September 2009

September is kind of a big month for me.  If there were two months that stand out as influential moments in my life, September is one of them.  January is the other.  But the reason September stands out is I had some really big moments in my life; moved across country, married my love of my life +Lori Lambert , and started my weight loss journey with +Weight Watchers last year.  So I will probably talk about each one of these individually because they mean so much to me.  But the first and most important one I will write about this morning.  Without this crazy event in my life, none of the other great things in my life would of happened.

2009 was a crazy year for me.  My life changed dramatically.  My parents divorced after 32 years, the economy fell apart (In Michigan it was effected extremely at the time), and I had no plans of what I was going to do after I finished LISC- AmeriCorps (Happy 20th Anniversary today by the way).  The whole year was pretty painful for me.  I didn't which side was up or down.  I knew I had to find a job outside the state so i decided on Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.  I applied for a bunch of jobs.  I had two different jobs call me for interviews.  The first one that called, I booked a flight and went down.  I didn't know what I was doing, where I was going, or where I really was.  I flew to Raleigh and drove this endless drive to Hertford (Which I thought was the end of the world).  I got hired and had to start in September.

My last month in Michigan was difficult.  I was living in my parents house while they were trying to sell it.  The Realtor was a complete Bitch and both my parents were fighting over why the house wouldn't sell (It was clearly the economy).  I was blamed for a dirty house and would get calls from both my parents since they couldn't communicate CLEARLY.  If you ever want to be in the worst position you could for your family, go live with your parents while they are divorcing.  It only made me stronger though.  I also knew that September would be rolling around and I would have to leave my childhood home forever, my friends, my hometown and all the great memories I had.  I also realized i was going to be moving 14 hours away from everything I knew.  I also was letting go of the last good memories I had of my family complete (I always thought it was so hard to leave, especially leaving my big brother since he had a young daughter without any of his family around).  It's probably one of the weirdest things to ever do being the last person to say good bye to your house.  It was really eerie walking the rooms remembering when we first looked at the house when I was 13 and picking the bedroom in the basement.  That house I had a lot of firsts.  More then I can even share publicly.  But most of all I grew up in that house.  I had my graduation parties (HS to Grad School), prom, homecoming, first GF, everything).

Another tough part in life is knowing when things change and seeing who is there to help.  I learned real quick who were my real friends and family were.  Nobody in my family helped me move.  It was pretty disappointing since I was always there for my family to help them.  But at least I had some really good friends who helped me pack dishes, the u-haul, my car, everything.  I literally packed everything I had which included snow skis, shit my parents left behind and all kinds of things.  I also had some really good friends to enjoy my last week of life in Michigan.  I got to go to one more Tigers game, enjoyed my last night out with friends, and I spent some time with my brother and niece.

Nobody can ever understand what it is really like to drop everything you know for something completely foreign without any assistance or support.  I remember the morning I left and it was really terrible.  I remember one of my close friends, +Nicole Klepadlo made me a CD full of Ryan Adams.  I loved the CD but it was terribly depressing for my drive out of the D.  LOL.  It was so sad leaving my hometown, pulling out of my subdivision, driving past my high school, the D, and crossing the border to Ohio.  Nobody can really tell you how that is and I don't know if I am even verbalizing how had it was.  But it was.  But I had nothing left in Michigan.  I only had a clean slate for my future.  I had a job that I wanted really bad (Best thing you can have) and I had nothing to stop me from starting a new life.

Now, I can probably spend about twenty hours typing up the whole story from that day until now but it is really pointless.  I had a lot of down days, wanting to just pack up and go back home but thee was a day where my life completely changed.  When I began to make friends, enjoy where I lived, adventuring the region, and beginning a new life.  If I could recommend anything to any young adult, it is to move far away from your original surroundings.  You can come back but the emotional and mental strength you get that from that makes you unbeatable.  It's funny because the first 2 years of my life down here felt like an eternity but when something great happens life moves so fast.  

So today I am very thankful for what I have now.  Without moving 5 years ago to North Carolina I wouldn't have any of the great things I have below.  I wouldn't be married my to love of my life, I wouldn't have two amazing kids, an amazing family, an amazing home, and amazing friends.  5 years ago in September I left Michigan alone, no family, no friends, no home and now I have all those things again.  Without the help from my mom, +Debbie Lambert , and all the great friends I had in Michigan who did support me, I wouldn't be here.  The people who supported me during 2009 don't know how thankful I am.  I wouldn't have anything I have now without them.

