Where's T.J.?

Just a quick note to say sorry for the lack up updates this past week. And honestly thanks to the folks who mentioned they hadn't seen an update and were wondering what happened. I'm still here, still plan to run the race, but had a busy otherwise and honestly lazy week when it came to working out. Check tomorrow night for a full HONEST report of my last 7 days and a report on tomorrow's workout.

And remember, if you ask me how the training is going and I try to give you some BS excuse why I haven't worked out just look me in the face and shout "RUN, T.J., RUN!!"

Busy!

Hey just a quick note to say sorry for the lack of updates. Parents were in town this weekend and I've had some other projects in the works as well. It is hard to eat good when you go out every meal with family for 3 days straight!! I promise I'll get back to my running tonight when I get home from work and will give an up to date report on how things go and what I've been up to. Stay tuned!

5 Miles! - and linked up!

First, just wanted to say thanks a bunch to Peter Alter down on St. John for linking up this blog to the official "8 Tuff Miles" webpage. Now anyone who logs on to find out more about the race can click one link and check out this blog as well. It's cool more people might be reading this - and if you are for the first time, WELCOME!! I'd love to hear from anyone who is planning to run or has run in the past and has any good advice or tips. Feel free to leave any comments here.. Thanks again Peter!

Just got back a bit ago from a really good run w/ Pim! Took him along and ran about 2 miles down to the dog park at a big giant park near our house. I let him run around there for about 10 minutes or so but he was disappointed as there weren't any other dogs out today. I then headed for home and was feeling pretty good so decided about halfway back that I'd run a full five miles. To do this I had to run a little bit past home and then back but it felt really good to get that much distance in and I felt pretty good the whole time. Granted, I did take a 10 minute break at the dog park so I didn't run 5 miles STRAIGHT. But it was pretty close to it and almost 3 miles straight on the way home. Pim was really good and enjoyed the long run I think.

Didn't make it out yesterday as I was busy w/ some things during the day and my parents ended up coming in to visit in the evening. We had a nice dinner w/ Ashley's parents and then spent the rest of the evening at their house. I had some wine which usually I stay away from and I was totally feeling it this morning when I woke up. Had a bad headache, but took some ipubrofen and was able to get back to bed. I have a weird reaction like that almost every time I drink small amounts of alcohol. Usually, if I have just one or two drinks, one or two glasses of wine, or maybe a shot or something (on the VERY rare occasion) I'll almost always get like a mini hangover w/ an annoying headache. Conversely, this barely ever happens if I have a beer or two, and if I have enough drinks where I am actually really feeling it, I barely ever have a hangover. I guess if I was a big drinker this would be a plus, but I'm not at all these days.

OK, I'm going to keep today's update short as I promised Ashley I'd help her set up her ipod running kit and I want to get some work done on my ideas for the 8 tuff miles Tshirt design as well. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Whew!

Just got back from a really good run! It's just after midnight on Thursday. Ended up doing the late night thing (don't worry I stayed under streetlights on a main road on the sidewalk the whole way) after doing dinner at Ashley's parents tonight and then having a good long talk when we got back. Also, since I don't have to work tomorrow I wasn't worried about getting to bed early.

According to Weather.com it's 40 degrees out right now and it was definetely pretty darn cool. I just had on shorts and a fleece w/ a couple tshirts on underneath but actually felt about perfect running. Other than a little trouble breathing and constantly having an annoying little snot river run out of my nose - I was feeling good! I had planned to do my usual two mile route and after about a mile and a half I thought that was all I could do. But I hit a little extra reserve somehow right when I got back to the house. I could see Pim's shadow looking like some sort of ghost dog watching me out our giant picture window (he had been sitting there in the same place watching me as I left), and I figured I could handle a bit more. Ran past the street and about another half or 3/4 of a mile finally finishing right before our driveway after looping back. It felt really good, and although I could barely push till the end of the run, after about a minute and a half in the house I had that strong kinda "runner high" buzz going and seriously felt like I could do the whole thing again (although I doubt I woulda made it a block!).

