Its been a while but my freep marathon experince.

So a lot has happened since last time I made a post. Most recently Chrissy (my wife) ran a half marathon and finish 15 minutes faster than she thought she would. John ran his first full marathon and finish strong. And my brother in Robbie finished his second full marathon with a few complications. As for me I was stuck on the side lines it was tough. I got up early on race day to drive John. After the start of the race I grabbed my bike and headed to the tunnel where I was able to cheer on John and Robbie. After that I started making my way to belle isle for the first time. As I stood at the bottom of the bridge waiting for Robbie we notice that it was taking a long time and I decide to go look for him. I found him walking about 1.5 back this was the beginning of the end for him. Let’s take it back 2 day to Friday Robbie woke up in the middle of the night violently ill, he is a medical professional and caught something a work. Fast forward to Jefferson ave on marathon Sunday. I find Robbie walking he tells me he is freezing cold and have stomach issues first we worked on the stomach I got him some pretzels then a long sleeve shirt to try to warm up. Then left the rest to my sister and dad. I was on my way back downtown for the start of the U.S. only half marathon which Chrissy was running. I found her in the sea of people she was surprisingly calm being it was her first half marathon and only her third race ever. After the start I headed back to Belle Isle this time I took the river walk hoping to see John and lucky me I did he was looking strong although he said he was cramping up I was not too worried he was a about mile 23.5 he was almost there. Once I got back to Belle Isle the was the part that found most rewarding. Last year when I ran the full I was way back in the pack and it got lonely the people that stayed on the course cheering for us slow pokes are amazing. After I finished I said that if I do not run next year I will be on that course helping the people get it done and I was. I was there hooting and hollering working my but off for a smile try to get runners out of that low place. After a while I saw Chrissy coming she what with the 2:30 pace group and still had a smile on her face after 6 miles and then at 9 miles I was so excited to see this. After this I headed to the finish where I found John happy to be finished and content with his time. Then Chrissy crossed the finish line in 2:31 a great time for her first half. I was prepared for success I grabbed my backpack pulled out a beer for john and Minnie bottle of wine for Chrissy. I was so proud of her and I had faith when she did not. A lot of time I find it more rewarding getting someone else to their goal thank when I reach my goals.

 

My latest goal

So I have been running regularly again and have been able to run new places and with new people and it has been a lot of fun. May latest goal started last Saturday Decmeber 1 I was running with John and Eric we parked in eastern market and ran downtown Detroit it was a great route and great company. Then on Sunday John and I ran again the weather was too nice to pass up a run. Then I thought to myself well I might as well make a streak out of this so he I sit on day 5 of my December run streak I am excited to try to finish out this year and maybe carry this out further. And hopefully I will update my progress a little more often.

 

Second time is the charm maybe???

 Monday I went to PT did my warm up got stretched out and then my leg exercises. My therapist was happy about the result of my first run and told me to continue. So last nice when I got home I suited up if you could call it that it was 94* when I went for my run. I started out slow again I was feeling great even with the heat. I ran 4.2 miles map I am so excited to be out running again. I did a little post run stretching and then showered. As the night progressed I started to tighten up and my hip was starting to bother me. I woke up this morning and was a little uncomfortable I have been trying to keep moving and trying to do a little stretching which is a little tough at work. Today I am planning to swim as we are excepting record breaking heat the forecast is calling for 100*.

 On a side note I found this old bike frame in my parents garage and I plan to build it up in to a 1×7 or 1×9 touring bike. I would like this to be a fall winter project so we’ll see what happens with it.

 

I got to do it again!!!!

I got the all clear to run again!!! Friday I went for a run it was like a party I met up with John and we went for a 4 mile run. This was the route that we took  map  It was slow goings at first the average pace was 12 min mile that includes a total of 10 mins walking. It felt good I was a little sore and the IT’s and the hip flexor tightened up but with stretching and rest it went away. I have PT today again and I will be looking for the ok to continue running. I plan to take it slow and I am not sure that I will be running any races this year I still have hope for the half in Detroit but not much else.

 Sunday I got up and ran a few errands and then I got the bike out guess what it was hot again. I mixed up some heed so that I would fare better than last Sunday. I went out and planned to ride 20 to 30 and I got the 20 that I planned. I got about 10 miles thought to myself those clouds look dark but it’s not going to rain well I was wrong.  On my way home the sky opened up on me part of me was like this is awesome I can cool down, the other part of me was thinking these car have not slowed down one bit. All in all I had a good ride and my average pace was 15.5. Here is a map of my ride map.

 

Alterative training continues (delayed and short)

Alterative training continues

Well my back of the pack running career is still on hold. My swimming and riding is on the forefront. I have been riding a few days a week and I have been having fun last week I did a night ride. Got the lights out charged them up and rolled. I can’t tell you the last time I had that much fun on a bike. It really made me feel like a kid again. Saturday I went out for a ride plan was 30 miles but I cut it short at 25, the heat climbed quickly and I was ill prepared. The ride started around 8:30 and the temp was 81* I did not eat a pre ride meal I just grabbed 2 water bottles and went. As I got to mile 18-19 I was really feeling as if I had nothing left in the tank the humidity was high and I had been keeping a pace of 16.5 mph. I stopped at a store and got a Gatorade and continued my way home. By time I got home the temp was 91* and very humid. I was bummed that I chopped 5 miles off but I’ll make those up down the road.

