Positives and Negatives

South Carolina -- check 

Well, South Carolina is done.  We drove, almost 8 hours to Kiawah Island, near Charleston... Valerie, Keeley, Noble, Levi and I.  We had a nice drive.  Traffic was not so bad.  We skirted around Orlando by taking the toll road 417.  We stopped somewhere in GA at a Cracker Barrel and had a nice lunch for a bit over an hour.  It was carb day, so we all had some form of the dumplins.  Boy are they good.  We arrived at the Convention Center on the Island and I picked up my shirt and bib in no time flat. (It is an XL.  I have to use it as a bed shirt.  It is HUGE on me). Then drove to the Airbnb.  It was off the island and because of all of the rivers and water, it was about 40 minutes away.  Not so bad that day, but this morning we had to get up super early to drive back over to the race.  The place was nice.  Three bedrooms, one with bunk beds for the boys and a master bedroom for us and a room for Keeley.  It was cute and clean and well kept.  Perfect for what we needed.
  

I only wish it were closer, but all of the places on the island were all taken or they were $450 or more per night.  This one was under $200.  At 5:30am it only took us 35 min to get to the race parking lot.  Not too bad.

I have decided that my stories about my problems running are probably getting boring, so I thought I would give a critique or review of each of the races (from my perspective of course) just in case any of you might be considering running that race.  Maybe my experiences will give you some insight into that race and help you make a decision about whether or not to sign up for that one.  Who knows, it might be helpful to someone.  Something like that, and I'm certain it exists so take this for what it is worth, would be helpful for me as I try to schedule all of these races.  For instance, I sure wish I knew it was going to be 33 F for this race.  Who knew SC could get so cold.  So, my next three posts will be about the last three races (the only three races I have run so far).
1. Cocoa Beach, FL "I Dream of Jeannie."
2. Tulsa, OK "Route 66."
3. Kiawah Island, SC "Kiawah Island Golf Resort."

I will give details about each of these races (from my perspective) for your viewing pleasure.

Valerie and the kids had a nice breakfast at "The Market" after the start of the race.  Pretty inexpensive and they say the food was very good.  Eggs, hot chocolate, hash browns, and some other stuff... I quit listening since I did not get to enjoy any of it.  They were happy.

I was able to see them at mile 9.  I stopped and gave hugs and kisses before forging on.  It was a welcomed break.  I almost wish they were at several spots along the way to give me an excuse to stop... er... take a break.

We also had a nice drive back from SC.  The return trip only took 6:30 hours.  We needed to get back to get Noble to the Christmas program at the church, so we were in a little bit of a time crunch.  I did not even get to shower after the race, then sat in the car for 6:30 hours.  I WAS STINKY.  But we made it with plenty of time and had several fun laughs and talks and games just like the trip over.  These are good memories that we can talk about for a long time.
Those were the positives.

The negatives were, primarily the cold.  It was 33 F... from the start to the finish.  I knew it was gonna be cold.  The forecast suggested 38 for the low and 52 for the high, so I figured it would be chilly at the start, I would warm up and then it would be in the fifties...  not too bad.  Well, it was 33 degree and 33 degrees.  And it was a frigid 33 degrees.  You know how sometimes 32 is nice and comfortable and other times 40 is super cold, bone chilling?  That's how it was with this one.  I had a cheap, zip-up jacket and an over jacket.  I shed the over jacket before the start and wore the zip-up jacket until mile 5 or so.  I was happy to have it if for nothing other than pockets to keep my hands from freezing off.  Yes, I ran with my hands in my pockets.  After mile 3 I started struggling.  My nose was all congested and I could not breathe through it, so I was mouth breathing.  No big deal except it was so cold my lungs started to hurt.  My breathing became very labored, so I slowed considerably.  At mile 5 I shed my jacket, thinking I was over heating.  I watched the 1:45 pacer pass me.  I could not keep up with her at that point.  That hurt a little.  I quickly discovered that my laboring was not due to overheating as I was now freezing.  My thumbs were numb and my nose was cold and had that one drop of sweat/snot/spit on it that would not come off.  My ears were stinging.  I had to walk.  After just a short time, I caught my wind and felt good again.  The 1:50 pacer passed me.  That hurt a little more.  I walked a little more.  My split times rapidly moved from 7min something to 8 minutes something to 9 minute miles.  Somewhere in there the 2:00 hour pacer passed me.  That was down right painful.  I never caught her.  I was 25 minutes behind my goal.  Ugh....

