Motivated to Succeed

Round 2, Day #5: 7 miles in 60:23 as I read the first 120 pages from Frozen Ed Furtaw's "Tales from Out There" about the Barkeley Marathons. For a moment I nearly got lost on the treadmill! Spent the afternoon recovering and planning with Emm for our summer trip to Oregon. Excited at the thought of it! Can't wait to buy the plane tickets, then we will know it's official. Mind the Ducks Registration opened today. Got to get that in the mail soon after the next pay period. Legs feel good. New goal is 180# by June 1st. I know I can do this. How close can I get? Who's in for motivating this fatty to get moving and stop eating?!

Sweat bullets and knives,
Make the weak-"soled" cry; Breathe in
these accomplishments.

Round 2, Day #6: 7 miles in 58:13. Get your sweat on! Felt pretty good. Ran fast to get Emm from work, but found out I don't have to pick her up. Wondering how long I can keep this streak up this time. Will be tough with the work crunch, but I have to do this. Goal is 180# for June 1st. Not sure I can do it, but going to give it a fighting chance! If you see this fatty slacking, shoot me a message and make me run!

Mo' Tip toe Tip toe 
Skip to my lou you ninny!
Hard workout.... Easy race!

Round 2, Day #7: 7 sweaty Dunder Mifflin miles in my Michael Scott memorial tshirt. Very sweaty. Drank 4 pints of water afterwards almost immediately. Going to recover with an episode or two of "The Office" and then some school work. That's what she said!! (60:38)

Frozen Ed Furtaw,
Knows the Barkeley all too well,
I wanna run it! (not!)

Round 2, Day #8: 1.15 miles to keep it alive. Long run tomorrow. Yeah buddy!

Pam Beesly: There is a master key and a spare key for the office. Dwight has them both. When I asked, "what if you die, Dwight? How will we get into the office?" He said, "if I'm dead, you guys have been dead for weeks."

Permanence is false,
Religion keeps us in check,
Until broken rules.

Round 2, Day #9: 7 miles in 59:10

In the end the greatest snowball isn't a snowball at all.... it's fear. - Dwight K. Schrute

Jump once to surprise

Jump twice to be annoying.

I love the Office!

Round 2, Day #10: 7 miles including 2.3 miles of snowshoeing with Emma and then 4.7 miles with just me. One miles tempo thrown in there in 6:24. Felt pretty darn good! Getting back in shape and working towards goals feels so good!

“I would run to Mexico if that’s where the sandwiches are.” - Stanley Hudson

Legs of steel are mine.
Find your own damn machine legs!
Aiight. Just have them back by Tuesday!

Round 2, Day #15: 1 miles in 8:28 to end my day and week. Exhausted and headed to bed. Hoping to get a couple more than my usual 6 or 7 tomorrow. Will probably break it into two runs since I am going to see "The Hobbit" with some of my 6th and 7th graders that read the book for school.

Thunder thighs suffer
But grow stronger and tighter.
Nature's own butt lift!

Round 2, Day #16:  7 miles in 58:19 steady as she goes. Everything feels good and I think it is getting easier to run. Wish it could be my full time job! Shower and then off to the movies at 1:00 to see "The Hobbit".

Fly on the wall... Shoo!
Stubbed my toe but what the hell.
Runners don't quit mate!

Round 2, Day #17: 7 miles in 58:49 (8:24/mile). Easy relaxed run on the treadmill as a study break. Then going food shopping and more school work. Rereading Pam Reed's book for about the tenth time. Got up to page 200. 

"Well, I am actually deathly afraid of frogs. I’ve come across bears and moose, but I’d be really scared if I saw a frog."

Working on cadence,
180. Getting easy.
Now... the dreaded scale!

Evening run: Uphill Challenge: 15% incline, 15 minutes. How far can you go? 1.09 miles apparently for me. Got to start somewhere. Want to do this every other week and hopefully hit 1.25 miles by the end of the winter. 

Round 2, Day #18: 6.25 steady as she goes miles in 48:57 (7:50/mile). There was a lot of food for thought today. One of the funny quotes from a 6th grader today was, "Mr. Griffin, I'm sorry for the loss of your beard. It was a good beard. I'll say a prayer for you." (Red Vibrams EHD2)

Read an article in ultrarunning magazine about Fran Albaugh who is 90 (yes, 90 years as in born in 1923!) who just finished the Presque Isle 12 Hour Endurance Run. He racked up 30 miles in the rain and wind when everyone else called it quits 2/3 of the way through! I want to be like him!

Think about your beard,
DO DO DO DO I want to
remember that beard!

Round 2, Day #19: 4 miles only in 31:42 (7:56 pace). Been dealing with a health issue that has interfered with running, but got up the gusto and gumption to plop on the treadmill and try to run. Was happy that I was able to get in at least 4 while Emm did the elliptical and we rocked out. Hoping we get some decent snow tomorrow because I need to go snowshoeing on Saturday with mommo, Emmy, Jonny and Harry! Glad tomorrow is Wednesday. Getting through the madness! (Blue Vibrams EHD3)

If fat were skinny,
Wouldn't I be beautiful!
Reality sucks! (teehee)

"I came up with a new thing this summer. I act like I'm telling someone how to do something. I go on with a long description. And then I say, "And shove it up your butt!" It's stupid, but it's my thing now." - Stanley Hudson

Round 2, Day #20: 6 miles only; warm up in 9:10 and then 5 miles steady (41:33) including 3 x 3 minute hill surges at 8:20 pace and 4%, 5%, and 6% grades respectively. Cooled down and stretched. Didn't think I would get a run in as I fell asleep on the couch. Just crashed. Was so exhausted after school. Not feeling all that great. But rallied after a 20 minute nap and got the run in. That's dedication! Total for the run was 6 miles in 50:43; 8:27/mile (Blue Vibrams EHD4)

Reluctant muscles,
Bound up the hills, toward greatness.
You only live once.

