Pics...and a realization...

** --Wherever there is injustice, you will find us. --Wherever there is suffering, we'll be there. --Wherever liberty is threatened, you will find... --The Three Amigos!

***Shhhh, careful, you don't want to scare off the ellusive Nando and Tigger...

Going to spoon feed the pictures to y'all as I don't have that many. Was too busy having fun I suppose. :)

I came to the realization that while I was a little dissapointed with my Disney half time, I had a damn good year overall! Heck, I just started to run last Feb. something my lungs never really allowed me to do prior and jeez, the year turned out pretty well. Okay, so it wasn't all my lungs fault, more like a faulty plan and follow through.... Last year I set a long term goal, but also MANY smaller goals which allowed me to progress and train my breathing slowly. Just something I knew I had to do from years of dealing with the condition. At times during the winter here it's been tough, but I think with some more patience and work, I can break through the 1hr 56min barrier and onto new goals! So if anything, by "failing" to improve on my time it really has helped to motivate me for bigger/better things in 2009.

So, I'm out of the funk and onto the next goal! :-) Well, still have this Eagles losing funk, but I'm kinda tired of football this season anyhow...almost relieved! Was a good run for them, and congrats to the Cardinals! Damn fine team!

Race Day Recap

So I said I’d do a recap of race day as I remembered it and here it is!

Since I had done two other half marathons in the past 7 months, this should be old hat, right? Well, I guess not as I didn’t actually fall asleep till 10:30p or so. Just couldn’t get comfortable as I started to think about the race more and more. The funny thing is that I wasn’t even thinking about myself! Was thinking about all the other Team Voicer’s, pictured us hanging out waiting for the thing to get going, possibly if there was someone to pace with, chatting about our triumph post-finish… That kind of thing. Also, I still had yet to meet “The Voice” and the oddly spelled “Bryan”! These are the guys that put the idea in my head in the first place! I tell ya though, after meeting Mike-speed, Matt (and Bill), Heath, Rae (and family), Lisa, and Trace on Thursday evening, I felt a lot more connected to the team as well as the event itself. Kinda validated the whole year of training, and talking to my internet Disney friends (which I have been eternally mocked for!! Ha! In your face non-believers!!! Again..ha!). Okay, so no-one really mocked me, but c’mon, admit it...when you tell people all about your Disney buddies from the internet that you have never met in person, people do look at you a little funny, right? Come to find out that this is more than an internet buddy group, this to me is a kind of family. We’ve gone through a lot together over the year and I consider you all friends :) Oh boy did that get off track! Here’s something you’ll really like….nuttin’ up my sleeve…presto!

2:40am….alarm went off and I snailed out of bed and into the shower. Mike was going to swing by at 3am to see if we (my friend Chris and I) were ready to head to the bus. Well, apparently I was in the shower and couldn’t hear and Chris was in some kind of sleep coma… Anyhooo, we both got ready and made our way to the bus (about 3:05am). Chilly for sure, but very bearable considering the frigid temps back in CT at the time. Like Deb, I had my iPod rockin’ while I was on the bus, a little Hercules (which I didn’t discover till recently…like a joke that you don’t get for a couple of weeks…you guys have been talking about “go the distance” all year!), and other mixed songs. First tingly feeling was when the bus rolled into Epcot and seeing Spaceship Earth, yes indeed, this is a much different half than what I had run prior… Found the couple of TV folks at the rally spot and listened to the band while wondering where the pre-race water was….note for next time, bring my own bottle for the pre-race…. Yada yada yada…The Voice strolls up (nice use of stroll, ehh) right next to me and greets us all. Gave him a pat on the back, shook his hand, said nice to meet you and then asked if he threw up yet…LOL Okay, it was more of a joke, but I’m not sure he took it that way…DOH! On to the race!

5:50 start. Running to Disney Craig was in the same corral so we decided to pace together. We chatted it up for the first 3 miles and the time seemed to fly by. I recall as we entered the Magic Kingdom saying to Craig “This is what we’re here for, right? Let’s do this!” At this point we were just strolling through the park, slappin’ fives, yelling “Git ‘er done” to the person who had that sign (too funny). Next thing I knew we were out of the Magic Kingdom and in front of the Grand Floridian, time just flew by. Crowds were awesome! Heard a ton of “Go Team Voice” cheers as well as folks yelling our names. Felt a boost of energy everytime we ran through the large crowds. At about mile 9 I started to feel a little tightness in the lungs so I slowed down a bit. Craig was looking great and went on ahead. For his first race he looked like a pro! I saved a little energy to try and make a run at him toward the end, but could only close within two minutes or so (was probably more like 3-4 at one point). After the ramp off of World Drive, which was just a killer angle not the elevation so much but the pitch was killer for my right leg. Started to speed up when I hit the peak of the off ramp as the lungs felt much looser. Yelled “Mongello” to a guy wearing a WDW Radio shirt as I passed him. He looked a little tired and perhaps annoyed…guessing it wasn’t the first “Mongello” he heard J Kept pace till I entered Epcot and noticed the time 1:58’ish so I picked up the pace through Epcot as I wanted to finish under 2hrs and wasn’t sure what my chip time was in comparison to the clock. The last burst of energy came when I saw a kid Eagles hat cheering….so I gave him an E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!! chant and he responded with a cheerful “GO EAGLES!!!” ha! Awesome! After that, I started to sprint it out a bit more. As I came to the finish line, the announcer said “and here comes Chris Cullen from Kesington CT, and the crowd cheered pretty darn loud! What a great crowd, cheering for tons of people they don’t know. What a thrill given that there were so many people in this race. I put my arms up and crossed the line, feeling like I could have probably run another few miles around the parks. Made my way back to our rally point and shared my run story with Mike-speed and Craig who were waiting there for me…Of course…Mike had to look down at his watch and say “what took you so long” ;-) Well played Mike-speed…well played… :)

With the goal of a full marathon here in CT I’ve got my hands full once again, but nothing will match the great time had at the Disney race. That is, until I return for my NEXT Disney race. If that race is next year, I hope y’all will be there as well!

Back to the Grind

Hi all, back home to reality and not loving it... to be expected.

Firstly, thanks to everyone for their support over the past year, it really helped keep me on target throughout. If I didn't have this community to chat with I'm honestly not sure I would have stuck with running or pushing myself to achieve. Just made it that much easier.

Having said that...I'm disapointed.... I know a sub two hour half marathon is good and all, but feel like I let myself down a little bit. November was such a good training month for me and got me down to running just over an 8 minute mile during my training, and then I gave it all back in December! So, yeah, I'm happy with the sub 2hour, but know I could have done better if I had been more disciplined. Didn't taint my trip at all as I had a blast! I know it was a great trip cause I feel that post trip let down more than I have in quite a while (sign of a great trip!).

I'll probably muse about all this over the next month or so, but wanted to blurt it out now cause it's been festering since I finished the race. Will give my own race recap in the next day or so.

Once I get back up to speed at work and school I'll start to figure out the plan to meet my next goal of completing a full marathon in October of this year (Hartford Marathon). Not sure if we'll make it back to Disney for Marathon weekend next year, but the hope is there. As I've told most of you guys, my wife would like to run the half next year, but is battling hard with some foot and knee issues. If we do go, there won't be a time consideration for me, I'll definitely be running/walking it with her!!!

I'll try to get my pictures up soon, only have a few...

and yes Mike F....GO EAGLES!!!!!!! (that's what got me sprinting to the finish line, a kid with an Eagles hat was cheering me on in the last .10....I gave him an E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES chant and he yelled back "Go Eagles" LOL

Ground Control to Major Tom....

Or should it be "Lights Camera Action!" ? In any event, I'm packed, locked, and ready to rock! Early morning flight and snow sleet is already falling....should be a lovely morning commute to the airport and waiting around hoping that they don't delay it!

Won't have internet while I'm down there most likely, so I'll post when I get back. Later dudes!

Are we there yet?

Jeez, this thing just snuck up on me! Meetings all today, then MBA class all night....more of the same meeting schedule tomorrow then on to packing and sleep as 4:30a is going to roll around pretty darn quick on Wednesday. Weather is looking like a wintery mix for Wednesday morning...here's to hoping that the flight isn't delayed!

Depending on what time we get in I'm thinking that we may head over to Animal Kingdom for the afternoon. We'll see how the flight goes though....

Have run the past 4 nights and feel pretty good at this point. No run tonight as I don't get home till 9 or 10pm. Will try to get another 3 mile treadmill run in tomorrow night and will get out for a quick one on Thursday while down there. Other than that, I think I'm ready for this thing!

Anyone freakin' out? ;-)

What time is it?

Game time... or almost...

Getting some short 3 milers in pretty much every day lately to try and burn some holiday weight and keep the legs moving. Lung have been feeling tight lately. Not sure if I've got a mild bug or what, but something to keep an eye on.

Happy New Year all, since I fogot to post yesterday! My wife has been working alot this week so I've been busy with the kiddies and little to no time for other stuff. Jonathan was looking for resolutions I think. I'm not big on the year beginning resolution thing, more of a change on the fly kinda guy, but I'll give it a go. Not sure if it's a resolution or a directive, but I'm resolving to run a full marathon this year in under four and a half hours. I'm taking the conservative approach on the time as I've never run longer than the half marathon and have no idea what I'm going to be in for! I'm shooing for the Hartford Marathon in October, but who knows...I might try to get one in this summer if I feel up to it, just to give it a go. Perhaps the real resolution here is that the running thing isn't just for 2008, I'm resolving to keep this going into 2009 and hopefully will make it permanant after that!