I know it is not likely (well, now impossible) to PR every race, but 25 minutes off my average race time?  That is tough to swallow.  It was a tough race (for me).  My chest still hurts and I am struggling to take a deep breath and it is almost 12 hours after I finished.  I am not injured or anything.  I do not have asthma or COPD or anything... at least then I would have some legitimate excuse... I was simply not prepared to race in those conditions.  My cardio is not sufficient... yet.  I did not train well enough.  Probably didn't eat properly -- although I was hydrated, but probably too many iced teas.  I bet they are full of caffeine and I can imagine that did not help.  Live, learn, move on.  There was a dentist who lectured quite a bit before passing that was somewhat famous for reminding his dentist audience what to say when they had a difficult patient/procedure or some other difficulty.  He would remind them the best thing to say after something like that was, "NEXT!"

Tempe, AZ -- NEXT!

You NEED rest -- sometimes

I think there are times when we just need some rest, and our bodies have a way of telling us.  Sometimes we will ignore those signs and keep pushing, but I believe that when we do that, we will eventually pay a price.

I keep a pretty regimented sleeping schedule.  I go to bed at 10:30pm.  Fall asleep by 11:00pm and wake up at 5:30am.  That is 6 hours 30 min. every night, at least 5 days per week.  I function very well with this amount of sleep.   I am refreshed, alert, and aware in the mornings.  I love the mornings.  I try to schedule all of my difficult procedures and surgeries in the morning when I am fresh.  There are times, though when I have a particularly stressful few days and my body tells me that I need more rest.  There have been days where I would go to bed at 7:00pm and sleep all through the night until 5:00am or so.  My body simply tells me, "You are done.  Go to bed before this turns ugly."

I am starting to think that the body needs rest from training as well.  Don't misunderstand me, I recognize that we need rest to allow our muscles to heal, etc.  What I am talking about is like my sleep pattern.  Sometimes, like the other day (my last post -- Nothing At All), my body just did not want me to train.  I simply did not feel like running, or doing much of anything for that matter.  Maybe my body was telling me, "You do not need to run today.  Sit and relax."  I have no scientific basis for any of this, BTW.  But I took that day off unscheduled and ran a little the next day, played some racquetball, ran a little more, then ran again today.  I only ran 3.4 miles today, but felt really good.  I could have easily kept going and run another several miles, but the next race is in two days... so, I just wanted to get in a few miles, stay loose, and test out my legs and IT band.  Everything felt great.  My last two weeks of training have not been all that good.  Poor training and a poor race on Sunday... but today I feel good.  Hopefully I will feel good again on Saturday.

The race this weekend is in South Carolina.  Kiawah Island.  Everybody tells me it is very nice.  I am betting that this is about all I will see of the whole thing.  I am sure it is beautiful.  Maybe someone will take pictures for me, so I can see it later.  (I am laughing as I type this next sentence) or maybe I will just go slow and easy and enjoy the scenery... LOL.
The pacers for this race start at 1:45, which just happens to be my goal.  I am hoping to find this 1:45 pacer and just stick with him/her the entire race.  (Maybe that will keep me from going out too fast this time?!?!)





The whole family is going to go with me on this one.  We are planning to drive.  A place flight was about 3:30 hours plus two hours (driving to the airport, security, waiting, boarding, waiting), plus landing and renting a car or getting an Uber and driving to the airbnb, easily 7 hours of total travel.  Well, the drive is a little under 7 hours, so we decided to just drive.  Not to mention $400 per person to fly -- that is $2000 for the five of us.  I don't know how much gas will be to drive, but I am betting it will be under $2K.

Anyway, off to SC in the morning.  Thanks for "listening".  Hope you all have a great weekend.

OH, BTW... we are rushing back, right after the race because we have our Living Christmas Tree performance Saturday night 7:00pm and Sunday Night 6:00pm at First Baptist Brandon,  216 N Parsons Ave, Brandon, FL 33510.  If you are interested, you are definitely welcome!!  Come see.


