January 2024: A Look Back

It’s actually hard for me to believe that we’re through the first month of the year already. Time has flown by and soon we will be welcoming spring time weather here in the 757. For today’s blog entry, I want to take a look back on the month that was January.

Personal Stuff

There really isn’t a whole lot to talk about on the personal front, but I do have two things to share. The first is that for the first time in several months, I actually feel really good. Part of that is certainly due to some things I’ll talk about in the running/weight loss portion of the blog, but another is that after a couple of months of one health issue after another, I am well. The illness stuff didn’t go out quietly as I did have a bout with bronchitis early in the month that took a couple of weeks to kick, but I am happy to be well right now.

The other thing I wanted to mention is that I have altered my morning routine a bit. As much as I don’t like to admit it, I am a bit of a morning person. I run 90% of the time early in the morning and with our current schedule at home, if I want to run in the morning during the week, I have to be finished by 6am. I had been getting up around 5 to accomplish this, but by doing that, I was waiting until I got into my office to have my quiet time where I read and study the Bible and pray. This isn’t necessarily a terrible thing, but a lot can happen between 5am and 9am that if I haven’t already had some time with the Lord can knock me off balance. Consequently, my alarm is now going off at 04:15 (0 dark thirty – or fifteen in this case). This allows me to get up, spend some time with the Lord, and then head out for my run. It hasn’t been an easy shift, but it’s one that I am so glad I made.

Work Stuff

January at our church is focused on one thing: Missions Conference. Every year in January we hold a conference where missionaries from around the world that we support come in and share with us things that they have been up to in the past year. We typically have 12-15 different missionaries in house during the Wednesday – Sunday event and we also have several others that can’t join us in person that send in video updates. It truly is a special time.

I have two highlights from this year’s event. On Sunday morning, during our worship service, we were singing the old Russ Taff song, ‘We Will Stand.’ As we were singing members of our missions board came to the front and joined hands with our praise team. Missionaries and other church members followed suit and by the time we were done (I think I sang that chorus about 10 times), they had formed a giant circle encompassing our sanctuary. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

The other highlight was a more personal one. On two separate occasions (Friday evening and Sunday evening), two different missionaries came up and spoke something into my life that was a complete confirmation of where I know that God has ultimately called me in ministry. They had no way of knowing how significant what they were saying was, but it was dead on with what I believe God has spoken to me. I love it when that happens.

Health and Fitness Stuff

I know that many of you that follow this blog started following because of my training updates and race recaps. I’m not abandoning that stuff, but it’s just going to look a little bit different now.

January was the first month since August of 2023 that I had a complete month of consistent training and healthy (or healthier) eating. What a difference it has made in how I feel. It was also very eye opening to see just how much fitness I had lost in that time frame. I won’t detail every workout, but I want to outline the general plan.

Week 1 – Weekday runs were approximately 1.5 miles using a run/walk ratio of 15/30 (seconds) and my weekend long run was a whopping 3 miles. It’s crazy how accomplished I felt at the end of the 3 miler. My pace was hovering in the upper 12s. I ran 8 miles that week.

Week 2 – Weekday runs were 2-2.5 miles using 20/30. My weekend run was a little over 2.5 miles. I wasn’t planning on stretching that distance out from the previous week’s 3 until next week. (Did I tell you that I’m a Galloway disciple when it comes to training?) Pace for that week was around 12:30/mile. I ran 9 miles that week.

Week 3 – I did 2 2.5 mile runs using 25/30 and a shorter 1.4 mile run using 60/30 where I just wanted to see what my legs would do. My long run was 5.1 using 20/30. My pace for the week hovered around the upper 11s except for my long run which was 12:30/mile and my one short run of 1.4 that was in the mid 10s. I ran 11.5 miles that week.

Week 4 – I did 3 runs between 3-3.5 miles and a repeat of the short 1.4 mile run from last week. I used 30/30 for the 3-3.5 milers and 60/30 for the short run. My pace for the 3 milers hovered around 11:30 and the short run came in at 10:40. I did a 5.3 miler for my long run using 25/30. 16.1 miles for the week.

For the last few days of January I did a daily 3.4 mile route using 35/30. The first one came in at just barely under 12 minutes/mile which was really frustrating, but the last two of the month saw downward movement towards the 11:30s.

So, what did all of this get me? I ran 54.8 miles in January. I did a few short walks that didn’t even add up to 7 miles. On the scale I dropped 5.8 pounds and 0.8 BMI points. That’s a solid start to the year.

February’s Goals

1. Get my long run up to 9 miles.
2. Go for more walks. (I don’t enjoy them, but know they’re great active recovery).
3. Continue to improve my eating habits.
4. I said that this year’s running wasn’t going to be about hitting a certain mileage number for the year (and it isn’t), but I would like to total over 70 miles of running this month.

What’s Been Going On

So it’s been a hot minute. In fact, I haven’t blogged since before running the Bird In Hand Half Marathon with a bunch of my running friends. I never blogged about that race because I honestly didn’t know how to recap that event. On one hand, the time I had with a bunch of my running friends from across the country was amazing. On the other hand, the race absolutely wrecked me.

