Week 11 - Friday

Rode from my house with Clark. Its was a pretty good ride now that I look back on it, but at points I felt very inadequate riding with Ironman himself Clark Davis. He claims his legs arent what they use to be, and I believe him. However his legs are still plenty strong. He stayed in the same high gear for pretty much the entire ride. Up some pretty nice long steady inclines. I am impressed I will say that. We did 32 miles. A ride that took us from my house to NC around a little loop then back to my house. Pretty neat to sit here 3 hours after 5:00 on Friday and think that I rode my bicycle to NC and back already this evening. We figured out we averaged 18.2 mph for the ride. So again at times I didnt feel like I was getting it very good, but it was a solid ride no doubt.

Week 11 - Tuesday / Wednesday

Tuesday - Rode probably about 30 miles, no way to know for sure. After probably 7-8 miles I charged up the hill on Emma Cud Road and never saw Eric and Steve again. I waited even back tracked some and never found them. Found out after the ride Eric got a flat at the bottom of the hill which was the hold up for them. I decided to go on. Rode what I would consider a very hilly ride at least in the middle 10-15 miles of the 30. Growing concerned with some knee pain in my right knee on the rides. It was sore all night and most of the next day. Feels like tendonitus.

Wednesday - Met at Trents for team running practice again. Legs werent fresh after the ride the day before. Stayed with Jacob and Bradley for probably 3 of the 4 1/2 miles that I ran. We took a break in the middle which I needed. Forgot to take my inhaler again and hills just kill me. Furthest I have run yet, this one was really slow but an accomplishment. No knee pain at all when running.

Week 10 - Thursday

Wednesday got washed out with rain, and the weekend was taken out by some relaxing time at the beach. So all I got in on Wednesday was a 20 mile ride. I would classify it as very hilly but I was amazed out how I felt at the end. 20 miles is no longer that big of a deal I can safely say that now.

Week 9 - Tuesday

Monday was Memorial Day so I am back at it today. Went to the Trent / the twins house and met up with basically most of my old college running teams. As a whole we probably have 200 lbs of extra weight we are carrying around. We are not nearly as fast, and seem to breathe a little differently. The shorts arent nearly as short either and the conversations end after about 7-10 minutes (at least from me) due to the lack of oxygen that there seems to be in the air in Spartanburg around the 5-6:00 time frame. Still seeing Trent, Jacob, Brandon, Bradley and myself take off today was a great site. Its a testament to good friends sticking together. I ran probably nearly 4 miles thats what I am going to call it. From Trents house to the top of the Cottonwood trail (I think thats what its called) back behind Spartan High. Ran to the back of the trail loop backon itself and back out to the normal entrance. Brandon and I ran together. Or should I say I followed him for most of the run. Decent pace I would say as fast as I have run anything else. Really wanted to stop throughout but pushed through to finish the run out. Walked another 1/2 mile or so as a cool down.

Week 8 Wednesday and Sunday

Wed. - I met up with Brandon and Bradley at Duncan Park and we were going to try to get in 30 from there on a route that I had put together on Mapmyride.com. This route was going to take us out the back of Duncan park, out through the country and over to Camp Croft. From there we were going to ride through the park come out the other side and on to the east side of the town and the Fernwood Glendale. There was only one problem that came from this. You cant ride straight through the Camp Croft and come out the other side. There are two seperate roads that go towards the middle of the park but they really come no where near connecting. Mapmyride.com (which runs on google maps) I guess assumes they connect. What happened was we had already climbed at least 1 pretty large hill within the first half of the ride. We take the turn onto this road that was blocked off to cars and go down a hill for a long time. Through several switchbacks and hairpin turns. At the bottom we climbed a monster hill to find the dead end.... Which means the monster hill we just came down we had to go back out of. Now at 20 miles into the ride and 2 large hills into the ride the legs really burned heading back up the switch back turns. Brandon and Bradley both were much better than I was on this hill and had to wait up for me at the top. I just have no climbing legs yet especially on hills where I have no momentum and I am required to get into my last gear. We worked our way back to the park. I ended up with 27 for the day. Brandon and Bradley rode from their house and was probably closer to 33. Good ride for a Wednesday.

