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. 

After all this, now a cold to slow me down even more.

Hello All,

Well I got back to my training runs and wouldn't you know day 3 back into it and I wake up the next day with a sore throat.  I tried some Airborne to try and knock it out before it develops into a full blown cold, but alas that didn't work out so well.  Going on day 3 with this stupid cold, feeling weak, congested and irritable.

I tried running with the cold the first 2 days but it just seemed to make the cold worse, so I am on day 2 of resting and hopefully this cold will be gone by the weekend so I can get my long runs in over the weekend.  I am on week 8 of my 18 week marathon training schedule so I have a 7 mile and 15 mile run scheduled for the weekend.  I am trying to recruit a friend to come out with me for my 15 mile run to give me inspiration and motivation to keep going.  She like to run and keeps a pretty good pace, hopefully she will agree to come out.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of a cold quickly?  Tried NyQuil and DayQuil the last 2 days but they just seem to mask the cold, once they wear off I am back to sneezy and stuffy.

Well that is all I have for today.

Thanks
Joe

Gotta get back to training / Nike Free FlyKnit+

Well I haven't run in 5 days now.  

Still feeling pretty sad with all that has happened recently.

But I really need to get back out there and lay down some miles, Half marathon coming up on September 15th and the Full on October 13th.  I know I can do the miles it is more of getting the training in to better my finishing time.

The weather hasn't been very helpful either 95 plus degrees and humidity through the roof, makes for a sweaty mess at the end of the run.  I will get out there later today and try to get 4 or 5 miles in.

Anyway, my subject for today is the new Nike Free FlyKnit+ shoe.  These new shoes look really cool and comfortable, but the price seems a bit steep at $160 especially since they claim there is little to no waste with their new proprietary knitting machines.   I will probably wind up buying a pair just to see how they function and feel.  Nike has been pushing the natural ride and the barefoot style of running and this is their latest product improvement.  I like the way it look and the way they say it fits snugly around your foot like a sock. 

More to come once I get these on my feet.  Please let me know if you have any feedback on these. 

Nike Free FlyKnit+ Running Shoes

FIT MEETS FLEX FOR A MORE SUPER NATURAL RIDE

The revolution of Flyknit continues in the Nike Free Flyknit+ Running Shoe, combining the second-skin fit of Flyknit construction and ultimate flexibility of Nike Free.

SECOND-SKIN FIT

The revolutionary Nike Flyknit upper delivers a compressive, second-skin fit that secures your foot over the Nike Free midsole. Made entirely of polyester yarn, the one-piece upper seamlessly integrates areas of high breathability, stretch and support where you need it most.

NATURAL RIDE

The upper, midsole and outsole work together to create a more natural ride. For ultimate flexibility, the shoe's Nike Free 5.0 midsole features flex grooves to promote natural motion and help increase stability and foot strength.

LIGHTWEIGHT SUPPORT

Ultra-light Flywire cables are woven into the Flyknit upper and connect to the laces, offering a dynamic, supportive fit that adapts to your foot's movements.

LESS WASTE

To construct the upper, polyester yarn is fed into a proprietary knitting machine, creating little to no waste and minimizing weight so the shoe's incredibly efficient to produce.

FLYKNIT ORIGINS

Nike Flyknit was inspired by feedback from runners requesting a shoe with the snug (and virtually unnoticed) fit of a sock. Nike embarked on a four-year mission with teams of programmers, engineers and designers to create the technology needed to make the knit upper with static properties for structure and durability. Then the precise placement of support, flexibility and breathability-all in one layer-was refined. The result was a featherweight, form-fitting and virtually seamless upper.

 

CANCER SUCKS PART 2

Hello Everyone,

I am back again after almost 2 weeks without a posting.

My Mom was battling Cancer, a Metastatic Melanoma that had spread throughout her body and on July 9th she lost the battle and passed on to a better place.

It was a hard thing to see her the way she was, in so much pain and lost over 50 pounds.  She was so doped up on morphine that all she did was sleep most of the day away, and when she did wake up she didn't really recognize who we were.  But I was glad that I could be by her side when the final moments came to tell her how much I Loved her.  My sister, my girl friend Cheri and I, stayed by her side all night.  The nurses at the Hospice house had told us earlier in the day that the time was getting close.  So we all stayed to be with mom.

I have to say that all the nurses and staff at the Hospice of the Upstate Inc. 1835 Rogers Road
Anderson, SC, were so very nice and took exceptional care of my Mom.  They all made she that what ever she needed she received and they made certain that she was not in any pain.

We had the service for my Mom on Friday and I still can seem to accept that fact that she is not with us anymore, I still want to pick up the phone and give her a call to check on her and my Dad.

My Mom and Dad were married 54 years, it will be tough on my Dad adjusting to doing all the stuff around the house and not having Mom there with him.  It makes me sad to think how he must feel to not have her there, his life long partner is gone.  I am glad that my brother is there with him and they can both support each other.  I am also glad to have met so many of my Mom and Dad's friends and to see how supportive and kind they are.

I will be going back to see Dad and John soon, they will need all of us to help them through this, just as we will need them.

I Love You and will miss you everyday Mom, but I know you are in a better place.  Up there with Michael, Teenie, Nanny, Pop-pop and Grandpa Joe and all the other beloved that have passed on before us.

I know you are up there looking down on us all. I just hope that I continue to make you proud as I continue on my way training and running my races.

We will all see you again soon.

I Love You Mom.

3 Part training Plan

So I just read this article from Runner's World by Christie Aschwanden called Your 3-Part Training Plan. 

Seems pretty interesting and a lot different than my typical training schedule.

Here is a link to the article:  http://beta.active.com/running/articles/your-3-and-45part-training-plan?cmp=17-1-4887

Check it out and let me know what you think about this training plan.

Basically talks about having 3 phases to you training.

Phase 1:  Base, this is used to build your base miles by slowing increasing your mileage and add a little speed work in.

Phase 2:  Preparation, this will build endurance.  Doing longer runs and strength training

Phase 3:  Peak, this is focusing on speed work to prepare for racing. You still do some long runs but more shorter runs at faster pace.

I will have to do some more research on this before I commit to making a change in my training routine.