Run, T.J., Run

A taste of what I have been up to at work...

2008-04-27T21:30:00.005-05:00

Here's the video that I helped develop, script, shoot (as in I was picking out and interviewing the kids - not filming), and produce for DuPage Chidren's Museum annual gala that was on Saturday night. As some of you might know I've been working pretty hard over the past couple of months along with a great team at the Museum to make this event come together and be a success. I'm proud to say that everyone seemed to have a wonderful time, and that we raised a great deal in much needed donations to support the Museum.

Also should say a thanks to Jini of Clare Communications and Greg of Jaffe films who were a pleasure to work with and had a lot to do with this video being so successful. Greg also helped me get things up and rolling and made sure everything played smoothly for the event so that was very much appreciated.

It was a LOT of hard work, but also a really fun and rewarding experience to be a part of. I was lucky to have wonderful coworkers, volunteers, and several helpful committee members that assisted in making the event such a success. Also, Ashley took almost the entire day to come help out doing everything from raffles, to modeling a necklace, to cleaning up at the end of the night. It was really sweet of her to do that and I REALLY appreciated it. At some point soon we'll probably have pictures up on the Museum website.

If you'd like to make a donation to the Museum, just click here!

You'll be missed Uncle Wes!

2008-04-11T12:19:00.004-05:00

My Uncle Wes (my mom's oldest brother) passed away last Saturday from a sudden and unexpected heart attack. We are traveling up to Minneapolis today for a memorial service. He was a good person and I'll miss having him in my life. He was EXTREMELY good to my grandmother who depended on him for many things on a regular basis as well - so please send out a prayer or good wish to my family (especially my grandma and parents who are taking on the lion's share of responsibilities following his death while still grieving losing their son and brother). Here's something I wrote for the service tomorrow:

As we were driving home Thursday night, my Fiance Ashley asked what Uncle Wes was like. That was a harder question to answer than I had anticipated. Uncle Wes was an interesting character. That was for sure. And I found that to describe him and what I remembered about Uncle Wes to someone who’d never met him was difficult. Then it just came to me – his voice in my head, and that’s really how I remember him most. I think I almost scared Ashley to death when I just jumped right into my best Uncle Wes impression…

“WELL T.J…. LET ME TELL YOU HOW IT WORKS…”

He had a big booming voice that carried across the room or the dinner table, ensuring everyone heard what he had to say, whether they wanted to or not. I still wonder about the authenticity of some of his grandest tales, but whether what he was telling us all was true or not was probably not as important as some of the things he taught me:

Uncle Wes taught me that sometimes you SHOULD be loud and brash, even when it’s not the most popular statement or seems a bit odd to everyone else. If you have something that you truly feel needs to be expressed, say it.

He taught me that even as a tiny kid, if I did it just right (and I’m not sure I ever did), I had the power to make a big, black, doberman get in the back of a car.

Finally, Uncle Wes taught me not to worry so much. Just after moving from Colorado to Iowa a few years ago, I was struggling to find my way in life and went into a deep, dark depression that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Eventually, with help from my family, friends, doctors, and medication I was able to slowly crawl my way out of the black hole I’d buried myself in and get my life going in a more positive direction. At the same time, Uncle Wes was in the hospital and not doing well as an infection had put his life in serious jeopardy. I called him a few times to let him know I was thinking of him and to wish him a speedy recovery. On about the third call he asked how I was doing. I was honest, and told him “Better, but not great – it’s still hard to get up in the morning sometimes and I feel pretty lost.” “Ahhh.. I see,” said Wes, “Well I know your mom and grandma have been very worried about you, it’s all they talk about.” Then he went on to the part that I still remember. “Me, I’m not worried about you. Sure, you may need a little help here and there, but you’re NORMAL. You’re TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OLD. You’re not supposed to have any idea what the hell to do with your life. Just quit worrying so much and do your best – you’re just as messed up as the next kid trying to make their way in the world – no more, no less.”

I still remember that phone call and think of it often. Uncle Wes didn’t care that the doctors had diagnosed me as depressed or put any stock into the stigma that often surrounds mental illness. He let me know I was just another person in this world dealing with some problems, and made it clear that he believed I’d figure things out when I was good and ready, and that there was absolutely nothing wrong with that. It made me feel better; it made me feel normal again. And while it’s been a long road, things have been pretty darn good since then.

Thanks Uncle Wes.

Checking in with the ol' blog world!

2008-04-03T20:17:00.007-05:00

Hey everyone - It's been awhile since a post, huh? Well there is good reason (I think) for that. I've been SUPER busy planning for both the wedding AND the big gala we are putting on at work. Since switching into my new Corporate Relations and Event Planning role at the Children's Museum it's been crazy as our biggest fund raiser of the year is quickly approaching on April 26 - followed a week later by my wedding.

I'm having lots of fun in the new position but feel like there is something to do just about every minute of the day regarding the gala, not to mention some of the Corporate Relations stuff. The good news is that it all seems to be going well and I'm excited about the event. Want to hear more about the event and see me on TV? I thought you'd never ask. Click here (then on my face where it says DuPage Children's Museum):

http://www.nctv17.com/nctv17-son.html

OK - so hopefully I didn't sound too cheesy!! The new marketing person at the Museum was giving me a hard time for not wearing a tie - but hey, that's me and that's just how I roll. It was fun to be on TV (it was live the first time they showed it) - but not something I think I'd want to do on a regular basis. Ashley actually used to do that at the Animal Rescue League in Iowa each week with a new adoptable pet - she was much better than I am!

Speaking of my beautiful fiance, we traveled back to Des Moines last weekend along w/ her mom for the big bridal shower and bachelorette party. They apparently had a very good time. I had a great time too as I got to do many fun things including eating at my all time favorite restaurant, El Rodeo (where of course I ran into someone from my past as always!). On Saturday while the girls were out partying we had a very nice "Pre-Marital Male Bonding Conference." Muchos Gracias to my dad and brother who took care of dinner and hockey tickets for 7 of us guys - that was extremely generous and much appreciated by everyone, including me. After the game we hit up a local smoke free bar and ran into an old friend I knew from high school who was waitressing. She was super nice and hooked me up with free drinks for the rest of the time we were there.

Really enjoyed seeing my parents and catching up with them all weekend as well. My dad has built a gorgeous box to use for cards, etc. at our wedding. It was a great gift and we really appreciate it because he made it especially for us. In fact, for my parents wedding gift to us, my dad has generously offered to make us a table and chairs - any good ideas?? We tend to like very simple, more modern designs - send em my way if you see anything cool! Here's a picture of the box he made us - a special sneak peak before the wedding for you blog readers:

Well that's about all for now. Picked up a new remote for the bedroom TV and I'm LOVING it as I was actually able to program the TV, dish, and DVD player on that one remote. Might get the same one for the living room it works so good! OH - in other news I'm doing a little free-lance writing for the local magazine that featured Ashley and our pets awhile back. I'm hoping the article I'm working on comes out well and that they like what I've done. I'll keep you posted and link to the magazine's website if it's published.

I highly doubt there will be many more posts for about the next month - but I'll see what I can do. Hope everyone is doing good and that it is sunnier where you are than it has been in Illinois lately!!

Part Two: Last 7.5 Minutes of Fame

2008-03-21T23:27:00.011-05:00

Check out the St. John Sun Times wrap up of 8 Tuff Miles. A great article on the race and a bunch of good photos, including one smack dab in the middle of the page spread featuring yours truly with running buddies Brian and Brett (took this at the awards ceremony the afternoon after the race took place). As you can see we are proudly sporting our baby blue "Urbandale All Stars" t-shirts I labored away on leading up to our trip. Big thanks to Ella and Gina at the Sun Times for taking the time to email me an electronic version of the story! You can click on the pictures to see a bigger version.

So we just got back from an interesting evening out. We went up to Elgin to see Sarah Vowell speak. She is an author who has written several books on American history, and she's also pretty damn funny and played the voice of the daughter, Violet, in the move "The Incredibles." I haven't read her books but know her from her frequent contributions to "This American Life" the Chicago Public Radio show that is now one of the most popular on NPR and I have become nerd-ily addicted to. I listen to the old

podcasts most days on my commute. If you haven't checked it out,you should, I'd highly recommend it (check out the link to their website over to the right, I'm tired and don't feel like adding it again here!) Anyway, she was very good and although tickets were a little pricey ($20.00), I'm glad we went and look forward to reading some of her books, such as Assassination Vacation.

After that headed out to a small Italian place on the way home and had a fairly good meal served by what Ashley swears were waiters with fake Italian accents. I made the unfortunate decision to make a comment at dinner along the lines of "Too bad we can't keep the house more clean, both of us are very messy people." Well of course this isn't entirely true, and it's me that tends to put off the cleaning, but I seem to have made Ashley feel as if I felt she was a real mess maker too which is not true. Anyway, it's almost 11:45 p.m. and she's in the bathroom cleaning out the drawers!! On the bright side, her bronchitis seems to be much better and she's not coughing nearly as much.

So I hope to get that big trip report done.. eventually.

My 15 Minutes of Fame... St. John Style

2008-03-20T20:51:00.005-05:00

So one of the coolest things about the whole St. John trip and the 8 Tuff Miles experience was having an opportunity to be interviewed and featured in one of the St. John Newspapers - The Sun Times.

The morning after we arrived, I went to check in officially at the campground while Brian and Brett got us a cab to go into town and pick up the rental jeep. While I was waiting I saw a copy of the Sun Times sitting on a shelf, picked it up, paged through and saw a picture of me and my dog!! They had used the picture I sent along w/ the entire email interview I had done. It was so crazy to arrive on a tiny island in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, and wake up in the morning to find my picture in the paper.

Anyway, the editor and publisher of the paper, Ella, was really fun to talk to and I had a chance to meet her leading up to race day and then right after the race as well (she was the first to greet me and congratulate me at the finish line actually!). She is a really cool person and looks to be doing a great job w/ the Sun Times. So click on the picture of the article and you can read for yourself!!

Got some pictures up!

2008-03-16T21:59:00.003-05:00

Well - still haven't had a chance to write about the trip in detail - but you CAN now see all my photos on Flickr. You'll notice there aren't too many from the race day. We had our friend Heidi who we met in St. John take a bunch that day so hopefully I can post them before long. Anyway, for now, enjoy:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tjhicks/sets/72157604127628531/

Updates on the way....

2008-03-07T09:52:00.002-06:00

Sorry for no big updates yet. The new position at work and wedding stuff has been keeping me busy (not to mention watching the resurging Blackhawks and sleeping!). Anyway, check out this article from the Chicago Tribune that popped up in my VI news stories below:

Click Here

Does it mean I'm becoming a "St. John snob" when in reading this all I did was pick out some small inaccuracies?? Oh well. Started uploaded all the photos from our trip last night to Flickr so I should be able to post a link to them soon.

A day of mourning...

2008-02-28T11:13:00.002-06:00

Just Kidding... But I am sitting here in my office reading though about 100 emails, looking at the snow and gray outside. So going from a white sand beach w/ the sun shining and enjoying the 80 degree afternoon temps is a bit difficult.

Anyway - I need to get back to work so am going to keep this short. But COME BACK soon. I anticipate doing a full trip report w/ pics, stories, everything hopefully by this weekend but definitely in the next week or so. AND.. I think I'm going to keep the blog going just writing about random stuff in my every day life.

I already miss the island - would I do the race again? I would have answered yes 5 seconds after I finished, the entire experience is amazing and I hope to do it again in the future. OK - check back soon for more!

We did it!

2008-02-23T17:30:00.002-06:00

A very quick note - writing from the Quiet Mon pub overlooking the street in Cruz Bay w/ a cold drink in hand. We all finished strong today!

Brett finished 38!! Brian did really good too. And I ALMOST got my goal of 90 minutes that I had just kinda guessed on. I finished 168 of like 330 some men (I think..) with a time of 1:30:41. I'll do a full trip and race report when we return.

So far the trip is GREAT. Sun, perfect water, lots to explore and all kinds of fun stuff so far. Couldn't be much better and I feel like I finished the race just about as strong as I possibly could have.

OK, back to the bar to watch the Drake game and enjoy my beverage. By the way, it's gotta be right around 75 and i'm sitting on a deck w/ sandals, shorts, and a tshirt.

Ashley - are you ready to move down here???

Thanks EVERYONE for all of your support!!! Stay tuned for more next week!

One More Day!!!

2008-02-18T21:47:00.002-06:00

Only one more day until we leave!! I can't wait. Fortunately, there is at least a little time though as I'm not packed completely yet. Have everything I need (I think) for the week laid out, now just need to finish up some laundry and get it all packed up.

Just got home from the gym. I was pretty tired from running quite a long time yesterday and actually ended up just walking almost my whole work out. I did do it at a pretty good incline the entire time though. Ran a mile to start, then a little bit more before getting into the inclined walk for about 45 minutes. All in all I did over 4 miles and spent over an hour on the treadmill. Ashely continues to do really good at the gym lately too - she's gonna look SUPER HOT in that wedding dress in a few months.