Little trip anxiety as I'm still working on my "plan" and haven't talked with the friend of mine that will be heading down with me! Not sure if he's going to buy into the plan or not...it's all good, I don't mind flying solo in the parks if he wants to do something else. :-)

On the Road Again...

Got outside with all my spiffy new winter running gear. All I can say is...the gear held up great! Other than that...not so much. At about mile 2 I got lung locked and it hurt so much that I had to walk for a 1/4 mile before starting back up slowly. Same thing happened again at around mile 4. Walked another 1/4 mile and was able to back going with no other occurrences. In total I got 9 miles in, another disapointment. Condition-wise it was around 38 degree's with wind gust up to 25-30mph, not ideal conditions, but I should have been okay...not sure what happened...ugh. Very frustrated at the moment and being only 11 days out doesn't help matters. Just seems that I need to get more work in here prior to leaving next week than I wanted to. :-( As I had mentioned previously, the couple of pounds I gained this past week hasn't helped matters either.

Even though I'm frustrated right now, I'm still optimistic that I'll be good for the race. The other positive being that I'm guessing the temp won't dip lower than the 40's (my lungs will like that!). With withhold judgement on my actual condition till early next week.

Here's to hoping that everyone else is on track and ready to go for this thing!

So much to do, so little time..

Boy, I let myself go a bit over the past couple of weeks. I've done okay on the running end of things, but not on the food (not going to say how much weight...oy). The good news is that my metabolism is on my side, and have had a couple of days eating better on the road to recovery. I'm not sure that my time goals are in reach just yet, but will assess by this weekend and adjust the pace as necessary. The one thing I don't want to do out there is hurt myself. Anyhoo, I'm pretty psyched at this point for the trip. Didn't realize that I'd be back to work two days and then off to Florida, not sure how that snuck up on me. Not to mention that my MBA program kicks back in on Jan 5 with Quantitative Analysis/Statistics, fun fun! Will have some reading to bring with me for sure.

Haven't put in my second long run for December yet and looks like I'll be doing it in the snow tomorrow or Wednesday. Not a big deal, might cut back on the pace and up the miles as an adjustment.

More fantasy football stuff.... Won a league championship in one of the leagues I play in and will be putting that money into the 2010 Marathon weekend trip. Kinda psyched about that. :-)

Sorry for the hiatus

I'm back! Sort of! This week has been nuts with year end closeout projects at work..."landing the plane" as our finance folks call it, takes a bit more work than we originally anticipated. Also, it appears they want us to "take off" our financial plane for 2009, so that took a good amount of budget work as well. Throw in the final class for this segment (Marketing) for my MBA program and I had a nice work/school sandwich going on! Anyhoo, all my year end closeout, year beginning budget/renewal, etc., and Marketing work is done! Got an A in Marketing to boot!

Thank you all for your kind comments on the B-day and the unfortunate incident that happend! Window was fixed last Tuesday, so everything is back to normal, sort of.

Training has been treadmill based as of late due to the activites mentioned above. Snowing and 27 degrees here today, looks like we're forcasted for 8-12 inches, fun fun. Anyhoo, I'm off from work till Jan 5 and will hopefully have some outdoor runs during that span! Haven't had a good food week or two which is disasterous given that I've been scraping by on the running. :-( Injury to insult, I've had this pain in my lower leg for two weeks now. Seems to pop up when I use the treadmill more...I'm sure it'll be fine though.

It's getting late early! Up and at'em T.V.

Fantasy Football...for those who care... I fell short in the MouseGuest fantasy football league this past week. Was the #2 seed in the playoffs and bounced in the semi's...considering that my team was autodrafted for me...I'm actually happy that I made it that far. I'm in the finals of my "money" league and hoping to bring home a championship. So, for all you football fans...let's root for the following players! Donovan McNabb (Go Eagles!), Thomas Jones, Maurice Jones-Drew (had a good game last night), Pierre Thomas, Larry Fitzgerald, Brandon Marshall, Lance Moore, Seattles own John Carlson ;-), Eagles Defense, and some kicker dude...forgot who I have....

Smash and Grab...

What a lovely birthday it turned out to be. The plan, go out to dinner and then to a showing of "Bolt". Well, dinner went okay, but when we went out to the car....smashed drivers side window and the GPS unit..gone.gotta love people.... I'm sure it's societies fault, right? Anyhoo, no Bolt, happy B-day.. :-(

Happened to me 10 years ago with my in dash radio in broad daylight...It's the time that it takes to get it all fixed and such that I'm more angry about. What can ya do.


Hope all y'all that are down at the Mousefest meets (Florida and northwest) are having a great day! Have a drink for me!

In the Long Run...

Great Eagles tune....

Put 12 miles in today for my long run. Almost thought I wasn't going to get them in this weekend due to work schedules, but my lovely wife got up early today so I could get out. Thanks honey! :-)

35 degree's, seeing my breath, etc. Not too much wind, so it was actually kinda nice. Ran a little slower than normal as I didn't really want to push my lungs coming off the chest cold I had. Was a little tight in the lungs after, but feel good now. Ran around 8:20's on average, which isn't too bad on this route with all the hills.

Anyhoo, one more long run on the 27th o r 28th prior to the race.

The Great Outdoors

No, no John Candy or Dan Ackroyd...Just me on the open road jog'n right along. First run outside for me in a couple of weeks, so it's sort of an accomplishment. Working from home today, so it made it very easy to get one in. 4.51 miles total at an average pace of 8:04. Not bad, thought I'd be slower as I wanted to warm my lungs up for the first mile (8:16). Did feel a little pain as my lungs expanded on the first monster hill which is only .3 miles from my start. Settled in though and felt okay the rest of the way. Still, a balmy 45 degrees and wearing shorts and short sleeves! Gotta love it.

This blog was almost entitled "Throw me a fricken bonus", but I like the other better. Totally unexpectedly my boss hands me a letter stating that I recieved some kind of team award and would receive a cash bonus, woohoo! Really just happy to have a job given the economy and all....but this was really nice as it's been insane lately... Sooooo, not worrying about getting the annual pass or spending money while down in the World anymore! Not exactly "drinks on me" money, but perhaps if y'all show up to the Rant-meet I might be persuaded...

One more thing. My daughter bought me the coolest gift ever today! My wife took her to the Disney store and she told her they had to buy me this Perry the Platypus stuffed animal. It growls like Perry and everything! Best Gift EVER! am I looney or what? ;-)

Are we there yet?

Almost asked myself that question today when I saw the mail. A nice neat little letter package was in there with the words "Disney Magical Express" on the cover. Then it hit me, my luggage tags and such, ahhhhh. First time for me using magical express, so it was a little exciting to see. :-)

Feeling a little bit better today, well enough to tough out a 5k on the mill just now (not too much hacking afterwards). Looking forward to getting outside for this weekends run...it's been too long since I ran outside. Feel like I'm in confession or something "So my son, how long has it been since your last outdoor run?" TOO LONG! I'm learning that it's not only the desire to get out there when the temps dip to a ripe temp of 30'ish, but its other stuff too! Like, it gets dark around 4p, so there goes the after work run (too many nutty drivers...and other nutty things...people..etc...wouldn't feel safe). Would run during my lunch, but I've been working straight through lunch and it doesn't appear to be letting up (I know, I know, be thankful I've got a job! or that I'm not run down by a mob of Christmas shoppers...jeez that a sad story and state of affairs....:-(.....)

Anyhow, enough of my bitching! Happy to at least have the treadmill outlet when life gets in the way of nice fulfilling outdoor runs! The plan is to get a long run of 12.5 in this weekend and do one final long run in two weeks (probably on my birthday, the 13th...gives me good leverage to take a couple hour run!) I'll be thinking of all your Mousefesters enjoying your meets on the 13th, wishing I was there.... Perhaps next year as I'll have that annual pass burning a whole in my pocket!

How's everyone else doing? Rae, you still with us? We NEED ya! :-) Looks like Heath is back in action, woohoo! Deb has been kicking tail for like 12 months...Mike-speed is priming his jets...Jeff is...well...I dunno...tending to the corn?... Jonathan sounded in good spirits last show.... Dare I say it...Team Voice is primed and ready to roll through WDW? I know there are plenty more T.V'ers out there too!

Sick and such

Not feeling all that great the past couple of days, some kind of upper respiratory thing. Not fun. Anyhoo, going to get some kind of light cardio in tonight and see how I feel aftwards. With a little over a month to go I think the next couple of weeks are the most critical, so we'll just have to wait and see. Stinks cuase I think I gained a pound or two over thanksgiving! ;-)

First snow for us in CT this morning, nothing that will last or hang out, but cool nonetheless.

Happy Thanksgiving

Best wishes to all the Team Voicers out there. Have a happy and safe holiday and keep the foot on the gas with your training....not too many days left...

Frigid..

It's a bit nippy here in CT today (33 at noon), but was going to forge ahead and still get an outdoor run. Well, after trying to figure out what to wear I decided to stick to the treadmill and brave it on Sunday (it's supposed to actually be colder). Waiting for some winter gear that I ordered before I'm brave enough to get out there for a long run. Last time I just went with the sweatpants, there were all sorts of issues :-) Anyhow, just confessing to wimpin' out on the run. Did get 5.15 miles in on da mill, so all is not lost for today.

One other thing. I've been slacking off on the push ups/sit ups, so I'm going to start posting them on the training log so y'all can get on my case if you don't see some numbers! Gotta get that core ready for January!

Let's not "Stretch" the Truth....

Check out this very interesting article on stretching that my work running team forwarded on to me. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112pewarm.html?_r=1

Now let's see your best "spider-man" stretch!!!!

4.25 mi treadmill run last night. I tell ya, for the first time in a while, I felt like I could have gone 5-6 miles on the TM without even thinking about it...just felt good. Part of it being that I was trying to envision the race in January....much easier now that we're so close.