I don’t know what it was. I had a wonderful time running and chatting with my friend JD from south central PA. If I’m totally honest, I was probably undertrained (especially for the hills). However, this race ended up being my slowest half marathon ever (even slower than the one trail half that I’ve run). The competitive side of me absolutely hates that. The weird thing was that it took me forever to recover. Everything hurt for longer than normal after a half. My feet, my legs, and everything else that could possibly hurt, hurt.

So, I chose to get back on here to provide a bit of an update. I do want to get back to blogging more regularly, and I will still blog about running. That said, I will probably blog less about running and more about other stuff. So for this update, I want to give a physical update, a running update, and a bit of a life update.

The Physical

As I already said, my body was wrecked after Bird in Hand. Since mid-September it seems like I’ve been fighting one physical difficulty after another.

About the time I was finally able to start regularly running, I came down with some kind of weird health issue. I still don’t fully know what it was and I don’t want to give the gory details, but it was most likely either a UTI or an attempted flare up of my good friend diverticulitis (which has been quiet since 2017 when it kept me from running my first marathon in Richmond). The doctors couldn’t get a full handle on it, but despite trying a few different things medically, I stayed in a constant state of discomfort for the better part of 6-8 weeks. The thought of running with that type of pressure in your gut just isn’t even there.

When I finally started to feel better after Thanksgiving, I got a few runs in heading into December and then on December 10, I woke up with a sore throat. For the better part of a month I went back and forth from sore throat, to sinus crud, to chest congestion, and sometimes a combination. After an ER trip for our youngest daughter revealed that she had bi-lateral pneumonia (she’s doing great now), I finally caved and went to the doctor a day or two later. The diagnosis was bronchitis. Steroids, prescription cough meds, and an inhaler have me feeling much better despite a lingering nagging cough that has brought on a pulled chest muscle. Getting old sucks.

I started 2024 about 6 pounds heavier than I started 2023 and I didn’t start 2023 in good shape. Because of that, despite not feeling the best with the congestion, I began running regularly again on January 1.

Running

I started out incredibly easy. For the first week of January, when I went out I used a 15/30 run/walk ratio. I’m a Galloway runner which means I always run using a set run/walk interval. This method has allowed me to finish 11 half marathons and 2 full marathons. This start was incredibly humbling. When things went south in the fall of ’23, my long run ratio was 60/30, and my weekday runs used 120/30 and my pace for those runs was mid 10s for long runs and upper 9s for short runs. Now I was out there in the mid to upper 12s.

So far in each week of January I have increased the run segment by 5 seconds, so I ended this week using 25/30 during the week and I used 20/30 for my long run today (5 miles). I am definitely seeing improvement. My legs are bouncing back more quickly but that’s not surprising given what my lungs have been dealing with.

Typically my running goal for the year has a mileage number or a pace attached to it. That’s not the case this year. My running goal is simply to consistently run during the year, listen to my body, and get healthy. Whatever mileage/pace that ends up being, I’m ok with. I need to get healthy first.

Life

I am still on staff at Azalea Garden Church in Virginia Beach and I absolutely love it there. I am currently studying to take the test to get my Ordained Bishop certificate. This is the highest level of credentialing one can attain in our denomination. That test is happening in March.

We have 2 high schoolers in the house. That in and of itself messes with me, but add in the fact that Carrie is graduating in June and I am all up in my feels. She wants to attend Lee University in Cleveland, TN (my alma mater and where Beth and I met) in the fall. Watching our girls mature and grow up not just physically, but in their relationship with Jesus does this dad very proud.

Beth and I celebrated 20 years of marriage in November. We were able to get away to the Outer Banks for a couple of days and had a wonderful time. I truly can’t imagine doing life without her by my side.

Weekly Training Blog – August 22 – 28, 2023: A Strange Week

Tuesday, August 22 – Weight: 235.9

Coming off of last night’s tempo run in the heat, I was doing good to even get out the door this morning. I used 1:10/:30 and ran 3.2 miles at a 10:53 pace (11:23, 10:56, 10:35). The legs were dead, but to still pull out negative splits felt pretty good.

Wednesday, August 23 – Weight: 234.9

I am 2.5 weeks out from the Bird in Hand Half Marathon so even more than usual I am going to be very careful to listen to my body. I woke up this morning feeling pretty fatigued but have also been having a little bit of nagging foot pain (it’s time for new shoes which I will probably place that order today), so I decided to not go for a run. I would have preferred to stay in bed, but my body has this thing that once I’m awake it’s almost impossible to go back to sleep. Consequently I opted to go for a 2.5 mile walk around the neighborhood. Walking isn’t my favorite activity, but it does allow me some quiet time where I can listen to my Bible app as well as spend some time in prayer.

Thursday, August 24 – Weight: 234.9

Despite not going for a run or to the gym yesterday, I was happy to see my weight not go up at all. This morning I took my girls to the gym so it was a quick mile (9:31) on the treadmill followed by a half hour of upper body strength work. I still don’t particularly like lifting, but combine the fact that my kids enjoy it with the knowledge that I can’t live on cardio alone, it is becoming easier to be motivated to go. I think once I get past the Bird In Hand Half Marathon I am going to incorporate one day per week of leg strength work. I don’t want to start it now as it’s just too close to race day to risk tweaking something.

