Happy Hour, blogging style

Today, it’s about the little things:

May
It’s the last day of the month, and I have nothing to say about May. NOTHING. If you care about how bad it was, click here to check out the Monthly Miles section of this blog. I’d rather just move on from this month.

Training
14 weeks until the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach. I have the first 5 weeks of my training plotted out. By the end of June I’ll plot out another 4-5 weeks. In the past I found that plotting things out in increments made the training go a lot better. While my mind is always focused on the big picture for a race, it helps with reaching/beating goals along the way. And I can adjust my training as I see fit without feeling the pressure of sticking to one giant plan.

Shout-outs
Andrew, over at Andrew is Getting Fit, just completed his first marathon in the cold New Zealand winter. While many of us in the U.S. are sweating our butts off, he got to run a marathon in the freezing cold. His race report is coming soon.

Michelle, over at Running Down A Dream, battled a broken toe among other things so far this year to complete the Brooklyn Half Marathon this weekend.

Lastly, Whitney, over at WhitSTYLES, began training for the Richmond Marathon this weekend.

I promise more shout-outs throughout the summer.

Thanks!
I’d like to close this off by saying THANK YOU to everyone reading my blog. I haven’t been the best blogger in the past two month, and at times I have felt a bit disconnected to the running world. It’s time to get re-connected … and to get back on the road again. I have a half marathon I need to get to …

Think Fast … Move Faster

While I feel like I’ve been stuck in neutral recently when it comes to running, I received a boost this week when someone from the Web site thinkfastmovefaster.com contacted me via Twitter and asked if I’d like to be featured on their Web site. Sure, I said, with an added bonus coming from the fact the guy behind the scenes operates out of Richmond.

So I answered a few questions about myself and then yesterday the feature was published on the Web site. Click here to check it out. I guess somehow I’ve “made” it in the running world. Now I just have some work to do to get back to what I want to be. This article certainly provides me some motivation!

Also, in addition to their Web site, click here to follow Think Fast! Move Faster! on Twitter. (Click here to follow me.)

Doing what feels right

I’m not quite sure how I fell off the blogging world for a week — it’s a rarity for me. I think in two years of blogging, I’ve only gone more than a week without posting only two or three times. In fact, unless something drastically turns around, this month will end a 20-month streak of double-digit posts in a month’s time.

So what’s up? Well, my lack of blogging has been due to busier times at work — after busy days the last thing I have felt like doing is putting energy into typing on a computer at home; my workouts have been fairly lackluster and boring; and I was out of town for four days this past weekend.

All in all, though, this has been a good rest month for me. After the 10k, I was hyped up on running. I still am, but I had to take a long listen to my body and have a conversation with myself — I was very, very worn out after two races two weekends in a row. A couple of short runs the week after hurt — it wasn’t the injury type of hurt, fortunately. My legs were tired, and I was mentally worn out from having put that effort in. With some outright shitty weather this month, plus the other variables I have already mentioned, it’s been a good time to just take a step away from here for a little while.

My goal of 60 running miles certainly won’t happen this month, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s OK. I’ll still have a much better April than last year when I was hurt and ran just a little more than 20 miles. In the first half of the month, I’ve ran just 16.6 miles, biked 7 miles and 3.5 on the elliptical. It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing. The important thing I still feel good.

I think a break is just what I needed. I’ll close out this month with a better effort than the first half of the month, but I probably won’t get too serious about things again until May. As far as blogging is concerned, it’ll happen when I feel like it!

Yes, I’m still here …

… I just don’t have much to say right now. Still running a little, but also getting lots of rest. That’s all for now. More later!

The cold unmotivating rain

I hate it when it’s cold enough to snow but it rains. And even though it’s right at 32 degrees, this rain isn’t cold enough to make driving a nightmare. I’d rather that be the case. There’s just a little bit of ice on the trees. But it is cold and annoying enough to skip the gym tonight and sit in and do nothing but complain that it’s not snowing. Instead of getting backed up on my DVR, I’ll be watching “American Idol” or “Biggest Loser” live tonight. Will someone please fall off the treadmill already??

I did, however, get in a great workout yesterday – a half-mile walk and 1.2 mile run with my dog; 3.1 miles on the runner elliptical; and 6.2 miles on the bike. I covered those 11 miles in just a little more than an hour’s time. I was a bit surprised today that my legs are tired … it’s a different tired than I’m used to with running. Tomorrow I plan to hit the treadmill for some speedwork and maybe a little bit of something else. I want to get in a 2-mile tempo run at an 8-minute mile or better pace, but I’ve never really tried that on the treadmill.

Lastly I want to give a quick shout-out to my friend and co-worker twice over Stephanie, who is training for the Monument Avenue 10k in March. You can find her blog here. She’s looking for readers and I think that her blog is definitely worth checking out.

New Year, New Blog, Renewed Commitment

While things continue to be a work in progress at this new site, there’s something that’s very refreshing about moving my blog. It just fits with this being a new year. Although all my old posts have moved with me, changing sites helps me move forward. It’s really time to put 2008 behind me and focus on 2009. Last year seemed like an endless cycle of things I wanted to do, but just never quite got to where I wanted to.

I feel like I’m starting 2009 off like I did 2004, the year that I first started running and lost weight. While I’m nowhere near that 220 pounds that I was then, I’m at 192.8 today. I want to get back to 180 or below and stay there. I’ve been up and down 5 to 10 pounds for a while now and it’s time that I recommit to eating better and focusing on getting in the best shape of my life. It’s been a good few months of doing what I feel like doing, but it’s time to take back to a level I haven’t been at in a while.

