Back on Track day 4

A bit of a change in plans today, due to a minor incident at home last night with our dog Bella.

Today was supposed to be another day of running but it turned into a rest day and now Friday will be my running day.

Here is the story of my dog Bella's incident.  We have 6 cats and now 1 dog Bella, well for the most part she gets along good with the cats.  Last night she was chasing Tequila around the dining room, just playing and having fun.  Tequila run under the dining room table and Bella followed, unknown to her that Canela was sitting on one of the dining room chairs and as Bella came out from under the table past the chair, Canela reached out and swatted at Bella.  So that swat caught Bella in the right eye, at first we thought she would be okay just looked like she got hit in the eye.  Until this morning when she woke up and her eye was almost closed and all gooey.  So we had to take her to the Vet, the first vet didn't like the way it looked but didn't have the proper equipment to do the correct examination so she referred us to an animal hospital in Delaware the specializes in eye issues.  So that is where Bella is right now, waiting for surgery.

They tell us that she got a claw to the eye and it poked a hole in her eyeball and fluid is leaking from her eyeball causing it to collapse a little and will need some stitches to fix the hole.  She still has sight in her eye and she should be okay, but she could get cataracts in the next year.  So we wait for the surgery to be completed so we can take Bella home.  Oh yeah all this at a mere 1500 -2000 dollar price tag.

Needless to say I have been stressing about Bella being hurt and now the bill from the Vet.

Life is just full of surprises for me this year.

I'll be back out there running tomorrow.

Day 3 getting back on track.

Well today is day 3 back on track with my training schedule.  Did 5 miles today, but the bad part is I had to run on a treadmill today.  Here in Philly it is pouring, which I would normally run in but this storm has the benefit of Lighting and Thunder which I will not run in.

Here is my breakdown.

Mile 1 = 6.8 for a 8:49 pace
Mile 2 & 3 = 7.2 for a 8:20 pace
Mile 4  = 7.0 for a 8:34 pace
Mile 5 = 6.8 for a 8:49 pace

I really don't like running on a treadmill, it is so boring even with a TV in front of me I just can't get into running on a treadmill.  I know some people like it but for me it is similar to being tortured.

Well I am on track now and actually feeling pretty good for having run 3 days in a row in a while.  Gonna shoot for 4 days in a row tomorrow and then a rest day on Friday and then 8 on Saturday and 13 on Sunday which will be a good test for the Rock and Roll Half that is coming up in 2 weeks.

Well that is all for today.

Have a great day everyone.

Day 2, Making it happen

Day 2, Making it happen.  Got out there and did my 5, tried to keep my pace at 8:20 per mile, but I always want to run faster than I really should be.

Mile 1 = 7:59
Mile 2 = 8:22
Mile 3 = 8:10
Mile 4 = 7:57
Mile 5 = 8:36

I just find it hard to keep and even pace.  Anyone have any suggestions on how I can do a better job of keep my pace steady?

So beside my pace, I am feeling pretty good about getting back to running.   Tomorrow another 5 mile run and I will work on trying to keep my pace steady.

Fresh Start Today

Well, my long run on Saturday didn't go as planned I was only able to complete about half of what I was supposed to do. :-(

So today I am recommitting myself to getting back on track.  Now that things are seeming to finally calm down in my world I think I can get myself back on track with my training schedule.  Already got my 5 done and feeling good.

This is a drop back week so I will be able to get this weeks long run completed.

This week is 5 - 5 - 5 - Rest - 8 at pace - 13 - Cross train.

Looking forward to clocking some miles this week.  I have been missing getting out there getting some miles under my feet and clearing my head.

Today is a new day and a new beginning for my training.

Have a great day everyone.

Running with a dog.

OK, so we just got a puppy a couple weeks ago.  A mix of Australian Shepard and Australian Cattle dog and I was just reading an article from Active.com about good dogs for running.  http://beta.active.com/articles/running/17-paw-fect-dogs-for-runners?cmp=17-1-5188 seems we picked the right breed for running. 

Was wondering if anyone out there runs with their dog, and if so, do you have any suggestions on how to begin running with your dog?

I have also read about and people have told me that I need to get running shoes for our dog.  Has anyone had any experience with running shoes on dogs?  Seems a bit silly but just want to make sure I am doing the right thing for our dog.

Well that is all I have for today. 

Have a great weekend everyone. 

Thanks

Joe 

Longest training run coming up this weekend.

Hello All,

My longest training run coming up this weekend, 18 miles.  I have gone further in the past but this will be my longest in about 2 years.

Feeling pretty good and looking to see how my pace holds up on this long run.

Hopefully my life is settling down and I can get back on track with my training schedule and get some serious running miles logged.

Question for all those out there:  What is your favorite drink during your long runs?  What do you take along for the run?   Coconut Water, Gatorade, Water, or some other drink?

That is all I have for today.  Enjoy the weekend races and runs.

Thanks
Joe

Training is back in full swing

Now that the traveling is done I am back into training mode.

