I have not been updating this blog because there has not been anything to say (at least not anything positive).   After I did the Wall Street run (a personal best for me doing 3 miles) – my calves were burning for at least 3 weeks.  So after 3 weeks – I got back on the horse, in a minimum way – only lightly training.   Two of the races I was going to enter – did not pan out for me. 

The other day – I received my monthly issue of Runner’s World and the issue was about half-marathons.   So I ‘ran’ the idea (sorry for the pun) of training and running in a half-marathon, sometime in September by my wife and the race was received well by her.   I think Jennifer has been seeing me languishing in my running lately (starting to gain a little weight) and wants to encourage me.  So with that in mind I have selected a new training schedule for the next 2 1/2 months and a new race.  

The race – which I have zeroed in on – is the Amish Country Bird in the Hand Half-Marathon in Lancaster, PA – which is held on September 10, 2011.  Four reasons for selecting this race; 1) It on Saturday 2) The timing is good [10 weeks of training] 3) For a marathon it relatively close [2.5 hour drive] and 4) My wife loves reading books on the Amish. 

The link for this race is here.

 This is my new schedule :

 The grey means it’s been done – which means I have 10 weeks of training left.  
________________________________________________________________________
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before” (Phil. 3:13)

Here is another interesting race – I would like to run this year.  – Brian

http://www.alpost1.org/content.php?id=86

My schedule, so far. (as you can see my weight has not been going down lately).

It’s great to be training again!   I thought I would have enjoyed not running for a while after the marathon – but instead I hated it.  Alway greener in someone else’s backyard. : D

Yesterday I registered for the JP Morgan Corporate Challange in NYC in June.   This race is a nice 3.5 mile evening race around Central Park, NYC which I did once before in 2009.  I ran it in 28:17 in 2009 – and hope to break that time by at least a couple minutes this year.  

I have the following planned runs for 2011:

• The Wall Street Run (3.0) on  May 17th
• The JP Morgan Corporate Challange (3.5) on June 16th
• Milltown 5K on July 4th
• Verona Labor Day Classic (5k) on September 5th

 The most exciting prospect for this summer is my wife’s plan to run her first 5K race with my sister.  Now that should be great!

I am raising money for the American Heart Association – by doing the 2011 NYC Start! Heart Walk & Wall Street Run.   It is taking place on May 17th 2011 @ 6:30 PM, and I am trying to raise as much money as I can for this wonderful cause.  You can sponsor my run by clicking on the button above.  Those which have already donated – I want to say thank you! 

While I take a short break from long distance running- I will for the next couple months work on my 5K time.  My goal will be to break my personal best of 24 minutes, and 44 seconds (7:52 pace), by bring it down below 23 minutes. 

I’ve gained a few pounds over the last few weeks – but plan on bringing down to the weight to 185 lbs by the end of these training period. 

I found this running schedule on line and figured it was time to use an advanced training schedule. 

• Crossing-training (CT),  (biking, swimming, elliptical trainer) at moderate effort
• Interval workouts (IW):  4 x 400 would be four hard 400s, with a 400 m recovery in between.
• Wednesday and Saturday runs: Easy Pace
• Tempo Run:  Run with 5 to 10 minutes easy running, then continue with 15 to 20 minutes running near your 10K pace, and finish with 5 to 10 minutes cooling down.
  

In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.  (Gen. 1:1)

Finished the National Marathon in Washington D.C. in 4:35.   It was a great day.  The scenery through the run was surreal and the crowd was a lot of fun. 

Me and my wife – (Thanks honey for supporting me) 

My daughters and me.

A picture I took running towards the Capital

 Check List
☑ Pack and Drive to D.C.
☑ Run the race!

Countdown: 0 DAYS, 0 HOUR, 0 MIN, 0 Seconds

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: (2 Timothy 4:7)

I started my training at the end of November 2010 – and today, March 22, 2011 marks the end of my training for my first marathon.  Two and half years ago my weight was at 254 pounds, now I weight 208 pounds!  That is a weight loss of 46 pounds (23 pounds lost in the last 4 months), and I can really feel the difference when I run!  

While I would like to say it was completely due to the running – the truth is exercise only works if you are watching your diet.  My diet is simple - keep your calories over 1,200 (I aim for 1,300) – take it easy on the carbs (I stay away from the pasta dinners), limit any drinking to special occations (a rare Guinness), throw in a lot of running and you’ll lose the weight pretty quick. 

By the way – one thing I am looking forward to is a big pasta dinner the night before the race (I love Spaghetti and meatballs!).  : )

Now about the marathon.  Do I feel ready to run this distance? While I have lost all that weight and ran 20 miles at the height of my training – 26.2 miles still seems a bit beyond my reach, and truth be told – I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.  That is why I am very happy (Thank God!) that my support team will be going to Washington D.C. with me this Saturday!  With my wife and kids there to cheer me on – it will give me an edge.    

