2015: The Year in Review

I was 2 seconds away from naming this post "The Year of the Knee" because that's exactly what it turned out to be. But then my other "Year in Review" posts wouldn't match with this one so I resisted the urge. Just remember the unofficial title.

It was promising...

Back in January, I called 2015 the year of the athlete. After completely crushing all expectations in 2014 by both running my first marathon that January(Disney) and a positively huge Half Marathon PR in November (Philadelphia) you could say I was riding pretty high. You know how people say that you shouldn't go grocery shopping while hungry? Maybe it applies to planning future goals while being in a "runner's high" as well.

The Machine

I decided that it was time to aim high and finally try a tri. I have triathlon in the brain folks. I've had it for a long time now. This was gonna be the year and to prove it I bought The Machine and started cycling. I also talked about cross-training and to crown the Year of the Athlete, I would start 2016 by running The Goofy Challenge, which I signed up for.

First "big" ride

However...

In all this goal planning (which included some lofty mileage goals) I seemed to have forgotten that I had gotten into some serious trouble with my right knee and that even though the doctor cleared me to run Philly, it was essentially a patch job and I would have to return and deal with it. I didn't.

During the race in Philly, the knee was a total non-issue. Hardly felt a thing. So I guess I just thought I was gonna be OK but...

In March, I ran the Puerto Rico Half Marathon and while the knee did not give me much trouble, the bonk during the final 2 miles as the Sun (and heat) reared it's head let me know there was some work to be done.

We need more Half Marathons in Puerto Rico

It wasn't all bad

After the Half, things were looking pretty good. My wife and I both started to make changes in our eating habits that have been very positive and I finally started cross-training by doing P90X3. The short, but tough workouts are a good complement to a runner. I also found out that I enjoy cycling as much as I enjoy running. Even did a 40 mile charity ride that included the steepest hill ever and survived. I felt I was on the right track and finding balance. I even PR'ed at the 5K distance even though I hardly raced this year.

5K PR... those are hard to come by

Trying to do P90X3...

The past starts to creep up on you

By the summer though the wheels started coming off. I noticed my knee wasn't recovering after my runs and the pain became more prevalent more often. Afraid to put the Goofy Challenge in jeopardy, I decided to stop cycling and focus on running so I parked The Machine for the rest of the year. Then, I went on a mini vacation to take our girls to the Frozen Summer of Fun in Disney World and the 2 long walking days took a toll on the knee. It swelled for the first time through all this and that's when I really felt like it was serious. Obviously, any possibility of a tri this year went out the window as well.

I got to see 2 awesome friends while at Disney World

By this time, it was do or die with the Goofy Challenge so I have been training as best I can but it's been slow and painful. I missed some crucial long runs and fell short on others so I will go and just do my very best.

I know all this sounds a bit grim but overall, I have to say that I'm quite happy with my year. Things didn't exactly go as planned for sure but think about this: Here I am, trying to figure out how to pull off the Goofy Challenge. Here I am, thinking about the steps I have to take so I can continue running and hopefully cycling and swimming and accomplishing the goals I have set for myself.

Here I am realizing that this has truly become important to me.

What can be better then that? At any other time in my life, this could have been an excuse to stop. "I got bad knees. Can't do it." The old me would have said. Just seeing it written like that makes me shiver. I want to keep going. So I'm going to tentatively call 2016 the Year of Recovery. I want to do what I can to deal with this and if it means surgery or even an extended resting period so be it. I'll come back even better than before then. 

So here's to a good year and hoping for an even better one in 2016. Hope your 2015 was good as well and that you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Because now it's getting serious

The Goofy Challenge is now 2 months away. Might as well be 2 seconds from now with the speed that time is ticking. While training has been pretty good, I can't say I'm totally happy about it. I have been plenty busy these past few months so keeping consistency has been difficult. Thankfully this is not the same guy that was training for his first marathon 2 years ago. I wouldn't dare call myself an "old pro" but it is definitely a wiser runner taking the road these days so I take things as they come in stride (pun intended). Like for example:

I'm having knee issues. Again.

