Funny the way blogs work.

Funny the way blogs work.  Reverse chronology.  If you enter the blog on the latest entry, you can miss the most important postings in the blog.  The initial post that explains what the blog is about, or why it was started.  That is the case with mine.

Do not read this private post. The title sounds like an invitation, but it isn't.

Wow, this blog was started seven years ago, the last post 2 tears ago, and it is still in my email signature, even though I have deleted it a few times.  I doubt anyone reads it any more, well not often anyway. So today I need to write some stuff, and I need it out in public, but I can't do it where most people will see it.  These are private thoughts that I would share with a close personal confident if I had one.

In December, a friend, committed suicide.  Apparently it was pretty dramatic, I found out a month later when condolences started showing up on her Facebook page.    I contacted her husband, and this was about three months later, he was doing fine, moving out of state, she was Bi-polar and I guess he had a hard time dealing with her in the relationship, and she felt guilty about it and finally ended it.  They were married over 20 years.

He moved to CA and within two months started posting that he had a pretty young girlfriend.  I don't understand how that can be?  where is the grieving period?  When Jo Ann died, it took me two years to finally go through the anger and acceptance stage of grieving.  I said I was ready to date, but 5 years after she died, I was watching a movie and realized I was scared to get into another relationship, because I didn't want someone else to go through the loss I went through, when Jo Ann died.  A time later (I don't know how long,) I realized I didn't want to go through another loss like that, it was too painful.  It was so painful, because Jo Ann is the love that taught me happy, long term relationships can exist.  Happily married, was not a contradiction in terms.  Made me realize that the world did not revolve around me in a relationship.  I don't understand men that can lose a spouse and date and/or re-marry in a year.

I was happy when I realized and gave voice to my fear of new relationships, and thought that would clear my mind and personality for a new relationship.  I figured if I bought a house and put plans in place for my retirement, love would just find me, I would meet someone new because I wasn't desperately searching for someone, but it hasn't happened.

It has been ten years since Jo Ann has died, and I am still alone.  I have tried computer dating, but it is a farce, at least for me, maybe it is because of the way I write my profile.  I try to write my truth, but I have been told, it isn't what will attract a woman, the few meetings I have had, have been failures.  I know what I want and .... I don't think it exists.

I have one friend set me up with someone and we had one date, it didn't go anywhere, she cancelled the next 3 things we had planned, without offering options.  My neighbour set up a meeting with what turned out to be a mother of a friend.  She was close to my age and thought being active was walking and doing water aerobics.

So this is where women will probably flame me, if this is read.  But honestly, this is how I think and feel and why I imagine I will be single for the rest of my long life.

My body's age is 63, but my mind, body and spirit feels around 36, and definitely younger than when my body was 36.  Over the decade since my wife, Jo Ann, died, the women in my age group have aged, and most of them, not gracefully.  It is one thing to love someone and grow old and fat with them and another to fall in love with an aged fat woman.  I will be flamed here, called a misogynist and that is not true.  Women and men are attracted to the same things.
Initially, attractiveness.  Security. Finally, love can occur if you are around someone long enough to get to know them, even if initially, you do not find them attractive.

I know I am starting to ramble, but I too, am discomforted by this admission, and wish it wasn't so.  I am a 36 year old, trapped in a 63 year old body.  I want to find someone that is fit, young in personality, active - running - intense exercise - body in good shape and healthy.

I want my friends to know the type of woman I want and to help me find her.

Thursday 11/20/2014

1 hour on the treadmill. I mile @ 5% grade (5-6 mph) 1 mile @ 12% grade (started at 4 mph dropped to 3.3), 1 mile 3-7 % grade varied (mostly around 5 mph) 1 mile walk @ 12% grade ( 3 and 3.3 mph)

Tough running the 12% and after completing that at around 31 minutes, I wanted to quit for the night and then remembered that I want to try and beat Ranger on Saturday – actually I had to start remembering that at around the ½ mile mark of the 12% grade.

