It snowed again. I had to get up about a half-hour earlier than normal today to accommodate for meetings that we had for school today. I got out to do my running and knew it would be a tough run. The street hadn't been plowed and it was dark. I had three miles scheduled for today but didn't run all of them. I did two miles and finished my run with a refreshing cool down of shoveling the driveway again. It was not really the best way to start the day. I will say that the two miles that I did run went pretty well. I pushed my pace quite a bit and made it without too much of a struggle. I am going to start pushing my pace on my Wednesday and Friday runs to try to get my speed up a little. We'll see how that goes.
As I ran today I got to listen to the band FFH. They are by far my favorite Christian group. It is a nice way to start the day with motivating songs to get me going. I think I am going to start alternating between music and educational stuff from the MP3 player. I think the time that I put in running can be put to good use. With all of the hours that I spend running, I'm sure that I can "read" a bunch of books, learn another language, or listen to podcasts. I think all of those things will be a great use of the time that I spend out on the road. I'm hoping so. Tomorrow I'm going to the library to get a cd for learning Spanish to upload on to the MP3 player. I'm hoping that will be a better step to getting better at speaking Spanish.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
February 28th
It was a cold day. The Weather Channel said it was 2° outside. It was apparent that it was cold, but it really had no influence on how I ran today. I did quite well. I ran about 5 1/2 miles and felt great afterward. My hips are feeling pretty good, much better than yesterday. We'll still let the day go on before deciding whether my stretches paid off or not though.
As I was running I could tell that my eyebrows were beginning to frost up because it was making seeing a little difficult. It was not until I got home until I realized the full extent to which I had "frosted up." Melissa asked me if it was snowing outside. My hat was covered, my shoulders were covered and my scarf was covered. I had steamed up a "snowstorm" onto my body. It was kind of neat.
Today was my first day running with an MP3 player. I still don't know how well I did with it. I just had a mix of music on that I like, but it felt as though it was just wasting my time. As I have written earlier, I like to spend my time praying or thinking about something. As I was listening to the music, it just lulled me into a trance to run by. I don't think I got much time to think or do anything else during my run. It might sound crazy, but I want to make the most of my time while I am out there. I think I am going to download some books on tape or some podcasts and try to get some other things out of my runs. I think that might help me a little to be more productive with my time instead of running in the trance. Stay tuned, we'll see what happens.
As I was running I could tell that my eyebrows were beginning to frost up because it was making seeing a little difficult. It was not until I got home until I realized the full extent to which I had "frosted up." Melissa asked me if it was snowing outside. My hat was covered, my shoulders were covered and my scarf was covered. I had steamed up a "snowstorm" onto my body. It was kind of neat.
Today was my first day running with an MP3 player. I still don't know how well I did with it. I just had a mix of music on that I like, but it felt as though it was just wasting my time. As I have written earlier, I like to spend my time praying or thinking about something. As I was listening to the music, it just lulled me into a trance to run by. I don't think I got much time to think or do anything else during my run. It might sound crazy, but I want to make the most of my time while I am out there. I think I am going to download some books on tape or some podcasts and try to get some other things out of my runs. I think that might help me a little to be more productive with my time instead of running in the trance. Stay tuned, we'll see what happens.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
February 25th
Today I ran 3 miles. It was a good 3 miles. I didn't know what to expect for the run. I knew that it was 11° outside, and I knew that we got a bunch of snow yesterday. I just didn't want to have more running with the roads covered in snow. That is tough running, especially when a car wants to pass. Fortunately, the roads were really clear and it didn't seem to be too cold.
I ran the whole way. The only time that I stopped running was to put a handful of mail in the mailbox that is about a mile away from home. ( I take mail with me sometimes when I am not feeling super motivated to run. That way I have to make it at least that far and back.) It was a good run. I finished with my hands above my head and ran in full trot to the front of the house.
While I was running today, I didn't really have much going on in my head. I just felt as though I was just putting one foot in front of the other. I was bored, but nothing was coming to my head. Sometimes that just happens. I would like to think that I was "in the zone" with my running, but really I was just mentally zoned out. There were a few other walkers out this morning with their dogs that I said "hi" to, but beyond that interaction, not much happened mentally for me.
My hips are starting to hurt a bit. I talked with my friend that I am running the race with about it and he showed me some stretching exercises. I hope that I am able to utilize them well and get rid of this ache. I am sure this will not be the last thing that aches in the coming months.