I have been running while I travel but not to the extent that my training schedule says that I should be.

7 weeks until Marathon week, longs runs have started and I am a little bit behind in getting them accomplished.   This weekend is 8 and 18.  This will be a true test of my readiness for the Marathon.

I know I will be ready to finish, the question is how good of a time will I post this year.  I am not going to be setting any blistering paces, but I was hoping for a least an under 4 hour finish.

Well not much to talk about today.  Just that I am back to training.

Have a great day everyone.

Getting ready for Rock & Roll Philly 1/2

So there are 30 days until the Philly Rock & Roll 1/2 marathon.

I have been training for the Atlantic City NJ full marathon coming up in October and figured I could fit the Philly 1/2 in as part of my training. Which it fits nicely into one of my drop back weeks in my training schedule. My only issue is that there have been some extraordinary life events that have come in the way of my training.
To begin my 2013 year, my girlfriend is diagnosed with Breast Cancer, so in April she had to have surgery, double mastectomy, with 8 weeks of recovery and multiple doctor visits. Then in June I get a call from my sister saying that my Mom is not doing so well and we should make plans to go see her. They live in South Carolina, and I am in New Jersey, so I take some time off from work and make the drive to see my Mom and Dad. Mom was diagnosed with Melanoma a couple years ago and surgery was done to remove it. They thought they had gotten it all but that turned out to not be the case and the Melanoma had spread to her lymph nodes. The doctors called it metastatic melanoma, which is very aggressive and at that point there wasn't much to do for Mom. The doctor told us she had a couple months to live, this was June 25th we were given this news, at this point Mom is in the hospital because she is in a lot of pain. So I stayed the week with Mom and Dad and went back home for the weekend. On Monday get a call from my sister that Mom is being moved to Hospice care, I know this is not a good sign so we make plans to go back down to see Mom and Dad over the 4th of July holiday. We get there on the 4th and Mom is not doing good at all. Doctor says it won't be much longer. I am confused at this point because only a week ago she had a couple months, now we are talking days. We make calls to all my brothers and sister and let them know to come soon. On July 8th my sister, my girlfriend and I stayed with mom over night and I am glad that we did, my Mom passed at 5 am the morning of July 9th.  I have to say that the nurses at the Hospice of the Upstate in Anderson South Carolina were the best, they treated all of us and my Mom with the best of care.  We couldn't have asked for anymore from them. 

So we get this all settled and everyone is back at home and trying to get back to a normal life, as normal as possible I guess. 

Well on Monday I find out that my Grand Mother as passed.  This is my Dad's mom, just what he needs to deal with now.  So now we are in the middle of preparing for another service.  Well my Dad says he is not coming up for the service.  See my Grandma lives in Vermont, where my Dad is originally from.  So for my Dad to drive up it would take him 16 plus hours and he just can't do all that driving by himself anymore.  Fly you say, well my Dad has never ever been on a plane and says he will never step foot on one.  So flying is out of the picture altogether.  So I have decided that I will drive to South Caroline and pick up my Dad, I will bring him to our house for the day on Friday and then drive up to Vermont on Saturday and stay the night.  We will attend the service for my Grandma on Sunday and then drive back to our home in NJ on Sunday night.  Then on Monday get up and drive my Dad back home to South Carolina, then back home so I can be at work on Tuesday morning.  

So you see all these events have cut into my training runs, I have been running but not to the extent that I really should be to prepare for a full marathon.   I have 8 weeks of training left before the marathon so I will have to really focus on getting the training runs in over this next few weeks, especially the long runs.  

Wishing everyone out there the best of everything and happy running. 

Joe

Back on the road today.

Hello All,

Feeling pretty good today and looking forward to getting out there and laying down some miles.  7 miles on the schedule for later today, then 15 miles for tomorrow.

Not too much to say today, have a great weekend all and get some good running in.

Here is a quote that I read today.

"The good Lord gave you a body that can stand most anything. It's your mind you have to convince." - Vincent Lombardi

Feeling Better Today

Hello All, 

Well I took a couple days off from running and loaded up on the meds and hit the bed early the last 2 nights and feeling a lot better today.   Looking forward to getting back to running on Friday, have a good workout planned for the weekend 7 Miles at pace on Friday and 15 mile run on Saturday.  Need to really get back on track time is growing short before the races start rolling around. 

My race schedule to date:

September 15th Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Philadelphia

October 13th  Atlantic City N.J. Full Marathon  

November 17th Philadelphia Half Marathon

January 19th 2014 Sunshine Insurance Half Marathon Nassau, Bahamas. 

Here are a couple quotes that I read recently that I liked and thought I would pass them along. 

Divide by three "Divide the marathon into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart." -Mike Fanelli,

 Feel the magic "For me, running is a lifestyle and an art. I'm far more interested in the magic of it than the mechanics." -Lorraine Moller

Not much else to post about today.  

Oh yeah the new Nike FlyKnit shoes are in stores today.  I need to get me a pair of those bad boys.