Skunked!

So, the other night I had a dream that I was out on a run. The route wasn't familiar to me, but in the dream, it was like my usual run. I turned a corner around a shed, and there, lying in wait was a little skunk. The skunk was not privy to the fact of me coming around the corner so quickly. He saw me, freaked, and sprayed. I was stopped in my tracks and hollered a few choice words, then plodded on my stinky way home. Somewhere between the skunk and home, I woke up. And I felt like I needed to take a shower...


This story was also posted on dailymile. Come join me over there!

dailymile FTW!

pic from Heather G.'s dailymile post

Haven't posted much here lately. I've been posting all my daily running stuff over on dailymile.com. That place has gotten addicting. I had signed up for the site a while back, but hadn't been using it much. Then after my 1st marathon adventure, I was so tired, I "washed" my ipod - which I had been using to log all of my miles through Nike+. So I jumped into dailymile for a new way to log my miles. Then, the DM team was introduced. I was already "friends" with a few of them, but I went ahead and "friended" the whole team. My friend count doubled overnight, and I had a whole slew of people out there to cheer me on. It's really funny when you're e-mail inbox blows up with DM comments after you post a workout. And It's quite refreshing to know people are out there doing the same things as me. Especially when most non-runners you meet ask you which 5K marathon you're running next. So kudos to dailymile and if you are looking for some motivation to start running, or keep running, or get into triathlons, just head on over to dailymile.com, friend me up and get going!






Also, my DM friend Allie is giving away a RoadID band on her blog. Click on over and check it out.

2009 Year End Stats

Miles run: 889 miles

Calories burned: 121,793 calories

Finished the Dallas White Rock Marathon 4 hrs 26 min 39 sec and earned my first official marathon finisher's medal.

On to 2010. I plan on taking on a few races of differing lengths. AND I am going to help my wife run her first 5K! I know you can do it honey!

Prospective Races:

Jan 24 : 10K - Resolution Run (McKinney, TX)
Aug 15 : 13.1 mi - The Hottest Half (Dallas, TX)
Marathon #2??

Happy New Year and I hope everyone has a great 2010!

My First Marathon Experience

First, I would like to thank all who donated to World Vision to sponsor me running this race. A big thanks to Bess & Alden for helping me reach my goal before the race! $562.00 was raised in total which was $62 more than my target goal! It was an awesome feeling going into the race that I hit my goal for funds raised and was about to achieve my goal of running a marathon. I'm sure the families that are helped by the money raised will be more appreciative than we will ever know. Thanks again to all who supported my cause: Peggy & Hilton Harvison, "Toots" & John Pavlica (Mimi & Papau), Scott Smith & family, Gary Pavlica & family, Nancy & Jimmy Shook, Nita & Jim Elizondo, Rique Bobbit, Sue & Dan Foster (Mom & Dad), Marty Schiller, Jan & Henry Skala, Darrel & Delores Fojtasek, Jennifer Ball, Bess Foster (sis), Alden Schiller III

On to the Race...

I guess I need to start at the night before the race. I set all my gear out and was ready to go. I was already feeling butterflies and really had a tough time falling asleep. From what I've read/heard, this is typical for first time marathoners. Once I finally fell asleep, I wound up dreaming about running the race and woke up a little disoriented, thinking I had already been running. Once I gathered myself, I hopped up and got ready.

In a side story, the fam and I decided to stay in a hotel to be a little closer to the race. We thought we picked a great location. A hotel with a DART station within walking distance so I could just hop on the train to head to the race and Amanda could bring the kids at a later time in the race. Well, we found out a couple of days before the race that the station was not accessible the morning of the race due to some platform repairs. Wonderful. So I had to wake up Amanda and the kids for them to take me to the station a couple of miles down the road.

Amanda dropped me off at the train station and I hopped on the train headed for the race. The train was filled with runners all excited about what we were headed towards. I just plugged in the ipod and got in the zone with a few selected tracks to get me going. At this point, I didn't need much stimulation, because the nerves were going crazy. The train arrived, I got off, checked my bag, and headed to the line.


I don't think there's ever been a time in my life I've felt so elated and utterly terrified simultaneously. Waiting for the gun to sound seemed to take an eternity. During the pre-race prayer, all I could do was pray for the race to start so the agony would end. The National Anthem was sung, and sadly because of a thick fog, there wasn't a flyover. A few more munutes... Go!

Right Photo: Early in the race with all the Halfers
Left Photo: Between mile 10-12.
Just glad I didn't look like the guy in the black in front of me. The guy in red next to me had awesome hair!

The horses and elite runners sped off with me and all the other runners to slowly creep towards the starting chute. Then, there it was. I hit the line and I was off. Adrenaline grabbed me by the butt and I was running a faster pace than I anticipated. I felt good, so I kept it up. We passed through downtown Dallas and into the Turtle Creek area. Then around mile 6 the half-marathoners split off and the race began. It was almost surreal when the course split off. The field of 6,000 marathon runners seemed sparse compared to the 10,000 running the half.

I kept a strong pace and wound up hitting the halfway point just under two hours. "I'm doing great!" I thought. I soldiered on and around mile 16 the fast start caught up with me. I started feeling a little sluggish. Then around the bend skittles were being handed out at the aid station! I'm not much on eating candy, but these were the best skittles I had ever tasted. They gave me the boost I needed and I plodded on toward the finish line.

