Boston Marathon

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I’m philosophical about running today

I run because I want to run, not because anyone is making me or because it gives me a great “high”.  I run because my family needs me to live longer than a few more years.  I run because it makes me feel better about myself.  I run because it gets me away for a few minutes with few distractions beyond the neighborhood kids playing football in the yard or the cars that move over to give me room.

I choose to run.

A few days ago I learned that a colleague I had met with several times in another state passed away.  He was much younger than me and probably much smarter than me.  It was a shock, even though I didn’t know him well.  That has made me a bit more philosophical lately.  He was young and very successful in his line of work.  He had a wife.  He was a nice guy, at least from my interactions with him.  What does this have to do with running?

No one knows what will happen tomorrow, today or even in the next minute.  Life is what I make it by the grace and provision of God.

I don’t want to die saying I had no goals.  I don’t want to leave this world at 278 lbs and having a heart attack because I couldn’t spare the time to work out.  A lot of people plan on working out, running, walking or just getting into shape.  I planned on it every day as I approached the 300 lbs mark.  I never knew my grandfather because he died, overweight and in his 50’s.  I don’t want to be that person.  So I run.

Maybe I am a bit introspective today.  I thank God everyday that I get to live and make the choice to stay home, love my lovely wife and be with my kids.  I thank God that I am a 100 lbs lighter today than I was 18 months ago.  I thank God that I can get out each day and run 5-10 miles.  I really don’t enjoy the run, but that isn’t the reason I love running.

I love running because I can run. I have the freedom to run.  I have the health to run.  I can have the freedom and heath to believe that I can qualify for the Boston Marathon next year.

Who knows their future.  I don’t.  I don’t know if I will even be able to write this blog tomorrow.  I THANK GOD that I am able to write this and didn’t pass away this past week.  My colleague probably would have appreciated the same opportunities.  He didn’t get them.

I run for Him.  Good or bad, I am going to make the most of every opportunity.

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“From 278 lbs to the Boston Marathon, one man’s journey”

I wrote yesterday about my running goals.  The main goal I have is to run Boston.  I am making this the purpose of my run each day.  This is a journey for me and not a destination.  After Boston, there will be something else.  Probably the Marine Corps Marathon.  This was the marathon my dad ran in for many years before he passed away.

Anyway, I was considering all this as I ran yesterday.  I really do love running.  I love the fact that an obese middle aged man who tried to run a mile and had to stop at a quarter mile, could, in two years, weigh 100 lbs less and run a half marathon.  Even outside of the weight loss, running is amazing.  I constantly hear of people who one day decide to run a marathon, get off the couch and a year or two later, run a marathon.  I was told that exact story yesterday by a sales rep about his wife and her friends.  She is still running marathons today.

I am not an athlete.  The only sport I ever participated in as a kid was sailboat racing.  That took a very logical mind, but no athletic skill.  In school, as a kid, we would have a physical fitness part of gym each year and we were made to run 600m.  I always came in last.  I hated it.

I’ve said this before, but running is an activity that levels the playing field.  There aren’t many sports that one can participate in and in a year have gone from nothing to winning 5ks.

So why not shoot for the best.  To qualify for Boston I have to run an 8:00 average pace in a qualifying marathon.  I ran my first half marathon in a 7:57 pace.  I really believe I can do this.  I can’t imagine even having that thought a year ago.  To run my first marathon 18 months after I started running and also qualify for Boston?  I am amazed at this sport.

Sorry for going on and on about me, but I guess that is what this blog is about.  One day, after Boston, maybe I’ll write a book about my experience.  I’ll title it, “From 278 lbs to Boston, one man’s journey”.

The cool thing about running is that anyone can do this.  I guess that is the point I am trying to get across.  I have NO athletic ability.  I’m just an IT geek.  But what I do have is a supportive Lovely Wife and two sons who run and help me keep on the path.  Also I have lots of other bloggers writing about their experiences and learn from their ups and downs.  I love my family, I love this community,  I love running!

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The Boston Marathon!

I think goals are important when trying to keep motivated to run each day.  Let’s face it, running could be boring if you have no motivation or goals.  Losing weight is a good goal.  Becoming healthier overall and doing what you can to live a long life for your spouse and kids are great goals.

