October

It's hard to believe it's already almost October.

But the pumpkin in the back yard already looks like this...


And this was waiting on my desk this morning...


This year seems to have flown by. So many things going on, it's hard to keep up with everything sometimes. However, I love where things are headed, I love being able to see progress towards my goals, and generally speaking, I feel good about where I am. Sometimes even though you want time to speed up to get through the bad spots, you still have to slow things down in order to enjoy the good things and savor those moments before they too have passed you by.

The Countdown - 19 Days

It's getting closer. Only 19 days and 52 miles of training left.

I completed my final long training run yesterday, another 20 miles. It was not quite as good as I had hoped, but it was still a significant improvement over my last 20 mile run. Plus, I am now confident that I will be able to reach the goal that I had set.

The other great thing about that run is the fact that it was the last long run before race day. For the next 19 days, I will not have to subject my legs to that kind of distance. My long weekend runs are to be less than 10 miles, so I should be able to handle those and actually let my legs recover a bit before killing them one last time.

I'll keep you posted.

The Course

Well, there it is. At first glance, the first thing that pops into my head is "Wow, that looks like a long way"! Then, after starting to actually try to get a better understanding of the course, I started to focus on this section:



Wow, if I'm not mistaken, that looks like about a two mile long hill starting just two miles into the course, and it just keeps getting steeper and steeper until you get to the top. This is definitely going to be interesting. On the bright side, it looks like once you get to about mile 14 or so, it is mostly downhill from there.

On another positive note, I found out last night that I will have someone there to cheer me on. Lindsey will be coming to Des Moines to give me some support during this endeavor. It really means a lot to me that she would go so far out of her way in order to support me on this. It's just over three weeks away now, and I am really beginning to get excited and looking forward to it!

Zorinsky

I am beginning to get way too familiar with this place. However, I have to admit, adding the hot air balloon floating just above the lake was a nice addition to the already scenic view.

My final long run is scheduled for this weekend, and the plan is to do three full laps around the lake. That will be about 21.5 miles. I'm just hoping that the weather holds out and I can complete all three laps like I want to.

This past weekend did not go so well, and I only completed 10 miles of the 20 that I had planned, so it will really help my confidence if I can complete the full 21.5. There were reasons beyond health and physical ability that prevented me from doing all 20 last weekend, so it's not that I don't think I can do it. I just feel that I could really use the confidence boost from making the whole thing as planned.

I'll keep you posted and let you know how it goes.

Blogging

What's the purpose?

Well, the answer to that question can be many different things. Different people choose to blog for different reasons. Some do it to create awareness for a cause such as a disease, or a company they feel they have been wronged by, or to share their enthusiasm for a particular sporting team. However, the majority of the millions of blogs that are written on a daily basis are simply people (including myself) wanting to share some part of their lives with family and friends.

Anyone that goes and reads blogs on a regular basis should keep this in mind. No matter why the blog was written, chances are, it was written with a specific audience in mind. To that end, the reader needs to be aware of the intended audience.

I am not saying people can not read anything where they are not the intended audience. It is after all, posted on the internet for the world to see, and each and every blogger has the right and ability to limit their readers if they really want to do so. However, most bloggers don't want to do that. The reason for blogging in the first place is to have your opinions heard, and that can't happen too well when you are purposely limiting the number of potential readers.

Knowing and being conscious of the intended audience will help you, the reader, to be able to place the proper perspective on what is being said. For example, if a blogger is wanting to vent frustrations, chances are they will do so without pointing fingers and putting names, companies, or anything else directing specifically towards anyone. To the contrary, bloggers aiming to discredit a specific company, doctor, product, or whatever the case may be, will almost always be very direct and specific about the subject and cause of their frustrations. Please keep in mind, we are talking about the internet here, and there are millions of blogs and posts, so of course there are exceptions.

Anyway, I guess the bottom line is just that. It is the internet, and there is a little of everything out there. The public blogsphere is primarily made up of people simply wanting to share and get things off their chest. It is not a source for news or gossip. There is a reason for the saying "don't believe everything you read online". The blogging world is made up of people's opinions, nothing more.

I apologize for the long post. Have a good day, and happy blogging to all!

Andrew's Birthday

Okay, I wasn't there for this. It was a few weeks ago, but I just got it off of the camera and thought I would share.



He had a party at the park with a few of his friends.



Andrew with his girlfriend. She is a couple years older than him so she does all the driving. I don't think he minds at all. However, she is a senior this year, so not sure where or how things will go next year.

The Countdown - 26 Days

Well, it's getting closer, only 92 miles of training left prior to the big day. Fortunately, that only includes one more long run, and I'm supposed to do that this coming weekend. From that point on, its all just shorter runs to maintain. I haven't exactly been doing too well on my training recently though. However, I still think I will do okay when the day finally arrives.

I even got a new headset to take with me on my runs...


I tried it out over the weekend on a ten mile run, and it was kinda nice. No more wires to mess with and yet it is still just as light weight as what I was using before. Now if only I can find my iron-man watch that I seem to have misplaced somewhere, I think I have everything I need.

Running Alone

Oh well... I guess my friend won't be joining me for the marathon after all. It's probably a good thing anyway. I've done all my training on my own, so I might be better off this way. I can focus on running my race at my pace without thinking about anyone else.

