A Rough Week

I ran on the treadmill for the first time this season on Monday, it was to cold outside for me. So I figured I'd run til Marsha got home with our Monday night dinner. I warmed up then did something Chuck and I have done a time or 2 on the road, I ran 1 minute at a 6 minute pace, as fast as our machine will go and then 1 minute at around a 9 min. pace then fast again and felt pretty good. I did this 4 times til I got too sweaty and did my cool down til I saw Marsha pull in. So I hopped off and grabbed 2 pieces of Geppetto's pizza, ate'm and went to take a shower but felt a little funny. A slight stomach discomfort until after I showered then I was almost ill. I would have thought food poisoning but noone else got sick. I woke up at 6:15 to get ready for work and could hardly keep on my feet. I would have called off sick but really didn't want to miss the meeting scheduled for the end of the day so I went to work and it was a bad day all around. I felt like I was going to throw up all day, then came the meeting where 15 more co-workers got the news of their lay-offs. A really bad day. I ended up sleeping almost 12 hours after work on Tuesday, had to skip bowling too. No running Tuesday or Wednesday then Marsha asked me if I wanted to run speed work with her and Lisa in the back rec. center parking lot, so I ran from our house to the rec. , exactly 4 miles and felt my stomach beginning to rumble, I then ran 12 400's with the girls, 10 of them around 1:52 - 2:00 minutes and 2 middle ones at 1:21 and 1:27. Ended up with a little over 7 miles and still a little bothered with this stomach thing. Hopefully it will be better by the weekend when the cold weather makes it return after a couple nice days in the 30's. It's funny, before I was a runner 30's was cold and now it's warm.

Re-Cap of My 2008 Running Year - Ladd

I started running in July 2007 because Marsha's twin brother made it his goal to beat her in a 5k and he ended up getting hurt and not being able to run anymore and never did beat her in a 5k. In July of 2007 I took it upon myself for Mark that I would train for 6 weeks and beat her in a 5k for him. That first race in Valley City I came in 5 seconds behind her, the very next weekend I got her by exactly 1 minute. I really never expected to keep up the running at that point but look what happened. I ran 4 5k's and 1 10k in 2007. Then came 2008.

I ended up really enjoying running and in Jan. 2008 we set a goal of running a half marathon in April 2008. That race went well (1:43) and then soon after that we set a new goal, the Akron Road Runner Marathon. From not ever running to running a marathon in less than 14 months, I'd have to thank my wife Marsha and my friend Chuck for this. Now what is my next goal, ??? what's left maybe an ultra sometime this year, Frank would love to get me into one of these but I think I'll try another marathon or 2 before I think of anything like that. My first full year of running in 2008 was a great year and I look forward hopefully to a new year of PR's in 2009.

In 2008 I ran:

22 - 5K's - 19:12 PR

1 - 4 miler - 26:46 PR

3 - 10K's - 42:16 PR

6 - 1/2 marathons - 1:37:59 PR

1 - marathon - 3:52:23 PR

Oh what a beautiful day . . .

Today was an eleven mile training day. We had 4-5 inches of snow overnight, which made for an interesting run today, the temperature was 24 with a wind chill of around 11! We ran on the city streets, which was fine, had to jump in a few driveways to get out of the way, but we were dressed in bright colors so people would see us too. All but about 1/4 of the roads were snow covered and slick. It was a great run! It is nice to spend the time with my husband, doing something that is good for us! Makes for a great weekend when we get to spend all this time together!

Beautiful Sunrise

As you can see it was a beautiful sunrise this morning.... unfortunately I had to watch it from inside as the temperature outside was 1 with a windchill around 10 below. So another day of cross training inside! Outside tomorrow for 11 miles (high to be 22 with a windchill around 10), I am looking forward to it!

The Coldest Week in recent history

Marsha and I did a long run last Sunday, 9 for her 16 for me. I almost never take more than 2 days in row off but it was very cold this week so I just put it off day after day, then it was Friday and no running for 4 days in a row. It was -9 when we left the house this morning and headed out for the Medina Rec Center. I do have a treadmill in the living room but I don't like it much so we figured we'd run laps at the rec. We did 3 miles at about a 8:30 - 9:00 minute pace but I didn't like that either, 10 laps per mile, too many people and to warm. We stopped 2 times to get a drink and I drank all 20 ounces of water I brought and got overheated and slightly dizzy. We then went for a swim in the pool, did some laps in the mini pool with a strong current and sat in the hot tub for a few. Total time at the rec, 1 hour 30 minutes. Not worth the 14 bucks it would cost for 2 non members but Marsha won a 10 dollar gift certificate that was going to expire in Feb. so it was quite a deal for 4 bucks. We may go back someday if we have another really long stretch of cold weather but I would rather run outside in the mid teens than run inside again. It's still single digits today but going up to 19 and 23 Sunday. We'll do another long run on Sunday. Made my final decision last night and signed up for the Last Chance for Boston Marathon last night. It's Feb. 15 in Dublin. That week is Marsha's 11 mile run week and she will be joining me in the marathon for the last 10-11 miles to keep me going strong. A new friend may also be joining us so she can help us both. 6 weeks til March..................................................

COLD COLD COLD . . .

Tonight a cold front is supposed to come through the area, and stick around until Saturday. So instead of resting yesterday like my schedule said I was supposed to, Lisa and I ran 4 miles, and today we did our speed work. Yesterday, the run was fine, we ran on back streets in the city and just jumped off when a car came, which wasn't very often. Today, we had another 2 inches of snow this morning, and it was 20 degrees (10 w/ windchill) when we did our speedwork. We met at the back parking lot of the highschool and did 10 400's no problem, only one car entered the parking lot the entire time we were there. It was cold, but not too cold. I feel great that we got the run in! I wasn't sure the weather would hold off long enough, but it did, thank you Mother Nature! Tonight, the low is very low, with windchills as low as -15..... This is officially winter!

9 miles accomplished

Well the Storm hit!! We were hit with about a foot of snow yesterday. It was a great relaxing day! had to do cross training for my training schedule, which worked out well, can you say Shoveling? it was a good workout and I sure feel it in my arms today!

Got the 9 miles in today on snow covered roads, some were better than others, but all in all it was a great run! Ran with Lisa and Ladd, Ladd continued on to do . . . . I don't know yet as he hasn't returned (16 miles).

It is very beautiful outside! Perfect sled riding day if I still had kids who enjoyed that kind of thing but they are too old, how sad!

This is going to be a trying week for my training schedule as over the next 6 days we are expecting highs in the teens 2 days and highs in the single digits 2 days. BRRRRR! Oh well! Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day, but I do believe I will get out and run a few miles before the snowstorm hits that is supposed to hit tomorrow evening, and rest one of the really cold days, later in the week!