i'm not running yet.

Well this strain muscle thing just sucks. i tried to run twice last week and both time were extrememly disapointing. Sunday i set out for my 10 miler and made it two. No pain free strides and it took 20 minutes to run the 2 miles.

Big thanks to LISA who gave me a little advice and common sense, and some stretches and the idea to take a couple anti-inflamitories.

So, as i am not running at all this week, i am biking. i will most likely attempt to get back in the running schedule a week from today. This really sucks and, if i let it, could put a nasty damper on the BQ attempt. Or perhaps serve as self-motivating.

Anyway, after talking with LISA, i thought i should go into more detail as to not offend anybody. With regards to my feeling good about getting into a starting corral....i never meant to insinuate anything about others runners. Christ knows i am not the fastest out there.

It was just a goal. For me, the only runner i compare myself to, is me. i can be very competitive and always with myself.

So if anybody was offended, please accept my humble apology.

Anyway....my weight is about 191-195 still as i have lost a little motivation due to this time off. i hope i can start running again next week.

thanks for reading

Well, would somebody please insert an Al Gore drowning polar bear joke here.....??

No... ok

How about a reference to this being a picture of the whole family....somewhat explaining the lack of Fun Guv pictures on the blog....

No...not that either...She does seem to enjoy taking the pictures while her ernstwhile ham-it-up husband and children make ok subjects to her art.














Well here we all are at The Detroit Zoo....pleasantly located in Royal Oak, MI. Why so far outta the city. Well being one of the oldest zoo's in the good ole US of A. It's close to the fair grounds, where the circus to this day comes to set up for the greatest shows on Earth. Cept for the really big ones, they go to the Palace or JLA, not Justice League of America, you comic book geeks out there, Joe Louis Arena. Mostly it's a Shriner's type circus at the fairgrounds.

Anyway....once upon a time, the circus's would leave town and forget an tiger or two, and....voila....a zoo is born. Actually, these animals weren't accidently forgotten, they were usually ill or old or both, maybe they were a little cranky and the handlers needed a quick ditch.

So Detroit has a nifty zoo. Since my dear friend L*I*S*A seems to be cynical of all things Detroit, i like to throw out a little culture about my adopted home.

Anyway... Day 3 of training, Wednesday was rest. Which meant crosstrain via stretches.

Day four....Walk the zoo. And go to run 5 miles. Forget about speed work. After three steps, it ain't happening, so i opt to jump on the bike for a few miles to warm up. A nice thing about having 2 reconstructive knee surgeries....i really know how to stretch on a bike.

7 miles later, i'm home and at least run/walk 2 miles. Sheer...utter....agony!!! physically...it hurt, psychological....even worse. i felt worse than 18 months ago when i tried to run my first mile. But compared to having a screw strip itself outta your bone, like your bone was wet plywood...not so bad

On the upside....i feel better and i am confident that i am on the road to recovery. Also, the pain may be just the right emotional preparation for a BQ run. i'll ice it again tonite and keep stretching it out. Unfortunately, my insurance doesn't kick in until July 1st, and a running injury is not worth a COBRA payment. Where's Michael Moore when i need him to take me to Cuba????

Big News...i checked out my registration and officially i am in the Corral C to start the marathon. i feel like a seasoned legitimate runner-type. and.....

we are now proud owners of our first Dreadmill. So the thunderstorms and -15 Michigan winters may not be slowing me down anymore.....once the leg heals.

...and of course....why dogs make better companions than cats (not really big news, i'm a dog person)



thanks for reading

The carousel video has been fixed. YouTube was having issues, I re-uploaded it. Now you can enjoy!!!


Day 2:

Egads! First day of actual training running 6 miles at an 8:11 pace and 4 miles into it my first ever true running injury.

Don't know what happened. I was going fairly slowly. No record pace here. My left leg started to bug me, not the reconstructed knee, that's fine, but the area around my buttocks.

At first, I thought it was left over from the uncomfortable chairs watching the 5th grade graduation ceremony and it would work itself out. But no.

After walking a few steps I realized the idea of running at all was not going to happen and I limped 20 minutes to get one mile. I was still two miles from home. A gracious pedestrian noticed my limp and offered the use of his cell phone to call for a pick-up.

After reading a recent issue of Runners World, I think I have a groin pull based on where the pain is located. Caused by one of two things or a combination of both...overtraining and not stretching....sound like anyone you know????