Swimming has been going well although sometimes I feel that I am not seeing any improvement. I feel like my times are always  within 1-2 mins and I cannot tell if my endurance is going up or not. This is becoming frustrating to me I am like anyone else I want to see results.

 

Still riding the pine pony

Well my name is still on the list what list the IR list, and I am not too happy about this time is ticking away and I am on the side lines. PT has been going well and I am learning that I need to do a ton of muscle development. I will find out if I can run again on July 11^th which I feel is a like time away. In the mean time I have continued to bike and swim. The last for days have been full of back to backs. Thursday and Friday I swam 1000m and Saturday and Sunday I rode almost 20 miles each day.

 The break down

 Thursday’s swim was good for the first time I linked 20 laps together and finished the 1000 in 25:25 which is right in the time window I have been in. I have also been trying to work on my form a little bit to become more efficient which will lead to faster times and longer distances my goal is to be able to swim 1 mile= 64 lap.

 Friday’s swim now this one was much harder this is the first time I have swam back to back in a long time if ever. I could really feel the fatigue in my arms. This was a very self fulfilling swim for many reasons. 1) I swam 12 laps in a row freestyle. 2) I met a fellow swimmer and a he paid me several  complements. 3) It was a back to back swim I was tired and I got through it and it felt good. 4) I finished in 25:16 faster  than the day before.

 Saturday’s bike ride, I set my alarm for 6 am and when it went off I decided that there was no way I was getting up. So I woke around 8 and was on the road by 8:30. I had some excite meant and defeat in the first 2 miles. I was cruise along I turn off my street on to lake shore and I could see 2 roadie on the street behind me. About a half a mile later they passed me so I step on the gas figuring I would hook up with them and let them pull me.  Well they were going faster than I though  and I went from 17mph to 23mph and could not get them. The rest of the ride was good. After 14 miles I met up with John who was running 9 miles for his weekend long run. Once I found him I stayed with him for the rest of my ride and his run 5 miles.

 Sunday’s ride was later in the day I think I went out around 7pm it was hotter than I thought and the humidity was nasty I felt like I was chewing on the air. My intentions were to 20 or more miles. I got 10 miles through my ride and was feeling sick I really thought I was going to lose my cookies  but I held it together by slowing down and getting in to a breathing pattern. By time I got home I was feeling better.

 Sunday I also tried yoga for the first time. Wow that shit hard I only made to through 10 mins of a 20 min video. This is something I am going to try to keep doing. Yoga interest me now more than ever just because the things they were doing right now my body does not do and the lady on the video made it look so easy. As I progress in this I will try to explain if I am noticing a change.

 This week is forecasted to be a hot one with temps in the mid 90, and the 4^th of July is Wednesday.  So I am not real sure what my work out schedule will look like. But I do have to say there is a level of relief and ease that I am not on a actual training plan. Every time I got out to ride my bike or swim I am doing it cause I want to not cause I have to which makes it that much more enjoyable.

 

Modern Arnis

So for the last 4 months I have been training in a form of martial arts called Modern Arnis. I go once a week ( I would go everyday if I could) and I’m intrigued more and more every class. I have also attended 2 seminars and 1 camp. The basis of this is stick fighting and have a counter move for every move your opponent  makes. My instructor is Master Chuck Gauss He is one of 7 masters of Tapi Tapi in the world. His accomplishment of mastering the art aside he is a incredible teacher he has a way of making things easy. On June 23 I went to 1 day of a 4 day camp do to work I was not able to attend all 4 days. At this camp 3 of the 7 Master we there.  I learn a incredible amount of information I am currently trying to retain as much as possible. 2 of the high lights of this 13 hour day were the knife fighting and the flashlight defense. The knife fighting section was taught by Master Ken Smith from Illinois.  Prior to this I had no idea about knife defense techniques I was in shock of how fun this was to practice and I plan to continue to search for more info and more training.

 

The flashlight defense was taught by Master Gauss and this was my favorite part of the day. Master Gauss show us techniques to use the light to get our opponents in arm bars, how to use the light in a center lock, and how to use a tactical light as a weapon. Tactical meaning it has a serrated top and bottom see picture.

 

 

I linked the wiki page below check it out. Also check out the YouTube channel that is linked.

Modern Arnis Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Arnis

Modern Arnis YouTube videos http://www.youtube.com/user/MasterChuckGauss

 

Physical therapy

So I started PT on Monday in a effort to get me back on the road and running. The clock is ticking on my marathon training I should be in my second week of training and I have not ran in 8 days. My dreams of running the Detroit  marathon this year are slowly fading. But Betsy my PT tells me I should be running again soon as long as I follow her instructions. In the interim I have gotten back in the pool and I have been swimming every other day and enjoying it. Also my bike has been getting more attention. My goal is to get my hip fixed and still be able to train I will find another marathon to run. I think I will prepare for Detroit as if it I am running the half. And run the half rather than the full being that you cannot switch races and I have already paid for the full looks like I will be taking take a DNF at the full.

I am just starting to come to terms with this so I am currently in search of a new goal. I am think a epic bike ride could be it not sure. There also a 50k that I have been wanting to attempt. I feel like so much of the last 18 months has been spent focused on running goals I am not real sure what to do.

 

And it begins!!!

Welcome to my half ass attempt at blogging I am going to head a few things off now. My grammar sucks and if you have a problem with that go read someone else blog. If you have a issue with what I have to say or have a different opinion on something than I do this is not a debate go read someone else blog. That being said if you made it through the first 3 sentence I thank you and welcome. I will try to make this as fun a possible for everyone.