and some GU or Power Beans to help with the energy over the long workout. Long runs are going to be a little tougher for the next couple of weeks becasue of our travel schedule, but I can tell the marathon is getting closer. The longest run is only 20 miles on the training program, I guess Hal Higdon figures that if I can run 20 I can run 26.2. The problem with all this training is that I am not really losing any weight. I feel like I need to eat a lot the day before I run for energy and then I am HUNGERY all day after the long run and I eat a lot. I don't think I am getting the benefit of weight loss from running like I should. I will continue to try and balance this out, but in the meantime I am getting really excited about Chicago and being able to say I finished a marathon.

I am a little tired

It was a pretty tough weekend. We traveled to Chattanooga to take care of a little family business, and while there our training called for a 15 mile run. Kim and I had also signed up for a triathlon in Chattanooga for Sunday. That was a crazy idea. We decided to run early Saturday morning, it was hot but not too bad and the run went really well. Later that day Kiley and I went swimming and we all walked around downtown for a while and picked up our race packets for the race the next day.
Sunday, Kim and I wake up at 3:30 in the morning our time and head to the transition areas (yes this race had two, and they did not organize either very well) to get out stuff set up. The race started at 7:00 and I did not feel a lot of fatigue from the previous days run, at least mot as much as I thought I would. What relly was bad about this race is that when it was over we were 8 miles away from our car, and I had to bike it and pick up the car and come back and get Kim and all our stuff. Then I got to sit in a car and drive home for 7 hours. I am feeling it this morning, my legs ache and I did not want to get out of bed. But the main thing is we made it and I have now done 4 triathlons and Kim has her first one under her belt and we are still on our trianing track for the Chicago Marathon.

Tough Long Run

Well I ran 10 miles this morning. Hal Higdon gave me an "easy" week this week. 13 miles last week and 15 coming up next weekend. I never thought I would say 10 was an easy week. Whatever the case I ran early this morning and it was hot and humid and I was attacked by horse-flies the entire 10 miles. It went slow and my legs felt heavy but I covered the distance and that is what matters the most. I feel good about it, my eating has gone real well this week and I am glad to have the long run out of the way and hope to get in some swimming tomrrow and a sprint triathlon next weekend while we are in Chattanooga visiting Kim's parents. I have not biked or swam much since the last triathlon, but this one is shorter and I think it will be good change of pace, but I have to get in 12 miles before or after the tri on Sunday.

We are going out tonight to celebrate our 9th year of marriage, I think we are going to Ruth's Chris, I am hoping to eat healthy, but it will be the first time I have not gone there and gotten a steak and potato augratin and lots of bread and ... well anyway I am going to try and just get a piece of fish or chicken and a dry potato. I will let you know how it goes. I have got to get serious about this weight loss thing all week long, and stop taking the weekends off. I am able to maintain, but not lose with this pattern, so back to constent focus on the food, I can't run or swim or bike enough to eat the way I used to and not gain weight.

Running Down A Dream

I have to say that one of the songs that ring in my head each time I go out for a long run or bike, or even have to face a challenge when it comes to food is the Tom Pettey song "Running Down A Dream" I love the line, "Running down a dream that never would come to me." I take that personally, my weight loss never would just come to me as much as I wanted it to for so many years, my health would never just come to me, as much as I sat around and thought of myself as fit, the numbers at the Dr were alway different. Good health is really one of those thing you have to "run down" or bike down, or swim down, or walk down, or aerobics down, or boot camp down. Whatever it is for you, you know what you like. I get kind of mad when I hear that song now, not an angery mad, but a "I will show you!" Kind of mad, I will run down the dream of health, of triathlon, and now of the magic 200 pound mark. That song went through my head Saturday night as Kim and I ran our 13 miles in preperation for Chicago, it was the most humid night I can remeber running in, in a while, by the time I was finished the sweat had run down my legs into both shoes and socks so much it felt like I had been running through puddles. I was tired, somene stole our first water stop, and we had a lot of reasons to just say, "let's skip this week" "let's put it off for a while" but we were running down our dreams, and at the end of that workout Saturday night, I felt better than I had all week.

Picture

Here it is the one picture I have as proof that I did the BMW Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon. Trust me when I tell you if I had a more flattering picture I would have used it, but the pictures Kim took of me at the transition and on my bike got shipped off to Apple when her IPhone messed up and the they just sent her a new one with no pictures. I have never been to an event where they did not at lest get one picture of you crossing the finish line, I know I smiled for at least 3 cameras on the course, but nope, this is the only one they offered for me to buy.

On another note, Kim and I ran our long run of 12 miles on Saturday night this weekend and it went really well. I had a ton left at the finish and am looking forward to a good week of workouts and of eating well. I have really stuggled with eating well since the triathlon for some reason. I think some of it has been the travel, and some of it has been that I have not been feeling real well and food seems to settle my stomach, but I am sure I am eating too much of it and the wrong types. I got my latest issue of Inside Triathlon and it is the nutrition issue. I am pumped up to finally break the weight barrier I have been at and get as close if not to 200 pounds by the Marathon. I am a little competetive and now realize I will probably nver be able to compete with these little 160 pound guys that go up hill beside me on the bike like I am standing still. But I think I could be very competiitve, especially if I get my swim time down in the clydesdale division (200 pounds and up) So that is my new weight goal 200 pounds. Now being fit and getting in shape and all of that is still how I will judge my success, but there is nothing wrong with having a number to shoot for.