So today, this post is really about thanking all the great people you have.  Thank you!

Half Marathon Training Stats

So I reading another blog today and was reading about their training was going.  She posted a bunch a stats that I thought was a really cool idea.  So here goes my version. (PS - I ran 10 miles on Sunday and it went great).  My training started in May (2014).  May 17 exactly.

Total Distance: 252 Miles
Average Weekly Mileage Total: 15.4
Total # of Runs: 61
Average Distance: 4 Miles
Total Calories Burned:  I don't know but my RunKeeper App says I burned over 16,000 in August.
Longest Run: 11 Miles so far (Have a 12 miler coming up)
Shortest Run: 1.75.  Have to start some where.
# of races: 2 (8k and 5k..... I also have a 9.11 mile race this weekend and a 8K the weekend before the race).
Favorite Run:  Just being about to run over ten miles.  It was also pretty awesome to run to the beach.  Great view.

Total Weight Loss Doing Weight Watchers and Training: 24.2

Note: My Daughter is up to 13.5 pounds.  She is the reason I am doing this.

Count Down: 32 days til the Crawling Crab Half Marathon

Man, it is getting closer and closer.  Starting to get a little nervous.  I have been working my ass off for this race.  I have ran over 220 miles for this race.  I have spent a ton of hours away from m wife and kids to train.  I have done his all so I can be healthier.  So I can be a better dad.  A better husband.  Be able to live longer.  It's funny when you look at life and people and typically speaking, except for the outliers, most people who are active live longer.  That is what i want to be.  I don't want to be stuck in a wheel chair because I am too fat o old when I am retired.  I want to be able to walk the beach with my wife when we are old.  I want to be able to be active with my grand kids and maybe great grand kids.

Anyways, I am only a month away from the race.  Pretty scary.  I think every week I get a new pain or injury that makes me worried.  I just need to keep pushing and remind myself that unless I can't push forward that i am fine.  My foot is healing up.  I guess a few days in flip flops and flat running has helped.  Maybe it was hurting due to the fact that all my roads around my house are curved due to the ditches.  It would make sense since it is on the outside of the foot.  I ran my longest run yesterday..... EVER!!!  I am glad my wife +Lori Lambert didn't allow me to run the RnR race here in Virginia Beach.  It was the toughest run I ever had.  Partly because the weather was so cool the past month that I haven't really been training in 80s and 80% humidity.  But when the run was over, I was really dehydrated.  First time I have probably felt that since High School Football.  it took me a long time to get going home from the park.  I didn't pee until like 4 PM.  Which I finished my run at 9:30 AM.  I ran pretty good.  The first  miles I was averaging a 10:40 pace.  The last 4 miles I probably averaged 12:30 minute miles.  I had basically a sip of water left for each mile and I was dripping a ton of sweat off of me.  I felt like I was cooking.  I can only imagine what it was like at the race on Sunday with 10k people.  I would of died.  But I finished with a 11:08 average which is still amazing.  My goal is 12:00 minute miles.

I had a blast running down in Hatteras. I love that island.  I miss being able to go to the OBX like I use to with my old job.  It was a great perk.  Don't miss the travel.  The family had a great time this weekend spending it with our friends at a beach house.  last year we stayed the whole week but this year we couldn't because of time off.  It was relaxing but was difficult with Avery.  newborns do not like really hot temperatures.  But we made the best of it.  her limit was like 82 degrees.  She was great on Friday but was grumpy Saturday.  No big deal.  I still love her to death.

Weight Watchers has been doing good.  I went over my extra points last week due to vacation but I also earned 96 activity points.  I told myself it is alright.  I did good when we went to Myrtle Beach even though I used all my points.  It has been pretty difficult for me the past 4 weeks because I went from 57 points a day to 52.  My app didn't update my daily points for some reason and I was using the same.  It is probably the reasons I was only losing a half a pound a week and the reason I have loss a bunch since.  I missed this weekends weigh-in so I will find out how much I weigh this weekend.  

