Running Through Life

This morning I took a drive through the country to the Forest Glen Nature Preserve. The farmers were cultivating fields, the fog was just starting to burn off and the ducks were busy munching on grasshoppers. It was a beautiful Saturday morning. The deer were meandering across the grassy knolls.

I was at Forest Glen for a practice run of their 5 mile trail race. I met the race director and his friend (another Mike), a Brian (training for Chicago and from my alma mater), and a new runner, Sue. Brian and Mike will both be doing the 50k (yes, 31 miles on hills. Are these people freakin nuts?). The RD went slow for me. This is a tough course. A Very Hilly course. A crazy hilly course.the screen shots are from my Garmin uploaded to RunningAhead.

The faint line on right is the Illinois state line

Crazy elevation - 2411 feet of ascent

It is beautiful terrain even while gasping for each ragged breath. This race is in 3 weeks. I hope to be ready.

Head up, eyes on the horizon.
Stolen from an article I read in Men's Health magazine about Aaron Rodgers. A great article about possibly the best quarterback in the NFL. Read it here. (and I am not a Packer fan)

But let us think about those six words...about that small statement.
            Head up - simple enough. Keep your head up to see where you are going. Keep your head up to keep your body in better alignment. Keep your head up to stay positive about yourself and life.
                               Eyes on the horizon
Eyes forward, on the horizon to give you a sense of direction, to keep you moving forward, helping stay positive in seeing your goal and reaching it. 


Reading that article - it was about fitness, about complete body fitness. Not about lifting heavy weights. But more about keeping your head, your eyes, your mind on the goal. Being able to multi-task to complete your objective. To complete your goals. 


It made me think a little about myself, of who I am, of how I got here and where I want to go. While I will not make a diary entry here, I am here because of all the decisions I have made in the past. Decisions that were not always with my head up or eyes on the horizon. Some of those were made with very cloudy eyes or a very fogged up brain with my head hanging low. Decisions that I had to live with, decisions that shaped me into who I am. 

I have always tried to be good to people. I think VGFatBoy and JoannaRuns will attest that I try to be good. And I believe I am good. I have my eyes on the horizon. Sometimes it takes the people around me to lift my chin and point my eyes back in the correct direction, but that is why they are my friends. 

To all of you reading this, head up, eyes on the horizon. I hope mine will always be there with help from you.

And keep reading in the near future to catch a glimpse of my horizon. It is breathtaking.

My last goat. Gone. I have no more. I am not sad. It is a relief, a weight off my shoulders, a blessing in disguise. Not that they were evil varmints out to ruin my life, eat anything with color on it, trample the garden, destroy fences and cause property damage. No they were none of that. Ha!

Now I have 6 acres of free and uncluttered pasture. What should I fill it with now? What should the next, great farming adventure be? I wait with breath abated your wisdom on my future. What say you!!!!

On that note, the acupuncture last night was pretty damn awesome. Thank you Second Wind Running Club for your speaker series. I have plantar fasciitis in both feet but for the demo he worked on one. It did relax. It is still there. The knot is still there, but the tension is lessened. One foot did not hurt this morning when I got out of bed. I am considering going back and having more done. He is located in Urbana. See here.

Running schedule - I forgot that I had signed up for the Forest Glen 5 mile trail run (10.20) which makes 3 possible marathons out of the question (though I could have only chosen one). Sorry Joanna. So that probably leaves only the St. Jude marathon as a possibility this year. Smaller runs - lots of them - I am looking at:
Wild Wilderness 7.45m - 9.30
Wooly Worm 5k - 10.6 (against an 11 yo and clocked a low 30 already)
Forest Glen 5m - 10.20
Allerton 5.5m - 10.28
Run for the Library 5k - 11.17

Wow, maybe I should have entitled this post 'Lots o' Links'.

That's it. Peace out.

I saw.
I came.
I conquered.

Oh, you want more detail? Well, it all began way back when...

This weekend was a great time in Chicago. Drove up, got parked (20 minutes to drive .2 miles) and then proceeded to head out. I really wanted to get into the Redhead Piano Bar, but the lines were about a 30 minute wait and I was thirsty.

So the Excalibur was next - wrong!!! Way under dressed. The women were dressed in skimpy outfits and high heels spikes. I could have gotten hurt.

Stout's - which kind of looked like a local bar had a line around the corner. So that left the Hard Rock Cafe. It was large. It had bands playing. The music was good and the beer was cold.

I listened to a Band Called Catch, listen to there music here and to Tree ( I can't find anything about them). Both were good.

Saturday was the Cards/Cubs game. Cardinals let one slip away. But Wrigley is a nice place to watch a game. Just don't expect any pulled pork sandwiches.
The pre-game festivities were awesome as well as John Barleycorn's. Where there was an abundance of free food and beer. Lots of beer. Lots of orange Illini t-shirts.

That evening was Dark Knight Rises at the Navy Pier IMAX. What a great way to watch a movie. 12,000 watts of sound and Cat-woman bigger than any cat I ever seen.

