Is it okay to just "maintain"?

That's what I'm asking myself this month where my running is concerned. It could just be a knee jerk reaction to not being able to run all that much with the foot issue or the insanity brought on by the winter (and cold lung syndrome...), but I've been pondering this. Should I just do this year what I did last year in order to maintain my running pace or try and commit more time to it in an effort to reduce my pace. I feel it's a legitimate question as I'm actually happy at the moment with a high 8 minute pace and running sub 2hr 13.1 mile runs. Right?

The real question here is the time to commit to training. In order to reduce that overall time I need to spend more time out running as well as adding in serious cross-training. Between the work and home schedule last year I eek'd all I could out of it to just get in 3-5 runs a week. When the heck am I going to do the other stuff! And that's the problem I'm having as I don't like the word "maintain" or "sustain"....it feels alot like "settling" or "giving up"....

Perhaps I'm just thinking about this too much due to the reasons above and need to get back on my running schedule before figuring out when I'm going to squeak in the other stuff. I'm sticking to my goal of running the Hartford marathon in under 4hrs as I think I can do that without too much more speed tranining. As for other speed goals, I'm going leave them alone for now and wait till my head is a little bit clearer before setting them. Focus right now needs to be on my job, family, and school as there are major transistions happening in all three at the moment.

What do you guys think? Being hard on myself? Not hard enough?

Musings and Tidbits

Check this out.... one of the possible exam questions in my Management Process MBA class is the following:
Disney’s theme parks outside America have incorporated unique features that meet the special needs and interests of local customers. Disney is responding with what strategy?

What would your answer be? Granted, it's kind of a dated question, but thought this crowd would enjoy the topic. :)

So Rae, I finally registered for the 2010 half, you happy now? ;-) ..... Did they charge us a $10 processing fee last year? I don't recall paying it, but could be losing my mind... Also, these pins better be something special for nearly $12!!! Last years were 8.95 I believe. Man, I'm getting crabby and cheap in my old age, LOL.

Was going to try and brave another outdoor run today as I'm working from home, but chickened out due to the weather station reading 28 degree's....and with the wipping wind, I decided to keep it on the treadmill. Another 3.2 miles for the month of February brings me to 25.81 running miles, 850 push-ups and a mere 430 sit-ups. Really slacking on the sit-ups this month... I'm okay with the mileage being so low as this foot thing is still present. It feels just fine when I run, but I can feel it walking barefoot in the bathroom when I get into the shower and such. Also, it appears that my left sesamoids have joined the inflamation party. Again, nothing that is really killing me at this point just wish it would go away already.

That's all for today! I noticed that Jonathan didn't pass the torch for the weekend challenge....probably need the rest anyhow!

Building Steam

Another "quality" run today on the treadmill (4.1 miles). I've learned that my lungs just are not well at adapting to weather under 40 degrees, so I'm not going to press it too much at this point. However, I'll be keeping an eye on the weather and seeing where I can sneak an outdoor run in prior to spring moving in. Bummed, yes, but health is my primary concern. Perhaps I'll check with my doctor or a specialist to do some further testing. Right now, I'm chalking it up to the asthema.

Still holding out in registering for the half, although I'm ready to pull the trigger. Just figure that the money is better sitting in the bank till the registration starts to fill up more. Every dollar counts in this economy... Airfare is booked and I'm starting to think about lodging, but figure I have some time for that as well. I'll most likely renew the annual pass for next year so I might just call and see what I can get from an AP discount perspective as we get closer. Would love to stay at the Beach Club (or anywhere on the Boardwalk) again, but we'll see.

How's everyone elses trip plans? Is the economy impacting your trip planning at all?

Another quality run...

Albeit on the treadmill last night, but for a run that was planned for 1.5 miles it went 3 miles...

and Deb, to answer your question about how I run outside during February in CT.....very carefully! Between the piles of left over ice/snow/muck and the inch of sand on the street where I'd normally run, it's dicey to say the least.

Going to get another run outdoors this weekend somehow. Probably just a 3 miler, but it needs to be outdoors. I'm losing my mind and will to run on the treadmill without that outdoor air every now and then.

Great news, we're in for next Jan! I'm going to register the wife and I and get the airfare thing going in the next week or so. How cool is that? A little boost for me as it's been tough with the foot and all as of late.

On the Road Once Again...

First run outdoors since the Half Marathon down in Disney and it was a good one. My goal was simply to get some miles in outside and live to tell about it. Speed was not on my mind and it showed in the outcome. I'm happy about the distance and the fact that my feet don't feel any worse for the wear.

Mile 1: 9:34
Mile 2: 9:40
Mile 3: 9:44
Mile 4: 9:53
Mile .81: 8:06

4.81 total and a couple of big hills in there as a reroute due to a road closure. The speed will come as the workload increases I'm pretty sure, just happy to get out for once!

Looking at airfare and thinking about hotel or renting DVC points for next January....could that mean that we'll be there for the half in 2010?????? These questions and more on the next episode of Stoller Boy - Wheels of Action!