I am doing good this week.  So there is that.

Half Marathon Training

A few months ago I was researching a training plan for my half marathon.  Thank god for J & A racing and their amazing races and websites.  For each big race, they have a training plan to follow to guide you.  I had a difficult time between choosing the beginner and intermediate. Since I was way ahead of the beginner due to my current running schedule at the time, I chose the intermediate.  Even though it was a bit more push on higher mileage runs, I wanted to make sure I was fully ready.  I also didn't want to back down on my running.   Since then I have ran my long runs on consecutive Sundays with an 8, 9, 10, 9, and 10 mile run.  Each time I run I keep getting faster.  I noticed the training schedule basically ramps up the mileage for two weeks and goes back down a mile or two o re-ramp up to the next longest distances.  I am scheduled for a 11 mile run followed by a 10, 11, 12 mile run before the big day.  I feel pretty good that I have done this much so far and I feel like I could probably run the Rock and Roll marathon in Virginia Beach this weekend.  I chose not to because A.  It's too damn hot to be running a half this early; B. My cousins and Aunt are running with me for the Crawling Crab; and C. I wanted to make sure i was prepared.

The last two weekends I have ran on general Booth to the Beach and ran on the boardwalk.  The boardwalk is a lot of fun to run during the summer because it's just so crazy.  It's very similar to running on it during a race because you have to dodge people all the time.  The last few weeks has been the East Coast Surfing Championship.  This Sunday it was packed.  Perfect waves for the competition.  Beautiful bodies playing volleyball and roaming the beaches even early in the morning.

I have been fighting some kind of foot injury.  During my long runs, I noticed a bone spur, sort of, sticking out and rubbing pretty good on the back outside of my foot.  I noticed last Monday after my long run that my foot was hurting.  It's crazy because i can put pressure on the ball of my foot and the front of my foot without it hurting and it doesn't really bother me too much when I run.  But it is sore when I wear my work shoes.  it feels like its more from putting pressure on the side of my foot.  I hope it's not broken o anything because my body has responded so good to the training.  I need to really keep an eye on it.  it does hurt when I try to cut on my left foot.  I need to do some research and figure out what it is.  No matter what, I will finish this race.  I have worked too damn hard not to.  I know I need to ice it everyday until it feels better.

Other then my running, Weight loss has been doing good.  I hit my 80 pound goal for the race.  So maybe I need to amp it to 90.  We shall see.

Hook

Some people know that I am a huge movie fan.  I have always been addicted to watching movies in the theater or at home.  Growing up my brother and I always had vivid imaginations.  If it wasn't building magical wolds with Legos, or watching cartoons, seeing Jurassic Park in the theater or what else, we also were thinking or imagining some magical place.  For my brother, books was always his thing.  I was way too active for reading a bunch of books until I got older (aka college).  But for me, I LOVED movies.  Some people might not know this but this blog was going to be for a short time a blog about movie reviews.  I am lucky enough my wife lets me sneak out sometimes to see one by myself (even with the our baby).  But watching movies was always something I purely enjoyed.  Even to this day, my brother and I talk about new movies and movies from our childhood.  One of our favorites we always joked about was, The wizard. But one movie in particular was one of both of our favorites.

It was Hook.  It was a sad week hearing about the death of Robin Williams.  I remember as a young kid watching re-runs of Mork and Mindy, Taxi, and Happy Days.  I loved Jumanji.  I mean who didn't.  I think my biggest hopes are that my daughter has the imagination that I had as a child.  It made things so wonderful and beautiful.  It also magically teaches you the good and bad in the world is different ways.  One thing I wish I had with Tim is that he had an imagination like I did.  His is more of just imagining baseball plays.  Which I love but we don't connect like m brother and I did. So anyways, back to Hook.

I remember when Hook came out.  It was amazing.  Steven Speilberg is a super genius and he did such a terrific job on this.  My brother's favorite composer, John Williams, was part of it too.  But the whole movie was just fantastic.  Robin Williams did such an amazing job being an adult version of Peter Pan.  Watching the movie, you just felt that could be you, all grown up, forgetting about the magical things in life.  Then you get whisked away to Neverland and you have to get your imagination back to save your kids.  I never wanted to be Peter Pan but I always wanted to be a lost boy.  I always wished Disney would of built a Neverland like the one in the movie so I could go visit and play just like you can pretend while watching the movie.  Hook is probabl one of my five most favorite movies.  It's one of the few movies I still own on DVD.  I also owned it on VHS.  I purchased it digitally this week so i can watch it with Avery when she is old enough.

