My Heroes.

August 22nd.  Since that date, there has been nothing but silence here on my WordPress Blog.  If you follow along on my Facebook page, you got to hear from me as recently as August 24th.  Granted, if you follow Storme, the Curvy Road Runner on Facebook, then you have seen me post a few times since then to her wall.  (As a quick side note, if you don't either follow her on Facebook, or her blog - you should she is someone who has really shown the life-changing potential of running, and how to reach for your goals. SHE

[caption id="attachment_1642" align="alignleft" width="300"] Hero #1 - Storme, rocking her medal.[/caption]

was at the starting line for the Marine Corps Marathon this year, unlike yours truly!)  Storme is an awesome person, and is truly an inspiration!

As for me, no matter how you look at it, my lack of posts indicate exactly what you think it does. I have NOT been running.  I can come up with a lot of excuses.  I started a new job on July 30th.  I lived in a hotel for five weeks (though, this made treadmill-running very easy.  I even did it for quite a while!), while driving back and forth to NY from Maryland every weekend.  Then, on the 15th of September,  I moved my family down to Crofton Maryland.  Then we unpacked boxes.  Then a family member went into the hospital for 5 days.  Then projects happened at work.. Then Aliens attacked (not really.)  Then a hurricane hit...

One thing that the busyness of life has shown me recently, is that life is always going to

[caption id="attachment_1643" align="alignright" width="300"] Hero #2 (on the left) Christine![/caption]

busy.  When you move from a small upstate NY town, to an area with LOTS to do - then your free time goes away quickly.  You may get to see countless museums, monuments and the inner harbor of Baltimore - but if you don't make time for yourself, no one else is going to.  Yeah, I know.. I have had this "epiphany" in one sort or another several times in the short time I have written this blog.  But the fact is, life happens.  And there ARE things more important than running.  My family trumps it every single time.  I won't apologize for that, they are worth it.  Now lots of the other times I didn't run? I don't have reasons, only excuses...   But (again) that is done.  I have held of on posting until I was sure I was running - meaning REGULARLY running.  You are all way to busy to have me waste your time talking about how I am running, when I am doing it once every week or two.  I now believe I am back to running like I should be.. Which brings me back to my blog.

The first thing, now that I am done rambling (riiiiiiight.. sure I am...) is I want to give congrats to two of my friends - Christine ran the Marine Corps Marathon on sunday, and did it AWESOMELY with a time of 5:45, running 13:11 minute/mile average, and Storme, that ran it as well. I'm going to give you NO information on her running, you can go read it on her blog here!  These two women kicked serious butt.. Chris was expecting me, and our mutual friend Dustin to run it - and had to go and do it without us.  GREAT JOB YOU TWO!!!!!!  These two are my heroes.  I WILL run this race and finish it next year.. I have signed up for two years in a row and not followed through.  So done with that.  I will be at the starting line next year no matter how much I have trained.

So, speaking of training.. From what I have said so far, you have probably gathered that I have been doing some training.  Well, let me first warn you - I have seriously gotten out of shape and lazy.  But, regardless of that - we all start (or restart) somewhere.

[caption id="attachment_1648" align="alignleft" width="300"] Chick-Fila #1 meal[/caption]

For me, I started back up.  I began by watching what I ate (trust me, an important first step.  While Chick-Fila is yummy, you really can't eat it often.  That #1 meal with a Diet Dr. Pepper is still 900 calories.)  Using MyFitnessPal's awesome Android App, I started paying attention to may caloric intake.   Then google offered an awesome deal of 25 cents for the runtastic app.  I had always used a different program, but figured it was worth trying another one, especially when the "pro" version was offered for a quarter!  Unexpected bonus?  a week later they offered an auto-sync with MyFitnessPal to move your exercise over with no work from me! I love not having to duplicate effort!

