Tomoka 4 Miler

Of the many beautiful outdoor areas in our neck of the Florida woods one of my absolute favorites is the Tomoka State Park. I've made this particular piece of Florida my adopted home, quick personal history because I don't know that I've ever shared: born in Miami, mom fell out of love moved to brentwood ny, mom fell in love moved to palm bay Florida, dad went into business with uncle john moved us all to Michigan, I fell in love moved to Ormond Beach, FL I fell out of love, fell in love again moved to Palm Coast, FL where I am once again out of love. Love is keeping U-Haul in business...Got It? I digress back to Tomoka I'm sure to see it at least once a week either via bicycle or by cheating in the car......started with a relationship and now is part of my soul. In my most humble opinion the only way to really appreciate this stretch of road is to immerse your lungs and eyes in it....not through the windows of a car .... Its just not the same you gotta have some self propulsion. You may or may not remember I have previously been hiking in Bulow/Tomoka.

I had been talking to a running buddy of mine who will be doing his second marathon (Detroit) this year [Go Mikey! Boston here he comes or at least my prediction of 4:17] about pacing and told him I wanted to sub-35 it. With a good time, or a time I could certainly be happy with considering current form, of 32. He said 'no way' I said 'guaranteed'. So I self propelled myself through 4 miles in 30:08 WHILE PUSHING MADDIE in the jogging stroller and nearly made my fresh air filled lungs explode. That's a 7:32 pace. Not bad with a stroller. I had my eyes on my watch and when I saw I had the potential to sub 30 it I could not possibly will my legs any faster. That last mile and I was leaving it all out. Typically I finish my races strong but I think lower humidity today meant I was able to start a little faster than I usually do which meant by the end I was feeling it. Or as Tony Horton would say "Felling it. Feeling it. Feeeeeeeeeling IT!." I also started at the bop and with the stroller it takes a little time to weed through some of the slower runners. I actually had someone pushing me at the end when she saw me hit the wall 'You're almost there. You're doing great' typically that's me being a strong finisher. Thank you ma'am. Maddie is such a people magnet .... I must have heard...She has the most beautiful hair literally 15 times today. I just need her to work on not being so shy. She'll wave to anybody but if she gotta speak you can forget it. First in our age group was second overall so he got bumped which meant Maddie and I were just a little faster than the other guy in our age group.... First Place! ;) The award was a tile like a piece of tile floor. Probably the coolest idea I've seen for an award yet.

Maddie also did her first kids fun run today.....At first she thought hey this is great you shoulda seen the smile on her face but when she saw we had to run back that smile was quickly turned upside down and I suddenly felt like the parent pushing their kid to do something they didn't want to do .... Even though running with the other kids WAS her idea. She got her first hardware though nice little finishers medal. So it begins.

I recently purchased "Road Racing for Serious Runners" in the hopes of getting a real plan for faster short course racing...I've been talking about that sub 20 5k for two years and haven't taken one step in that direction. Will start blogging progress and splits.

Am I the only just absolutely gloating that Michigan is stomping the national championship hopes, and possibly Brady Quinns Heisman, out of Notre Dame. I quote "Total domination"....woo hoo!

For Uncle Wally

Last time I saw you, you told me you read my blog to keep up with me so I figured maybe this would be a good way to drop a note to you brother.

I know you're going through a tough time right now and in that way I feel like we're kind of kindred spirits. Must be that whole shared blood thing. :) Seems like everything in life when you and I go about it has to be done the hard way.

I know I haven't called you specifically mostly because I figure you're getting plenty of calls of love and support and prayers and who needs a constant reminder of the struggle. I do call Mom and Grandma regularly to see how you're doing.

I want you to know that I pray for you every day several times a day. I know nothing can describe what you're going through and nothing words can say can ever make the uncertainty easier. You can take refuge in knowing that we love you that your family will always be there for you and the Lord will always be watching over you.

I don't know if this is the right way to tell you I'm here thinking about you. Hearing my mother in tears today and grandma so frustrated and angry really made me feel like I had to reach out to you some way and this was it...

This has been some year. Walk through everything as a family. I love you.

-Sean

One of the most natural smiles I've ever taken of Baby Girl ... Love this picture not so much color or clarity just that beautiful smile.

Fa fa fa fa Betta

edit: I've been doing so well at my workouts etc and I just blew my diet by hitting the Almond Butter & Honey on wheat toast.....its not so bad that I ate it .... its just that I ate it at 10:30 at night I go through the occasional eerily quite sad time and I reach for the comfort food....Now I think Im going to have to go out for a run at 11 at night someone recently told me that they don't eat after dark I forgot to ask how that policy worked with daylight saving time ;) ....I know as much training as I do and following the Zone diet its best to not fast for so long so I typically will eat a 1-2 block snack about an hour before bed....this, what I just consumed, is the equivelant to a 3-4+ block meal at 10:30 at night ohhhh the guilt. I need a kick in the shorts over my nutrition discipline. I felt like listening to a little Bob Marley tonight anyway .... good middle of the night running music. "Then we would cook oatmeal porridge, Of which I'll share with you;" --- That's soul right there!
end edit:

I've had a week of hitting all my workouts and training sessions and then some for the first time in MONTHS! After the personal turmoil and the transition and the bike accident post century ride and the pulled rib muscle Im finally back at it almost full on. I've gotten my runs in some surfing all of my P90-X scheduled workouts (Even the Ab Ripper) the bike trainer for an hour last night (not Spinervals yet) and 20 miles my favorite out and back tonight down 100 to flagler beach spend some time staring at the water wishing I was in it head back. Followed by yoga. Ohhh the yoga hurts so good. I still can't do crane must be weak midsection.