Robin Williams was an amazing actor.  His imagination was something that the world couldn't even keep up with.  I can only imagine what it was like to be raised by him.  I can imagine some amazing couch tents, castle building, and other great adventures.  I will surely miss his incredible talent.  Thee will never be another Robin Williams nor will there ever be the talent that he was.  But we will always have his movies.  Hopefully, one day, I can show them to Avery and she can imagine a world just like mine except with her own funny ideas.  I can only hope that she laughs as hard as I did watching his jokes or is as amazed as I was as the moment Robin Williams flies into Neverland and how beautiful it looked on the television (I still purely enjoy the North Arrow in the water.  I am a planner and mapper by trade).  I hope that we someday have someone as amazing as he was to make Avery imagine and laugh.  because without those two things, we as humans wouldn't be so much fun.

So instead of thinking about how sad it is, I like to think about how amazing it is to be able to imagine with him how wonderful life is.  To the Peter Pans of the world, keep having an imagination. RUFIO!!!!

Achievement: Awesome

Sometimes I don't know what my headline should be.  I know what I am writing about but most the time I think it's about the same stuff; family, health, and exercise.  Well, anyways.

Another great week.  It is amazing how wonderful things can be when you have everything you dreamed of.  Our lives have definitely changed this past few months but we have settled in pretty good.  You just really need to be patient when you have a baby.  I don't know how my buddy did it with three young ones.  We have really settled in with Lori going back to work.  I have been enjoying the three hours I get with Avery while we wait for Lori to get home from work.  I think Avery enjoys it too.

lolololol

This week went well I guess.  Last weekend I got in my 9 mile run and yesterday I got in my first double digit run.  Felt great.  I really felt good running. I averaged around 11:41.  I only had two mile intervals where I went above my 12 minute mile goal.  I was pretty happy with that.  I got my run on late.  Avery slept in (clearly she didn't this morning).  But on the weekends, we just wake up with her.  Which is typically pretty early.  I was pretty dehydrated and hungry.  Clearly Orange Crushes and Sushi didn't help me on my run from the night before.  But overall, pretty happy. My body is handling the mileage well. Only 7 more weeks until my half marathon.

Weight Watchers has been doing great.  I kicked ass this weekend.  I lost 2.8. The Weight Watchers app even told me I was losing weight too fast.  Clearly it doesn't know that I am exercising more on the extreme side.  I was pretty happy.  I got my 75 pound anchor. Which is really important to me.  We were talking with our friends last night about our vacation last year and how much weight I loss. We were all blown away by pictures of me from last August (right before I started WW). I was shocked myself because until I really hit the 60 pound loss mark, I didn't really notice it that much.  But most of that is a mental thing.  Anyways, felt good.  On to the next steps.

Big Morning

Today I ran my long run.  I ran 9 miles.  I will be honest. It was tough.  But I guess that's why I am training so its not tough later.  I did pretty well.  I ran an average pace of 12:05.  Not bad.  At 5 miles I felt really good.  My legs were loose and my foot pain, shin splint, and other little kinks went away.  Mile six I started to go down hill.  You could tell from my splits that I was slowing down.  I could feel it too.  But it's okay.  I don't expect it to be easy.  On the positive side, I ran my longest run ever.  Very proud of that.  I do think I need to start going somewhere else to do my long run.  I think next week I am going to the boardwalk.

Yesterday I weighed in and lost 4.8 pounds.  I was pretty excited.  I had been struggling and only loosing a minimal amount.  To normal people,that's fine but I know I have been on the extreme side because of my running regiment.  So I lost another five pounds and I am less then one pound away from my next anchor, which would be the 75 pounds.  That's exciting.  Looking forward to getting that and making my next goal weight of 80 pounds.

Today is my best pal Ryan's birthday.  He is turning 5.  Looking forward to partying up.  Here's a picture of us rocking our onesies.