Sunday - Went to early service with Beth before she had work. Got out on the bike at about 12:45 with Eric and Brandon with the hope to do a 39.25 mile out and back from my house to Beths parents house and back. We went out that way but missed a turn still coming in at 19.5 at her parents house. Basically followed Blackstock out to Country Club Rd where the Carolina Country Club is then over to the School for the Deaf and blind area where they live. From there Brandon suggested we take another way back. We went out past Mary Black Hospital and out past my old apartments out through the corn fields and worked our way back around the outskirts of the Boiling Springs area and back to my house. 42 miles was the final distance at 17 miles an hour for the average. Great ride! My best so far. I felt really strong through about 35 miles. Some fatigue set in those last few miles but I was alright. At one point we were really clicking it along with Eric pulling us for a long stretch probably around the 30 mile mark and that felt great. I think at this point Eric is a much better rider than Brandon and I. However I tend to be pretty good on the straights and the rolling hills. Brandon is tough on the hills. We make a good team the 3 of us. All fairly close I think.

End of the week - 3 miles running 69 miles riding. ( I like the riding miles, need to get another run in per week)

Week 8 Monday and Tuesday

I intended on going riding on Monday after work. When I got back to the house it looked pretty dark so I decided not to. Its a good thing. There came up a thunderstorm pretty quickly there after and the winds and rain were pretty incredible for 30 minutes or so. I did go out and play basketball for about 2 hours so I got a good workout in at the church.

Tuesday I met Bradley out at Miliken for a run. I would say that this was my best run so far. 3 miles in 22:15 without stopping once. Bradley really helped pull me along there in the middle where I would of potentially stopped had I been by myself. Within the last mile I really got my stride in rhythm like I hadnt since I started back. I felt like I was running in full stride instead of the 3/4 or so stride that is the norm for me right now. Its so much more effecient and just feels more comfortable. That was a great feeling to finish up like that.

Week 7 - Sunday

Tough day on the body but I felt really good about. It was about 88 degrees outside. I went to Blue Ridge Middle School in Greenville (which is 2 miles or so past Blue Ridge High School) and practiced soccer for an hour and a half out in the heat. Its the first soccer practice of the year so I found you definatly use different muscles in your legs. From there Brandon took my car home and I rode the bike back home. The route was 19.8 miles I added one little section to get over 20 for sure. It took a mile or so to get really into it but once I did I kept a pretty solid pace the entire time. The roads I was riding on were great for riding. I downed an incredible amount of water throughout the day due to the heat.

Week 7 Tues and Wed.

Tuesday - Ran 3 miles with Clark at Miliken. My legs finally were back from the long ride on Saturday. My body felt good, but again I left my inhaler at home. Clark said it sounded like I was trying to breathe through a mask. Just couldnt get a full breath of air at all. We were at a solid pace for what we did run though. I think he said our running time was in the 21:40's.

Wednesday - Rode 29 miles with Steve and Eric. Hit up some pretty nice size hills throughout. Felt great though. Could of gone a lot further. Really enjoying the biking thing right now.

Week 6 activities

I was back to getting on it this week. I didnt do quite as much as I wanted but 3 days isnt bad.

Monday - Ran 3 miles and did not have to stop once. Was dead beat tired at the end but finished it off. Ran the grass route at Miliken. Which always seems to take it out of my legs.

Tuesday - Got up with the intention of running 3 more miles in Inman prior to work. About 1/2 mile into it I knew I was in trouble. You see I get awful asthma this time of year, but I thought I was past that for this year. Obviously not. So I made it out a mile and then a mile back so a total of 2 on Tuesday.

Saturday - Got out on the bike with Steve and Eric with the intention of riding 50 miles with them. We ended up cutting it down to about 40 on the ride. That was probably a good thing, I have no doubt I could of done the full 50 but my legs were getting pretty fatigued the last 5 miles.

