St. John is looking mighty good tonight!

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!

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...

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!

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

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!!

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...

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.