Noble is the Little Drummer Boy.  Hope to see you there.

Nothing At All

Today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don't feel like picking up my phone
So leave a message at the tone
'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything

Uh I'm gonna kick my feet up and stare at the fan
Turn the t.v. on
Throw my hand in my pants
Nobody's gon' tell me I cant, no

I'll be loungin' on the couch just chillin' in my snuggie
Flip to MTV so they can teach me how to Dougie
'Cause in my castle I'm the freakin' man
Oh

Yes I said it
I said it
I said it 'cause I can

Today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don't feel like picking up my phone
So leave a message at the tone
'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything

Nothing at all

Truth be told, I did not want to get out of bed today.  I did not want to go to work.  I did not wan to eat right.  I did not want to train.  I came up with every excuse there was... and a few I am sure I invented.

Oh, I got out of bed and went to work. I did what I needed to do, but I did not do much else.  I did not run today.  I was tired.  It was rainy.  Valerie was not home when I got home from work.  The boys were playing with friends and really should not be left alone.  I did not eat the right foods today.  I was tired.  My back was sore, etc., etc., etc...  The end of the story is -- I just did not feel like it.  I got home from work, had a handful of nuts, which led to a couple of handfuls of my wife's Chex Mix, which led to a handful of M&M's -- before dinner.  I then sat down in my chair and watched a movie with my family.  

I did not feel like exercising.  I did not fee like eating right.  I did not feel like writing this blog.  Today, I did not feel like doing anything... nothing at all.

I am not sure if this is a common thing for others.  Maybe this is a normal "happening', or maybe I am just simply being lazy.  

Further, I STILL don't feel like doing anything.  It is only 7:30pm and I could easily brush my teeth and go to bed.  I feel confident that I could sleep straight through too.  Of course, the reality is that I would wake up at 2:00am and not be able to get back to sleep, but a guy can dream.  I have several things to do.  I just don't feel like doing any of them.

I have been told that the times when one does not feel like training are the times when one receives the most benefit from actually training.  I have also been told that you are much more likely to act your way into feeling than to feel your way into acting, so just get up and do what you need to do.  Get off your duff and go run.  You will feel better.  You will reap the benefit of the training.  You will release the endorphins... blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda...

I don't feel like it.  I'll do it tomorrow.  Today is over, tomorrow never comes, free beer tomorrow.

Proverbs 27:1 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

James 4:14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring

Today I don't feel like doing anything....

Nothing at all.

What's the Point?

What exactly is the point?  I have come to the conclusion that there is no point.  It is a certainty that there will ALWAYS be someone faster than me and younger than me and better looking than me.  Someone who can run farther and faster and complete this or any other goal/task quicker and/or better.  I got bothered yesterday because I had a bad run in a race.  So I finished some three or four minutes slower than I intended to... so what.

A friend of mine from church also ran yesterday.  He ran the half marathon.  He ran it super fast (from my perspective).  I checked the results today.  He ran 1:31.  That is under 7 minute miles for 13.1 miles.  To me, that is SMOKIN'.  I heard through the grapevine that he was not happy with his performance.  So, here is my point.  ENOUGH WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH.

Fast will never be fast enough.  Good will never be good enough.  Great will never be great enough.  I just know it.  So, what's the point?  I have a goal or three or twelve.  I will achieve many of them, but who cares?  If and when I finish this 50 in 50 in 50 thing that I am doing right now, who will care?  Will anybody ask me how fast I ran?  Will anybody ever ask me if I placed first in my age group or what place did I come in overall?  Doubtful.

To that point... I graduated from dental school in 1996.  In 20 years, I have never had anybody ask me where I graduated in my class.  Was I the top student?  Was I in the middle somewhere?  Or does D stand for doctor?  You know what they call the guy who graduated last in my class in dental school???  .... Doctor!!  That's right.  They call him doctor.