Weekly wrap up - 40 miles biking and 5 miles running.
Next week goal - 50 and 10.

Week 4 & 5

Ok I am back and back into trying to get into shape, but during weeks 4 and 5 I did nothing. I felt like I was about to get layed off and I was correct in that feeling as I was let go from Paetec on the last day of April. That was a bummer and it took me two weeks I think to digest it.

Week 3 Run 1

So after 3 days off my legs felt great tonight. I ran in the dark around Miliken. Gotta love a good night run now and then. My legs were fresh and had more juice than they have in any run thus far. This course is exactly 3.0 miles. I unofficially (by the car time getting in and out) ran it in 25 minutes. I did stop once right in the middle. For the first time not from fatigue but from weezing. There is a different kind of pollen out right now and it has effected my asthma more that before. A couple of nights over the weekend I woke up and took the inhaler in the middle of the night. So I gathered my breath and got back going again. If my legs will continue to feel like that and I can get the breathing down, I will be bumping these distances up further here pretty soon.

Week 2 run 3

I ran last Thursday another 3 miles. It felt really slow and like my legs were dead but I made it with only stopping once on the same course that I ran with Bradley and stopped 3 times earlier in the week. Heading to a bachelor party for the weekend so just 3 runs this week.

Week 2 - Day 2

Ran about 3 miles today, give or take a bit. It was 27 minutes of running with Bradley mostly on the grass at Miliken here in Spartanburg. We stopped 3 times briefly. My legs were pretty tired from running yesterday and playing ball for a while. Still I am happy with this today.

Week 2 - Day 1

It was a difficult day as my time at my company is no doubt coming to an end shortly. I only ate a half of a buttered biscuit all day going into my run at 5:30. I definitely felt that during the short run. It felt extremely slow even though I guess it wasnt awful. 15 minutes to do 2 miles. I cut it a bit shorter due to the fact that I was playing basketball at the church later in the evening. I am beat right now, but I expect to have a good week this week and run numerous times.

The First Two Days

Day 1 is Monday April 6. I went to the USC Upstate Wellness Center for a jog on the treadmill. For some reason my finger got stuck on the speed button a little too long. See my mind remembers when I was a fast runner.... I think the legs and lungs forgot about those times years ago. Nevertheless my workout went like this.

1st mile in 7:03. Not bad if I must say so myself, but my legs are screaming! And thank God I had headphones on so I couldnt hear my breathing. I took a short break with brisk walk for a tenth of a mile. Then I ran 4 tenths of a mile at 7:03 pace again, walked for another tenth. Then ran another 4 tenths at 7:03 pace, the walked another tenth. I checked my heart rate after that one I believe and it had surely come down some when I was walking but was still at 190. Thats really high, the kinda thing you only want during sprint workouts when running. I finished with a mile at like 8:40 pace I think. A good run, but 3 miles with breaks is all I had in me.

Day 2 was Thursday April 9. I didnt mean to take that many days off, but a long night on Tuesday night set me back a few days... I was suppose to run with Bradley at Miliken but he chickened out with the rain. I use to like a good run in the rain so I thought I would try it again tonight. Little did I know that rain was going to turn into a full blown thunderstorm. Still I really enjoyed it and I made it 3 miles exactly around Miliken without stopping at a decent pace. Its a starting place and I am happy with it.

The Beginning

A few weeks ago I stepped on the scales to notice I had hit an all time high in weight. 210. That coupled with the feeling that I am finally ready to get back into some kind of shape has led me to the journey I am starting now.

I still like to talk about my former running days. How I was tough and focused, but that is just not who I am anymore. I still think I am tough but what do I have that can prove that. I still think I am capable of being focused but I am not sure that I have had any real goals of any kind in some time. Thats why last week I sent out an email to a good number of my friends admitting that I need to get back in shape and giving an ultimate goal of November 13, 2010 at the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon and its half marathon race as the destination.

So the purpose of this blog is to keep myself motivated and on track while putting another means of accountability out there. I plan to update it as I progress maybe even daily.