Have I quit?

Okay, if you have been following this you may have noticed that my run logs have not been updated in quite some time. However, this is not due to my lack of running.

To be honest my running frequency has decreased because of my foot trouble, however tomorrow I will be getting my feet cast for my orthotics, but I will also be getting another wrap job done so I will once again be able to run pain free. However, I have been running!

So if I am running then why are my logs not updated? Well, you must first understand that I am exceedingly cheap (thanx to my wife's 9 years of training me) and the last thing I will do is spend money that I do not need to. A week ago, I made the unfortunate mistake of leaving my bag on the train while on my way home from work. This story is a very long drawn out one that I am not going to go into here. All you need to know is that in that bag was my only iPod cable. Without that cable I cannot sync my iPod to Nike with my runs. I have been using my Nike data to then also carry over to my running ahead log.

Now I have not gone out and bought a new cable simply because I am told by the train lost and found that there is still a slight bit of hope that I may see my bag again. So until my bag is returned or that bit of hope is taken away I will not be syncing any of my runs.

So with that, Happy running, and have a very Disney day!

Wrap It Up...I'll Take It

First off for those of you who may not know, the title of this songs comes from the title of a song by The Fabulous Thunderbirds. I highly recommend checking them out if you get the chance.

Anyway, on to the post itself...

So for the past 6 months I have experienced pain in my heal after kickboxing class. I assumed it would get better, it didn't. Then when I started running, it turned from on occasional pain to a daily pain. So I broke down and made an appointment with a local podiatrist.

So after the x-rays I was able to find out a great deal. While the very initial diagnosis of Planters Fasciitis was indeed correct, the reasoning why came clear with the x-ray. On my left heel, I have a heel spur, which is basically an extension of the heel bone, unfortunately for me what this does is put more strain on the ligament running from my heel to my toes. So when I do things on the ball of my feet like kickboxing this ligament gets torn from the spur.

All in all it is not horrible. Basically the biggest problem is that through walking running and whatever else, this tear never gets an opportunity to heal.

At the appointment he taped up my foot, which feels phenomenal.



I keep this taping on for 3-4 days and take an anti-inflamitory medication. Next week I will go back and get fitted for orthopedic inserts. Once these inserts are made the torn ligament will have the opportunity to heal despite my daily activities including running.

The other interesting thing I found out was that I have very high arches. The biggest drawback of this when it comes to running is that I run less efficiently then I would without the high arches. Also, this inefficiency could put more strain on my back.

Choosing a master?

As a guitarist one of my favorite movies of all time is Crossroads. In the beginning of the movie we find our hero being reprimanded by his instructor at a privileged classical music school. Here he is in trouble because while tending to his classical studies he also has an interest in the blues. The words from his instructor were simply "don't serve two masters". His point was simple, you cannot excel at one thing if you do not put everything into it.

Now, I see a good point in that, but I also choose to defy it. I am also serving two masters. For right now I stand here with the goal of completing the 2011 Disney Marathon. However there is another goal for me. If I stay on course 2011 will also be the year I test for and receive my black belt in karate.

One one hand I don't see a problem with this at all, as I am merely getting my black belt and merely completing the marathon. I am not winning the marathon. But at the same time I find it a little strange that this fat old man could possibly complete two lofty goals in the same year. I mean while there are tons of people who run marathons, completing one is still a huge thing that the majority of the population will never come close to achieving, as is receiving a black belt in karate.

Currently I see it as a blessing. Last week it was raining and snowing all week, however I could take a few extra karate classes to get a decent weeks workout in. And the two compliment each other well. Karate does not leave me too drained to run and running doesn't not leave me too drained to go to karate. Further more the added flexibility I receive from karate definitely aids me in my running.

So yeah I serve two masters, and yeah I will get my black belt, and I will complete a marathon...

Snow and body aches...

Okay, first off there should never be snow on the ground in the end of March, certainly not after have 2 weeks of 50 degree days. Aside from the snow, last night was a rough run. See I noticed something recently. In high school and college when I ran, the next day I would be sore. My muscles would be killing me. But now the next day I am still sore, but it is the joints far more then the muscles. My knees feel like they are gonna give out, and my heel....yes my heel.