I certainly have my own reasons for doing these races.  I am super competitive... if you have not figured that out yet.  I need goals.  I mentioned that before.  I feel the need to stay fit and trim.  I do not do well with weight.  Also, my Mii character needs to stay "normal" sized.  Poor guy.  BTW... Since August, when I went with my wife and daughter to Nicaragua, I have lost 31 pounds.  I was 216 lbs and I weighed Saturday 185 lbs.  I am now a size L, tapered shirt and wear a size 31 waisted pant.  Even they have a little room.  I have lost my booty and am losing my quads.  I wonder if I will force myself to start lifting weights again???

I will certainly continue my quest, but I am not so sure what all of my goals are at the moment.  Will I go from 1:49 to 1:47 to 1:45 to 1:40 to 1:30?  Think they will ask me to run on the US Olympic Half-Marathon team?  LOL.  Is it worth all of the training to get to run faster and faster and faster?  I dunno.  I am sure I will differently about it over a period of time.  Right now, I am struggling wondering where does it end, when will it ever be enough and what difference does it make?

Just the thought for the day.  Thanks for "listening".

The Good News and Bad News

Ran the Brandon 5K this morning.  There is good news and bad news.  The good news is, I tried my new Bose SoundSport earbuds.  They worked super nicely.  They were plenty loud and comfortable and even though I was sweating, they did not come out of my ears or make sweaty popping noises in my ears.  The other good news was I was able to finish the race and still make it home to clean up and get to Sunday school and church on time.  I actually finished third in my age group, got my medal and even got a banana, a smoothie (with whey protein) and a slice of pizza.



The rest of the good news came after the race.  I needed to get in a few more miles to prepare for next weekend, so I went for a run after church.

I ran another 5k and ran it better than the race, so improvement is good.

The other great news was that I got one of my Christmas presents early... and it was super great and helpful for me on my second run.



In case you do not know what this is (I did not know)...  it is an anti chafe balm.  It is like a deodorant/antiperspirant stick, but for the purpose of making the area that normally chafes, nice and slickery.  I was a bit chafed after the race, so I was happy to have some lubricant to keep from chafing further.  It was really pretty nice.  I will definitely use this product again.

I suppose there is other good news.  I learned some stuff.  To be clear, the things I learned today, I already knew, but I generally need to receive the lessons more than once in order for them to sink in.  I learned -- again -- to not start the run too fast.  HOLY COWBOYS!!!! I have NO IDEA what I was thinking today.  It was a pretty small race, so I could see everyone.  When we started out, it sure seemed like everybody just TOOK OFF running.  I was feeling good and fresh and just went out with them.  I was cruising.  When I got to the first mile marker, all my technology told me that I had run mile 1 in 6:40 -- WAY TOO FAST... for me.  I have been training and running 7:20 or so.  6:40 is really fast for me.  But, heck, I was still feeling pretty good... UNTIL... I wasn't.  All of a sudden, my heart was flying.  My breathing was deep and fast and labored.  I had to stop and walk before I got to the mile 3 marker.  I WALKED!! in a 5K.  I was NOT happy!  So, I started running again, but had no real rhythm.  Mile 2 was still 7:45 even though I walked, but I could not hold it.  Heart was still beating out of my chest, and my breathing was heavy.  I WALKED TWO MORE TIMES in mile 3.  WHAT THE HECK.  I NEVER have to walk in a 5k.  But I did today.  Mile 3 was terrible, and I finished in 26 min or so.  Avg. pace 8:30 or so.  I have not seen the official results yet and I did not turn off my garmin or strava -- I was too mad!  I did not even pick up my medal at the finish.  Not happy!  I went back later and got it, as you can see above.

Note to self... do not start out too fast and gas.  It ain't worth it.  It don't work.  Oh, well.  They say that everybody has a bad race from time to time.  Maybe the good news is that I got the bad race out of the way and next weekend I can have a good one.  I did run again, after church, and ran much better, so I guess I learned my lesson.  I suppose I will get faster at some point.  Maybe 6:40 per mile will be no big deal at some point.  BTW... the guy in my age group that passed me during mile 3 asked me what happened.  I told him I started out too fast and ran mile 1 at 6:40.  He said, "OH MY!  If I had run a 6:40 mile, they would have to call an ambulance."  LOL.  Oh... and the anti-chafing BODY GLIDE stick worked great!

