Adding Up the Miles & Rollercoasters

I'm on my feet all day at work, so it's no wonder I've been having foot issues lately. First it was gout, which was promptly followed by plantar faciitis - but I'm not letting it put me too far behind in my training. Since I am on my feet, and some of it is outside, I've decided to start tracking my walking while at work and incorporating that into my overall miles (not to take away from running miles). Over the course of the past week or so I have racked up about 15 miles in walking while at work, most of it while mowing grass. Yesterday and today I tracked all of it. Yesterday I put in just over 2 miles mowing and today was just under 6 miles.

After walking behind a big mower all day today I thought I'd go for a short run before diving into homework. A quick change and some stretches and out the door I went. It's been such a beautiful day I'd hate to waste any of it while being indoors, so running was the natural choice for me. I set out to do between 4 and 5 miles and hit the mark pretty close at 4.4 miles. Averaged a 9:48/mile pace, which isn't too bad considering I'm still dealing with plantar faciitis. But with that in mind I've been reading up on this condition and have made some modifications to my shoe inserts that seem to be helping immensely. While I still have some pain, it is not so bad that I can't run. So I'm managing my pain and hoping this foot issue will be gone soon enough.

Time to switch topics . . .

We have season passes to Kings Island and have gone a few times so far this summer. After work yesterday I met Tina and the kids there. Noah had decided that he wanted to ride the Adventure Express rollercoaster, one he had never been on before because he wasn't tall enough. The older two siblings were on another ride so we waited so everyone could go, or so we thought. #4 was a bit too short, so she and Momma sat out while the older three and I hopped in line. While waiting Noah started having some doubts about riding this ride, but I talked him into staying (hoping I could get some sensory time in with him on the ride). It really is a good rollercoaster and the line moves quickly so we didn't have to wait long. Once inside he grabbed my hand and didn't let go the entire ride. When it was finished I asked if he liked the ride, to which he replied, "It was good, but I don't want to ride it again today. Once every time we come I'll ride it." Good enough for me! I really hope the flooding we are doing at K.I. this summer helps Noah, time will tell . . .

Until next time, keep up or catch up!

Odds, Ends & Coming Events

So recently we had an interesting time with autism. You see, for many with ASD rules are very important. Sometimes however, when attempting to fit in or make new friends that flies out the window.

Only a few miles from our house is a wonderful little winery we have been visiting the past few years during the summer months. The owners are wonderful, gracious, and Bill makes some darn good wines! Harmony Hill Winery is just outside Bethel, OH and has a wonderful property and atmosphere that is family friendly. For the most part, the kids love to go and hang out because their friends and family are there as well. During our last visit Noah made a couple of new friends, but when they decided to do something on the no-no side, he didn’t say anything. The deed will go unmentioned, but suffice to say it involved throwing objects and some of the property residents (of a four legged type). One of the workers at the winery was informed and she brought tall three boys to where we were. Noah was a bit distraught because he wanted to make these new friends and keep them as well; not be looked at as a tattle tale or enemy.

After a near nuclear meltdown, Tina and I calmed our little monkey down and took him to the worker who had brought him to us. And not long after, the winery owner, Bill, had a nice little chat with Noah as well. His spirits lifted a bit, and a nice lesson was learned in the process. Isn’t autism grand?

Now for the running bit . . . gout is gone!, but something else has reared it’s ugly head. Plantar Faciitis. This painful foot condition has to do with the ligament that connects the heel to the toes. In my case, it is really painful and difficult at times to walk on. This morning I woke without pain and decided on a nice early morning run. About one mile into it the pain started to come on and increase at an alarming rate. I slowed to a stop and stretched my foot along the side of the road. It helped temporarily, but it came back worse. I’m stubborn at times and have a pretty high tolerance for pain, so I continued to run. The pain came and went several times throughout and caused me to walk several times throughout, but I got in 6 miles in one our even. Needless to say, June has been a pretty bad running month and I’ve only logged 25 miles so far in running. I put in 13 this week, so I’m not off pace in the marathon training just yet, but it is a long road. 15 weeks from now I expect to be running my first marathon pain free! Prayers and advise is welcomed and appreciated.