Sunday Long Run

11.11 mi run in 1:29:33 (8:03 average). Colder this morning with a pretty strong head wind. Pretty much typical of all my long runs, tight to start, loose by mile 4-5, and pretty strong through the end. Felt alot better by the end of the run this time around, like I could keep pace for another couple miles. Almost there....

Thanks Heath, not sure how I forgot about Animal Kingdom. Might actually be a really good idea. Don't worry, I fairly certain that Lou doesn't read this blog ;-)

Simple Update

4.15 mile run today. Started out pretty quick and settled down into a couple of hills (up and down). Long run Sunday, 10.6 miles.

Splits:
7:40
7:42
8:03
8:04
0:45

Trip update: Made the final payment on my DVC point rental the other day (Beach Club Villas). They informed me that we're all set with our Magical Express reservations as well, so we're locked and ready to rock! Looking into my ticket options now. Might just get a 10-Day no expiration as we're going to be back down there with the family next November. Not sure I need the park hopper as I don't plan to hop this trip. Going to pick a park for a day and stick with it. Tentatively, it'll be Thursday - Studios, Friday - Magic Kingdom, Saturday - Epcot. Might do a park on Wednesday too as we get to Orlando at 9:45a and can't check in till 4pm... Any advice?

News and Notes...

Training is going okay in my camp. Speed is up as I've been running in the 8 min mile range for a few weeks now. Overall mileage is level at around 70 miles a month, but my long runs are increasing on a weekly basis (with the exception of the last two weeks cause of illness). This weekend's long run will be 10.6 miles and will increase .5 mile per long run till Jan.

Gel goo stuff... After listening to Steve and Bryan on the last couple of podcasts, I've decided to give the gel stuff a go for my long runs. Will try to incorporate them this weekend. Why the change? Well, as you might know I've struggled with the energy level in the last couple of miles for my two half marathons and want to do something to improve. The incremental addition to my long runs is part of that plan, and now trying the goo..... Steve did make the point to try it a couple of times as it might take some getting used to, so I'll be sure to try it at least twice. Any personal experience on this that you can share? I know Jonathan tried them and didn't seem to agree with him...

Props to Deb for her recent weight loss and hitting her training goals! Both you and Rae continue to inspire me on your work ethic and great attitude! Mike Fess as well for fighting through the injury situation! Mike Speed lives on!!! Shout out to Jeff W. as well....I personally call you "Mr. Steady" as you always keep an even keel throughout this process which appeals to my stead side. Long story short, you guys keep this team together with all that you bring. Thanks! (Mention to Mike Greene as well for always keeping my achievment goals in focus :-))

Quick last day of vacation recap as I hadn't done that yet.

Last day (Friday Nov. 7) spent at Magic Kingdom again.

We purposely left Tomorrowland off of our Wednesday MK visit so we could focus on that and our favorites for Friday. We were able to see Stich's no so great Escape (thumbs down from the wife and daughter), Monsters Laugh Floor (thumbs up, almost seemed too short), Buzz Lightyear (just okay after experiencing Toy Story Mania on Monday), TTA (had to give the little guy his bottle and this worked out perfect), Tomorrowland Speedway (daughter loves this, our necks...not so much!). After this run of rides, we were hungry and stopped in at Pecos Bills for a bite. Pretty much steady counter service here, but had the no backs on the chairs....the little guy was taking a nap on me and I had nothing to lean back on! We hit Splash Mountain after lunch (had a fastpass) and I was permitted to go this time (by my daughter...). Being the ride junky she is now, she wanted to sit in the front of the log, so we waited a little bit longer. She walked me through the whole ride telling me when the drops where, what was going on with Brer Rabbit/fox/bear....and of course the "Bad Birds" on the way to the big drop. Just classic!

By the time we got through all of this, it was time to do our shopping and get back to the house to pack. We did stop into the bakery on Main Streeth after shopping for some weight gain specials. We all split some kind of cherry filled pastry, a banana pudding bread thingee, and an apple pastry. There wasn't a crumb left on the tray..... Sooooo good though! After that, we headed back for a swim in the pool, packing and out to dinner. Great trip overall. However, I'm looking forward to seeing the parks without the family in January as well...will allow me to take my time and check out those things we typically blow by.

Pic of YOAMD Stuff

Figured you guys might be interested to see what the pins/lanyard look like that I got from the Dream Squad. Cool stuff.. Wonder how many of these pins they made, or more to the point if they are worth anything! ha!

Epcot...

So we weren't sure how this one was going to go as the attractions at Epcot are not really geared toward a 4 year old (or younger). Nemo/Crush, yes, and of course we hit this first. Had done this the last time we were here, so it was a known commoditiy. We had fastpassed Soarin' since my daughter is now a thrill ride junkie, apparently. I'm not going to go through the whole day, but lets just say there are good days with the kids and then there are bad days...this was one of the bad days...

The one thing I will report on is the Soarin' experience. We went back at our fastpass time (after Figment/HISTA..or at least part of it..) and decided to do the swap thing. My wife and daughter went first and I waited with my son. They came out after the ride and my daughter said she didn't want to go again, but did like it...big mistake for not wanting to ride with dear old dad.... I was waiting in the hangar line (or whatever it's actually called) and noticed some guy talking to the group in the front....then ensued some kind of cheering....he started to walk up the line with a counter clicking off the number of people in our line...uh, okay.... as the line started to move I figure it out. It was the dream squad and they were giving away prizes to our line. Too cool :-) We all got Year of a Million Dreams Pin's (2 of them) and Lanyard. Very cool as I NEVER win, well, anything! LOL One pin has Donald and Goofey and the other has Mickey and Minnie with the YOAMD logo in the middle. So my daughter would have got one if she just rode with me! ha! I'll hold onto it and perhaps when she gets a little older and into pin trading, she can have it. Wondering how many of these pins were made....maybe one of the guys knows.

Ran 4.5 today at just under 8 minutes a mile, and yes Rae, it's totally FLAT here! You should run the area where I live, if there's a half mile at the same elevation it's amazing... I think the new shoes are helping as well. Also, I do get to ride the rides, just didn't do as many since we wanted to see alot of stuff and didn't want to waste time in the swap transaction. Also, I figured that I'm going to be alone in Jan. and can see everything without having to worry about the kids :-) One more....the last two trips my wonderful wife allowed me to run off to rides while she hung with the kid/family. I'm having fun just being here, so it's all good.

Magic Kingdom Day

I know the other reviews were a bit on the long winded side, so I'll try to keep this one brief..."try" being the operative word!

Okay, so we had a 8:25a reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table, so it was "up and at them" (Simpson's reference) really early today. The plan was breakfast, fantasyland, perhaps some of frontierland, and then home for naps/lunch. Then back to it for a list of evening attractions. So how did we do?

Got to the park exactly on time, walking down Main Street by 8:15a. As many have said before, its really nice to walk in with only a couple of others and not the mob that ensues at rope drop. We had done CRT for lunch last year so I was interested to compare how they handled the breakfast crowd. Actually, breakfast was the way to go, much quicker in, food was good (normal breakfast fare, but all you can eat which was a nice twist..and not a buffet either, woohoo). Same routine for the princesses as our prior experience. We saw Belle, Aurora, Snow White, Cinderella (at the entrace for pictures) and Jasmine. Last time it was Fairy Godmother instead of Jasmine. I know it's kinda on the pricey side, but my daughter loves this one, so we'll probably ride this as long as she's into the princesses. Will most likely stick to the breakfast as well.

We were done with breakfast right at 9am and out into Fantasyland. Got on Dumbo right away (3 min wait...there's ALWAYS some kind of wait at Dumo, lol). Went over to Mickey's Philharmagic, a new one for us, and loved it. Walk right on to Peter Pan, pretty much, not bad... a little Mr. Toad in the air kinda thing, but that's not exactly a bad thing. We fastpassed Pooh and got in line to meet Ariel. Loooong line there and took about 45 min for my daughter/wife to get to her. Had to though as my daughter had her Ariel costume on..wouldn't be the same if she didn't get an autograph. My son and I rode Dumbo while they were waiting, he was laughing up a storm, thumbs up from him. He had a bottle, I had my coffee for the rest of the wait. They came out and we went to use the fastpasses. Liked what they did with the Pooh ride. Last time we were on that one it was Mr. Toads Wild Ride!

We made really good time due to short lines and such, so we took a jaunt over to Frontierland to see if my daughter would ride Big Thunder. Well, she insisted on going on Splash Mountain....figured she'd chicken out, right? Nope, she dragged my wife on and had an awesome time, crazy 4 year old... She then dragged her to Big thunder and loved that one too. Told me all about it while jumping up and down stating that she wanted to ride Splash Mountain again. It was noon though so we headed out to grab lunch and a nap. Went back for the evening, so she could ride BT and SM again. Along the way over we rode Alladin and the Jungle Cruise (just an okay skipper). Got the Teacups and the Barnstormer (2x) before sitting down at Cosmic Rays for dinner. My daughter was too funny, siging along while munching on her fries...lol We were going to stay for the fireworks, but decided not to as the little guy was getting restless and since the day went so well, we decided not to chance it. (Did I mention that we got to ride in front of the monorail as well?) Just an overall great day with a ton packed into it! Going back to MK on Friday to spend some time in tomorrowland and get in the "greatest hits" tour. Epcot tomorrow.

Sorry if this is incoherent, just trying to blurt it out there so I can relax for the rest of the evening!

Day 2 and 3

Run Update - Ran 5 miles today at 7:53/mi pace...what the....Holy fast Batman! Felt really good and the new shoes just catapult me forward! Again, it's REALLLLY flat around the house here in Kissimmee, so I'm sure that helps as well. Feels good nonetheless.