Actually, It's the same issues as before. They never really went away but they had certainly subsided. It's funny because right around this time last year I was forced to visit a doctor and get an MRI and all that and here we are again.

3 weeks ago I went out for a long run and had no trouble whatsoever during it. The next morning though... ouch. I had to suspend the second long run scheduled for that day. It took a couple of days for the pain to go away but it did. When I tried to run the next time, I essentially limped for the first 10 minutes or so as the pain went away enough to run "normally". A painful start before everything kind of falls into place and goes away. I was starting to get worried but whatever happened seemed to work itself out. The knee still bothers me. It always does. But now it's back to "normal" levels of discomfort.

While it's not what I had planned, training for this challenge will happen without any speed work and at a much slower pace than anticipated. There will be a tempo run here and there sure, but I can't risk speeding up to the point where I make the knee worse. I have a pace, slow as it is, and I have to live with that so don't expect any PR's for the time being.

It has become pretty apparent that the knee "thing" is not gonna go away on its own and if I intend to keep on running over the long term (and I fully intend to by the way) I'm gonna have to stop, do something about it, recover and continue. What that "something" will be remains to be seen. Sorry if this post is a little "gloom and doom" but I guess that's the whole point of things like this. You show the good and not so good and yes, sometimes the bad but...

In other news: I hope you all got to see the latest trailer for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens because it is the most awesome thing in the universe. I was pretty excited already but now... forget about it!

So I'm just gonna drop this right here...

Planning is a... you know.

Less than two weeks from now, I'm heading to Disney World for our two-day Kamikaze incursion into Frozenland. Otherwise known as Disney's Hollywood Studios. Things have evolved a bit since the last time I wrote about this. We have decided to go all in on this and will head over to The Magic Kingdom as soon as we land on Friday, making an already crazy trip even crazier. Why? Because as I was planning this debacle of a trip, I realized that for all the Frozen fun to be had at Hollywood Studios, there was no way to actually take a picture with either Anna or Elsa there. To do that you have to head on over next door to the Happiest Place on Earth, where both characters are waiting for you with open arms at Princess Fairytale Hall. Provided you wait in line for a million hours or something like that. Oh, there's a FastPass, but those were long gone by the time I tried to grab one.

I really don't know what's more difficult: Planning a long Disney trip (like a week or more) or a quick one like this. I'm starting to think it's the latter but that may be because I'm right in the middle of it all. The fundamental problem with planning a Disney trip -long or short- has always been that there is simply way too much to do. Initially, I thought that since the main focus of the trip is Frozen, then it was just a matter of picking those things and forgetting the rest to survive. Not true. Along with the Frozen activities -which are at specific times so you must work around them- there are several "classics" that the girls will not want to miss. Can I go to DHS and not catch Disney Jr. Live on Stage? Not if I don't want a full-blown mutiny. Can I say "not today" to Toy Story Mania? The girls have already made it very clear we have to do that one.

And with 3 small girls, there are so many other things to consider... Have you ever done a seating chart for a Disney trip? I have. Yes, a seating chart. My Mom will be joining us at the parks and with that comes the dreaded problem: Who sits next to grandma? So I have it broken down by ride. On the ones that are two people per seat like Dumbo or Toy Story Mania, I have a chart of who sits with who so everyone gets a turn to sit next to Grandma on a ride. This was pre-negotiated with the girls so they already know who goes where ahead of time.

I am currently working on the Aircraft boarding and traveling procedure. The plane we are taking to Orlando is 2 seats, the ailse, then 2 seats. Not enough room for a family of 5 to seat together. Mayline has to care for the youngest first so they sit together while I'm one seat in front. This leaves the older girls (insert Psycho theme here) alone together across the ailse. Not only that, but because we are waking up so early and have such a full schedule once we are there, I have to figure out a way to make 3 very excited little girls to sleep on the plane. So I have been talking to them about it for a while now about what's gonna happen at the airport and especially while on the plane. Wish me luck.

This is the sort of thing I've been dealing with recently, and I realize this sounds a bit extreme but there are a couple of million things out of my control that can and will go wrong so I'm just trying to deal with the stuff I can control. The schedule is tight and there's no need to screw things up because of something I could have done something about.