Was feeling great and then opened my email before posting this - got come sorta hard/sad news forwarded from one of my best friend's Lindsey. The camp we both used to work at, Camp Chief Ouray near Winter Park, CO (I worked there in 02-03, and lindsay a few years back) has been completely changed looks and feel wise by a huge logging operation that I believe had to take lace because of a pine beetle infestation. The pictures attached to the email just blew me away. It's like a whole different place and i literally almost started crying looking at these pics. CCO is a super special place for me and always will be, and to see it like this was really difficult for me. I have never experienced anything close to what I did in my 6 or so months at CCO - and my time there is a huge part of who I am today. Looking at the pictures, I really noticed how much trees can define a space. Anyway, they are scheduling a big volunteer day in May so maybe I can make it out for that to help get things ready for next summer's campers.

Well I better get to bed as I have a lot going on tomorrow, even though I don't have to get up early. PS - Cousin Melissa Sue, thanks for a great lunch today!

Update

I mentioned on here yesterday it appeared Cinnamon Bay Campground had a new website in the works. Well I checked it again today and looks like they have it pretty much done! It's pretty impressive, they must have some savvy web design folks working on it - especially compared to the old site. They have some great photos up as well. Makes me that much more excited to get back to the island! Check it out here:


www.cinnamonbay.com

Didn't make it out for a run tonight (i know...) but did eat well and had a great tasting healthy SALAD for dinner tonight that Ashley made up. Also have some other things going on that I'll post more about in the future if I get more details. My mom and dad called tonight and decided they are going to come visit for the weekend! That should be fun and it will be really nice to see them and spend some time together. I'll have to think of somewhere good to take em to eat on Friday and Saturday.

Salad! Salad! Salad!

So I got a GREAT email today from Peter (the race director of 8 Tuff Miles). He's been keeping close tabs on my training via my blog and has sent along some really good tips and provided some good incentive for me. I've reported how although I feel good pretty much up to this point about getting back into the running, food has been really difficult for me. I just love the stuff that's not good for me and really struggle sometimes to not eat too much of it!

Peter's STRONG recommendation: Salad. He keeps telling me I need to eat lots and lots of fresh salad as this will not only help me lose some weight but give me good fuel for running and getting back into shape. I figure he is the expert on the race, and I do like salad, so I'm gonna start eating it a lot! I stopped tonight at the store and got a few bags of fresh salad, some FAT FREE dressing, and a container of blue cheese crumbles which I just recently have really begun to enjoy. So Peter, the above picture is for you!! Not only will salad for lunch be good for me, but I'll probably save some money as well. I tend to go out quite a bit as I like to get out of the office for awhile - but I can always do that w/ a packed lunch too. I'll keep you all updated on how the meal plan goes!

So tonight was my first night of running at the YMCA in Naperville. Back to my old friend the treadmill. I definetely don't want to do soley treadmill running leading up to the race - but it was pretty darn cold out tonight and I figure I'm paying for the Y so I should probably start going. Also, this was a great chance to recalibrate my ipod.

A few things always crack me up about the Y/health clubs. One is the naked guys walking around in the locker room. I mean honestly, there is no reason for it. First off, guys just don't (in my eyes) look good naked. Even most women and probably even the gay men I know would agree that the female body is much more attractive to the eye than a naked, hairy guy. But more than that, it's just like why? Obviously you need to change, shower, etc. - All exceptionally good reasons for stripping down to the birthday suit. But how hard is it to slip a towel around your waist before and after doing these things?? It seems there is always at least one guy in the locker room he feels the need to towel himself off or simply stand there holding a several minute conversation w/ a (usually clothed) locker room compadre. Seriously, this phenomenon happens in every locker room in the country. And not to be stereotypical, but it's usally the old dudes.

Another funny thing is they always have that bright green "cologne/aftershave" stuff on the counters. People must use this stuff because the locker room usually reaks of it, but I don't know where it comes from. Do the health clubs of this world raid my grandpa's closest on a regular basis? Do they have some central supply of bright green, strong-smelling, weirdly labeled liquid bottles in a warehouse somewhere? Don't even get me started on the plastic combs floating in the cylinder of Smurf-blue liquid...

