Yup, That’s a Dog in a Dress

Let the comfort of home this morning.   Began biking across the state in hopes of reaching Idabel, OK.  That town represents the first stop of Freewill Oklahoma.   What is Freewheel?   A bicycle tour that goes across the state.

Anyway,  Freewill wasn’t enough.   I had to bike to the start line.

Left Purcell and traveled 117 miles to Durant.   I will resume travel tomorrow.

The weather cooperated.  My body did too. 

Saw lots of roadkill.   Wasn’t a good week to be a turtle. I did get to rescue one in the road.  Also witnessed a Scissortail attack a Hawk. Another bizarre thing was this dog in a dress.   Such a happy dog.

Later.

Time for Rest

It’s been a busy few months.  I’ve run an Ultra Trail, 2 marathons, and 2 half marathons.  I’m going into a break time before resuming marathon training.  My goal is to stay in shape and be ready to run Mardi Gras marathon.  Injury free is the name of the game.

 

I’m hoping to do a few easy 5K’s in the meantime.  

Progressing

I was able to run 6 miles last night with almost no ITB pain.  This is encouraging as I enter the world of marathon training once again in about a month.  

I’m also less than 3 days away from staring my yearly bicycle tour called Freewheel.  Over the course of 8 days, I will travel close to 800 miles.  I will let you know how it goes.  

What a Journey

It’s been forever since I last posted on this blog.  The fact is, Facebook has really out-competed wordpress for my blogging attention.  However, I am here on a random night ready to type my thoughts down on a computer screen.

Looking back over the last year I have had quite a ride or journey.  Time has been divided for me.  Before July 1, 2011 and After July 1, 2011.  July 1, 2011 was the day my dad went in for heart bypass surgery.  The surgery went fine but his recovery took a turn for the worse.  My dad flat-lined twice in the hospital.  I spent a lot of time in the ICU section of the hospital.  While there, I watched life and death.  I saw how life choices affected families.  My dad was pretty healthy, non smoker and all that but I did see other families where obesity and/or smoking had caught up to a loved on.  Watching how families were being devastated by someone’s actions (to overeat or smoke), I decided it was game over for me, time to start eating healthy.  So, on July 1, 2011 I began a diet that eliminated all processed foods.  I still have this diet as of this typing.

My dad finally recovered and onward we went.  I ran several 1/2 marathons, marathons, and one ultra-marathon.  However, running quickly became a vehicle for me to escape and get out emotions because my dad went back to the hospital for a routine colon polyp removal.  The surgery went fine just like the bypass surgery.  The recovery went bad.  Two days after a routine surgery (Dec. 18, 2011), I no long had a father that was alive.

I went into a tail spin and running became my avenue.  I remember running 20 miles along riverside at a crazy fast pace the day that my dad died.  Just didn’t know what to do.  Pretty much teared up and ran until my legs had nothing left.   I continued running at a crazy clip until May 1st.  My body told me it’d had enough (ITB band issue).  Kinda like Forrest Gump when he stoppped running.  🙂

Long story short…July 1st to May 1st, I ran four 1/2 marathons, 4 marathons, 1 ultra-marathon, and two road races greater than a 1/2 marathon but less than a marathon.  Even ran a 16 mile trail race.  None of this running brought my dad back but it was therapeutic for me to run my emotions out and to zone out and think about what is important to me.  FYI….Jesus and then family.

I’m currently resting my ITB band waiting to start marathon training in a month or so.  Oh, the diet caused me to lose about 50 pounds but I have gained a few pounds back.

Hope to be more consistent with my postings.

Alive

Yes, I am still alive.  Reader, I have had a heckova ride.  I’ve had highs and lows.  I’ve trained for my first ultra marathon, but failed to make it to the start line after a freak back disc slippage walking through a convenient store.

Now I am pretty much recovered.  Although on any given day I may feel off.  MRI’s show that I have to bulging discs in my lower back.  Yuck.  However, I continue to run.  In fact I am registered for the Nashville Marathon later this month.

So my running has been sporadic but my cross training has been consistent.  So we shall see how things go.

 

Cowtown

I just wanted to write a quick post about the upcoming Cowtown marathon. I am about to leave for it and i’m pretty nervous today. I’m actually running the ultra marathon today. Not sure what got into me on this one but i signed up for it and now i’m following it through. It’s only 32 miles. I type that was a big ol’ grin on my face.

I do apologize for being off of the blog for awhile. The fact is Facebook is competing with my blog right now. I will blog more as the runs occur though. Try to do better.

Anyway, we shall see how it all turns out. Wish me luck.

Update on Various Things

The weight is still off for the most part.  Lost a bunch of weight a month or two ago and I did rebound some but I did not rebound all the way back.   Since that time I have also switched my running style from my traditional corn cob style to chi running.  This style has helped me run more efficiently and a little quicker.

As of now, I am set to run Cowtown Ultra on Febrary 27th.  Little B talked me into it and i’ll have her to blame if I don’t make it :).  My main marathon will be in Nashville instead of the Memorial.   Wanted to see a different marathon this year so that is my reasoning.

Tonight is an exciting night in the Freewheel bicycle world.  They release the route information.  I’ll keep you posted.

Health?

Well I have completed the crash diet that was the Standard Process Detox/Cleanse.  I ended up losing around 35pounds.  I have gained a few pounds back but i’m ready to refocus my attention on my weight once again in a few days.

I have been running mostly on the treadmill but have some outside.  I’ve also been pretty consistent at the spin class.

My biggest threat right now is my back.  It’s been pretty much determined that I have a bulging disc in my lower lumber.  This has really flared up over the last few days.  Not been pleasant.  I have a few options.  Get the MRI and take a shot or surgery.  Another options which is the one I am going with is continue chiropractor treatments.  This is something that I am going to live with for now and then make major decisions if things get worse.

So this is more motivation for me to lose more weight.  As for running, I am doing the New Years Resolution run and then training for a May marathon.  As of now, it appears that I will do the Nashville marathon instead of the Memorial marathon.  We shall see.   Adios.

Continued Detox and Reindeer Run

Well i’m officially 2/3 of the way through my cleanse/detox via standard process.  So far, i’m about 25 pounds lighter and I am working my rear off to make it more.  My workout routine is frequent and furious right now.

For example, on Sunday I ran 3 miles before church.  After church I ran 5 miles at the Y.  Just before bed I decided to run 3 more miles.  So you get my point.  I am having success with weight loss right now.  I sense a real chance to change my body and make it easier to run.  I’m going for it.  My final day of the diet is a week from Tuesday.

Went for a 10K run called the Reindeer Run on Saturday.  The course was simple enough.  The weather wasn’t too bad except the blistery North wind.  I ran with Little B.  We had a pretty good time.

On deck….not really sure.  Just want to lose weight.  Training for a marathon starts on January 8th.  Oh, I will most likely do the New Years Day run.  Other that, not too much going on.

Day 8 of Detox/Cleanse

Dear reader, I am currently in the middle of a cleanse/detox that will last 21 days.  I am using the Standard Process diet.  To summarize, I get ride of all sugars and only eat fruits and veggies for 11 days before adding a little sliver of meat.  This goes on until 21 days have passed.  There are also some nasty supplemental drinks that go with it.

As of Monday, I had lost 17 pounds in 6 days.  That is pretty darn good but it also shows how badly I eat and drink (Dr. Pepper).

The detox will end December 21st.  I may or may not go over a few days.  It’s all dependent on how I feel and the weight issue.  As many of you know, i’m trying to get my weight down so I prolong my running life.  Really enjoy running, especially marathons.

I will check back in with you soon and let you know how things are going in the weight loss world.  I hope.