In the meantime, I have a race on Sunday: Popular Bank's 5K and my first race since the Puerto Rico Half Marathon back in March. I have done this race every year since 2012 and a PR is long overdue at this distance.

The Mystery of Running Shoes

Do any of you actually know when your running shoes are done? You know, that point when you can longer use them anymore for running?

Based on my experience, I'm kind of surprised no one has come up with something -anything, really- that lets us know for sure, that your shoes are done. That person would make a lot of money with that.

The thing is, that all the running shoes I have bought so far (OK, most of them) look just as good after I've used them as when I bought them. Right now, I have two identical pairs of Brooks Beasts: One new, one spent. They look the same and yet I can't run on the old ones without major knee pain.

I used to go by pain. When I ran and my joints, hips and back started to hurt I knew it was time for a new pair. Most (sane) people will tell you that when you reach that point you are past the time to change them but that's what I did. But that was before I started to have knee issues. Now, the knee is the first thing that starts to hurt. Way before anything else. What's worse, I can't yet identify if the knee is hurting because I need new shoes or simply because it hurts. (Yes, it will hurt from time to time)

Ahhh... fresh pair of Beasties.

The newest pair of Beasties I bought last week were long overdue apparently. When I talked about my running funk and about how running didn't feel right, it seems the shoes where part of the problem. On the first run with the new shoes, I ran the fastest 3 miles I've been able to run in a long while. Probably since the Puerto Rico Half Marathon in March. Why? No knee pain.

This is bad news. Not because of the knee perse. I'm learning to deal with that and I'm hoping it gets better as I lose more weight. It's because now I have to buy shoes more often. On average, I've heard running shoes can go 300-500 miles before they are spent. I was already below that, reaching 250 miles if I pushed hard enough. This last pair was done with 210 miles. Crap.

Such is life. You know, Brooks Running should sponsor more Fat Runners. That, or I also hear that there's a bunch of stuff in the human body that there's two of that you could survive without one of them. You know, like kidneys and lungs and stuff like that. Apparently there is a market for that...

How about you guys? How long do your running shoes last? How do you know it's time to change them? Any tricks you can show me?

P90X3 - My Initial Impression

It's pretty amazing how the body adapts to things. Human beings really are creatures of habit. There was a time, when running was as foreign to me as the Chinese language and yet here we are, several Half Marathons and a Full Marathon later, training for the Goofy Challenge next January. Oh, I still struggle  on runs and obviously there is still a long, long way to go in my running journey but that initial shock of starting something I had never done before is long gone. My body has certainly adapted and I'm a stronger person for it. And I have very nice calves.

But running, while not a total body workout, is a total body sport and one of the main problems runners suffer through is muscle imbalance. In other words, we have strong legs and weak upper bodies, which I mentioned in a previous post, causes poor running form and makes you get fatigued faster among other things. Which is why pretty much every running plan or program includes or recommends cross-training as part of your training. What exactly that training should be is mostly left up to you. I chose a set of workout videos called P90X3.

Source

I explained here about how I stumbled upon this particular instrument of torture and how Kat is helping me figuring out how to both run and do this program at the same time. Well, as I approach the end of my first week doing this thing here are some observations.

This is really tough
"En guerra avisada, no muere gente." Or so goes a famous saying here in Puerto Rico. It roughly translates to: "When the war is announced, nobody dies." I have never understood this saying but it's a way of saying that if you know what's coming, or if you signed up for it, you shouldn't be complaining. In that respect, there were no surprises. This thing is kicking my butt and showing me I have muscles in places I didn't know I had. And I should know because they all hurt. This program is no joke. The original P90X had hour long workouts and for this one Tony Horton (who created it) essentially condensed that into 30 minute workouts so you can finish faster. In fact, in the included guide, Tony recommends doing X3 first, then going to the original but that doesn't mean that one is harder than the other. My opinion on this is that they are factoring in that it will be easier for people to manage such a tough program in shorter time chunks and after you get hooked (hopefully by seeing the results it can get you) then you can try the longer workouts.