But back to the matter at hand.. .That is, my lazy butt - not being lazy anymore.  I started running a time or two a week.. Not enough to classify myself as a "runner" again by any means - but at least getting SOMETHING in.  It was certainly enough to let me know that a time or two a week wasn't doing me any favors!  Well, gradually (While still watching what I was eating), I am up to running regularly again.. Now what does that mean?  It means my son or daughter goes with me on their bicycle, and  I head out for a small distance.  I'm not trying to push it - as I want to avoid injury.  I have tried to hang on to the idea that I can work through it.. That I just need to try harder... and you know?   But Now?  This time, I am just taking it short distances, and not pushing the speed.   Lets look at what that means:

10/24/12 - 2.26 miles in 20:53.  Elspeth went with me today, riding behind (and sometimes in front of) me on her bike.  The good news is neither of us got hit by a car!  The Weather was unbelievable,  a balmy 72 degrees.  It felt really good to be out there running again.  Talk about lucky, I have a hobby that lets me spend quality time with the kids.. Beat that!

10/27/12 - 3.22 miles in 30:34.  My son rode his bike with me and we tried out a new route.  This one was interesting - as I just picked a direction and ran.  We came across a jogging path, and I let Bryce choose which way we went. (bonus, found a pool.. will look into membership for next year!)  He only complained on the BIG up hill (funny.. he really enjoyed it when we went down!), but not even very much on that!  This was a nice change as it was over 3 miles. . I really have a problem viewing myself as a runner unless I am consistently over 3 miles. (The funny part is I don't hold anyone else to this.)  I may not be able to do my daily run over the three-mile marker yet, but it was nice to have a run that was.  I was tired when I got home, but it was a great run.  We did have to wait at a whole mess of traffic lights.

10/28/12- 2.3 miles at 20:30.  My daughter went with me on her bike, same route as we did before.  She isn't as good of a rider as Bryce, so I try to ensure we have sidewalks!  But really? She did awesome.  I think an 8-year-old girl going for 2.3 miles on a bmx bike NON STOP is doing great! Especially when it is done with no whining!  ME?  Yeah, I ran it.. and I whined!  Fat and Lazy!  That is the current place I let myself reach, but soooo done with that now!  The run was nice, weather was good - temperature was about perfect.  I could feel the previous day's "long" run  in my tired muscles, but kept going without any problem.  It was nice to be out!

10/29/12 - 2.52 miles at 22:54.  Weather was super crappy, with Hurricane Sandy working at getting  a head of steam going.  I decided to head out before the wind got to bad (As I certainly didn't need any extra challenge at this point in my new beginning,) so I bundled up in my psuedo-waterproof clothing and headed out.  I felt like I wasn't pushing it too badly, but could feel the previous days running, that's for DAMN sure!  The water was cold, but running certainly solves that problem!  I didn't feel that bad, and was VERY pleased with my time!  Got in a bunch of push ups this day as well!  Can't forget that upper body after all - it's what pulls us up hill!

So, that is where I am.  I am down 6 pounds from my all-time high that I reached just recently.  I have started my ever-so-neccesary running back up at levels that don't seem to bother my plantar faciitis.  I am looking forward to dropping another 30 pounds or so, and am going to maintain my vigilance until I do so.  I am thinking about the Shamrock Half Marathon (or Marathon) in Virginia Beach in March.  I am  also looking forward to running something with The Curvy Road Runner soon - as I am much more local than I used to be!   It would be an honor to run a race with her.

So, that's an up to date post on where I am... Been a lazy bastard (exercise-wise) long enough.  I picked  up one of those things that you can hook your bike up to inside to use it as a stationary bike.  Going to see if my 1980's ten speed with work on it, as an alternative to running in hurricane level winds.   Might be really important tomorrow - with Hurricane Sandy hitting and all.   if you use either runtastic, myfitnesspal or dailymile - let me know! I'm always looking for more ways to connect online!

But I'm back, so stay tuned - more posts will be coming!

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