Sunday was a drive to LaSalle to meet Leia (a Siberian Huskey) who now lives with Luke - yes, Luke and Leia - 2 dogs. Awesome.

Then home to Senator's for some pizza, beer and hot peppers. Damn that Ali.

mel·an·chol·y/ˈmelənˌkälē/Noun:        A deep, pensive, and long-lasting sadness.


I am not sure if that is the right feeling or not. While not exactly sad, I have had a gut feeling that not all is well. I am not sure why. But this weekend is very promising. A weekend of fun and excellent company. And maybe some fireworks. 

Too Much Time On My Hands

Just a little, but not really. I had yesterday afternoon off. Sorta. I sat. In a courthouse. All afternoon. And did nothing. Listened to a strange court case. Why can't people just use some common sense and there would have been no issue.

Dinner was awesome and a nice surprise. Papa Del's pizza. Yum Yum in my tummy. Thank you.

Today is Hump Day - not sure about the movie though.

Got up early, rolled over and went back to bed.

Running so far - 0 miles. Oh well, it will start. Time to order a new belt for my treadmill and attempt it. Let's see if Nordic Track can help me. Be right back.......
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back. Looks like I need the exact model number and not the model name. Jeesh!!!

I have to give my boat back today. Well the one that has been parked in my yard for most of a week. It was nice to wake up, go out on deck and stare lovingly at it.

Maybe tomorrow will be a more interesting blog. This one sucks.

Well, the weekend is over.
Phew!!! As some would say after smelling beer burps.

It was hot. It was really hot. I got sun burnt. I got wind burnt. But it was a good time on the lake Saturday.
A really good. I wakeboarded, I tubed, I just rode in the boat and looked good. :)

Then the trouble started. The boat wouldn't run right. It coughed. It sputtered. It died. Not good. I can't swim. But we limped back and believe it is just a bad fuel filter. Find out tonight when I replace it.

Oh, and did I mention that the boat wouldn't start in the morning. I almost forgot. The battery needed replaced. Simple.

And Sunday morning pleasant - not really. Burned up the plug for the RV. I need to replace that tonight so I can return the RV.

So tonight is busy, busy, busy.

Hoping to get some running in this week to get started again. Still thinking about what races to run and what marathon might be good to train for. Maybe people should vote for what I run? Then I can set a time goal, people can choose their own and see who is closet.

Good idea or not?

And the shoes from yesterday are wrong. I have Brooks Glycerin 9 pictured below.

-the beginning of the end

I think it is time to start again. Start blogging, start reading blogs, start running, start working on my house, my yard. Just start.

It has been a good few months. Thanks to those that have made it so.

So, why did I leave?

Injury, personal issues, mental issues. But all those now seem to be resolved. My neck seems 99% healthy, my belly has grown to twice it's size since Sept 2011, my shoe size has gone up another size, my skin has tanned and my hands and fingers are all cut and bruised and all but one goat are gone (and he will be soon).

After getting injured and not being able to run St. Jude's or Disney I was really despondent for awhile. I tried running on New Year's Day and made it the one mile that I tried. Nothing hurt, and for 2 months afterwards I ran.

Then I got mental.
Crazy.
Not normal - well maybe crazy is normal in this mixed up world.

So I worked on getting uncrazy. It took time. Beer. Friends. But eventually, I think I have it under control. A little.

I ran. Once. A race. 5 miles. Buffalo Trace. I was 22nd in my age group. People were proud of me. Next year I get to run with the 50 year old kids. They will still kick my ass.

I bought new shoes. Bright green ones. (not sure these are the exact ones, but close)

Too bad they did not come in yellow. It was also the biggest Dick's store I have ever been in. And I ate at Joe's. I haven't worn the shoes to run in since buying them. But they appear to be broken in now from the yard work.

I have been camping a few times, been to a few ball games (Go CARDS!!!), learned how to stand up on a wake board (in water while being pulled by a boat). On that note, I got rid of the boat  had been storing fro a year.

I hired a new employee. I have more reporting/documentation to do. Yuck!!! :)

Now to find a marathon to train for. Or maybe just start running and see what happens. St. Jude's would be an option, Goofy Challenge would be nice, St. Louis RnR would be fun, Indianapolis would be close and Wisconsin Dells (and they give out some swag)  if I wanted to go north.











Or shorter runs would be easier to complete and train for - Villa Grove Ag Days 5k, Mahomet half marathon and 5k, Staci's 5k, Shoreline Classic 15k/5k, Wild Wilderness 7.45m, Wooly Worm 5k,  Forest Glen Trail run (which I am signed up for the 5 mile race), Allerton Park Trail 5.5m, 2012 Run for the Library.

A lot of running could be done -
if I was in shape
if I was motivated
if I wasn't overweight
if my beer drinking wasn't in the way
if I could see my feet
if I could ever finish this list

Well, stay tuned and let's see what happens, see who chides me, berates me, taunts me, dares me to strap on a pair and get going.

Let's get READY to RUUMMMBLE!!!!!!


- the beginning of the end