A Few Days Late

I did get a run in last friday, i wanted to do 6 miles but emily wanted to meet for lunch and i was running out of time so i only ran 3. my fastest 3 miles so far, since i started back. i did not get to run saturday since i was hunting with my nephew on the youth hunt. we did get a good bit of walking in on saturday and sunday both. i was having another allergy/sinus/chest congestion attack today so i did not run, i think it was the smart choice. i got my gun somewhat sighted in for the upcoming turkey season which opens on saturday (not even 5 days and i'll be chasing turkeys!!)althogh i need to get some new shells and shoot it a few more times. i plan on doing some running this week, i do feel much better right now than i did this morning, getting my rest in probably helped me a lot (along with the neti pot after my nose cooled down). having said that, i better go get ready for bed now.

thought of the day: when you plan on being with a child for the weekend, and trying to teach them something pretty new, you better get ready to have your patience in full swing (and i thought turkey hunting itself took patience!) and make it fun for them. if they don't enjoy it, it will not keep their interest very long.

Another 3

I ran again today over lunch. I was gonna run 4 miles but one of my fellow workers was rushing me to go eat lunch with him. then it took me about 5-10 minutes to get my gps and watch to sync and i had to have the gps because i was going to take a different route today. then i decided it might be better to only run 3 since yesterday was supposed to be an off day and i ran the 3 miles i missed on monday. i think i will skip tomorrow and try to run 4 on friday since i don't think i will get my 6 miler in on saturday since i am taking my nephew on the youth hunt. i may try to go for an easy bike ride tomorrow if i get home in time. my time today was 28.47 minutes which gives me a 9.36min/mile pace, still not too bad for me. and once again my legs felt great all day after the run (yes i realize it is only 3 miles).

it is too late and i am too tired for a thought of the day, sorry.

A Run out for Lunch

I was not able to do my 3 miler yesterday because Emily and i got stuck in Nashville to late. i think it was around 8 or 8:30 when we got home. i did get a few things that i think will help me work-out more. one was a reflective ankle strap to wear when i run/bike around dark. i also got some reflective tape to put on my bike and bike helmet. i got a bike rack for my truck and some gu gels too. the i went to bass pro and got some new hunting boots since mine are not waterproof anymore.

i was planning on running this morning, but i got in bed around 10 and could not go to sleep. i knew i had to get plenty of rest, so i can keep running for one but more importantly because i am on call tonight. it is 10:20pm and i am waiting on some help to work on a cat right now. i have not left the clinic yet tonight.

however, i did get a 3 miler in at lunch. it is pretty flat except for a .2 mile hill. the bad thing is i basically run back and forth in a .5 mile stretch so i had to run up the hill 3 times. i felt like i could not go any further when i finished. however, for the rest of the day my legs have felt great, never better. i have another 3 or 4 miler tomorrow, so i will try to do that after work if i can.

thought of the day, when your help arrives, work on the cat.

Wish I had Never Stopped

I got my 5 miles in this afternoon. I had to keep telling myself to keep my pace slower than my body wanted to go. i was afraid if i went too fast, just getting back into running, i would kill myself by the end. so i tried to keep it kinda slow. i finished the 5 miles in 48.21 minutes. i think that is a pace of around 9.40min/mile. that is not too bad, a good bit under what i started at last year. i think if i had not ridden my bike yesterday i could have done it faster, i could feel my thighs burning a bit, especially on the hills. my watch did better i think. today it showed that the markers i had previously marked were just over what i marked them for. each 1/2 mile was actually about 60 yards shorter than where i had marked them. if that is true, my times last year were a little faster than i had thought, but not by very much. i really didn't even look at my watch the entire time (it beeps every 1/2 mile so i knew when to turn around). once i got towards the end i did sneak a peak at the total time (i have to wear 2 watches to do this) and i could tell i was going faster than i thought.

