Motivated to Succeed

3:15 PM - Sunny, temps in the low 50s. A really great day! Went out to lunch with my mom and Emma today before Emma had to drive home to Massachusetts and go to work. Then I came home and got changed and went to the track. I had an unpleasant surprise today. First time it's ever happened too. My GARMIN decided not to work. It won't even turn on and won't do anything when I plug it into the computer. It's just dead. :( I wrote them a message on their website, but I'm not expecting much, as I have no proof that I've only had this item for less than a year. Bummer :(. Run however was PHENOMENAL.. On a side note, I signed up for the Turkety Trot 10k on Thanksgiving. Going to run it, but not race. I want to at leat run 1 race this year. Havent' raced since January 1, 2008 @ the Hangover Half. I need at least a taste of what racing is like again. Plus I want to run the 5k beforehand bandit since Emma, Su, and Jonny are all running that race.

• Second set of 3 miles on the track: 22:08! (7:22/ mile!!) FLYING!!
• 1 Mile cool down afterwards and stretching.

Total Time: 55:42 Total Distance: 7 mi Average Pace: 7:57

3:00 PM - Voted this morning @ 7:30 with my mom. We couldn't wait so had to go to the polls and vote Obama! :D. Then had to go to Albany for a meeting with my advisor planning out the rest of my Master's degree! And to also work on a project. Got fired up today because on the way to the track to go for a run this afternoon, I was listening to NPR and they were telling me how McCain could steal the election by taking all the swing states and then Obama and he would each have 269 electoral votes. You need 270 to win, so it would go to the HoR who of course would choose McCain since they are in Bush's pocket. Curses! Temps were pleasant in the lower 60s, and it was mostly sunny. Went to the track. Splits were fast (even faster than the times I got because part was in the woods and I lost the signal) but the surprising part was that I wasn't even that tired! Man today was awesome! Just like yesterday! Will take it easy the rest of the week:

• Mile 1: 8:09
• Mile 2: 7:48
• Mile 3: 7:02
• Mile 4: 7:26
• Mile 5: 8:01

Total Time: 38:31 Total Distance: 5.01 mi Average Pace: 7:41!

7:15 AM - Cloudy, Temperature was around 40 degrees. Went to the track this morning intent on doing a recovery run after the last couple days of super miles :). A little soreness in the quads I think from lactic acid from doing some of those hard miles, but that was the only soreness. Stretched and got going. Felt nice. Got into the "zone" and was cruising along and before I knew it my 45:00 time goal came. Splits were nice.

• Mile 1: 8:46
• Mile 2: 8:35
• Mile 3: 8:26
• Mile 4: 8:21
• Mile 5: 8:03
• last .5: 3:55 (7:48/mi)

Total Time: 46:08 Total Distance: 5.5 mi Average Pace: 8:23

7:15 AM - Temperature today was in the low 50s or upper 40s. Really warm considering last week's bitter cold temperatures. Laced up and hit the track. Good thing was a lot of the soreness from the last couple days was gone in my quads when I did my warm up. It was a very nice run with the exception of one particularly unusual experience. I noticed about halfway through the run that there was one section of the track where every time I ran through it it smelled and felt like I was entering a nasty smelly gym. Almost that smell where you open a door to a steam room or sauna or even a jacuzzi room and it is just warm, moist, and rank! Eek! That was the only bad part of the run. Really weird too because I'd pop out of that spot and it'd be "cold" again and no smell! And I looked all around and there are no drains or anything and definitely no buildings. Just plain weird! Anywho, splits were great yet again:

• Mile 1: 8:51
• Mile 2: 8:41
• Mile 3: 8:26
• Mile 4: 8:09
• Mile 5: 7:50
• .42: 3:24 (8:07)

Total Time: 45:23 Total Distance: 5.42 mi Average Pace: 8:22

1:45 PM - Finished one of my seven page critical response essays and decided to reward myself with a jog. Ended up doing 2.18 miles in 17:06. Miles were: 8:13 & 7:35.

Total Time: 17:06 Total Distance: 2.18 mi Average Pace: 7:50

5:40 PM - Damp, dark and dangerous! Temp was 58 degrees at the start. Downright balmy! At the track because it was dark at 4:45 here today :(. But, best part .. I was armed with NEW SNEAKERS! My mom called me at work today and let me know they arrived! I am going to be one hot tomale! Raawr! Felt good. A little tired from being on my feet all day at work though. Blah. Wanted to just do a short run to test them out. Tomorrow will be a day off and hopefully a 7 or 8 miler on Sunday! :-D Celebrate good times, come on! Let's have ourselves a great time!