I think I'm going to keep it short tonight as I'm going to work on my ipod playlists for the trip and the race, and get some movies downloaded to my phone for the plane ride. I'll *try* to do a final update tomorrow before we take off, and I anticipate being able to post some short updates from my phone during the trip and following the race. And of course I'll do a complete wrap up and trip report, with pictures and everything, upon our return and successful completion of the race!!

p.s. - Boompa's doing better and looks like he will be headed home before long. HUZZAH!

A good solid workout

2008-02-17T20:47:00.001-06:00

Headed over to the gym w/ Ashley in the early afternoon on this miserable gray rainy day. We each ended up having really good workouts. I'm proud of her, she is getting into the swing of working out and ran a 5K on the eliptical, did weights, and rode the bike for 10 miles - not bad! As for me, you can see my run data above (sorry haven't been posting these as much). Did a solid four miles of straight running at 9:13 a mile. Walked a little bit before to warm up and for quite a while after. Felt pretty good the entire time and probably could have kept going but didn't want to push it and exhaust myself as I want to get one more longer run in tomorrow night.

Watched the hockey movie "Youngblood" for the entire run and really enjoyed it. I had seen the end several times but never the beginning - it's cheesy but actually pretty funny. Guess I really should have tried to make it to play junior hockey. That kid experiences more in about 2 weeks at 17 than I did all through college, AND ends up w/ the young hottie at the end!

After that, we went to eat at a really good Mexican restaurant in Batavia called El Taco Grande. We had heard good things but it was my first time. It was very good but no El Rodeo! Then went to pick up some supplies for a project I'm working on for my fellow racers, and over to Dick's Sporting Goods to pick up some stuff.

Since then just been hanging out at home, doing laundry and watching TV in front of the fire. Got to talk to Boompa a bit earlier today and he seemed to be in good spirits so that is really good. I'm hoping he has a full recovery and is back to his old self in no time. We really hope my grandparents can all make it to our wedding but if not we'll try to get out to visit them all soon.

In 72 hours we'll be setting up our tent next to the beach at Cinnamon Bay on St. John!!!!!!!

Getting Ready...

2008-02-17T10:57:00.002-06:00

Short note this morning - we're headed out to the gym in a little bit so I'll try to update tonight on that run. Also need to pick up some final supplies for the trip and start packing everything up so I don't have to worry about it Tuesday.

Found on late Friday night that my grandpa, who we call "Boompa," was transported to the hospital via life flight helicopter after having chest pains. Fortunately, I talked to him just a few minutes ago and he seems to be doing pretty well. The are doing tests and should know more about what actually happened on Monday. So I've been thinking about him and my grandma a lot Sent out any good thoughts and prayers for him if you have time.

OK - stuff to do! Come back tonight for the workout report!

Sick of Winter? This should warm you up!

2008-02-14T23:06:00.005-06:00

So looks like this year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue spent some time at Caneel Bay on St. John... Click here to check out pics, videos, etc. I'm sure Ashley won't be too disappointed they did their shooting last October (don't think we'll be running into any famous swimsuit models next week!)

Thursday night update

2008-02-14T22:31:00.003-06:00

First just want to take a quick minute to remind everyone to send their thoughts and prayers out to the community at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb. I was born in Dekalb, and have actually applied to go back to grad school at NIU (about 30 min from our house), so hearing the news about today's shooting was quite a shock. It's crazy to think these kinds of things can happen anytime, anywhere. Anyway, thinking about the victims and their families tonight and will be into the future.

Sorry I missed last night's update, although since I didn't run last night and worked instead on a website for our wedding and some other stuff - there wasn't much to report. There IS stuff to report from Tuesday night and today however. Tuesday night went to work out w/ Ashley right after work and had a really great run. I ran four straight miles on the treadmill at just over 9 minutes a mile. If I didn't have to go to the bathroom from about mile 2 on I think I could have done a couple more! The hockey game was on TV to watch so that always helps. Ashley says I'll be in trouble w/ no TV to watch as I run 8 Tuff Miles - but I figure with my ipod and all there is to see along the course, I'll be able to keep my brain busy w/o just focusing on the pain and suffering of it all.

Went to run today on my lunch break and had another good workout. Only 30 minutes but I set it to the hills program and ran almost the whole time (one 5 minute walk in the middle). The hills are definitely hard and I ran slower, only doing about 2.75 miles total. Still, I worked up a real good sweat and although I struggled, was able to keep running at the same pace on the steepest incline setting. To think the entire first 6 miles of the race will be like this!!! Well I only have about 3 or 4 more hard workouts to go before we are down there and just trying to stay loose before the race.

Both Brett and Brian seem to be getting really pumped about the trip. Brett says he can't concentrate on anything else and Brian called tonight. Also, Brian and his wife are apparently going to buy a house this weekend - so that is exciting!!

Tonight we headed out to go wedding ring shopping (really the only thing we did for Valentine's day other than give each other cards). This went OK - we aren't quite seeing the whole "ring" experience in the same way so we have some figuring out to do before the big day (will we buy each other's rings?, our own rings?, simple?, diamond band?, etc., etc.) Then went to Kohl's and Ashley got me a cool t-shirt for the trip that has palm trees on it. Then we went out to eat and I bought Ashley dinner while we met w/ our wedding photographer at Colonial restaurant by our house. She is VERY nice and we both like her a lot. She was very down to earth and very chatty - we think she'll do a great job and will be very comfortable to work with on our wedding day.

That's about it for right now - gonna run again tomorrow at lunch and hopefully both days this weekend. Meeting tomorrow night w/ Maria who will marry us, so I'm making lasagna for dinner. Only 5 DAYS UNTIL WE TAKE OFF FOR ST. JOHN!!!!

Pray for those Huskies tonight...

Don't worry I'm still here!

2008-02-12T13:00:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone. Sorry for the brief delay in the day to day updates. I've had a LOT going on lately! First let me say it's like 12 degrees or something and I'm looking out the window and more falling snow. I am SO ready for next week's trip. Only a week from tonight Brett and Brian will be arriving and we'll be taking off for St. John the next morning. But to recap what's been going on:

At lunch Friday I had the best run I've had in a long time. I ran 3 straight miles at a pretty high speed on the treadmill - no stopping to walk or anything and I felt like I could have even gone a bit longer if I wanted to (had to get back to work!). Now I know you are probably saying that's not 8 miles you fool and there was no hills. Well, that is true. I'll admit I'm not at the level I hoped to be by now. But I'm going to do the best I can, train all this coming week hard, and do my best and finish the race.

Friday, I got home from work and Ashley and I immediately jumped into our home improvement project - laying new laminate hardwood floors in our kitchen. It ended up taking us about 6 hours, but we finished it all in one night (not counting molding). Ashley was awesome and figured out how to cut out all the pieces to fit around doors and weird spots - including the completely rounded bottom of one of our cabinets. Although it took awhile and was killer on my thighs and knees (it was actually a good workout), it was really pretty simple to install the floor. Just locks into place and you go one row after another. We used my circular saw and miniature band saw to get the boards cut just right. Overall, we really like how it came out - check it out (one before and 2 after pictures):

Saturday we got up and went to Menard's to pick up molding for the kitchen and some other stuff we needed. We were able to almost finish the kitchen but still had to put a little more molding in and paint over some nail holes and stuff. At 2:00 p.m. we headed over to Petco for the Valentine's Day Pet Party with Pim and Essie. I know this sounds ridiculous, and it was, but hey, it's fun. AND, Pim beat out lots of other dogs and was a finalist in the "best kiss contest" so we won a free bag of pet food - not bad!! We went to Target after that to work on our wedding registery with Ashley's parents. This mostly involved Ashley and her mom walking around w/ a scanner gun picking out kitchen stuff while me and her dad sat on boxes of kitty litter and talked. When the gun finally died, we went over to Portillo's and picked up hotdogs to take back to our house. Ashley's parents were really surprised and happy with how the new floor looked. We were proud.

Sunday did chores around the house, finished the molding in the kitchen, went to the library, cleaned, and did other random stuff that kept us busy. It's been freezing cold and snowing and just crappy out so it was good to stay in the house. Our heating bills have been huge so we put up some of that window film on some windows. Hopefully that will help! Also, I spent a long time paying all my bills which is never fun at all...

Yesterday I was into work bright and early for a training on some new software. This is my final full week in my current position so there is a lot to get done and I'll be pretty busy. It's fun looking forward to my new role though and I'm already started on a few small things. It was coming down pretty hard and cold outside when I got home so instead of going to work out at the fitness center Ashley and I did a bunch of exercises at home in the house. I'll have to get back into 8 minute abs this week and leading up to the wedding so I am looking good!

Tonight after work, I'm going to go home to pick up my shoes and then go directly over to the fitness center to run - so I'll report on that tomorrow. Hmm... other stuff going on. Sent some pics down to Ella with the St. John Sun Times so it will be fun to see if she uses any for her article on the race. Also, Spencer from St. Thomas has visited and posted some good motivational comments for me on this blog, he has started something similar, and has information on his rental home as well as his boat, the Happy Hour. They both look great, and you can check out his blog here:

www.spencerusvi.blogspot.com

I also saw on the 8 tuff miles site he placed first in his age for the last "tuff tune up" on St. John. Way to go Spencer!! Other than ALL THAT, not much else going on. Got some wedding stuff to take care of later this week, and then next week is the trip! I can't wait. Hope everyone's doing well.

Hilarious...

2008-02-10T13:40:00.000-06:00

I'll try to get that big update in tonight.. but to tide you over - here's a funny little VI story:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jAdXN7cF0YmitDB3FDy55XB8bn5gD8UMFGTG0

quick update - more tomorrow

2008-02-09T01:03:00.000-06:00

I'm exhausted... We just spent 6.5 hours laying a new engineered hardwood laminate floor in our kitchen - it looks amazing! I'll post pictures tomorrow and a training update. I had a GREAT run on my lunch break today and the knee feels perfect - feeling good! OK my eyes are literally shutting on me so I'm off to bed.

The Craziest Week of My Life? Probably....

2008-02-06T10:26:00.000-06:00

But in a good way.. I think! Sorry no post for almost a week - things have been craaazzzy around here lately. First let me say that I haven't done much training the past few days - although I think the knee is pretty much completely better now so in the exactly 2 weeks I have until we leave for the islands I will hopefully get in 10-12 runs/workouts of some kind. No, I won't be ironman when I board the plane (even my mom was making fun of me, saying "have fun walking the whole race!"), but yes I'll be healthier than I have been and I'll be off an an adventure w/ my two best friends. I hope to get back going on the nightly or so posts, even if they are short, leading up to the big day.

So to recap the craziness. First, Ashley has been gone so taking care of our zoo of animals in itself has been a bit crazy but not a big deal. Anyway, last Friday I interviewed for a new position at the Children's Museum where I work. The interview went great and I'm happy to announce officially that I got the new job! It's a great promotion for me for a lot of reasons and I'm now the Museum's Corporate Relations and Special Events Manager. This basically means I'll be forming relationships with current and potential donors and sponsors to hopefully garner large donations to the Museum (sorry I am capitalizing Museum but we always do that in our communication so it's habit!). Also I'll be in charge of planning special events that raise funds for the Museum, including the big annual gala event. It should be a big challenge, hopefully fun, and exciting. Most of all I'm excited to have a bit more ownership of my projects and make a bigger impact to help the institution.

Also, I found out another big project I had been working on turned out the way I wanted it to, and that is good news too! Stay tuned for more on that as info becomes available in the future...

Then... yesterday my boss (well my old boss as I'm moving into a new department w/ my promotion) announced she is leaving. This leaves the Museum in an interesting predicament and it remains to be seen how everything will shake out in the next month or so. Anyway, I'll be finishing up some of my current projects and starting the new position right after we get back from the race.

And speaking of the race, I had fun corresponding with the editor and publisher of the St. John Sun Times Eloise Ham over the last couple of days. I contacted her to wish her well in 8 Tuff Miles after reading about her here, on the News of St. John website (Also an update from Peter in there, scroll down a few entries to see more about Eloise) She emailed me back w/ a bunch of questions regarding the race so I did my best to answer them. It will be fun to see if she uses some of my responses in her coverage of the race for the Sun Times (if so I'll have to scan a copy and post it up here after the race or something). She also gave me lots of great advice about some stuff to check out when we are down on St. John. Sounds like she is doing a great job after taking over the newspaper less than a year ago! Pick up the Sun Times (it's free!) when you are on St. John people!

Another weird/cool St. John connection I noticed this week. Well more just a coincidence I guess but I picked up our local suburban newspaper yesterday and the cover story of the Life section was on a guy that was apparently born and raised on St. John who now lives in the Chicago area (read it here). He is going to be competing on the new Survivor, which I believe starts tomorrow. I just thought that was weird. My grandma told me once that if you learn a new word, you'll hear it in the next 3 days (or something like that) and it is TOTALLY TRUE. Seriously, next time you learn a word for the first time, you'll hear it for sure within the next week. Maybe it's like that for me because I'm so focused on heading down to St. John for this trip and the race that now I just keep noticing or finding St. John stuff randomly! That for some reason reminds me of my brother Ben's story of how his Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket magically represented the spirit of a well-known Jewish holiday. It's too hard to explain - just ask him about it.