This is not P90X: The Short Version
I own the original and I can tell you P90X3 is not the same stuff rehashed. Because the original is longer, Tony takes the time to do other types of exercises and focuses more on weights. With X3, the exercises are more functional (at least, that's the word that come to mind) and in some ways complex. It's a jam-packed 30 minutes for sure and while I'm suffering a bit, I like it.

I suck
Not having done a lot of cross-training(read: none) over the last three years, I sure wasn't expecting to breeze through these workouts but wow! I'm in pretty bad shape. Sure, I can run 5 miles no problem but my upper body strength? Zero. Push-ups and pull-ups? Can't do them. And don't get me started on my core, which is so important to proper running. When it comes to abs, I make the Pillsbury Doughboy look like Ryan Gosling.

And then there's X3 Yoga...

I swear, I think Tony Horton made this video just so he could laugh watching me try to do it. As runner, I knew tight hamstrings was in the cards. In fact, when I saw the Orthopedist for my knee, he mentioned that it was so. But this... is downright comedic. And it's not just the hamstrings. I'm about as flexible as a medieval boarding school. Having said that, I also begrudgingly admit that this is the video  I will likely benefit from the most.

Of course, the beauty of this program lies in it's variety. The program is divided into three blocks separated by recovery weeks with different workouts for each so I'm merely skimming the surface here. There is a lot more to it than this. So I will let you know how it goes as always.

What a week!

I'll be honest and say there wasn't a lot of running involved but there was some running and I seem to be digging myself out of this funk and that is a good thing.

First, this last week was the first time in a while (probably since finishing the Puerto Rico Half Marathon) that I felt I was running well enough to actually count as running. It helped a lot that I was able to run during the week with some consistency. I'm not out of the woods yet but it is definitely getting better.

It's on now

Then, on the 28th I officially signed up for the Goofy Challenge! Oh, things just got real for sure. Plus, my brother, who so graciously joined me last time and gave me so much support, asked me to sign him up for the Half Marathon, which will be his first. No longer a spectator, folks. It will be nice to have some company during the challenge, even if it is for only a third of it but I will take it. Not gonna lie. I'm a little scared, but it's a "good" scared. I just have to remind myself that thousands of people do this every year and that there is an even more insane group of people who run the Dopey Challenge. This is doable. I can do it. I will share my game plan for this challenge soon.

It was good that my brother asked me to sign him up (he was on vacation). By the end of the day, the Half was sold out. The 5K and 10K lasted a only a few hours and as of this writing the only things left are a couple of Goofy spots and the marathon. Does anyone need reminding of how popular these races are? If you are on the fence, go and sign up right now for what's left. You might not get a chance later.

Finally, it was my 10 year wedding anniversary! Of course, I was not about to let such a momentous occasion simply go by. I mean, 10 years of this poor woman putting up with me... she needs a medal all to herself. We don't really get a lot of chances to go out just the two of us with three little girls running around, so we took advantage of my Mother's offer to take them for the night and abused it. LOL I dropped them at noon on Saturday, then we went to the movies and saw Avengers: Age of Ultron (WOW! Loved it!) then we went to dinner, then a comedy show, and finally ended up at a Frankie "The Jet" 's house, where we saw the Pacquiao/Mayweather fight and as a bonus, the last moments of nail-biter game 7 between the Clippers and Spurs before the fight started. We got home at about 2am. The last time we did that was... uhmm... give me a sec... actually, I don't think we have ever been out so late. We sure crammed as much as we could to the day.

So quite a busy week but a very good one at that. 

A Tale of Three Tubes

It was gonna happen. It was literally written that it was gonna happen and it did. I prepared for it and yet, got me pretty good anyway. I got my first flat tire.

You can't walk into a bike shop to buy a new bike and not have the conversation about buying the "required" gear you need to be able to ride that new bike. The helmet, padded shorts, etc... That conversation will invariably include the repair kit: Tools that, in case of a flat, will allow you to either repair the damaged tube or replace it with a new one so you can solve the issue without any assistance.