Here’s my family cheering me on in 2009

My final posting of my schedule

 Check List
☑ Register for Race
☑ Get Friday off from work, to travel down to D.C.
☑ Book a hotel in D.C. for Friday Night
☑ Finish my training
☐ Pack and Drive to D.C.
☐ Run the race!

Countdown: 3 DAYS, 6 HOUR, 8 MIN, 20 SEC to go! 

O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.  Psalm 108:1

Very often people only have a vague mental picture of an area of the country from what they see on TV, what they imagine,  or what they see as they drive to through the State.  Therefore most people imagine that New Jersey is just like Newark or the shore, or an endless row of Industrial smokestacks.
 
In my last blog I contrasted my running in NYC with running near my house (the town of Hibernia mostly), so I figured I would show where I run locally with a few pictures.   Yes – believe it or not, this is North-West New Jersey!

Old TV on the side of the road.  

Strange looking house (at least I think that’s a house behind the bushes)

 
A friendly note.

A happy pole – cheers me on my way.

A strange stack of stones. 

A dirt road through a state park.

A waterfalls (looking down off a bridge)

Reservour – Amazing view!                                                   

Beware of people riding horses on this road.

A dog protecting his territory. 

                                A turkey vulture or two.

A log cabin pizzaria

A farm house

Through the trees you find some Horses

Ever wondered why Tom and Jerry never seem to age?

The New York times report of a recent study where running slows down the effects of aging:

“Half of the mice were allowed to run on a wheel for 45 minutes three times a week, beginning at 3 months. These rodent runners were required to maintain a fairly brisk pace, Dr. Tarnopolsky said: “It was about like a person running a 50- or 55-minute 10K.” (A 10K race is 6.2 miles.) The mice continued this regimen for five months.
At 8 months, when their sedentary lab mates were bald, frail and dying, the running rats remained youthful.”

Think of all the money people spend on anti-aging products and surgery and all they do is mask or hide the effects of age.  But here we see that running has another benefit of slowing down the hands of time.   In fact I would assert that if those mice which were aging faster would have joined the running mice – they would have reversed the effects of age.   You have a choice to either be the bald, frail dying mice or the one which remained youthful – it’s your choice.

Objection:  But I don’t have time. 

Answer:  I know the feeling.  I get up at 4:30 am every morning (just to spend time with my wife), and before I know it I’m out the door comuting to work (which is a two-hour trip, one way).   Choices are not easy, but I use my lunch hour at work three times a week to run, and one long run on Saturday.  If you commit yourself you CAN find the time.

Objection:  I don’t have the money to buy a treadmill or join a gym.

Answer:  That is the beauty of running, all you really need are a good pair of sneakers.  

Objection: I can’t breath when I run.

Answer: You should check with a doctor – but most people just need to start off slow, and slowly add more distance to their run and their bodies will adapt.  Some people alternate between walking and running (10 minutes walking followed by 10 minutes of running) and just add more time to the running as they go.  Remember to go at your own pace!

 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.   Romans 6:23

It’s been a long journey from November 30 till this 15th week of training.   This week really marks the climax or pinnacle of my training for the Marathon (Thank God & the support of my wonderful wife).  This week I will total 38-40 miles  which includes my longest run yet of 20 miles.  The next two weeks I will be tapering, which means easing up on the running to allow my muscles to be at their optimum health.  

What I won’t miss in my training is all the tough runs in the rain, snow and sleet during these cold winter days.   It is almost poetic that this Saturday will be a nice Sunny 52 degrees as I see the end of the cold tunnel and the prize set before me.  During my training I have lost weight and have been feeling fit physically and mentally.   As I have lost weight I have noticed that my running form has improved, my speed has improved and going greater distances is not as hard.  (More about weight lost in a future blog)

I’ve done most of my running in NYC along the Hudson – but I have taken other paths (under the Brooklyn Bridge, through Chinatown) which has been an adventure.  I’ve enjoy my recent runs up to the Intrepid (an Aircraft Carrier) and the Growler Submarine (SSG-577).  Running past the Heliports (Wasn’t fun on snowy days when they land and the snow and ice would hit you in the face) up at 30th Street.  Running past Chelsea Piers where Law & Order studios are filmed.

On the otherhand – in my home town the benifits of running there is quite different - it is the friendliness of the local people.   Unlike Manhattan other runners, walkers that you past give you a smile and a wave, as an encouragement to keep going, that you’re going to make it.  Nothing better lifts the spirits!

My full schedule:  (this week=40 miles, next week =28, the last week=22)

 Check List
☑ Register for Race
☑ Get Friday off from work, to travel down to D.C.
☑ Book a hotel in D.C. for Friday Night
☐ Finish my training
☐ Run the race!

Countdown: 23 DAYS, 14 HOUR, 26 MIN, 56 SEC to go! 

 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.  (1 Cor. 9:24)