my first 1/2 mile was 4.37min/mile, the second was 4.38, the third was 4.49, the fourth was 4.52 (slowing down a bit), the fifth was 4.49, the sixth was 4.42 ( a little faster), seventh back to 4.52, eighth back to 4.45, ninth was very slow at 4.59, tenth (and last) was 5.14 (but i did have to stop and let 3 cars go by that were not very close together, so it would've been a little faster). the one thing my watch did let me check was my heart rate, since i've had my watch, my heart rate has been between 174 and 177 while running, i noticed one time, just after mile 3.5 my heart rate got up to 182. that is pretty close to my maximum heart range, i hope that gets better, it should.

i think my next goal in hunting will be to harvest 1 (or more) of each of the 6 subspecies of turkeys in the world (they really all live on this continent). That is called the world slam in turkey hunting. the grand slam is harvesting 1 of each of the 4 subspecies in the united states. the grand slam requires harvesting 1 each of those 4 and 1 of the one subspecies in mexico. the world slam requires harvesting the 4 in the U.S., the Goulds subspecies in mexico and the ocellated in southern mexico/central america. the only subspecies i have killed is the one in tn which is the eastern subspecies. we will see, maybe emily will let me! maybe she'll do it with me!

thought of the day today:"Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different."
– Katherine Mansfield

i try to tell my employees that you have a choice of what mood you are in, and i get in a bad mood sometimes as well. i just have to take a minute and remember what blessings i have and what really matters in life.

Cross Training Begins

I got home early again today. in time to take a 30 minute ride on my bike. I went about 6 miles in just over 30 minutes (that included 3 stops for cars). i tried to take it pretty easy since i have a 5 mile run tomorrow. i might have overdone it a little a few times, my muscles were burning a little but it is so hard to hold back, i just want to push it the entire way. maybe my muscles won't be too tired to run that far. i think i took off before my gps got a lock since it didn't give me any distance readings.

I've had 4 rough weeks at work and i am glad to have a long weekend this week. i have an event tomorrow in the morning to mid afternoon, and now i am staying up too late to get myself up to run in the morning. maybe i will get motivated but it would feel so good to sleep in a little. we'll see.

thought of the day: people motivate others and are motivated in different ways. sometimes we don't even recognize when someone is motivating us to be what we want to be. sort of like how God uses us in ways that we can't see until He is done in a particular area, the pain and suffering bring us through and make us stronger and closer and allow us to see how we truly are dependent on Him. Or like Mr. Miagui (sp?) from the Karate Kid. Daniel couldn't see that the whole time he was working for Mr Miagui and begging him to teach him karate, all the work he was doing was really training him. sometimes we don't see how people help us. also like the little bird who forgot to fly south for the winter. he ended up freezing until a cow came by and pooped on him, actually warming him up. until the cat came by, saw him moving and ate him. this teaches us the lesson that not everyone who poops on us is hurting us and not everyone who pulls us out of the poop is our friend. maybe i've told that story before, but i do enjoy it.

It's Me Again

Here i am blogging twice in the same day! i did get off early enough to run this afternoon during daylight. I only had to work 30 minutes late today.

I used my watch again today on a distance i had already measured with a truck. the watch said that my first marker for a mile was about .2 of a mile short but my marker for 1.5 miles was not even .1 of a mile short. i turned around when the watch read just over 1.5 miles and when i got back to the starting point it read 2.93 miles. i am not really sure exactly what to believe, but i think it is close enough. my pace was a little slower than yesterday. i expected that, since i didn't stretch after i ran last and where i ran last night was much flatter than where i ran tonight and my calves were very tight. i ran the 2.9 miles in 30.20, not that fast, but i did have to run in place for two very short periods to let cars go by. overall i am pretty pleased for my short time running again.

if i can run saturday i will have completed the first week and will be on my way to being in pretty good shape for turkey season, which is the whole point anyway. bye the way, i have already lost 8-9 pounds by exercising and eating less, i wouldn't say eating better, just less. i have been eating quite a bit of carbs and protein at lunch and really cutting back on what i eat for supper.

well, i can't have two thoughts for the day or the first thought wouldn't be THE thought of the day. (i guess that is a thought in itself).

