The MS Runner

Running While Battling Foot Blisters, Leg Cramps, Black Toe Nails - and MS

Archive for the ‘Jason’


Change of Plans

I won’t be doing the Detroit Marathon after all. My son Jason is going to do the OBX Marathon and I will be doing it also. I think that he may only do the half, but he may try and do the full. This is in The Outer Banks of North Carolina along the coast. We are going to try and talk my other son Michael into running also, but I’m sure he will only be doing the half. He seems to have a lot going on lately, including just recently getting engaged to his girlfriend Heather. I’m assuming that she’s not pregnant because the wedding is not until next spring. But then again she could be I guess. She can have the kid in like February or March, and still get married in May or June and no one would know. Mmmm. Anyways, the marathon is November 9th which actually gives me a couple more weeks of training. Yahoo.

This past week was my first full week of training and I actually felt good. I’m running in the morning (5:00 a.m. for god’s sake!) which is good because it’s much cooler than at 6:00 after work. This whole week it’s supposed to be in the 90’s, so the early morning runs are looking good to me.

My gym closed down already, after being open for only about 6 months. Can you say embezzlement? Now I’m not sure what to do about a gym. I don’t use it that much but it’s nice to have when I do use it.

Has anybody done the OBX Marathon? I’d like to hear from you if you have and get your opinion.

North Carolina Coast

Here we go again

My training officially started today to run another marathon.  I’ve decided that I’m going to train for a marathon, but not necessarily run one.  There’s a lot Diane and I want to do this summer and I can’t be too serious about my training and do all the things we want to do.  I’m still going to try and get in all my miles every week, but if it doesn’t happen, I’m not going to get upset.

My next step is to decide what marathon I want to run and I think I’m leaning towards the Detroit Free Press International Marathon.  I’m from Detroit so if I actually do book a flight there and don’t run the marathon for any reason, I can at least go back and visit family and friends.  If I do run the marathon, it will be interesting to see how I do at sea level since I live and train here in Denver.  The marathon itself goes from Detroit, crosses the bridge over the Detroit River into Windsor, Canada, and comes back thru the tunnel under the Detroit River.  It sounds pretty cool.  I’m going to try to talk my 2 sons, Jason and Michael, into doing it with me, or at least do the  half marathon.  There are the biggest wimps and losers in the world if they don’t.

It’s almost here! And I’m not ready

The Colfax Marathon is almost here. May 18th to be exact, and I am tapering down. But I feel like I should be getting in more miles since I missed quite a few runs with my quad problem. But wisdom tells me that I should not be getting in more miles, and that I need to taper more than I need to get more miles in. So, it doesn’t appear that I will break any records, so I’ll just take what I can get. The leg feels almost 100% better, so in that respect, I am happy. I ran hard for the first time last night, and I could tell that I have lost some speed. I guess the Kenyans and the Ethiopians are safe for another year.

After this marathon, I think I will take it easy and just run to keep in shape. Possibly run a couple of half marathons, and some 10K’s, but not do another marathon this year. At my age, 43 53, I need some rest. I keep getting injured, so it’s either my mechanics, or I’m over training. Either way, I’m going to take it easy on myself.

Coming up after the Colfax, is The Bolder Boulder, which is an awesome 10K. I think that they said that it was the largest 10K race in the U.S. Last year they had 50,000 runners, and my son Jason came in from North Carolina to run it. Of course I beat him, and in fact I beat him so bad that he’s not coming this year. Too bad.

The 3 G’s

The Relay TeamI’m not sure that I like marathon relays. You don’t get any of the adulation that the marathoners get, or even the half marathoners. In fact, I think your only purpose is to generate money for the event. You don’t get a medal, and I couldn’t even get a drink at the end. I ran the first leg of the Thunder Road Marathon in Charlotte which was 13.1 miles. Once I completed my leg and handed off the chip to Mike, I stood there for awhile wondering what to do. I wasn’t at the “real” finish line, so there was no fanfare or anything going on. But in spite of that, I had a great time. We as a team did real well, and the fact that I did it with Mike and Jason was the absolute best. I ran great mostly because I think it was at sea level, and I train at altitude. Mike was not happy with his time, but then again, he has had very little time lately to train. Jason did great and I think he was happy with his run.

Next year, we are each going to do at least a half marathon!

One Week to Go

The Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon is next weekend finally. It seems like Jason, Michael, and I have been talking about this forever. Now that it’s here, I’m not ready! Well, I’m sorta ready. I kind of slacked this week because Jason and Michael flew into town to pick up my car, so I missed out on 2 days of running. Not their fault of course, I just got lazy. I ran an easy 12 miles today, and I’ll run a couple more times before I fly to North Carolina. It should be interesting to run at sea level for once. I’m hoping that training at altitude will really help me to have a good race time. I’m shooting for 1 hour and 49 minutes for my leg of the relay (13.1 miles).

The Relay

Jason and Michael (my 2 sons for those of you who may be reading this and don’t know) and myself are going to be running a marathon relay in Charlotte, North Carolina on December 8th.  I am running 13.1 miles, then Michael runs 3.1 miles, and then Jason finishes with a 10 miler.  It should be a lot of fun and it will be cool running a relay with my2 sons.  Hopefully the next time we run, we will all run together.  Jason and Michael are going to be running a half marathon on Nov 4, so it will be interesting to see how they do.  Jason has been training hard, and I know with Michaels work schedule, it’s hard for him to be consistent in his training, but he should be able to do it, just maybe not as fast as he wants.