Friday, August 25 – Weight: 234.3

Tomorrow is a long run. I’m hoping for 12 miles but already feeling the anxiety associated with going that long. It’s not that I can’t get that distance. I’ve done it many times and am certainly trained to do it this time. I just know what I’m facing. Once I’m out there before sunrise, I’ll be fine. Til then, I guess I’ll just have to deal with the anxiety of it. Oh, and today is a full blown rest day.

It was also new shoes day! After trying out the Altra Provision for the last 6 months and over 620 miles, I went back to old faithful. I ordered the Altra Escalante 3 and they came in today. Looking forward to using them this weekend.

Saturday, August 26 – Weight: 236.2

Today was supposed to be a long run. My final long run before the Bird In Hand Half Marathon. When the alarm went off, I woke up with a migraine. That caused me to stay in bed longer and due to other events on the schedule eliminated the possibility of a long run. I set out to get as much in as I could. Honestly, nothing felt right. Despite using my long run ratio, even the 4.8 miles I did get in was a struggle. I’m concerned that my training cycle peaked about 2-3 weeks too soon.

Sunday, August 27 – Weight: 235.6

Normally, Sunday is a rest day. However, after yesterday’s disappointing run, I wanted to get some miles in before church. I went out for 3.1 easy miles using 1:10/:30. It wasn’t fast and it honestly didn’t feel the best, but it was something and it prevented Saturday’s trouble from keeping me on the sideline.

Later in the evening I decided to go out for a quick one miler using no walk breaks. This actually went really well as I ran 1.1 miles at an average pace of 9:11.

Monday, August 28 – Weight: 235.5

Monday means tempo work. The kids started school today which means I need to actually start my runs slightly earlier than I have been. I was out the door at 5:30 for a 3.4 mile tempo run. This one actually felt pretty good. It wasn’t my fastest tempo run in recent weeks, but it certainly felt much better than my Saturday and Sunday morning runs. Using 2:00/:30 I averaged a 10:03 pace and had negative splits.

I also did a really dumb thing with my food intake today. Royal Farms fried chicken for dinner. If you know, you know. It’s so good. By the end of the night I had eaten 5 pieces. Stupid.

Weekly Running Miles – 16.6

Running Miles MTD – 79.6

Running Miles YTD – 642.4

Weight August 1 – 232.5

Weight August 22 – 235.9

Current Weight – 237.0

Weekly Weight Loss – up 1.1 pounds

Weight Loss MTD – up 4.5 pounds

Weight Loss YTD – down 16.0 pounds

Weekly Training Blog – August 15-21, 2023

Tuesday, August 15 – Another muggy morning. At 5:30, the temp was 81 degrees, the humidity was 80% and the dew point was 75 degrees. The only saving grace was a slight breeze. Either way, it was still like running through soup. Today was an easy run using 1:10/:30. I ran 3.1 miles (11:12, 10:23, 10:53) for an average pace of 10:46. I hope to also hit the gym with Carrie this afternoon.

Unlike yesterday, the afternoon gym session actually happened today. I ran a mile on the treadmill (9:32) for a warmup and then did 36 minutes of upper body and core. I’m always amazed at the ebb and flow of strength training. Today there were certain exercises where I had my best day this cycle and then others where I really struggled. I can’t say that I actually like the gym yet, but I love the quality time that it allows me with Carrie. It’s worth it!

Wednesday, August 16 – For starters, I had a big drop on the scale this morning. I don’t know why I tend to have these violent swings, but it is what it is. I know that yesterday in addition to the double workout I nailed my food intake as well as my water intake. That should have set me up for a drop. Just wasn’t expecting the 2.9 pound difference from yesterday. Now to not do anything stupid to reverse the trend.

This morning was my second tempo run of the week. I used 2:00/:30. Conditions were certainly better than the last couple of days as it was only 75 degrees instead of the 80 degrees we’ve been pushing at 5:30 the last couple of mornings. It was still very humid, but that’s what the sQoosh band (https://www.sqooshbands.com) is for. Seriously, best sweatband on the market and phenomenal customer service. I ran my 3.4 mile loop and successfully negative split (10:21, 9:40, 9:34) the run. The legs are feeling good. One more run tomorrow (hopefully a 4 miler) and then it’s time to gear up for Saturday’s long run (at least 12).

Thursday, August 17 – Today turned into an unplanned rest day. It would be easy to blame it on the storms in our area this morning, but I made the decision to not run this morning when my alarm went off before I even knew what the weather was doing. I woke up with a migraine and that caused my decision.

Friday, August 18 – This afternoon I went to the gym with Carrie. I did a mile on the treadmill (9:31) and did an upper body and core lifting session. The workout was tough in that I just felt like almost every exercise was a struggle. I know not every workout will feel great, but this one was just tough.

