I'll always love him.

Dad and me, summer of '07.

Ed Hansen Memorial 10K 2012

I ran the first half of this race for myself.

"The miracle isn't that I finished.  The miracle is that I had the courage to start."  ~John Bingham

The second half, I ran with my Dad.

"Where there's a Willis, there's a way."  ~Tom Willis

My race immediately followed a 12-hour graveyard shift, so I knew I wasn't probably going to hit my time goal.  And I was fully six minutes slower than I had hoped to be.  But overall I feel like this race was definitely a success for me.  First of all, I walked significantly less than I did last year.  Second, I finished strong; my last mile was faster than my first by almost a full minute.  Third, I now have my race where I overcame obstacles and succeeded.

And, fourth... the turnout was smaller than last year so I got FIRST PLACE (out of one) for my age division.  A medal and a beer glass, now THAT'S success!

Mid-August Already!?

Another week of training has gone really well.  I'm proud of myself and relieved to feel my love of running come back.  No doubt the cooler weather has something to do with the miles getting easier.

I am bummed that I won't be going for a longer distance race this year.  I think the Ed Hansen will be it for me, and that leaves me wondering what I'll do after that.  I'll probably keep running and biking much like I do now.  Eventually, winter will drive me indoors more, and then I can focus on weight training and planning for next summer.

I will do that marathon.  I don't know when or where, but I will do it!

10 K Training

I have jumped into the last five weeks of a basic training plan to get ready for the Ed Hansen.  It feels good to have some direction again.  I'll be running three or four days a week with two or three days for cross training and one recovery day off.

This is the first race I've trained for with a concrete time goal in mind.  Last year I ran this race in 1:02:59; this year my goal is to finish in under an hour.  That's not a huge improvement, but I think it is a reasonable goal for me.

I'm also trying to get a handle on my diet with the goal of losing weight again.  I reached my goal weight late last summer, dipped about five pounds under that goal, and then gained steadily through the winter.  It has been frustrating but also a learning experience.  It takes me hours every week to burn hundreds of calories.  It takes just a few minutes at any time to eat hundreds of calories.  That's why exercise alone will never get me where I want to be- I have to watch my diet also.  Besides, if I want to perform like an athlete, I have to eat like one.

Yeah.  That's all I've got today.  Now I have to go see who is screaming and why.

Let the Record Show

In my last post I failed to mention that THOMAS also ran at the Greenland Independence race.  He ran the 100 yard sprint and came in first.  Congratulations, Thomas!

I haven't been blogging lately, and I haven't been running much, either.  I keep saying that this week I'll be back on the ball, but I really mean it this week.  I can't use the new work schedule as an excuse: since I'm working relief, my work schedule will never be one I can get used to.

Any situation can be either an excuse to fail, or a reason to succeed.

My goal will be to get back in the habit of running every other day.  I will just have to learn to plan ahead to fit my runs in with my work schedule and other obligations.  "Somebody busier than you is running right now."  So true!

So, that's the latest on me!

I finally got through all the training and started my new job last night.  My first shift was graveyard, 9pm to 7am.  So far it seems I will do well adapting to a varying day/night schedule.  I hope that is always the case!

I ran yesterday.  It was almost four miles and was really not easy.  It has been several weeks since I've kept up with a regular running schedule, so I guess I'm going to be in no condition to do serious training.  That's okay, running just for the fun and exercise is still productive.  I may be running the Ontonagon Outback next weekend.  I'll almost definitely be running the Ed Hansen.  And then that will probably be all there is to my racing season this year.

I never wrote up a race report for the Greenland Independence Run, Walk, and Roll.  Robert, Raechel, and I ran the 5k distance; Joseph ran the 1 mile; Mary and Lucy kinda-sorta ran the 50-yard dash, although that ended in tears for both of them after only about 10 yards.  (I still feel bad for that poor boy Mary knocked heads with...)  My time was just a little slower than last year, but I was still the First (and only) in my age division.  Go Me!

So, since I'm not focusing on racing this summer, I should be able to get back on track with losing some of the poundage I picked up through the winter.  It's discouraging how slow it comes off and how quickly it comes back on.

Back in the Saddle

Chuck and I went for a beautiful ride today.  The day was perfect and the route was just right- not too easy but not too tough.

I love you!

After the 19 miles we did today, Chuck is more than halfway to his goal of 500 miles this year.  I'm so proud of him!

I would write more but my butt is tired of sitting.  ;-)