After about 400 days away, I find myself coming back to my blog a little sheepish but back none the less.
I would love to have some fabulous story about why the long absence - but the truth is that I just walked away from the whole fitness lifestyle. It doesn't make sense when I think about what I have seen happen in the training for the 2 half marathons. I guess that we all do things for reasons that even we can't understand looking back.
I guess that when I think about it - the reason that I have returned comes down to family health. Over the last several months, we have been on journey as an extended family that we didn't think we would be on. Without going into details, I feel that I have been given a glimpse into a possible future of mine if changes are not made. So drastic changes are being made. That's why I am back here.
I don't think that I will be attempting either the half or full marathon this year. I don't believe that my body is ready for that. I will be returning to walking at lunch and will be returning to strength training over the next few weeks. My diet is also undergoing some changes. Last fall I had some blood work done which came back for the most part OK. Of course there were some issues that concerned my doctor.
He told me that several factors in my life point to something called metabolic syndrome or Syndrome X. If you know me, then you know that it drives me crazy that everything in life has to be caused by a "syndrome" and be labeled as such. This condition makes me prone to heart disease and other bad things. His recommendation was that the easiest thing I could do to effect this would be to change my diet. He suggested what would be like a diabetic diet that limited the amount of carbs in the diet. After trying both the TNT Diet and the Zone Diet, both are good but weren't a good fit for me - I am trying the Paleo Diet. Very similar to both the other diets but this one looks like one for me.
I will be posting my starting stats tomorrow.
February 12, 2009 - Let the games begin
Yesterday was probably one of the nicest days going by temperature in a long time. The January thaw has come to Central Ohio a little late. The snow is gone and I felt the pull to get out to the park at lunch to get a walk in. Great time!!!
Did a 2 mile walk in about 37 minutes. A pretty good start to the season.
I have decided to make another go at the Columbus Marathon in October. I am hoping that this year I can stay away from the injuries that plagued me last year. My official training will begin March 2nd. I can't wait to begin.
Did a 2 mile walk in about 37 minutes. A pretty good start to the season.
I have decided to make another go at the Columbus Marathon in October. I am hoping that this year I can stay away from the injuries that plagued me last year. My official training will begin March 2nd. I can't wait to begin.
Season's Greetings - December 9, 2008
Please allow me to be one of the first people to wish you a very Merry Christmas and my best wishes for a Happy New Year!!!!!
Not much has gone on since the half marathon. I got the low down from my doctor as to the possible reason for my passing out after the race. He told me that it was probably due to the level of sodium in my blood. Either too high or too low and you can find yourself on the deck. He said that there had probably been at least 2-3 folks that had passed out at the race by the time I crossed the finish line. Volumes of studies have been conducted to try to determine what the optimum sodium level is. He did an EKG test just to be sure and everything was fine.
In my previous post, I promised the link to my marathon photos. Click here to see the photos. You will need to enter my last name and my bib# (32).
Since then, I have pretty much taken a break from the training. I am still not sure how much I will train during the winter - walking wise. I do plan on continuing to incorporate the core training into my schedule.
I will once again be involved with an online forum "holiday mini challenge" that starts today. I will attempt to post here how that is coming along. I would like to get my diet back under some semblance of control. I liked the results that I got from the TNT Diet. I was not too thrilled with how I felt cutting out the breads and starches. So, I will be going with a modified TNT diet. I will be cutting the carbs back to about 20% of total calories and see how it goes from there. I would like to see if I can cut that percentage back some more. For the resistance training I will be working on the core training and doing some body weight exercises from Turbulence Training.
I hope that you and your family have a wonderful holiday season.
Not much has gone on since the half marathon. I got the low down from my doctor as to the possible reason for my passing out after the race. He told me that it was probably due to the level of sodium in my blood. Either too high or too low and you can find yourself on the deck. He said that there had probably been at least 2-3 folks that had passed out at the race by the time I crossed the finish line. Volumes of studies have been conducted to try to determine what the optimum sodium level is. He did an EKG test just to be sure and everything was fine.