Another thing that does keep me going is that I run to please God, because he has given me the health and fitness to run at this point in my life. The guys that I grew up with are all loosing their health, looking old and stiff and overweight. Sorta like I did 4 years ago. The youngest of the group is retired and on disability and another his age died a few days ago in a traffic accident. Yet another, the fittest, strongest, most athletic of us, also retired a few years ago and went to Mexico. I didn't recognize him until his daughter told me it was him. I have a lot to be thankful for in all areas of my life.

Neil's car accident just brings to mind how quick our life can end; we have no control of when, where or how it will happen, but it will. In many ways, I still have that feeling of immortality that young men have, yet I know that isn't true.

19 Days until the 1/2 marathon

Tuesday Nov 18, 2014

Tonight, 1 hour of leg shredding elliptical workout. I know some people trash ellipticals as a serious piece of exercise equipment, I wonder if they tried using the programing and if they worked at it or they thought they were just suppose to walk?

I have talked with Bob B and he suggested that I taper before the run and is trying to dissuade me from running on the Saturday before leaving for Hawaii.  Tapering is important, it allows the muscles to heal and rebuild.  I have been wondering, how much the heart is affected by heavy exercise; are the fibers in the heart torn down in long runs, like the leg muscles are?   Do they heal and repair themselves like the muscles in my legs.?  Would a weeks rest improve my heart as it will my legs?

Another concern I have about not running for a week and that is putting on weight before the run... I guess I'll need to just do a lot of walking and watch what I eat.  It is important to me that I do a good job on this run.

Monday

Rest day.  I walked on the ferry, it has been bitter cold in the morning and I have not been doing squats because I am not sure if my legs are warm enough and I don't want to tear anything.

Sunday Run 11/16/2014

Today, Sunday, training consisted of my 1 hour Running Injury Prevention clinic, a clinic put n by a Physical Therapist I have lots of respect for. I needed to use her professional services and she resolved other issues I had suffered with for years, during the course of her treatment. I am running stronger now, than before my injury.

The one hour of training is actually tougher than it would appear if you were watching it and is designed to improve my core, balance and lower body strength. Needless to say, my legs were fatigued before meeting Beth at Battle Point Park on Bainbridge Island.

We stated a single track trail that left the park and ran about a mile to the Grand Forest. We then ran trails through the Grand Forest and then back the first trail to Battle Point park, we then ran the trail, clockwise, against the majority of traffic back to our cars.

The weather was around 40 and sunny and it was enjoyable running with Beth. Beth has agreed to run with me on training runs to help get ready for my ½ marathon in Hawaii.

Today's run 15.85 km 2 hr 25 min. Not as far as last week, but an improvement. For those that know the Pt. Gamble trails, about 1.2 miles from the TH, is a trail – Ranger, the bottom trail is easy the top is steep. I made it most of the way up without stopping. I will own this trail either next Saturday or

the Saturday after. I'll try to get elevation information next week. Running this hill at the beginning sapped my strength

Experienced runners will walk a hill like this because they know they can walk it as fast as they can run it, or even if they walk it slower, they will have saved energy to make up the time after they reach the top of the hill. I know this, and will hopefully use the strategy on the Hawaiian run, where there are two large hills; but, I am training now and want to strengthen my legs and running so I stress them now.

It was a cold day today, and probably did get into the low mid 40. I was warm enough to be comfortable, but realize that the cold was affecting my muscles and probably core temperature, and that is one reason I didn't run as far – it sapped my strength.

I found a new trail at the beginning of the run, it followed the fence line of some property. The trail isn't used much and was root and rock strewn which were covered in fallen leaves. As I watched the ground, I started to see lots of questionable animal tracks, so I doubled back to the main trail; I think my main concern was sthe condition of the trail.

As I got tired on the trail and wanted to stop, I would tell myself that I needed to go a little further, because each time I pushed myself through the tiredness and pain, I would tear down the muscle and it would rebuild stronger, with more endurance so I could go further and stronger in the future.