Redundant

It appears as if I could rename this blog earbuds and IT bands, as that appears to be all that I talk about.

I am racing the Brandon 5k tomorrow morning.  I'll lay out my goals for this race in a minute.  But, I bought some new earbuds to test during the race tomorrow.  I bought the Bose SoundSport Wireless.  I had a Bose Noise Cancellation Earbuds set that I liked, but found out quickly that they were not appropriate for sweating.  They started popping (LOUDLY) in my ear.  It does not take too long for that to get annoying, and then unbearable not too long after that... I did not make it past the next door neighbor's house before I ran back home and threw them into the garbage.  I mentioned before that I have the Skull Candy set that I have been using, but they fall out of my ears when I get sweaty.  The Bose sets stay in my ears nicely and the sound quality is good -- for me that means loud enough that I cannot hear myself.  So, I bought a new set.  $149.00, plus tax.  They were the same price on the Bose site and Amazon and everywhere else I could find.  I had to take Noble to the mall... I HATE the mall... especially around this time of year, so since I was right there across the street, I went into BestBuy and pick up a set.  They come in Yellow, Blue and Black.  I bought the black ones.  I wore them on the ride home and changed to the best fitting ear piece.  I think they are gonna be good.  I'll keep you informed.



I got a massage Thursday, thank you Pamela.  She wanted to work my IT band, and OH MY GOODNESS was that PAINFUL.  I absolutely HATE having my quads worked.  Always have hated that.  I used to tell the massage therapist that they would have a really hard time hurting me, so give some good pressure.  I love it when they dig, especially on my back and neck.  But not on my quads.  It is just plain painful.  I try very hard to make it look like I am relaxed and comfortable, but inside I am yelling, crying, whining, and wishing they would quit.  Well, she did not stop at the quads.  She worked the length of the IT band, and from mid quad to the tibia, IT WAS PAINFUL!!  I had tears.  Of course the hope is that the massage loosens things up nicely and allows me to run pain free, but dang.  I am not sure it is worth it.  I almost would rather feel the pain during the run and after than the pain of the massage.  Whew, I am glad that is over.  Of course, I ran Friday... just a little 5k, but i did feel the IT band a bit after.  Actually, now that I am thinking about it, I can feel it right now.  I am still gonna run tomorrow.  We will see.

OK, so my goals for this 5k.  I signed up for this race simply as a training race.  Something to force me to get up and go run, but I am certain there is no way that I am just going to go and casually jog the race.  I definitely don't think I am going to win, but I will just bet that I will run harder than I probably should.

My last run was a 5k around the neighborhood.  Strava had me at 23:46.  My Garmin had me at 23:44

My PR is 22:19, so I would definitely like to beat all of those times.  So, I guess my goal is to beat 22:19.  My BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) is to be under 20 min.  But I do not expect to be under 20 any time soon.  In fact, I am going to try not to be under 20 in this race.  My bet is I would injure myself.  So, for this race, I would like to be under 22 min.  Possibly under 7:00 per mile pace.  A 6:59 per mile pace would put me at 21:42:77.  I could deal with that.  That would make me happy.  Of course I have never run that fast for that long.  I have never trained that fast, but oh well... that is my goal.  Race starts at 7:30am.  It is a down and back, so I should be able to gauge if I am on track at the turn around.  Bit, I have to say, I will err on the side of slower than risk the injury... at least that is what I am telling myself right now.  We will see if my mind has a mind of its own.  Tell ya tomorrow.

If I were 20

If only I were 20 years old.  I do not think that I am in mid-life crisis or anything, but it certainly seems to me that this entire venture would be easier if I were still 20 years old... or so.

When I was 20, I was focused, dedicated, unencumbered.  I would wake up every morning and workout or run with my team.  I would workout and often run 6 days a week, every week.  I would and could run every day.  I would go eat a big meal and then go run wind sprints.  We had practices sometimes three times a day, often times twice a day.  We ran, and sweat, and worked out with weights.  Sure, we were sore sometimes, but we would just work through the soreness -- "walk it off".  I have heard that so many times I cannot count.