On a final note, I've been busy updating and doing some stuff to our kitchen while Ashley is away as a sorta surprise/valentine's day gift for her. I created a chalkboard message center, got a new stainless steel trash can for recycling stuff, mounted under cabinet lights and a new stereo/ipod system, and build a new shelf for Pims dog crate and a new feeding station for him. See, you all thought, "T.J. is sooo lazy lately, why isn't he working out more!?" but really I have been busy! Now I just gotta convince Ashley to help me put down a new floor in there and it will actually be pleasant to cook and eat in our kitchen!

Look for a run report tomorrow.

St. John is looking mighty good tonight!

2008-01-31T19:02:00.000-06:00

So it just took me an hour and a half to drive home - and I live 16 MILES FROM WORK!! A classic mid-winter midwestern blizzard is blowing through Chicagoland and it's making quite a mess of the roads. There was a ton of traffic too and it was pretty annoying driving so slow but at least I made it home safe and to my surprise all the dogs had made it w/o any accidents! Way to go dog bladders! I let Pim out off leash into the front yard and he made a mad dash for the cornfield, popped a squat, disappeared behind the house for about 30 seconds, and then sprinted like a bat out of hell to the front door almost knocking me over in his attempt to get out of the wind and snow as soon as possible. I try not to let him off leash to much as he has absolutely zero concern for his own safety and well-being, but I knew he couldn't last more than a minute out there tonight! According to NPR on the way home it'll be up to 7 inches tonight and a couple more tomorrow - even a chance work may not be open but I hope it is as I have some important stuff going on tomorrow.

Anyway, to report on the training. Last night I didn't want to (it was even colder and windy as well) but forced myself to make it over to the gym. Stretched like usual and started walking on the treadmill but as soon as I started jogging I knew I wasn't feeling it. My back hurt like crazy, and on top of that my left knee was hurting and almost feeling like it wanted to bend backwards (which hurt!) every time I landed. This is not good, I thought to myself. So I walked for a mile or so and then tried the running again - same thing, I couldn't even go a quarter mile just felt completely stiff and the knee was hurting. Not wanting things to get worse, I flipped on American Idol on the treadmill TV and walked for over an hour watching the entire show. Luckily walking didn't bother me, and I did some hills and kept a pretty steady pace. Better something than nothing I figure, right?? (sorry no ipod graph - I did record my workout but left my stuff in the car again) It ended up being just over five miles I think. Mostly walking, mind you...

Well today as I get to work the stairs were killer and my knee hurt - this sucks!!! I thought about running at lunch but decided to pass and will also take a break tonight. I know this is lazy, but I think it's a combination of laziness/recovery time as I'm really hoping this knee thing is not a big deal and will feel better by tomorrow. I will keep you posted.

So tonight it's just me and the dogs - maybe I'll start a fire or something in our gargantuan fireplace. I have plenty of other projects to keep me busy as well these days. OH, and I heard back from the library they have that book I talked about last time, "Red Helmet," in for me and on hold so I'll have to pick it up this weekend.

I can not WAIT for our trip - especially on a day like today. I'm gonna sign off tonight but stay tuned for updates tomorrow and through the weekend. I miss you Ashley!

A video to watch, a new book to read, and only like 3 weeks to go!

2008-01-29T22:11:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the missed update last night. Do you just ever have one of those days? I don't know why but yesterday was like that for me - just sucked for some reason. Work was OK but just got home and didn't feel good. Not sick or anything, just tired and grumpy and all I wanted to do was go to bed. So I did. I didn't run, didn't blog, didn't do much of anything except lay in bed, watch a couple shows on TV. An all out no excuses lazy night.

Good thing I worked out on Sunday then huh? You can see my run/walk in the graph above. Ran and walked a couple miles, then spent a bunch of time walking at a steep incline at a pretty high speed which was a good workout for the muscles that I'm sure I'll be using quite a bit on St. John. I'm glad Ashley went with me on Sunday because she really convinced me to go and although it wasn't a super great run or anything I was on the treadmill for just about an hour. The whole time I was watching "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" on the Food Network and just watching all of these amazing (yet almost disgusting in their greasiness and size) burgers, ribs, and other great fattening yet delicious food. I guess this motivated me - but surprisingly got home and didn't end up eating too much. Otherwise we had a good weekend, got a LOT done around the house (still lots to do!), and went to the Batavia Chamber of Commerce awards dinner where Ashley's company (Batavia Enterprises, her family run business) won one of the big awards - so that was nice. Also, Ashley's dad bought both a heart monitor w/ watch and Bulls tickets in the silent auction and promptly gave them to me which was extremely nice!! Thanks Mr. D! I'll have to try out the heart monitor this week and let you all know how it works.

So like I said yesterday was a "nothing" day which I really can't have too many more of considering how soon the race is! Today I decided to get my workout in over lunch, and decided I'd swim instead of run. I headed over the the Y and was pretty much the only one in the pool. Swimming is hard! I mean I have always been an OK swimmer and everything but I've always just swam around for fun. When you are just in there doing laps you get tired really fast! I would do 2 pool lengths and then have to rest for a long time. I used this time to do some stretching and other exercises though, and overall think I got a pretty good workout in. Probably ruined it w/ some pizza for dinner though (damn food!!!! you are my arch nemisis!). I'll get back to the treadmill tomorrow night and will be sure to update. Was looking like I could run outside until about 7 p.m. tonight. Currently I'm looking out the window in our office at an all out winter blizzard w/ crazy winds. So crazy in fact that there is a pile of snow in our garage just from a tiny crack that is in the door.

So I logged on to www.on-stjohn.com today to find a great interview with Homer Hickam. He is a really good writer and a really interesting guy that lives on St. John much of the time. He wrote the very good book "Rocket Boys," based on his life growing up in a small coal-mining town. He and his friends started experimenting with rocketry and he became so knowledgeable and educated in the field that he went on to work for NASA, building rockets, training astronauts and the like. The movie October Sky was based on "Rocket Boys" and is also very good. Anyway, this also interested me because my parents at one point had struck up some email correspondence with Mr. Hickam and had really enjoyed his responses. They even took my grandparents down to the annual "October Sky Festival" in West Virginia (I think), and had a chance to meet Homer, who shares a remarkable amount in common with my own grandfather (both science writers, familiar with space travel and astronauts, etc.). They apparently had a great time and found Mr. Hickam to be a very friendly and interesting man. Anyway, after hearing all this from my parents and reading "Rocket Boys" it was fun to see the interview posted - check it out. He's got a new book out, "Red Helmet," which apparently begins and ends on St. John! I just logged on to the local library website and placed a hold on one of the first copies that comes in. Hopefully I'll get it in time to take down on our trip! Must be pretty good as the reviews so far on Amazon are all 5-star.

One more thing for you all to check out tonight. I got this in an email today (yes, I know sounds sketchy!), but apparently the band/guy known as Five For Fighting (a great musician AND good hockey name) is helping to raise some money for autism research, etc. All you need to do is visit this link, and check out the video to help:

http://whatkindofworlddoyouwant.com/

Hey, if you're reading this you're not doing something else - take a second to help out this cause by watching a video - now THAT is easy.

Well.. only like 3 weeks left now and I can barely wait to take off for St. John. Brett called today and said he talked to a nice lady down at Low Key Watersports in Cruz Bay and is setting things up for us to go on a beginner dive Monday after the race so that should be lots of fun. He said after talking to her he can't wait to get to St. John. Ashley takes off EARLY tomorrow morning for San Diego with her dad. She'll be gone for a WHOLE WEEK! What am I gonna do w/ myself?? Well I guess that will mean lots of extra workouts, housework, and hanging out w/ the pets who will also be missing her like crazy. I LOVE YOU ASHLEY - travel safe and have a great time, I can't wait for you to get home (and you're not even gone yet!).

Weekend wrap up...

2008-01-27T22:01:00.000-06:00

Check in tomorrow night for a DOUBLE update on the weekend and today's workout along with tomorrow's work out as well. Hope everyone had a great weekend and have a good start to your week - Only 5 days till FRIDAY!! :)

This is Freaking Cool!

2008-01-25T22:34:00.000-06:00

OK, I know dolphins tend to be rare visitors around St. John, but this video was on the front page of youtube and was really awesome. How cool would it be to be out snorkeling and have one of these guys swim up next to you? I know my dad had an opportunity to swim with wild dolphins in the open ocean when he was younger - hopefully I'll have a chance to do that some day! Anyway, take a minute to watch this:

No training report today :(. Didn't make it to the gym at lunch and decided to come straight home after work as it was snowing like crazy. Tomorrow Ashley and I will go to River West Fitness for a good long workout session. I'll probably try to spend 45 minutes to an hour on the treadmill and run/walk at least 5-7 miles along w/ doing some other stuff.

Apparently my headache transferred over to Ashley's entire body as she wasn't feeling good tonight and headed to bed early. I jumped online and posted links to the blog on a few Virgin Islands message boards appealing to folks to give me some encouraging words for the upcoming big race. If you're visiting the blog for the first time, welcome!! Check back every day or so for new updates.

Also, here's a mystery - got a very interesting comment a few posts back. Quite inspirational in fact. Posted anonymously though - who could this ghostwriter be?? I think I have a few ideas, but am not completely sure. Will they make another appearance with more words of wisdom and perspective before the big race? We can only wait to find out. Here's a copy of their original comment:

Two dozen and five days from now, you will exit this continent and be brought forth to a new nation, located in the sub-tropics, believing in the proposition that anyone, so long as they possess enough resolve, can accomplish something miraculous. Soon you will be engaged in an eight tough miles race, testing that notion, and whether you, or anyone, can finish such a race, having chronically procrastinated and inadequately trained. You will come to a great beach, and then climb a vast mountain, which may or may not become the final resting place of your dream. And it is altogether fitting and proper for you to remember this:

The world will little note, nor remember, whether or not you finish the race, or even that you were ever there in the first place. But you must not forget what you do there. It is, therefore, for you, and you alone, to be dedicated to the great task before you, to complete your unfinished work and thereby consecrate the jungle with the smashed remains of your fears and self doubt. And like the will of the brave people who have run and struggled there before you, with that kind of mettle, your dream will not die in vain, but shall survive, and with it, at the finish line, a new birth of self confidence.

OK - off to bed for the night!

Thursday on Friday

2008-01-25T17:11:00.000-06:00

Sorry no post yesterday. I did go for a run but when I got home from work got hit by a HUGE headache. You ever get one of those headaches right behind one of your eyes at like one particular spot in your head? This is exactly what I had become afflicted w/ by the time I got home. I laid down and waited for Ashley to get home from her hair appointment, then pretty much whimpered like a little puppy for about an hour complaining about my headache before I headed straight to bed. Thanks for taking care of me Ash - I love you.

Anyway, to report on my workout. It was short because I couldn't go after work so had to go on my lunch break (I'm not a morning person, remember - although for the race I will have to be!). I ran two good hard miles on the treadmill. Then I walked for five minutes or so and ran another half a mile before I had to hit the shower and get back to the office.

Some of you are probably thinking - he's not going to make it! Well I hope to prove you wrong. I will say this - with the race less than 30 days from now I won't be sprinting the whole thing and will probably be really struggling up the hills. My original goal was to finish and run the entire thing. I'd still like to do this - and will definitely try as hard as I can, but as long as I finish I'll be happy. I'll probably write more on this after I have a chance to reflect a bit in the final days leading up to the race, but I know I'm not going to be in "top peak physical shape" when we board the plane next month. I definitely could have trained harder early on, and made some mistakes along the way. But the good thing - I'm running and working out almost daily. I'm feeling better w/ more energy. I've lost (some) weight. And most importantly I'm no doubt healthier and in better shape than I was last year at this time and than I was when I decided I wanted to do the race. So those are all good things.

Not even a month left now... I've still got time to get in even better shape! Stay tuned.

So this guy has me beat!!

2008-01-23T20:17:00.000-06:00

OK, so I thought a little pond hockey was soooo original when it comes to doing some cross-training for 8 Tuff Miles. Boy was I wrong!! Just check out this picture. Race Director Peter sent this to me. It is his friend Bill Rielly of Brownfield, Maine. Here he is doing some "hill training" on some beaver huts! Bill has apparently finished the race 6 or 7 times, is 60 years old, and is in the "under an hour club." Wow!! He even finished 21st overall last year. Anyway, just wanted to share this cool picture - way to go Bill!

Doing an early post tonight and still haven't gotten my workout in. Looks like it will be doing some 8 minute abs and seeing if Ashley is up for that and some other exercise in the house. Would go skating or running but it's still snowing out there and there is a good 5 inches or so right now! OK - yes I could probably run in that, but no I don't feel like it when I can do some stuff in the nice cozy house to keep the workouts going.