Personally, I like to set goals for my races that seem “out there”.  By doing so, I have continually amazed myself after each race I’ve run.  For instance, my new goal for my next 5K in May is to run it under 20 minutes.  Is that possible?  I don’t know, but if I don’t try (and train) I’ll never find out.  Each 5K I’ve run in the past year, I have finished close to 2 minutes faster than the previous one.  My last I finished in 22:10.  So, why not have a goal to reach for and see what I can do.  It makes running more fun for me.

I decided on my biggest goal of my short career yesterday.  Boston.  Yup, I am no longer going to say that I hope to qualify for Boston in the Jacksonville Marathon in December.  My goal is to qualify for it.  Once TJ, RS and I qualify, we have to be “chosen” and then we will run it.

So, to make this a real goal and have a constant reminder, I am changing the tag line at the top of my blog from, “The journey is the destination” to “My Journey to Boston”.

I may not make it.  Who knows.  I may not get under 20 minutes in my next 5K.  But if I don’t try and if I don’t set a goal that seems beyond my reach, I’ll never fail because I’ll never try. I would rather try and fail then never try at all.

So here is to the Boston Marathon.  I hope to see you soon!

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Running, Weight and Boston

It was a good first week back to running.  My long day was Sunday and I chose to run only 6 miles, which put me at 23 for the week.  Not bad for the first week back after a 2 week break.  I think the cardiovascular effects of the time off surprised me most.  On Tuesday, I ran 3 miles at a 9 minute pace – ugh, had I fallen that far back in only 2 weeks?  No, it only took a couple of days to be back in the 8:30 pace.  Yesterday I ran 6 miles at an 8:23 pace.  I am happy with that result.  Although my hips are acting up some, I am still trying to stay away from anti-inflamatories to keep the pain down.  It is tolerable, so I will keep with my hope of not needing to go on them again.

All in all, things are progressing, however I am fighting my old friend, carbs.  I am back to battling the intense need of carbs and my need to keep my weight off.  As of this morning I have gained back 5 lbs.  I am not happy with that.  I can see where I went overboard this weekend a couple of times and eat too much bread, but I also ran quite a bit. This is the most difficult thing about running for me.  How do I control the urge to eat and run at the same time.  My metabolism isn’t strong enough to just keep the weight off.  I don’t eat a lot, but evidently it is enough to gain weight.

Ultimately running will win out and I’ll just work at keeping the weight off.  This is not easy, but neither is running 6 days a week.

Finally, I have decided to make a real effort to qualify for Boston in the Jacksonville marathon this next December.  I will do all I can do to make that goal.  Goals in running make it that much more interesting and fun for me.  I will do my best and see what happens, but I wanted to put it “out there” to make it more real to me.

Today is my off day.  Tomorrow… It all starts over again.

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First half marathon recap – It was fun

I admit I was nervous going into our first half marathon.  I didn’t really know what to expect.  The only races we have run thus far were 5Ks and now I’m looking at the starting line of a 13.1 mile race with thousands of people crowding around me.

It was fun.

The first 6 miles were easy.  They were relatively flat and it was amazing seeing all those people running through the streets of Birmingham USA. I was encouraged that my app was continually measuring my pace around 8:00.  My goal was 8:2o so I figured I was banking some time for what was ahead.  Then the hills began.  In fact it was more like on long 2 mile hill.  Not really, but that is what it felt like.  The people around me went from talking and laughing to breathing hard and being quite.  It was tough.  I was beginning to pace closer to 8:30, but I told myself where there are uphills, there are downhills.  Finally the downhills started and I was able to pick up some time.  The downhills seemed to last a couple of miles also and I was feeling much better.  I was also getting back into the high 7 minute pace.