Reflective Surfaces: Always a good thing

Many people, for whatever reason, don't think it is important. Sure, the guy or gal at the store is trying to sell you something, but he/she is also talking from experience. Maybe people think back to when they were kids and don't remember many flats when they were riding or maybe they do and don't remember them being a big deal. I'm thinking that's because as kids, you never rode too far away from home. If you had a flat, you just walked back. But cycling as a sport can involve pretty big distances and if you are 10 miles or more away from your car or your house, that's a long way to walk with a bike in tow. Being able to do something about it is kind of important. If you are still on the fence about the repair kit think about this: What if you are in a race/event like a Gran Fondo or a triathlon? Get a flat without the proper gear and your race is done. It might take a bit of time to change it but I'm pretty sure a worse-than-expected finish time is a whole lot better than a DNF (Did Not Finish).

So, my budget when I bought The Machine included a saddle bag with a repair kit. Technically, it's a replacement kit I guess. I figured if I ever got a flat in a race, it would be easier (and faster) to just replace the tube with a new one instead of patching the damaged tube.

Make sure it's a snug fit. You don't want it dangling under there.

The saddle bag hangs snugly under the saddle and it was part of a kit Giant sells that also includes:

1. Three tire levers - to unseat the tire from the wheel.

2. Multi-Tool - Think, Swiss Army Knife but with bike tools.

3. 2 CO2 cartridges - To fill the tire w/o the need of a pump. Once you use one it's done.

4. CO2 Dispenser nozzle.

I threw in some tube patches just in case.

With the kit I bought 2 spare tubes. Yes, it is very possible you can get more than one flat.

So I was definitely ready for a flat if it happened and sure enough, last week I was stopping at a red light when I rode over some glass and pffffff... my front wheel deflated. I was not too far away from home so I pondered whether to spend a CO2 cartridge or just walk it back but then I figured I could use the practice. I had seen several videos on how to do it but you have to get your hands dirty eventually so better do it now.

Tubes - 1        Fat Runner - 0

It took me a while to unseat the tire for some reason but apart from that I think I did OK. After replacing the tube and seating the tire back in place, I connected the nozzle to the CO2 cartridge and it filled right back up. The kit came with some neoprene sleeves you put on the cartridges. I thought they were for grip but nope. Turns out that whatever process takes place that creates the pressure to inflate the tire, freezes the cartridge. Use them without any protection and it can freeze-burn your hand.

Tubes - 1        Fat Runner - 1

So, I packed everything up and rode home very proud of myself. That is until my next ride, when I found the front tire deflated once again. At first, I thought it was the CO2. That it's not meant to last or something like that so I inflate the tire back up. After getting ready, I go back out to get the bike and it had deflated again. Crap.

Tubes - 2        Fat Runner - 1

I take out the wheel and the tube and there is a tiny hole close to the valve. Obviously something happened and it probably involved me doing something wrong. Whatever, I took my remaining tube and replaced it yet again. I have a little electric air pump I have been using up until now and I had been noticing it was kind of hard to get the tires inflated to their required pressure (120psi) but thought it was just me. This particular time it was harder than usual and after several attempts I could not get it to inflate. After getting a little rough with the valve, I ended up breaking the valve on the tube. Pffffffff...

Tubes - 3           Fat Runner - 1

I had kept the original punctured tube so I dug that out of the trash, bought a patch kit and tried to repair it so I could at least ride that day and buy more tubes later. But, alas, after inflating it and getting ready to ride, it deflated again.

Tubes - 4           Fat Runner - 1

Trip to the bike shop. Found a shop that opens Sunday (Many shops don't. They are out riding) and the guy was kind enough to replace the tube for me. I also bought three more to have spares. They are about 5 bucks each so they are not that expensive (weird for something related to cycling). I explained what happened and he gave me some pointers for next time. Like to check that the tire is not pinching the tube before inflating it (I checked but maybe I missed something) and also make sure to not insert the tube twisted. That can also cause a flat. I think that's what happened the first time I replaced it.

Tubes - 5          Fat Runner - 1

So how do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.

How do you change a flat bicycle tire? Practice, practice, practice.

To Goofy or not to Goofy... that is the question

Choices have to be made. Oh, the horror...