In my previous post, I promised the link to my marathon photos. Click here to see the photos. You will need to enter my last name and my bib# (32).
Since then, I have pretty much taken a break from the training. I am still not sure how much I will train during the winter - walking wise. I do plan on continuing to incorporate the core training into my schedule.
I will once again be involved with an online forum "holiday mini challenge" that starts today. I will attempt to post here how that is coming along. I would like to get my diet back under some semblance of control. I liked the results that I got from the TNT Diet. I was not too thrilled with how I felt cutting out the breads and starches. So, I will be going with a modified TNT diet. I will be cutting the carbs back to about 20% of total calories and see how it goes from there. I would like to see if I can cut that percentage back some more. For the resistance training I will be working on the core training and doing some body weight exercises from Turbulence Training.
I hope that you and your family have a wonderful holiday season.
Rehab Report - October 21, 2008
Ironman Louisville training window - 668 days
2009 Columbus Marathon training window - 361 days
I just wanted to pop in and let everyone know how the body is responding after Sunday. I am happy to say that my muscles are, for the most part, now speaking to me again. My shoulders and back are 100%, my feet still have some sore spots - but none of the blisters of last year (yeah!!!). The calves are getting better every day. Yesterday, I looked like a very old man as I was forced to take very small, shuffling steps. Especially after sitting for any time. I am walking much better today and I can do some light stretching of the calves without the burning pain. My head is also doing better. Shaving the head today was not as painful as yesterday.
All in all, I am impressed by how quickly this wonderful body we have been given by God can repair itself. I am also glad that I took the last two days off from work to recuperate.
I have not been notified that the pictures are available but I will provide a link to any shots that they took once I get it.
The 2008 Columbus Half Marathon Report - Oct. 19, 2008
Ironman Louisville training window - 670 days
Columbus Half Marathon Race Day
The 2008 Columbus Marathon and ½ Marathon is now in the record books. It was a chilly 39° at the starting line at Broad and Third Street. The gun went off at 7:30AM and the sold out field of 11,000 runners and walkers began their journeys. I was with the other walkers at the back of the pack. We slowly moved forward and crossed the starting line at about 7:40.
The first 5 miles went pretty well and I was impressed with my times. They were around the 16:45 mark. The sun began to come up and it slowly began to warm up. At around the half way mark, things began to unravel. The hip pain that I had been experiencing earlier in the summer started to rear its ugly head. By mile 8, I began to notice that my calf muscles were beginning to cramp up. I would have to stop about once or twice a mile to stretch all the way to the finish line.
The high point of the race (other than hitting the finish line) was making the turn from Schiller Park on to High Street. This was at about mile 11. At that point, I knew that I was going to make it. According to my watch, my final time was 3:54:23. The official chip time was 3:54:28. Here are my split times for the course: 1- 16:54, 2- 16:26, 3- 16:14, 4- 16:27, 5- 16:17, 6- 16:43, 7- 17:37, 8- 18:16, 9- 18:28, 10- 19:47, 11- 19:37, 12- 20:32 and 13 to finish line- 21:09.
Yesterday, I wrote that I would finish the race and that I would like to do it in less than 4 hours. Both accomplished. I also knew at that time that there would be a price to pay. My body hurts – hurts all over. Calves, thighs, hips, feet, shoulders and back muscles are all letting me know that they didn’t enjoy what I put them through. I wanted to complete this half marathon for many reasons but the most important one for me was to know that what little training I was able to do was not for nothing. I have my second half marathon under my belt and the poster frame picture I hang in my office about this race will be a constant reminder that sometimes dreams come with a struggle. As the quote in my office says….
“Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.” William Barclay
I take this race and the struggles and know that God gets the glory for it. He alone gave me the strength to continue when my body screamed stop. My aches and pains will go away in a day or so – but I leave this training season knowing that He will always be my training partner.
