Thursday, March 25, 2010
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
I am alive, the doctor tells me so
So the yearly office visits from the doctor came in today and did the 'ole checkup. Had no idea what to expect due to current events but i was wanting one anyways. i got a flu shot. For some reason my are is sore as all get out. thats okay. it will pass. stepped on the scale. 210.2 fully clothed with shoes (keep in mind i wear a size 15, thats like 13 pounds on its own) (and last night Jeff and I split a Barnaby's pizza and pitcher of beer)(man it was good) so at 210.2 i was actually pleased with that. last year i tipped the scale at....wait for it....231!!!! i am an amazing specimine. so most stats are a good improvement.
I will break down the numbers this way
Item / what it should be / 2008 / today
TOTAL CHOLESTEROL /<200 / 161 / 150...good
HDL (GOOD) CHOLESTEROL />40 / 28 / 29..hmmmm, better!
LDL (BAD) CHOLESTEROL / <130 / 117 / 111...nice
TRIGLYCERIDES / <150 / 81 / <50..amazing
RATIO /<4.1 / 5.8 / 5.1..much better
GLUCOSE (SUGAR) / <110 / 102 / 97....wonderful
BLOOD PRESSURE / 120/80 OR LESS / 112/64 / 140/80..current events
BODY MASS INDEX /18.5-24.9 / 28.6 / 26.3..good
BODY FAT / 20% OR LESS / 22% / 19.1%...jackpot!
She told me to excersise more. i let her know that i have run 2 half marathons, and 4 other road races since i saw her last. i asked about Fish Oil because she did say something about that last year. she reminded me what it was..."Take it!" oh yeahhhhh. that will help the good cholesterol and get the ratio back. i told her i did....then stopped. so i walked into my office, pulled the bottle from behind a picture frame and popped a couple. so considering everything...doin' good....in the health dept. see ya next year!
I will break down the numbers this way
Item / what it should be / 2008 / today
TOTAL CHOLESTEROL /<200 / 161 / 150...good
HDL (GOOD) CHOLESTEROL />40 / 28 / 29..hmmmm, better!
LDL (BAD) CHOLESTEROL / <130 / 117 / 111...nice
TRIGLYCERIDES / <150 / 81 / <50..amazing
RATIO /<4.1 / 5.8 / 5.1..much better
GLUCOSE (SUGAR) / <110 / 102 / 97....wonderful
BLOOD PRESSURE / 120/80 OR LESS / 112/64 / 140/80..current events
BODY MASS INDEX /18.5-24.9 / 28.6 / 26.3..good
BODY FAT / 20% OR LESS / 22% / 19.1%...jackpot!
She told me to excersise more. i let her know that i have run 2 half marathons, and 4 other road races since i saw her last. i asked about Fish Oil because she did say something about that last year. she reminded me what it was..."Take it!" oh yeahhhhh. that will help the good cholesterol and get the ratio back. i told her i did....then stopped. so i walked into my office, pulled the bottle from behind a picture frame and popped a couple. so considering everything...doin' good....in the health dept. see ya next year!
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Chicago Rock N Roll Half Marathon
Hey kids. it's been a loooong time but i thought i would get this in writing. Lat weekend (Aug. 1 and 2, 2009) Elizabeth and i got hopped on the South Shore train and headed up to the windy city of Chicago, IL. the intention was to try to run the inaugural Chicago Rock and Roll Half Marathon. A good friend of mine and main running buddy Jon had entered himself into this half marathon and after getting entered found out that he would be out of town that weekend on a family trip / work trip in PA. so offered me the spot to run it. i said "heck yeah" and i would pay the transfer fee and just go in his spot. well as i was browsing the website i find on the homepage NO TRANSFERS / NO REFUNDS. well that doesn't look good now does it?!! the plan was Elizabeth and i would go up Saturday, try to register, if it worked great, if not we still got to hang out in Chicago, kid free for a night. so again, we hopped on the South Shore and made it to the McCormick Place stop and found the expo hall for packet pickup. i had with me his email confirmation that had his bib number and a bunch of other papers including a last ditch effort of ours. He had sent me a photo copy of his drivers license with a hand written portion saying that he was at a family event and that if i could go in his place that would be great. so i walk up to the area to get the packets and see the first 3 tables on my right all the people are showing ID. there is no way this is happening. but i figure i might as well try. i was hoping that the tables would be so busy that they would just be trying to get people out of there but my table that i had to go to, not a soul. so i go up and just as politely as possible start asking this lady how her day is and everything nice i can think of (going for the "kill her with kindness" routine) so i hand her my paper and she turns around to get the packet and then stalls and turns back. she asks "do you have any ID?" and i say so disappointingly, "noooo" and she says "well, i trust you". WHAT!?! YOU DO!?! WHY!?! WHO COMES FROM INDIANA AND DOESN'T HAVE ID!?!? ARE YOU NUTS!?!?! okay, thanks. all i have to do is sign the back of the confirmation page (medical release) i could barely hold the pen i was so nervous. you would have thought i was stealing gold out of Fort Knox. i got the "J" and then forgot his name, my name, my children's names and just wiggled my pen around until i had writers block. i grabbed my packet, got a shirt and headed for the expo quick.