• Mile 1: 9:12
• Mile 2: 8:29
• Mile 3: 8:26
• .31: 2:31 (8:14)

Total Time: 28:40 Total Distance: 3.31 mi Average Pace: 8:40

Proof that persistence and principle pays off: I paid to have the shoes sent in the 3-5 day mail from eastbay.com because it only ended up being 13 bucks instead of 11 bucks and 7-10 days. Well on the website it says 3-5 calendar days, not business days and it took 7 calendar days for me to get them. I sent eastbay a message, and they refunded all of the shipping costs to me! So what does this mean? I only had to pay 98 bucks for TWO PAIRS of Asics 2120s, brand new! It would have been 196 bucks PLUS tax if I had bought them in the store NEW!! What a deal!

Doh! My long entry got erased! No running today, but even better news. As many of you know, we lost our St. Bernard this summer and everyone has been down in the dumps ever since. Not just us, but our dog, Libbi (a Great Pyrenees Mt. Dog) too! But we won't be sad any more! We all have a new addition to the family!:

Aggie right after she got home today. Her daddy was a show dog and a beast at 206 lbs. She is 14 wks old and already 25 pounds so I have a feeling she will be a big one too!

My Dad, Aggie, and Harry (my youngest brother who is 14) in our turn around spot in our driveway.

When she first got home, she was scared of Libbi, and Libbi was scared of her so Aggie went scurrying under the car and my mom had to put it in neutral and move the car to eventually get her out of there. She's since calmed down and wolfed down 2 full bowls of dogfood already! :)

Harry, "Aggie", Me, "Libbi" - who would not pose for the camera!

12:00 PM - Overcast, cloudy, temps in the mid 40s and winds of 10-15 mph. A little chilly. What a great run though! Had had a scripture reading in church this morning I think from Matthew 25 about a parable of 10 bridesmaids - moral of the story is that we have to be ready not just put up a facade. i.e. the minister mentioned the infamous "Jesus is coming! Look busy!" bumper sticker. I thought a lot about the sermon today as I was running. It was a very uplifting experience.

Bad part of the run today were the stupid dogs. No less than six dogs made lunges at me today. Too bad since we aren't in the village there are no leash laws! I really thought they were going to take a chomp out of my legs! Anywho, my legs felt amazing, maybe because I took yesterday off? Splits were insane!

• Mile 1: 8:07
• Mile 2: 8:01
• Mile 3: 7:58
• Mile 4: 7:51
• Mile 5: 7:46
• Mile 6: 7:34
• Mile 7: 7:16
• Mile 8: 7:58

Total Time: 1:04:10 Total Distance: 8.25 mi Average Pace: 7:46

8:00 AM - Blustery cold. Windy and temperature of about 36 degrees. Wore hat and gloves today! Brr! Had a nice run though. Weird experience at the track doing my warmup before going out on the backroads. Pine trees are losing their needles and I was forced to run through a tornado of pineneedles. Just put my head down and trudged through it though. I was still being pelted all the way at the other end of the track too! BUT no doggies came after me today. Their owners must have had them all locked up for the day. Serves those buggers right! :-P

• Mile 1: 8:28
• Mile 2: 8:53
• Mile 3: 8:17
• Mile 4: 8:26
• Mile 5: 8:22
• Mile 6: 8:03
• .5: 3:46 (7:32)

Totatl Time: 54:18 Total Distance: 6.5 mi Average Pace: 8:21

8:20 AM - Overcast, not as windy as yesterday, but temperature was only 35. Nice sight today were the snowflakes that greeted me during the first couple miles of running. Had a really strong run today :)! Got to thinking a lot on my run about what today means. More than that most people have today off, or how unlucky I felt because I still have class tonight. I thought about the men and women that have served our country, both of my grandfathers, who have since passed away. I got to thinking about some of the guys I graduated with and how they are currently overseas fighting. It just made me feel lucky to be where I am today and that I haven't had to go down that path. (My dad was a conscientious objector in Vietnam and I know that if ever there was a draft again I would be the first one to send in my letter oh so conscientiously objecting to such a war ;p). Splits were:

