Cross

It's been an interesting February of training to this point.  My mileage has been alright, not great, but alright.  The past week I've rediscovered the stationary bike due to some inclement weather, and that's been great for some cross training.  I've also picked back up on the weights a bit, and that never hurts either.  I caught a bit of a cold over the weekend, and it really slowed down the building miles I was working on, but I'm feeling a lot better now.  Time to get back out on the road and really log some miles for the last two and a half weeks leading up to my half marathon.  My body feels pretty good and strong and I'm looking forward to testing myself on a longer run tomorrow.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate. 

Girls are doing great.  They are both back to sleeping much better which makes life better for everyone in my house!  My oldest daughter had an ear infection and some drainage into her lungs, but happily we seemed to catch things in time and get that taken care of and she is well and doing great.  Chasing the two of them around is getting tougher, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

Have a great evening!

On the Road

Lately I've been able to return to outdoor running and it's been very nice.  My pace tends to be greater when I'm outside, usually 30 seconds or more per mile, and I don't feel bad running.  There are no flat runs in my town, so I take the good with the bad.  I've felt pretty good with the hills, and have been using them as a great training tool of late.  I was happy to get a 3 mile run in and have been back to playing some basketball as a little cross training.  The problem with basketball lately is the pain in my knees, shins, and hips the next day.  Not sure how much I will be playing as I approach my half marathon in 4 weeks.  I'm certain I won't be playing the week of the race.  I've skipped the bike a bit lately and just tried to add another run each week.  My distance hasn't increased lately, and I really need to focus on a good longer run each week.  I think I will try to add a mile or mile and a half to my long run each week leading up to the half marathon.  Strength training is still going well.  The weights are helping and I'm feeling pretty good.

Girls are coming down with a cold I believe.  Both have a nasty little cough going right now and I'm just waiting for the fever to start.  There has been a lot of sickness going around their daycare, and we've been fortunate neither of them has caught anything yet.  We're planning to take them to the Mt. St. Mary's basketball game tomorrow.   Less fighting than hockey!  Hoping they stay healthy and get on the road to recovery soon.

Have a great weekend!

Fat Tuesday

It's fat Tuesday and I'm celebrating accordingly with some donuts, homemade greasy ones yet at that.  On to the good news, I ran each of the last two days and felt really good.  I ran 4 miles Sunday night and felt great, and I got a quick 2.5 miles in last night in the fog.  Training has been going well.  I really need to work on getting a longer run in at some point during the week, but I've struggled to go beyond 4.5 miles in quite a while.  Perhaps this will be the week, but with the looks of the forecast for Thursday, it may not be likely.  We are under 5 weeks until my first half marathon of 2013, and I'm hoping to make it a great one.  I always love the Shamrock race, and I'm looking forward to it again this year.  Strength training is still going well, and my back is feeling much better.  Along with the running and weights, I'm trying to get a few more miles on the bike as well.  My last two runs were both outdoors, and I have to say I've really enjoyed them after spending a lot of time on the treadmill this winter.  I'm looking forward to more outdoor miles as spring gets closer and closer.

Girls are doing great.  My wife has a support group meeting tonight so I get them all to myself.  Nothing like some great Daddy/Daughters time.  It's just amazing to watch them grow and develop.  I think we are going to sign them up for the kids fun run at the Frederick Running Festival in May.  Short run for them, but I think they will enjoy it.  We are also thinking of some swimming lessons since they love the pool so much.  Sports for them will be right around the corner I guess. 

Have a great evening!

Strong Start

After battling a minor back injury late in January, I was off to a pretty strong start in February.  I went out for a nice 4.35 mile run on Sunday before the big game and felt great.  I haven't felt that good on an outdoor run in quite a while.  No headphones, just some snow flurries and a neighbor out walking were all I really encountered.  Strength training is going well and I'm logging plenty of miles with my dogs as well.  My time on the bike seems to be helping as well.  I've made more of a conscious effort to log bike miles during the week and that is going well for me.  The nice part is my kids enjoy being in the basement while I'm on the stationary bike and my oldest daughter has been asking to get outside for a bike ride.  My goal was to run at some point today, but I think I'm going to reserve myself to the bike tonight.  I tweaked my back just a bit carrying my oldest daughter up to bed last night and my gut tells me to just leave the pounding of the road alone tonight and stick to the bike.  I will plan for a longer run tomorrow once i see how my back feels in the morning.  My first half marathon of 2013 is less than 6 weeks away and I don't want to risk aggravating an injury if I don't have to.  I've decided on a May half marathon, and I think I might do 2 in October along with a 10K.  Not sure if all that running in the fall is wise, but I think I'm going to give it a whirl!

Girls are doing great.  Saturday we went swimming at the pool at the YWCA, and then to the Hershey Bears hockey game.  My oldest daughter no longer wants to go to the hockey game.  She didn't like the boys punching each other!  Then once Hershey finally scored in the 3rd period, the horn scared her, and that pretty much sealed the deal for hockey.  Happily baseball season is right around the corner and both daughters enjoy the Harrisburg Senators games(although I really think they enjoy the family area with the bounce houses, not so much the baseball).  My youngest daughter didn't seem to have too much trouble with the fighting or the noise at the hockey game. but was definitely more focused on finding the mascot than watching hockey.  Sunday we were at church and my daughters helped with the offering and were very well behaved during the service.  As for football Sunday night, they had no interest and were upset we couldn't watch cartoons before bedtime.  Other than that, they are doing great!

I have two funerals to help provide military honors with, one Friday and one Saturday.  Friday will be a mess standing graveside in the snow/sleet/freezing rain and Saturday will be miserable in the wind and cold.  Oh well, we will get through it. 

Have a great evening!

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!