Just got back from Ashley's brother's house and had fun playing w/ the soon to be nephews (1 and 3). They are a lot of fun and were in good moods tonight so we had a great time playing and then looking up train crashes online for the 3 year old to look at. He LOVES trains - his big thing now is train crashes apparently. Perhaps he'll grow up to be like my brother Ben, who is a true "foamer." If you don't know what a "foamer" is ask Ben or check out his website here: Ben's Train Travel Web Page.

All right, gonna have something small for dinner and then get some exercise in. Hope to get a nice long run in tomorrow after work at the gym so I'll report on that tomorrow night. Need a beach break? Go here and check out Little Maho - this was actually the first beach on St. John I ever set foot on. I was completely alone and it was about 11:00 p.m. - stars were completely filling the entire sky and it was one of the most surreal experiences of my life at the time. I'm becoming a big fan of these "On-StJohn.com guys!"

Quick Update tonight...

2008-01-22T22:46:00.000-06:00

Need to get to bed soon so gonna keep it quick tonight. Made it to the Y today during lunch and ran a few miles, working up a good sweat. Not as good as last night but I was happy I got a run in.

I have some fun stuff to post tomorrow and promise a better recap of what's been going on lately. In the meantime, check out this gorgeous picture of St. John taken from the air (or at least part of St. John, it's hard to tell) that adorns the cover of the inaugural "St. John Magazine." Gives you a good idea of those hills...

Another fun thing to do that will get you excited for the big race. Check out some awesome photos from last year taken by Steve Simonsen (I have his St. John Calendar up at work w/ Cinnamon Bay calling my name) at last years 8 Tuff Miles. I hadn't actually looked at these yet - found them on the guestbook at www.8tuffmiles.com. It's a bit scary to me though - these people are all in very good shape and STILL are looking beat at the end of the race!! Anyway, have fun and I'll update more tomorrow.

Here's the link to the photos.

I'd bet good money I'm the only one cross-training for 8 Tuff Miles like this!!

2008-01-21T21:06:00.000-06:00

Ahhhh... pond (or in this case river) hockey. There is simply no better sport in the entire world. Even when you're alone! So w/ the cold temperatures the ice is finally thick and some of the rinks at local parks have been flooded. Not only that, but the Fox River is finally safe to skate on and I decided it couldn't hurt to get a little extra workout in today using the old hockey muscles. I had the day off work today and headed over to the laundromat in Batavia to get all my laundry done at once late in the afternoon. While stuff was in the dryer I made the short trip over to the "Depot Pond" on the Batavia Riverwalk, a man-made eddy that is perfect for skating. I laced up the skates (thanks for these awesome new ones Ashley!), threw on my hockey gloves and took off across the river. Was pretty darn cold and I had forgot my stocking cap, so didn't last too long - but it was FUN! A little bit of snow on the ice so it wasn't ideal but still kicked the puck around a bit and took some shots against the brick retaining wall that surrounds this portion of the "pond." That was fun till I fired my puck into the nearby playground - oops! Well, as my old teammates can attest to, I'm much more of a player than a practicer, so after a few more loops around the ice and some hard sprints (see I did get some good exercise!!) back and forth across the river my ears were freezing and I decided to call it a day after 15 or 20 minutes. Even so, I was beat! Just take a look at the picture to the left, skating is a GREAT workout. Bet no one on the islands has thought of this training technique!

Headed back to the laundromat and finished things up, meeting Ashley after she got off work to head over the the nearby fitness center to try it out. Looks like everyone at Batavia Enterprises (Ashley's work) and family will be getting free memberships as they are working this out in a business deal (they own the building the fitness center is in). Anyway, tonight we paid the $6 guest pass to check things out. Ashley had been here to work out before a lot but I hadn't ever been inside. This place is awesome!! It's in an old building w/ lots of character. Hardwood floors, exposed brick walls and the like. It doesn't have a gym or a pool and is really small but has everything else you could want. Ashley got on the eliptical machine and I jumped on the treadmill thinking I'd be beat after skating. Exactly the opposite! I had probably my best run since well before Christmas. I'm not sure if it was that I was warmed up, that I was with Ashley, or that I could watch my very own TV w/ sound (EVERY treadmill has a TV w/ DVD player and a headphone hookup, it's awesome and I watched a cool show on the History Channel about Bigfoot). One thing that really may have helped was a slowed down a bit to a 6.5 on the treadmill which is about a 9:10 minute mile. Slow, yes - but I think this will really help my endurance. Anyway, I was running and two miles were over just like that and I felt great! I ended up doing a 5K, walked for a little bit, then ran another half mile at a high speed. I probably could have run even further but didn't want to push it and be dead tomorrow (I'm sore now! But a good sore). Anyway, this is where we went and will be going all the time starting soon hopefully:

River West Family Fitness

As you can see from the graph, stayed completely consistent so that was really good. Headed out after the workout and split a Chinese dinner which was a good idea cuz it turned out to be HUGE! We have about half of it left over for lunch tomorrow and although I probably ate one crab rangoon to many it didn't completely ruin what I'd accomplished on the treadmill.

All right, it's getting late and I need to get to bed. OHH, but I wanted to say Peter's been posting lots of great updates so check out the latest at:

www.8tuffmiles.com

Seemed like there as something else I was gonna talk about, but it's slipping my mind and the mattress is calling. Later!

I feel like a crochety old man today :(

2008-01-18T21:10:00.001-06:00

Well it will be a bit of a short update tonight as we have company in from out of town (Michelle, our maid of honor), and this is her room I'm writing from! You may have noticed no run update yesterday. That's because I never got a run in. Was too busy at work to take lunch off, then had our engagement photos (very fun with the craziest Polish Photographer I've ever met. Well I guess I haven't met any other crazy Polish photographers, but he was great). Then headed to get some dinner and had a long talk and by the time we got home it was already 10 pm and 0 degrees out so going for a quick run around the block was out.

Not wanting to lose training time, I hit the gym today after work for a run that just didn't feel good. I tried different speeds, walking intervals, but I just couldn't get into it (no graph tonight, ipod's still out in the freezing car!). Spent about half an hour on the treadmill and did burn some calories and exercise the muscles but hoping to have a much better workout tomorrow night after I work representing the Museum at a local chocolate festival. I have such a long way to go to where I'll be ready for the race. And truth be told I know I won't TRULY by ready in the way I should had I been more disciplined w/ my training over a longer period of time. I was feeling kinda crappy about this tonight on the way home. But hey, there is still a month to go, I've been eating better and have more energy it seems, and even if I end up finishing at a turtle pace, I'm still going to finish and I'll still be with my two best friends in St. John. Couldn't ask for much more than that! And don't hesitate to comment if you are reading this! It helps me stay motivated.

I'll report tomorrow on what I hope will be a much better feeling workout. Should be fun as I think Ashley and Michelle are going to join me at the Y following my work event. I had a deep thought today while listening to some Jimmy Buffett on the treadmill (I don't really think you're supposed to have deep thoughts when listening to Jimmy B.) Maybe I'll report on that and write more tomorrow. I'm out for now.

Check this out!

2008-01-17T15:40:00.000-06:00

OK, so I've only actually mountain bike a few times and didn't find it all that great (tiring!!) Had I been on this course it might have been a bit more fun. This is cool!

Stay tuned for an update tonight. Didn't run at lunch today so will have to brave the cold again tonight when I get home!

Brrrr... and Books

2008-01-16T19:41:00.000-06:00

Just got back from a COLD run outside. I wasn't able to get to the Y today as I was in downtown Chicago for a meeting w/ radio Disney (no I didn't meet Hannah Montana), and had to get home early after work to let the dogs out as Ashley had some stuff to take care of. Anyway, I decided to combine two things that needed doing - going to the library and running. The library isn't too far away (just over a mile) but it is kinda hilly to get there and I had a LOT of books and CDs to return. So I put everything into my messenger bag and started off. As you can see we now have running stats back! So I didn't go fast - not fast at all!! BUT I was probably carrying about 15 pounds on my back if not more so it was definitely a good workout and got me sweating quite a bit even though it was like around 30 degrees out (I wore shorts!). It felt great to finally get to the library and unload that bag! But I didn't stay long, just long enough to pick up some CDs I had on hold, find another CD for my grandma, and check out. Then back to the pavement feeling much lighter for the run home which went pretty well. No speed records but I was just happy to make it home in the cold! And I ran (well I guess jogged considering my speed)the entire way which is good.

Got some good new CD's to listen to - soundtracks to "Across the Universe," "Into the Wild," and "Once." I considered buying some of these on itunes but why buy when you can borrow. I DID try out the new itunes rentals and rented the Simpsons movie but haven't started watching it yet.

Well tonight we are having a conference call to sort out the trip details so we can all be excited and set to go in just over a month. I can't wait to show those guys around St. John - hopefully they will like it as much as I do. I'm craving a Virgin Islands Pale Ale and some of that Caribbean lobster pasta I had last time I was down there. Well it'll have to wait til after the race! All right Ashley talked me into making her some dinner so I better get started. I'll update w/ tomorrow's workout AND a report on our engagement photo session - I need to wash some nice clothes!

Healthy food is expensive!

2008-01-15T20:38:00.000-06:00

Just got back from the grocery store after a really good workout. Bought a bunch of groceries, with just about everything being either healthy or at least not junk food. Didn't seem like I had much it my cart but it ended up being over $100.00!!! OH well, mostly I got stuff for sack lunches and that'll be good not only because I'm eating better but also because I'll save money in the long run. Also picked up some one a day vitamins. I ALMOST bought the Flinstones chewables just because they were so fun when I was a kid - but bought an "adult version" that was on sale.

I'm SOOOO tired! Tonight's workout was kickass in a good way - and to be honest last night was weak. I pushed myself a lot harder tonight and was really sweating and maxing out at the end. "But T.J., where is your cool little ipod/nike graph?" I remembered the ipod but forgot the running sensor "DOH!" Anyway, I ran two miles straight, then walked a bit, then ran half a mile at a slower speed on a treadmill incline of 2.5. In total I only did 3.5 miles, but I was on the machine for over 40 minutes and burned 626 calories. So that is not bad. I know it's not 8 miles w/ severe hills (at work today a friend that is following this blog said she's "worried about me" in the race). All I can do is keep pushing and working and eating better and see how things go. Hey, even if I don't sprint the course in some amazing time, finising will be a great accomplishment and I'll be in that much better shape, hopefully to continue after our trip and will be in great shape by the wedding in May.

Anyway, had a good day and ate good. Nutrigrain for breakfast, salad for lunch, and just finished a bowl of chili for dinner. W/ all my new groceries I'll have quite the selection in packing lunches for the rest of the week. Tomorrow morning I head down to Chicago to do a 30 minute spotlight show on the Museum with Radio Disney, so that should be fun and interesting (gotta get up early though!).

OK, I'm off to play w/ my iphone and check out all the new updates that came out today (movie rentals!!) Did you see the new Apple laptop?? Wow - head over to apple.com to check it out. Have a great day and stay tuned for tomorrow's update.

A New Week Begins....

2008-01-14T20:39:00.000-06:00

**NOTE: I just wanted to let those reading this know that I'm really not as bad at writing and spelling as it probably appears when reading this blog (OK, yes, I am not the greatest typist when it comes to accuracy!!) - I tend to be editing things all day at work, so I usually just write what I'm thinking, rarely go back to look it over, insert any hyperlinks, and hit post!**

You probably wondered where I've been again!? Well this weekend we took a trip to Galena (see us having fun and freezing at left), IL w/ Ashley's entire family which was a lot of fun but unfortunately I didn't get much running in. Did get some exercise though as we walked up and down to all the little shops in town and spent some time in the swimming pool. Also, had my first ever professional massage (although I doubt this is something I'd pay for on a regular basis, I highly recommend it!), so that's gotta be good for my muscles right?!?

I made it to the Y first thing after work tonight and hit the treadmill for half an hour. Ran just a mile and a half (w/ a period of walking in there), but at least I did something. I left feeling like I could have done a little more though so I need to keep pushing myself. If I add a mile or two a week and finish up the training with some inclines and spending well over an hour on the treadmill and running or jogging 8-10 miles a few times leading up to the race I think I should be in about the best shape possible w/ the time I have left. Considering looking into a group aerobics class or something a few mornings a week at the local rec center - but believe it when you read about it as I'm so not a morning person.

