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0.00 Miles
80 degrees
12:45pm
I'm sitting here performing my hall supervision duties (a.k.a. - "other duties assigned") and I just keep replaying in my head why I started running. Obviously, everyone's impetus and motivation behind running varies, but here's mine:
About 2 years ago, my breathing became really labored. After self-diagnosing, I decided to finally go to my doctor. Long story short....he thought it was probably a mild form of anxiety attacks. Exercise and cutting down on caffeine intake was the prescription. That, and a mild sedative. Not crazy about my doctor. Basically, I get a prescription every time I leave his office. I'm not a big believer in that. Tried to limit the caffeine, but there's a Starbucks both near my house and across the street from school (shocking, huh?). That's reason #1. My health.
The other is my iPod. I got it as a gift and, the only good use I had found was listening to it in the car and while I mow the lawn. I figured since I need exercise and I have a $200 musical paperweight, I'd hit the road.
I mentioned this to my sister and she mentioned the Couch to 5K plan last June. Tried it, hated it, but I stuck with it. It wasn't until about week 8 where I had my "A-ha! Moment" where it all came together. You know where you run and you get into the meditative state where the miles just don't seem to matter? That was me. Thinking about life, school, etc. and just forgot about how many more yards I had to go. I just kept running and blew by my personal finish line. That's when I got hooked.
I stray from time to time and other parts of my life take precedent, but running is still a constant as much as possible. It keeps me centered, it keeps me focused, and it pushes both my mental and physical capacities.
Plus, I get a t-shirt for every race that I run.
So that's it. That's why I lace em up every other morning and head out.
3.55 miles
29:57
56 degrees
Great weather out this morning! Crisp and cool. It's these type of days that I get a good run in. Let's see how we do:
-Get a quick prayer in there thanking Him for all of the cool things that He has given me and allows me to do.
-Prayed for my daughter to feel better. Nothing major, but I think it's time we get rid of Nigh-Nigh. She chews on it and I think it's making her sick. It has also given her a rash. We need to bribe her and just take it away from her.
-Man, NO ONE is out on the roads this morning. Kind of nice.
-Alright, we'll go 3.55 today. It would really bug me if I just got in a 5K. It's all mental, right?
-Crap! Sprinklers. Do we REALLY need to water the grass on the side of the road when we've gotten 4+ inches of rain in the last 2 weeks? Not only is it a waste, but I'm NOT in the mood to get sprinkled. I haven't warmed up yet.
-Setting up the day for today. It's going to be busy. Equipment isn't working, kids are missing powerpoints, and I've got a ton of emails to get through.
-Whoa....where did that guy come from? This trail/street really needs some lighting. God forbid our Beloved City should have some foresight and realize that we're going to need to widen this road. Ugh.
-It's obvious that I'm hooked on running, but am I a runner? I don't do tempo runs. I run the same pace for almost every run. Maybe, I'll have a kick at the end. So how far do I take it? I think I'll just gradually build my miles and not worry about the other stuff.
-3.55 miles seems to be the right distance for me during the week.
-If I'm getting up before 4:30am, it's too damn early for anything. 4:30 is my shelf.
-The great debate of half marathon and full marathon looms. I've got until about December to decide. I will do one or the other!
-Under 30 minutes???!!!!! Sweet! What a motivator going into this busy day. Hope the kids haven't woken up early.
-Can't wait for the Saturday run. 4.25 or more?
0.0 miles
Ugh. It's been a week now and I haven't run. Why? Well, it's good news, but with a nasty side effect. Our newborn is sleeping through the night, which is great. The problem is is that he conks out around 8pm and gets up around 3:30am. I am NOT getting up to run then and, with my lovely bride going back to work now, our schedule is pretty tight. I've put it off, but it looks as though I may have to steel myself to jump on the dreaded treadmill tonight. Yes, I'll be running like a little hamster for about 45 minutes in the Fitness Center with the other "student" athletes. Yeah. Maybe when the temps dip below 95 degrees, I can run in the school's neighborhood and get my miles in there. Wish me luck.
0.00 miles
75 degrees
Too damn early
I really hate it when I don't get my sorry butt out of bed to run. I told myself that I'll run tomorrow. The problem with that is is that we're supposed to have storms off and on for the next few days. I'm not big on dodging lightning bolts.
I suppose I had a good reason to not run this morning....Chunk (our newborn) slept through the night for the first time last night! Of course, we thought something was wrong, so we checked his vitals around 4am. My alarm was set for 4:45a and, if he had woken up while I was on my run, our finely tuned system may have gotten out of whack. I'm sure in the next month or so, we'll get into a groove and I can start running more regularly. Maybe I'll squeeze in a run after school tomorrow.
