Beginning of Christ's month...

The month of December and the whole end of the year in general is a great time to reflect on the blessings I have. This past semester in school has been one of the most stressful of my life. Classes that I didn't like and loads of work that I eventually waded through. With just a week and a little left on the academic calendar for the year, I am feeling the end coming. There will be some speed bumps for sure, but I will make it. I am looking forward to next semester because I will be out on an internship and away from the classroom, potentially forever. I have to count that as a blessing.
I am working on my marathon for January. The long runs are really mentally taxing me at this moment. I took this last week off because I just needed a recharge. The constant 10+ mile days is rough. I like going fast and doing 10x1 mile is easier than 10 miles straight. Easy. So, I am looking to revamp my training and hopefully get through my long runs without any more hitches. My swim speed is still hanging around and I have no idea where my cycling is. But, I have a triathlon on Saturday and am really looking forward to a change of pace. I think I have begun to figure out my running off the bike and am confident with this upcoming race. My swim and run will most likely be faster than the last time i did this race. The bike is the dark horse.
Christmas is coming. The blessings in my life are more evident each day and I hope to just continue to appreciate everything that I am given, even the horribly rough long runs that continue to dot my training every week. I just need to hit that special 20 miles before the race.

November...

Not much new to say. The weekend beofre halloween, I was invited to backpack the Grand Canyon with a number of friends. We did the "tonto loop," down Bright Angel, Across West Tonto and up Hermits. 27 miles in three day. It was a blast. My legs were feeling the effort for at least a week afterward. It was a rough hike, but worth every drop of sweat.

I have been consistently in the pool three times per week. I was building up lengths everyday. But, I have since backed off to 1500m per day for a couple reasons. I know 1500m is kind of wimpy for some of you athletes, but I am mostly swimming just to maintain fitness. So, going more than that runs the risk of burnout and unneccessary fatique. Plus, I am usually on a time crunch and 1500m is easily fit into 30min. Finally, I have decided to race the Anthem Holiday Classic sprint which only involves a 400m pool swim. So, staying at 1500m allows me to focus more on speed than long efforts. So there.

I am gradually bumping up my run distances. So, far right around 10 miles is feeling good. I am doing an 11 mile long run today, followed by a much needed massage by Bo Reed. I am going to make sure that his massages are added to my schedule because my hamstrings are giving me some issues. I am hoping he can begin to work them out.

I am also trying to fit in some bike rides. I am little worried about my bike riding for the upcoming triathlon. It is only 12 miles on a flat, low elevation course. But, despite being a "fun" triathlon, I still want to have a good go at it. Bricks here I come!!

Quick Update...

It's been a while since I have updated this thing. I have been super busy and stressed with my school load this semester. I am a procrastinator and when you have a number of things due each week, they tend to add up. I have been able to finish them all and get everything in, but it still stresses me out to no end.

Anyway, I have been getting in the pool three days per week. I have really noticed the aerobic base that I have built over the past few years of swimming. When I started out swimming in 2007, it was always a struggle in the water, my fitness wasn't great, I didn't have the muscle tone and my fluidity in the water was lacking. But now, even after taking a break from swimming throughout the whole summer, I came back and after a rough couple weeks finding my stroke again, I am hitting times in my workouts that I have never touched before. My fitness levels stay more consistent even after breaks in my training. I wish my running could do the same thing. Running has always been the hardest to get back into after long breaks.

Speaking of long running breaks...I will finally get back to training next week. After the Disneyland Half Marathon I took a much needed two weeks off to let myself recover before starting training for the PF Changs Rock and Roll Marathon. When I went out, an old injury resurfaced with vengeance and I had to go down for another week. I tried it out again and still no luck. So, I decided to just not rush and take another few weeks off, leaving me with 12 full weeks of training for PF Changs. Twelve weeks out from the race is next week and that's when I will begin a re-build of training.

Before that though, I will be hiking the Grand Canyon with a group of five others. We are doing 27 miles in 3 days next weekend. Down Bright Angel, across Tonto and up Hermit's. Should be a blast, I have never backpacked in the Grand Canyon, so stay tuned for a recap of that adventure next week.

I guess that's it, hopefully I don't take so much time between now and the next post.

Rest, recover, rebuild...

It has been almost three weeks since the end of the DIsneyland Half Marathon. I have run once. I knew I was going to take at least a full two weeks off after the race to recover and after 15 days I went out for an easy 5 miler. I have had some pain in the Tibial Tuberosity on both my legs since late last year. The pain is similar to Osgodd Schlatter's disease, but as a 21 year old who isn't growing anymore, it is very unlikely that that is the case. The pain seemingly dumbfounded the doctor's that I saw. And while not understanding what was happening, a PT suggested getting patella tendon straps. They work for Osgood Schlatter's pain, so why not here? I bought them and besides being annoying, they worked very well. Kept the pain WAY down and I was able to do all the training neccessary for the half marathon.