Saturday, August 19 – From one tough workout to another. My alarm went off at 4:30 and it just wasn’t happening. I hadn’t slept well at all and I knew right away that 12 miles wouldn’t be in the cards. I chose to stay in bed and go for a run whenever I woke up and see what I could get in. I started my run shortly after 8 and chose to stay within the confines of our subdivision by running the ‘mailman’ route. That would allow me to head for home at any point without having a long way to go. I ended up doing 7.2 miles using 1:00/:30 and averaging a 10:48 pace. Given how I felt, I could not have been happier with that distance and pace. I certainly figured the pace would be slower and I just wasn’t sure what kind of mileage I had in the tank. The only downside is now I will do my final long run for Bird In Hand next week and only have a 2 week taper instead of my preferred 3 weeks. Better to stay healthy than risk injury or illness by pushing when you know it just isn’t there.

Sunday, August 20 – Gym day with both of my girls. We went ahead and got Hannah a membership to the rec center as well. After a couple of day pass visits she found that she enjoys it, so the $40/year youth membership is well worth it. A mile on the treadmill (9:30) followed by an upper body/core workout.

Monday, August 21 – Tempo Monday happened on Monday night instead of the morning. Some stomach issues kept me from my normal morning run. On Monday evening, the kids wanted to go to the gym and since I needed to run, I opted to start my run at the rec center. Conditions were less than ideal for a tempo run. The real feel was 88 degrees when I finished. I ended up doing 2 tempo miles using 2:00/:30 (9:14, 9:02) and a cool down mile at :45/:30 (10:15). Those first 2 mile splits shocked me. I don’t like running in the evening and I like running in that kind of heat even less. I’ll take that result every day of the week.

Weekly Running Miles – 19.7

Running Miles MTD – 63.0

Running Miles YTD – 625.8

Weight August 1 – 232.5

Weight August 15 – 235.8

Current Weight – 235.9

Weekly Weight Loss – up 0.1 pounds

Weight Loss MTD – up 3.4 pounds

Weight Loss YTD – down 17.1 pounds

Weekly Training Blog August 8-14, 2023: One Mistake Cost Me A Big Week

Tuesday, August 8 – Started the week off with a bang as far as workouts go. I ran an easy 3 miles around the neighborhood at a pace of 10:20/mile. Then I picked up my daughter at the house and we headed to the gym. At the gym I ran on more mile in 9:33 and then worked out my upper body and core.

I managed to eat to a near 700 calorie deficit today. I like to be in a deficit, but that’s probably a bigger one than I need. I could’ve eaten more but it would have been a late snack and I’m trying to break that habit.

Edit: I did choose to eat a little bit more after arriving home from vacation Bible school. A 700 calorie deficit just isn’t healthy and despite the need to drop weight, I need to do it the right way.

Wednesday, August 9 – Unscheduled Rest Day. I woke up for my scheduled run and had a really bad migraine. I chose to get some extra sleep to try to get rid of it. Fortunately this is not a long run week, so I can push today’s scheduled run to Friday and I won’t lose any workouts.

Thursday, August 10 – Easy Run Day. The original plan was an easy run and then a trip to the gym with my daughter just like Tuesday. However, she decided she wanted to wait until tomorrow for the gym so it was just an easy 3.4 miler using my 1:10/:30 ratio. After yesterday’s unplanned rest day, the legs felt pretty good and while I certainly didn’t push, I ran negative splits (11:08, 10:34, 10:12, and 10:05). Average pace was 10:34.

Friday, August 11 – This morning felt an awful lot like Tuesday morning. Out of bed at 4:15 and out the door to start the morning’s activity at 5:10. I started with a 3.1 mile tempo run around the neighborhood. I used a 2:00/:30 run/walk ratio and averaged 9:52 per mile (10:20, 9:44, 9:27). I finished that up and it was time to quickly change shirts and head to the gym with Carrie. At the gym, I ran one more mile at a 9:33 pace on the treadmill and did a 30 minute upper body/core lifting session. The gym was a bit crowded today so due to time constraints I didn’t get to 2 exercises, but still felt like I put some good work in.

Saturday, August 12 – It’s been a long week. We’ve had Vacation Bible School nightly at the church. While I’m happy to have successfully gotten all of my workouts in this week, I’m certainly feeling the fatigue from the week. That made it a good thing that this wasn’t a long run week. I went out for an easy 6 mile run using 1:00/:30 that was anything but easy. I was just glad to complete the miles. Tomorrow is going to be a rest day and I am very happy about that. I’ve also to this point had a really good week on the scale, so with just a couple more days to go this week, I’m really hoping that I can avoid doing anything stupid.

Sunday, August 13 – Rest Day. I did a dumb thing today. I ate Taco Bell. And I ate a lot of it. It may have been my only meal, but when I logged it I discovered the obvious: just because it’s on the value menu, doesn’t mean it’s lighter on calories. Oops.

Monday, August 14 – My fears came true. Every bit of loss on the scale this week was gone this morning. The pressure is definitely on to have a good day today so that tomorrow morning’s weigh in will close the books on this week with me at least dropping something.

I was out the door to run at 5:12AM. It was already 79 degrees. I did a 3.1 mile tempo run using 2:00/:30 and finished with an average pace right at 10:00 (10:39, 9:24, 9:53, and then 10:24 for the last tenth – which contained a full 30 second walk break so it skewed slow). The plan is to hit the gym this evening with Carrie for another workout and probably one more mile on the treadmill. Update: The gym didn’t happen.