Day 2 - ADR Breakfast at Chef Mickey's then on to Animal Kingdom.

Chef Mickey's - First, the Contemporary is REALLY cool, huh? Never been close or in it prior (aside from on the monorail). Always thought it was one of those "old" hotels and not somewhere I'd like to go. Wrong! Super clean and definitely somewhere I'd like to stay. On to the review. Had a 9:20a ADR and got there at 9:15...waited 5 minutes and we were in. Nicely done on the timing front. They are doing construction there next to the hostess station (Chef Mickey's Express?) and it was pretty darn loud. Was hoping that it didn't carry over to our area, and it really didn't. We were seated by the "window" which was nice as we had a great view of the whole room from there without having to crane the head around. Characters a plenty! Mickey, Donald, Goofey, Pluto, and Minnie. All were great (as ususal), and spent a good amount of time at the table. My 11 month old loved the characters (wasn't sure how that was going to go). He turned around to someone tapping on his shoulder to have a very large mouse staring him in the face! He laughed out loud and was reaching out as if to be held. Did the same for all the other characters too (phew, as there were kids his age that didn't fare so well). Daughter loved the characters, food, etc. Food was good and plentiful although I hate buffets....just an exercise in patience with people at a buffet line....everyone following their own rules and all. What can ya do. Service was great as well, very friendly and accomodating. 4 stars for this one and something I'll do again in a heartbeat.

We spent the afternoon at the Animal Kingdom and it didn't go as well as with the Studios. The kids didn't get their naps, so it was kind of a mild meltdown for the little guy. We were able to get into the Nemo show and stayed for most of it, but were sitting in the back and not able to see very well. Looked as good as reviewed though and would like to see the whole thing next time (in better seats ;-)). Spent a good amount of time (an hour I think) at the playground in Dinoland. Also hit a couple of the kids rides there as well. No Everest this trip. Walked along the conservation trail to give the little guy some time to nap in the stroller. Lots of wildlife along the trail and was one of the more enjoyable pieces of the day. The gorrillas are pretty darn cool as well. We had fast passes for Killamanjaro, but ended up leaving as it was going to be way too much to keep the kids out till they came due. I think the plan went against us on this one, but seeing as how we never toured with an 11 month old, it's all new! Have a better strategy for tomorrow as it's Magic Kingdom day (CRT for breakfast at 8:20, some planned attractions, home for naps, back for the early evening touring).

Tuesday (today) was our planned day off so we did the playground and such. Nap schedule was in full effect as well!

Day 1 - MGM Studios

That's right, I went there...ha! It'll always be MGM to me for whatever reason.

Quick run update - Went for a 3.15 miler this morning...Love running here, totally flat! LOL Averaged 8:05/mi. Now, I'm sure I wouldn't love the heat in the summer...Just sayin'.

Anyhoo, as I said many times, this is my favorite park. Something about the movies and being part of that action has always appealed to me.

On with the quick report (have beer to attend to...). Arrived just after rope drop, much to my wifes dismay, but was able to park up front with the AAA Diamond Parking pass (sweet deal that we've used for years now). Went straight for the Toy Story Mania speed pass which listed 1:10-2:xx, wow these things go fast! Then on to the Little Mermaid.

Little Mermaid - Getting there first thing in the morning helps as we walked right in. Now, we didn't do this last year as my daughter was 3 and we had read that it could get scary with the Ursula scene and the darkness. Seeing as how she's 4 now we figured we'd give it a try. Being the free spirited little red-head she is, we just had to see Ariel. Show was well put together overall. Music was better than I thought it would be, props to the siging talent :-) Daughter wasn't scared at all either, which was AWESOME for us parents, ha! My little guy (11mos now) watched from my lap and loved the music (bopped up and down) and almost fell asleep through Usula, interestingly enough. Huge hurdle for parents with kids this age and sets the stage for the rest of the day. Also makes you feel better about dumping the boat load of cash to visit when the kids are actually enjoying it!

After the little mermaid we waited for the High School Musical 3 show only for it to be cancelled due to rain. It "rained' on and off all day, nothing that made us rush for cover, but I suppose danging around and such could be dangerous, who knows. We opted for the Great Movie Ride at this point. While I was parking the stroller....funny side story... cast member asked if she could park it for me and I said "I've got it ma'am, I'm Stroller Boy...." but I digress... While doing that my daughter was attacked by rogue chipmunks! Okay, it was Chip and Dale who were heading in from their autograph session, but I wished I was there and they all had a nice hug moment, and I missed it :-(. Great Movie ride was good, a few updates in there, but mainly the same thing I saw back in 1992 (I'm pretty sure).

Next was Playhouse Disney. My wife and daughter went alone and I walked around the whole park with the little guy who decided he wanted a nap in the stroller. Love to just walk around the parks, cool stuff. They said it was fun, daughter was more interactive during the show, again, happy to see she's enjoying herself more this time! The point is that the previous two trips (at 2 and then 3) were really good warm up trips and now she knows what to expect (even asks about things we did in the past). She went for some little Einstein meet and sign time after and we then went for lunch. No ADR here. We asked what my daughter wanted to do and it was a resounding "Turkey Leg". I've got a picture of her choppin on a turkey leg the last couple of years now, so it was nice to add another shot (will post when I can). I've done Sci-Fi and 50's Prime time in the past, but would like to do Mama Melrose and Brown Derby sometime in the future.

After lunch was the best stop of the day, Toy Story Mania. Wow, what a cool ride/game. I had my son on my lap and my wife had my daughter so we could all ride together. Nothing I didn't like about this one. I can totally see how people could ride this thing over and over again. I think my score was something in the 170k range..not bad for a first timer with a 11 month old on my lap ;-)

Went for a walk after this to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, at least I think that's what it was... Wife and daughter went in and I strolled around with my son. Cast member standing in front of Lights, Motors, Action asked if I needed anything...said I'm just strollin' around, to which he said "it looks like you have room in that double stroller, can I join in!" I said, yeah, if you have 35 bucks! Ya know, cause a double costs 35/day now....he laughed and said "very true...". Had to get my stroller price hike dig in there. Yeah, like it was his fault, ha!

Last stop of the day was a never miss on any trip I've taken, Beauty and the Beast. However, I gotta tell ya, it wasn't good... Same show and all, but being the last, or near last, show of the day it seemed like these guys were mailing it in. I've seen this show like 5 times prior and always the first show of the day so I'm just guessing they were tired at this point, who knows. Belle was way off the music, they ARE singing this, right? Not recorded? I recall the interview with Paige O'Hare that Jonathan/Bryan did and it sounded like they did those "live". Anyhow, wasn't very good and I recommend going earlier..Probably will rethink that one next time.

Had to get out of the park by this time, kids were at their line as were we! All in all a great park experience with two little ones! We beat the system! ha!

Sorry for the long post, I'll try to be more concise as the week goes on.

We've Arrived

Hey folks, we've arrived here at WDW in one piece and feeling better. Tough flight with the two kids, but gotta say it went pretty well. Little guys was a tad restless, but that's what you get for waking him up at 4am. :-)

Settled into the house we rented, beautiful! Ended up with delivery "pizza" for dinner. Can't understand how there hasn't been a revolt down here on the pizza front.... What can ya do.

Heading to the Studios tomorrow, my personal favorite...yep, I'm whacked... ADR at Chef Mickey's Monday (I'm pretty sure). Looking forward to that one due to all the rave reviews.

Will try to get a run in tomorrow morning, if not, then perhaps in the evening...gotta go with the flow this week.

Holy Sick Batman!

One day before our Disney trip and *BAM* some kind of virus hits me like a brick last night. Got the chills, nausea, and mild aches. Needless to say the nasea came to fruition last night as well as some other unpleasantness...Not going to get into detail... Just had my first food of the day, a piece of toast, yum. Still need to vote and pack for the trip. Thankfully, my wife handles all of the kid packing.

Here's to hoping that this thing passes today/tonight! :-)

I think I can...

Was the little train that could yesterday.. Sunday was long run day, but waking up I just didn't feel like I was going to make it. Kids have been sick and up/down all night long making the sleep thing, not so much... My goal was to add .5 mile to last weeks run for a total of 10.1 miles. Well, decided to just take it easy for the first couple of miles and see how I felt. Mile 2, junk... Mile 4, getting better...Mile 5, jammin'! Soooo, I just kept it up and did the whole 10.1, woohoo! Going for 10.6 next Sunday while down in Orlando, will need to do the whole MapMyRun thing as I have no idea where I'm going (staying somehwere new).

6 days.....

One week...

Good tune, good tune.... Not to mention that it's also the duration left till vacation! Rae asked, so I figured I'd give the timeline update. :-) Been watching the videos and Tivo'd episodes of Samantha Brown's specials to get everyone in the mood. Staying off site as per the usual with the family, but we couldn't pass up the space we're going to get for the same money it would have cost on-site. Five bedroom house with a pool only a couple of minutes away from the parks, what's not to like? Having said that, I'm psyched to be staying on-site for the January trip.

Going to order the new shoes today and wil hopefully be breaking them in while in Orlando. Should get some great mileage in while down there. Pesky work always getting in the way up here...

Long run tomorrow, going to start adding a half mile to my weekly long runs (per advice from Mike Greene). Based on the horrid final 3 miles of the last half I'm looking to build my endurance in order to finish better and this is route I chose. Running the distance more often will help me know what my body is going to do when I get there and help me plan for it. At least I think it will...lets hope!

The Weather Starting Getting Rough.....

