Friday, I hit the gym by myself.  I didn't expect to get a chance to workout again over the weekend so I really did my best to hit it hard.  I did all the lifting I would normally do and then some.  I finished the night up with a half hour on the elliptical.  My foot was still hurting, so I figured the break would be good.

I got in later than I was hoping Monday evening and I nearly elected to forget about my long run.  I had just gotten my new heart monitor in the mail and I thought I had better at least give it a try.   About 4 miles into it, I was cold, sweaty and thinking that cutting it short wasn't a bad idea.  The next mile or so I realized that the only person that I would be cheating is myself, and the last thing I want to do is be less prepared come late March than I am now.

I pushed past my first 5 mile loop, then my second.  I had planned to call it a night by the end of this, but as the evening went on the temperature seemed to warm and I couldn't justify getting that far and not seeing how I would feel at a half marathon.  

As I walked the last stretch to my house, the pain started to set in.  My joints were defiantly feeling it.  Tuesday morning it was all I could do to walk.  I was surprised that my knees were in as good as condition as they were.  It was my hips that were giving me all the trouble.  I was feeling pretty frustrated with how I felt after just half the distance I will need to do in less than a few months.  

Wednesday, I was back to what I would say is 80% of where I had been going into the run.  The quick recovery time was no doubt welcomed and somewhat inspiring.  That evening, I did what I could at the gym, lifting weights and avoiding the treadmill.

Tonight, with temperatures in the mid 60's, I was once again back on the trail.  Given the weather, I decided to do my 5 mile loop and not just 4 like I do on most weekdays.  To be honest, I'm pretty sore again....may have to make tomorrow another rest day.  There just doesn't seem to be enough days in the week for proper recovery.

losing steam

Had a somewhat easy week.  I had planned to do another long run Sunday, but my foot thought otherwise.  Looks like I have had my first set back in training.  The muscle that runs along my big toe to my foot has hurt like crazy all week.  It's all I can do to run and I've been afraid that I am going to make it worse if i push it any.

Yesterday, while doing one of my random pushup sets, I realized this was likely the cause.  I'll probably stop doing these until after the big run.

The temperatures haven't cooperated much this week, so I've spent all but yesterday night at the gym.  I had tried for the treadmill early in the week, but with my foot as bad as it is have had to settle for the crazy moon-shoe elliptical machine.  I plan to lift hard tomorrow, take a couple more days off and shoot for a 10+ mile run on Monday.  

Tonight I went out for an evening run.  It really was beautiful, just me and the river.

It was dark, couldnt have been more than 30 degrees out and haivng just gotten home from work, the last thing I wanted to do was run.  I forced myself out, and as usual was warm in minutes... glad I was there.  The entire way down the river, I kept thinking to myself how great it was, questioning why I would ever hesitate just because of the cool temperatures.  Turning around I realized that I had been running with the wind and now was looking at 2 miles back, this time against the wind.  To be honest, I now remembered what had spawned the heistation earlier.  It was cold.

I am trying to increase my speed on these shorter runs.  Tonight I did 1 mile as fast as I could, took a short break, did 2 miles at my normal pace and finished with my final mile again at a faster pace.

Not sure that tonight was all that encouraging.  I miss the midday runs.

Also, sorry that I use so many "I's"

Beautiful day, took advantage by doing my longest run to date, nearly 10 miles.  I would say that I walked a solid mile of it and wish I had some water, but I got through it without any issues.  I'll probably let my knees heal a bit and do a shorter run tomorrow afternoon.  To be honest, another 150% is intimidating, but I still have a couple of months.

I've been trying to do sets of pushups when I can (i.e. while watching tv).  Three months ago, I would have struggled to do 3, yesterday I did a total of 60.

I figure every little bit helps.

So its been way too long since my last post.  I do hope that I have not lost any faithful followers or made anyone think that i have been slacking.  Seeing as it's been the better part of a month since I have kept any record of my exercises, I'll just have to do my best to sum up what I've been doing.

