January running

I won't post a total for the month of January, but I'm 7 miles ahead of last year at this time, and I have a good run planned for later today.  Hoping that will put me well ahead of where I was at this time last year.  I was peeking ahead at my February running from last year.  I had a pretty decent February last year, but I'm hoping to beat that as well.  My goal is to knock off some time from last year's March half marathon.  I'm hopeful I can do that.  After getting on the bike for a good ride Tuesday night, and a short run at a great pace yesterday, I'm going to try and grind out a longer run today.  I will see how my back is doing before I decide how far to push it today.  It was a bit tight yesterday, but I'm hoping for a little less discomfort today.  I've backed off my core work since injuring my back, but I'm hoping to ease back into that shortly.  My half marathon will be here before I know it, and I'm hoping for an improvement in the weather to get a few more outdoor runs before it gets here.

Girls are doing great.  Today is swim day at daycare for my oldest daughter.  It's never a problem to get her to daycare on Thursdays.  She absolutely loves the pool.  I guess it's probably time to get her some structured lessons.  Planning to take them to a basketball game on Saturday, only problem with going is the rock climbing wall just outside the gym is a huge distraction for them.  We generally spend more time there than watching the game, but at least they are getting something active.  I'm ready for the weather to change and things to dry off for a bit and get back to them hitting the ball off the tee or riding bikes.

Have a great evening!

Injuries

January was moving right along as a great training month for me.  My weekly mileage was up, my strength training was up, and I finally got my stationary bike back out for some additional cross training.  After a great workout Wednesday, and some additional miles with my dogs due to my wife having a sinus infection, I was feeling pretty good about my month of training.  That all came to a halt on Friday morning when I was dropping my daughters off at daycare.  For whatever reason, they both decided they wanted to be carried in on Friday.  When I knelt down to pick them both up at the same time, I felt a very bad "twinge" in my lower back.  It bothered me a lot throughout the course of the weekend.  I did jump on the bike Sunday night for 5 miles, but it still hasn't felt great.  I'm thinking of trying a run today, just a nice easy run to log some miles.  Half marathon is less than 7 weeks away and I don't want any huge setbacks.  I'm hoping this heals quickly.  If I can get back out there today, I won't have lost that much training time to this injury.

Girls are doing great.  I can't seem to get them to go to bed at a reasonable time, but for the most part they have been great.  I'm looking forward to the next couple days of nice weather where they will get outside at daycare, and possibly a little outside time at home if we can get there before it gets dark.  My oldest daughter has been begging to go for a bike ride. It's hard to say no even when it is bitterly cold outside.  Looking forward to teh nice weather and some good time outside with them!

Have a great evening!

Cold, Cold, Cold

The weather has definitely made an impact on outdoor activities the past few days.  I've been out with my dogs for a mile a couple times a day, but I've been bundled up like you wouldn't believe.  They don't seem to mind it, in fact, I think the colder it gets the more they enjoy it.  Other than getting them out for walks the past 3 days, I really haven't had any outdoor activity.  I have hit the weights pretty hard the past few days, and I'm getting ready for a 4 mile run shortly, even though it will just be a treadmill run, it's a much needed run.  I've felt great after hitting the weights, and I've been pretty regular about staying with it in the new year.  I definitely feel stronger, and I hope to keep strength training in my routine a bit more this year.  My first race of the year, a half marathon, is just over 7 weeks away.  I'm feeling pretty good about it, but realize I need to start extending my miles a bit.  I haven't been quite as good at getting on the stationary bike in the evening as I told myself I would be.  Something to focus on I guess.

Girls are doing great.  I can't wait for the weather to break so I can feel comfortable about getting them outside to do things again.  I know I have a couple months of winter left to endure, but look forward to them being outside soon enough.  Until then, I'm going to try to get them to the gym and pool a little more at the YWCA.  They enjoy just running around and especially enjoy the pool.  In another year I will have to start thinking tee ball, and maybe some swimming!

Have a great afternoon!

Plugging along

Last week was a strange week of training.  I missed one of my mid week workouts, but did manage to get a run outdoors yesterday.  I don't do many training runs outdoors a lot anymore mostly due to the fear of injury I guess, especially in the winter time.  I must say I did enjoy my outdoor run, and just like normal, my outdoor pace was much faster than my normal treadmill pace.  In addition to that, I had almost 100 feet of elevation gain.  It was an enjoyable run.  I certainly didn't set any distance records, but I felt good when I finished and did a cool down mile walking with my dogs.  Thursday was a longer run, and I felt good, but I was thrilled to get an outdoor run in on Sunday.  By the looks of the weather, this week will be totally indoors with temperatures not getting above freezing for the week.  I will still get my 10-12 miles with my dogs, but I will pick and choose my times wisely for sure.  I need to start adding a long run to my routine, either Thursday afternoon or over the weekend.  My first half marathon of 2013 is just under 8 weeks away.  Strength training has been going well, although not as intense as I'd hoping I would be able to sustain.  Time gets to be a factor for sure.  Looking forward to a few good training runs this week!

Girls are doing great.  My oldest daughter recovered very quickly from strep throat, and my youngest daughter has been healthy through the winter so far.  It was a rough week or two at the beginning of the year with some sleeplessness out of both girls, but we seem to be back on the right track now.  It looks as though my wife may be coming down with the flu.  She's been a bit under the weather since Friday.  I'm hopeful that it passes quickly and stays with her and doesn't spread through our household!