Cold is moving on in here in the NorthEast, much like I'm hearing from upstate NY, MN, and Iowa. So, pro's, I'm new at this outdoor running thing during the winter, what do I buy? I've googled winter running gear and man, there's a ton of stuff out there. Has anyone done the research and learned the lessons that can be shared? Both the wife and I would really appreciate it! Speaking of the wife, Lorraine, she's doing great! Her planter facitis seems to have been treated by the cortisone shots (for the last couple of months anyhow) and she's back up to around 4.5 mile runs (somewhere in the 9ish/mi timeframe). To recap, she's planning on being up to full speed for the 2010 half marathon. Very proud of her fighting through this foot issue as she nearly took a header down a flight of stairs (carrying our son) because of it, but I'm not going to get into all of that. She's one determined person for sure. :-)

Any winter running gear advice would be awesome, thanks folks!

So far, so good..

Training is up this month, feel motivated by the so-so performance I put in at the Hartford Half-Marathon as well as the proximity to the Disney Half. Getting close and can feel it, but need this kind of month in November, December, and early January if I want to meet my goals. :-)

Starting to like working from home a bit more (from time to time that is). It allows me to get a good run in every time where it's hit and miss when I'm at the office. My home course is also a lot more challenging as well. Did 5 miles during lunch today and feel pretty good overall.

Ordering new shoes in the next day or so, these are definitely starting to break down on me. Going with the same make/model as they have served me well in the middle part of this year.

Congrats to all on the Corn-Vator run! and especially to those that ran the half marathon over the weekend! Kate and Jeff W. I believe, right? Great job guys!

Stroller Boy v. Corn-Vator

Yeah, I realize that it's Darth Vader, but ya see what I did there... Corn Elevator....huh, huh... ;-)

Anyhoo, went for my corn elevator of death run this afternoon and completed 9.6 miles in 1:24:27. Not too shabby. Wasn't looking for any kind of speed here as I still feel I'm recovering form the half last week.

Anyhoo, best of luck to the rest of you on your runs this weekend!

Stretch Goals

and no, I don't mean your goals on how much stretching you want to do, although that could be an interesting topic...

At work we have what we know as "stretch goals" and they denote those goals that are not the day to day operational tasks, but those that might be realized if the stars were aligned. As in "full implementation and roll out of a major system within a year". Probably not attainable, but with super smart planning, the right people, and a little luck....it could happen. These aren't things we get "dinged" for as long as we meet the operational goal, but something that goes on your record and toward excellerated promotion and such.

Anyhow, enough of the IT crap... I thought this priniciple could apply to training goals. So, if you have ONE stretch goal for the race in January, what would it be? Mine.... averaging 8:30/mi for the whole race. It's a stretch in that it's nearly 25 seconds a mile cut in my last two half marathon averages and I'm resigning to the fact that I'm going to have to work with only 3-4 runs (more likely 3) a week for training between now and then.

What's your stretch goal? :-)

Boy meets wall....OR...and Now..Main Street Awaits...

Hey there, hi there, ho there....no wait...that's not it.... Hello there and welcome to ALL About the Blog'n Right Along....Nope, still not it....Man, this intro stuff is hard! I need Jeff W. to write me a catchy intro I thinks :-)

Anyhoo. Yes, I hit the wall and then felt like I dragged it for the rest of the race (can you find where in the splits below? :-)). Much tougher course than the half I ran back in June by far. However, I still was able to post a better time by.....well.....16 seconds overall. 1hr56min25sec (8:53/mi average) compared to the 1:46:41 from the other half. Very dissapointed and know exactly why. Didn't get the repetitions in prior to this race as I had in the last. Something to build on for sure. My long runs need to be longer and I need to do my best on getting an extra run in during the week and work on finishing stronger. That said, I'm not completely dissapointed. It was a beautiful morning, lungs were just fine after warming them up properly (49 degrees at the start), scenery along the Connecticut River was amazing fall foilage and such... Lots of folks cheering....8,000 participants between all three races (3120 in the half, of which I finished 1147) .

Focused now on getting the training back on track for January (and WDW vacation in 20 days). The friend of mine that will be running in the WDW race ran this one as well. On a very bad knee he was able to finish in 2:40:00 so a great job to stick with it on his part as well. Although he hasn't officially joined T.V. I kinda feel he's an honorary member as I talk about y'all to him and he always asks how "the team" is doing. He'll come to the Epcot meet after the race so y'all can meet him (military vet, very proud of him).

So now.....I can really feel the words...."Main Street Awaits"!!!

PS - I'll keep sayin' it....Body Glide....best advice EVER given to me, thanks Jeff! (I think it was Jeff..Saw many bloody shirts at the finish...OUCH!!)

Splits (from my watch, pretty well in sync with the race timing)

Mile 1- 9:10 (working through the crowd)

Mile 2- 8:43

Mile 3- 8:36

Mile 4- 8:24

Mile 5- 8:33

Mile 6- 8:40

Mile 7- 8:40

Mile 8- 8:51

Mile 9- 8:50

Mile 10- 8:47

Mile 11- 9:24

Mile 12- 9:34

Mile 13- 9:51

Ready...I think...

Took in a good run yesterday, 4 mi route down here where I work. Lungs felt good...of course, the weather was beautiful and warm. Will definitely warm up the lungs tomorrow prior to the race and hope for the best. Overall, I feel good about this race though. Trying not to look too far ahead to January, of which I've been thinking more and more about. Man, that's going to be a great trip! :-)

Will post in the afternoon/evening tomorrow to let everyone know how I did.

Sidebar - Anyone have a routine a couple of weeks out prior to a race to buid up the resistance to colds and such? Thinking about this as my kids have been sick all week and hoping it's not going to get me between today/tomorrow!

Oh, and uh....22 days till WDW.... :)

Climate Change and Training

All - Had a horrid run yesterday and think it had to do with not properly warming my breathing up before running in the cooler air. Chest tightened right up and made for a painful run! Only 3 miles and ran it at 9:06/mi pace when it should have been 8:30'ish.



Found this article. May be a "duh" think for you experienced runners, but news to me! Most of my training in Feb-April was indoor, so I never had to deal with this till now. Guessing the asthema has a little to do with it in my case, but perhaps not.....going out tomorrow and will try a different approach. Saturday's start is at 8am where it's expected to be 49 degrees.



http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NHF/is_/ai_86649559

Go Sox!

Sox moving on to the ALCS to meet the Tampa Rays..woohoo! Okay, so I know most of you aren't into the baseball thing, but I had to say SOMEthing. Ya know, since my Eagles have been stinking up the place....OY!

What's this? A little life injected into T.V. as of late? Lets try to translate that into some training folks! Heading out tomorrow for a light run in prep for the Hartford Half Marathon this Saturday. Totatly didn't expect that I'd run two of these races prior to the Disney race in January, wow. Just goes to show you what you can do when you don't think too much about it. :-) The half I did in June I decided to run like two days in advance, lol.

FYI - finished my first MBA class tonight, only.....well...a bunch more (like a year and a half worth)

The Long Run That Wasn't...

Tough day yesterday...woke up feeling a bit sick, not to mention the 5 hours of sleep. Anyhoo, I was committed to getting one long run in prior to the Hartford Half Marathon next Saturday. Was really only shooting for 9-10 miles and got 8.5 in, so it wasn't completely horrible. The local town fair is happening this weekend and is smack dab in the middle of my run route, thus the .5 cut in mileage. Anyhoo, was a little on the slow side with the hills in this route (averaged just under 9/min miles) but feel pretty confident about next weekends race. Looking to get as much sleep as possible this week and watching the diet very closely, want to be down a lb or two for Saturday.

Definitely going to purchase a new pair of kicks pretty soon as I think these are on the down-side of their life. Will hopefully take me through the half in January (the shoes that is).

Congrats to Jonathan! While we've all seemed to slow down a bit he seems to be taking off! Way to go! Keep up the energy as I think it's starting to energize the rest of us.

Oh, and GO RED SOX!!!! **Another reason I didn't get so much sleep Friday night...game ended at 1:35a east coast time..

Training Update

Ran 5 miles yesterday, 8:30/mi pace. Laps were 8:20, 8:29, 8:35, 8:32, 8: 34....From what I remember anyhow as it downloaded off the watch and I haven't checked that computer yet. Sore in right "cheek" region. Need to stretch it out better, for one, but this has developed as a theme as of the past few weeks. Happened once before with my old shoes, but the ones I'm running on now took care of it. I'm at about 350 miles on these and wondering if they are breaking down on me.... Thought that wouldn't happen till around 450 or so, but it is what it is I guess. Like this model, so I may just order the same pair on-line to save a couple of bucks (let me know if any of you have experience with this and think it's a bad idea...the on-line thing...).

Hartford Marathon/Half-Marathon Information - http://www.hartfordmarathon.com/marathonnew.htm

Elevation and course map - http://www.hartfordmarathon.com/marathonnew/race_information/half_marathon/coursemap.htm

Note - In the last couple of miles of this race we get to run down Park Street in Hartford.....This is the street made famous by it's residents allowing a man to die in the middle of the street while cars and spectators passed by... Made the national news earlier in the year. WooHoo! Just not a very good spot for running, walking, driving through with a bullet-proof car, tank, etc. Hey Rae, do those Team Voice shirts come in kevlar? ;-) If I run fast enough I'll be through there before anyone gets out of bed...good motivation!

When...Revealed!

Soooo, we had planned our trip just prior to the announcement of the MGE, and wouldn't cha know it....We'll be there just as it ends. Heading down on the 1st of Nov...Economy be damned, we're still going! ;-)

Hartford Half slowly approaching on the 11th. A little anxiety starting to build up as I haven't been able to commit to as much running as I'd like as of late. However, whenever I do get out for a training run it feels good. So I'm confident that I'll improve on the half time from June (1:56:xx:xx). Goal is the high 1:40's ....1:46...1:48....something around there. It's the last two miles that I'm most interested in. Haven't run 13 since the last half, so I've no basis for comparison. I may have the time later in the week to give it a go and see how I feel, but we'll see.

