One wild and crazy summer

My recent post mentioned that the past month did get away from me.  Well between a vacation, garage sale, summer activities…yeah something’s just got away from me.

So…in summary here are a couple of pictures from our summer:

Did I mention that Alex took 1^st in the fun run and Korrine was the 2^nd of the girls to finish?  NO?  Yes?  I’ll mention it again.  Some more pics from our Family 5K/Fun Run.

Family vacation up to Michigan and the kids went with Mom and Grandma to Kitty Hawk, NC.

 

Make sure if you have a garage sale around your house, do not tell the kids what you want to get rid of.  My little girls plea:  “No, that bathing suit still fits and I always am on the elliptical.  See, its OK if I wear a helmet.”  I am going to have my hands full when she gets older.  But I will hang on to this photo for the rest of my life.

 

Just think, it’s only the 1^st of August too.

Coach Bill

Almost there!

Just not quite yet.

Its been a while.  Between family vacation, family events, continued training and life things did get away from me for a while.  I will post a few more blog posts over the next week or so since the training will soon be more steady and the time will be more consistent.  It’s my own fault for not keeping up with this.

Earlier in the year I set some pretty big goals for myself and I’ve been working hard to get to them.  Just not quite there yet.

Preping for The Half III

Trust me, this doesn’t mean that I’m going to give up on these goals.  I just realize I’m going to have to work even harder.  AND…looking at the calendar the year isn’t over yet. 

Several friends & I ran in the Susan G Komen race for the cure on the 27^th.  First of all, its an amazing event for a great cause.  That makes this so enjoyable.  The amount of people impacted by this type of event nationwide, knowing what several participants have either gone through it themselves or known somebody that has gone through it makes you want to work harder. 

 

 

This is what agony looks like with 150 yards to go.

It was humid and warm.  I pushed hard and set a new PR for my 5K time.  I finished the 3.1 miles in 21:29.1 at a 6:56/mile pace.  Ran my fastest mile yet (that includes training) at 6:07.  By the last ¾ of the last mile I was spent.  Gassed.  Legs felt heavy.  But there was pink everywhere and people cheering you on.  It hit me as I neared the finish line.  God forbid if I ever have to go through something with my wife, son, daughter, mother…etc anybody close to me, their trials and journey will be so much harder than what I'm doing right now.  Whatever pain, fatigue or frustration I’m experiencing now during this run doesn’t even come close to what others have experienced.  Their hardships and heartaches of losing someone to Breast Cancer.  Watching some of the survivors and family members taking part for lost loved ones is truly an inspiration.  May God Bless these people and I pray for their healing and growth.

In the end, Susan G Komen is the median in which the word gets out.  But it’s the survivors, the police officers throughout the run, the volunteers and the families that make the event worth it.  We run.  We have the easy part. 

 

If it wasn’t for these guys waiting for me at the finish, it would be even harder.

 

Plus, when I get a hug and a congrats from this beautiful woman, what guy wouldn’t want to finish.  Yes, I married up...several rungs too.

 

Coach Bill

A family affair!

Over the weekend my family and I ran in a 5K and kids fun run for a great cause.  The people were fantastic, the race was fun and the weather was sooo much better than the last one.  We made it a family affair that morning.  So proud of the kids.  They got up early to make sure we made it there on time.  To their credit, me walking into their rooms shouting "ITS RACE DAY!" didn't help motivate them much.  But we still made it with time to spare.

Then the fun began.  We told the kids that they were going to participate in the 'Fun Run'.  Alex kept looking at me and as more and more kids showed up and said, "Dad.  I don't think I'm going to win."  That's when the Dad hat went on.

I said, "Alex, if you try your best, give it your all, put it all out there and somebody faster than you wins, that's fine.  And you should be ok with that.  You do your best and the results will speak for themselves."  On occasion he'll go to the track with me and run.  He does pretty good.  Long story short, that little guy lead the 1/4 mile fun run and won it.  My little girl...she left it all out there too and was the second girl to finish.  I told her if she had better, by better I mean 'faster', shoes...she could have won too.  So proud of both of them.

Then it was our turn.  This is the second time my wife and I have run in a race together.  She didn't even bother to ask me to run with her this time.  God love her for that.  I started speed training about a month ago and I set a goal for myself of a sub 20 min 5K before the end of the summer.  We both had personal bests that morning.  I'm so proud of my wife.  She's been working so hard lately and even though she hasn't been running as much she did great.

I beat my best 5K time of 22:21 last July.  I'm nearing my goal!  I ran it in 21:34 and beat my first internal goal of breaking the 7 min/mile target.  I did it.  Its June and I've got the rest of summer to shave 95 seconds off my time.  If I could only shave strokes off my golf game that easy...life would be great.  It's going to be tough, but I've set the tone.  Back to the track and back on the road.  Our first family outting was a successful outting.  Truly a blessing.

Keep working hard & God Bless.

Coach Bill

Remember

I know it is a day later, but any day is a day that we can stop take a breath and thank those that gave everything for us.

Thank you & God Bless - Memorial Day 2014

Bill

Supporting Role

Sometimes sitting on the sidelines isn't always that bad.

This past weekend was the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon.  A part of me was exciting for everybody that I knew running in it and the other part of me wanted to be there running with them.

My wife even asked me if I was glad I wasn’t running in it.  I said, “No.  I’m kind of jealous.”  It is the training that makes it so hard, but race day is so much fun.  Even back in my younger days practicing and getting ready for a golf tournament there was something about the completion.  Beating the course or beating your time.  It makes the competition so much more exciting. 