The final leg of the race was the toughest.  It was three straight flat miles.  There was a small incline for a while and then just flat.  I knew I only had a couple of miles left and knew that the time I finished with would be the time I would have to live with, so I picked up my pace.  By the time I turned my last turn and had a half mile to go, I was shot.  I somehow kept my time up though.  With the finish line 500 yards away, I gave it my all.  I ended up finishing in 1:44.  I beat my goal of 8:20 with a final pace of 7:58.  I could have cried.  A month ago as TJ and I were beginning our workouts (hill, tempo and steady state runs) I really thought 8:30 pace was a dream.  Here I finished at a time that if I could have done that for the 26.2 miles, I would have qualified for Boston!  Thanks TJ.  It meant more to me that you will ever know.

TJ, by the way finished at 1:28.  How great is that for a first half marathon.  I was so impressed.  RS, whom I was worried about since he had been hurt so much, ran in Vibram 5 finger shoes and not only finished, but ran it under 2 hours!!!

It was an amazing day.  Now some much needed time off.  TJ is already getting our training together for the Spring Scramble 5K.  It was the first race we ran in when we started running last spring and so it will be great to run it again.

Just so you know, I LOVE RUNNING!

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Chicago, Jacksonville, Boston marathons – Information overload

Information overload last night.  TJ and I are trying to decide where to run our first marathon.  RS will go also I assume, if he can stay well.  Anyway, our choices are between the Chicago Marathon or Jacksonville Marathon.  In the end, money may make the decision.  I love Chicago and my lovely wife and I have friends up there as I have mentioned in the past.  But we also have great friends in Jacksonville, although I’ve not been to Jacksonville in a long time.  Anyway, it ends up that Jacksonville’s marathon is over $100 less a person than Chicago!!!  That is $300 more that TJ, RS and I would have to spend to enter the Chicago marathon; let alone travel and accommodations.  Both offer a fast course and the average temperature is about the same at the time of each race.  Jacksonville’s is in December, so that would give us a couple of months longer to get ready.  Remember, TJ is trying to qualify for Boston on his first marathon.  I dream of qualifying for Boston on my first.

So, if there is anyone in Chicago who reads this, could you run by Ballydoyle Pub and ask Phil if he would like to sponsor us?  Just tell him our favorite song is “Sweet Home Alabama” and he’ll know who we are.  I know, it is a pipe dream, but isn’t that what blogs are for???

Finally, onto yesterday.  I LOVE running the day after a tempo run.  It is like my body has said, “hey, as long as you aren’t going to run as fast as you did yesterday, I’ll do what you want”.  I ran 6 miles at an 8:30 pace and could have gone for more.  I stopped because of today…  The dreaded hill day.  It feels like this hill  goes straight up for about 5 miles, but it is only about 1/8 – 1/4 mile.  It is straight up though.  My goal is to make it 3 times, as I did 2 last time.  TJ can do 6 – how does he do it?

So on to another day of work, looking forward to heading home to my lovely wife, kids and dog.  I’ll say hi as I head out to run the mountain.

I love running.

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Best fall marathon? TJ wants to qualify for Boston!!!

First, yesterday was a great run. I mentioned in an earlier post that I tend to run faster after exerting myself in a 5K race. I started doing tempo runs this week with the input of TJ and it made a huge difference. I had a record 10K run yesterday in 50:55 total time. It really wasn’t much effort, except at the end when I was trying to get my 10K in under 51:00. I know it was the tempo run from Wednesday that made the difference.

The training continues for our half marathon. Today is a hill day (ugh) – my first. TJ says it helps a lot, but I’m not looking forward to it.

After our half marathon in February, we look for a marathon in the fall. TJ mentioned finding a fast marathon as he wants to qualify for Boston. He also wants me to qualify, but at this time I don’t see that happening.

Right now we are looking at Chicago or Jacksonville. Both are considered fast marathons. The advantage to Jacksonville is that I have a friend there we could stay with. The advantage to Chicago is that we also have friends there and we love to go to Ballydoyle’s Irish pub and also get some Giordano’s pizza. Another option that would mean a lot to me is the Marine Corp Marathon. The main reason for that is that this is the marathon my Dad and siblings always ran. It would be great to make my first marathon the same one my dad ran in years ago – also since <a href=”https://runat49.wordpress.com/why-i-run/&#8221; he is the inspiration for my running.

I don’t know if anyone has any suggestions. It is still early, but I know that April is when sign up begins for the Marine Corps Marathon and last year they filled up quickly.