On the Eagles front....yesh, very dissapointing that the LB's can't cover a TE.....it's been exposed in all four of their games thus far. Also, in my estimation and the way the D played...they should have won by 17..... and would have if Westbrook played. In any event, I'm not worried about this team, still a very potent offense that is seeing Reggie Brown get better by the day and should have Kevin Curtis back in a week or two. The defense has played very well and will get better (if that's possible). Now, what about the Bill's? If not for a late game defensive TD, they most likely would have lost to the lowly Rams! Oh yeah, you know I was watching ;-) Glad to see they are 4-0, but based on that Rams game, I'd be concerned! Love Lynch, but he's gotta run better against bad defenses..... 4-0 is 4-0 though!

Nothing Much...

shorter runs this week and the weather hasn't exactly been condusive to running. Not worried about getting wet, but it's like flash flood conditions in CT this weekend. Will try to get a long run in on Sunday as it's supposed to let up a bit by then. Couple of weeks to the Hartford Half-Marathon....then only a couple of weeks till our Disney trip! woohoo!

Redemption..Apple-style

Okay, that's a bit much, but I just got back from my Apple-fest 10k and pretty happy with the result. 53:14. Much better than the lack-luster effort from the Corn-fest 10k. :-)

Lap 1: 8:2 7 (and up a might big hill at that...)
Lap 2: 8:25
Lap 3: 8:36
Lap 4: 8:36
Lap 5: 8:40
Lap 6: 8:43
Lap 7: 1:43

Average 8:35/mi

I woke up and Fall happened....

Sooo, I'm standing in my driveway this morning watching....my breath? Not to mention that I'm wearing a short sleeve shirt. Ah, where has summer gone. Oh well, the great part about it is that my lungs seem to work much better whilst running in said "fall-like" weather. An epiphany? Yeah, probably not. However, I was able to get in one of those quality runs that I've been talking about lately. 5.7 miles last evening @ 8:40/mi average, and it felt outstanding. Looking forward to seeing what I can do for this Saturday's Apple-of-my-eye-10k!!! Looks like a high of 65 here in southern New England, so I'm looking for some speed out of this thing. :-)

Still a ton of yard work to do. Put it on hold due to time contraints, but the mud-hole needs a retaining wall or it's going to fill itself back in... Need to get those pics of the yard that I've been promising posted.

Off to the "Big E" tomorrow. The Big E, or the Eastern States Exposition as it's called, is an enormous fair combining livestock, products, food, rides, etc. etc. from the New England states (and no...New York is NOT a New England state contrary to popular belief....but CT IS part of the Tri-State area....go figure....or at least I think it is....hmmm). This is the one time a year where I can enjoy a huge Maine baked potato, maple cream cone of Vermont, a draft Sam Adams Cherry wheat, and freshly made apple pie with cheese on it (don't ask about the cheese, I don't....). Going to need that 10k on Saturday to work off the food! LOL

Status...

Running - Fifteen days into September and I've got 28.7 miles logged. Not exactly what I'd call outstanding, but considering my schedule so far I'm okay with it. I'm trying to focus on quality runs this month given the time constraints. Friday's 8.7 would fit into that category. Averaging around 8:58/mi over ver hilly terrain is quality for me and I'm happy that I didn't lose to much ground due to the decrease in overall monthly mileage.

I'm shooting for 2-3 regular runs per week with a long run of 8+ miles on the weekend in order to keep in shape for the Hartfor Half marathon Oct 11th. I'm also targeting a 13.1 mile training run two weeks prior to Oct 11th, which would be the 27th or thereabouts. Also, the 20th is circled on my calendar as well for what I'm dubbing the "Apple a day keeps the....get my revenge from the horrid performance put in for the cornfest 10k run....wicked queen away" run. Too wordy? :-)

MBA class tonight for another 8hrs. I'm hoping that we get out early as my Philiadelphia fighting Eagles are playing the dreaded Tony Romo and his merry band of pop singer girlie friends....otherwise known as "The Dallas Cowboys" on Monday Night Football. Gotta watch this one on the TV versus a static-y AM radio station on the hour car ride home. Why can't XM radio just finish this Sirius merger and get us the NFL already! ha! Maybe that's one for Matt's political rant blog...hmmm....haven't been there in a while, perhaps it's time!

MBA...Away!

Completed the first class in my MBA program, woohoo! 8 hours of communications talk today...needless to say it was, well, communicable (is that a word? or something we use to describe diseases?). Anyhoo, I'm back to school, and no, this time I won't join the diving team and perform a triple linde. LOL

So Monday's are out for running with the all day work/class schedule, but it still leaves 6 other days to choose from. Looking forward to the Apple of our eye run on Sept 20, and getting my revenge on the 10k! MUhahahahahahahaaha...

Did y'all see my hidden Mickey or what? I'm totally non-artistic, so I was impressed! :-)

3 Miler and a Hidden Mickey?

Hey y'all, weather was beautiful this morning after the 6+ inches of rain that fell last night (remnance of Hannah). Got a 3 miler in although I cramped up in my side about a tenth of a mile into the run.... OUCH! Shorted my breathing and stride untill I could stretch it out a little more. Never was fully comfortable, but I got through it. MBA program starts tomorrow (8 hour class) so no run, but will run on Tuesday after work.

Ah, so finally I've figured out how to make my tribute to the DVC Hole in the backyard project..... When I ordered 6" stones for an area outside my pool deck I thought they'd be a bit smaller, but I think I've figured out how to use them. As you can see in the pic (taken from up above on my deck) I've supplemented it with some smaller pond stones. Got a granite bench for the area, but have to level the base before it's useable. Don't want that thing to fall on anyone! Almost broke my back bringing that thing to the back yard! ;-)

Okay run...

Just got back from a tough 7 mile run. Didn't realize it was as hot and humid as it was, and the route was not well shaded at all. Anyhow, I was able to get some work in so I'm pretty happy about it. Need to try and get the frequency back up, even if they are shorter runs (I think).

This weekend is going to be tough on time as well. My daughters 4th b-day was this week and we're having a kids and family get together Saturday and Sunday. Most the time will be spent running around, cleaning, etc. But she's cute, so I suppose she's worth it. ;-)

Thanks for the support T.V.!!! :-)

Checking In

Not too much to report. Looks like I missed the August goal, but need to go back and update my spreadsheet to see. Didn't get my "pirate pic" in..... Falling behind on alot of things as of late, but what can ya do. My wife and I have this philosophy of "Do all outdoor projects in a mad rush prior to fall/winter". So, I've been doing just that, which is taking up any free time I thought I had... which isn't much with the two little ones (kid time is non-negotiable). Still "transitioning" between two different jobs as well, which is making my life even more chaotic. Not to mention the start of my MBA program next Monday (8 hours every Monday...). I love the old line "I'll sleep when I'm dead" LOL!

In any event, I'm going to do my best to keep on the blogs, but you'll know where I am if I don't respond in a while. Either in a trench of dirt, in a marathon MBA class, working two jobs, or being attacked by my kids. :-)

Rae - Shirt size is a Large. Stopped buying XL's as even when I shrink them they don't fit now! I think you mentioned you needed that information.

One month to the Hartford Half Marathon

Two months till my family Disney trip

A little over four months till the Disney Half Marathon, wow!

**gotta love the "hang in there" cat!

PS - Almost forgot! Going to the Red Sox game tomorrow afternoon! WooHoo!! Another loooong outing from Dice-K no doubt. :-)

What Cha' Dooooin'...

Nada actually...in the run category anyhow. Got a 3 miler in on Sunday, but mileage will suffer this week as I've got a ton of diggin' to do in the backyard. Taking out a portion of a hill to put in a patio that will connect the patio and the pool deck. So I'll be swingin' a grub ax for exercise for the next couple of days. :-) Spent 6 or so hours today doing just that, and MAN that's an upper body workout! lol.

Mike F. - Oh yeah, fantasy football season is almost upon us! Actually, I've already had a draft....My second year in Eric's Mouseguest league (I'm the AC Kungaloosh). Totally forgot the draft was Saturday evening...got on-line at round 10..DOH!! Computer picked some okay players, but I'll have to work at it once again. I've got the insufferable Matt Hasselbeck on my team once again. I can't get away from this guy! I've had him on my team for 5 out of the last 6 seasons. Over/under...Hasselbeck at 20 TD's? What's that you say? PUT IT ON THE BOARD!! ha! TMR and Neil Revitson are awesome! :-) Not to mention Pod Vader....

Perhaps I'll get some diggin' pictures for y'all, so I have some proof that I'm not just slackin' off on the running.

Thursday

Shorter run than planned due to a meeting running late, but a good run. Still a little tight, but stretching through it. 3.72 mile total.

Mile 1: 8:17
Mile 2: 8:05
Mile 3: 8:31
Mile 4: 5:51 (.72/mi)

Quickie...

Think it's a good idea to keep posting my lap times (taking the idea from MGreene) as it's keeping me honest about putting in a good workout.

Run from yesterday:
Mile 1: 8:33
Mile 2: 8:26
Mile 3: 8:34
Mile 4: 8:35
Mile 5: 4:41 (.52/mi actually)

Solid...consistent... Noticing the humidity was out of the air later in the day...looking forward to that for sure!