• Mile 1: 8:23
• Mile 2: 8:16
• Mile 3: 8:30
• Mile 4: 7:57
• Mile 5: 8:35
• Mile 6: 7:42

Total Time: 50:57 Total Distance: 6.2 mi Average Pace: 8:12

8:00 AM -  Cloudy and temperature of 33 when I started. Wore hat but no gloves. Didn't have a very pleasant morning because I guess one of the pumps for the septic system stopped working so our basement bathroom started overflowing. Oii. Needed to go for a run though. Ended up running a warmup at the track and going out on the backroads. Felt good. Feeling stronger as the days go on. I think I am well on my way to getting back on track!

• Mile 1: 8:21
• Mile 2: 8:09
• Mile 3: 8:08
• Mile 4: 8:12
• Mile 5: 8:07
• Mile 6: 7:46

Total Time: 50:19 Total Distance: 6.2 mi Average Pace: 8:06

8:00 AM - Cloudy, sprinkles, temps around 35 or 36. Went to the track and did a warm up and then a short jaunt on the backroads. Felt pretty good. Got a decent amount of sleep last night. I work early on Friday and Saturday so maybe just a 3 mile run tomorrow and then Saturday off.

• Mile 1: 8:35
• Mile 2: 8:18
• Mile 3: 8:32
• Mile 4: 8:23
• Mile 5: 8:11
• Mile 6: 8:30

Total Time: 52:06 Total Distance: 6.2 mi Average Pace: 8:24

Downer: At work on Friday and Saturday not just my right achilles, but BOTH started to hurt to the point where it hurt to be on my feet and I nearly fell. Had to take the elevator - humbling experience. Have tried to stay off my feet since, and called into work on Sunday night. Hopefully things will improve. I have an appointment with another specialist on Thursday morning and hopefully we can figure out what is up. This just really sucks. Not to mention I feel like a heifer because I am not running so I'm gaining weight.

Did a bunch of arm exercises with 12 lb free weights today ~ 20 mins worth

200 crunches, 100 situps, and 50 pushups (2 x 25 sets).

I need the downtime to finish up the rest of the assignments for this semester. Almost halfway done with my master's degree! I am so sick of school. Yuck!

Had my doctor's appointment today though I don't know if it was much of a "doctor's" appointment.. he never came in once for the hour and a half I was there. Guess he was busy. I explained the circumstances and then how the pain came on last weekend at work and I had the physician's assistant look at my achilles. We ended up getting 2 xrays of my right achilles because that was the one that has been the trouble in the past. They showed slight inflammation at the base of the achilles where it connects/goes into the heel bone (forgive me if I don't remember the medical terminology). She suggested that I make an appointment to get new orthotics. The ones I have, though professionally designed, are 5 years old and she suggested another set of custom made ones since perhaps the ones I have now have been compressed over time. She pointed out as I expected how I am the atypical runner as I have the biomechanics of a couch potato. But I assured her I am indeed a distance runner at least at heart and want to do what it takes to get better. I have a followup appointment on December 3rd. She suggested I do pool stuff and stationary bike riding, but as someone moved my bike WHILE it was attached to my wind trainer my bike is officially BROKEN. Grrr. Even better is the fact that my insurance doesn't cover orthotics so that'll be another $300 or so. Should never have spent the money on the wind trainer. I think I want to move somewhere where the weather is nicer. Let's hope at work this weekend my achilles tendons cooperate.

Did arm exercises for 20 minutes, as well as crunches and pushups.

3:00 PM - After an hour and a half tinkering with the messed up bike, decided to just hook up my road bike to the wind trainer. Now I am keeping it in my bedroom so that I can keep an eye on things, rather than keeping it out in the garage. Road for 65 minutes. It felt good to get a ride in again after nearly a month off of the bike.

Total Time: 1:05:00 Total Distance: 20 miles Average Speed: 18.5 mph

5:00 PM - The achilles tendons did not hurt as much at work today as the previous week, but man I was glad to be off my feet at the end of the shortened shift. I really don't know what's up, but I'm hoping those orthotics when I get them will help get things sorted out. Got home and hopped on my bike on the wind trainer and rode 1 hour hard. Definitely got a good sweat in. Had just had dinner before the ride so that might have affected me. Felt strong. Especially since I had a comment from Dean Karnazes running through my head all day.