About 3 minutes after all this i had 2 realizations. (1.) i need to get in the mindset that tomorrow i have to run 13.1 miles and (2.) all the excitement is over. i was more nervous about that than anything in a long time
so we strolled through McCormick back and forth for a while with bad directions from a slue of people until we finally ran into the Hyatt regency McCormick Place. Since we were taking Jon's room and this was to be a family vacation, we got up to our room to look at our 2 double beds. hmm. i tried calling but the customer service line was busy and i was kind of glad because to get the room price we had to be in the race so Jon's name was still on the bill and i would have had to request that a room for Jon and I be switched from 2 doubles to a queen..... and i would have had a tough time doing that.
We went down and signed up for the free drive to Watertower place at 3 and went and ate at the hotel restaurant, Shor. it was not bad but the waiter, Arnold, wasn't very good and it was pricey for a cob salad and a English Club Sandwich. we went back to the room and waited. it was 2. it seemed dumb to be in Chicago sitting in a room waiting so we went down, scratched or name off the list and grabbed a cab. once we got downtown we headed for the boat tours. it was 2:15 and the next and only tour open for the rest of the day was 2:30 so we got our tickets and went for a ride.
we might not have gotten the best boat, seats, weather (it had been raining while we were eating but had since just been an overcast) but it was still a good time. it was a 90 minute tour that went out into Lake Michigan and then back into the Chicago river and returned us back. we headed for watertower to find some jeans for Elizabeth. we also went up to the 7th floor to get some pretzels to snack on.
After roaming the city for a good couple hours and picking up some Garrett's popcorn....okay, a lot of Garrett's popcorn, we headed to maggiano's for dinner. we were informed it was a 2 hour wait for the main room or an hour wait for the first available. we took them up on first available and 15 minutes later, we had a table. then it was a HOUR before we got our food. Elizabeth had the pesto and i had the lasagna. the wait knew something wasn't right and appologized and offered free dessert but we were both stuffed so as we were leaving he still brought us some free cookies to take with us home. yeah they were good.
Sunday morning i woke at 5, got on my gear and headed out the door. i managed to catch a cab with another couple down to Grant Park for the start of the 13.1 miler. they paid. i offered to split it but the guy said he didn't have pockets and didn't want any change.
this was 100 more organized and enjoyable than the Indy Mini in May. first off, with Jon's entry i was in the 2:00 coral (#7) rather than the 2:30 corral at Indy (N). at Indy there was construction so when your group finally got to go construction took you down to a land and a half and Chicago you started on 4 lanes that opened to 6.
At Indy i wanted to run a 2:11:00 which would translate into a 10:00 mile. i ended up getting in traffic and comfortable going slow and did a 2:18 (10:30/mile) i ran every step and i think in my head that was my biggest goal. at Chicago i noticed after my first mile i was an 8:48 mile and knew i may be in trouble. i had 12.1 to go. i got in a rhythm and you are busy watching out for other people and the bands (some rather good ones) and pot holes. you really never pay attention to the tall buildings, you are normally watching your step so they are in the wrong direction. the only thing that was odd at one point a guy FLEW buy me and had a bib on his back saying 2:00 PACER. i knew i would never get a good time if 2:00 was already passing me but i never took the time to figure out how that related to me. so i kept running. miles 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10 all showed up. then nothing. no 11, 12, 13 or the count down to the finish. at Indy you had the last mile broken down by 1/4 mile to the finish. so knowing that the race was closing i saw another person with a 2:00 bib on her back and i asked her how we were doing. she said we were 30 seconds under our goal. i passed her and never saw her again. the last (guessing) .7 miles to go i was absolutely dying. at Indy i never pushed myself and had plenty of gas in teh tank to sprint the last mile. i was ready to cry. literally. i wanted to walk so bad. when you can see the line it makes it no better. when you want to push and can't it kinda sucks. i crossed the line and checked my watch. 2:01:51. i NEVER would have guessed. i knew i could beat 2:18 but i figured 2:08 maybe, but never 2:01. needless to say i got a good P.R. now and a new P.R. to beat.