I still get some discomfort in my rib so Im not 100%. Deep breathing is uncomfortable but aerobic paces are a "walk in the park". This is all exciting to me because mentally I've turned the corner and have lost the mindset that when I caught myself enjoying something or slightly uncomfortable physically I would remind myself of my problems which pretty much sucked the life out of me to this point this year. Cryyyyyyy baby.

Speaking of jogs in the park I recently dropped $320 on custom leather orthotics in the hopes it would clear up my knee problems and so far I'm happy to report I've been running pain free in both knees since I started using them. No Patt strap when at 5 miles or less and aerobic. Of course my first anaerobic workout and Im sure as a result of scar tissue at least some pain will return particularly in the right illioltibial band. Im still feeling pretty good about them.....I better be at $320. I'll put my anaerobic theory to the test this weekend doing some race pace intervals.

Im feeling so confident I signed up for my first event since Beaches Fine Arts in May. I'll be doing the Tomoka 4 miler at High Bridge in Ormond on September 16th. Because of the way the schedule works out I'll probably be pushing Maddie in the jogging stroller unless I can drag someone (ahem Mikey, Melissa, random stranger/volunteer?) with me to keep an eye on her. She likes doing runs/events with me (probably for the free food) she waves to everyone although Id hate to be on the other end of the wave because if you're getting passed by somone pushing a jogging stroller you may be hurting a little. Its happened to me before. I'm looking forward to seeing the familiar faces you get at local races. Kind of hoping this leads to a few late season triathlons.

This weekend I might have an opportunity to do an off road ride with a friend. I'll be using my original women's MTB from my first triathlon season. I've done very little off road type riding so hopefully its relatively easy....they have more experience than I do off road don't want to get dropped "On the road to nowhere" [Another 50 points to whomever can name the Artist by the way Cyndi claimed the last 50...this will be a fun game, points for finding song references in my posts make it a competition whoever has the most points at Christmas time (Cyndi will probably be the only person to guess) gets a brand new bag of my favorite Dove dark chocolate shipping/delivery included :) ].

NFL season starts tonight GO DOLPHINS! And to keep my tradition started in this very blog last year here is the song of all songs Miami Dolphins Song and if you have the time check out my sisters Miami Dolphin theme MySpace Page

I want to offer an open apology to the way I write. In looking back at some of the old posts I've found the way I talk and think in person is much different than what comes out of my hands on a keyboard...Im reading this stuff thinking what a dork! At least I think its different :) I need to learn to write like I talk.

I'm alive Oh Oh, so alive

50 points to whoever(whomever?) can name the band that sang today's title. Sorry for the month long disappearance ... I know many of you are waiting with bated breath for my newest diatribe and random thoughts on life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Truth be told I actually found surfing is not as injury free as I had once thought and I managed to pull an intercostal muscle in my ribs which if you have never experienced is quite painful and can last a considerable amount of time. It hurt to breathe to twist to lie on my back to lie on my stomach. I can't describe sneezing. Let's just say I learned to muzzle my sneezes. I also recently came across a more well known surfing hazard and that is that I was stung 5 times on my face by a jellyfish. Never even saw the culprit all I know is it brought the pain.

So, rather than bore you to death with my constant whining over the pain and physical therapy and massages, much like I did with my knee, I figured I'd cut the blog a break until the stupid thing healed (at least for the most part) before I dropped a new line. I've been in such a great mood lately I hate it not to be reflected in my blog by constant whining.

My ribs are still a little 'cagey', pun intended, and while not 100% at least manageable. I've gotten back to running and have hit two 45 minute runs and an hour run this week and am hoping maybe to do the Space Coast Half Marathon the day before my 29th Birthday. November 26th. Some days when my knees are good I feel like I'd like to give the bike and swimming a rest and try to work up a plan to qualify for Boston. Of course typically when I get those delusions of grandeur my brain sends signals to my knee 'hey this guy has gone nuts remind him we aint built for that distance' ... Instant flare up in the ITB.

On the personal front

Most of my bitterness has faded post divorce and I've been doing great. I'm finally in a position where I have a genuine positive attitude about it and true peace. Thanks everyone for the nice comments and e-mails during the whole ordeal. I've decided to go back and delete most of those posts while heartfelt and a reflection on what I experienced I'd rather not have a permanent record of the last 7-8 months and all that they entailed. To anyone going through a divorce one of the first things I heard when it started was that after about a year you'll be alot closer to your normal self. I aint a hundred percent but 8 months after it started and I'm doing a whole lot better. This too shall pass.