I cut a couple miles off of what I was scheduled to run yesterday, but I don't think it should hurt anything. This Saturday is supposed to be a 20 mile run though, so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully I can stay healthy for the next few weeks and be able to complete everything as planned. I'll keep you posted.

The Countdown

Only 33 days left to race day, and according to the schedule I have outlined to get ready, 130 miles of running to do.

Blah, I'm not so sure I should have added that up. That is a lot of miles to complete between now and then. Oh well, I'm sure it will go by faster than I want it to. Plus, most of the miles will be in the next couple weeks. After that, I get to start reducing the miles in order be rested and ready for race day.

Another exciting piece is the fact that I might actually have someone to run with (for at least part of it anyway). An old friend of mine from high school is thinking of running this year. She has run the Des Moines marathon in the past, loved the course and the spectators, and said that she might be up for doing it again this year. The only thing is, she has completed several marathons and there is no way I could keep up with her. However, it would still be fun to see her again anyway. I'll keep you posted as it gets closer and the countdown continues.

A Great Weekend

It was nothing special. However, at the same time I think it was one of the best weekends I've had in awhile.

On Saturday I went for my second long run. I only added one mile to my previous distance, making for a total of 19 miles. However, at the same time I also reduced my time considerably. My leg was really bothering me towards the end, and that concerned my for a bit. It was the same calf muscle that I tore last summer and had to stop running for awhile. Therefore, you can understand why it was a bit concerning when it started hurting at the end of my run. It continued to bother me for the rest of the day, but I was still pleased with my performance that morning. Saturday ended with a nice dinner out at Biaggi's. Dinner was great and so was the company. It was a nice relaxing way to end a quiet but tiring day.

Sunday morning I slept in for awhile, but when I did get up, my leg was feeling pretty good. The day was nothing overly eventful. I did some minor cleaning in the morning, and then worked on some paperwork that I need to finish. After that, there was more of nothing special. Again, although it was not truly eventful, it was relaxing and very enjoyable.

The evening consisted of making dinner and spending some more quiet time at home. Dinner actually turned out pretty good this time and Lindsey and I were able to enjoy a nice quiet meal with just the two of us.

Like I said, nothing special about the weekend overall. However, at the same time it was a great weekend and I hope to have many more like it.

Best Buds

My little ones at the park today.



They are such a pair. It is so cute when they are actually getting along. Unfortunately, they are the typical siblings and are usually driving each other crazy. However, it is nice to see those moments when they are playing happily together.

Pirates

Yep, those are my oldest two. Andrew on the left, and Johnathan with his (ex) girlfriend on the right. They all dressed up for pirate day at school one day. It's kinda scary how fast they grow up some times.

Tree House

I had posted about the tree house before, and even shared some pictures of it. However, I also mentioned at the end of the post that storms had played havoc with it and the solid walls were simply no match for the strong winds that seem to concentrate in the back yard.

So, Johnathan and Andrew helped take down the old walls, used some of those parts to create a rock climbing wall, added a rope ladder to the back, and added four corner support beams set in concrete.

This left me once again with a raised platform on which to build some walls to keep the little ones safe. However, this time we decided on some open railings that would not catch the wind. It looks pretty simple, but it took me about a day and a half (and a nice sunburn) to get everything cut and assembled.

The little ones are pretty happy with the results though, and I don't think any of the storms will be tearing this one down.

A Long Run

My starting point...


Up to this point, I had been feeling pretty good. However, I still had to make it back to the car, so I decided it was time to turn around and attempt the journey back.


The path runs along the lake, so I got to see everyone having a great time out enjoying the beautiful weather drinking in the sun while I was starting to feel the effects of not having any liquid with me.


Okay... at this point, I decided it was a good day to listen to the proverbial saying "stop and smell the flowers". There was a butterfly garden along the path, so it was the perfect location to stop and do just that.


There were lots of flowers to choose from, but none of them looked quite as good as the water fountain that was there too. After a nice break and some replenishment of bodily fluids, I was able to get back on the path and make it back to the car.

All in all, I am happy that I was able to complete the 18 mile journey. However, I was a bit disappointed with how long it took. This was my first really long run though, and hopefully I will be better prepared for future ones, and things will go a little smoother.

Registered and Ready

For the Des Moines Marathon that is.

Well, registered anyway, and at a cost of $92 and the fact that they don't allow any refunds, I'm working on the 'ready' part. I have a whole five weeks left to get where I need to be. Actually, now that I am taking a different approach and simply wanting to have fun with it, I don't think it will be too much of a problem. Although, I will feel better about things once I can get a couple of long runs in. I need to get a better idea of what to expect when trying to run a full 26.2. To date, I have never gone past the 10 mile point, so it could be a little interesting. I guess we'll find out though. I plan on trying to get at least 16 in on this Saturday providing the weather is reasonably decent.

That's another thing that has me slightly concerned at this point... the weather. What if it comes down to race day, and it is a morning like today, all rainy and nasty? Will I be prepared and ready to attempt a full marathon in the rain? Hopefully, that is a question that will not need to be answered, and the conditions will be perfect. Hey, one can hope.

Anyway, the commitment has been made. I have my schedule of what I need to do over the next five weeks to be ready for the event. Now, all I have to do is follow through and have some fun on the way.