I ran the whole way. The only time that I stopped running was to put a handful of mail in the mailbox that is about a mile away from home. ( I take mail with me sometimes when I am not feeling super motivated to run. That way I have to make it at least that far and back.) It was a good run. I finished with my hands above my head and ran in full trot to the front of the house.
While I was running today, I didn't really have much going on in my head. I just felt as though I was just putting one foot in front of the other. I was bored, but nothing was coming to my head. Sometimes that just happens. I would like to think that I was "in the zone" with my running, but really I was just mentally zoned out. There were a few other walkers out this morning with their dogs that I said "hi" to, but beyond that interaction, not much happened mentally for me.
My hips are starting to hurt a bit. I talked with my friend that I am running the race with about it and he showed me some stretching exercises. I hope that I am able to utilize them well and get rid of this ache. I am sure this will not be the last thing that aches in the coming months.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
10 miles
Today's run went really well at the start. I didn't even feel as though I had been running, it was fantastic! I stopped to get a drink on my run and saw another jogger off in the distance. It turned out to be my neighbor. He was out on his first run of the year and we just decided to run together for awhile. It was nice to talk with him. I don't talk to him much, so it was nice to catch up. After leaving my neighbor, I only had 2 1/2 miles to go. Things were going well until I developed a stomach ache that wouldn't let me do any more running. It was really sad. I was doing so well and just couldn't physically finish. I'm glad it happened today rather than on race day.
In my talk with my neighbor, I just caught up with him about how his winter was going. Unfortunately for me during my run, I had to tell him that our other neighbor had passed away yesterday. He was a good friend. His wife is probably the best neighbor that you could ever ask for. It is difficult having someone living so close and not knowing how to help her out. Hopefully we will be able to figure out a way to help them through this difficult process.
As I was running I just couldn't stop thinking about our neighbor being gone. I honestly had wondered when this day would finally come. He had been sick for awhile, but it is just so tough having the day finally here. Melissa and I have struggled even more with this because we don't know where he stood with his relationship with Christ. From watching how he lived his life, we think that he was not a Christian. I don't know how we are going to feel going to the funeral on Tuesday. I have only been to funerals that I knew that the person was a follower of Christ. It is going to be tough going to this one. I am hoping that this situation will be motivation to to share my faith with people that are close to me.
In a change of subject, we met a couple at church today that had triplets. They are both teachers as well. It was fun sitting by them at church today. Five babies with four parents. If you add our other friend that was with us, it was six babies to five parents. It felt like we were the freak show as people were leaving church today. Everyone was staring and smiling. It was pretty fun. I am hoping that we will be able to begin a friendship with them. The wife said that she was finished teaching after this year. I don't believe she is still at school now. We are excited to see the development that will come in the future from this relationship. Stay tuned...
In my talk with my neighbor, I just caught up with him about how his winter was going. Unfortunately for me during my run, I had to tell him that our other neighbor had passed away yesterday. He was a good friend. His wife is probably the best neighbor that you could ever ask for. It is difficult having someone living so close and not knowing how to help her out. Hopefully we will be able to figure out a way to help them through this difficult process.
As I was running I just couldn't stop thinking about our neighbor being gone. I honestly had wondered when this day would finally come. He had been sick for awhile, but it is just so tough having the day finally here. Melissa and I have struggled even more with this because we don't know where he stood with his relationship with Christ. From watching how he lived his life, we think that he was not a Christian. I don't know how we are going to feel going to the funeral on Tuesday. I have only been to funerals that I knew that the person was a follower of Christ. It is going to be tough going to this one. I am hoping that this situation will be motivation to to share my faith with people that are close to me.
In a change of subject, we met a couple at church today that had triplets. They are both teachers as well. It was fun sitting by them at church today. Five babies with four parents. If you add our other friend that was with us, it was six babies to five parents. It felt like we were the freak show as people were leaving church today. Everyone was staring and smiling. It was pretty fun. I am hoping that we will be able to begin a friendship with them. The wife said that she was finished teaching after this year. I don't believe she is still at school now. We are excited to see the development that will come in the future from this relationship. Stay tuned...
Friday, February 22, 2008
Good, Not Great
Today's run went well. It wasn't too cold. I started running pretty hard at the beginning, but after a mile realized that there was no way that I would make it all 3 miles at that pace. I finished the run in about 27 minutes so that isn't too bad, but it could have been better.