I'm afraid if I go into the whole Lance Armstrong confession, I will never finish this post, but I will try to make this brief.  Armstrong has to live with his own demons and make amends on his own. Forgiveness is not up to him.  I sincerely hope the Live Strong organization can survive, find a new spokesperson/role model and continue to help victims and families deal with cancer.  As for PEDs and sports, I think it's been an ongoing problem for a long time.  Bigger, faster, stronger, more endurance, quicker recovery, seems to be a culture, whether you race a bike, hit a baseball, sprint, tackle a quarterback, the list just goes on and on.  I'm not going to offer up a solution, there are plenty of people out there working on that.  I will just say as a sports fan it would be nice to see pure clean sports and athletes.

Have a great evening!

Kiddos and training

Last week was another good week of running, strength training, and miles with my dogs.  This week has been a whole different story.  My oldest daughter started running a fever on Monday, I spent the morning with her on Tuesday and took her to the doctor.  Strep throat, better than the flu I guess, and it was on to the pharmacy for some antibiotics.  She is doing much better today, but it really threw off my whole week.  I still wouldn't trade one second of it for any other way, but it can be exhausting at times.  Neither daughter has slept well in about a week, up and down in the middle of the night, not wanting to go to sleep until late, etc.  It's been a bit rough and the lack of sleep has been getting to my wife and I a bit.  Patience has been running a bit thin, but hopefully things will get back to normal soon enough.  With all that being said, it's back to the pavement today for 3.5 or 4 miles depending on how I feel.  Following that I will hit the weights a bit, and maybe jump on the bike.  I'm hoping for more of the same tomorrow, possibly a shorter run at a faster pace, we will see.  Just found out I have a funeral to help provide military honors for on Saturday, so that may impact my decision for a run on Saturday or Sunday this week.  Half marathon is 8 weeks away.  Time to start getting some longer runs in.


Have a great day!

On Track

My training in 2013 seems to be going well so far.  I'm heading to the gym this afternoon, and after logging some good miles today, I will be well ahead of where I was the same time a year ago.  Yesterday was a good run at a good pace and I was able to get some core work in as well.  My strength training is down a bit, but through 10 days, mile running miles will have increased drastically.  I need to start squeezing in one more short run on the weekends to really feel like I'm accomplishing what i want to, but for right now I'm getting enough miles to feel good and stay in shape.  I still haven't been on my stationary bike at home yet in the new year, but that will come along very shortly once my basement is reorganized.  My first scheduled race is just over 2 months away, a half marathon.  Last year I never ran a training run over 6.5 miles and did fine in both my half marathon runs, but I plan to train a little better this year and see if I can post a nice PR at one of the half marathons I intend to run this year.  I don't know if this will be the year for a full marathon, but I have my eye on one later in the year and if things work out, great, and if not, I still intend to get one done before I turn 40. 

Girls are doing great.  The forecast for this weekend is for very mild temperatures, so I intend to get them out on their bikes, take them to the playground, and a basketball game.  I'm sure my oldest daughter will tag along on a nice walk with the dogs at some point as well.  Last weekend we went to the Farm Show in Harrisburg.  They just love seeing all the animals, climbing on the tractors, and had a milkshake and some lunch.  It was a great family day.  We are now finished with all our Christmas obligations, and I guess it is on to organizing the toys that have taken over our house.  Should be a fun time!

Have a great day!

Welcome 2013

I've welcomed 2013 with back to back runs.  That doesn't happen often for me, but the opportunity was there and I've committed to running more in 2013.  No long runs, but good pace for both.  Yesterday was a bit of a struggle, but today I felt good and really had a great run in a short amount of time.  I took the time to get a great workout in yesterday, spending more time at the gym than I normally would and adding some upper body work to my routine.  I always squeeze in core work and some time on the bike, but want to really make strength training a focus for this year as well.  Today was a quick run and some core work, but I'm hopeful that I can add some light weights tonight.  My miles with the dogs are right on track to where I would like them to be as well, and I hope that trend continues. 

Girls are doing great.  Both are healthy to this point through the colder temperatures, and I hope that continues as well.  They aren't sleeping great, but I think that is due to reduced time outdoors.  Could be a long winter if I'm correct about that.  We've added some board games to our evening family time and they seem to be enjoying that.  Just spending time with them is great for me!

Have a great evening!

Goodbye 2012

2012 will be a pretty easy year to put behind me.  The year started with both my daughters having pneumonia giving me some scary moments as a parent, and the fall rolled around with a whole new set of challenges for my wife who had a serious health scare.  All seems to be better now, and we will get a final "all clear" tomorrow from my wife's doctor.  She underwent 2 surgeries in 5 days and a month or so later had a treatment that kept her away from me and our daughters for a week.  I'm hoping all this is behind us and we look forward to a happy and healthy 2013.

As for my training in 2012, I have some preliminary numbers.  It was a bit of a down year due to many of the things mentioned above, but a decent year nonetheless.  I ran 230 miles, got an additional 494 miles with my dogs, and cycled 244 miles in 2012.  I'm not going to go back through and list all the exercise reps, but it was a decent year for me.  My goals for 2013: I will keep them simple.  I want to run at least 500 miles, get another 500 miles with my dogs(even though they are both beginning to age a bit) and see if I can't get my cycling up to 500 miles for the year.  Kind of lofty goals I know, but we will see what happens.  These numbers will be tough once I get into umpiring season, but I'm hoping to back that down a bit this year as well. 

In 2012 I ran two half marathons, one 10K, one 5 miler. and one 5K.  I was very happy with my performance in most of my races, but I definitely left some room for improvement.  I haven't decided if this year is the year for a marathon, but I have my eyes on a November race if I happen to feel up to it.  I'm planning to do all the same races again in 2013 as well as adding a couple new half marathons.

Hoping for a great 2013!