Cross Training

At some point in my training I thought it would be a good idea to add a few extra elements to help in my quest to run a marathon. I've always liked swimming, but never took it serious. Now I think of my time in water as meters/yards/miles traveled just as I would if I were running. I am slowly working my way up to greater distances in the pool, and each week it gets a little better. Two weeks ago I got in 200 meters immediately after spending 35 minutes lifting weights. Last week I made it through 500 meters, and today I got 600 meters in 19 minutes, 30 seconds. I know, when you look at Olympic records my time is nowhere near what those people swim, but for me it is an accomplishment. With any luck next week I will try to get to the 800 meter mark (1/2 mile for those unable to convert metric). My hope is that by the end of summer I will be able to swim a full mile (1600 meters), and that this extra training will vastly improve my running.

Like the swimming I have gotten back into lifting weights. Both of these add up to one thing, cross training. Endurance will be the one of the keys to me successfully completing the Chicago Marathon in October, but strength and a good tolerance for lactic acid buildup will also be to my advantage. This is where all of this comes into play. When I went to the gym (years ago as a Marine), I went to get bigger and stronger. I had a partner and we had our goals. I still have some of my notebooks and often wonder, "did I really lift that much in one session?" Now, things are different. I am not lifting to gain mass or excessive strength, but to add to my endurance. By lifting lesser amounts with higher reps and more sets I am building up my tolerance for lactic acid, that nasty substance that muscles produce when they start to get over worked. My hope is that this, like the swimming, will be just what I need to get me through those last few miles.

26.2 miles is a long way to run, double the distance of anything I've run to date. As I continue on with my training and fund raising events, don't forget to give me a pat on the back once in a while. If you see me resting, let me rest. If you see me running, tell me to push harder. If you happen to catch me in the gym, tell me to do one more set. If I'm in the pool, tell me to add another lap. I'm going to need all the help I can get between now and October 10th.

Training Run (7/10/2010)

Managed to crawl out of bed just after 6 a.m. and got myself ready to take on the road. I was more than a little hesitant when I looked at the weather, only to find that the humidity had actually reached 100%! I don’t think I’ve seen that since I was in Po’hang, South Korea back in the 1990’s. Needless to say it felt oppressive when I left the comfort of the air conditioned house. Got the music and iMapMyRun app going on the iPhone and took off and a pretty slow pace. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go too fast because of the humidity and the fact that I have decided to break out the Camel Back hydration system again (the shoulder/chest straps constrict my breathing). This run would be the longest since running the Flying Pig half marathon in May, short of that run by 4 miles.

After getting into a decent rhythm I settled down and kept a nice 9:40 - 9:50 pace for most of the nine miles, taking short walk/water breaks about every 2 miles after the first four. I would occasionally pick up the pace a bit, but not so much as to make breathing any more difficult. I knew I would be pretty close to the 9 mile mark when I got home when I hit mile 8, but I didn’t know if I would have to make up any distance after I hit the driveway. I pulled the armpocket off about two houses before mine only to find that I was at 8.99 miles, and so I walked the last 0.01. I was pretty happy to have gotten in all of the mileage in one giant loop, starting and stopping at the end of the driveway.

The 1 hour, 29 minute run took me west of Bethel, down Burke & Macedonia roads, back into town where I went around most of the walking track, over to the cemetery and back towards the house. Overall I had a 9:53/mile pace and felt tired, but not exhausted when I was done. Glad to have gotten in a long run.

July, August & September are looking to be big mileage months, and all told through the Chicago Marathon I will have run roughly 400 miles from July through October 10th (which is more than the distance from my house to Chicago).

Fireworks & Fishing

The 4th of July weekend is now at it’s close, and a busy one it was! Family function at the parents’ house Saturday followed by a lazy Sunday spent cleaning up after said family function. The question then became, where do we go to see fireworks? By the time a decision was made it was nearly 8 o’clock, but we still had about two hours before most places started their sky display. Kings Island was going to stay open until midnight and have a nice fireworks show at ten, so we drove north to get in some rides and a show. As we waited in line for the Monster the display started, and it continued until we were done with the ride (about 25 minutes in all). It was a nice show and worth the short drive.


Monday was my “holiday” day from work, and it was spent taking all four kids, plus my dad, on a little fishing expedition to a friend’s farm pond. I don’t know how often the pond gets people action, but the fish sure were biting, even in spite of the hot sun and rising temperatures. One minor problem, the autistic son of mine wasn’t catching anything. Sure, fish would bite at his hook, but they would only strip the bait and leave him more frustrated with each cast. After Jake had caught his fourth fish he decided he had had enough and relaxed in the van while everyone else walked around attempting to catch fish. I experienced mild success and nailed a nice 15 inch large mouth bass and some really big bluegills. Even Annika caught a fish! Noah was still fishless by the end of the first hour so I pulled him aside as a meltdown was in the making. I had been watching this little patch of moss swirl for a while and we cast his pole right at it. Almost as soon as the bait hit the water the bobber disappeared. Noah was in a heated battle with his first fish! Even I was surprised when he got it to the bank. As he drug it through some moss I could see it was a decent fish, and a small mouth bass at that. An autism meltdown avoided, a fish caught, and the day was a huge success. While it wasn’t a keeper, his 10 inch bass was the highlight of the day and well worth every ounce it weighed. He carried it to the other side of the pond to show Papaw, and then promptly returned the fish to the pond.

It was a long weekend, but a good weekend nonetheless.

Training Update

Yesterday I put in a couple of miles at work mowing grass (yet again), and after work I headed the YMCA to meet up with the family. Noah had a friend spending the day with him, and it was nice for them to have some time swimming in the pool together. Before getting into the water myself I headed to the weight room to get some iron time in. I did a really quick circuit hitting most of the major muscle areas and pretty much wore myself out in a short time period. Not thinking too much I left and went directly to the pool for some laps. I thought about getting in 400m, but that wasn’t going to happen. Tina and the kids were about done and getting hungry, so I cut short, rather, in half what I wanted to swim. It was good because after 200m I was pretty spent (seeing as how I had just done a lot of lifting I was tired before I started the laps).

Woke up early this morning and decided that, at 55 degrees and 70% humidity, I should get my butt out the door running. A little cool to start, but I quickly got warmed up. My left foot was a bit tender to start and kept me slow at first. After about the first mile the pain started to subside and I was running at about 90%. Felt really good and even got a couple of 100 yard sprints in during the run. Ran the longest I’ve run since the Flying Pig Half in May and finished with 6.9 miles with a 9:16/mile pace. Not too bad!

Hoping the healing continues on the current track and if it does I should be back to 100% within a couple more weeks. May make a trip to the Good Feet Store to try some of their inserts to see it if helps on these longer runs. In addition to everything else I have decided I want to try the 100 push up challenge - and I challenge everyone else to try it as well. I will be doing my initial test this coming week and will keep everyone abreast of how that’s going as well. If you’d like to join me go to: http://hundredpushups.com/index.html

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.