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Thank you for your continued support.

Akron Road Runner Marathon in Pictures.

 I love this sequence of pictures taken by my wife. There are a few stories going on in this short segment of time which I hope to be able to adequately be able to share with you in my forth coming race report. There will be plenty more pictures, and with any luck at all a really good story too.

WOOHOO Wednesday!

Today is the day I take time to let you in on all things woohoo that I have going on in my life.

Today, I have plenty going on in my life that is woohoo worthy.

First off I have this little event called my first marathon coming up on Saturday. I am, to say the least, super excited about running my first ever marathon. I am excited about going to the expo, excited about picking up my bib, excited about lining up with 10 to 16 thousand other excited marathoners, half marathoners, and relay members. It will be an epic day in my running career.

Yesterday afternoon I went out for a run with my two older boys, "The J" and "The I". I have written about running with "The J" before, if you would like to read about our prior outings you can check them out here and here.  However, up until just recently "The I" has not wanted to or was some what discouraged to run with us. I think that he was a little bit intimidated by the distance that we were doing and felt that he wouldn't be able to do it, that his body wouldn't let him go that far. He isn't the most athletically inclined person, but we have been working with him because he wants to "tri" next year and he has marked improvement.  Anyway, I digress, we were going out to do a mile in preparation for the 1 mile kids fun run being held during the marathon this weekend. Both boys are planning to run it if for no other reason than to get race bling and a t-shirt. Seeing how "The I" has never gone a mile before we set out to get one in.  Before we got a quarter of a mile in "The I" started complaining that he couldn't do it, and that his leg were getting tired. I knew that this was just a cop out as he was doing bricks with .5 mile runs just a couple weeks earlier.  So, like a good coach I pushed him, and when he started to get upset and complain I pushed him a little bit more. You know what he ended up going 1.17 mile by the time we finished. While all of this is great and awesome it really isn't the true woohoo part of this experience.  The woohoo part came when I asked him if he thought he could run a mile before we left and he said "no". Then I asked him if he just ran a mile and he said "YES".
The truth is, he could have done it all along, he just needed to believe that he could.

This past weekend I took my wife rock climbing for the first time for her birthday (it was my first time too). We both had so much fun we can't wait to go back, and take the boys with us too.
Well, today is her birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUPER WIFE!! I can't imagine our life without you, hope you had a good birthday.

I am sure that I am missing some pretty woohoo worthy items, but at this time I can not think of anything. So for now this will have to be all.

Oh, what a weekend!

What a weekend, it has been busy, fun, exciting, full of new achievements, and adventures. It all started off on Friday evening with a little of this

A little after work ride.

Just a few laps in the pool.

 Saturday started off with my normal morning run it looked a little like this.

 Then I followed it up with a wicked crazy massage. It was both painful and enjoyable, and most likely just what I needed to start getting my muscles to recover better.  After lunch I took my wife out for her birthday gift. It looked a whole lot like this.

Yup, I straight up took her rock climbing. It has been something that she has been dying to try, and up until now I had no motivation to help her with this desire. Not to mention I physically couldn't have. I am so glad that I have been able to get my self into shape and lose enough weight to be able to enjoy it with her. I have very seldom seen her as happy as she was navigating these walls. By the way, it is such a good work out. My arms and hands are quite sore. It was a great time and we will be going back and probably taking the older boys too.  

Now on Sunday, I went out for my final longish training run before the marathon coming up on Saturday. It looked a little bit like this,

  and the completion of this activity marks my 600th running, riding, walking, and swimming activities since I started on this journey of making a better life for me and my family. Along with this milestone comes 1,806 miles traveled and 206,802 calories burnt.While I am happy with these achievements. I feel that I am not where I wanted to be at this time, but am pleased with what I have been able to accomplish and what I will be able to accomplish in the near future. What a wonderful satisfying weekend.

3 Things Thursday!

WooHoo it is Three Things Thursday, and I am excited to tell you all about three things that I am excited about this week. First, for those of you counting along with me there are only nine short days until the Akron Road Runner Marathon happens and I become a marathoner. For those of you who are not counting along with me I am sorry, it is almost over and you won't have to endure my incessant marathon countdown, concerns, or general amazement about my first marathon.  Anyway, I digress. On with the post.

1. A few posts ago I was excited about joining our local YMCA for swimming and strength training throughout the winter. Also, I was excited for all of the different and free classes that are offered to members. One in particular, was a power cycling (spinning) class. Not so much for me, but for my wonderful wife who I have been trying to encourage to take more time for herself and do non-mommy related physical activity. She used to be a runner, but has not been able to have the running be enjoyable due to some physical issues. I thought that spinning would be good for her. It would provide her with the cardio she needs to be healthy, and it will help build her leg muscles in a more gentle fashion. Besides, I thought that it would be good for her to get out of the house and have some time to herself with other adults. Guess what, she liked it and went to her second class tonight.