Back to the running. I jumped on the treadmill and ran a quick 1/4 mile to calibrate the ipod before starting into my true workout. After about 1/2 mile at a pretty good pace (the nice thing about the treadmill is that it should help me work on consistency a bit - although, according to Peter I really just need to focus on enjoying the run! Good advice.) I checked the ipod and by golly, it was right on the money within about a hundreth of a mile. Not bad for $29 - I actually bought the kit for Ashley today as she has been pretty interested and she was really excited to get it started. Not that Nike OR Apple needs any more $$ or customers, but this little thing is great, really fun, and incredibly motivating. In fact, when I finished running today, Paula Radcliffe, who WON the NYC Marathon on Sunday, came on to say I had run my fastest mile yet! Sure they are dumb little recordings but the voice feedback in combination w/ your own chosen music and the ability to immediately see a graph of your run is all really cool.

I was feeling great for about a mile, but into the second mile I really started feeling it. I was sweating a lot more since it as warmer inside and I actually stopped to walk after about a mile and a half. I walked at a quick pace, grabbed a drink, and then ran one more mile (explains the dip in the above graph). So overall not a really long run but it definetely will take some getting used to the treadmill. I weighed myself before and after the run using the same scale and I actually lost over a pound of weight in water/sweat which was interesting to think you can actually sweat out that much (obviously, it's not "real" weight loss, althogh I think I've lost 5 lbs or so since starting). I checked in at the desk on my way out to see if I got any free personaly training or anything for signing up again w/ the Y, but apparently its just an "orientation" to show you how to work all the machines and everything. The personal training they do offer is $40 a session! Forget that. I have Brian and Brett and now Peter who is keeping an eye on me.

Stopped at the store on the way home to pick up the salad and some other healthy stuff or lunch included apples, grapes, gatorade, etc. Also picked up a dozen red roses for Ashley as I think lately I haven't really been doing all I can to show her how much I love her. Presented her these along w/ the new ipod running kit and she seemed to be pretty pleased. And no, I didn't make it out for a run as I had hoped last night. Ashley and I got to talking about some stuff that needed talking about and sometimes there are just more important things. She and the rest of my family and friends are always my number 1.

All right, this entries probably getting a bit long for one day! Check out the update below for a few interesting Virgin Island weblinks. Also, I hadn't mentioned it yet, but you may notice the small little Google Ads on the lower right-hand side of the blog page when you scroll down. These are part of the google "Adsense" program. In theory, if enough people clicked on these, I'd make some money. Technically I do make a VERY small amount of money each time one is clicked - but they don't pay out till you make over $100. Anyway, I basically just wanted to know and understand how the program works after reading a really interesting article in the paper about some senior citizens who started websites and are now brining in hundreds of thousands a year solely form Google Adsense Ads. It's not that easy to get rich though! I can't click on the ads myself, and I can't instruct people to click on them or they kick you off!! But if you see something you are genuinely interested in, click it and I'll make some dough! Since I think there are about 4 people reading this blog on a daily basis, I think it will be until I'm a senior before I break the $100 mark!! Later.

Interesting Tidbits

A few things I noticed today while online that are of interest (to me at least):

1. An article I noticed on this blogs google feed of VI news stories (see down on the right if you haven't checked it out yet - some interesting things pop up) mentions how miserably St. Thomas fared in a recent review of Island destinations by National Geographic Traveler Magazine (like last place!). St. John fairs quite a bit better, however. Check out the orignal article by clicking here. Reflecting on my two visits to the USVIs I can see where some of these thoughts may come from. Ashley was a bit taken aback when we arrived on St. Thomas by some of the conditions on the island and some of the run down areas, etc. I can't really comment much though as my experience w/ St. Thomas has been the airport, the view from a taxi from the airport to Redhook, and back. One thing I can say w/ 100% certainty - St. John's beaches are the most beautiful I've ever seen.

2. Cinnamon Bay Campground, where we'll be staying when we are down on St. John in February, seems to be updating their website w/ a whole new look and additional information. Check it out here. Looks pretty cool but they still have a lot of pictures to add and seems to be right in the midst of construction. One great thing is an updated and very detailed color map of the campground. If anyone is curious, we'll be staying in the group site "C" RIGHT NEXT to the beach! Granted, it's not the Westin or Gallow's Point, but I think it will be pretty sweet to be that close to the beach. Speaking of luxury-type resorts, it appears that Cinnamon Bay is really pushing their relationship w/ Caneel Bay (I don't really know what this officially is) on the new website. The "virtual concierge" mentions almost exclusively restuarants and ammenities located at Caneel Bay, and nothing else on the entire island. All very interesting - it's also nice to see that the new rates for Cinnamon Bay haven't changed, at least for campsites (we locked in our price when we made reservations - the entire week at Cinnamon Bay will cost us less than $250!!).

