General Update

I have not posted in a couple of weeks, so I'll go for the mass block update.

The last few weeks have been very hectic, which has greatly impacted my training. Specifically, my weightlifting has been outstanding, but my running has been quite poor.

The biggest issue has been my work schedule. Heather is getting married this Saturday, so I've had to put in odd hours so that I can take time off for the wedding (and pay for the wedding and reception). While the groom and his family live about five miles from us, our little lovelies decided that they wanted to get married in Utah, which is 900+ miles away. So, the marriage is this Saturday, with the reception here in Nebraska the following Saturday (Sept 8). Both will be simple and modest, but I think both will be a great deal of fun for the happy couple and their friends.

The second schedule killer was that we agreed to take a sibling group of 4 children for an emergency (30 day) foster placement. This brings our total to 54 foster kids since 1988. Woo Hoo! The 30 days ended last Friday and the kids were moved to long term homes. While we can't comment on cases for privacy reasons, I can say that behaviors on the part of the foster kids and their family made this a very difficult placement for us. The kids problems impacted my afternoon running schedule, and their family habits (sleep until 1:00 in the afternoon and stay awake until 3:00 am or later) was a constant struggle. I like to run in the evernings after kids have gone to bed (usually 9:00 p.m. to midnight), but these foster kids came from a family which does not understand what bed time is about. We sent them to their rooms at 10:00, but they sat on their beds and made noise until the early morning. And, because of their belligerance, I could not leave.

Anyway, lifting has gone quite well. I have hit the weights 13 times so far this month, which is quite satisfying. And, I'll keep hitting the weights all the way through to the Marathon.

I did run another 5K a week ago. The time was a bit slower than the 5K the week before, but I am happy with the result. The kids one miler was first, but David, our 7 year old, was having a icky day. This was his 8th or 9th one miler, but this time he started whining and wanted me to run with him. I did, but he stopped several times along the way. He did finish, which is important, but his time was around 15 minutes (as compared to 9 minutes and change the week before). I then had just enough time to grab a drink of water a stretch a tiny bit before my race began. So, I did a one miler, stopped, and then did a 3.1 miler. The route went through the University of Nebraska Campus and around Haymarket park, so it was a lovely run. It had a couple of large overpasses which substituted quite nicely for hills so I got a bit of a hill workout. The run was in the morning so the temp was reasonable, but the humidity was still high. No injuries and a decent time (for me, anyway) so a successful run.

With the kiddos leaving on Friday, I was able to play in a slow pitch softball tournament on Saturday. I pitched 2 full games without relief and went 2-0! I also umpired one game. I didn't check on my stats, but I gave up 4 earned runs over the two games, with several K's and only two walks (both walks in the second game). My hitting was a bit rusty, as I had four hits over the two games, with only 2 RBI'S and I scored once. Of course, I would like to beat my chest about my fine pitching performance, but the fact that we cranked out 17 runs over the two games helped quite a bit!

Thunder Run

What a difference a year makes.

David and I ran the Thunder Run again this year. David did the kids 1 Mi, and I ran the 5K (3.1 mi)., and we both improved fairly dramatically over our performance last year.

David did great. Last year, he completed the mile in 12:03. This year he shaved off 2:20 to finish in 9:43. He improved 30 places to place 101 out of 165 runners.

I didn't quite get the time I wanted, but I finished in 32:19, which was an improvement of 9:24 over last year. I'm still slow ( I finished second to last in my age division) I am improving.

Last week was not quite the robust running week I had hoped for. The temps and humidity were quite high, and I had to scrub one of the runs to weather and another to my work schedule. I ran three times for 10.6 miles and lifted weights three times.

My Thursday run was a bear. The weather was hot and humid (91 F, 78% humidity) when I started. I ran the first 1.5 miles in solid time (15:14), and hit the two mile mark strong. I quickly realized, however, that the temp and humidity were a lot higher than I had realized. So, to avoid injury, I cut the route short by 1.3 miles and ducked through some tree lined neighborhoods rather than finish my 5.5 hill route which has little shade. It was a good thing, as I scored a lovely sunburn after being out under an hour.

Another 5K on Saturday. Woo Hoo!

Humid runswim.

Getting ready for the 5K Saturday, so I ran my 3.3 mi route. Time was a bit sucky, 35:14, but the humidity was oppressive and my misadventurous July saw so few running miles that I need to rebuild a bit.

We enjoyed a lovely rainfall for some of the night, so when I went out to run in the morning the humidity smacked me the moment I hit the door. The temp was reasonable, about 85F, but the air was so humid that I was drenched within a few minutes, and at times I felt like I was wading through water. When I got back to the house, Jen looked up the humidity, which was listed at 79%. I think it might have been even a bit higher in some of the places where I ran.

Weightlifting is going great. I am getting in quality sets and my strength is improving. I have been doing some lifts and exercises that I don't like and have assiduously avoided over the years, so I think I'm building muscle in new areas which helps me dramatically improve my overall strength. I have always hated pulls ups/chin ups, and have never been able to do more than 3 or 4, regardless of my overall condition. I like dips but do them poorly, and have not done seated rows in years. So, I started using the pull up and dip machine, which allows me to offset my weight and get in a decent number of reps and sets. And, the seated rows seem to be going well. Since starting these lifts, I have noticed that other lifts (like lat press downs, pull downs, etc) have improved.

Despite the work, I have NOT jumped on the scale. I am way too heavy, and I think my wimpy running schedule in July has resulted in me gaining weight. Not fine muscle weight, but blob weight. I have noticed that my clothes don't fit quite as loosely as they should, but the problem is in my waist and not muscled areas. I need to lose a significant amount of weight if I'm going to make 5 hours in my next marathon. So, I'm back on the proverbial water wagon. I don't drink alcohol for religious reasons, but I love root beer and flavored lemonades. Sadly, they have been excised from my diet until after the KC marathon in October. I'll jump on the scale before the next marathon, but am afraid that if I weigh myself now I'll be too discouraged.

Busy week ahead, so we'll see how it goes.

July in Review

July's analysis is simple. Running was horrible, weight lifting was excellent.

I missed the first 9 days of the month due to vacation, 2 days because I gave blood, about a week when I crashed into the cement and banged my knee hard, and about a week to bronchitis. That, my friends, is most of the month. I ran 3 whole times for a whopping 19.6 miles.

Weight lifting went better than expected. I was still able to lift weights with my knee banged up and I pushed through the bronchitis. I lifted weights 12 times in the last 22 days of the month. Just about all of these were heavy lifts and heavy abs, and it felt great! My bench is back above 225, leg press was at 850 lbs, and today I did lat presses at over 190 lbs (the picture of me in the top right corner was taken at 156 lbs, which at the time was near my max.) So, I'm making progress. Diet piece and sleep are ok. Not great, but better than last time.

The good news is that my next marathon is 80 days away. In my last marathon, I completed 288.3 miles in the last 80 days. I'm looking forward to over 300 this time. It will be hard because of Heather's upcoming wedding, but we don't have weather issues this time around (I run in the heat and the rain, and we don't have snow or ice storms in Aug or Sept). Woo Hoo.