I have found another trail that I am going to add to my run next week.

Good news about the Hawaiian run, a woman at work did it 3 years ago and said it was fun and doable. She and her sister did it in 3 hrs and they stopped along the way to visit “things”, to take pictures and to enjoy the scenery.

I am getting excited about this run.

I signed up to do the Turkey Trot on Bainbridge Island on Thanksgiving.

There is a 5K on New Years day I believe I will sign up for.

At times training can be boring

There is nothing like a fast approaching date for a goal to focus interest, ignore the pain, and work through the boredom of treadmill, elliptical and hill repeat workouts. I did a lot of stair walking at work. I had been doing squats and lunges on the ferry ride in the morning, but since the last couple days were in the 20s I didn't do them, I thought my legs muscles would not warm up enough to do them safely.

Tonight I did 2 30 minute elliptical workouts, simulating hill repeats. Indoor exercise can be so boring, and walking out to the garage when it is upper 30 to lower 40s is hard to do. But I warm up fast.

Veteran's Day run

Today I ran 4.6 miles on the Pt. Gamble trails.  Probably 65 - 75% on Single track.  I did Ranger twice - I wasn't able to run it al, but I did good.  I will need to do squats, walk up the stairs at work and do hill repeats on the treadmill and eliptical.

The Hawaii race has a lot of hills and it looks like it will be difficult, with training and help from God, I will be able to complete it.  It is easy for me to see and feel that I am getting stronger in my running and having this run as a goal I will be able to callenge mysel in my training.

I am not sure why 5 of my waypoints are down
on Hwy 3 and I was surprised that if I was running along a cliff, I could look down and see my house.

Rest day

Today was a rest day.

I did my ferry walks and some stair walks at work and about 75 squats and 25 lunges; but, Mondays will be my rest days.  It is a day I will be going to Bible study.  I haven't posted it on FB or anywhere else publicly, but in August, I accepted Jesus as my Savior.  I don't think I have ever been a non-believer, but I have sat on the fence saying maybe.  I refused to turn to Christ in times of trouble, because I didn't want to do it under duress.  

When Jo Ann was going through her cancer treatments and when she died, I wished that I believed and had the faith that others talked about, yet, I didn't want to turn to Jesus out of weakness.  That decision probably caused me a lot of heartache and suffering.

At the beginning of August, I decide I needed to get off the fence and either accept Christ as my Savior or not.  My life is good, I am prosperous, yet there is something missing in my life that I hope is filled as I become ... more.

I like history and have read the bible as a history book, but now, as I look at what is happening in the world, and I compare it to Bible prophecy, I believe that I had better be a believer and a follower of Christ.

Since this is my blog, and I have so few followers, this may be the place where I can start writing about my fledgling beliefs.

I know it may sound strange, but when I run now, I ask God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit to keep me safe and to join me on my run, to enter my body and experience what I am feeling and doing.  I know God has a more spectacular view of the world and the universe, and can get from one place to another with a thought - well, I guess that is because God is everywhere, but it is the only thing that I have to offer at this time.  Other than myself.

Well I guess my running blog will be interspersed with some of my God thoughts as we move forward.

2014_11_09

Today is Sunday.

I have heard from 2 different people, that the race in Hawaii is really difficult.  Looking at the map it looks like the highest elevation gain is 500 feet - hmm it could be meters, I better check, that would be a whole new story.

Yesterday I ran 20K and was really hurting afterwards.  Legs stiff and sore; I could hardly walk.  This morning I woke and my legs were fine, terrific recovery from the run.

Todays traing consited of a 1 hour running injury prevention clinic.  This consited of three rounds of 8 different core centered exercises.  I dose't sound like much, but it is really a good workout.
Each station is 1 minute with about 15 seconds to switch stations.

This evening I used an eliptical for hill training.  I used two different settings to simulate hill repeats.  2, 30 minute sets.

I am excited about the race, but the most exciting thing is Tyler, my son, and I are going.  It has been years since the 2 of us have gone on a vacation together.  It will be good to do it with him as an adult.