So now, after consulting with another runner, I'm going to stretch and perhaps not overtrain, nah, I'll probably still overtrain, but I will stretch and take the rest of the week light. I'll make every attempt to run the miles, body willing, but forget about speedwork or pace work. At least it happened early in the training.

For a better understanding of body parts check out Jimmy's Kindergarten picnic performance. In case you can't figure out which ham is mine, he's on the end in the bright yellow shirt.



Thanks for reading!

Day 1:

Well the first training day is over. Whew.....tough day of rest or crosstraining. i did a little ab workout and took a nice walk.

Some stats:

Weight: 192

Food from yesterday: breakfast-Cinnamon Tost crunch ceral Lunch- 2 small slices of pizza Dinner-2 hot dogs. I snacked on some grapes and strawberries.

Not the healthiest of food choices but yesterday was the kids last days at school so Mack had 5th grade graduation to middle school pseudo-ceremony, and Jimmy had kindergarden picnic.

To celebrate some weight loss, i reset my Garmin to display my weight as 195 lbs.

Today is a 6 mile 8:11 pace. It sounds great as to not stress the final weekend prior to training i did not run.

Summer is here as a first sign of summer around our house has been the opening of the TIger Lilly's. Global warming must be true, as they are about a week or two early. Not the stinky ugly mess of Animals Death Metal Man Eating Flower that attracts flies, but to each their own.....i guess.

Anyway.....irony of ironies...while typing, like right now....i get a phone call from right to life. It's a recorded response survey. Any oddity to right to life using a recorded message??? Where's my living person????

Anyway.....

Congrats to Kim again. i think i read somewhere that the difference between a runner and a jogger is that runner's fill out race entries. So if you had any doubts...you're a runner.

Thanks for reading.

Since the marathon training begins next week, i thought i'd take it a little easy this week.

Not!!!!

Here's the deal...it's been nice working at home lately and although it will not last forever i've been taking advantage of some free time and study breaks with some afternoon cross-trains.

Wednesday i rode my bike for 18 miles. Per the Garmin i averaged 4:40 pace. Hard thing about using the Garmin for biking....i kept forgetting to stop and start at lights. So nothing is set in stone but the mileage was about 18 miles.

Thursday...i went for a tempo run. To build up endurance in hit a warm-up first mile, then three speed miles and a cool down last mile. I was at home after 4 miles so i grabbed a leash and took Schubert with me for the last mile.

The Stats:

mile 1 7:40 pace
Mile 2 7:22
Mile 3 7:20
Mile 4 7:17
Mile 5 8:21 damn dog slowed me down too much

Total time: 38:03 pace 7:36

i am sore today, so i think a nice 4-5 mile recovery at about 8 minute miles should work out a few new kinks that have been popping up.

As far as an ice bath goes....the pool is right around 80 so a quick dip is awesomely refreshing....

right Schubert????

Nothing new to add with regards to weight issues, as i will begin posting updates information early in the weeks, although i am still 6'1" tall.

So figure, next week the real work begins. "This is gonna be great!!!!" (to quote Flounder)

Good Luck to Kim....as she runs her first 5k at the Race for a Cure downtown tomorrow.

Thanks for reading

Finally.... to end the last post with the obligatory ride on the merry-go-round at Greenfield Village



Later

As Foretold.... a new look.


As always first things first.



Let's get to running as this is now going to be all about progress training blog. Yeah, sure the occasional stupid opinion of mine will be there, but this is a blog of my thoughts and i have been thinking a lot lately about getting faster, thinner, heck dare i say...athletic?




It happens like all potential mid-life crisis must do i guess. A last shot as an approaching middle age mindset with a young mans game. Maybe? i won't deny the feelings of gaining 5 minutes to Boston Qualify, next year, with mixed emotions.




I also figure that based upon my eating, drinking, smoking, malaise, etc... habits over the last 10 years, it's only by the grace of God that i am as healthy as i am. Truly, if there is a higher power, i expect that it would have bigger concerns than me, but hey, whatever....




Next week, the training officially begins. And this is the place where everything is going. Workouts, crosstrains, Body Mass Index figures, diet, weight, alcohol consumption and if nessecary.....nicotine consumption.




So let's start with some basics:




Height: 6'1", i measured halfway through day, with bare feet. This is the one figure that should stay the same all training.
Weight: 194, per bathroom scale. wearing just a smile. i figure to spare you the picture of this
Body Mass Index: 25.59, so i guess i am still overweight??? bummer



i ran a little over 20 miles last week. Not exact, but that starts next week.



i can count on on hand the number of drinks i have had since the Bayshore.