Leading up to Christmas I kept much of the same routine.  I have stopped using the elliptical for the most part, now trying to focus on weight training and the treadmill.  

I knew that staying true to all of this health business would be tested given the holiday.  I was right and did what I could to make do while at home and confronted with a seemingly endless supply of goodies.  Nice running trails are hard to come by at my moms place, so I was forced to compromise.  I wound up making a couple of laps around some mountain near her place.  It was around a 5 mile run, up more hills than I have ever tried.  I didn't set any record pace, but overall I felt like I did pretty well.  The next day I hit a real trail to avoid holiday traffic on the highway I was on the day before and just ran until the trail run out, probably less than 3 miles round trip.  .   

Taylor told me of a 10k in Springfield, MO Sunday.  I proceeded to break every "what not to do the day before a race" rule Saturday night and did what I could Sunday.  This race I actually knew what to do with the timing chip and, despite them spelling my name as Elio Bozeman, was able to have an official recorded time of 1:00:43 (nearly 10 minutes faster than my Route 66 time less than a month and a half ago and a 9:46 mile average).  

As I finished with a serious endorphin rush, I felt for the first time that I could actually finish this marathon.  My time was considerably faster and I felt stronger for the entire race.  Always great to realize some improvements.

As the holidays have now wrapped up, I am not all that disappointed in myself.  Since I have been back in Tulsa, I have run a solid 10 miles and didn't stray all that far from my diet.  I am trying to pick up my pace during my 3-5 mile weekday runs.  I look forward to seeing if I can still lift the weight I was up to at the gym after 2 weeks off.  The weather is beautiful and I will do what I can to make the most of it.

I will keep you posted.

I've decided that today is going to be a catch up day. I hit it pretty hard last night in the gym and feel like I could use today as an opportunity to update everyone on more than just workout routines.

With that said, I'd like to take some time to thank our first two Race To Rome sponsors, J.T. Griffin and Arctic Shield. We really do appreciate your donations and look forward to seeing what we can do for Isabel's House in the next few months.

Taylor has continued to do a great job of promoting our group and as a result we are getting more and more visitors. A New Eli is up to nearly 400 visitors, representing 8 states, China and even Zagreb, Croatia (If you are reading this and are from Zagreb, Croatia please drop me a line....just curious how you came across the site).  

Our facebook group is up to 91 members and we have even served as an inspiration to Mr. Robert Simpson. Everyone should check out his site and track his progress. I've known Bobby for years and am really proud of how far he's come. I have no doubt he'll get to where he wants to be and I think the blog is a great idea. If you get a chance, drop by his page and give him a comment to show your support....it blows my mind how much motivation I get from all of this.

Thanks again to everyone for visiting

Total Miles: 85

It’s been a fairly typical week.  Hit the gym with Dan when it was too cold and ran when it wasn't.  I'm trying to step my runs up to a minimum of 5 miles when I get out and trying to get out more often than I had the past couple of weeks.  We had a run of amazing weather this weekend and I would have been crazy not to take advantage.  

I had 2 drinks last night and could believe how much it affected me this afternoon.  I could feel a huge difference in my strength and endurance.  It is amazing how much I notice how things like that now that I am trying to be active ….Anyhow, I took a new route to try and get up around 6 miles.  I crossed the river and ran into all kinds of areas that I had no idea existed. 

First was a decent looking skate park that was packed with punky high school kids.  Kind of fun to watch though.  Next was an area devoted to the Tulsa Row Club.  Had no idea we had anything like that going on.  There must have been 50 people out front using rowing machines and tending to their boats.  It looked like a good time, maybe something worth looking into.   My last find was a roller hockey rink.  There were two full teams and a reasonable crowd watching.

I will probably make this my new everyday route.  I think it was right on the edge of 6.5 hours and comes with an awesome view of the city for most of the way back.  Hopefully this weather will continue and I will get enough material for more than one blog post per week.