So quickly back to this blog. If you’re unfamiliar with the comments section on WordPress, it’s pretty simple — leave something in the name section and leave an e-mail address (which is never published) — it’s that simple. The Web site category is optional — if you have a Web site, please leave it. I’m always looking to add to my blog roll. Also keep an eye on the links at the top of the page — over the next week or so I’ll be finalizing them. I’ve already completed the “About” section and the “Race Times” section. I like have that there instead of clogging up my one page … just one of the many benefits of WordPress I’ve already noticed. (Jan. 2 edit:I’ve turned off comment moderation, so you can actually leave anonymous comments. I’d still prefer that you still leave a name, but it’s all optional now.)

Lastly, I just want to say Happy New Year to everybody out there. Thanks for following me to here, and I look forward to having you along this next journey.

… In with the new

And just like that I have a new blog. Like I said on my other blog, I’ve been planning to move here, but I just hadn’t had the chance to do it. And today I screwed up when I was trying to save my template, but instead picked a new template. So I imported my old blog to here and will now continue posting here.

You may see some “Coming Soon!” items, or things that don’t quite look like they should – since this move is earlier than expected, it’s not quite a finished project. It’s like moving into a renovated house that still needs some repairs to the kitchen.

So thanks for following me to here. Just as my running has transitioned, I think it’s only appropriate that I start off a new year with some new things. Once I get this blog fully situated, I’ll let you know what’s changed. For now, enjoy the new year!

Take It and Run Thursday: Running Blogs

Today’s “Take It and Run” theme over at the Runners Lounge is about running blogs. I certainly have my share that I read — some not even listed over to the right side of this page. I really like this theme — I’ve been looking to update my list of regular blogs I read and them link to them, so I’m anxious to get to today’s posts if I ever have the time. Anyway, here’s a look at some of my regulars. Thanks to everyone who reads mine regularly!

Andrew is getting fit — This is a great mix of humor, facts, weigh-ins and various motivation factors. Andrew is literally a world away and updates his blog often.

Rob Dares — What started as a weight loss journey turned into running a marathon. Rob has a great story to tell that just keeps on going.

Non-Running Nancy — Who doesn’t ready Nancy’s blog??

Recast In Iron — Jason was one of the first bloggers I came across when I started blogging last year. Together we made it through the Richmond Marathon and the Shamrock Half Marathon … yet we’ve never met! Anyway, Jason’s journey continues with goals beyond doing a marathon.

A Viking, Running — This guy is hilarious. He may be sporadic with his posting — sometimes three or four times a week; sometimes he’ll go a couple of weeks without writing — but it’s always a great read.

The Journey … — This girl does it all despite a very busy life. Check it out.

Back in May, I gave a shout out to several bloggers. The title was “Yo Bloggers” — click here to check it out.

Non Photographer — That’s me!

Just like there are many runners out there who don’t call themselves runners, I have been a photographer for years, but never called myself one. As part of my job I have taken photos and I’ll often be the one at a party just snapping away. I got into taking photos in high school as part of my journalism class, but slowly things shifted away and then I ended up kind of forgetting how much I liked it. To be honest, I didn’t take the time to learn that much about photography — all the language and lingo about cameras are as foreign to me as most languages out there. But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the art of photography.

Well, to attempt to bring back some of that passion, I’ve started a new blog – Non Photographer at nonphotographer.blogspot.com. Feel free to check it out and make comments if you’d like. My hope is to post quite a bit with old and new photos alike.

A post setting up other posts

I often get asked how training is going for the Richmond Marathon. Well, honestly, ever since I signed up for it in March, I don’t feel like I’ve done much for it. Basically, I’ve maintained decent mileage for a couple of months (16-22 miles a week) and just waited until this month to get here to really focus on it. My long runs will steadily increase between now and November, but I think I’ll be comfortable upping my mileage until I get to a distance I’ve never done. Last year when I trained for the 10 miler, each long run always felt good mentally because, simply, I had never gone that far before. At the same time they were a bit uncomfortable physically because I had never logged that distance before. My longest runs since I started running again have been my half marathons. Including warming up for those events, I’ve never gone more than 14 miles in a day. When I hit that distance sometime in August, I know that mentally it’ll be great. Physically? We’ll see …

I’d like to take a chance to layout some things I’d like to write about (it’s sort of like what happens at work — having a meeting to discuss other meetings). Next week will mark 16 weeks to the marathon. I plan to write about long runs specifically. My goal is to write about how I felt on the long runs and provide a link on mapmyrun.com or using google maps to show where I went. I believe that the key thing with the marathon training will be the long runs. Through September, I’ll be in the speed and endurance training group. I plan to write about each of those workouts. Lastly, I plan to write about weight and nutrition. I’ve written about the journey from 220 pounds ago (click here for that post), but I’d like to detail a little more about my goals and look back in a little more detail of where I’ve been since the initial weight loss. If I somehow don’t touch on these subjects in the next couple of minds, please kindly remind me to.

To end us this no-point post, I’d like to thank those who have become regular readers. I’ve enjoyed reading other blogs and I look forward to reading more – I hope that this blog has become somewhat helpful and/or entertaining. For those running the Richmond Marathon or the 8K that same day, maybe we can actually meet the night before or the day of the race.