3 Miles and running

3.2 on the treadmill last night and I felt just a little bit better than I had a couple of days ago. Which is the idea of rehab, right? Speed was about the same as last, somewhere in the 9:30ish range per mile, just enough to work up a little sweat. Progress.... Foot feels good although I'm feeling it in both "sesamoids" now. Nothing horrible, but can't walk barefoot on the hardwood floors anymore. Probably shouldn't be doing that anyhow.

How's everyone else doing? All you DVC owners....and the one wannabe...me! ;-) Seems like TeamVoice communications have slowed down a bit after the initial January surge.

Foot and such..

Hey all - Was able to try out the foot again last night on the treadmill. Ran 2.5 miles at around a 9:30/min pace. I had installed the footpads the doctor game me into my running shoes and they apparently did the trick as I didn't feel any pain in the sesamoid area. Not out of the woods yet as I still have to wear shoes around the house, but it felt good to get a run in. The downside is that I'm clearly out of running shape after taking a month off. Felt good at the 2 mile mark, but started to tire out quickly after that. Will start to get some more short runs in to build up the stamina again and then see where I'm at. So far, so good.

Anyone see the article in the WSJ about Dreamworks looking for a deal with Disney? Sounded more like a monetary deal than a creative partnership, but that might prove interesting, yes/no?

All About The Wife...

Today is to give a shout out to my wife Lorraine who has battled injury after injury to a point of total frustration and discouragment.... A month ago she was pondering whether she'd ever run again after months of barely being able to walk up and down the stairs. The other day she said to me "I'm going to try and run a half this year...." Totally threw me off! She's been rehabbing tendonitis in her knee for the past couple of months and has made great progress there and is very close to testing it back out on the road. This all after spending a couple of months on and off with plater fasciitis, or however that's spelled.

Just really proud of the work she is doing as we both set out last February with the 2010 Disney Half Marathon in mind (I just couldn't wait that long...apparently I'm an impatient person..who knew) and it is looking more and more like a reality from the running standpoint. Now, all we need to do is to stay injury free, find someone who will take the kids for a couple of days, save the money....hmmm, I suppose there is still some work to do, but I'm feeling pretty positive about it now.

I'd love her to join us on Team Voice pretty soon (more formally anyhow) as she's been joining into the challenges and I know this group would really help her toward her goal. :-) Perhaps she'll read this and join... I'm pretty sure she doesn't read the blog anymore as she gets the blow by blow Team Voice and AATM stuff from me directly, lol.

Okay..I cheated...

Yeah, went for a 2 mile light treadmill to test out the foot as it has been feeling a little better as of late. Great for 1.5 miles (10min/miles..nice and easy) but could feel it the last .5. Nothing lingering afterward though, so I think I'm clear there. Will keep up with the doc's recommendations and try to throw in a short mile or so here and there for the next couple of weeks. Just felt like I HAD to at least jog a little, you guys know how it is... The one thing I didn't do is put one of the pads my doc recommended into my running shoe yet, so I might try that and see if it helps as well. Either way, I'm not going to push it any more than the 2 miles more than once or twice a week for at least another week or two.

J. Wasowski - I said I was going to do 8 by the end of Feb for the virtual run...well...I'm not sure that's realistic at this point, but I'll let ya know if we need to modify it. :-)

On the school front, I finished a hellish Probability and Statistics class for the MBA program, woohoo! The final and final project/presentation were brutal, but it's over now and I'm on to Business Management (more my current work speed).

The Final Verdict...Sesamoiditis....

Had my orthapedic appointment yesterday and found out from the x-ray that the sesamoid bones beneath the big toe joint are inflamed. The good news there is that they are not fractured, so no need for a cast or surgery. The bad news is that the Doc wants me to take at least 4 weeks off from running. He gave me a special pad for the shoe that should help relieve the stress from that area of the foot, but the sure way to heal would be to not stress it. So I'm going to give it a couple of weeks and see how I feel, and will then figure out if I can get going again. The pic above shows where/what the sesamoid bones are.

So, for the near future I'm bike bound! I suppose it could have been worse...

Random Pics

Foot-loose..

Although its feeling better today, the foot is still sore with some fleeting pain. Sort of looking forward to my appointment on Wednesday just to figure out what the deal is. Have my annual physical on Tuesday and the orthopedic appointment on Wednesday, fun week for me. Hoping to run the O'Hartford 5k again this year in Mid-March, but won't risk it if the Doc says I should be resting for a while. Marathon goal trumps 5k run for corned beef and beer ;)

Still, I'm able to use the bike and do sit-ups/push-ups, so at least I'm able to do something.

On the Disney front, I'm just about closed on renting some points for a 3 day extension for our late 2009 trip. Going back to the Beach Club Villas for 3 days and then will stay off site for seven more days. As for marathon weekend 2010, we're still batting it around. For one, my wife still isn't able to run yet and haven't really gotten the vote of confidence from the rehab folks as to when/if she'll be able to get out there. So it's kinda driven by that and whether or not it makes financial sense since we'll be there for 10 days at the end of 09. Will probably make the decision late Feb as I'm pretty sure registration will be open through then.

Pics from trip are on my other computer, so I'll post a couple more when I hit the bike tonight.

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. :-)