The final weigh in of the week was kind. I was able to drop almost a full pound of the Taco Bell induced surge that happened on Monday. Let’s continue to get after it next week!

Weekly Running Miles – 20.6

Running Miles MTD – 43.3

Running Miles YTD – 606.1

Weight August 1 – 232.5

Weight August 8 – 236.7

Current Weight – 235.8

Weekly Weight Loss – down 0.9 pounds

Weight Loss MTD – up 3.3 pounds

Weight Loss YTD – down 17.2 pounds

Back to Lee University

In December of 2001, I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Percussion Performance) from Lee University. Five months later, I received my Master’s Degree (Church Music). The reason for the short time gap is that I was allowed to start work on my graduate degree while preparing for my senior recital which was the final requirement for my undergraduate degree.

I would return again in 2006 for the funeral of my mentor, professor, and choir director, Dr. David Horton. One year later I would go back one more time for the 40 year Campus Choir reunion at Homecoming. I haven’t been back since. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to go back, but rather it was just a matter of not really having the opportunity.

All that changed earlier this week. The Church of God holds an event known as Teen Talent. It begins at the state level and then those who finish top 3 at state have the opportunity to compete at the international level. The international event used to happen during our denomination’s General Assembly. However, several years back, they made the decision to host internationals at Lee University in Cleveland, TN. Lee is our denomination’s university so the decision makes sense as it provides an easy recruiting week for the school.

Our girls both participated in Teen Talent at the state level. Hannah participated with Carrie and three other members of our youth in a small group pantomime and Carrie participated in a solo pantomime as well as female vocal solo. The group pantomime won state and Carrie’s pantomime place 2nd. That meant they would be heading to internationals in Cleveland.

We arrived late Sunday night. I’ll readily admit that while this trip was for the kids to be able to compete, I was excited to see what changes had occurred on the campus as well as see as many friends from my days at Lee that I could.

The thing that amazed me is that despite a 16 year gap between visits to campus, it immediately felt like I was returning home when we pulled onto the campus. Don’t get me wrong, for me home will always be where Beth and the girls are, and a part of me will always feel like Finksburg, MD (my hometown) is home too. All I know is that Lee University is a special place. The campus is beautiful, the people are welcoming, and I spent six of the best years of my life there. It also happens to be where I met Beth.

Now the really cool thing, Carrie has decided that she wants to attend Lee and enroll in their nursing program. Dr. Brad Moffett arranged for Carrie to get a tour of the School of Nursing while we were there and I have to say that we were blown away. The dad in me isn’t thrilled about my daughter being 600 miles away, but I’m incredibly excited that she wants to attend my alma mater.

Weekly Training Blog: August 1-7, 2023 – A Week of Good and Bad

Tuesday, August 1 – It’s a brand new month and I guess that means getting out of my comfort zone right away. We’re out of town in Cleveland, TN for a few days and I got the chance to meet up with a college friend of mine for this morning’s run. He isn’t a Galloway runner and he’s slightly crazier than I am as he has already done at least one insane ultra run across Tennessee and is currently training for a 50k.

Today was supposed to be an easy run on my schedule, but I didn’t want to hold Jeff back any more than I already knew my typical pace would, so I set out on a 5 mile loop with him and a few others from his running group with no walk breaks planned. Jeff was kind enough to let me take 3-4 walk breaks during the run, but I was thrilled that it wasn’t until after mile 3 that I needed one at all. We aren’t running in flat town Virginia Beach here in Tennessee and the hills even in town and around the campus of Lee University certainly impacted me. All in all, it was a great morning for a run and we got 5.1 miles in at a comfortable 10:36 pace.

Wednesday, August 2 – I posted something on my personal social media to the effect of ‘college life is for the young.’ Holy cow am I tired. We’ve been on the campus of Lee University since Sunday night. I’m absolutely pooped. However, I’m also determined to not lose the momentum I picked up in the last half of July. That means still getting out of bed early and getting the run in.

Today was tempo day and it’s also my first tempo run of the new month. That means my tempo ratio is now 2:00/:30. This morning I did 3.2 miles with this ratio and like Monday, I didn’t try to push pace, but rather tried to get comfortable. I was a little alarmed when mile 1 was over 11 minutes, but settled down mentally when miles 2 and 3 ticked off at 9:58 and 10:03. I finished my morning off with a .6 mile walk to cool down. One more run here in Cleveland tomorrow before heading back to the 757.

Thursday, August 3 – Normally, today would be an easy run day, but with another 600 mile drive facing me, I chose to make today an active recovery day. I went for a walk around campus, listened to my Bible app and took some photos. This campus truly is gorgeous. I’ll be sharing some of the shots I got in a non-running related blog that will most likely already be posted before this one goes live. Walked 1.5 miles.

Friday, August 4 – Planned on a morning run, but woke up with a migraine and some pretty heavy rain so I punted on that. I had already promised to take my oldest daughter to the gym in the afternoon, so that would be the day’s workout. At the gym I did a one mile run on the treadmill (9:33) and then did a full upper body workout. I hadn’t lifted since sometime back in the spring, so I’m probably going to feel that tomorrow. That said, it was great to be back in the gym with Carrie.

