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

Archive for the ‘Michael’

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A Wedding and more

Published July 25th, 2009 in Philadelphia, Michigan, funeral, wedding, Michael | No Comments »

Today is my son Mike’s wedding.  I’m back in Michigan for the ceremony, and while today should be a happy day for me, I feel conflicted because my best friend’s mother passed away the other day.  He and his wife were going to be at the wedding, but now they will be driving from Michigan to Philadelphia to bury his mother.  I’m sure that once the wedding starts, I’ll put that behind me, but once the wedding is over, I’ll be in a funk.  I went to my best friends Dads funeral in Philly 35 years ago, and I’m trying to hook up a flight to Philly once again that day after the wedding, but the problem is last minute tickets cost an arm and a leg. On one hand, I should just buck up and pay the money, on the other hand, it’s a lot of freaking money!  Another option is to drive to Philly, and then fly back to Denver from there.  That’s not as much money, but it’s a long drive from to Detroit to Philly.

But today is a day I need to focus on my son and my other kids that I don’t get to see very often.  It has been raining all morning, but now it’s cleared up and I think that today is going to be a great day.

San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon

Published July 11th, 2009 in San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon, Michael, Jason | 6 Comments »

Well I finally picked a new marathon to run.  On November 15, I will be doing the San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon with my oldest son Jason.  This will be my 5th marathon and his first and I really can’t believe that he decided to run one!  Although I have been running, the serious training starts now.  One thing that I don’t like about a fall marathon is training in the summer.  One of the major problems that I have with my MS (and a lot of people with MS have it) is getting too overheated.  It wears me down real fast.  Today I ran 12 miles and by the time I finished it was 80 degrees, so I struggled the last few miles.  It’s not bad during the week when I can get in 5 miles or so in the morning.  I get out the door at 5:00 and it feels great.  It’s harder on the weekend because I like to run with someone when I do a long run, but it’s harder to find someone to run with that early.  The best I can do is run with someone at 7:00.  I can run by myself, but I can’t seem to do very well at it.  It’s probably all in my head, and being that I don’t have many brain cells left, it can mess me up.

My other son Michael, is getting married in two weeks.  Yikes!  Other than now it will be “official”, it’s not much different than before because they have been shacking up for 2  years or so.  They are getting married back in Michigan so it will be nice to get back home and see my dad and daughter.

My lame excuses

Published December 14th, 2008 in Rock and Roll Marathon Arizona, Miles, blak lab, knee, Kari, Michael, Diane, training, Jason | 1 Comment »

Wow.  I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve written anything.  No real excuses, but I do have some that I will share with you.

After the half marathon I ran, my daughter Kari got married 2 weeks later.  The ceremony was in Florida on Sanibel Island and it turned out great.  There were just a handful of people that came to it since most friends and family are from Michigan.  The ceremony was on the beach right at sunset, and the weather that day turned out perfect.  I was there for 4 days and most of the time I hung out at the beach with my boys Jason and Michael.  Of course we all ate and drank too much and I only got one run in.  I needed to go 18 - 20 miles, but all I could do was 14.  Possibly too much drinking the night before.

We now have a new addition to the family.  His name is Miles and he is a Black Labrador.  Diane and I got him when he was 6 weeks old, so he is for sure a handful.  He eats like he’s never eaten before, and chews up everything.  He’s 10 weeks old now and almost potty trained.  I guess that’s not too bad when you consider it takes 2 years to potty train a baby.  I’m looking forward to the days that we can go running together (hence the name Miles), but for now he sniffs and eats everything along the way when we go for a walk.

My training for my next marathon, the Rock and Roll Phoenix Marathon, is not going well.  I re injured my knee on a run 2 weeks ago, so I had to miss almost 2 weeks of my training.  I was scheduled to do 22 miles last weekend, but I ended up just working out on the elliptical machine at the gym.  I ran 14 miles yesterday, and although my knee is sore, it feels okay.  I will attempt 20 miles next weekend and see how everything feels.    It’s 5 weeks until the marathon, and I have some ground to make up, but I can’t be too aggressive in my training for fear that I hurt my knee again.

Well that’s my story,and I’m sticking to it.  I will try and be more diligent in my writings, and actually try and make it worthwhile reading.

What Happened to Fall?