As I was running today I couldn't get my mind off of the fact that one of my co-workers is expecting twins. Normally when I have found out that someone is having a baby, I am excited and happy for them, but it doesn't go to the degree that I have been thinking about it over the last 24 hours. I think having twins is some sort of fraternity/sorority. Only people in the group can truly understand what it is really like. That's what I am so excited about. There is the desire to have people that you can associate with and to have people that you can consult with when a problem or situation comes up. It's exciting to know that there will be someone else at work that I can associate with, share stories with, and help support when it is needed.
As I was running today I couldn't get my mind off of the fact that one of my co-workers is expecting twins. Normally when I have found out that someone is having a baby, I am excited and happy for them, but it doesn't go to the degree that I have been thinking about it over the last 24 hours. I think having twins is some sort of fraternity/sorority. Only people in the group can truly understand what it is really like. That's what I am so excited about. There is the desire to have people that you can associate with and to have people that you can consult with when a problem or situation comes up. It's exciting to know that there will be someone else at work that I can associate with, share stories with, and help support when it is needed.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Feelin' good
Today I am feeling good, yesterday was a different story. It was 3° yesterday to the 11° that it was today. I only ran 3 miles yesterday to the 5 that I put in today. I think it was the cold and the start that I had yesterday. I put way too much pressure on myself yesterday to up my pace and it wiped me out on the first mile. The second mile I practically walked and it took forever. The last half mile I had a really nice pace going and finished strong.
Today, I ran well. I didn't push it at the beginning, but I had a good pace. I got the full distance in and did it in good time. For the last mile I ran my hardest and finished strong all the way into the driveway. It felt good.
While I was running today I was thinking about setting goals. Yesterday on "Everybody Loves Raymond" Ray talked about how he needed to set goals for his life to make it through his mid-life crisis. Although his goals were pretty rediculous, it was something good to think about. It made me think of some of the things that I want to do. I know that I have way less freedom than I did a year ago with the addition of our twins, but that still doesn't mean that I can not do some neat and important things. I have a few ideas in my head for things that I want to do during my life. Some of them are big ideas, while others are just minor things. It is important to set goals and I am going to continue to try to add things to my list over the coming weeks.
Today, I ran well. I didn't push it at the beginning, but I had a good pace. I got the full distance in and did it in good time. For the last mile I ran my hardest and finished strong all the way into the driveway. It felt good.
While I was running today I was thinking about setting goals. Yesterday on "Everybody Loves Raymond" Ray talked about how he needed to set goals for his life to make it through his mid-life crisis. Although his goals were pretty rediculous, it was something good to think about. It made me think of some of the things that I want to do. I know that I have way less freedom than I did a year ago with the addition of our twins, but that still doesn't mean that I can not do some neat and important things. I have a few ideas in my head for things that I want to do during my life. Some of them are big ideas, while others are just minor things. It is important to set goals and I am going to continue to try to add things to my list over the coming weeks.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
9 miles?
How do people do this. My run today was so tough. I ran 8 1/2 miles today and just couldn't get the courage to make the last turn to go down the last road to get the full 9 miles. That is the farthest that I have ever ran on my own. Next weeks 10 mile weekend is going to be even tougher. Here's to hoping for good weather.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Perseverence
Boy did I not want to run today. When I woke up it was from one of the girls crying. It was 5° outside and it had snowed last night. It is really hard to run on the street with snow, it is like running on sand, which makes the run altogether difficult. As I began my run I was doing pretty well. There were a few times that my body wanted to walk, but I just made my mind think about other things while I was running. This way I avoided even thinking about walking and for my little bit over 3 miles I ran today, I didn't walk. It felt great. I actually put my arms up in the air like I was crossing the finishing ribbon in front of my house. I felt dorky, but it felt great.
During my run I thought about setting goals and sticking to them. During college I learned that I set a ton of goals, or verbally said a lot of things that I wanted to do, but never got to doing them. That really hit me and after realizing that is something that I did pretty consistently, I have tried to really stick to doing what I have said I will do. I have even gone as far as not verbally saying things that I want to do until I am really sure I am going to do them. Even to some of my closest friends.
I have known for awhile that I need to set reasonable achievable goals. I love to shoot for the moon as far as what I want to do and when it should be able to be done, but I have learned that there is only so much that can be done at a time.