Saturday, August 5 – Long run day. It was time to finally get myself back into double digits. I chose to take the 10 mile loop that starts right at my house this morning. I don’t particularly like this loop, but it forces me to go the distance without cutting the run short. I used a 1:00/:30 ratio for this run. Honestly, around mile 6 or 7 there were thoughts of calling someone to come get me, but I managed to put those out of my head. Once I got past 8 miles (which apparently was my current wall), I started feeling better and pushed through to get the 10 miles done. One month to go until Bird In Hand (half marathon) and I’m feeling pretty good. It’s going to be a more challenging course than St. Michaels was in May, but this race is one of my absolute favorite races to run and I can’t wait to get back to Amish Country to tackle those rolling hills.

Sunday, August 6 – Rest Day

Monday, August 7 – Tempo Day. I got a slightly later start than I wanted to, so instead of my 4.1 mile loop and ran the abbreviated 3.4 mile loop. I used 2:00/:30 for my ratio and finished with an average pace of 9:53. Splits were 10:41, 9:42, 9:25, and I was on pace for a 9:28 for that portion of the fourth mile.

From a workout standpoint, I’m very happy with how this week turned out, but I’m disappointed in the weight gain. I made too many not so good choices upon getting back into town and now I have to dig out of the whole I decided to start this month in. Still three weeks plus to get that taken care of, so I know I can do it.

Weekly Running Miles – 22.7

Running Miles MTD – 22.7

Running Miles YTD – 585.5

Weight August 1 – 232.5

Current Weight – 236.7

Weekly Weight Loss – up 4.2 pounds

Weight Loss MTD – up 4.2 pounds

Weight Loss YTD – down 16.3 pounds

Short Week Training Blog: July 29 – 31, 2023 – Finish the Month Strong

Saturday, July 29 – Each of the last two Saturdays have been long runs. Typically when training using the Galloway method you would only do a long run every other week. Today I learned why. I’ll admit, it was the perfect storm in that I didn’t sleep well Friday night, I had gone back to back 5 milers on Wednesday and Thursday (that used to be normal for me, but hadn’t done it in a while), I had done 8 miles each of the last two Saturdays, and finally, at 5AM when I stepped outside, it was already 81 degrees. Still, despite all of that, I set out to do 10 miles. By mile 3, I knew that wouldn’t happen. I had some tightness in my calf that wouldn’t fully go away and I was a good bit slower than I typically am using my long run pace. My body was telling me to chill. I listened. 5.2 slow miles in some very humid and uncomfortable conditions.

Sunday, July 30 – Rest day. Not sure I would classify it as a rest day, but, there was no running. I did however spend the better part of 12 hours behind the wheel of a 15 passenger van taking a group of youth from our church to International Teen Talent in Cleveland, TN.

Monday, July 31 – After arriving at Lee University (my alma mater and where I met Beth) after 11pm last night and only getting about 3.5 hours of sleep, there was so much of me that didn’t want to run today. However, I know myself. If I skipped today, it would be easier to skip tomorrow and could potentially lead to zero running while we are away.

So, shortly before 6am I set out for a ‘tempo run.’ I used my tempo ratio of 1:50/:30, but the legs were dead and I was tired so instead of pushing for pace, I stuck with the ratio but kept the run very relaxed. It was a beautiful morning to run around the campus. I haven’t been here in 15 years, so seeing the changes as the sun was coming up was a really cool experience. 3.7 miles at an 11:08 pace.

I finished up July with just short of 100 miles. This was my biggest mileage month to date. I also end July with a 6.6 pound weight drop for the month. This year has been a roller coaster of trying to get back to my 210 goal, but I feel that I’ve made some necessary changes this month to help me finish. I will begin August officially down 20.5 pounds from where I was on January 1 and that’s not a bad thing at all.

Weekly Running Miles – 8.9

Running Miles MTD – 99.1

Running Miles YTD – 562.8

Weight July 1 – 239.1

Weight July 29- 235.1

Current Weight – 232.5

Weekly Weight Loss – down 2.6 pounds

Weight Loss MTD – down 6.6 pounds

Weight Loss YTD – down 20.5 pounds

Weekly Training Blog: July 22, 2023 – July 28, 2023

Saturday, July 22 – Since I went long last weekend with 8 miles, there was no pressure to hit a certain number today. On the weekends, I typically like to go at least 5 even if I’m not going long. I decided to set out on what I know as a 5.1 mile loop using my long run ratio (:50/:30), see how the legs felt, and add segments if I felt like it. If not, I’d get my minimum 5 miler in for the weekend.

I started about a half an hour earlier than I started last week’s 8 miler and what a difference it made. I also was reminded how easier it is to maintain a long run speed limit when listening to a podcast rather than music. I listened to the latest episode from my friends Dana and Aimee at http://runeatdrink.net (The Run, Eat, Drink Podcast). If you look at my splits on this run you can see where the podcast ended and I reverted back to music. I ended up running 8 miles for the second week in a row. The legs felt really good. It was encouraging after what seemingly every run earlier this week felt like. My pace was slower than last week, but last week was technically too fast for a long run. Really pleased with the effort.