November 8, 2014 20K

There are 2 maps because the GPS app saw this run as 2 loops.
The shorter loop on both maps is the first lap.  The data changes at the bottom of the map showing the statistics.

The first loop was a training run for 2 people, actually for all 3 of us; one of them is on Jeff Galoways run/walk program. 7.5 K and 1hr 17 minutes.

The 2^nd loop, I did by myself 12,5 K and 1 hr 41 minutes, for a total of 3 hrs on trail and 20 K.

Thoughts on this. The first loop, although slow was good for training purposes, it helped me concentrate on running with my big muscles, my Glutes and thighs. It was also helpful to teach me to run slower out of the gate so I don't burn out during a run.

The 2^nd loop revealed that I am a stronger runner than I was last week. I ran out Beaver creek trail to the road turned left and ran to Road 1000, which is a hill that usually defeats me. This is the 2^nd time I run this road today and I make it to the top with out stopping. This is like the 4^th time I have done this in 3 years. Granted I was probably sub 2 mph and I could have walked it at 3 – 4 mph, I did complete the climb using running motions.

At the top of the hill, I turned left onto, I believe 1200. This road has some long inclines on it. I twisted my ankle at I think 11.64 KM (total distance) I thought it was bad at the time but some hopping around, deep breathing and “Oh my”s and it started feeling better, I started walking it out and then soon was able to run. Really surprised no choice word were uttered.

I was able to do some single track and still get in the milage.

I felt emotional, sick to my stomach, weak, exhausted. My legs were stiff, sore, heavy amd I could hardly get out of the car at home. I sat in a cold bath for a bit and took a nap, my legs are still sore, the recovery time will actually tell me how fit I am.

50 miler training
This will be interesting, blogging on two events on the same blog.  Today's blog is just a follow up to a post or two from 2013, about my desire to run a 50 mile run.  My goal was to do it this year, but because of injuries, it aint happening.

I was on a rehabilitation run today, 2 1/2 to 3 miles.  I started out running a minute and then walking a minute and repeating.  I then upped it to run 2 minutes walk one minute and then 3\1 back to 2\1.

Rehab is hard because I know I used to do so many more miles and feel somewhat funny run walking at these times a pace.  I am going to have to be conscious of my rehabilitation.

June 26, 2014

A couple weeks ago a friend, Nonie, IM'd me and asked if I would like to hike in Costa Rica.  I said I had never thought about it.  It might be fun.  It would give me a reason to get my passport, a task I have been putting off for a number of years.  She told me a friend asked her to go , but she wasn't prepared to hike for 9 days.  Then asked if I would be interested.  I said yes.

I mentioned this to a few people that night and they all got excited "YES" they exclaimed.  The next morning on my ferry commute, I was walking my rounds on the sun deck and started smiling and getting excited about the possibility and the planning. 

My disclaimer here.  I have never travelled outside the U.S. except for a few hours in Canada and Mexico, so this was stepping outside the box for me.  I had agreed to travel with someone I had never met - not knowing if they were male or female - this is another thing that is way outside the box for me.  Turns out the friend is female, and Nonie tells me she is nice and pretty.  She is at least 50% right, the woman is beautiful.

We are having difficulty meeting, I cancelled the first meeting because I was sick and wanted to make a good first impression; but, as you know, when you have a sinus infection and haven't slept, your eyes are going to be red, watery and puffy.  Your face may be swollen and your brain somewhere else and you can't carry on a conversation.  Your eyes may gloss over and your partner may think you are not interested in what they are saying.  Not to mention the bouts of hacking and snuffling. 

We were suppose to meet this afternoon for coffee, but she had a meeting and now I am waiting to hear if we will meet tomorrow after work.

I have filled out my passport application, started rounding up documentation to take with me to me interview.  I have located an office in Poulsbo and have their phone number so I can call and make an appointment

So where I stand right now is I have agreed to go to a foreign country, with someone I don't know, I'm excited about it and have started the process for my passport.