Total Time: 1:00:00 Total Distance: 20 mi Average Speed: 20 mph

This hit home, especially today, which was 11 months to the day since my injury. Excerpt taken from page 212 of 50:50:

"It has always been my nature to deal with setbacks internally and resist urges to complain about my suffering to others. A recent study suggests this habit is healthier than I'd realized. Researchers from the University of Missouri found that injured male soldiers who scored higher on a test designed to assess "traditionally masculine" psychological traits (including unwillingness to complain about internal pain and suffering) tended to heal faster. The authors of the study speculated that men who are more reticent to communicate their suffering to others may also have a stronger belief in their ability to overcome suffering on their own, and that this belief is to some degree self-fulfilling. The takeaway? Try not to wallow in your misery. Instead, channel the discouragement you may feel into a renewed commitment to overcome your setback. Fight harder and you will heal faster." - Dean Karnazes

*I think it is the last line that got me pumped for my workout on the bike. I can and will do this!!

7:40 PM - 20 mins of free weights on my arms (nothing surprising seeing as I only have 12 lb dumbbells haha); 200 crunches and 25 pushups.

4:00 PM - Got home from work and after a snack hopped on the wind trainer. Felt strong and relaxed and enjoyed listening to Car Talk podcast. Don't know how I missed pod casts before! They're a wonderful thing! Now time to do a bunch of homework. I hate the ends of semesters! Doh!

Total Time: 1:00:00 Total Distance: 20 mi Average Speed: 20 mph

A quote that I found that I like in considering the things life throws at us:

"Life's up and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals. Think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want." - Marsha Sinetar

11:00 AM - All kinds of good news today. 1) No pains thus far in my achilles today - I am going to try and stay off my feet until work tonight to help, 2) Weight : 174, -6 lbs from earlier last week. 8 pounds from goal, 3) Today is 2 years to the day since I gave up soda cold turkey. Still going strong!, 4) Found out I get to see my little niece, Jane, tomorrow for the first time since she was only like 1 or 2 months old. From what I hear she is quite the character! Had a really strong ride today. Today is a wonderful day! Now time to go do loads of homework. Blah!

Total Time: 1:10:00 Total Distance: 23 miles

Give me a big old YUCK! Got home from work last night at midnight, went to bed and got up and took a step and my left big toe was screaming in pain. Not good. I had my mom look at it since she's a Physician's Assistant and she conveyed one of my biggest fears (in grown toenail!) She told me to get some "Outgro" it is called on the way to Emma's house today after school. It is supposed to help thicken the nail and such. It is supposed to take a couple days I guess to work. Needless to say this puts my promise to Emma, Su and Jonny of jogging the 5k in jeopardy :(.

9:45 AM - Temperature in mid 30s, partly sunny. Never seen so many people at the Turkey Trot! There were a record 5,500 people that registered for the 5k! I decided to run with my sister and we had to run down an alley the next block over and come from behind to the back of the pack as the crowd was too thick up front! Crazy!

Unfortunately Emma couldn't run. She got out of work yesterday at 7:00 pm and was dropping off the phone to the next resident staff person and tripped on their stupid stone staircase on the way down. I don't think it's a bad sprain, no black and blues, but it is defnitely swollen. I had her elevate it yesterday and I iced it for her. She is such a trooper for coming out there today!. I'm still waiting for the race results to be posted, but it will be cool to see (I nixed the 10k and opted to run with Emma's bib number and chip for her with my sister in the 5k). Then also just turned in my 10k chip since I wouldn't be running that either. It was still a fun run though! MY SISTER IS AWESOME! THIS WAS HER FIRST 5k! PICTURES TO COME SOON! Wait til you see Jonny! hahaha. He dressed as an Indian and led the field of 5500 in the first 100 meters!! So cool! Will be interesting to see how well Su and I did. We started off slow and sped up and finished with about a 9:30 mile or so. She looked strong in her first 5k ever :) . I am betting we passed like 400-500 people!

Cooled down to the parking garage.

Total Time: 3.75 mi Total Distance: 3.75 mi Average Pace: 10:14

My sister Su, my brother Jonny and me after the trot.

*Note: Jonn made the 5:00 and 6:00 news on no fewer than three tv stations! How cool is that?!