Well, after two weeks of not running, I totally spaced putting on my straps. I thought, "whatever, I ran the race without them and had no issue, I should be fine." Well, I wasn't fine. I had some really sharp pain in my high shin, right below the tibial tubercle which made me stop. I decided to run home (cause how else was I going to get there). I ran on tuesday and have had pain in my knees since. Albeit, it is getting better. The pain was as worse as it ever was before I got the straps.

My training for the PF Changs Rock N' Roll Marathon (yes, a full marathon!!) is supposed to begin on Monday. I am contemplating putting it off another week so that I can test my knees with the straps on again and make sure it isn't something new and more serious.

Otherwise, despite not swimming at all this summer, my fitness levels in the pool are similar to where they were last spring, praise God! But, I feel like I am struggling more and don't feel as fluid in the water either. It will take time before I can get back to the same fluidity I enjoyed in the pool last semester.

Anyway, stay tuned for updates in the coming weeks and months of my training for the marathon. Myself and two other friends are making a run at a Boston qualifying time which is set at 3:10. 7:15 mile pace for 26.2 miles. Oh boy.

Disneyland Half Marathon recap...

For the most part Disney did a great job with their half marathon weekend. There were definitely a few things that could be improved, but that all gets looked over when you have such a stellar time in the parks following a, personal, sub par race situation.

My travelling mates and I left Friday afternoon for the California desert. No issues driving and a quick over nighter in Barstow before heading into the LA area gave us a much relaxed start to the weekend. Nothing against Barstow, but I am not sure I would stay another night there anytime soon. If you've been there, you know.

We left mid morning on Saturday to head over the pass and hoped that we would be able to get an early check in at the hotel. Luckily, they had one room left. We dropped our bags and hoofed it the few blocks to the expo to grab our numbers and goody bags. Kudos to Disney and their organization with the race number pick-up. Maybe there were busier times but we went right about noon and it was super smooth and painless. No lines whatsoever. We mosied around the expo for an hour or so and picked up some free hand outs before grabbing a shuttle back to the hotel. Maybe we missed the sign, but it was definitely confusing figuring out which bus was the one we should take to our specific hotel. A quick lunch, grocery store shopping and back to the hotel until dinner. We were definitely wiped and ready for a nap mid afternoon. We found good grub at Buca di beppo and were satisfyingly filled with our share of carbs.

Sunday became an early morning. 3:30am early. I relish early mornings. They become tough as long days wear on, but nothing makes you feel more refreshed than waking up early, seeing the sunrise and knowing that your day is already productive. We joined the diaspora of athletes winding their ways through Downtown Disney to the staging area. Here is another one of those little things that could be fixed. I wear my warm-ups and trainers for a reason before races. When Disney makes you check your clothes bag at 5am for a 6am start, what is the purpose of wearing them at all? I am cold and wearing my racing flats, jersey and shorts for an hour before the race start. Not good Disney, not good. They led us like cattle to the start corrals. I made my way into the A corral, figuring the "elite" members would be in the front of the A corral. In fact, we had our own little section blocked off right behind the wheel chair athletes. Speaking of wheel chair athletes, wow! If my situation ever necessitates needing a wheel chair, I hope to be as burly as some of those athletes. Anyway, I warmed up, hit the port-o-johns one last time and made my way back through the crowd to the elite section. Believe me, I say elite, but the awesomeness isn't lost on me. Never have I run a race that is this big. Never have I run a race that had my name on the bib. And never have I EVER been called an elite. So, that is something to be thankful for. It was a check of humility all weekend when people would see my number (9) and comment on seeing someone with such a low number. Disney placed people by their anticipated finish times and lower numbers were faster. Believe me, it was definitely an experience.

I made it my goal to go out with the leaders and try my best to hold on. I knew that to do well, I needed to set myself up for success from the go and this was my strategy. Well, I didn't expect to have a 1:07 runner in the race. He went out so fast, everyone was pulled along by him and the leaders all got split up from the outset. Not much of a race. In return, I went out a little fast and knew by the first mile that it wasn't going to be my day. In retrospect, more tempo running and more mentally tough runs are needed during training next time. I realized how much of the race course was a blur for me when I spoke to my running mates about the course and they kept saying, "did you see this?" "Did you see that?" And I had not seen, or at least not remembered, any of it. I was flying through, focused on the race and my opponents most of the time. It is the one time I have felt bad about being in the front of the pack. I love being competitive and racing, but I miss out on a lot of the experience of the whole course by going so fast. Next time, I will have to take it more leisurly.

I have read from a lot of people that they didn't enjoy the course outside of Disneyland. I personally loved it. How many times do you get to run down roads 4 or 5or 7 lanes across with no traffic? You get to run the middle of the road and not worry about cars. I think that is great. Lots of people hated the scenery, but from what I said, I didn't remember much and in all likelihood didn't notice most of it anyway. I loved the cheerleaders and the bands and especially the boy scouts! (Eagle Scout!!) They definitely helped me keep my pace honest. I would get a great adrenaline rush when running through all the screaming individuals. And to top it all off the weather could not have been better. We had a deep marine layer fog over the course the whole time and it absolutely kept the temps down to a more enjoyable race. I only once dropped my shades down off my head onto my eyes. And that only lasted a few minutes as the fog rolled in thick once again. Incredible.