Sorry no cool little nike plus graph. I DID have my ipod - but just my luck, it was out of batteries!! I'll charge it tonight and start posting my graphs again tomorrow. Other than the eating better, which to be completely honest I still need to work on a ton (doing better on smaller portions and healthier options though), the thing I need to improve most is my motivation. I am more excited about the trip to St. John and the race than anything right now (OK it's tied w/ our wedding! sorry Ashley), but it's still tough to push myself to work out as hard as possible. I used to work out w/ Brian all the time when we were in our first couple years of college and it was so easy because we kept each other motivated. We were reminiscing about that on the phone the other night. We'd work out Tuesday and Thursdays together when I was at DMACC in Ankeny, Iowa, and Brian was at Iowa State, in Ames. He'd come to the Y in Ankeny Tuesdays, and then I'd go up to the rec center at Iowa State (I think some kid permanently gave me his ID or just left it for me Thursdays or something), and we'd always run, lift weights, and usually play basketball. Now, I'm by no means a natural athlete w/ the exception of my skills on the hockey rink - but in those days we got to a point where we could actually compete in just about any pick up game.

Speaking of Brian, he and Brett apparently got together this weekend and ran about 13 miles straight (that's a half marathon!!), so they are really gearing up for the big race and while I know I can't keep up w/ them I wouldn't want to spend the week on St. John and do the race with anyone else, we're going to have a great time. Both those guys have been great about being supportive, and Brett has been giving me lots of tips and is helping me set some realistic goals. I WILL finish the race, and I WILL feel good about my performance!!

You can check out some news and Peter's latest updates on how the race is shaping up at www.8tuffmiles.com. He has quite a few recent updates. Seems everything St. John has been consuming my time and thoughts lately actually. For Christmas my dad gave me a book called "Keep Left, the Open Air Asylum Called St. John." It is written and self-published by a guy named Mike Mullen who bought a lot and built a gorgeous villa called Villa Tesori on St. John. He talks all about his trials and tribulations in building the house as well some of the adventures he had and people he met along the way. The book is definitely a bit rough and choppy at times, but overall if you like St. John or just want a quick and easy to read crazy story, it's not bad at all. Mr. Mullen put his phone number on the back cover and said feel free to contact him - so I did. I called him and he was really nice and let me know that I was the first person to give him some feedback on the book! He was in the middle of meeting w/ an architect on St. Thomas in regards to a new project. Anyway, it was great talking to him after reading the book and I may even give him some thoughts if he reprints it. Another thing that was really cool was he suggested an online blog about the building of another St. John Villa, Bongo Bongo.

You can check out this really awesome, detailed, and very interesting and funny blog here. WARNING: If you get into this it'll take you well over an hour to read but it's totally worth it! The guys that wrote it and built the house also now maintain a website w/ daily websites called On St. John. Lot's of great videos, interviews, and all kinds of interesting content.

All right, I better go and collect up some of the stuff for our upcoming trip as we are going to have the official planning conference call on Wednesday night. I know, that seems early! But what can I say we are freaking excited!!! And we need to talk about all the details as far as packing, what we're bringing, who's bringing what, etc. Hey it will be fun and make us even more excited. Just over a month now till a week of sun, a run, and FUN on St. John w/ my two best friends - I can't wait!!

Good News, Bad News

2008-01-08T13:00:00.000-06:00

Good News: Ipod found!! Just put in a load of laundry and it was in the pocket of an old pair of jeans. See, told you I'd find it! So running graphs should be back up again soon!

Bad News: I'm sick. Staying home from work today as I don't feel to great at all. Went the the Y last night and even after stretching for a long time just wasn't feeling it at all on the treadmill. I think this probably has something to do w/ the fact that I was starting to get sickish and that I forgot my lunch yesterday so ate out of the vending machine which has only crap. I ended up running only like a mile, then walking for another mile and a half or so, part of that on the highest incline (15) for a short period of time which was just killer! Overall sweated a lot but just didn't get into the groove. Came home, hit the couch, and almost immediately fell asleep watching a movie with Ashley (Once, started good w/ good music but I guess she didn't like it overall - I can't say as I was conked out). Woke up around 1:45 am and went straight back to sleep in the bedroom. Got up at the normal time w/ my alarm and just felt awful w/ a headache that was killing and just feeling crappy overall. Figured I'd probably be much better off getting some rest at home as I could tell I would probably not be productive at all at work. I do have a few things I can tackle at home as far as the Museum goes and as I'm feeling a bit better now I'll see what I can get done.

Don't know if I'll be up to a full run tonight but maybe depending on how I feel. If nothing else I'll try to get out of the house for a walk if I'm feeling up to it. All right, time for some more rest now so I don't miss any more days of work this week! Hope you are all feeling better than me!!

treadmill post

2008-01-07T17:52:00.001-06:00

update from the treadmill via iPhone! Walking now after a short run. Hot and stinky in here

At last...

2008-01-06T16:17:00.000-06:00

Ok, Ok. Where to begin? First off, sorry for the lack of updates. I could try to come up with some excuses but they are just that, "excuses." So what's really the point. The race is in like 50 days!! So my hope is to not only up the training but get back to posting at least once every couple of days if not every night. I have to admit, one thing that helped me in the past to remember to post was plugging in my ipod after a run and then uploading the graph to the blog. Well the iPod is still lost - I WILL FIND IT!! and since my new iphone doesn't let me sync up w/ the nike plus system I won't have the fun little graphs for awhile.

Anyway, instead of giving excuses, I'll give a quick update on what I've been up to so at least anyone who reads this knows I've been doing SOMETHING, even if it hasn't been hardcore race training (more on that in a bit). December was a fairly busy month for a lot of reasons. Not the least of which being the fact that Ashley and I are newly engaged and she decided (a decision which I fully support), she wanted to get married pretty much as soon as possible and also with the least amount of stress involved. We settled on May 3rd, which is great because it is her parents anniversary as well, and the place we wanted to get married, The Herrington Inn in Geneva, had that date open. Well even with our "simple" and stress-free as possible wedding there is a lot to do! And it needed to be started right away. So we've been busy picking food, DJs, musicians, colors, invitation, flowers, rings, cakes, etc. etc. the list goes on. I'm incredibly lucky and proud to be marrying a woman who is going through this process w/ an open mind yet is helping me to make good, quick decisions without dwelling on every little detail. I've heard some wedding horror stories and I think by getting things done early we'll avoid some stress and still have a really awesome wedding. So thats been taking some time.

Another project has been a lot of fun but was also a lot of work leading up to Christmas. My dad recently showed me how to make small wooden "Christmas" trees like these:

They are really fun to make and not too difficult. Well I made a batch of around 10 or 15 and took them in to work. I thought I'd see if I could raise some money for charity (and myself) by selling a few trees to people that needed last minute or unique gifts for the holidays and decided I'd sell a set of three trees for $12 and give 25% of anything I made to the Central Asia Institute. On that first day, I sold out by 11:00 a.m.!! So one thing led to another and I spend about two week every day after work making as many trees as my energy level and bandsaw blades would allow. To make a long story short, I know have my trees for sale in an art gallery in Naperville (The Beat of my Art), made over $500 in about 2 weeks, and donated over $125 to the Central Asia Institute. I also made trees (and collapsible castles, click HERE for my parent's website) for a lot of close friends and family for holiday presents and they went over great. None of this was planned as of December 10th and took a lot of time - but it was fun. People really like these little trees (if you're interested in trees or castles, just shoot me an email at tylerjhicks@gmail.com and I can hook you up w/ a custom design)!

Obviously the holidays kept us busy as well. We had the traditional Dempsey family tree-trimming and dinner w/ the 5 Catholic Priests, several family and work holiday gatherings, and a trip to Iowa with the dogs to celebrate Christmas with Ben, Lee, and my parents.

We did have a nice break from work for New Year's as well, but Ashley wasn't feeling great so we didn't to do much. We did get a bunch of stuff done around the house though which was good, and had fun seeing some friends, and a great new movie: Juno.

OK... but T.J. - what about the RUNNING??? Isn't that what this blog is all about! You don't want to die on the top of Bordeoux Mountain do you?? So the god's honest truth. I didn't do much in December. Not much at all. I didn't run outside once and made it to the gym a few times but not on a consistent basis. I've never been great at long term goal-setting and then continued hard work to reach those goals (a big reason I'm taking on 8 tuff miles), and I think I certainly struggled for a month or so there (and have yet to prove myself in the 50 short days leading up to the big race!). To dwell on that would probably not help me move forward towards the goal I WILL complete, however, so I think it's best to move on. I do want to say thanks to all those that continue to support me, ask about the race, and encourage me to run. Especially my family (even if they just make fun of me that I never update the blog), the posters to this blog, Peter Alter the race director, my running partners Brian and Brett, and most of all my fiance Ashley.

So there IS some good progress to report on over the last week or so. I've been getting into the Y consistently and am back up and running on the treadmill. I ran Wed, Friday, and yesterday, and am upping my distance a bit each time. Before I started slacking in December I was running 3-5 miles a night pretty comfortably. I hope to be back up to that in the next week to 10 days. My last two runs have been great, are fun, and have me pushing at the end but really feeling like I'm getting a good workout. I will probably start trying to mix in some swimming/biking at the Y a few days a week to change things up and work all my muscles. Also, while I haven't lost a significant amount yet - I'm about 8-10 pounds lighter than I was when I first started running last fall. I took today off and may actually try to get in two workout sessions tomorrow and into this week depending on how I'm feeling. I haven't drank any "real" pop in a few weeks and am slowly weaning myself off diet pop again. I made a deal with Ash - she can't buy bottled water (bad for the environment!!!!), and I'll quit diet pop. This will be hard for me!

I'll include in my next post distance ran, time, etc. since I'm pretty much running on the treadmill all the time now. As soon as I find that tiny little piece of technological magic I call my ipod I'll start updating my stats w/ the graph from each run as well.

On a final note, Ashley's pet rat, Tater, is super sick and looks like he's in the process of passing away this weekend. It's been a hard couple days for her (I know, he's a rat - but my girl loves animals - in fact click HERE to find out just how much!). So if you have a second say a little prayer or or send good wishes out that Tater is peaceful. I can assure you he lived a VERY good rat life! Well I have laundry to do, 60 minutes to watch, and need to pack up my running stuff for tomorrow's workout. g'night and Happy 2008!

Christmas eve update

2007-12-24T22:16:00.002-06:00

hey everyone! Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season right now. We just got home from iowa and had a really good time visiting my parents and brother and sister in law. I'm keeping this short for good reason tonight... I'm typing on my new iphone! All I can say is that I have the most amazing fiancé in the world - I love you Ashley! Anyway I'm still learning to type fast but so far so good. Been talking to Brian and Brett and we are all getting super excited for the race. Have a rocking christmas - i'll have a training update on wednesday.

Hello world!

2007-12-22T00:21:00.001-06:00

I'm back... back in the saddle again!!! Well I don't know how enthusiastic I should really make that but I wanted to post an update to be sure and let everyone know that although my blogging has been limited (as well as my running and training to be honest) over the past month or so I plan to get going strong again - hopefully daily - following Christmas which I'll be out of town for. I'm DEFINETELY going to be running the big race in just a couple months know and although I have lots of work to do am very excited and can't wait for race day!

It is HARD to eat good during this time of year. I think that is still my biggest struggle but I've been improving a bit and not eating such big meals all the time. I've been doing a fairly good job of eating little snacks throughout the day at work which are healthy like apples, etc. Also eating some better lunches like soup and fruit, salad, and the like - BUT there is LOTS OF ROOM for improvement.

As for the running, I made it to the Y a couple times this past week and hit the treadmill for a few miles each time. Unfortunately my trusty ipod is MIA currently which is seriously bumming me out. Not only do I not get to listen to my favorite podcasts in the car but I can't track my runs to post on here or to the nike plus site either. I'm fairly sure it will turn up in my car, under my dirty clothes, or on my desk buried somewhere - but so far not luck :( The new ones are darn cool but I really don't wanna spend $200 for something I already have that works great. I'll find it!

Anyway, the runs went well but it definetely is taking a bit to get back into the swing of things after taking several weeks off from really any kind of training. One day turns into two, turns into a week, turns into a month sooo easily. It's just so easy to not get up and go - but when I think about the alternative: continuing to live a not as healthy as possible life AND not being able to complete the race in St. John, it helps to get me going. The YMCA schedule seems to mesh well w/ work so I think I'll continue to go on my lunch break everday and then try to get a few outside runs in each week as well.

Some other exciting stuff going on here lately which I'll try to recap in an upcoming post. OH also an update on the race tshirt I've been helping Peter (race director) with. He has done a terrific job explaining his ideas and meshing them w/ some designs that he had come up w/ and that I had forwarded to him to a designer at the shirt company. They are doing what looks to be a fantastic job helping him get exactly what he wants for the shirt, something I unfortunately didn't have the time, tools, or expertise to provide as readily. Ashley gave me a hard time saying I just should have worked harder and longer or something, BUT, I think if Peter goes with what he is thinking it should turn out really cool and I'll be very proud to wear it, even if I'm not the one that designed or came up with the design for it. Also just wanted to thank Peter for his continued support and words, even when I haven't been great about updating the old blog!!

Stay tuned over the holidays for posts to come. Be safe, happy, and healthy this Christmas!

My brother won't let me get by w/o an update!