Round 2, Day #21: 1.5 miles only in 12:00. Came home and passed out after school. I swear I am working harder than the students. Took a 25 minute cat nap and then rallied to run on the treadmill. 

Zen runs are supreme,
Shake cobwebs nestled 'tween ears,
Tomorrow's ours mates!

"A runner's high is a special experience that most runners don't have all the time (an important point) but do get at irregular, unpredictable intervals. So don't begin running because you expect every workout to be like some other kind of "high" you might have experienced. The true, but rare runner's high is a zone that we enter when everything seems to click perfectly, when time stands still, and when we can run almost without effort." - Amby Burfoot

Round 2, Day #22: 7 miles in 58:04 (8:17 pace). Finished Amby Burfoot's, "The Runner's Guide to the Meaning of Life". I've always admired Amby since I first started reading RW's in 2003 and think he's a true stand up guy. (Vibram Blue EHD6)

Jiggle wogglers
Shake it all about, for you
Know it all hangs out!!

"The longest journey begins with a single step.... Run and rest, run and rest. It is the perfect exercise program because it is coded in our genes. It is what our forefathers did millions of years ago." - Amby Burfoot p.112

Round 2, Day #24: (Run 1) 12 miles in 1:39:36 (8:18/ mile). Felt relaxed and confident today, even though I had a rough night of ear pain. Am on some meds and resting now so hopefully I will be on the mend. Did the first 5 in 42:21 (8:28/mi), the next 5 in 41:22 (8:16/mi), and the final 2 miles in 15:53 (7:57/mi). Am going to try to get an uphill challenge or a couple easy miles in tonight before bed.

Towards the setting sun
We run. Triumphing over
Our innermost fears.

"To keep from decaying, to be a winner, the athlete must accept pain--not only accept it, but look for it, live with it, learn not to fear it." - George Sheehan

Round 2, Day #24: 4 miles only (33:16; good for 8:19/mile) in the saga I like to call "Tales of the Sicko". I feel very lucky to have had so many people helping me this weekend between Aunt Deb, my mom, Harry, and Emma. I would not have survived without them. As my mom said, "Benn is a bad patient." I don't like non-running pain. It's funny how I can run a marathon and hurt like hell, but a tiny little ear infection and the wheels feel off. Woke up in pain and could feel the throbbing in my ears. I am on an anti-yeast med for my ear because we think I have a yeast infection. As Emm said, my ear smelled like "raw pizza dough". Maybe I can start a mobile bakery? Continued the alcohol/vinegar wash, popped lots of pain killers, and finally got some antibiotics tonight. To add insult to injury, my rear brake light was out again (we suspect a leak which is getting water in there) and while I tried to take the bulb out, I blew the fuse. Thankfully Harry and Mom helped me fix that and then I picked up new lights and window blades. Oddly enough the only time I was not in searing pain was when I was jogging. I just tried to tilt my head and relax and I did feel some of the crackling open up my ear. Just going to suffer through tomorrow and hope that it is better the longer out I go. What I learned: Thou shalt not stick Q-Tips into thine ears!

A Q-Tip surprise,

fresh baked ear yeast up for grabs.

Take the meds.... good boy!

"The pain is getting intense.... that is expected. Pain is the body's way of ridding itself of weakness. If it feels good, you're doing something wrong. It's supposed to hurt like hell." - Dean Karnazes

Round 2, Day #28: 3.10 miles only in 23:18, good for 7:30/ mile!! ; tempo run. Fell asleep on the couch after an exhausting day and week. Feeling better each day from the ear infection, but Friday's are my day to just let go and relax. After a wonderful dinner of spaghetti and low fat baked eggplant, I fell asleep watching an episode of "Reno 911". Got up at 8:30 and then changed and hit the ground running. Was a surreal experience and for most of the run I was in a runner's high. I don't get this often, just two or three times a year, so it was a surreal experience. It felt so easy and smooth, and I felt like I could run forever!

Invisible strength,
that ties these sinewy legs
to untrodden paths.

"Running teaches you that there's a difference between working hard and feeling bad. Consumer culture tries to teach us otherwise. How many television commercials talk about "making life easier"? If everything you knew about life came from TV, your goal would be to live the easiest, most comfortable and unchallenging life you possibly could. You would believe that the only good feelings are sensual pleasures such as the taste of a good soft drink and the fun of driving an expensive car and lying on the beach.

But it's just not true. Challenging and testing your mind and body, even to the point of exhaustion, failure, and breakdown, can feel as wonderful as anything else life has to offer. I suppose the enjoyment of hard work is more of an acquired taste than the taste for pleasure and fun, but once you've acquired it, you're blessed with more ways to feel good, and life is better. Harder and better." - Dean Karnazes

Round 2, Day #33: (AM) 4 miles easy in 35:30, good for 8:53/mile. Felt good and relaxed. Got my sweat on. Weighed in and was 216#. Making a difference and moving towards the end of the scale I want to be at. Finished my midterm exam (28pp). I just hope that the kiddos don't make voodoo dolls. 

Sweat infused glory,
Dictates today will be mine.
Full force. Full fury.

"Everyone is an athlete. The only difference is that some of us are in training and some are not." Dr. George Sheehan

“Make friends with pain, and you will never be alone."~Ken Chlouber, Colorado miner and creator of the Leadville Trail 100 mile race