If we meet and don't click and the trip doesn't get off the ground, it is still a win for me.  I have stretched my boundaries and I will have my passport.

Ran the Pt. Gamble trails yesterday, Sunday 12/29/2013. I was out on the trails about 2h 5m, the time keeping from Google Tracks which registered my time on trail but no distance. It seems the application is not smart enough to turn the GPS on, it just told me one wasn't available. I discovered how to turn the GPS on after returning home and having an opportunity to research the problem.

I am not sure how far I ran, but it was enough to hurt my legs and I did have to walk the last mile back to the car. I wonder if it is smart to run further than you can run back. I can see the benefit of doing so, I get a cool down walk, I also push myself to run a little further – walk – run – walk. I am wondering also, if this type of training would, instead of training me to run further would train me to give up before reaching the finish line, since I would be used to walking the last mile or so,

There were many times I wanted to just stop, turn around and head back to the car, but I kept going and in fact actually chose to run further at one point; this is probably the extension that caused me to walk the last mile. The benefit of adding to the run when I did, is that I got more comfortable with a seldom used route, and I found more roads to research and add to my route, to add variety. and distance.

I am already 1 5K down on my running goals so will need to pick another one up, maybe in Feburary as I am suppose to do a 5K and a 10 K this month, or I will do 2 5Ks this month and move the 10K to February.

Yesterday, my plan was to run on the trails today.  However, I had a bad night.  I didn't sleep well, I woke up itching.  I went to see my son yesterday and he has like, six cats and I am slightly allergic to them.  I alos took him to dinner and we had Thai food... it is possible that I was allergic to something in the food.  Needless to say, I slept very late and did not feel like running.  Then the Seahawks were on, the one and clenched the division title and home field advantage for the playoffs. 

I did some chores and went to Jeannie's to turn the water off that I had left running for last weeks cold spells.  I then went to Costco and returned home.  I then started cleaning my kitchen closet, there is a lot I need to cull from there so I have room.  Things I couldn't get rid of while Jeannie was alive.  Well, now I have to sort that and donate it to Goodwill -  I also have other stuff to clear out of my life and declutter my life.

Well since this post is about training for the runs I have planned in the next 16 months, I did run 3.1 miles on the treadmill - it took 37 minutes, I burned 530 calories and did most of the running on an incline.  I also did 25 reps with a 35lb kettlebell that I picked up at Play it again sports.  I am foing to do those everyday and see how it improves my shoulder.

Another good piece of news is that my back did not tighten up tonight.  I hope it is a sign that it wont when I am on the trails.

Today, after a week of sub-freezing temperatures in my garage, I was able to run on the treadmill.  2.39 miles in 30 minutes.  I have a long way to go in order to meet my goals, but all it will take is training and perseverance.

I need to remember that training doesn't mean I am running at race distance and speed, but that I am building distance, speed and endurance.  I am training my body to work for long periods of time.

Training means that I am building to my goals and that I am getting better each day that I train; even on those days that I run a shorter distance at a slower speed.

Food is important in training and exercise.  Over the last few years, I have learned a lot about the food I have been feeding myself.  The sugars, trans-fats - GMO foods, the feed lot raised beef, poultry and pork.  I know I need to purchase organic and grass fed meats, but I bulk at the expense.  I know I need to cut out the sugars, grains and phoney fats, but I still find myself back sliding and gorging myself on them.  Yet these are not failures, but setbacks.  They are lessons learned.  I don't have to start over, but just pick myself up and continue on.  Each good meal and food choice I make is better than not doing anything at all.

Runners World sent me an e-mail with a teaser - Runners giving up glutton - buy our glutton free cookbook.  I wonder how they are carb-loading now?

Turkey Trot 2013 - Bainbridge Island, WA

 

Today was the 1^st 5K race in my 18 month running goals.