2007-12-10T23:09:00.000-06:00

Well sorry to say it's going to be short and sweet tonight, but I promised my brother Ben I'd update the blog last night when I called to ask if he'd be the best man in our upcoming wedding. Happily he obliged but asked when I told him I needed his address as I was updating my list, he said "you better update something else as well!!"

Alas, I can't report on a run today as meetings unexpectedly took up my lunch hour and upon arriving home I had to start in on another project I've become heavily involved in (update on this and wedding plans to come). I've been working on this and a few things w/ Ashley as she wants to get everything buttoned down for the "big day" as soon as possible, which is something I would never do and one of the reasons I love her.

I do have a few 8 tuff miles bits of news to share. I'm official!! Peter emailed to let me know that he was assigning the bib numbers and I am #508. PERFECT. 8 is my "favorite" number and was always my hockey number as a kid. Also, I'm continuing to work up some ideas for this year's race t-shirt with Peter. I think we are on to a cool new idea but we'll have to see how things end up. It's been fun coming up with ways to lay things out. I'm not sure what he'll ultimately end up using but it will be cool if some of my design ideas make it onto the shirt or at least into the design. Either way - its fun! For those of you visiting from 8tuffmiles.com you are probably like "what the heck is this kid thinking - looks like he never even runs or writes about it!" I assure you I'll be getting back on track this week as I am finishing up w/ 3 major projects that have been keeping me ridiculously busy and/or so tired I've not been updating.

All right, i'm off to take the trash out, let the dogs out one last time, and then it's time to hit the hay. Stay tuned :)

P.S. - I've had some hilarious comments on here pushing me to keep running and writing. Thanks much (Spencer, Pop, Michelle, etc.) as your words truly are motivation!

UPDATE! - I'm alive...

2007-12-03T14:02:00.000-06:00

AND ENGAGED! My apologies for the major lack of updates. In all honestly I have some major lapses in training to report on as well. BUT.. on the positive side I got engaged this weekend to my beautiful girlfriend Ashley. I am SO lucky - but all the planning, etc. and some other distractions have kept me away from blogging and unfortunately running as much as I should be (I know, excuses!). I'll write a full update on where I've been and what I've been up to for the last 3 weeks or so and promise to start the run updates up again this week. Don't give up on me and come back tomorrow!

Where's T.J.?

2007-11-18T17:14:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-11-13T11:01:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-11-10T14:59:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-11-09T00:01:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-07T23:09:00.000-06:00

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!

2007-11-06T20:37:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-06T16:27:00.000-06:00

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...

2007-11-05T20:28:00.000-06:00

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!

Maybe I should try and run the race like this guy?

2007-10-30T20:37:00.001-05:00

I could jump off palm trees the whole way up, and roll the whole way down, what do you think?

Brutal!

2007-10-30T18:37:00.000-05:00

Just got back from tonight's run and I was really struggling. I dunno if it's cuz I really didn't do anything the last 2 days or if I wore myself out w/ the 5K or what. From the first step I knew I'd be struggling. My shins and lower back hurt really bad and I was going pretty darn slow. I had to stop and walk twice which I haven't done at all in my training runs up to this point. But at least I got out and did 2 miles.

Another thing I noticed was I think listening to music really helps me. Tonight I listened to a podcast that was all just spoken word and I just couldn't get into my run. The last 1/4 mile I switched over to music and it seemed to give me a little boost. I know this is all in my head but whatever works I'll go with. Anyway - not a good run tonight but it'll get better. Ashley went tonight too and took Pim w/ her to jog/walk which was good. Just as we left there were 2 deer in our front yard just standing there watching us about 20 yards away so that was pretty cool.

Foodwise today I just had Gatorade this morning and then got "Buffalo Calamari" for lunch in downtown Naperville which was really good but probably not great for me. We haven't had dinner yet so don't know what we'll do but I think I'll try and keep it pretty light.

Heard today that my grandpa is doing better down in N.C. so that is good news! I read a great article in the new issue of National Geographic Adventure Magazine today about sea kayaking in the Great Bear National Forest in British Columbia, Canada. It sounded awesome - maybe that will have to be our next adventure.

Well Ashley just got home w/ Pim and he just threw up! Uggghh so I gotta go.

First 5K Complete!

2007-10-28T12:56:00.000-05:00

So yesterday morning I ran in the Batavia "Batfest" NAMI 5K Bat Run. Ashely hasn't been feeling too well and was pretty sick Friday night, so she did not end up walking in the event as she had hoped because she didn't feel well at all. She did come along though to see me off which was nice.

We arrived in downtown Batavia to find quite a few people milling around outside the main building along the riverwalk that holds a bunch of city offices. I made my way inside and got my running number, tshirt, and bag of other various stuff they give you. I went back outside to meet Ashley and it was pretty cold, especially when I took my fleece off to pin on my number. Ashley's mom and dad came by on their way to have breakfast and help Austin move to his new house in Batavia so that was really nice. Ashley's dad even ran up to take some pictures of me starting the race so I will post those when I see them. I don't know how many people where actually there for the race, but I'd say right around 100 which seemed like a pretty good turnout. They had us cross the bridge over the Fox River led by a bagpiper in full Scottish outfit which was cool. The bagpipe music seemed to blend perfectly with the cool, gray, fall day as we walked over the water. After everyone gathered on the opposite side of the bridge an organizer yelled out a few simple details and things to watch for and then they set us off!

I knew right away that it was important I stick to my own pace and not try to run any faster than usual at the begining of the race. My goal was to run the entire race w/o stopping to walk. I didn't look behind me too much but I'd say I was probably in the last 3rd of the pack for the entire time as far as runners went (you could just walk too if you wanted). I felt pretty good for the first mile and the only strange thing was a guy on a bike who was just out riding on the same path we were running on crashed directly in front of me after skidding out on some water. I stopped to help him up and he seemed extremely embarrased but ok. He was a pretty good guy and crashed pretty hard - but he could tell he was going down and had time to brace himself. I actually probably would have finished 15-20 seconds faster if I just kept running but I wanted to make sure he was ok.

One thing I noticed is that it's definetely nice to have other people running with you. I stayed pretty much w/ the same group the entire time and focused particularly on 2 women in front of me who seemed to be running at a pace which was just about right. There were a lot of kids running which was also fun. Some of them just ran right through the entire time and were probably some of the first to finish. Others tended to sprint or run quickly for about 100 yards, then walk for 50, etc. the whole time (the ones that kept passing me and then I'd pass). Overall, I think I did a fairly good job keeping up my own pace which the ipod seemed to be reinforcing when I clicked on it to get my current, pace, etc.

I pretty much knew the entire course but hadn't actually walked it before, just kind of driven along it. The course was completely on sidewalks and then for about 90% on bike paths along the Fox River which was really pretty as lots of the trees are still hanging onto to some of their fall colors. Right about the halfway point we crossed the river on a pedestrian bridge over to an island where they had a water station set up. Since I'm not used to drinking anything DURING my run I didn't know what to do! I decided I'd grab a cup but soon wondered if this was a good decision as I realized you pretty much have to throw it back like a shot if you don't want water all over you and your face. After taking a small sip, spilling most of it, and then finishing off the water I threw down my cup and felt pretty good. It was right around the 2 mile mark that I started straining a bit to keep up the same pace, but by concentrating on the runners in front of me I was able to keep going. When I hit 3 miles (they had timers at every mile mark) I realized I was running at an OK pace and also realized to my dismay that my Ipod is off significanlty (assuming the race organizers measured the 5K correctly, which I think is a pretty safe bet). Anyway, basically I discovered that all my runs up to this point aren't quite as long as I was thinking. Yes this sucks - but it's probably only about an 1/8 of a mile or something. How did I figure this out?? I had set my ipod for 5K so I'd get accurate updates on where I was at and halfway points, etc. Anyway, it told me I was done when I still had quite a little ways to go (probably 800 meters or more). Luckily I had not really been pacing myself at this point based on its audio feedback as I could pretty much see the finish line. The odd thing is it was right on in terms of the halfway point... So I don't know what to think - but I'm going ot take it out to one of the highschool tracks or the treadmill at the Y and calibrate it next week.

Anyway... I was defintetely feeling pretty tired towards the end, but once I turned the corner and could see the finish 3 blocks away (slightly downhill), I was able to turn it on and pretty much run at a 100% sprint for that small period and into the finish shoot. Even though I knew it was only a 5K, it felt really good! I could see my time as I finished: 30:58. This wasn't too bad at all I didn't think.

Ashley had gone over to meet her parents for breakfast and I guess meet up with Brent who had walked down to downtown from his house. They didn't make it back for the finish but were there shorty afterwards which was fun. We have gone to see Brent finish 2 races so it was nice he walked over w/ Ashley to say hi to me. I grabbed a half a bagel and some water inside but we didn't end up sticking around for the awards, etc. Although I think we should have because there was a raffle and stuff which I forgot about.

Anyway, Ashley had volunteered us to help out at the Batavia Mainstreet "Batfest" information booth starting at 10 a.m. so we went and sat in the car, listening to "Car Talk" before heading back to the tent to help out. It wasn't too bad but I was really cold at this point in only shorts (the temp had been perfect for the run, however). I ended up wandering over to the Mac Shack for a Bagel with Egg and Cheese and Bacon and some Hi-C. I read the paper while I ate and noticed two funny things:

1. In a small article on the 4th page (the Chicago Tribune), it was reveald that FEMA had set up a "phony" news conference w/ employees serving as reporters asking softball questions about the California fire situation. Apparently in an attempt to "get the word out as soon as possible". The White House ended up condemning this action... Weird - manufactured news (as much of it is).

2. This just cracked me up - in a story on the Britney Spears custody battle, the published courtroon drawings! How ridiculous is that. Everyone knows what Spears and ex Federline look like - and what in the world would happen at a custody battle that would deem in necesary to have a courtroom artist! blah!

Back to the tent where Ashley pointed out all of the cute kids in halloween costumes (there was some very good ones, Dumbo being my favorite), while I tried to stay warm and read a review of Ira Glass's new compilation of artiles/essays called "The New Kings of Nonfiction" which I definetely want to check out.

Came home after staying at the tent for a bit and pretty much spent the day lazing around watching TV in front of a warm fire and napping. OK - time to go to the dog park for a walk. I might go for a run later tonight and will report on it if I do so. There is another 5K next weekend in Wheaton, do you think I should sign up?

Rest Day

2007-10-26T22:14:00.001-05:00

Well didn't run today since we have the 5K in the morning. Also it was just a gray, rainy day and to be honest I didn't feel that great this morning and tried to make myself feel good but stopping in for the Pizza Hut Buffet at lunch but actually just at too much!!

Was hoping to go for a walk tonight but w/ the weather decided to go see a movie. We went to see "Dan in Real Life" which was a pretty good watch (good enough the audience clapped at the end which doesn't happen much). There were parts I liked and overall I'd recommend it but more as just a fun to watch escape, diversion - I won't really be thinking about it tomorrow or anything. Steve Carrell is great though and he definitely has the "everyman" type role down pretty good. I always liked him on the Daily Show but haven't ever got into the Office much. I think I'll start watching it more. And obviously 40 year old virgin is great if you haven't seen that.

Glad it's Friday!! I'm going to enjoy staying up a bit tonight until I fall asleep to something on the TV. Then get up for the race early tomorrow and come back for a nice long afternoon nap! Other than that this place is a pigsty lately (one drawback of having a really nice big house to live in - it's super hard to keep the whole place clean at once!), so I hope we can get some cleaning done this weekend. I also need to clean out my car and do a bunch of laundry. Just opened a nice Halloween card from Laura and James!!! We enjoyed getting it and miss you guys a lot. Then Pim and I had a play fight over the bright orange envelope it came from that ended up with the paper in shreds! I love that dog so much, and as it gets colder its extremely obvious he remembers being out in the cold and wet as a stray last winter. He HATES to go outside if it's at all rainy more than just sprinkles and the temperature is anywhere below like 60 unless he is right next to us. I still can't believe how skinny he was when we got him - he is one lucky dog and we are lucky to have him. All the other pets are doing good too, but Butrose (I have no idea how to spell her name) got an eye infection and we had to take her to the vet Wednesday. Should clear up though. They are all getting more cuddly as the house is getting colder. I never thought I'd want to share my house w/ 3 cats, 2 dogs, and a rat, but once you get used to it it's not too bad (seriously though - I don't recommend it unless you fall in love w/ a girl that works at an animal shelter like I did!)

All right, I'll post tomorrow on how the 5K went. Hopefully I can run the whole thing and I think Ashley's parents are coming to see us off so maybe they'll get some pictures. Wish me luck!

I Love Widgets!

2007-10-25T23:19:00.000-05:00

What's a widget you ask? Why just take a look at the right side of the blog. I just added a countdown to the race widget as well as a weather on St. John widget (scroll down a bit). These things are completely free, customizable, and take about 20 seconds to add to your blog. Wahoo for Widgets!

Longest Run Yet - and a fun new project!