So I was about 6 months into Karate when I started Kickboxing. Funny thing about kickboxing, while it is a phenomenal workout, every time I do it the next day my heel hurts really badly. Initially I thought that my foot was not used to the exercise and that it would lesson in time. I wasn't concerned about over-working it because I only do the kickboxing a couple times a week. But here I am 6 months later and I still have this pain, every time, like clockwork the day after kickboxing.

So I ran on it anyway, funny thing about that though. When I exercise, none of these pains bother me in the slightest....then a half-hour after I am done they all start to attack. Now, my knees, not sure about that one, but I am pretty sure I will be seeing a podiatrist within the next month or so about my heel.

Is that my breath I see?

So last night I decided to take another run. I was coming off of a 4 mile run at a good pace, so I didn't want to kill myself, plus it was already 11:00pm before I started. I decided to try and run 3.0 miles. Well this was the first time I really felt soreness in my legs. My pace was slow, and my legs just plain hurt. Funny though, the soreness in some kinda strange way felt good.

Really the only complaint I had of last nights run was the fact that from like 7pm to 11 it dropped about 20 degrees. It was just plain cold. See your breath cold. And I was completely unprepared wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

Note to self, check outside temperature before leaving for a run!

New Kicks...Kick it Old School!

Okay so I have officially sold out to the Nike corporation. Today I ran with my new Nike shoes combined with the Nike plus sensor transmitting to my iPod. All of this is a bit overwhelming. One issue though, for some reason on the read out of my iPod it displays my run in km while labeling it as miles. So for this run afterwards it displayed 6.46 mi. Now the reality of it is that I ran 4.0 miles and 6.46 km. Yet even more confusing is the whole run it would announce accurate distance markings to me, it would say I have completed 3.0 miles even though the display was showing my distance in km with the mi after it....weird!

Aside from that it seems to be exceedingly accurate. Now for the run, I actually ran past my old high school. Kind of a strange feeling to be honest. I mean hear I was listening to the track I Was Wrong by Social Distortion. Now on one hand, being that I ran Cross Country and Track all 4 years of high school running here kinda felt at home. While it has been many years, the streets are the same and those memories come back real quick. On the other hand running by the school was a bit strange as I passed the doors where I would sneak out to smoke during the school days. Honestly this is the first time I have gone past the school as a non-smoker since back then. Not really sure how to describe it, but I am sure an ex-smoker would be able to relate somewhat.

Anyway, I listened to the album White Light, White Heat, White Trash... by Social Distortion and quickly realized why this has been one of my all time favorite albums for so long. This was the perfect running album, I was able to immerse myself in it completely....I am pretty sure there was even a bit of air guitar and air drumming in the middle of my run too!

Mixing it Up!

So tonight, as I tied my Dean Markley Guitar Strings bandanna I was fighting with myself over whether to run 3 miles or 2. I didn't really feel that I had the full 3 in me, at the same time I wanted more then 2 miles.

So after some debate and being cautious not to burn myself out, I chose the 2 mile route. Then halfway through the run I decided to make a different turn. Now I don't know exactly how far I ran, but my best guess would put it at about 2.5 miles. But the whole idea of changing the route, not knowing it exactly was really nice. The idea of not knowing every nueance of your route nor it's distance was very cool....albeit a bit hard to explain.

For tonights listening pleasure I tuned in the album Motherf*$&ers Be Trippin by the Supersuckers!

Technology...

Okay, so this is not a running report. Saturday I did my Karate/Kickboxing combo so I will be running again tonight. But I thought I needed to get a couple things off my chest anyway.

The iPod
Okay so the last time I ran was in the days of the Walkman, you know, AM/FM Cassette all in one handy package. I did dabble in the world of the Discman, but this was early on and the anti-skip measures had not been perfected to the point one could run with one of these. Anyway, now like most I use an iPod. Now don't get me wrong, as a person who loves music iTunes and the iPod have changed my world forever for the good and I have never looked back...well until now.

I honestly have to say that running with an iPod doesn't compare to the old school Walkman. I mean sure it is lighter, smaller, has incredible capacity, digital quality and the ability to skip tracks with the simple press of a button. But when I run, I put together a playlist. I am not fishing around for songs, I start it and stop it when I am done. The thing that I find incredibly annoying while running is the volume control. Adjusting the volume on an iPod while running is near impossible, or at least for me. I look back at the Walkman and remember how simple the little thumb wheel was to adjust the volume on the fly and wish I could do that now!

