cburky911

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Well, I've been back to running.  On March 7 I ran my first 5K of the season in Dublin...I started out a little faster than I should have and ran a 29:29.  I was a little disappointed with the time, but realized that I probably set my expectiations a little high.  On March 14 I ran the St. Patrick's Day 4 Miler in Dublin, then ran the Hooter's 5K run in Columbus later that day.  A friend of mine, who I work with, joined me on the Hooter's Run, which made it even more enjoyable.  It's really great to have someone to run with.  She's planning on doing a couple more 5K's with me, and I think she's caught the running bug.  She's been dealing with some stress in her life lately, which I'm sure helped keep her running.  Not that I would wish the stress part on her, but I am glad that I've helped her to find a way to work through that stress.

As for the Columbus Marathon...well, I've decided to run it.  I've started a little bit of my training for it already, but really I'm doing more of building a base so that training will be easier over the summer and early fall.  The marathon is scheduled for October 18.  I'm hoping to be able to take a full week off AFTER the marathon this time so that I have plenty of time to recover.  It took me nearly that long to recover after the last one.

I'm starting to feel some of the competative spirit now that I have a running partner.  She did a run around the lake at Antrim Park earlier in the week, running 3 laps around the lake in 35 minutes.  So of course now I have to go out and beat that time...but the hard one is going to be her time yesterday.  She ran 5 miles on the treadmill in less than 45 minutes!!  It is nice to have someone to push me, and judging from our 5K last weekend, we seem to be fairly comparable in our running abilities, so that works out good too.

My "official" marathon training starts June 1...I'll keep you posted.

Well, last Saturday I completed the Myrtle Beach Marathon, running the 26.2 mile course in 5:38:21.  I was hoping to finish in less than 5:30, but am happy to have completed the entire marathon.
After getting back to work, a friend told me that he wants to train for the Columbus Marathon in October.  I'm still debating with myself if I want to run in that marathon and just realize that I need to give myself some time to recouperate and then make the decsion. 
There are some other runs that I want to do in the fall, and don't want to compromise doing those runs in order to train for the marathon, so I'll take some time, weigh my options, then make a decision.

The week leading up to the marathon was fun.  I spent the week in Myrtle Beach with some friends.  We did some horseback riding on the beach, which probably wasn't the best thing to do before running a marathon, but I don't think it ended up hurting and we enjoyed the ride and watching the dolphins swimming up and down the coast line.  It might have been a little less painful if the ride were a tad bit shorter.

I'm back to work now and have been tired this week.  Not sure if that's all from trying to recover from running the marathon or if I'm fighting off what most of my co-workers were fighting off last week while I was gone.  I do feel a little better tonight, so hopefully it's just a matter of getting back to my work routine.

Well....I'm now 14 weeks through my 20 week training program for the marathon.

Yesterday my long run was 16 miles long.  I'm not quite sure how I made it through ...  The last 5 miles were hell, and the last two were where people go when hell is too good for them!!  It's hard to imagine that in 6 weeks I'll be running that far, PLUS another 10 miles on top of that.  There were some outside factors that played in to the last few miles being so difficult to complete.  Some that I can control and will do a better job of watching in the future and others that were outside my control.  One thing I can say for sure is that I really hope it is not windy the day of the marathon.  Running against the wind can really take a toll.

Today will pretty much finish off the Christmas holiday for me.  After working Christmas Eve, I got a couple of hours of sleep and then went down to mom & dads, then headed over to my cousin's place before coming home and getting some much needed sleep.  Today will be our full family Christmas party at my aunt's place. 

Well, I finished up Week #9 of my marathon training this morning with a 12 mile run/walk.  It took me right about 2 hours to complete the 12 miles, just keeps me on pace with where I want to be.  My legs really started feeling sore at about the 10 mile point, but I was able to finish stronger than I have the last couple long runs.  I think some of the soreness had to do with running in a 4 mile run yesterday instead of running my training run Wednesday and taking yesterday off.

This next week I'll be on vacation, so I'm going to have to really focus on keeping my training going.  I'll go online before I leave and make sure that I know of some areas in Williamsburg where I will be able to run this week.  Next Sunday (12/7) I'll be running in a 5 mile run in Randleman, NC, and the following week I'll be doing another 4 mile run in  Columbus.  Those are the last two races that I'm scheduled for until the marathon in Myrtle Beach in February. 

The milage is getting up there now.  12 miles is the furthest I have EVER run, which is quite a milestone for me.  The only thing I can say I've done that beats that would be when I walked a Marathon Volksmarch when I was in the Army and stationed in Germany.  That was over 20 years ago.

On to other things....this week was, of course, Thanksgiving week.  After running the 4 mile run yesterday I went down to mom&dad's for Thanksgiving dinner and watched some football.  Afterwards I went over to my cousins' place and had another round of Thanksgiving dinner there with them.  No problems with anything getting stuck or with being tempted to eat too much.  I enjoyed the meals and enjoyed the time with family.  I'll enjoy the next week getting out of town and being able to relax without worrying about work or anything else.