During my run I thought about setting goals and sticking to them. During college I learned that I set a ton of goals, or verbally said a lot of things that I wanted to do, but never got to doing them. That really hit me and after realizing that is something that I did pretty consistently, I have tried to really stick to doing what I have said I will do. I have even gone as far as not verbally saying things that I want to do until I am really sure I am going to do them. Even to some of my closest friends.
I have known for awhile that I need to set reasonable achievable goals. I love to shoot for the moon as far as what I want to do and when it should be able to be done, but I have learned that there is only so much that can be done at a time.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
NO WALKING!!!!!!
I didn't walk during my 5.5 mile run today! I slowed down a couple of times, but that was only to let cars pass me by. It was great. I was wiped when I was finished, but it went fine. It was pretty warm when I ran, I had to carry my gloves and hat for the last mile of the run.
While I was running I was singing and thinking. That is what I think made me be able to get through the run with no walking. I was thinking about our house while running. I thought about how people lived many years ago. My house would have been huge back then! And we are wanting more space in our home? It is a weird thought. I know that some day I will end up with a bigger house because that is how our world is. I think it will just be expected to keep moving into a bigger house as I advance in my career. I don't want to be that materialistic, but I think it is inevitable. I hope that if some day we are blessed enough to have a large home, that we fill it to the brim with a family or people that are in need of space. That is what my wife Melissa has said she would want and I fully agree.
While I was running I was singing and thinking. That is what I think made me be able to get through the run with no walking. I was thinking about our house while running. I thought about how people lived many years ago. My house would have been huge back then! And we are wanting more space in our home? It is a weird thought. I know that some day I will end up with a bigger house because that is how our world is. I think it will just be expected to keep moving into a bigger house as I advance in my career. I don't want to be that materialistic, but I think it is inevitable. I hope that if some day we are blessed enough to have a large home, that we fill it to the brim with a family or people that are in need of space. That is what my wife Melissa has said she would want and I fully agree.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
It felt good to run, but I did terrible
Today my run went ok. I grabbed a handful of mail that we had to send out and took it to the nearest mailbox. That is approximately a mile and a half away so I knew that I had to make it at least that far and back. I did pretty well going a little farther, but I was pretty beat when I was done. I know that is a good thing, but it was tough. It was really hard running as there was a ton of snow on the ground that had frozen making the ground very unlevel.
Yesterday I had a talk with Melissa about being good with words. I prayed about that today during my run and had good results today at school with it. I am always glad to see quick results to prayer!
Tonight we have open house at school. It is going to be a really long day, but not to worry, I don't have to go to school tomorrow. The girls are going to be 4 months old and are getting their shots, so I won't be there. I can run in the morning before going to the doctor. That will be nice to run without having a time to focus on for getting home. I am hoping to go five miles tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. Especially with the ground in the shape that it is in.
Yesterday I had a talk with Melissa about being good with words. I prayed about that today during my run and had good results today at school with it. I am always glad to see quick results to prayer!
Tonight we have open house at school. It is going to be a really long day, but not to worry, I don't have to go to school tomorrow. The girls are going to be 4 months old and are getting their shots, so I won't be there. I can run in the morning before going to the doctor. That will be nice to run without having a time to focus on for getting home. I am hoping to go five miles tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. Especially with the ground in the shape that it is in.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Snow Day? 2/6
It looks terrible outside. I woke up and the sleet was hitting the windows and it sounded really bad. I was thinking there might be a snow day today and I could run during the day, but it didn't happen. I am hoping to make it home and get my miles in after school today. We'll see. The weather looks terrrible and weather.com says it is only getting worse. Ugh. Finally, I feel good enough to run and the weather isn't cooperating. Maybe it is God's way of telling me to take another day off.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Days off
I am thinking about trying to run tomorrow morning. I had a scare about not being able to breathe two nights ago, but I think I am over it. I had to get an inhaler and it has helped. I hope I don't need to use it anymore. I think it had to do with all of my congestion. I don't think that I will be able to put in 8 miles, but I am hoping to try for 4. I think that would be a good way to get back in it. It was tough taking this week off as it is so much at the beginning of the training, but I couldn't have made it without taking the time off. I was not able to do the most basic of things let alone run 3 to 5 miles.
Here's to hoping that next week will be much better.
Here's to hoping that next week will be much better.
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