Running Shoes
When I last ran, selecting a running shoe was simple, you had spikes, flats, and trainers. Training shoes were all pretty much the same, you found one that fit you the best and you went with it.

My current shoes are less then stellar, so I decided it was time to bite the bullet and get a good pair as the shoe is the only thing between me and getting some injury I don't need. After getting lost in the world of running shoes, I went to a store that specializes in them. I walked in and said I don't know how to pick out shoes. The next thing I know I am on a treadmill while someone watches my feet, then doing a variety of things all while my feet are under close watch. After a few minutes of this, the salesman had 5 different pairs of shoes for me to try. Each of these were ideal for the way I run and the shape of my feet. Part of me wants to say this is absolutely nuts and way overboard....but then I tried on a pain and it felt so incredible that I am just gonna go with it.

Put them all together
So the shoes I picked out just happen to be in the Nike Plus line. Meaning that I can throw a little sensor in the soul and connect this thing to my iPod and bam, I am recording distance speed and everything else. Not only that it is logging the data and charting it! Now this is technology I can sink my teeth into. Seriously, no more guessing how far I went, no more wondering how far I am from home. No more questioning the time I have spent running! The only downfall of this is no cheating. I cannot convince myself that a course was 5 miles when it is in fact 4...but considering why I am running and what I am trying to accomplish, I think that is a good thing too...I need to stay honest on this.

If Barbossa is Hungery, Call Me Captain Hector Barbossa!

Okay so today was a long day. My legs are still a bit sore from Wednesday's extended session of Karate forms. My son is sick. One would think that going out for a run on this extremely brisk night would be the last thing I wanted to do when the opportunity to sleep or do anything I wanted was available. Yet there was nothing I wanted to do more. 

So as I stepped out and put my headphones on, I cued up something a little different then my usual on the ipod. I put on the Soundtrack to Pirates of the Caribbean (the 1st one). Now despite the fact that this is far from my normal genres of music this is by far one of my favorite albums. It is exceedingly emotional music and I love it! So as I am running the track "Barbossa's Hungry" comes on. I realize that I too am hungry, I am hungry to continue running. Not just today, but for as long as I am able to. Over the past 10 years, as weight went on, muscle got lost, and lung capacity disappeared I have made several attempts at working out....or at least getting in shape. Those all failed because I didn't really want it. Yeah maybe a quick path to losing a couple pounds would be good, but there was no real drive to be better.

Something changed this past year. Maybe it is my kids getting older, maybe it is me getting older. Maybe the realization that I am not 20 anymore and things are more permanent now. Like smoking, that was once a vice, but lately it was a full blown part of me. I want to be around. I want to walk with my kids through Disney World for as long as I can...no I want to walk around Disney World with my grand kids. This time working out is for me. It is my time to better myself and that is just what I am doing!

As for my music today, Prates is a phenomenal album for running! Barbossa's Hungry is an absolute perfect track to throw on when you need to really dig deep inside to keep going, and let us not forget the pinnacle of the album He's a Pirate, all  can say is that when that track came on timed perfectly with the end of my 2 mile run I found myself in an all out sprint, and it felt really great!

Now were getting somewhere!

Okay, I know yesterday was my first run in a week and I should take it easy to day. But today the weather was absolutely gorgeous. I felt great! Plus, prior to my sick week, I had charted out a full 3 mile course that I had been dying to try. 

So I did. I ran 3 miles in under 30 minutes. Now for any experienced runner I am sure this accomplishment sounds pretty weak. But now let me just say that this is without a doubt the longest distance I have run without walking since 1998, that's 11 years. So for me to run 3 miles without walking is a huge accomplishment, then tie in the fact that I ran just under 10 minute miles....well it feels pretty darn good.

A little course planning advice that I learned the hard way though. Think about the streets in reality. On the map everything is flat. I failed to realize that the course I mapped out was pretty much 1.5 miles downhill, ending with 1.5 miles uphill. Not ideal, certainly not for someone in my condition.

And finally on the ipod tonight was the album Scandinavian Leather by Turbonegro. While I don't think this will be a running favorite of mine, it is very consistent, and I found it easy to escape into letting me forget that yes this last mile is all uphill. I did at the very end need a little boost so I quickly threw on the track New Dark Ages by Bad Religion.

A Second Chance...