Moons over My-Hammy

Not much to report, hamstrings are tight from the run on Sunday that's about it. Going to do my best to stretch today and see how it feels for a late afternoon run. Work is going to have me running ragged for the forseeable future, so if I slack off in postings or comments on everyones blogs....that's most likely why!



No pirate pics yet, but I'm working on it.... ;-)

Tired Monday...

Good 5 mile run yesterday 8:39/mi average, a little slower than the previous two runs but that was the plan. Just tired and in need of a rest day, whew.

Mile 1: 8:14
Mile 2: 8:16
Mile 3: 8:40 (Felt a tweak in the hamstring, but mellowed out after a little bit)
Mile 4: 8:47
Mile 5: 9:15 (Two killer hills in the last mile :-))

Awesome guest appearance on AATM, Deb! Love your midwest accent/charm ;-) Is it me or does it feel like Team Voice is taking over... "Next time on All About the Team Voice....." LOL

I Want To Fly Like an Eagle....

In more ways than one! Huge Philadelphia Ealges fan....E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!!! (yeah, and I can spell too! ...sometimes..) and our very own "Mike and Mike" (G and F) consistently inspire me to "run like the wind"...or is that "ride like the wind"? Hmmm In any event, I gots to get fastah (the "ah" in there for you Heath ;-) Total Boston thing.. Anyhoo, before I make this post so unreadable that y'all just git up and leave, I wanted to share today's run results!

Decided to run a quick 5k instead of loafing off on the computer while eating lunch.

Mile 1: 7:30
Mile 2: 7:57
Mile 3: 8:10
Mile .1: 0:51

24:30 for my 5k. I'm pretty darn happy with that result as it was sans headphones, in some pretty humid weather, and with all the crazy hills in my area. Been working on not using headphones during my runs for safety and to look a little more professional. :-) The headphones really helped me as I've got that whole crazy asthmatic breathing thing going on when I run hard and the music distracted me enough to where I didn't shut it down thinking I was hurtin'. With as much work as I've put in, by my standards, I think I'm now able to get by the crazy breathing and produce some good times.

So there it is...my one minute update that takes like 10 minutes to read!

PS - Still not MikeSpeed as he's just off the charts now!!!! Jeeez!!! ;-)

Just another day..

Another good run yesterday, similiar to Tuesday's run. Started out with a co-worker, split off and picked up the pace. Little faster/longer this time, will post the splits later on (sitting on my other laptop). From what I remember it was something like Mile 1) 9:58 2) 9:35 3)8:17 4)8:24 5'ish) 8:21pace (ran 4.76 total I think). The important thing is that it felt much more comfortable than the prior run (on the breathing) even though it was much hotter out...whacky weather here in the NorthEast.

Signed up for the Hartford Half-Marathon. Would have really liked to go for the full, but just not in the cards in terms of time to train for such an event. It's all good, I can focus on my half marathon time and be more ready for the distance come January. Next years goal will include a full marathon though. :-)

Kudos to everyone on T.V. for the awesome performances on the Cornfest run! I'm amazed at how far everyone has come with their training. It continues to inspire!

Back to Work...

Good run today. 4.52 miles, the first mile and 3/4 with a co-worker, but he didn't want to do more than 3 so I split off and ran the rest alone. He's rehabbing his foot so we don't run any faster than 10/min miles, but was able to pick up the pace a bit when I broke off from him.

Mile 1 - 10:06
Mile 2 - 9:35
Mile 3 - 8:34
Mile 4 - 8:31
Mile .52 - 4:25 (8:29/mi average)

Lungs are coming back a little, still felt some fatigue when in the 8:30 range, but not uncomfortable.

Thanks for the support/comments, Deb and Craig! Helps to have good people on your side ;-)

Don't I feel Sheepish....

I've to be honest here with all of you Team Voice folks....I felt like I failed miserably on the Cornfest run.... Treated it like another Saturday morning training run instead of like a real race (which was the point of the simulation, right?). Stayed up too late the night before enjoying a couple of adult beverages not really thinking it would effect how I ran Saturday. Well, couldn't have been more wrong. Totally blew it and was just lucky to actually finish the 6.2. However, all is not lost here! I'm a "bright side" kinda guy, and have learned a valuable lesson here. Either that I need to keep up the running workload regardless of what else is going on in my life, or that I need to temper my expectations after taking any kind of time off from running. I'm feeling a little of both as I honestly just didn't have the time to run the two weeks leading up to the Cornfest race, but should not have expected that I would have been in peak shape as well (thus changing my overall plan for the race). In any event, my backyard is almost back to workable shape, and the double systems audit is over! Now I can get back to the running schedule and workload that I was used to. Another positive coming from the long time off from running (and reduced workload prior) was fresh legs. My legs and body haven't felt this good since I started running in February. However, the lungs need to come back to form....sometimes I forget that I have asthma....which is an AWESOME thing...the forgetting that is...So here's to not letting up on the workload and trying to further reduce the overall average time of my laps!

Corn Scratch Fever!!!

Going out in a few to run the run of the year! Crowd's cheering....CORN, CORN, CORN, CORN....or perhaps they want the band? KORN, KORN, KORN, KORN....... either way, it's on like Donkey Kong!

Will post results later on, good luck to the rest of y'all! (Update: 57:56 for my 6.2mi cornfest run)

Good article I read on black toe, since y'all seemed interested :-) http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/injury_archives/black_toe.html

Black Toe Fever

Quick post, got a meeting in 4 minutes.... Anyone else get the dreaded "Black Toe"? Got one on my pinky toe, lovely. Doesn't hurt at all, so that's a good sign, at least from what I've read...One article mentioned that it's sometimes a sign that one has stepped up their running (distance/speed). In any event, I'm ruling out the shoes based on the information I've found, but will still mention it at my next "fitting" which is pretty soon as the mileage on these has added up pretty darn quick.

Only a mile on the treadmill last night due to exhaustion, so just getting THAT in was a testament to will! May take today off to rest before the Corn race tomorrow...but we'll see..the weather today is VERY condusive to running....cool, overcast.....

Long distance "8:00's" here I come!!! LOL

Back to Running

After almost a week off from running, I was back in action last night (sans headphones, Mike G ;-)) A good 4 miler in a light heat with a decent breeze. Wasn't worried too much about time as I knew it would be a little off after a week of no run (averaged 9/min miles). With all of the upper body work I got in during the week I still feel good overall and not like I really missed out. Actually, my legs felt VERY fresh, no aches and pains to start as I normally do. Perhaps I needed the rest..... Anyhoo, will continue to get back on track and ready for the Children of the Corn race this Saturday! Think I signed up for the 6.2mi. Then it's back to training for the Hartford Half Marathon on Oct 11th. Didn't get out to the Sea Legs Shuffle this past weekend as I needed the weekend to work on the yard. Looked like a great race though, will try to get out there next year.

Football is back! Well, sort of... Caught the first few minutes of the Colts/Skins last night. Gotta get myself prepared for the fantasy football season now! WooHoo!

No T.V. and no beer make Homer something something....

Zippy post today... Haven't run since Sunday as my backyard is in shambles and I'm buried in a double systems audit at work (keep your fingers crossed...). When they asked if I wanted both of my projects audited at once I was like "sure, sounds like it'll save us time down the road" yeah, more like double torture! LOL Anyhoo, enough of my troubles. I'm going to try and run on the treadmill tonight, otherwise I won't be able to get out till Sunday.

Failed miserably on my July goals with the one bright spot being the 10 second shaving off of my mile average for the 10 mile race (8:55/mi average at half marathon; 8:45/mi at the 10 miler). I'm good with that though and plan to keep this moving forward in Aug! Thanks everyone for your support! I don't say that enough, but it's a HUGE factor in my success for sure!

Oh, and embarrassing photo's from the Blessing of the Fleet 10 Mile race at the following link...just enter in bib #632 http://www.capstonephotostore.com/search.php?eventnum=169 This was a "Team Pfizer" run, thus the lovely Pfizer singlet....

The Fleet Has Been Blessed...

Just a quick note to let y'all know how I did in the 10 miler. Well, honestly, I'm not sure how I did! LOL No chip timing on this one and there were around 2700 people....kinda jumbled at the end of the race. Took about two minutes to get to the start line and then the first couple of miles to get outta the "pack", but overall I felt and ran well. The time when I crossed was 1:27:05 so I figure I actually ran it somewhere between 1:25:00 and 1:27:05... Pretty much exactly what I was shooting for.

Will try to get more detail up soon!

Two days till race day!

Two more days and I'm off and running in the "Blessing of the Fleet" 10 mile race. Getting out for a 3 mile run later on today with a co-worker, but plan to keep it a light one at that. Want to keep myself fresh for Friday evening. Weatherwise it appears that it's going to be sunny and somwhere in the mid to high 70's around 6pm. The first couple of miles being along the water and then heading inland for a loop prior to finishing back by the Narragansett pier. Spent many days in the area during summers growing up, so it'll be familiar territory for sure.

Seeing as how I ran the half-marathon at an 8:55 pace, I'm shooting to bring that down a bit but not sure really where I want to be. Perhaps in the 8:45 range.... First evening race for me and I'm guessing it's a little different on the body than the morning runs. Anyone have advice specifically for evening runs v. morning? Heading down to the folks place in that area Friday morning and will try to take in a quick nap if possible. I've noticed that my energy level on my evening training runs isn't as high as those I get in the morning. Maybe a nap will help...who knows. Food intake times will be different as well since the monring routine probably won't cut it.

Anyhoo, I'll let y'all know how I did as soon as possible :-) May not be till Sunday night/Monday monring since the folks don't have internet access at that house.....perhaps there's an open wireless network that I can tap into... ;-)

Ho Hum...