For nutrition: Prior to the run I ate a container of Yoplait Cherry Orchard Yogurt. I carried 20oz of water and 1 Gu packet with me. I took the Gu around mile 4.5. After the run and a shower, I ate 2 over easy eggs with a little bit of sriracha sauce drizzled on top. I’m going to try to go heavy protein today to aid recovery.

Sunday, July 23 – Rest Day. Started the day off with a 1.55 mile walk with Carrie. Nothing better than a little bit of quality time with my girl.

Monday, July 24 – Tempo Mondays are a double edged sword. It’s tough to get motivated to go work hard on a Monday morning, but using Monday and Wednesday as tempo days gives me a little bit more recovery time ahead of my normal Saturday long runs. This morning got cut short simply because of time constraints. I did get 3.4 miles in at an average pace of 9:47. After mile 1, the splits certainly were more like what I want to achieve using the 1:50/:30 ratio. All in all a really good workout today.

Tuesday, July 25 – Easy run day. Went out with my 1:10/:30 ratio and put in 4 miles at an average pace of 10:17. The legs felt really good. I’ve got to get the diet reigned back in. The weekend was not kind. See if I can at least get this week back to even on the weight loss track.

Wednesday, July 26 – Another day and I have the scale moving back in the right direction again. Still trying to minimize the damage that Sunday and Monday’s food choices did.

As far as the run goes, I had a little bit more flexibility with time this morning, so I decided to go for a 5 miler. The first 4 miles were at tempo using 1:50/:30 and the average for those 4 miles was 9:43 per mile. I finished up with a cool down mile at 1:10/:30. It was nice to go a little bit longer in the middle of the week. It kind of has me missing when 5 miles was my normal weekday run.

Thursday, July 27 – Barring any unforeseen and spontaneous urges to run, today’s run closes out the week. Carrie wanted to go to the gym this morning so while she was in the rec center, I was running part of what I sometimes use as my long run route. I hadn’t run that stretch in a while, but it was still as boring a run as it always is. The dog days of summer also make it tough sledding. I used my easy run ratio of 1:10/:30 and got in a solid 5 miler. It’s been a long time since I did 5 miles on back to back days, but it felt good to push myself a bit. I’m definitely looking forward to tomorrow’s rest day, however.

On another note, I continued my 3 day streak of having the scale move the proper direction. Still not back to where I was at the start of this week, but I have knocked off a good chunk of a nearly 5 pound slip up over the weekend. Still have 2 more weigh ins before the week is officially over, so I could still get there. We will see.

Friday, July 28 – Rest Day. Shockingly, as of today I have gotten myself back to within .2 pounds of where I was last Saturday after my horrible Sunday and Monday eating adventures that saw me get up over 238 which is way too close to flirting with the 240s than I want to be. Last day of the week is a rest day. Can I possibly get under that 234.4 mark at the start of tomorrow which is the official last weigh in of this week and the start of next week? Gonna have to behave today.

Well, the quest to fully rebound from two days of bad eating choices came up just short. After Friday’s rest day, I weighed in at 235.1 on Saturday morning which leaves me up 0.7 pounds from last Saturday. This is truly a will power issue. I know that I can do this. I’ve done it before. For some reason I find myself making dumb food choices much more often right now. Really need to behave this coming week as we leave Sunday morning for 4 days in Tennessee. Traveling and eating well have always been huge struggles for me.

Weekly Running Miles – 25.4

Running Miles MTD – 90.2

Running Miles YTD – 553.9

Weight July 1 – 239.1

Weight July 22- 234.4

Current Weight – 235.1

Weekly Weight Loss – up 0.7 pounds

Weight Loss MTD – down 4.0 pounds

Weight Loss YTD – down 17.9 pounds

Weekly Training Blog: July 15, 2023 – July 21 – 2023

Saturday, July 15 – I like to start my summer long runs early in the morning. Preferably before 6AM. The more miles I can get knocked out before the sun starts climbing the horizon, the better it is for me. However, this morning I didn’t get out the door until about 6:20. At the start of my 8 miler it was 75 degrees with 91% humidity. The conditions would only worsen during the run. When I finished up it was 79 degrees with 86% humidity. Basically, this run sucked. It didn’t suck because of the results. I am thrilled that I got it done and had a pace of 11:16 per mile. The run sucked because from start to finish it was just miserable out there. I was glad I decided to do an out and back run because if I had stayed in the neighborhood, there’s no doubt I would have caved and cut the run short.

I’m also really glad that I figured out that I need to eat something prior to starting my long runs. My typical pre-run food is 2 pieces of toast with a little bit of butter. This morning I added some grape jelly because, why not? I also carry Gu packets on my long runs. I take one every 4-5 miles so today I took one at the turnaround point. The quick sugar hit really helps out.

As a way of update, my mother in law was moved out of ICU yesterday. She’s doing much better. She is in currently in the oncology wing waiting on the consult with the oncologist. We’re curious to see if the doctors here in Virginia want to be more aggressive with this tumor than her doctors in South Carolina did. We will see what happens.