2007-10-25T22:14:00.000-05:00

Got home tonight and decided to get my run out of the way before it got too late or I got too tired. I knew I wanted to go for a pretty long one (for me) and so set the ipod for 2.25 miles and took off with Pim on the same route I ran Tuesday night, up a main road by our house and then back. For the most part I felt pretty good the whole time. My pace was a bit up and down but not as much as the above graph makes it look like (since they squish it all together the highs and lows look huge!). By the last half mile I wasn't winded so much as my legs and back were aching a bit and a side ache had started. Still, I was able to pick it up the last 500 meters or so and almost sprinted the end.

Having Pim along tonight was fun, and he definetely keeps me going at a strong pace, but I need to keep in mind that I will have to keep that pace (or whatever pace I choose) going in the future w/o him pulling me - and he literally does pull ahead sometimes which keeps me running fast. It would be nice to be running close to 8 minute miles over a sustained distance by the time I head down for St. John. Anyway, overall tonight was a good workout and I felt that little "athlete's buzz" kinda high that you get from really getting your heart going.

Speaking of the upcoming race, I emailed the organizer Peter Alter today just to let him know that I was excited about coming down and told him about my blog and asked him a few questions. He had also mentioned on the 8 Tuff Miles website that he was looking for someone to help design a shirt for this year, but was "hard to work with". I'm not sure what that meant, but said I'd be interested in helping anyway!

I got a really nice email back tonight from him saying he enjoyed getting my email and was "confident I can complete the race". So that made me feel good! Also, he asked if I'd like to try to help out w/ the tshirt design which I'm going to see what I can do on. He's got a lot of different things he wants to include in the design - so it should be a challenge to come up with ideas that will work well! We'll see if anything I come up with ends up on the actual shirt - it should be fun to work on. Peter said that I'll get absolutely nothing for this, though he may buy me a beer after the awards ceremony following the race! haha. I'll keep you guys updated on my ideas and let you know if I come up w/ something that he likes and wants to use.

What else... I got to go on a ghost tour of Naperville for free today following a Naperville CVB meeting so that was pretty cool. It was actually very entertaining and the guy who was "in charge" was a very good storyteller and I really enjoyed the hour or so we spent on the bus driving around Naperville. Some creepy stuff has happened there!

Food Report for Today:
Breakfast - 1 small pizza crust leftover from last night, Diet Coke
Lunch - Double Cheeseburger from Burger King (this was obviously not great but was sorta a time thing)
Dinner - Homemade apple streusel waffle, syrup, and water

I know that doesn't sound very good but portion-size wise I'm doing a lot better.

In really good news, Ashley played some major hardball w/ her realtor and was able to get the house sold (keep your fingers crossed everything goes right) on her terms for the most part. This is AWESOME news and I'm very proud of her for getting through this stressful situation. When we buy our first house together I'll definetely be looking to her for lots of answers! She's not feeling good tonight though so hopefully she doesn't get sick.

I'm thinking tomorrow we'll maybe just go on a long walk or something before the 5K. I want to be rested so I can try and run the whole thing w/o stopping or walking. I'm excited for the run and think it will be a good challenge at this point in my training. Well I better get to bed before too long. If you have any ideas for a tshirt w/ a pickup truck, stick figures, palm trees, banana plants, a road sign and lots of text let me know!! :)

Not the Best Day...

2007-10-25T11:42:00.000-05:00

Wasn't feeling really well at all today and so didn't end up going for a run. Ate pretty good until dinner when we sort of "pre-celebrated" as Ashley has a serious offer on her house that looks like should go through and got Papa John's for dinner. Ate too much as Brett warned against!

In other news, DuPage Children's Museum, where I work in Membership and Marketing, was named the top children's Museum in the Chicago area by the Chicago Tribune. You can check out the article here. And if you're wondering.. the tippy shelf was fixed a week ago.

It was just one of those "ehh" days. :(

Very Interesting Article

2007-10-23T22:16:00.000-05:00

OK,OK.. I know I said I had to get started on some other stuff tonight in the post below but just as I was about to leave my blog page I noticed on the Google News thing that I have set to "Virgin Islands" (see below right - if you haven't noticed this thing changes everytime you visit my blog and has the most up to date V.I. news stories) a link to a GREAT article I read on St. John last night in Conde Naste Traveler. I have absolutely no idea why they are publishing this on their website already as we got the new issue in the mail yesterday. It'll take you a while to read, but it's worth it. Anyway, here is the link:

St. John Article

My only problem with the article. I was planning to write it!!! I'm not kidding, the author has a nice hook w/ the way the island is changing, but basically describes her two weeks on St. John and what life is like down there for both visitors and locals in relation to the inevitale "progress" that is taking place. She does a really nice job of describing the island's feel, and after being to most of the places she mentioned on my 2 short trips to St. John, I enjoyed reading her accurate descriptions. But seriously - I was going to write this article some day, if not in conjunction w/ the run then focusing on something else like the history of the national park and the best places to go.. but Nooooo she covered that too! Anyway, I can't complain too much - and it was nice to see the island that I somehow immediately recognized as St. John when I flipped open to the table of contents of this month's Conde Nast.

And I couldn't go to bed w/o finding out who that pleasant English woman living in my ipod is. Here's the answer:
http://www.paularadcliffe.com/home.php

Thank god for my girlfriend...

2007-10-23T21:35:00.000-05:00

See the run for today posted above? That probably wouldn't have happened without Ashley. I had a kinda crappy day for whatver reason and was feeling like all I wanted to do was either come home and sit on the couch or immediately take a nap. On top of that I was scheduled to do my trapshooting leauge which takes almost 2 hours after factoring in driving time, etc. So I wasn't particularly psyched to fit a run into my night as well.

As soon as I walked in the door I saw Ashley (well first Pim attacked me w/ slober and presented me w/ his rawhide as if it were a million dollars - the same thing he does w/ the same rawhide every night). She was already in a sweatshirt, shorts and had her running shoes on. How could I say no? I'm the one that wants to run this race. So thanks to her I changed quick and we headed out the door sans dogs.

I got going a bit quicker than Ash right away so we didn't see eachother again until we met at home tonight. My dad pointed out that I really need to be extending my distance so I set the Ipod for 2 miles (it tells you when you're halfway, almost there, etc.) and took off on a new route. This took me directly down the main road running by our house which I kept running along until I hit one mile, then crossed the street and turned back. It was a good course because it's a gradual incline all the way up and obviously the reverse headed back. I was pretty tired I think afer last nights run though and my body hurt more than I was having trouble breathing. After just half a mile I was dragging, but I was able to stabilize a pace I think and then pick it up a bit in the last half mile. It felt good to run two straight miles w/o stopping but I would probably struggle to do more.

I was a bit dismayed by the fact that my pace was only 10 minute miles. This is pretty sad - but I guess I need to keep in mind that other than hockey once a week this summer, I really haven't done much exercise at all. Still - seems like I could powerwalk that!! On the positive note, I burned 356 calories which is probably a lot more than I took in for dnner tonight.

Speaking of Calories here is the food report:
Breakfast- nope
Lunch- Went out to my favorite pizza place in Naperville for the buffet which I knew would be dangerous. I still wanted to go though because I go at least every couple weeks to see my friend Elsie who is the hostess and helps seat people. She is probably 75 years old and about 4'10" tall - and I absolutely love her. She takes me to my booth, gets me the paper and my drink, then after I've filled up my plate comes by to give me a backrub and ask me how I'm doing as I eat. I'm not kidding - she gives me these awesome 5 minute backrubs while we talk about life, it's great. I even had Ashley come out to meet her for lunch one day and she sat and talked to us for awhile (I'd been telling her about Ashley for some time). So of course she asked about how my "beautiful girl" was doing today. She also calls me "T" now which is pretty cool. Anyway, I did overdo it a bit but not too bad. I had spinach salad, 2 pieces of thin crust pizza, and one chicago style deep dish piece, along w/ a small piece of bread and butter and a brownie. So thats not great - but I used to eat WAY more than that when I went there, so it wasn't bad.
Dinner- Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, water

The Peanut Butter and Jelly was necessary as I had to take off immediately after our run to go to my shooting league. It must have been pretty good because I shot a 21 (out of 25) from the 16 yard line, and a 17 from the 21 yard line (trap shooting clay pigeons). I think it was our last night so it was nice to go out well. Still, I missed three of the last five and that is never fun!

THE BIG NEWS!
Ashley signed us up today to run the 5K on Saturday during Batavia "BatFest". The run is a fundraiser for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, something I wholeheartedly wish to support considering my past work in the field at Orchard Place in Des Moines and my own experience with mental illness. I'm a little nervous about this just because it will be the biggest distance I've run. But if I can run tomorrow and then do 3 miles on Thursday and rest on Friday I think I'll be set. And it is a run/walk so obviously it's not like a bunch of pro runner people will be the only ones there. I'll be sure to report on it Saturday!

The only other thing I'm really thinking about tonight is that it's too bad the little nike graphs don't show up on here like the actual website. The little green line actually shows your pace by graphing it up and down while a little man runs in front of it. On here it's just a flat line which is no fun at all! **NOTE** I just posted this entry and the line showed up for the first time!! either blogger or nike must have updated something on their website to make this work, yahoo! - the only bad thing is you can see how inconsistent my pace is as I continue to work on it!** Well I have some other stuff to work on tonight that I can't put off. Hope everyone is doing well and if you have a chance send out a good thought/prayer for my grandpa down in North Carolina who is going through some health stuff and is currently in the hospital. Love you Boompa!

Running in the Rain

2007-10-23T21:20:00.000-05:00

OK - I'm writing this on Tuesday night but am reporting on my Monday run. Went out tonight without Pim (per my dad's recommendation to help me find a good pace for myself), but Ashley came along which was great. She's starting to come each night and we run together at the beginning for awhile and then each find our own pace. It was pretty darn cold and sprinkling the entire time. I did wear a sweatshirt though and 5 minutes in I was at a good temperature and actually a bit warm. I have obviously been running each night w/ my ipod but for the past few haven't actually listened to music - have just used it for the pedometer. I listened to a lot of stuff Monday which I think made the run go a bunch faster (everything from Johnny Cash to the soundtrack of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat). I was able to run the entire time and did almost 1.5 miles pretty comfortably w/o being exhausted or anything at the end. It was also cool cuz this is the farthest I've gone w/ the ipod nike plus system and someone named Paula Radcliffe comes on and in a proper English accent says "This is Paula Radcliffe, Congratulations on your longest workout so far". Ashley arrived home shortly after me and I spent the rest of the night online and watching TV.

Food Report:
Breakfast - still struggling on that..
Lunch - Eggs Benedict and Diet Coke (1 refill)
Dinner - Smallish bowl of Mac and Cheese w/ Hot Sauce, water
Before Bed - One Lowfat Yoplait Yogurt

Brett pointed out I should try to spread out my eating and kinda "snack" throughout the day as opposed to "gorging myself" (his words) when I finally sit down to eat. I have noticed a few things since being more careful on food though. One is that I don't feel like overly full anymore after eating which is good. The other is that several times when I've been just bored or whatever, I'll think to go get something to eat - I've been able to recognize that and just start doing something else instead of mindlessly snacking.

My running partner in action!

2007-10-21T22:22:00.001-05:00

Here's a video of Pim I made on a really cool website my dad sent me, www.animoto.com. Enjoy!

Weekend Update

2007-10-21T18:51:00.000-05:00

Time for weekend update! - just like on Saturday Night Live but not as funny. Got back a few hours ago from the run posted above. It was really nice out again and Ashley went with Pim and I on this one. She didn't run w/ us the whole way but started out with us and ended up doing a big walk and got a lot of good exercise. Pim and I ran the same route as we tried last week, eventually making our way to the park and a bit beyond. We didn't go any further though, and were a little slow - which probably isn't bad considering our weekend.

I'm sorry to say that Saturday I didn't get much exercise in - in fact it was a bit of the opposite with lots of eating! We went down to a wedding where Ashley's cousin was getting married in Scottsburg, Indiana. It was about a 5 or 6 hour drive into the very southern part of the state. I did manage to eat healthly until dinner, when I indulged in the "candy table" at the wedding reception. Anyway, with all the driving, sitting in the church, eating, and visiting I didn't get a run in.

I'm happy to say though that as soon as we got back Ashley agreed to go on the above mentioned run which was fun to do together. Here's the weekend food report:

Saturday:
Breakfast - nothin'
Lunch - McChicken, small fries, small Diet Coke (no refills) from McBadforyou in Gibson, IL
Dinner - Candy of various kinds, chicken casserole, small cut of pork, potato wedges, 2 rolls w/ butter, and some small beef strips w/ rice (NOT a very healthy meal(

Sunday:
Brunch - scrambed eggs, 1 biscuitw/ gravy, 3 pieces of bacon, 1 sausage, 1 1/2 small cinammon rolls
Dinner - Small bowl of rotini pasta w/ cheddar cheese sprinkled on top and tomato sauce, piece of leftover wedding cake.