As I have posted several times, I would like to do the Goofy Challenge in 2016. As early as this time last year, I made it very clear that the Goofy Challenge was in my list of long term goals and that 2016 was the year to do it. You might also remember that after tackling the Disney Marathon without my wife and daughters, I vowed that my next runDisney experience would include them for sure. Next April, Marathon Weekend registration goes on sale and everything is going according to plan. Except for one thing.

My family doesn't want to go.

No, they are not insane. No, really. And it's not that they don't want to go perse. There is a perfectly good reason for this turn of events and while I kind of understand, I'm still kind of shocked a little bit. My daughters are not only Disney fans through and through, but HUGE Frozen fans so you would expect them to be ecstatic at the prospect of going to Disney World, especially with all the Frozen stuff happening at the parks. But no. Given the choice, they want to do something else. They want to go on a Disney cruise.

Let's go back a bit. We were having a family conversation about how much fun we were gonna have when Daddy would finally take everyone with him to Disney World when the subject of the Disney cruise came up. We went on the Disney Fantasy in November 2012 and had one of the best vacations I've ever had and THE best family vacation ever by far on that cruise. Not to mention I ran my first Disney race there (Castaway Cay 5K) which quite literally started this whole running journey. The girls were raving about how much fun it was and that they wanted to go again.

My daughters came up with the brilliant idea of going to the parks AND the cruise. My wallet complained before I did. "Girls, I know you guys love the cruise but we can't do both. No way."

- "But we want to go!"

- "Sorry, but we can only do one or the other.

This is where I totally misread my daughters. And my wife, I might add. I mean, I was thinking Parks, Castle, Princesses, Frozen... they would take the bait for sure.

- "So choose. What would you do. The cruise, or the Parks?"

Yeah, that was the wrong question. My oldest and my wife (the traitors) blurted out "Cruise!" in less than a second. Veronica, the middle one, was conflicted. She still wanted to have her cake and eat it too. But with some reluctance said "Parks!" after asking many, many times why we just could not do both. But her answer was not firm. After some prodding from her sister she went with cruise as well.

I understand my wife's choice on this. She hasn't stopped talking about the cruise since we got off the ship, even now over two years later. She is also worried about going to the parks during a race. She doesn't speak any English and the prospect of spending  a day (Marathon)and a half(Half Marathon) alone with three kids in a place she is not familiar with while I'm running scares her a bit. So given a choice, she took the safe bet.

The girls on the other hand, I would have not guessed. I underestimated how much fun they had on the cruise. They have been to the parks but the cruise was more recent so maybe that weighs heavily on their choice too.

So, this is what I'm left with. If I want to do this race, I would have to do it on the ultra-cheap. My brother is living in Miami and has a time share in Orlando so he would provide both lodging and transportation for free(maybe even do the Half with me if I can convince him). I can use my accumulated airfare points for the plane ticket so I would just need to pay race registration and spending money for the weekend. No parks, no resorts, no extra days. Arrive on Friday, leave on Sunday or Monday. Sounds horrible I guess, but it's doable. I'm there to accomplish a goal after all. The other stuff is just extra. Then, in November go have the time of our lives on the cruise.

That, or do the Goofy Challenge on some other year...

Meanwhile, negotiations continue at the Pizarro household to see if some alternative agreement can be reached. The one thing that is not negotiable is for me to simply say that we are going and have them feel like they were forced to go. That sounds so weird. Who would need to be forced to go to Disney World?! Well, apparently people set on taking another Disney cruise.

Guys, I'm all ears (or eyes). What do you think? There's no hurry (yet). Registration starts in April so there is time to think about it.

2014: The Year in Review

I remember writing this post last year. I distinctly remember two things: How full of numbers it was, as I excitedly reported on the tremendous progress I made. This one is not gonna be like that at all. I also wandered how I was gonna write the next one. How much progress would I make in 2014? But I digress...

Fast forward 11 months. I'm reading the year end review from the gals over at We Run Disney and one of them reports how 2014 was a year of ups and downs. In the comments, I wrote about how my year was essentially a bunch of bad races and missed goals and an injury up until my huge mega race in Philly and that while the year as a whole could have been better, I really couldn't complain. A couple of days later, as I was putting my thoughts together for this post, I realized that what I wrote there really wasn't true.