Last Saturday, I finished putting my NordicTrak C900i treadmill together. I ran a 5K on it that night, and then on Sunday I rowed 500 cals, about 20 minutes and then ran about 2.6 miles before accidently pulling the key off the treadmill, shutting it down and erasing the stats. On Monday I did Crossfit and then Tuesday and Wednesday I rested in preperation for today's Turkey Trot.

My friend Kat joined me for the run; she is interested in taking up running and doing some training runs on the weekends. It would be nice to have a training partner. Today was her first 5K and she did great. It was harder for me to do the run and I am confident that she could have had a better time, if she was running alone, but she said that negates the point of running a race together. Her attitude will probably change after she gets a few races under her belt.

I am happy with my time, I think the time I saw on the clock at the finish line was the race clock and we came in at 30:55. We had a really slow start, walking to and across the start line before we could start running, so that did affect our time. I am waiting for them to post the official results to see what our actual time is.

I had to walk a couple times for about 30 seconds, but that is fine. Whatever my time turns out to be, it will be a baseline for this year, something to improve on.

Just set some new goals/dreams and thought I would start writing them down and doing updates.  If they are seen, cool.  If not, cool.  I had fun when I did this while preparing for my trip to Alaska to hike the Chilkoot trail.  Now, I have set some running goals for the next 18 months.  Some are easy and others a progressively harder.  Here they are:

18 Month running Goals – November 2013 to April 2015

1 - 5K q month
1 - 10K q 2 months
1 – 1/2 marathon
1 – 25K
1 – marathon
1 – 50K
1 – 50 mile run

I am doing CrossFit, I started CrossFit to help with my running, and as I got stronger, I thought "I am actually able to compete (CrossFit) in my age bracket."  That is when I probably did some stupid stuff and injured and re-injured some old injuries.  I recently re-evaluated what I wanted - healthwise - and determined that I want to be healthy and fit.  I want to be able to run and show strong in my division, which if I had kept in running shape, I would have been able to do this past year, but because of injuries, I didn't run and did very little CrossFit.  So now I am starting over.

So here is the plan: CrossFit to strengthen my legs and core and to increase cardio vascular system, and running to improve and compete.  I purchased a Concept 2 rower to help with my cardio and core and an additional benefit is that it is helping with my shoulder injury.  I just purchased a NordicTrac C900i treadmill so I can run 3 or 4 evenings a week during the winter and spring months.

My outdoor runs will probably be on Sundays.  Also hiking, snow shoeing and cross country skiing are on the books for this winter.

I hope I keep motivated to update this blog at least weekly.

My first 5K run is on Thanksgiving morning. 

Life is fragile, sudden, and shorter than it often seems. – There may not be a tomorrow – not for everyone. Right now, someone on Earth is planning something for tomorrow without realizing they’re going to die today. This is sad but true. So spend your time wisely today and pause long enough to appreciate it. Every moment you get is a gift. Don’t waste time by dwelling on unhappy things. Spend it on things that move you in the direction you want to go. (40 Lessons for Finding Strength in Hard Times!   www.marcandangel.com)

This is one reason I started the “Someday is Today Blog”, it is one reason that I am now participating in things that “have put me in the CRAZY category” according to some of my friends.  This is a big reason why I am now doing things that I feared to do in the past, why I am stretching my boundaries and facing some fears.  Life should be about living in the now, not living for the future because you may not have a future.  I am not saying don’t plan for the future, because when you get there you certainly do want to be able to live life; what I am saying is don’t forget to live, love, enjoy and create memories for yourself and your family and friends.  It is much more comforting to look back and say, “Remember when we did this?  Went there?  Experienced that?”  Then to say to yourself, “We were going to do this…”  “We talked about doing that when we retired”  “I wish we had taken the time…”

Work should not be your life; it should be what allows you to have a life. 

You never know what the future has in store for you, so plan for it, but don’t forget to live in the now, to create happy memories for yourself and your loved ones.  Hang with people you want to be like.  Remove negative people from your life when possible, have positive support for those times you spend with emotional vampires.  Live to be happy and have fun in everything you do.