About 3 minutes after all this i had 2 realizations. (1.) i need to get in the mindset that tomorrow i have to run 13.1 miles and (2.) all the excitement is over. i was more nervous about that than anything in a long time
so we strolled through McCormick back and forth for a while with bad directions from a slue of people until we finally ran into the Hyatt regency McCormick Place. Since we were taking Jon's room and this was to be a family vacation, we got up to our room to look at our 2 double beds. hmm. i tried calling but the customer service line was busy and i was kind of glad because to get the room price we had to be in the race so Jon's name was still on the bill and i would have had to request that a room for Jon and I be switched from 2 doubles to a queen..... and i would have had a tough time doing that.
We went down and signed up for the free drive to Watertower place at 3 and went and ate at the hotel restaurant, Shor. it was not bad but the waiter, Arnold, wasn't very good and it was pricey for a cob salad and a English Club Sandwich. we went back to the room and waited. it was 2. it seemed dumb to be in Chicago sitting in a room waiting so we went down, scratched or name off the list and grabbed a cab. once we got downtown we headed for the boat tours. it was 2:15 and the next and only tour open for the rest of the day was 2:30 so we got our tickets and went for a ride.
we might not have gotten the best boat, seats, weather (it had been raining while we were eating but had since just been an overcast) but it was still a good time. it was a 90 minute tour that went out into Lake Michigan and then back into the Chicago river and returned us back. we headed for watertower to find some jeans for Elizabeth. we also went up to the 7th floor to get some pretzels to snack on.
After roaming the city for a good couple hours and picking up some Garrett's popcorn....okay, a lot of Garrett's popcorn, we headed to maggiano's for dinner. we were informed it was a 2 hour wait for the main room or an hour wait for the first available. we took them up on first available and 15 minutes later, we had a table. then it was a HOUR before we got our food. Elizabeth had the pesto and i had the lasagna. the wait knew something wasn't right and appologized and offered free dessert but we were both stuffed so as we were leaving he still brought us some free cookies to take with us home. yeah they were good.
Sunday morning i woke at 5, got on my gear and headed out the door. i managed to catch a cab with another couple down to Grant Park for the start of the 13.1 miler. they paid. i offered to split it but the guy said he didn't have pockets and didn't want any change.
this was 100 more organized and enjoyable than the Indy Mini in May. first off, with Jon's entry i was in the 2:00 coral (#7) rather than the 2:30 corral at Indy (N). at Indy there was construction so when your group finally got to go construction took you down to a land and a half and Chicago you started on 4 lanes that opened to 6.
At Indy i wanted to run a 2:11:00 which would translate into a 10:00 mile. i ended up getting in traffic and comfortable going slow and did a 2:18 (10:30/mile) i ran every step and i think in my head that was my biggest goal. at Chicago i noticed after my first mile i was an 8:48 mile and knew i may be in trouble. i had 12.1 to go. i got in a rhythm and you are busy watching out for other people and the bands (some rather good ones) and pot holes. you really never pay attention to the tall buildings, you are normally watching your step so they are in the wrong direction. the only thing that was odd at one point a guy FLEW buy me and had a bib on his back saying 2:00 PACER. i knew i would never get a good time if 2:00 was already passing me but i never took the time to figure out how that related to me. so i kept running. miles 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10 all showed up. then nothing. no 11, 12, 13 or the count down to the finish. at Indy you had the last mile broken down by 1/4 mile to the finish. so knowing that the race was closing i saw another person with a 2:00 bib on her back and i asked her how we were doing. she said we were 30 seconds under our goal. i passed her and never saw her again. the last (guessing) .7 miles to go i was absolutely dying. at Indy i never pushed myself and had plenty of gas in teh tank to sprint the last mile. i was ready to cry. literally. i wanted to walk so bad. when you can see the line it makes it no better. when you want to push and can't it kinda sucks. i crossed the line and checked my watch. 2:01:51. i NEVER would have guessed. i knew i could beat 2:18 but i figured 2:08 maybe, but never 2:01. needless to say i got a good P.R. now and a new P.R. to beat.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Updating the ole P.R.'s
Saturday was my 10k at the Sunburst Races in South Bend. you race from the College Football Hall of Fame to the 50 yard line in Notre Dame Stadium. this was the 3rd year that i have done this run, but it was the first time i have done the 10k. the first 2 years i just did the 5k. i kind of think of this as my running anniversary so you could say that i have been running 3 years now. when i started i was an 11:34 minute miler. now i officially qualify as a 8 minute miler. now mind you that is high 8's, but 8's non the less.
i ran a 55:32, which is a 8:57 mile for 6.2 miles. a new 10k PR.
i ran a 55:32, which is a 8:57 mile for 6.2 miles. a new 10k PR.
Monday, May 18, 2009
2 races done so far this year.
Geist went well. a little crazy but not to bad. Elizabeth and i did switch our timing chips so she logged my time and i logged hers but thats okay. i still got my time. i am fairly impressed with how i have improved.