I hit the rock concert known as the mile 19 aid station right around the 3 hour mark and was feeling winded, but I knew I could finish. Just a few more miles to go. Then I had to climb the hill between 19 & 20. The fast pace at the start was really getting to me now. This is the point of the race it becomes mind over physiology. Pretty much every part of your body is saying, "OK, I've had enough," but you just have to push through. I was doing pretty well until both of my quads started cramping in a bad way. I stopped to try to stretch them out and when I pulled up my leg, my hamstring seized up as well. So I was stuck. My legs were telling me, "stop, we don't work any more," and my head was saying, "nope, I started this thing and I'm going to finish these last 6 miles!" So there was the dilemma. I wound up having to walk out the cramps, but there was no way I was going to stop. The last 6 miles slowed down to around a 12 minute pace, but I made it. I finished a marathon. 26.2 miles.

Left Photo: Around mile 23
Right Photo: Finish Line

My official time was 4 hrs 26 min 39 sec


Below is the breakdown of where I finished overall in the race. About middle of the pack.

Here's a chart showing just how much I crashed at the end of the race.

The yellow arrow shows where I was when the overall winner finished. Man I got smoked...

I have a feeling this won't be the last one...

Week 17.9 : Santa's Runnin' and I'm Ready to Go!

We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon. - Emil Zatopek

Mucho thanks to Jennifer Ball for the latest donation! Only $14.20 makes the 2% needed to put me over the top! I know somebody out there can make that happen before the race! :)


Feelings right now:

Nervous
Anxious
Excited
Pumped!
Ready!
Let's Go Already!

This day is creeping by. Hopefully the experience at the Expo and hangin' at the hotel with the kiddos will make it pass a little faster than a snail's crawl. Thanks again to everyone for the prayers, support, and donations. I could not have done it without you!

I'll try to keep a good "runner's face" so I don't
end up with my mug on a mug like this:

Merry Christmas & see ya'll after the race!

Week 17 : Taper Complete

“Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”- John 14:6

Shout out to Darrel & Delores Fojtasek for the latest donation! Only a few days to go and $40.40 needed to hit the goal! Remember it's tax deductible!



This week was just easy. 3 easy midweek runs to keep the legs under me and help rest up before the race. I did run a bit faster this week for some reason. I think it's a combination of the cool weather and adrenaline building up. It feels weird that it's almost here. Seems like yesterday that I just started training.

Week 17 Runs:

Tue: 4 miles
Wed: 3 miles
Thur: 4 miles
Mon: 8 miles

Total: 19 miles

My long run had to wait until Monday, but it still counts in week 17. I had a bit of a sore throat and my stomach was feeling kind of funny, so I decided to postpone my run until Sunday. Well, Sunday morning comes along and I hit my alarm & start to get ready to get up. But - no bueno because it is the wife's alarm and there is no way I can get my run in before we have to do our Sunday duties. So it had to be done Monday. No biggie, just glad I got it in.

Now I'm just looking for tips to have a successful race, like the ones from this dude:

Last Minute Marathon Tips: shot with Nikon D90 from Mike Kobal on Vimeo.

Week 16 : Thankful...

"There's nothing a man can't do if the spirit's there." - Franz Stampfl

I've almost met my goal! Muchos Gracias to those who have donated so far and a special shout out to my recent donations over the Thanksgiving holiday:

Mom & Dad (Sue & Dan) Foster
Aunt Marty
Nita & Jim Elizondo
Rique Bobbit
Jan & Henry Skala

You are all awesome! Thanks for believing in me and supporting the cause!

If there's anybody out there reading this who hasn't donated yet, here's some simple numbers:

3 more donations of $1 per mile ($26.20) reaches the goal.
6 more donations of $0.50 per mile ($13.10) reaches the goal.
11 more donations of $0.25 per mile ($6.55) reaches the goal.

Help me reach my goal & gut it out for Team World Vision!



The taper has begun. Only two more weeks until the big race. My midweek runs felt great. Not much soreness after the 20 miler (as compared to the 19 miler). I actually was running a bit faster this week. Blame it on nerves or the recent cool spell. Running in the cool morning air is awesome, though. I love when it's cold enough to see your breath. Maybe it's the "magic" of it because living in Texas, you don't get to see it all that often. There's just something cool about being able to watch your body work.

Week 16 Runs:

Tue: 5 miles
Wed: 4 miles (pace)
Thu: 5 miles
Sat: 12 miles (1hr 48min ~ 9:01 min/mile pace)

Total: 26 miles

The long run this week was 12 miles to start the taper period of my training. For those not in the know, the "taper" is the period of training when you step your mileage down to allow your body to rest and recover before the race. The run felt awesome and I kept it about 20 seconds faster than my usual pace, which I see as a positive as I really want to keep my time under the 4 hour mark.

Since this week included Thanksgiving, I'm going to take this opportunity to give thanks:

To God for giving me the ability and spirit to take on this challenge.

To my beautiful wife Amanda for loving me and being there for me through all the hours I've spent training.

To my 3 kiddos for loving their dad and for being an inspiration for him.

And to all my supporters, thanks for all your well wishes and your monetary donations to my cause!

Much Love!