4 Miles?

Yesterday was a busy day at the clinic but i was determined to get my 4 mile run in. it was 7:30 before i finished work and of course it was dark. i decided to run on a private road behind the clinic. since i had not pre-measured the distance i was going to use my gps watch and see how it worked. i did get the gps to work with the watch and headed out for the run. i am not sure how it worked really. it said my max speed was 137.8 mph. i thought i ran for 37.8 minutes, but when i looked closer (after i quit running) it was 3.78 miles and 32 minutes and some change. it said my avg pace was 8.32minutes per mile, a little fast for me, but the place i was running was pretty flat, i still don't think i ran that fast. so i am not sure how far i really ran. after i ran i did measure the distance so i will know from now on.

i have 3 miles scheduled tonight, hopefully i can get off of work in time to run during daylight where i am pretty sure of the distance and see how the watch works there.

thought of the day: things change, accept it and move on. new doors are always opening, just be ready to recognize them and go through them. always be ready to turn one open door into a new opportunity.

Back in the Saddle

Today i started the training schedule again. i did 3 miles. it only took me 29.36. i was shooting for anything under 10 minute miles so i am pretty happy. i still have lots of sinus congestion but i mainly breathe through my mouth so it doesn't make it that much harder. my last mile took right at 10 minutes (that hill is back in my life) so the other miles were a little faster. it does feel good to run again, i just have to keep on track. this is our busiest time of year at the clinic, so, if i can do it now i can do it any time.

i still can't get my gps watch to work. it was blinking green when i headed out the door (which means it is working) but did not record any distance on the watch and was blinking red when i got back to the house. not sure what is going on. will have to work on that.

supper is about ready now, have to go. the thought of the day is this: even if you find it difficult to work hard and do what is right, keep on, you never know who you are inspiring. to see you get through a struggle, no matter how hard it is for you, can give someone else the inspiration to get through their struggles.

Another Week

Another week has gone by and i did not run any. i did ride my bike once and worked out on my stepper once, along with using my iso-trainer 3 nights. i have been really watching what i eat and have lost about 5 pounds, now the trick is to keep it up and not have a binge this weekend. i have been reading a few of my brother's posts about running and am now really inspired to get back into it. i am just now starting to feel a little better from the sinus infection, still have lots of drainage though. i am hoping next week i can get a full weeks worth of running in.

thought of the day: i got this from a men's health email, can't remember who said it and this may be paraphrazing a bit "to think is easy, to act is hard, to act as one thinks is the hardest". just remember to think and act like what you know is right.

Couldn't Feel Worse (much)

well, i ran on monday and was so excited to be back running. i even ran further than i thought i would be able to. however, monday night and tuesday my throat hurt bad. now my throat is better (but i haven't slept in 2 nights due to the sore throat) but my sinuses are extremely clogged. this afternoon my nose started bleeding for no reason other than inflamed nostrils. maybe i should have wiated to run until it was warmer. this running may be the end of me. i was really gonna try to run today at lunch even though i was feeling bad, but then a farmer called and i had to go deliver a calf.

maybe tomorrow i can get back on track.

I Did It!

Wow, I finally started running again today. I haven't ran in 5 months and i was able to run 4 miles today without stopping. I originally planned on 3 miles. It only took me 43.58 to run it! what a stellar pace. i used my new gps watch to make sure the mileage i had marked off was correct. however, i must not have done something right, it never connected with the watch or came on or something.

the first 1/2 mile was pretty brutal. a little after the first mile i started feeling a little better and i thought i can do 4 miles, hey i can do 5 miles, maybe even 6. then, as i was heading up the small hill to the 2 mile mark i thought to myself, i better leave well enough alone and just make it 4 miles, if that. then, as i hit 2.5 miles i thought, maybe i should just try for 3 miles and walk the rest. then, into my mind popped all the turkeys and elk that i want to be chasing this spring and fall. and i thought, even if i don't finish the last hill i have to try it. so there i went, on up the hill (didn't end up being such a challenge after all) and back to the house (my finishing point).

now my throat hurts, i think maybe from the cold air, or from the drainage going back the down of my throat. my legs feel pretty good and i feel pretty good over all, look out turkeys, i may be in the best shape ever during turkey hunting season (and if not i will still climb the hills and chase them as hard as i can :))

thought of the day: life comes and goes pretty quick, just when you think everything is getting better and going fine it can all change very fast.