January 2014 - The Disney World Marathon

Its hard for my big head to get around this, but I actually had my greatest running accomplishment in 2014. It just doesn't feel that way. The way it's set up, with the race being held in January, I did all my training in 2013 (and most of 2012) so in a way, running the marathon feels like a 2013 accomplishment but in reality it was this year. And what an accomplishment it was. Even now, its hard to put my head around the fact that I was able to run 26.2 miles. Not only that, I was surprised at how well I was able to do it. I ran strong and followed every interval. Sure I was sore at the end and I was walking funny for a week but man... That was pretty high on the awesome scale.

And that I guess, is part of the problem with having your greatest moment at the very start of your year. I'm not gonna say that there is no way to go but down but it becomes quite easy to do so.

Spring 2014 -  Superman Syndrome and I try for a Tri

So I ran a marathon. That means I can do anything right? Well, it sure felt that way. Suddenly, every other distance seemed like a walk in the park. At least on paper it looked that way but it is really faulty math. I figured, hey I ran 15 minute miles for the marathon so that means I can travel at the speed of sound for a 10K right? Wrong! A pretty loud wake up call in the form of The World's Best 10K let me know that wasn't so. I took off like a galloping horse and forced to walk after 4 and a half miles. Very humbling. While I PR'ed for that particular race it fell short of my overall 10K PR. I did get to meet Jared, the Subway guy before the race though.

On top of that, I also had a horrible case of Runger. After the marathon, I was like...

I gained some weight back of course, even though I was pretty active at this time. Some of you might remember it was around this time I took my first attempt at triathlon training. All I can say is, don't bring a knife to gun fight. It's not that you have to go buy the latest and greatest gear but you do need some basics and I did not have them. It sure made for some funny moments though. The image of me riding my wife's mountain bike (which I, you will also recall, broke) around the neighborhood is one of them. But hey quitters are not the ones who fail, its the ones who don't get up and try again and I will try again. But that's another post.

Summer 2014 - The Summer of Speed (Not)

To close out spring, I sort of dared my friend Al, that if he signed up for the Philadelphia Half Marathon, I would join him. He is a very busy guy. I wasn't sure he was gonna pull the trigger but sure enough, he did. And to be honest I was kind of happy about it though the pressure was on for sure. I had set a goal to run a sub-3 hour Half Marathon in 2014 and this race seemed like the perfect one to attempt the feat. But I had to get cracking. This, in hindsight, seems to be the point where I got my knee injured. As I focused more on speed, I might have stressed my joints a bit more than I should have. It was around this time where I ran a trio of 5K's that ended up being a bit frustrating as there seemed to be no progress in my times. I failed to PR in all of them. The 5K for Values, Altamesa 5K and Popular Bank's 5K all felt like I was behind. It was really a case of me aiming too high. By the end of the last one, my knee was feeling funny.

On the good side, near the end of summer, Mindy from Road Runner Girl introduced me to the concept of the Diet Bet. A game that allowed me to get back on track and lose what I had gained thanks to the bad case of Runger gone amok earlier in the year.

Fall 2014 - The Thrill of Victory... The Agony of Defeat

What a roller coaster of a season! It was at this point where two very important happenings took place. First, after returning from Las Vegas, I went to the Doctor, found out what was wrong and was asked to rest. The Philly Half was right around the corner and I was freaking out!. On the other hand, I was also featured on Today.com on an article about overweight people that have tackled a marathon. It was kind of surreal and the blog traffic sure went up during that time. I'm sure I've said this before but when I started this blog, it was for me and if some friends wanted to read it that would be awesome but here we are. The fact that people actually read this stuff is mind boggling.

Winter 2014 - I Surprise Everyone, Even Myself

Ans so it was time for the Philadelphia Half Marathon. The Doctor cleared me to run -but being careful of, course- and I trained as best I could under the circumstances. I knew I could PR. If there was anything good about the time of my first Half is that there was room for improvement. But under three hours? After the year I had? With a questionable knee? It certainly looked improbable from where I was standing.