Where have a been?? Lazytown...

All right, no excuses. I've plain and simple been lazy, and I can't afford to continue or I'm never going to complete this race! Above is the run I did yesterday (Sunday) after taking 4 days off. Wednesday we went over to Austin and Melissa's house to help hand out candy and have dinner. Austin had hurt his back really bad and so we ended up staying over there until late helping them get all of their media room stuff set up in their new finished basement in their new house. Got home late and went to bed... To be completely honest I don't remember why I didn't run Thursday but I think I was just being a lazy-ass. Then Friday Ashley had girlfriends in from out of town who all went out for dinner. I ended up getting some pizza and watching movies to entertain myself -- I was in kinda a grumpy mood most of last week and I guess it was just my way of dealing with it.

Saturday I had planned to run in a 5K in Wheaton, but when I went to sign up on the website on Friday it was already full. I suppose I could have just gone and ran it w/o signing up but the pillow felt just too good Saturday morning and I had to work the rest of the day at the Museum. Still, coulda run when I got home but didn't. Anyway, got up Sunday and surfed the net a bit before talking to Uncle Gary who is down with Boompa and Granny helping out as Boompa recovers from his stroke. Uncle Gary asked how the running was going.. "umm - not that good!" He told me about how when he was studying down in St. Croix in the Virgin Islands while in school he had run in a big race that was put on each year with the students facing off against the faculty. It sounded cool and I'll have to ask him more about it, but mostly I think it got me motivated to go out for a run.

One of the reasons I decided to do this run is something I discussed w/ Brian on the first phone call I made to him w/ the idea. We were talking and he said something along the lines of "everyone always has these ideas, but rarely do they follow through." He was exactly right, and I think he knows me well enough to know that I don't always follow through on my plans, ideas, and goals as well as I probably could. The fact that I didn't work out at all for four days kind of reflects this about my personality, although in this case I have to keep going because 1. I really want to achieve this goal, and 2. We've already paid for everything!

I fully admit to having a problem setting goals for myself, probably largely rooted in my lack of self-confidence when it comes to certain things. It is an issue I have always dealt with and will probalby continue to do so but I'd like training for and completing this race to be a step in the right direction as far as goal-setting, achieving those goals, and improving my overall self-esteem. One this about my personality that I would like to change is that I don't always necessarily persevere with the going gets tough. In the past I've had great plans or ideas, but at the first sign of a challenge or having to put in some truly hard work, I'll move on to something else and often will just completely quit. I could have been damn good at hockey, something that I really loved and may have been able to go futher in, but I didn't want to put in the hard work - always just wanted to play, not practice. Well obviously I can't just go down to run this race w/o preparing - and even though playing on the beach for a week WILL be fun, it will be a whole lot more satisfying to complete the race alongside (or at least following!) Brian and Brett.

Anyway, enough of my own personal demons. Sunday's run was really good - stretched for a long time first at the recommendation of several folks and that seemed to help w/ some of the aches in my back especially. I took Pim with and we kept a pretty good pace the entire time w/ the exception of when he pulled out of his collar and I had to get it back onto him. I took a new route down to the St. Charles Library and back through our neighborhood and it was fun to see some new houses and streets I hadn't been by before. It was only just over 2 miles though so I need to start stretching my distance out a bit.

Oh and if all the other things aren't enough incentive to keep up on this running business and get into shape, something I heard Saturday definetely is. I was working at the Museum and talking to one of the girls that works behind the desk, Layla. I told her about my plan to run the race and about my blog and showed it to her on her computer. Her first comment "Why did you put that picture of you up? (The one that is on here currently) That was you when you were young and good looking." Ouch! That picture is only like 2 or 3 years old!! I don't think I'll go back to the goatee anytime soon but I certainly can take off some pounds. Ashley always says she loves me no matter what and actually thinks I look better than in some of the old pictures she has seen of me when I was quite a bit thinner - but I'm sure she'll be happy w/ me slim and trim too!!

Well it's cold and a popsicle out there.. but writing this has me motivated. I'm going to go for a run before bed - maybe short but at least it will be something. Looks like tomorrow I may start at the Y after work as this cold is getting to be a bit much!