Well as soon as this quest began, it seemed to slip away from me. In fact the sad truth of it is that tonight is the first time I have worked out in any way since my last post.

Last week started out fine, Monday was a night off for me. Tuesday though it began, my daughter caught some bug which had her throwing up all night long. Meaning well I couldn't just go our for a run. Then my wife got it, next my son...and then Friday night was my turn. Whatever it was, it was a killer, was in bed for almost 2 days.

But tonight I got back out there. 2.1 miles at a reasonable pace. I was a little weaker feeling then before, but that is to be expected when you consider that up until today I had only 1 meal since Thursday night. Now having run all that I enjoy really came back to me quickly and the memories of that sickness have faded away.

For tonight's run I listened to the Supersuckers album "The Evil Powers of Rock n Roll" A great chocie for a just plain solid run, not too fast, not too slow...just enought angst to keep you moving!

Run 2 of Many!

Alright, I have completed my second run! Today was rough, I awoke to extremely sore legs. However, I got to spend the majority of the day on my feet, so by this evening the idea of running was certianly not out of the question.

I ran about 2/3 of the distance I did on my first run and at a slower pace. This was certainly not easy, but I ran, and there was no point at which I had to stop and walk. This alone is a very good thing. I would love to be able to just run a great distance and a good pace, but given that I am starting from scratch this was definitly an accomplishment.

For todays run I stayed on the Bad Religion train and listened to the album The Empire Strikes First....a solid choice, but as far as a good escape New Maps of Hell definitly rank much higher on my list...while I am starting out I hope to keep note of specific songs that work better and eventualy assemble a large running playlist of tracks that help me on my way!

The day after...

So today, I found out that while my first run felt great, I definitly feel it. My legs are incredible sore. Yet today, being Saturday brings me no break from workouts. While I did not run today, I pushed myself to the limits. On a typical Saturday I have a 1 hour karate class. However this morning my wife was going to the dojo to take a kickboxing class and my kids decided that I too must go. So I got an intense 45-minute kickboxing class only to be immediatly followed by my 1-hour karate class. Now my friends I am exhausted!

The hours that followed I realized that between the run and the double class my legs do not really even want me to walk.

I hope I can loosen them up enough to jog again tomorrow!

The first run...

Today was my first run on this road! Not only my first run toward the marathon, but my first serious run in many years, and moreso, my first run in many years being a non-smoker.

My goal was to simply job for about 20 minutes. However once I got going, I felt great. I kept going until I really started to feel tired. Surprisingly I ended up running nearly double what I expected. It was really incredible to run and then not have this burning pain in my chest. I was tired, no doubt about that, but I could breath! That was an awesome feeling. It was in this run that my thought about the marathon went from something I want to do to something I CAN do!

For listening I put on the Bad Religion ablum New Maps of Hell. I found that album to be perfect. For me it is one of those albums that I can escape within. During the run that is exactly what I did, I was enjoying the music and for moments forget about the fact that I was actualy running at the same time.

1 run down.....many to go!

It Begins!

So, in order to move forward to the 2011 Disney Marathon, we must first move backwards and I need to give you my background.

So for the record, I am a 31 year old and today I begin the long road to the marathon. This all started as I am first a Disney fanatic. Up until about a month ago, I have also been a smoke for the past 13 years. Upon quitting smoking, I found myself in dire need of something to do. I thought of running as it would help me leave cigarettes behind. Running and smoking do not mix to well. And running seemed logical as I once was a very accomplished runner. I ran Cross Country and track all through high school and through my first 2 years of college.

Now I am simply an overweight, middle-aged, suburban guy. I will be using this blog to log all of my workouts. As I start out, I will not be running everyday, or even knowing exactly how far I am running, I am simply trying to run.

In addition to running, for the past year I have been a karate student. My goal right now is to run on the days I am not doing Karate or Kickboxing. However I hope that as time progresses I will be able to run on those days as well. So that is it, a change in life with some lofty goals to keep myself on track.

As far as why a marathon, and even more specifically why the Disney marathon? Well as I mentioned before I am a Disney fanatic. I really have never had much aspiration to running a marathon at all. However after listening to some podcasts covering the Disney marathon, I found myself saying, yeah this is what I want to do. So I gave myself a little less then 2 years to do it and here we are.

So with that, I begin the road to the 2011 Disney Marathon!