Published October 11th, 2008 in knee, Denver Marathon, OBX Marathon, Kari, Michael, marathon, Jason | 1 Comment »

I think last weekend it was 75 degrees and sunny.  Today it’s 40 degrees and raining.  I’m not sure what the rest of the week will bring, but it’s crazy.  I’m sure it’s global warming and them damn Republicans.  In fact, I think I heard that it was Governor Palin who was shooting holes in the ozone with her shotgun.

I signed up today to do the Denver Marathon which is next weekend.  Since I’m still “recovering” from my knee injury, I’m doing the half marathon and doing this as a training run, and not a race.  The most I’ve run since June is 10 miles, so this should be a good test for my knee.  I hope that the weather is better this year.  Last year it was 34 degrees and raining.  I was miserable.

Then in 4 weeks is the Outer Banks Marathon, of which I’m doing the half with I think my 2 boys, Jason and Michael.  I hear that Michael may bow out because he hasn’t been training at all.  I think that he didn’t want to get beat by the old man.

Not to be missed is my daughter Kari’s wedding in 6 weeks in Sanibel Island, Florida.  That should be fun except for the part where my ex and her family will be there.  I plan on hiding out until it comes time to give Kari away.  Then when that’s done, I run into the gulf where I have a speed boat that is straight out of Miami Vice waiting for me.  I speed away as fast as I can and as far away as I can.  After that my plan is kind of fuzzy.  I’ll either end up in Mexico or Cuba.

Don’t Want to Jinx Myself but……

Published September 20th, 2008 in knee, OBX Marathon, marathon, Michael, Jason | No Comments »

My knee is feeling good after my 6 miler today.  I hadn’t run in 2 weeks and was a little nervous about running at all today, but everything seemed to go well.  Of course I took it easy and I didn’t even look at my watch for fear that I would want to speed it up.

So it looks like I’ll resume a schedule of running this week and see how things go.  A lot will depend on how my knee feels tomorrow after my run today.

My “marathon” is 7 weeks away now, but as I’ve already said, I’m going to try and run the half.  If I can’t run, then I will walk since I already paid for the freakin’ thing.  But my 2 sons are going to be running, and I’m sure they will be out gunning for the old man.  If my knee is feeling good, and I’m able to get some miles in before the race, then I smell a wager on who will win.  Of course I should get odds and I’m thinking of a 10 minute spot.  We’ll see what happens, and if anyone wants a piece of the action, let me know.

Change of Plans

Published June 22nd, 2008 in marathon, Michael, Jason | 3 Comments »

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

Published June 14th, 2008 in marathon, Detroit Marathon, Diane, Michael, Jason, Denver | 4 Comments »

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.

What a Week!

Published May 10th, 2008 in Kari, marathon, Michael | 2 Comments »

Things are going too fast, spinning out of control, I can’t keep up with things, I suck.

Next thing you know is, I’m going to wake up and it’s the morning of my marathon.  What seemed like at one time a long, long way away, is now right on top of me, and it’s feeling heavy.  In one way, I’m glad it’s here and I can’t wait, but on the other hand, I want a couple more weeks to prepare.  But as one great philosopher said, “It is what it is”.  I will do the best that I can and I’m glad that I’m able to do it.  There are so many people out there with MS who need a wheelchair to get around, and here I am complaining about not being totally ready to run 26.2 miles.  What a dolt.

My youngest son Michael, announced  this week that he and his girlfriend Heather are engaged.  To each other no less.  I’m sure everyone who knows them are not surprised.  They have been shacking up now for 4 years and I guess that they decided to make it official.  No date has been set, but it will be sometime next summer.

My daughter FINALLY graduated college.  I think she breaks the record for the most number of years in college to get an associates degree.  I believe that all total she went to college for 6 years to get a 2 year degree.  Actually she was there for 4 years before she decided to can her one degree she was after.  I’m sure it will come in handy down the road sometime.  Yeah, that’s it.

In case you haven’t noticed, the Wings and Pistons are in the playoffs and are doing well.  The Tigers are up and down, but the good thing is that they are in a weak division.

This week will be more rest and less running as I wind down for the marathon.  I am getting a massage, which will be great, and I promise to go bed early.

The 3 G’s

Published December 12th, 2007 in Thunder Road, Michael, Jason | 1 Comment »

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

Published December 1st, 2007 in Thunder Road, marathon, Michael, Jason, North Carolina | 4 Comments »

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).

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