5k (3.1 miles)
34.52 Sunburst 6/2/07
31.56 Sunburst 5/31/08
27.21 Geist Res. 5/16/09 - PR 8:49/mile
10k (6.2)
1:10:45 Steve's Run 7/26/08
1:06:59 Nike Human Race 8/31/08
1:02:16 River City Rat Race 6/26/08
55:32 Sunburst 6/6/09 -PR 8:57/mile
Half Marathon (13.1)
2:18:51 Indy Mini 5/2/09 - 10:35/mile
2:01:51 Chicago Rock and Roll 8/2/09 - PR 9:18/mile
5k (3.1 miles)
34.52 Sunburst 6/2/07
31.56 Sunburst 5/31/08
27.21 Geist Res. 5/16/09 - PR 8:49/mile
10k (6.2)
1:10:45 Steve's Run 7/26/08
1:06:59 Nike Human Race 8/31/08
1:02:16 River City Rat Race 6/26/08
55:32 Sunburst 6/6/09 -PR 8:57/mile
Half Marathon (13.1)
2:18:51 Indy Mini 5/2/09 - 10:35/mile
2:01:51 Chicago Rock and Roll 8/2/09 - PR 9:18/mile
Monday, May 04, 2009
I finished!!!!
well this last weekend i got to do a couple great things. Friday Elizabeth and i ditched the girls at Grandma Peg's and headed down to Indianapolis. we got downtown and went straight to the packet pickup. flawless. we walked around the expo for a bit. it was good. nothing you had never seen before, yet good. we left there and decided to go eat at the Ram. as we were walking and for a lot for the drive, there was definite concerns about rain on Saturday. Not that i had any control over so i tried to not worry about it. we got done eating and headed straight to the hospital to go see Lexy. It was great. very nice place, super nice nurses and obviously this little girl has an insanely larger rooting section. i couldn't believe how many nurses stopped in to say bye for the weekend or just dropped by to see her or just thought they would come in to see if she needed anything. Elizabeth and i played fair and shared the baby, but she did seem happier when with me, just an observation. eventually we had to pack up and head to aunt Paula's for the carbfest of '09. Rob and Stacy joined us also which was great to see them. We all loaded up and pizza and pasta and cheesecake. yeah yeah yeah. but cheesecake is so gooood. so we got our plan together for the next morning and around 10:30 i hit the hey.4:30 i was up, not showering, but getting all ready. at 5:15 Uncle Ron, Aunt Paula, Elizabeth and I piled into the Infinity FX35 and headed to go get my cousin Heather. Heather works for IUPUI so we had sweet parking. so we got to where we needed to be. did a little stretching, found my running buddy, Jon. took a couple pictures. and waited. got in the corral (S by the way) and waited. and waited. GUN WENT OFF.....and we waited. a little more. around 45 minutes after the gun went off, Corral S finally launched. Now it's not that it matters, since your own time doesn't start until you cross the start line, but it sucked either way. any stretching was worthless. then you pass all these walkers that lock arms and stretch all the way across the road. you hear "walkers to the right" but they don't. so that was really frustrating. first mile was in the 11 minute range which i was fine with i didn't want to go out and have nothing left at mile 4 so i just kept where i felt comfortable. every mile was almost exactly 10:30. 10:32, 10:31, 10:29. i did have a 12:45 (bathroom break) but i kept thinking that at some point i would step it up and push the high 9's. nope. 10:30's kept on rolling along. Mile 11 was the first time i rally thought, "boy, this could be over now and i wouldn't be to upset." when mile 12 came up i thought, alright, strong finish, lets go out big. i stepped it up. REALLY WENT AFTER IT! i think that i was at a 9:09 pace. they start counting down your distance left. 3/4 mile...whew!.... 1/2 mile.....wow, this is close...... 1/4 mile, CRAP I THINK I STARTED PUSHING TO SOON!!!! AND THE FINISH! my official time was 2:18:51. the splits...
5 mile, 53:12, which is 10:38 mile
10 mile, 1:48:16, which is 10:49 mile
13.1, 2:18:51, 10 10:36 mile
15,252 place of 35,000 half marathoners
very happy. i really wanted to be at or under 10 minute miles but really my best 10k (6.2 miles) was a 10:02 last year so this is very much on pace. if nothing else, now i have a half under my belt and i can work on it. i have a feeling that i will do at least 3 more this year, along with 5k and 10k's. i have a 5k in two weeks and i am getting excited about that already.
so my PR's are..
5k (Sunburst 2008, 31:56, 10:18 mile)
10k (River City Rat Race 2008, 1:02:16, 10:02 mile)
Half Marathon (Indy Mini 2009, 2:18:51, 10:36 mile)
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