With Harmony Hill Winery in mind an upcoming event will be taking place there next month. Momma’s Wooden Spoon will be helping Runner With a Reason and my friend Tim in our bid to raise lots of money for autism research. A bake sale will be taking place on Friday, July 23rd at the winery. A wonderful musician will be there as well, Anna Beljin and her father Milovan (www.annaandmilovan.com). This young amazing talent will be helping us raise awareness for autism and the cause Tim and I run for (OAR - http://www.researchautism.org/). The bake sale will take place while the winery is open that evening form 5:00 - 9:00 pm. Come out for some good wine, great times, wonderful music and supporting autism research. See you there!

The Training Plan & The Gout

On this rainy Saturday morning I decided to sit down with the iCalendar and plan things out for the training cycle. I have put this task off long enough and today seemed like a good day to take care of this important thing.

As I did with the Flying Pig training, I worked backwards from the date of the marathon. October 10th will mark my 36th birthday and my first full marathon, so that’s where it begins. That day will mark the longest single run in my life to date. Each Saturday starting a week from today will be my longer runs (mainly anything over 9 miles), with Tuesdays and Thursdays being my shorter runs (anything 9 miles or less). Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays will be cross training days (weights, eliptical, stationary bike, and swimming). Ideally I will get in all of the long runs, but as things pop up on the family schedule, that may be subject to change. I don’t have a full total for miles yet, but that calculation will be forth coming soon.

As I get closer to the race date I have to maintain a balance of family, running, kids back in school, myself back in school, and the fall hunting season (which will include each person in the house this year). I am hoping that all of this won’t interfere too much with the running schedule, but that is yet to be seen. Only time will tell.

Lastly, this past week has been rather eventful for me. First, I haven’t seen my in-laws in quite some time, and they came to visit for five days. It went well, but could have been better - no fault of theirs. I developed gout in my right big toe early in the week, which led to a lot less outings with the house guests. The doctor wasn’t concerned, as long as I rested properly and maintained a decrease in certain foods and drinks, as well as a strong regimen of ibuprofen to reduce inflammation in the joint. I wouldn’t wish that kind of pain on anyone, and am glad that I can walk without pain again. For those that do not know, gout is like arthritis gone haywire! It is a build up of uric acid around joints (elbow, knee, ankle and big toes especially), this forms crystals around the joints which causes the extreme pain.

That said, I will resume running after the pain has completely subsided and get into the training cycle for my first full marathon. By the time I get to Chicago I will have run four half marathons, three 10k’s, and one 5k race (all in under two years). Two weeks before I run Chicago I will be running the Air Force Half Marathon just as I did last year, and I am hoping to post a sub-two hour time on that. If the Flying Pig was any indication, I should be able to drop at least 8-10 minutes off of my previous AF half. If I can do that I will post that elusive sub-two hour time!

Until next time, keep up or catch up!

Training Run & Camping

The boys and I were supposed to go camping yesterday, sleep over in a tent, do some hiking, and possibly catch our dinner with rod & reel. Weather has reared it’s ugly head again here in southern Ohio and made that near impossible. While it didn’t rain last night I am glad we made the decision to not go camping. Seeing as how I didn’t go camping I thought it best that I get up and hit the road for a few good miles, but the forecasted weather kept me inside. Things got done around the house today, little projects that I’ve put off for a while (finish coats on living room table, clean bathroom ceiling fan, laundry, basement work, etc.) Sometime just after noon though I noticed a little break in the storms and laced up my shoes.


The rain had quit only a half hour or so before I left the house, so the humidity was extremely high at 95%. The temperature wasn’t too bad at 73 degrees, but coupled with the high humidity it felt more like 80! I started with a slow pace and at mile 2 I was maintaining a nice 9:20 pace. I figured I could get around 5 miles in before needing to intake more water, so I guessed a course that would land me pretty close to that. The heat continued to rise throughout the run and by the time I was done it was 80 degrees and still high humidity. I got in 4.82 miles with a nice 8:50/mile pace. The second half of the run was a bit faster than the first half, but I felt good and finished strong.