2. I am very pleased with my run this morning. It wasn't very long or a particularly hard route, but I was able to maintain an 8:17 minute per mile average pace over 3.7 miles, and felt like I could have gone for another 3 to 4 miles at least with out a drop in pace. What a confidence booster, I thought that I would not see a good run at a fast pace for a really long time, if ever. What's more is that I did this run in my trainers which are absolutely horrible to run in and cause me a good deal of pain in my knee. Even with the inevitable knee stiffness today's rainy,wet, and cooler weather  morning training run rocked.

3.  Honey Crisp apples are back in season! MMMMmmm! Nuff said.

Trivia Tuseday No More

Trivia Tuesday is no more. I know that everyone is super disappointed, but there was not enough participation. I am just going to use this time each Tuesday to try and answer questions that I have been pondering during the week. This weeks pondering has been about chaffing. Mostly about the parts that really hurt. For me that would the nipples. Yup, I said it my nipples hurt, and not just a little bit either. Actually, they hurt in ways I had never contemplated before. Sure, those of you veterans out there are just shaking your head and saying it's your own fault sucker. I am positive it is my own fault. I thought that by not using the Bodyglide or some sort of other protection for them that I may be able to toughen them up and not have to worry about them again. Man was I ever wrong.  Now you may be thinking where is the question in that. The question come in many parts from this. Sure it is my own fault for not protecting my sensitive parts. But, is it possible to toughen, callous, immunize, or armor said parts from future mishaps. What are your strategies for fighting against the dreaded chafe? Is it possible build up a resistance to chaffing on you sensitive parts? Will my theory of repeated chaffing  actually build a natural layer of protection,  or am I just setting myself up perpetually painful nipples? Any and all insight on this topic is welcome. Well, even joking, fun poking, or any other painfully obvious statement that I may have left myself open for. Have fun, train hard, never give up!

Three Things Thursday

Is it Thursday already? This past week just flew by. I have had so many things that I wanted to write about this week and I didn't get around to any of them. Well, at least I get to do this awesome three things post today.

1. WooHoo to getting to swim and strength train over the winter. Earlier this week my family joined our local Y so that we could take advantage of the many different programs and amenities that the Y has to offer. Among those said amenities I will get to use the lap pool so I can get ready for my triathlons for next year. Also, I will get to utilize all of the specialty equipment to make my strength training more effective. Besides all of that it will be great to be able to exercise with the whole family so we and get and stay fit through the winter months.

2. I am down to 15 days until the 26.2 becomes a reality. I am getting more excited by the day and have been finalizing the plans for the expo and race day. I have another good week of solid training and then I will get into a very short taper. All I can say is bring it on I feel that I am ready!

3.  Over the past few days of reading the blogs that I follow and those that I follow on twitter I have come across a few posts which have expressed the exact way that I feel about certain things, or that I have found especially humorous as it relates to my life. The first of these post comes from Lesley (Racing it off), you can read it here. It is about one of my pet peeves and I don't think that I could have said it any better. The second one is an article by Susan Lacke  from competitor.com. It deals with one of my all time favorite subjects, food. The third post I found that really hit home with me as a really good explanation of some common myths about running barefoot. Jeff over at Another Mile, really did a great job with his 4 myths about barefoot running post.
Hope that all of you out there enjoy these as much as I did and until next time, may all of your active endeavors be excellent and injury free.

Brooks Green Silence Review

These are some happy feet!

I love, love, love these shoes. Did I mention that I loved these shoes. There is nothing that I dislike about them. Well, there is one thing I don't like about them but it is very minor. The shoelaces are hard to keep tied, even if you double knot them. I know that most reviews start with something subjective about the product, but I just can't help it. These shoes make my feet happy!  I have had a chance to run in these shoes for a while now. I have put over 100 miles on them now and feel comfortable enough to give them a review. I chose these shoes because I wanted to start transitioning into less of a shoe. Man does that ever sound weird, well anyway on with the review.

To start things off I have to say that of all the features and innovations that these shoes bring to the table. Most of the things listed in the picture below I couldn't care less about, as I am not a huge enviro freak. That being said, I do find it very cool that Brooks has taken to heart and found ways to reuse some the most commonly tossed items from our daily lives and used them create a totally kick ass shoe.

This is an insert that comes in the box.

If you want to read more about Brooks environmental innovations you can click on the picture to the right to enlarge or you can visit their Green Silence info page.  As for the features that I was most interested I will go over them now, and give you an overview as to what pushed me in this direction. 

When I started out looking for new shoes I was having issues with my knees and feet. Most of which I thought was shoe related. As it would turn out part of it would be shoe related. However,  most of the problems I was having were caused by bio-mechanical and muscular inefficiencies.  That is neither here nor there, but it did influence my shoe choice to some degree. At the time I was researching natural and barefoot running, and I felt that I could really benefit from a more minimal shoe.  I actually purchased another pair of shoes along with these that I was planning on using as everyday trainers and these were to be reserved for speed and interval work. In other words the short workouts and races. I was to find out soon enough that the more I ran in the Green Silence the less my knee hurt during and after my running workouts. This reason alone was enough to make these MY everyday running shoe, and the way these shoes were designed and the features that eventually sold me on the shoe explain why they helped some of my problems.