Sunday, July 16 – Active Rest Day. Started my day off with a 1.33 mile walk around the neighborhood. I need to really try to do this more often on rest days, but as I’ve stated before, I just don’t particularly enjoy taking walks. Anyway, maybe this will start a pattern. Time will tell.

Well, Sunday turned into a crazy day. After church I took our oldest daughter out to a summer camp in Chesapeake that she will be working at during 3 weeks of the remaining summer. The camp is roughly 40 minutes from our home. Shortly after dropping her off, I got a text that she had forgotten a few things. Just before dinner time, I ran back out there to get them to her. Then the day got really crazy. About 15 minutes after I got home and was sitting down to chill for the evening, we get a phone call from the camp letting us know that while riding on a golf cart, something flew up and hit Carrie in the eye. After flushing it and doing everything the nurse at the camp could do, they wanted to see if they could get her a ride to the closest ER and we could meet them there.

I actually arrived at the ER a few minutes before they got there with Carrie around 8:30. The ER was slammed so I knew we were in for a rough go of it. (Shoutout to the girl that brought Carrie to the hospital. She stayed around the entire time so that she could take Carrie back to the camp and I wouldn’t have to.) We were finally taken back (or so we thought) around 11:15. We actually were taken back to another waiting area. Around midnight, Carrie finally got a room in the ER. It was 12:30 before we saw anyone. Well, the outcome is that Carrie has multiple abrasions on her cornea. She was given antibiotic eyedrops and then told by the doctor that she could not return to work at the camp this week for fear of further injury. Here’s the irony. He’s concerned about further injury and then doesn’t send her home with any type of protective covering for the eye. What in the world?? We finally got home and to bed around 2:15 in the morning. Can’t wait to see what Monday’s run looks like.

Monday, July 17 – Two hours of sleep later and it’s rise and shine. Ok…maybe not shine. Somehow I managed to pull my carcass out of bed to get some kind of run in. I had decided last night that if I managed a run today it would be an easier run using 1:10/:30 instead of my typical tempo Monday run at 1:50/:30. The legs actually felt better than the rest of my body. I cut the route slightly short and just did 3.4 miles instead of my typical 4. Average pace wound up being 10:15 per mile. Given the events of yesterday, I will take that all the time. I also seem to have hit a groove with regard to weight loss. Gotta keep it up!

Tuesday, July 18 – Today’s run was actually what I fully expected yesterday’s run to feel like. Perhaps I should have stuck to my normal schedule and pushed through a tempo run yesterday. I went tempo today and planned on repeating the short 3.4 mile route from yesterday. I cut the run off at 3 (and nearly puked), and walked the rest of the way home. I used my 1:50/:30 tempo ratio, but the legs just didn’t have their typical spring. 3 miles at an average pace of 9:58 per mile.

Wednesday, July 19 – Sometimes you have a week where it feels like every workout is a struggle. I’m apparently mired in that week right now. I went out for 4 ‘easy’ miles using 1:10/:30. Two words: struggle bus. The good news is that I got through the 4 miles and while it certainly wasn’t fast by any stretch, my splits weren’t terrible. I mean 10:45 was the slowest mile so it’s hard to get really upset by the pace. I’m more upset with how my body feels right now. It should feel really good. I’ve got the scale moving down consistently and I’m currently at the lowest weight I’ve been all year. Even so, this week has just been tough. Got one more run scheduled tomorrow and then Friday’s rest day. Saturday starts a new training week (you’ve probably figured out that I start my week on the 1st of each month so my training weeks move around each month). Just trying to push through this week and get on to the next.

So much condensation on my phone…or is that sweat?

Thursday, July 20 – Second crack at a tempo run this week. It certainly wasn’t my best effort, but unlike Tuesday, I managed my normal 4 miles instead of 3 and my average pace was slightly quicker than Tuesday as I averaged 9:56 per mile. This was just one of those weeks and I’m ok with that.

Friday, July 21 – Rest day. That doesn’t mean do nothing though. I went out for a morning walk and walked 1.82 miles before work. I really am trying to enjoy going for walks, but it isn’t happening yet. I need to stick with it though as I need to do some kind of light activity even on rest days.

RECAP – On the whole this may be one of my best weeks of the year. Sure the runs were tough, but I still got over 22 miles in AND I certainly had one of my biggest weight loss weeks of the year with dropping close to 4 pounds this week. I’m still 24.4 pounds away from my goal weight, but after 3-4 months of see-sawing between 238-244 with no real headway, I feel like I’ve figured a few things out and have made some steps to improve my self-control with regard to food (especially late at night). I can’t expect to drop 4 pounds every week and that’s not necessarily healthy to do every week. What I do want to do is remember this week along with what worked for me when I start to have those moments where I want to blow my diet out of the water with garbage.

Weekly Running Miles – 22.4

Running Miles MTD – 64.8

Running Miles YTD – 528.5

Weight July 1 – 239.1

Weight July 15- 238.3

Current Weight – 234.4

Weekly Weight Loss – down 3.9 pounds

Weight Loss MTD – down 4.7 pounds

Weight Loss YTD – down 18.6 pounds