Back to the camping: Noah’s 9th birthday was this past week and he had only asked for two specific items. 1) an air-soft pistol (plastic gun that shoots plastic pellets) and 2) a tent that at least he, I and his older brother could sleep and camp in. My wonderful parents got the tent and it sleeps more than the three of us. We shouldn’t have any trouble getting ourselves and all of our camping gear inside this beast! I just wish the weather had worked in our favor, we all really wanted to get away, even if only for a single day. There are few things Noah wants to try and explore, but the outdoors seem to be one of those few things he wants to dig into. I don’t know if there is any connection between him wanting to explore like this and his autism, but I sure look forward to finding out. Maybe sometime in the next couple of weeks we will be able to explore the great outdoors in depth and see if there is a connection.

Until then, keep up or catch up!

Fundraising Events

As you may well be aware, I am raising money for OAR for my upcoming first marathon. This October I will be participating in the Chicago Marathon as part of the Run For Autism team. My goal for this is to raise a minimum of $500 dollars for autism research. I can't do this alone, and so have to count on the charity of others to help me meet and/or exceed this goal. Each month I will be setting aside a weekend day to collect aluminum cans to "cash in" and put into my OAR giving fund. The next event planned is coming up in the next month. July will be a busy month with three planned events already on the books. First will be the "Tire Flippin' Butt Kickin' Autism Awareness Challenge" which will include some good friends and some soon to be good friends. More details on this within the next two weeks. Tentative date for this will be either July 10th or the 17th. Following the tire flip will be a bake sale. Our wonderful friends at Harmony Hill Winery have agreed to allow Runner With a Reason and Momma's Wooden Spoon to sell some wonderful baked goods for the cause! This fund raising event will take place on Friday, July 23rd at Harmony Hill starting at 5:00 pm. The proceeds from the evenings sales will go directly into the OAR giving fund. Still working on some pricing and setup issues, but if you'd like to make an advance purchase, please let me know or become a fan of Momma's Wooden Spoon and let Momma know! Lastly, there will be another aluminum can drive in July, and the date will be posted at least a week in advance. If you have friends and family that would like to contribute, but don't have the funds to do so, this is a great way to help. Please pass along this information to as many people as you can, and a BIG THANKS in advance!

Training Run (6/4/2010)/Autism

Well southern Ohio’s humidity continues to rear it’s ugly head. This past week had days with the humidity at 98% in the mornings, which made running nearly impossible. Friday morning was about the best I had seen it, so I laced up and hit the pavement. The temp was around 70 and the humidity was a balmy 91% when I took off. I was quickly drenched in sweat and wondered why I had even left the comfort of my air conditioned house. The rest of the run was more of the same, lost of me loosing water rapidly. What started to be a 5 mile run ended up being only 3.52 miles because of the water loss. I still did pretty good and maintained a 9:02/mile pace. After cooling down I hit the shower and prepared to go to work where I only managed to do more of the same, namely, sweat my butt off. I was truly thankful when I was able to leave work and spend some much needed time with friends at Harmony Hill Winery.

For many families, autism is a hard thing to handle or even to accept. Groups like OAR and Autism Speaks are wonderful places to start learning more about autism and how families can better understand autism and how to cope with caring for someone who has autism. It is a hard thing to swallow at first, as I can attest, knowing that your child has, what some will call a disability. You want desperately for your child to be and to grow up "normal" but you get this strange diagnosis that leaves you confused about the future. There is hope and there is help. Some families go a more traditional route by using facilities like Children's Hospitals while others take a less traditional route by changing diet. There are pros and cons to each of these and neither one has proven to be 100% effective, but know that there are people who have been in a similar situation and there are people who are qualified to help you understand autism more fully.

I am thankful that Noah functions well most days, but deep down inside I still wonder about the future of this wonderful person. Will he be able to support himself? Will he be able to find someone who will understand and accept him for who he is? Will he want to have children of his own? While I may not have the answers to any of these questions, I know that for now, he is well taken care of and Tina and I are doing the best we can to help Noah strive for a bright future. If you question why your child has autism, take heart and know that you are not alone. Take some time to research autism and find groups that can help support you (mentally, physically, and emotionally). If at nothing else, contact me and I'll try to point you in a good direction.