One of the features that I was looking for was a lighter and more flexible shoe to allow my foot to function more naturally. The Brooks Green Silence weighs in a just 6.9oz per shoe and the BioMoGo mid sole coupled along with the softer out sole make these shoe fairly flexible for a traditional racing flat. You may be asking yourself, "If they have a soft outsole won't they wear out fast?" The answer is not that I can tell. As I said earlier in the review I had over 100 miles on them, and they seem to be wearing the same or a little bit better than the other shoes that I have run in.  Another feature that I was looking for was a near flat heel to toe offset. These being racing flats fit that bill to a tee. While they are not flat they only have an offset of 4-5mm, which was perfect for me as these were to be transition shoes. Some other features I was looking for were breath-ability, decent cushioning, and the ability to control the way the shoe supported my foot. Being that this is a pretty minimal shoe it was perfect for being very breathable as you can practically see through the sides. For the cushioning and foot support Brooks added more BioMoGo and used it to make a fully biodegradable sockliner which is very comfortable.   As for the ability to be able to control the fit of the shoe the unique lacing system takes care of your foot support very effectively.

In closing for a shoe that was supposed to be an off day run shoe, and an occasional mid length runner it has far exceeded my expectations and become my go to everyday shoe. In fact, I have completed all of my long training runs, daily miles, and plan on having this shoe carry me across the finish line of my first marathon later this month and my first ultra marathon in early December. I don't think that there is anything else I can really say about this shoe, but the Brooks slogan comes to mind and sums up my feeling about the shoe. "Run Happy".

Three Things Thursday

Well it's that time again, Three Things Thursday! Today is the day that I choose three things that I found awesome, intriguing, moving, or just totally random.

1. I am forever amazed and proud of my two bigger boys. Ever since I took them together and showed them what a brick was and how to do one they have been begging to out and do them. Every time we go down the street to the usually empty parking lot they insist on doing more and more laps. It is completely amazing and inspiring to me to watch them willingly and insistently amping up their brick routine at each outing. It is also amazing to me that the brick is always done in the middle of our evening walk. We walk down street about .25 miles then they do the brick which ranges from .5 miles to 1 mile then we finish our walk which is usually about .75 miles. Not to shabby for a 6 and 4 year old. Actually, I think that they are both super stars.

2. I already posted about this but I am pretty stoked about it so here it is. I ran 100 miles this month for the first time. It is a milestone that I have been trying to get done since the beginning of the year. Also, I ran my longest run this past Sunday totaling 14.25 miles. I still haven't gotten the 16 miler that I have been wanting, but I am confident that I will get it or better in the next couple weeks.

3. The race calendar for next year is pretty much finished.  My major race for next year as of right now is going to be the Mohican 100 Trail Run. Yup you read that right, I am going to attempt to rock out a 100 mile trail run for my big race next year along with a sprinkling of triathlon. So if there are any adventurous individuals out there who want to keep me company I will be in need of a pacer or two. This winter should prove to be a crazy and trying training season.

The Months End Workout Report

Well, this month has been an amazing training month full of firsts and broken records. Let's start this off with the broken records. First off is I had my longest run to date at a distance of 14.25 miles, and it was completed in a satisfactory time of 2:14:48. It was a pretty uneventful run with the exception of a little dehydration and some lite chaffing. I also broke virtually every other record that I had standing for both running and cycling. You can check out all of them here Andrew33's RunKeeper FitnessReports | RunKeeper .

I also had a pretty good month on the bike, I did my longest ride to date. It was a wonderful 33.48 mile early evening ride with my Uncle Scot which was completed in 2:00:02. You can read about it here.

This month has been full of crazy two or three a days and minimal days off in between. One of the better workouts was the brick that I did last night. I was trying to meet a goal in running, but since the boys have been doing bricks all week I felt that I needed to do one too. So off I went and ended up with a 6.6 mile ride at dusk, followed by a 3.1 mile run into the early evening. It was hot, humid, painful, and 100% glorious. For, you see that run put me over 100 miles for the month. This victory is bittersweet though. For this was a goal that I had set for myself and should have accomplished in Feburary. Due to injury and other minor set backs due to my own reluctance to seek the help of a professional. Had I broke down and just got the help that I needed I probably could have done it sooner, but now is better than later. I also know that I have some bio-mechanical issues to deal with, and now know how to deal with and work through them. This month has also given me an extra boost of confidence going in to the home stretch for my first ever marathon later this month.

Overall this month has been a great learning and growing training experience. Looking forward to more months of broken records and firsts.



Totals:

Riding:
241.5 miles/avg speed 15.5mph

Running:
100.5 miles/ avg pace 9.32 m/min

Walking:
49.6 miles/