When I was 20, I did not have a wife or kids.  I did not have a job.  I had few responsibilities.  I was free to go eat and go work out.  I ate whatever I wanted, AS MUCH AS I WANTED.  I was TRYING to gain weight.  I ran as much as I wanted... and more than I wanted.  I worked out as much as I wanted... and more than I wanted.

When I was 20,  I was never worried about injury.  I had knee surgery.  I had ankle sprains and tendinitis and bumps and bruises and cuts and maybe a concussion or two, bone bruises, deep muscle bruises.  These things were simply a way of life and we would ice them and tape them up, and "walk it off".  I was strong and fit, not a care in the world.

If I were 20, I could have run 50 half marathons in 50 states in 50 weeks.... physically.  Where I would get the money to do any of it is an entirely different novela, but physically it would have been a piece of cake,

Now that I am 46 years old -- 46!!  Holy moly, that sounds old when associated with my name -- everything just seems more difficult, more complicated.  I don't necessarily mean more complex, but complicated.  Complicated by the fact that I have a job and a wife and kids and church events and other responsibilities.  Just the time factor alone is much more complicated. I do not have several hours a day that I can dedicate to training.  Many people wake up early and train in the morning before work.  Makes sense,  My issue with that is that I start seeing patients at 7:00am.  So, I would have to get up before 5:00am to run for an hour, which is not so bad, but then there is the cool down period.  If I go run for an hour, then get in the shower and get dress, I am STILL SWEATING.  Now picture this for me... You are my first patient of the day and I walk in to greet you and I am sweating, you are sweating because you are nervous, but we both wipe our brows and we begin the procedure.  As we are working, beads of sweat are dripping off of my nose and forehead and I am jerking my head to the side in an attempt to sling the sweat drop off to the side so that it does not drop into your mouth... OK, I am being dramatic, but you get the idea.  I am still sweating.  This is why I d not like to run before work.  I wanted to build a shower in my office, so that I could just run to work.  You know, save the planet and all... but I would still have the sweating problem.

After work is a nice time for me to run, which is why you will see most of my runs on Strava or MapMyRun are afternoon runs, after work, before dinner.  This is not always so easy, though.  LET ME BE CLEAR HERE, my wife takes care of MOST EVERYTHING, and she does it EXTREMELY WELL, but there are times that I have to go pick up one of the kids from this place or that, or I just have something that I need to do or some place that I need to be and running just does not fit into the equation.

Weekends are a similar issue.  I have a pretty cushy life, thank you Valerie, but there are times when the weekend is booked up with "stuff"... although, I have to say that I can USUALLY find a free moment to run on the weekends, especially in the morning before everyone gets up.  They don't seem to care if I am sweating or not.

Time and family obligations are only a part of the difficulty that I am having though.  When I am considering running now, I have to do a body assessment.  How does my body feel?  I NEVER had to do that before.  "Walk it off". Now if I "walk it off", I might have to take the rest of the week off.  So, I am planning on running this afternoon, after work.  I have a race on Sunday, the Brandon 5k.  It is really just an excuse to get me out running so that I can train for the half marathon in SC., next weekend.  So, I need to train and stay in shape for SC and just use this race as a training run.  I ran last Thursday, Thanksgiving.  I ran Saturday, then again on Monday.  Wanted to rest my leg on Tuesday, then when Wednesday came around, I was trying to decide how to spend my time.  Running was in the plan.  But then I began to do a body assessment.  I can't believe I have to admit that I have to do this.  I wanted to get in a long run.  I had the time.  I had three hours that I could have made the time.  I started to feel my IT band, so I thought I would play racquetball instead of a long run that would aggravate my IT band.  I played three matches of racquetball and felt fine, but did not feel like running after.  Now today I am planning on running after work and my leg kinda aches.  Do I REALLY need to take a day or two off every time I run?  This is getting ridiculous. I think if I try hard enough I could come up with a viable excuse every day, every time.  I'm sure that my wife could use some help around the house.  I'm sure that I could be out playing catch with one of the kids or carting them around town to their various activities.  I'm sure I could do some things at work.  I am certain there are church activities that I could devote more time to.  Various clubs and organizations and community events that I am involved with could use some of my time and attention... etc., etc., etc...

If I were 20 years old...