Well, I finished out week #6 of my marathon training with a 9 mile run/walk yesterday morning after I got off work.  It kind of kicked my butt and I felt much more tired  and sore after doing the 9 mile run than I did after running the 8 mile last week.  I think part of it had to do with running the 5K's last weekend and just not letting my legs rest the way I really should...plus the fact that I ran it after getting off work at 7am.  The last few times I've done my long run I had taken Thursday night off so that I could get some sleep the night before doing the long run.

After doing that I ran a 5K this morning.  It's the sorest I've felt running a 5K in a while, but I ran a 27:10, which is still a pretty good time for me.  My 5K times have really improved since I started my marathon training.  I was orginally trying to find some runs next weekend, but I think I'm going to scrap that idea and start sticking to the training program a little better.  I do want to try and do a 5K a couple of weeks before the marathon, if there are any out there...just to see how my time is.

I've still got a few other runs scheduled to do, and when I can I try to integrate that in to my training rather than do them in addition to my training.

I've got the following runs scheduled:

Buckeye Classic 10K tomorrow
Flying Feather 4 Miler on Thanksgiving
The Run to Victory 5 Miler on Dec. 7 in Randleman, NC
The Holiday Run 4 Miler on Dec. 14 at Sharon Woods Metro Park
Then the Myrtle Beach Marathon on Feb. 14.
The Commit to Be Fit 5K in Columbus on May 2.

I don't remember if I have mentioned this in any past posts...but there is a group of patients from Fresh Start Bariatrics that get together and do these runs.  They also do a lot of other activities, like biking, parasailing, zip lining and some other stuff.  I put together a website for this group, and if you're interested in getting involved in some activities, you can find some ideas at www.freshstartposse.com

Week #5 of my marathon training is finished and everything is going well.  I got up to 8 miles for my long run this week.  I pushed myself a little harder than expected though. 
After running 8 miles Friday morning, I went out and ran a 5K run Friday night, and then another 5K on Saturday night. 
Next weekend will be even harder.  I'll run 9 miles on Friday for training, then am scheduled for a 5K run on Saturday and a 10K run on Sunday.

After that the road races slow down a little bit, or they fit in to my training schedule a little better.

I've got the Flying Feather 4 Miler scheduled for Thanksgiving morning, a 5 Mile run scheduled in Randleman, NC in December, and the Holiday Run at Sharon Woods scheduled in the middle of December.  After that, my next scheduled run in the Myrtle Beach Marathon in February.

On another note, I went in for my two year appointment with Dr. Myers last week.  Everything looks good, all my lab work came back normal and in the "healthy" range. 

My schedule for next year didn't quite go as planned.  I was expecting to go to a day shift, but I couldn't get a day shift with decent days off, so I'm staying on nights, at least for the next six months....after that we'll see what happens.

I finished off my third week of marathon training yesterday with a 7 mile run.  I finished it in about 1:12, which is a little slower than the 10 min. miles I've been doing my long runs in, but that was by design.  I realized that I was going out a little faster than I should have been and needed to slow down a bit to not wear myself out too early.  That worked well and I felt really good as I approached the mid-way point of the run, planning on picking up the pace on the way back.  The problem was that I hit a pretty strong headwind on the way back, and instead of using my stored energy to pick up the pace, I was using it to fight the wind.  Still a faster time than I had expected to run though.  Not that I'm really worried about my time when it comes to my training runs, but it gives me a little bit of an indicator of what to expect in the next 17 weeks and on race day.

Instead of my typical run/walk training tomorrow I'll be running in the Columbus Marathon 5K.  It's supposed to be a chlly morning, so this will be a good chance for me to start getting used to training and running in the colder weather, and give me some idea of what additional running clothes I'm going to need as my training moves in to the colder months.

As for the Run to Vicotry run in December, I decided to go down to Randleman, NC for that run and will be running in the 5 mile run.  That actually fits perfectly in my training schedule without having to make any changes.  The only thing is that I have to drive back to Columbus as soon as I'm done with that run.

I will heading down to Cincinnati tomorrow to watch the Bengals-Steelers play.  This will be the first time all year that I've gone to a game, and I'm only planning to go to one other game this year, which will be the KC game in late December.  I had such hope for the Bengals a few years ago when they won the AFC North and went to the playoffs, but they seem to have gone back to the same old thing I've seen year after year and that gets really frustrating for someone who's been a fan for so long.

Week #2 of my marathon training went well.  I'm looking at the possibility of making some alterations to my training schedule so that I'll be ready to run a half-marathon on December 7th.   The "Run to Victory" half marathon and 5 mile run are being held in Randleman, NC that day, so if I can get the night off work and make the appropriate adjustments to my training schedule, I may try to do that.  If I can't make the change to my schedule, I may still go down there and do the 5 mile run that weekend.  The 5 mile run may even fit in to my marathon training schedule a little better, so we'll just have to see how that works out.