4....the number of cigerettes since the morning after the Bayshore. 2 bummed from Animal's Mom ( how sad is that) at their baby shower. Not Animal and his Mom, that'd be odd eh??? Animal and Ms Tessmacher. No more cravings and they actually smell bad when i bartend, ...again not Animal and his Mom, the cigerettes, geeesh


Second things second......


it is with great regret that i think my little "Vote for Mike '08" is at an end. As fun as pretending to campaign is....it really takes me away from other stuff. Plus there are soooooooo many politically stupid things going on i couldn't filter the ones to blog about. There was tooooo much material: but to save time....



....Free Paris.....not really, i mean, talk about a train wreck
....Love Rosie, and btw Elizabeth.... if you support the war, and since both you and your athletic husband are both under 42.... enlist!!!! put up or shut up.... Lord knows how much the Army loves having football players in the ranks. (ok low blow, but no lower then essentially saying " i support the war, and the troops, as long as i don't have to be one")
.....War on Terror, no such thing, it's all a ruse to distract us from the war on class (literal and figurative)
.... on and on, blah blah blah



Third Things......

Rock Stars, Cars and Guitars at the Henry Ford Museum.....




Mack meets Kiss..... not really, but maybe their car.....







a custom Prowler with a neat


soundboard as a trailer.







How about "the" little Deuce Coupe???





i hope this helps to explain why "cut loose like a deuce" makes sense while....


"wrapped up like a douche" is just gross











But wait this is Rockstars, Cars and Guitars where are the axes....?????

Anybody recognize any of these?????














Oh.... and of course. The absolute pinnacle of the display. The Rolls Royce owned by John Lennon.






Of course a trip to the Henry Ford isn't complete without a quick trip to Greenfield Village to ride the Carousel...

Dammit, Utube is taking so long to load the video..... Soon will be the video of Mack riding the carousel...

Thanks for reading

The 7 minute mile barrier.....

...is no more.

This is huge as my new plan has me starting with some tempo runs with 6:49 pace. i ran 6 miles tonite. 3 were quick 6:54, 6:46, 6:52. 3 after that were all around 8 minute miles.

When did 3 8 minute miles become so easy???

This is just a short update, a kinda start moving away from the Bayshore and really start to concentrate on Chicago.

Also, the new job has really been keeping me focused. So not much time to blog these days. I good ole brain dump is brewing, but as i'm starting to feel stale about the look of the blog, it may be time for another change in appearance.

This is all going to be put together this weekend. Maybe.....honey-do's permitting.

I can do this.....

Thanks for reading

Final BayshoreThoughts.....

Well friends, it's been almost a week since the Bayshore and some Star Wars-esque thoughts.

Saturday after the race, while sitting around the hotel room, with many witnesses, words that came out of my mouth.

"i'm going to try for Boston"....

Wha...what....wait a moment. What words were uttered?

So in front of Steve, Annette, Animal and Fun Guv....those words popped outta my mouth.

Well, why not??? It's really my last chance before getting another 5 minutes after hitting the 40 milestone.

Of course, Sunday night the History channel had an awesome Star Wars special, which tied historical mythology to the Star Wars movies. Great stuff and yes, we did record it for Animal. I was of course reminded.....

There is no try...you either do or do not.

Maybe not the exact quote but close enough. So, i am going to BQ. i have a start of a tough training plan in the sidebar, any thoughts from anybody????

Speaking of sidebar.....

With the Bayshore over, i have moved the Bayshore links to the running blogger, or blogging runner area.

i also have added a link, a blog written by an Attorney with a client, maybe more, living not-so-comfortably in Cuba...anyway, it's a powerful site, and with Gitmos attrocities with regards to basic humanity, i'm highly recommending taking a glance at.... fer'instance a story about a 20 yr Canadian who was brought there 5 yrs ago, yep, since he was 15.

Bayshore stuff...

final thought...as great as i feel after the Bayshore. There was one moment i wish i could have redone. While standing with Nitmos prior to the race.... A woman walked by and i noticed Miranda on her bib. Now, this may not have been the same Miranda i have been reading about, but it could have been...

Bummer, of a missed opportunity eh???

i need to avoid those.

Anyway, let's move on the next Big Run and get back to my meaningless babble.

Thanks for reading