I am proud of my friends that ran.  One friend had wanted to beat the 2 hour time frame for a Half Marathon.  He did it.  Another longtime friend of my wife and I wanted to break 3:40 Full Marathon and qualify for Boston…she did it and we couldn’t be more proud of her.  Both were commitment, put in the time and hard work.  They are inspirational and all around good people.  Just being an encourager can go a long way too.
 

I love the fact that my little ones continue to work hard at what they are doing too.  Despite all the rain and cold weather we’ve started soccer and baseball.  They continue to get better and better each season and I pray that they stick with it and continue to work hard.  But they need the support from Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, and other friends and family.  Faith, hard work and a great group of people around you pays off every time. 

Keep working hard and keep on encouraging others that are working hard.

Coach Bill
 

The After-half

See what I did there...replaced the 'math' in aftermath with...eh, never mind.

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." - Hebrews 12:11

I talk about discipline a lot, because it truly is the hardest thing for me.  The worst time is after I've finished something, is starting up again.  A week after the Half Marathon I picked up where I left off.  I started a routine of getting up in the morning and doing my normal work outs.  I talked about doing T25 back in October, and how much it helped and still helps.  Wanting to stay strong and wanting to stay fit I cranked it up a notch.  I started T25 GAMMA:

I really do love this program.  I will get up at 4:30am to get in these work outs, Tuesday through Saturday.  This particular one focuses on strength and in doing so keeps the heart rate up.  Its intense, but will continue to help me with running so that my goals are more obtainable.  But, its only 25 minuets!  I have also put a little running schedule together during the weeks to either do at night or on off days, three days a week.

Tuesdays:  Ladders or Mile Repeats at the track

Thursday:  Shorter runs that I plan on getting faster during the summer from 4 to 7 miles

Sundays:  Long runs from 10 to 15 miles

I've put it down in writing and I have this site to hold me accountable.  It is hard for me to do it on my own and if I don't write it down, I won't follow through.  My discipline is to maintain this schedule through out the summer until late September.  Add a couple of 5K's and 10K's into the mix as well (its flexible, but its a routine). 

What's yours?

One thing is for sure, my son has taught me a lot about disciple.  This is a picture of him last week at his color belt test.  In July of this year he'll have been in Taekwondo for 2 full years, 2 to 3 times a week, all year long.  He is only two belt levels away from obtaining Black Belt status.  At 8 years old, I couldn't be more proud of him.  Any type of Martial Art requires a tremendous amount of disciple, and I hope that in disciplining myself I hold myself to this schedule.  I also hope that this will prove to him, and my daughter, that no mater what age or what activity, it requires work to obtain your goals.

Now, if the two of us could teach each other patience...

- Coach Bill

Handling the Half

Over.  It is officially over.  As I mentioned in my previous blogs I didn't expect much from myself for a race this early in the season and with limited training.  Race day changes things.  To be honest, the race was on Sunday, and it all really started on Saturday. 

I took the family to the Pro Football Hall of Fame to pick up my packet, shirt and bib (the link has some photos from the race too).  A lot has changed since coming here as a kid. This is the new main entrance.  We had the chance to tour the Hall, for free being a runner, and if it would have been up to my son I think we would still be there.  He loves to read and well..."In the beginning, God created football..."

Both kids were good sports and humored me most of the time.  (I need to figure out my new phone and how to hold it steady.)

Alex may have been off reading something when I took this picture.  It was a Champion type atmosphere, feeling of competition and the amount of people really in to it helped get past the doubt and concerns about race day Sunday.  The weather was perfect.  The sun was out and both kids had the chance to go through a mock NFL Combine at the stadium.  The entire football experience from Saturday through Sunday was very well thought out and made it so much fun for everybody, families and runners.

Race day.  It was 34 degrees when I left for the race.  I'm not sure how I feel about this picture, but I had to drive past the Hall and stadium to see it all lit up.  It was pretty cool, and frankly this is probably the best I could do.  This picture is kind of growing on me though.  I'll remove it if it is to much of an eye sore.

It warmed up to about 36 degrees when I got on the bus to head to the stadium.  I decided to wear compression pants with shorts over top, white pants, my wife wasn't happy with that purchase. I also wore a bright orange shirt so she could spot me at the finish.  The pants kept my legs warmer and considering how cold my arms were it was a total distraction.  The run itself was a blast.  It was a smaller race, about 3000 Half and Full Marathoners.  The 'pack' thinned out pretty quickly and I wasn't getting trampled on or trampling on others. 

The race weaved through Canton Ohio, by the McKinley Memorial and Monument and the back up toward the stadium and Hall.  And by up, I really mean up.  From mile 11.5 until the finish it was a climb.  The hills surprised a lot of runners that weren't from the area.  I am from the area and was still surprised at the hills.  After a quick run around the parking lot you headed back into the stadium and finished at the 50 Yard Line.  What a way to finish.  What a fun race.  What a fantastic experience.  This was my 4th Half, and as much as I love Akron, this one was an absolute blast for 2 days.  And will be on my schedule for next year too. 

How did I finish?  My goal was to beat 1:49:00.  I finish at 1:44:20 (7:58 min/mile pace).  I missed setting a personal best by less than 40 seconds.  I was thrilled with my time.  Like anything else when you're done you always look back and think where you could have run faster or picked up the pace.  Are my goals obtainable?  You bet!  Is it going to take some hard work?  Oh yeah!  Am I going to break 1:40:00 at Akron in September?  God willing!  You'll just have to wait to find out.  Its spring, its running season, and its a new year with a better than expected start.  Can't wait for the next.

 

God bless you all, and keep working hard.

 

Coach Bill