Well, didn't hit my goal for the weekend (12 mile run). Had to get up early Sunday to get out and to it, but didn't. Stayed up too late Saturday evening hanging with my wife and couldn't drag myself out of bed Sunday morning. Not killing myself too badly here though cause it was time well spent in my opinion. Anyhoo, got 3.5 in on the treadmill last night, variable speed to try and simulate my outdoor run, but at least it was something to show for the weekend.

Not going to push it too much this week as the 10 mile is on Friday evening and I'd like to be fairly fresh for it. Will get out today after work, in the lovely humidity soup, for 3-4 miles and will try to mix up the speed a little as with last night. Kind of a mini speed interval workout with my normal run. Won't have time for too much more as I've got to get home for kid duty. :-)

Random Thoughts

Anyone watch Phineas and Ferb on the Disney Channel? Okay, so it's a kids show, but it's just hillarious. The show has invaded our home so much that my daughter has named our pool robot cleaner "Perry the Platypus". Perhaps I should buy it a cool secret agent hat now...

Running in the heat is difficult..... LOL

Why do I feel worse now that I'm in better shape...whereas I felt fine when completely out of shape....The aches, the pains, gotta love physical fitness! :-)

Body glide is your friend!!! ...but it won't pick you up at the airport.

I now understand what it's like to RECEIVE "the look" when talking about how many miles I run a day/week. That and the "why do you do that, again?"

I'm a converted "why do runners insist on running in the street when there is sidewalk..." person over to "why do cars insist on trying to get as close to me when I'm running as possible!!"

Road kill make for excellent cross-training as hurdles....

**3 miles on da'mill last night and the heel is fine, woohoo. Going for a 4 mile run today after work, hopefully the breeze off the water picks up cause it's hot out there. :-) Got the 10 mile course map I'm running next week. Looks good, fairly flat with some hills at the beginning of the course (between miles 2 and 3), but flat after that. It starts at 6pm, so hopefully the heat has worn off by then, or better yet, rain or overcast!

I'm Back...Sort Of

Hey y'all, great comments from the last post, thanks! Mike G. points out trail running and is definitley something I'm going to look into. I live adjacent to what once was a golf course, so I'm wondering what's been cooked up in there by runners/bikers, etc. If not, I'm sure the running folks around here have some locations they can point me towards. Anything that will reduce the impact is good with me. Had a heel problem develop early on Friday (bad work shoes...need some new ones for sure) which got worse due to my "long run" that afternoon. Only got in just under 9 miles and had to stop. One, for the heel throbbing, and two cause I ran out of time and had to head home to help with the kids. Dissapointed that I didn't get my 12 miles in, but also don't want to do something that will mess up the 10 mile race I've got on the 25th. Heel is feeling better today and will be ready to run on tomorrow. Might give it a light mile on the treadmill tonight when the kids go to bed to test it.

Pool deck has been poured and swimming has begun. :-) Have yet to really do some laps, but will get to it soon. Still alot of landscaping work to do around the pool, but hey, it's in and working! Around 6 weeks, not bad at all.

Haven't forgotten that I said I WILL get a 12 miler in this month....If it's going to happen, it'll have to be this weekend as next weekend is the race down in Rhode Island. Stay tuned... Still have aspirations of the Marathon in Oct...novelty hasn't worn off yet.. Gotta get cookin' on the mileage though if I have a prayer... If nothing else, it should help my "half" time!

Another Quick Post...

Hey y'all - Not alot of time for anything this week, but I promise to catch up on everyone's blog activity. Took another quick run yesterday, 3.57 mi, and have found a running buddy at work. Well, sort of. He's rehabbing his plantar faceitis (sp?) issues, so he plans to join me for the under 4 mi runs every now and then. Was nice to run with someone else, the mileage just flew by when someone was there to chat with. Anyhoo, looking to get a nice long run in this afternoon after work. Having a tough time finding a "safe" 12 mile route here in New London....10, no problem....12 is a little more difficult as it would take me into some shaddy neighborhoods...weird mix down here as there are million dollar homes and low cost housing within a block of each other. Perhaps I'm just being paranoid...I dunno...

Leg feels great now that I'm stretching more and have cut the mid week mileage a little bit. Will keep on that plan for July and try to crank it back up a little in August. Still want to keep the long runs and extend them every other week to see if I can get up to a 15-20 mile run.....if I can, then I may go for that marathon in October, if not, I'll stick to the half they do at the same time.

Quick Post

Finally, a pool picture :-)

Quick 3 mile run this afternoon, nothing exciting to report otherwise.

Rough Start to July

Hi y'all. Well, I'll admit right off the bat that July has NOT started the way I'd like it to. Thikining about it this weekend I was thumbing through any number of excuses as to why that is, but honestly, they are just that....excuses. In June I'd had plenty of excuses I could have used to "not" hit my targets, but somehow I was motivated enough to find a way. So, instead of telling you why I'm behind on my goals already, I've just decided to take the heat and put it all on me.

So what were my goals? It's only 7 days into the month, right? We'll I had planning to have completed a 12 mile run over the weekend, but put in a 10.1 instead. Also, skipped out on another mid-week run.... Maybe not a huge issue as we do have the balance of the month to go, but I'm not liking the trend I'm setting early on and need to call myself out on it early!

So, this week will be a heavy run week sneaking it in wherever possible and I'll hit that 12+ mile run target. Next week I'm going to go heavier in the cross-training efforts (bike, swim..hopefully) but still get the long run in at the end of the week. Also, breaking the "Total-Gym" back out to expand upon my strength training (Chuck will be thankful I'm sure...). I've got a couple of weeks to the 10 mile race down in Rhode Island and I want to head into that week feeling like I can put together a great race/time.

Whew, that felt good...now time to execute!

Still backlogged on the picture download (pool photo) front, but promise to get some up this week. It's completely filled as of today, and should be running/filtering, etc. as of the time I get home from work. WooHoo! Concrete decking should be done later in the week with landscaping to follow in the next week or two.

AATM - Great show guys! Loved the interview with Paige, she's a class act for sure. :-)

A Great Disturbance in the Force?

Yeah, I'm watching Star Wars...how'd you guess? :-) I tell ya though, I think if I had Yoda holding on to my back when I ran, I could shave :30 sec of my mile time!

No run today, no wait, scratch that...no REAL run today. I did a 1.5 mi jog on the treadmill just to get loose and stretch. Was only suppose to be 1/2 mile to get warm, but it felt good and the kids were napping, so I kept going for a while. The stretch was the best part, felt really good and has stayed with me all day. Maybe I'm on to something here.... Anyone out there endevour into Yoga or something for stretching? I really need some kind of routine that will keep me honest.

Was going to do my long run tomorrow, but forgot my wife works tonight, so I'll have the kids by myself in the morning (and no, they don't like the jogging stroller...go figure...). Not sure what I'm going to do here, either try to get it in tomorrow night, or do a light run tomorrow night and then the long run Sunday. Anyhoo, legs have felt better today than they have in a month. A wonder what a couple of days off will do!

Pool is half full.....electrician still needs to put the LED light in and cover it, so we can't fill it all way yet. It's lookin' pretty darn inviting thought. They say they're coming tomorrow to "finish", but as usual, I'll believe it when I see it! Honestly, I'm really looking forward to getting some swimming in for cross training work, but the kids may have other plans.... :-)

Happy 4th, again... Lovin' the holiday, but hoping the neighbors stop it with the fireworks as the kids keep waking up...ugh...

Happy 4th Y'all!

Or as Yakko Smirnoff (or is it Smirnov? Isn't he the vodka guys? ;-)) used to say "America, what a country". Only one thought that I picked up from a talk show yesterday. The host simply asked the audience to remember what the 4th really stood for. It was really the first time in history that a truly free nation was born. Others were sort of getting there, but not quite what the Declaration of Independance had done. Governement of representatives carrying the will of all its people. Something we look at now as a given, right? Like DUH! LOL But honestly, it was a stretch back in the day and we really should be thankful for those who stood up for something unheard of and signed their names to it.

Took two days off to give the ol' legs a rest and got back to it this morning. Ran 5.05 total with the warmup run. Still a little shin pain, but nothing that is bothering me all that much.

Liner should be going into the pool later on today and it's quite possible that we'll be able to swim in it by Saturday...fingers crossed.. Of course there is still much landscaping and decking work to be done, but not as big of a deal if we can start using it! Deb, I'll post some pictures this weekend, thanks for the reminder. Great at taking the pictures...but I'm completely lazy when it comes to actually downloading them onto the computer!

June Recap

What a month for running in the "Stroller" camp. Destroyed my previous "best" mileage month by 20+ miles, ran a half marathon in under 2hrs, and have taken the "Battle from Seattle" (or as I liked to call it, the "Thrilla from Mongella") trophy. Jonathan put up some great mileage and showed his toughness for sure. The great thing is that we both win as I think we're all that much closer to our best effort come January. Not to mention that the Dream Team fund wins as well. I've got to get on your sponsorship for weight loss, Jonathan, so expect a note from me soon.

One other June accomplishment that I tend to overlook is my average mile pace. I had set a goal to reduce my average mile to 9:30, but it appears that I'm averaging more in the range of 8:50 - 9:00. This just blows my mind as I NEVER thought I'd get there this fast (or at all). Just really surprised at what I've been able to do by sticking to the goals and giving my training an honest shot.

One more accomplishment for June. Had a goal of 2000 sit ups and 2000 push ups, and just pulled it off last night. Hit exactly 2000 for each.

Ya know, one thing bothers me.....I figured my singing would have gotten an "American Idol" like review from Jonathan and Bryan on the last show, but nuttin'!!! Perhaps that's a blessing in disguise, but c'mon guys! Rip it to shreds for the sake of entertainment!!!! I'm game! :-)