Yesterday was the Macy's/Fresh Start Bariatrics fall fashion show.  It went pretty well and there was a bigger turnout than I had expected.  Quite a few people came out to see it and some customers who just happened to be there shopping stopped by to watch also.  Amy Basista from the local NBC affiliate (WCMH4) was the MC.  Dr. Myers and Dr. Tell from Fresh Start Bariatrics both spoke.  You can really tell how much they both care for their patients and the work that they do when you listen to them speak.  If you know Dr. Myers you know that he typically wears a bow tie.  So...for the formal attire portion of the fashion show Dave and I made a slight change to our original outfits and wore red bow ties in honor of Dr. Myers.  As soon as I get some photos sent to me, they'll be posted here.

I went to New York and ran in the Tunnel to Towers Run on Sept. 28.  What an inspirational event to take part in!  For those that haven't heard the story behind this run...

Stephen Sillers was a fireman with the New York City Fire Dept. and worked his shift on 9/10/01.  He was heading out to meet his brother when he heard about the World Trade Center being hit on 9/11.  Sillers turned around on the Brooklyn Expressway to head back in to Manhattan, but was stopped at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, which had been closed down to all traffic heading in to Manhattan.  Sillers abandoned his truck, threw on 75 lbs. worth of gear and ran through the tunnel and all the way to the World Trade Center.  Unfortunately he died when the towers collapsed.

The Sillers family started the Stephen Sillers "Let Us Do Good" Childrens Foundation to help children who lose their parents.  The run retraces the steps of Stephen Sillers, starting on the Brooklyn side of the tunnel, running through the tunnel and then through the Battery Park Esplanade and ending at ground zero.  Over 15,000 people participated in the run, including 200 firefighters from the London Fire Brigade who fly over every year to participate.  Some of them ran the 5K run in their full turnout gear.  Stephen Sillers' wife ran wearing her husband's coat and one of his sons ran carrying an American flag.  It's a wonderful event, and one I hope to do every year.

I also started my training for the Myrtle Beach Marathon, which I'll be running on February 14.  Four of us from Fresh Start Bariatrics will be travelling to Myrtle Beach for the week prior to the Marathon.  Two will be running the 5K on February 13th.  One will be running the half marathon on the 14th and I'll be running the marathon on the 14th.  We were able to get a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom condo for the week leading up to the marathon.  It only cost us $365.00 for week, and split between four us, that made for an inexpensive vacation and "Fresh Start Posse" event. 

I finished my first week of a 20 week training program for the marathon.  I plan to do a run/walk program, running 5 minutes and walking 1 minute for the 26.2 miles.  My first "long run" was only a five mile run, running 3 minutes and walking 2 minutes.  For the 5 miles I averaged a 10 minute mile or better for all 5 miles, which was better than I expected.

Well, Labor Day officially ended my busiest running weekend since I started this new hobby.  On Thurday evening I ran in the Panerathon 5K in Upper Arlington, then Saturday ran in the Sweet Corn Festival 5K in Millersport, Sunday was the Marc Levison 5K run in Bexley and Monday was the Steelers 5K run in Pittsburgh.  I have to say that Pittsburgh has been my favorite one so far.  The finish to the race was through the tunnel on to the warning track at Heinz Field, ending at the 50 yard line.  Even though I'm not a Steelers fan, the atmosphere was terrific!!  They had the big screen on with video of everyone as they came through the tunnel and finished the race.  We also had some cheerleaders there for us at the finish line with Steph's mom, sister, brother-in-law, neice and nephew cheering as we came across the finish line.
The Fresh Start Posse may make that an annual run.

I've got two runs scheduled for this weekend...the "Faster than the Pastor" run in Pickerington and the Run for the Jug 5K at the Delaware County Fair.

Sept 13 is the "Game Day 5K" at Glacier Ridge Park in Dublin.
Sept 19 is the US Air Force Marathon Weekend 5K in Dayton
Sept 21 is the New Albany 10K Walking Classic
Sept 28 is the Tunnel to Towers run in New York City
Oct 4 is the Eagle Spirit 5 Mile Run in Grove City
Oct 5 is the Walk from Obesity at the Groveport Recreation Center
Oct 19 is the Columbus Marathon 5K
Oct 25 is the Great Pumpkin 5K in Grandview Heights
Nov 8 is the Healthy Bones 5K Classic in Upper Arlington
Nov 27 is the Flying Feather 4 Mile Run at Glacier Ridge Park in Dublin
Dec 14 is the Holiday Run 4 Miler at Sharon Woods Park in Columbus
Feb 14 is the Myrtle Beach Marathon
May 2 is the Commit to be Fit 5K in Columbus

So that makes about 74 miles of running/walking scheduled between now and May 2...not including my training for the marathon.  And...depending on how I feel after Myrtle Beach...I may look at doing the Columbus Marathon next year.