But what ensued on that cold November day, I never would have guessed. With the help of fellow Team Run Disney member and friend Natalie (who I thank for running with me every time I tell this story) I ran a race I just never thought I had in me. Not at this point in time anyway. You would think running so high above what I'm used to would be hard and tedious. That with every mile I would be panting and squirming in pain but to cap it all off I had an absolute ball doing it. I ran, I talked, I high fived spectators, I cheered and I even danced a little. What a race...

I learned so much about myself during that race. About what I can do and could be doing. During the year, there wasn't much progress from a numbers standpoint. But the Philly Half was more then enough proof that sometimes you can't measure progress from a numbers standpoint alone. I can say that I am a much better runner today, crap knee and all, than I was last year. And if this year was interesting to say the least, I can tell you right now, my plans for the next one are even more exciting. Sure, there were some hard lessons to be learned but I intend to use those lessons to the fullest next year. Looking at 2014, I see a "rough" sandwich. Two incredible experiences acting as the bread for a pretty rough middle in between. But here's to new beginnings. A new year full of potential and I hope that you dear readers, are able to tap into that potential and fulfill whatever you are cooking up for 2015.

So, what have I been up to?

I did something. I don't know what. But I can't log my workouts on Dailymile -or any other place that is not Garmin Connect for that matter- anymore.

For a while now I have been searching for a solution but ever since Garmin made a major update to their site and overall software to bring in their latest and greatest watches, I can't log my workout outside of their site. What's worse, it seems to be a problem with my model of GPS watch (FR 410) which kind of gives me the impression that they have stopped supporting the watch altogether. I could be wrong. It could be that I just haven't figured it out but I switched computers recently and took the opportunity to do a clean install of everything needed to make the watch work and still, no dice.

So, if you are my friend in Dailymile and you read that I haven't done any running in three months, it's a lie! Nothing wrong with Garmin Connect and I love the new interface and tools but I like the social aspect of Dailymile better and I kind of miss it. 

In other news...

While it hasn't been three moths since my last run obviously, I did take a small break, if you can call it that. A week after the Philly Half, I did a 3 mile run where my knee exploded in pain. I limped the entire first mile. It got better after that but it reminded me that I still had some healing to do so I decided to not run for a week or two and let the knee do it's thing. The problem with taking a "training vacation" is that all those things you had pending because you were training, are now in your face ready to be done. Oh, and your spouse is more than happy to remind you of all the stuff that has to get done, "you know honey, since you're not running..."

So the last 3 weeks, amidst all the Christmas shopping and decorating, I have been battling with the roof of our home, applying sealant to it so it hopefully won't leak. Hasn't been easy. Ironically, I pulled a hamstring while doing it. I can do that while training you know? 

Before

After

We also put the tree up of course!

So the roof is fixed, so now we can paint inside. Our daughter's rooms needed it pretty badly as the paint was literally falling off the ceiling because of the leaks. And, since we were in there, Veronica, the middle child, needed her bed to be converted from toddler bed to twin as she hardly fit in there anymore. And well, since we had to do all that, why not make it over altogether...

Right before starting the job

Check out the ceiling. Yuck!

Sometimes, I even amaze myself. It took two days, but we went from "Princess Room" to "Anna and Elsa Wonderland". (Emphasis on Anna) We still had some things to do when I shot this video but you get the idea.

My daughter, is ecstatic. She can't stop talking about how happy she is with her new bed and room. Seriously, we can't get her to shut up. And the oldest is now complaining about when will I paint her room (emphasis on Elsa) so still not out of the dog house but still, it was nice to see her reaction. All I gotta say is, I hope this Frozen thing lasts a lot longer because after I do my oldest daughter's room I am not doing one of these again for a while.

The good news is that the time spent "resting" seems to have been for the better. The knee feels OK and I will probably be up and running this week. it doesn't hurt when I bend it anymore but it does still hurt when I crouch (as I painfully found out on the roof).

Next, I will post my end of the year recap. It's been pretty interesting to put that one together. After all, it turns out it was a pretty interesting year. Stay tuned.