So today was better.. just not by much. This weekend did get me thinking a bit though. I think it is really "OK" to celebrate at an event like a wedding or a holiday with big meals and a bit of indulgence. The problem is our society has turned EVERY meal into this kind of celebration (i.e. "you got an A Johnny! Let's go get some mcnuggets and a quarter pounder to celebrate - then stop for ice cream!). Either that or meals aren't "events" at all anymore. People, including myself, tend to just eat when they want, which leads to eating in front of the TV, not paying attention to what they are eating - then looking for food next time they are bored. It's not like I'm coming up w/ original thoughts here, lot's of people have noticed we do this, its just so damn hard for us to change.

I just got of the phone w/ my friend Laura who is a PE teacher out in Colorado. She sent me a nice note congratulating me on putting this run up as a goal and working towards getting in better shape. In fact, she said parents ask her all the time how they can get their kids to be more motivated to work out and eat better. Her usual response? It's all about what you do as a family, how you act. Basically it's a different lifestyle. Anyway, I know I'm not going to stop loving pizza and donuts, but I may be able to have 2 less slices or one less donut and still be able to enjoy those things w/o thinking much of it.

All right, enough regurgitation of "Super Size Me" and "Fast Food Nation", Morgan Spurlock and Eric Schlosser could probably sue me for plagerism. Speaking of, click here for an interesting news story going on in Illinois right now. The faculty at SIU has apparently voted overwhelminly asking him to resign.

Well Ashley just came in and said she wants to do 8 minute abs. So I'll sign off for the night - thinknig of my grandparents down in North Caroina :)

Starting to get cold...

2007-10-19T20:34:00.000-05:00

Since I've brought up that I've taken Pim on all my runs so far I thought I'd show you guys a pic of him if you haven't seen him. Here he is doing his favorite new thing - running!

Just got back from a run on a little bit different route than usual. It was much colder tonight than the rest of the nights I've gone out this week, but in a long sleeve tshirt I wasn't bothered too much. I went a bit farther tonight - not much though. I did walk another few blocks after running, and then ran about 1/8 of a mile up the small hill on the road leading up to our driveway.

Haven't done 8 minute abs yet - figure I'll wait till Ashley gets home to see if she wants to join me. She is out trying on a bridesmaid dress for a friend's wedding. I'm not particularly happy about this wedding (nothing against the bride and groom) simply because it is on the same date next August as James and Laura's. I'm in that wedding - so obviously Ashley won't be able to join me out in Denver which would have been fun - oh well. Hope she gets home soon as she has been gone forever!

I wanted to say a quick thanks to Brett who has been sending me some really good training trips via email lately. He is going down to run the race with me but has the advantage of already being in fairly good shape (as does Brian). Brett is an extremely talented althete who played football as a kicker for Simpson College and a few Arena League teams. He also did some personal training work when living out in Pasadena, so all his advice is very good. He is a very "go get 'em" kind of guy himself that will never turn down a challenge - but has been extremely understanding and realistic when helping me set goals and come up w/ new ways to train. He thinks I should get on a bike or rollerblade almost as much I run which is probably a good idea that I'm going to look into. Anyway - thanks for the advice so far Brett.

In other exciting news, I got the confirmation letter in the mail from where we'll be staying while down on the island, Cinnamon Bay Camps in the US National Park. We'll have a large group site so may have to share but will be literally 30 yards from the beach. Also got our car rental confirmed, and since we got the plane tickets last weekend we are all set - just need to save up some $$ for fun stuff while we're down there. Because of it's beauty and the fact that most of the island is undeveloped due to the National Park, St. John is one of the most expensive islands in the Caribbean. Because we were able to get one of the last campsites, a great deal on flights out of O'Hare, and will be renting a car and not depending on taxis - before food, fun, etc. this trip is only costing us each about $600.00. That's as much as some people pay a NIGHT to stay on St. John (don't believe me, click here!), and we'll be there for 6 full days and nights. Obviously we are giving up some luxuries - but you go for the island (and in our case the run), not the hotel.

OK.. before I forget Food Report:

Breakfast: nada
Lunch: Burrito Bowl from Chipotle - no tortilla (free!), and diet coke no refills
Dinner: So far only a yogurt - I'm waiting for Ashley to get home!

Tonight's Run - at least I'm not in New Guinea!

2007-10-18T22:24:00.000-05:00

NOTE: I added a bunch of new stuff to the blog today if you're interested. Including the "widgets" already on the right side column (news from the Virgin Islands, etc.), I put up some lists of my favorite websites as well as what I'm currently reading. I also am trying to link stuff whenever relevant in my entries - so if something is blue, click it! The purpose of this is twofold - first, it's fun for me to mess around with, second, the 3 of you that read this can kill more time at work. See, we both win!

Just got back from a really good, short run with Pim. It was again a really nice night and the perfect temperature out - all I had on was shorts and a tshirt and I was really styling by rocking my black dress socks w/ my nikes. Went on the same "to the park and back route" as I did Tuesday night, but went a bit faster and a little further this time. I was definetely tired at the end but glad I could more or less comfortably run the whole thing.

After the run and uploading to the nikeplus site I did my old favorite, 8 minute abs. 8 minute abs was one of those short workout tapes really popular in the mid-nineties, a la "Buns of Steel" etc. I first came across it when I was in college at Northern Iowa. I was friends with a girl named Lisa who lived several floors below me and one night asked if I wanted to do the tape when I was hanging out in her room. Well one thing let to another.. (no - not like that! get your mind out of the gutter) and we ended up working out to the tape every night together. Eventually several others joined us, and I'll admit I think it was the fact that I was pretty much the only guy taking part in this ritual that kept me coming back. For some reason, I got a hold of the tape, and by the time I left for my first year at summer camp, we had a large portion of the 4th floor of Campbell Hall stopping by on a regular basis each evening to tone our mid-sections together. I digress... my point is its a good tape and actually does give you a great ab workout in just 8 minutes. I also enjoy counting the number of times the "leader" says "gang". I swear he must say it at least 20, as in "Let's go gang, just 5 seconds left before the next motion". I'm trying to get Ashley to start in on it w/ me but she opted out tonight as she has had a long day and has to get up early tomorrow for an important meeting. You can check out 8 minute abs here:

Food report:
-no breakfast as usual (gotta work on that)
-lunch: Pizza Bagel at Einstein's. Tiny side salad and a diet coke (no refills)
-dinner: Roast Beef and swiss sandwich, grapes, and potato salad with O.J. to drink

If you couldn't tell already, I'll probably diverge a bit from solely talking about my training in this blog - if you don't like it sorry, I'll try to report on the running stuff up front. Anyway, just wanted to report that Ashley and I went to see a really interesting and engaging speaker tonight at the 1st Infantry Division Museum at Catigny Park in Wheaton. His name is James Campbell and he just came out w/ a new book called "The Ghost Mountain Boys." It details the 42 day long journey of troops in the 32nd Infantry through the mountains of New Guinea during WWII. They were the first to ever actually cross from one coastline to the other, and it has been described as one of the worst and most difficult military campaigns/traverses of the war, however it has been almost completely overlooked in the textbooks, history, etc. He even said Ken Burns only dedicated ONE sentence to these guys in his recent PBS miniseries "The War" (Mom, I figure you'd appreciate that - My mom has on ongoing personal feud w/ Ken Burns. I'm serious, ask her about it).

Anyway, what these guys did was just absolutely amazing. And upon completing the journey, they were immediately thrust into absolutely horrid war conditions on the Northern coast of Papua New Guinea where the Japanese had already dug in and took up strategic positions. There is a LOT more to the story than that, so if it sounds good, go get the book. The cool thing is the author actually went over and completely retraced the steps of the journey, tearing an ACL in the process but making it coast to coast and over the mountains none the less. They even had some local native "carriers" help them that had been children and walked along w/ the soilders during the War. You're probably wondering why I even knew about this book or would care since I'm not really a war buff. I first read a summary article of this guys journey to retrace the steps of the "mountain boys" in my favorite magazine, Outside. When I saw he was going to be here tonight I definetely wanted to go.

I was able to ask a question after the lecture and it was cool to hear the veterans that were there ask some questions as well. They all stood up to be recognized which was neat too - some who had served on New Guinea. We bought the book following the lecture and waited in line to have it signed. The author was extremely nice and talked w/ us for several minutes about the piece in Outside, etc. Overall a really cool night.

Oh one more thing on the training. The nike website lets that I'm using w/ my high tech nikeplus ipod kit and shoes let's you set goals and track them, so I'll post that as well. Here is my first goal:

Ashley, sorry I was annoying you on the way to the talk tonight. I love you more than anything and thanks so much for all the support you have given me!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's report!

One Word - Lawry's

2007-10-17T23:39:00.000-05:00

Ok - unfortunately I can not post a run report as one did not happen today (I know... smells like trouble - no run on the second day!). Ashley's Uncle Todd was in from San Diego and we all went out for dinner at Lawry's Prime Rib in downtown Chicago (click the link - see that plate? That is EXACTLY what it actually looks like when your dinner arrives. It was ridiculous. Seriously, I think I can go until Sunday and not eat. As for eating "healthy", I'm not sure it's really possible at this place. You basically are required to order a huge cut of prime rib, carved right at your table, that is served w/ potatoes, creamed corn, and the like. Anyway, for us to get down to Chicago in rush hour takes about an hour and a half. Dinner lasted about 2.5 hours and then another hour or so back to St. Charles (which included a bathroom stop at the Children's Museum resulting in us setting off the alarm, calling the police, and ultimately guessing the code to turn the alarm off). So I sit here after taking Pim out and don't think I'll get a run in if I want to hit the hay before midnight.

On the positive side, I ate at a new restuarant - Pockets - for lunch, and had an extremely healthy and pretty good sandwich. Ashley pointed out that to keep the blog honest I did say I was planning to pack a lunch today which I did not. Still, what I had was a lot better than McDonalds. Now to digest this slab of beef inside me and get back to training tomorrow. I'm out.

The Start of a Great Adventure... or Disaster :)

2007-10-16T22:48:00.000-05:00

OK... welcome everyone to my running blog! The purpose of this web diary will be to keep track of how my training is going for a race I plan to run THIS FEBRUARY. That race is the "8 Tuff Miles" road race which will take place Saturday, February 23, on St. John, US Virgin Islands.

A little background (which I'll go into more in the future hopefully). I heard about this race from my parents who are frequent visitors to St. John, and in two visits to the island, I have fallen in love with the place. First off - I'm not a runner, and I never really have been. There was a point in college (just before heading off for a Caribbean cruise coincidentally) where I was running about 4 miles every night to stay in shape, but that only lasted about 6 months. Other than that it was hockey and just staying active that kept me in shape when I was younger.

So here's the point to fess up - I'm FAT. yep, since moving to Illinois about a year ago I've put on quite a bit of weight and am just about at the highest point I've ever been: 246 lbs (I'm only 6'). My weight has been up and down my whole life, but I've never been "really in great shape" or "really obese". I'm as close to the latter as I ever hope to be, and it's time to make a change.

When I came up w/ the idea to run the race several months ago I knew that I'd need someone to do it with and immediately called my best friend Brian as I knew he'd be up for an adventure and is already in very good shape after himself taking on some major lifestyle changes. He was in immediately as I expected and we also asked our other best friend Brett if he'd like to join us. Brett was in as well, but up until this weekend we've kinda been brushing off the details and I, in particular, have been brushing off the training. We went to visit Brian this weekend and I decided it was time for that to change. We also spent several hours on the phone together Sunday afternoon and now have our plane tickets, accomodations, race registration, etc. completely taken care of. In other words - we've put our $ down, there is no turning back!

OK - enough about all that for now as I need to get to bed. So I'll say tonight was my first "official" training run. I did better than I thought, but I have been doing some little runs and more walking here and there. It was a perfect cool night and I ran to the park a few blocks down the street and back with Pim (my white boxer), who enjoyed it immensely. I did not go fast at all, but I also did not stop. I know it's dumb to be happy I ran a mile w/o stopping, but you have to start somewhere. You can see my run information courtesy of my ipod nano and the nike plus website here:

Certianly nothing special, but like I said - it's a start and it's a mile. We'll do the same or a little more tomorrow and go from there.

I'm also attempting to seriously change my diet to cut the weight and get healthier. This has resulted in 2 horrible headaches the past few days that I am guessing are due to lack of sugar and caffiene. Anyway, today I had a small half a sub for lunch, cup of chili, chips, and diet coke (not great, i know). Then for dinner Ashley and I had chicken breast, grapes, and potato salad, w/ fat free jello for dessert (it was in a cool little mini pie crust w/ light whip cream). I'm going to try and pack my lunch a lot more and will do this tomorrow. Also, I rejoined the Naperville YMCA so I'll fill you in when I figure out how to work that into my schedule. I just don't think I'll be able to go in the morning - its too hard for me get up but I may go at lunch or after work. For now I will try to run every night and Ash said she'd start doing 8 minute Abs with me this week.

OK, that's enough for now!