Pre Race Post - October 18, 2008
Ironman Louisville training window - 671 days
Columbus Half Marathon training window - 1 day
Well it’s been a while since I popped in and wrote about what has been going on. It is now about 11 hours until the Columbus marathon. I would like to be able to say that I am confident looking forward to tomorrow. I can’t really say that.
I believe that my last post mentioned that I was going to see the physical medicine doctor. He listened to my symptoms and ran a few checks and tests. He pronounced that my circulation in my legs was good as was my reflexes. He did say that he believed (with about 95% certainty) that my problem was related to a degenerative disk disorder. He let me know that almost everyone has it in some shape or form. Good news – I don’t need surgery. Bad news – there is nothing that they can do. I was told that I can help lessen the symptoms by losing weight and doing more core exercises. I continued my training but there wasn’t much time left.
Now I stand looking at the race tomorrow. I believe that I will complete the half marathon. I would like to finish in under 4 hours but at this point I will be glad to finish.
I will post tomorrow once I am back home. It should be a good race. The weather calls for sunny skies. The temperatures will be in the 30’s at around the starting time – 7:30AM. It should begin to warm up some. The high temp should be in the 60’s.
See ya tomorrow!!!!
DLF >>> DNF >>>> DNS
Return of the Healthy Sick man
Ironman Louisville training window - 678 days
Columbus Half Marathon training window - 58 days
After a very long hiatus, I am back. My absence has been due to my journey over the last few weeks to attempt to explain my running out of “steam” early in my walks. I have had a stress test (results came back OK) and have had a complete blood workup done (also came back clean). My doctor is at his wits end to explain it. He wants me to see a “Physical Medicine” doctor to see what they say.
The entire process has moved me from being concerned to now I am just pissed off. So Tuesday of this week I hit the trails at Creekside and for the first time in weeks – did the 3 miles without any problems. I followed that performance with repeats on Wednesday and yesterday. Times have gotten better and better with each walk !!!
I was at one point ready to throw in the towel for even doing the half marathon in October. Now I am at the point that I want to see how my mileage does this weekend to see if I can salvage my plans. If I can hit 4 miles this weekend with no return of the symptoms, I believe that I can still do the race. I am under no delusion that I can come close to my time from last year. After the train wreck that this spring/summer training has been, all I really want to do is finish the course.
I have several motivational quotes in my office at work. Right now there are 2 that are on the white board that I look at everyday. I placed them there back in March – before beginning training for the Marathon. They are even more appropriate now.
“He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is mighty” Lao Tzu
“Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.” William Barclay
Columbus Half Marathon training window - 58 days
After a very long hiatus, I am back. My absence has been due to my journey over the last few weeks to attempt to explain my running out of “steam” early in my walks. I have had a stress test (results came back OK) and have had a complete blood workup done (also came back clean). My doctor is at his wits end to explain it. He wants me to see a “Physical Medicine” doctor to see what they say.
The entire process has moved me from being concerned to now I am just pissed off. So Tuesday of this week I hit the trails at Creekside and for the first time in weeks – did the 3 miles without any problems. I followed that performance with repeats on Wednesday and yesterday. Times have gotten better and better with each walk !!!
I was at one point ready to throw in the towel for even doing the half marathon in October. Now I am at the point that I want to see how my mileage does this weekend to see if I can salvage my plans. If I can hit 4 miles this weekend with no return of the symptoms, I believe that I can still do the race. I am under no delusion that I can come close to my time from last year. After the train wreck that this spring/summer training has been, all I really want to do is finish the course.
I have several motivational quotes in my office at work. Right now there are 2 that are on the white board that I look at everyday. I placed them there back in March – before beginning training for the Marathon. They are even more appropriate now.
“He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is mighty” Lao Tzu
“Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.” William Barclay
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