All in all, I wasn't pleased with my performance. I didn't care as much about place as I did about my time and I was far from where I wanted to be. To be honest, I have never trained for a race harder than here, but it obviously didn't pay off and I will have to go back and see what needs to be changed for next time. It was a really tough year at the Disneyland Half Marathon. Course records were set in both the men's and women's races and it was overall the fastest race on record for the top runners.

Thanks to all the volunteers. I have done that job many times and it never gets easier. They were awesome.

One more change that Disney should consider is allowing more mobility around the finish line. In other words, making it easier to cross from one side of the finish line to the other (for example, from the fantasia hat to downtown disney)and moving the awards ceremony sooner. It is a long wait for the first finishers to sit around for the awards 3 1/2 hours later.

The rest of the weekend was fabulous. How can you not have a good time in Disneyland? Except for a couple trips to the East coast Disney, I haven't been to this park in quite a number of years and I absolutely love it still!

Who Dat...

I'll admit it. I didn't think about New Orleans unless it was Fat Tuesday. I am 1500 miles away, in a high altitude city, in the desert southwest, where water is so scarce it's like gold. I had no interest or inkling of thought about New Orleans. My background has nothing in common with that city. I had no friends there, no family, I had never traveled there, nor had any intention to travel there anytime soon. Nothing.
Five years later, my life and the lives of every American has been changed. Whether you have been there or not, you have seen the photos, heard the stories, listened to the news, saw the headlines, maybe even met someone who had to escape from that city. You know about New Orleans now. There is no escaping it. Just like the feeling you get from hearing "September 11th" spoken aloud, you know something is important about August 29th. There is no need to explain "Katrina" to anyone. I am sure if you did a study of names given to children, Katrina has dropped far from its previous spot. Katrina has become synonymous with not only the hurricane of all hurricanes, but a general lack of infrastructure and communication in our government. It has become a loaded word for slow response in government. "They don't want to make this Obama's Katrina." It has that kind of power.

But I still see Katrina from an outsiders perspective. I haven't rebuilt homes, no one has moved in next door who had to leave everything behind, I didn't see the devastation first hand. My dad served in San Antonio, in a shelter for displaced individuals after Katrina and the lesser remembered, Rita. He was there for weeks and he has the cliche shirt to show for it.

I was in New Orleans a month ago. The LCMS National Youth Gathering descended on the city for a week of uplifting worship. About 12,000 youth went to help in the ninth ward to make the endless work still left a little easier for someone else. But I wasn't there as I was assigned a different task. What I can say is that I am interested in the people of that city more than ever. While our youth were living the dream at the Convention Center and the Superdome, there are thousands who may never look at those places the same way. Those are the people who had to endure hot, humid temperatures with little water and not a clue as to when the nightmare will end. They left a flooded home behind, narrowly escaping with the shirts on their backs to be dropped off by boat or helicopter or bus and had to wait for what? Because as far as they knew, no one was coming to save them. I walked in the paths that they walked in. I sat in the seats of the Superdome that they slept in. We were excited to go into the home of the Superbowl winning Saints (Who Dat!?), but those individuals, their families, their children and grandmothers and grandfathers, brothers, sisters and friends will never see the Superdome as just the home of the Saints. I can understand that now.

A month ago, I left New Orleans and it was a city with a dark past. I see New Orleans now, after seeing all the photos and hearing the stories this week, as a city with a bright future. I was annoyed with the obnoxious and vain pride that the city had in the football team. It was annoying to see "Who Dat" emblazoned everywhere. It seemed like they were rubbing it in everyone's face. But I understand now that that is the bright spot in so much gloom. After four and a half years, they found something to rally around. When these people enter heaven, God is going to judge them for the heart and character they had through so much adversity. When humans let them down, God never gave up and you can find that in the alleys and walkways of the emerging New Orleans.

40 miles...

Well, where to start? My training is going well. I have bumped my weekly mileage to around 40 miles. My legs are definitely feeling it. I am adding an extra day off at the end of this week. And then going to follow it up with the longest week planned for this training block, 45 miles before a taper into the Disneyland Half Marathon!

Speaking of the Disneyland Half Marathon, I printed off my waiver for the race and they let you know what bib number you were assigned. Mine is #9! I know that I wasn't the 9th person registered, so it must mean I have the 9th fastest registered time. I hope I can live up to it!

Other than that, I am job searching for the fall semester. Pray that something pops its head out. I am picky when it comes to jobs which makes it even more difficult to pinpoint a potential job.

I pray that all of you are doign well! Peace.