So being in this blogosphere is really unique....cathartic, but unique. I now see the value of comments on a new blog. Kind of motivating, actually. I'm on a quest now to find some cool blogs to read. If anyone knows of any, please post. Humor, running, news....or anything else. Tis all for now.
3.55 miles
5:30am
72 degrees
31:19
Pried myself out of bed to go running. When I'm in that "should I or shouldn't I?" mode, I just say to myself, "dedication". Usually, that gets my sorry butt out of bed. I shouldn't complain too much. Charlie slept a full 6 hours last night. Woo hoo! I hope it's a trend.
Good run. My time was a little slower than normal. I'm just happy to be out there running. I listened to the latest installment of Phedippidations and being grateful is what I got out of it. I had a lot to think about during this run, so it went by pretty short. Let's get to it:
-5K or 10K in 2 weeks? After seeing that Maddog ran a HM, I'm pretty motivated to run the 10K, but Greg's 40th is the night before. Which leads me to my next string of thoughts....
-What the hell is Greg's video going to look like? I was going to do the Law and Order thing, but that was REALLY lame. I settled on a Sportscenter/College Football theme. I'll have a Full Screen with Greg's stats and some quips about him. Need to write a script and get going on that.
Those 2 things dominated the run. I'm sure I'll have more to chew on on Wednesday. 4 miles and I'm shooting for 14 total this week.
3.1 miles
70 degrees
7am
Almost didn't go today. I sat there and read the sports page, sipped on my first cup of coffee and then felt guilty for not getting a run in. Could've done 3.5 or even 4, but we were on a tight schedule yesterday. Our oldest had a birthday party to go to and we had to be strategic with everyone getting ready.
Good first week. I think I've got some good sophomores. Very energetic. My juniors could go either way and I'm excited about the seniors. I expect big things this year from all of them and from me.
I'm really realizing the importance and, most importantly, the fun of playing with my kids. I really don't play with child #2, but holding him is something I enjoy. Playing with our oldest is a lot of fun. What an imagination! I hope that I can balance fatherhood, being a husband, a business owner, a teacher, a friend, and a son/brother.
So I get this email from a buddy of mine this week. He tells me that he just finished a HM in Chicago. What the hell????? This guy is one of my closest friends, but he's also a self-proclaimed redneck. Drinks a lot, eats lots of fried food, and now, apparently, finishes the Chicago HM in 2:29:00. Here's my question: what is stopping me? Do I blame the "injuries"? I really think that there must be some sort of mental block that I need to get past. That, and I need to run smarter. Where's the fine line between running smart and pushing yourself? I have a big decision to make by the end of the year. Train for a marathon or train for an HM. I've been toying around with a 5K or 10K in 3 weeks. Screw it...I'm going for the 10K.
3.55 miles...5:30am....75 degrees and muggy.
Pretty good run. I thought I ran a little faster today, but it turned out to only be about :03 better. The route is uphill half the way, so I take that into account. I don't think I'll be doing the 10K for Make-A-Wish. That might be pushing it and we know what happens when I overextend. ITBS anyone?
Big day today. The kids are back! Started out my run with a prayer for the upcoming year and then proceeded to think about what I'm going to say to the kiddies. I thought a lot about expectations, both for them and for me. I really hope this year goes well. Seniors? No problem. Juniors may be another story.
Quite a few runners on the dark trail today. One guy even commented about me wearing a shirt. "Must be hot with that shirt on." Clever. Usually, I know my limitations and going shirtless is usually limtation 1 or 1b (the other being facial hair).
3.55 Miles
New pair of shoes. Feet kinda got sore at the end of the run, but for that kind of money, I'll adjust. Had a kick at the end and I don't think that going up to 4 miles will be difficult.
With my new pair of shoes, comes my new outlook on a lot of things. 1st day of school is tomorrow so I have a lot to think about.
- How/when am I going to get my oil changed?
- What kind of canned intro will I give my kids on the first day?
- I need to find a new doctor
The doctor thing stuck in my mind a lot during the run. I prepared myself for all of the questions that he would ask me. From there, I came to realize how many hats I wear in a given day: husband, father, teacher, son, brother, friend, president, coach, etc. Sheesh....just don't think about it and I'll be fine.
Saw some runners on the trail. Kind of weird cuz I'm on a new trail and there are a lot more people on it....even at 6am. Kinda nice to see someone else punishing themself. Ha ha.
Well, as you can see, there's really no rhyme or reason to this. Hope this blog develops. Let's see what we can do. Maybe a podcast?
