The MS Runner

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

Archive for the ‘Miles’


Yikes! 8 weeks to go

Published January 17th, 2010 in cataracts, econmy, Shamrock Marathon, Miles, marathon, football, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

I decided for sure that I’m doing the Shamrock Marathon in March which is only 8 weeks away.  Right now, I could do the half, but I’m way away from doing a full.  It should be fun.

Tip jars are getting out of hand.  There’s a beer store that I went to once that actually had one.  Tip for what?  I had to get my own beer.

My dog Miles has cataracts!  What 16 month old dog gets cataracts?

Finally had a good game in the football playoffs, and the team I didn’t want to win, won.  J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.

The company I work for filed bankruptcy (chapter 11), and eventually got bought by some investment group.  What does this mean?  I don’t know.  Only time will tell.

The economy still sucks.  Ater billions in bailouts, what has that accomplished other than put us so far in debt that pretty soon the tax rates will be 50%.  Cash for Clunkers?  The companies that benefited most were foreign car companies.  The government running health care?  What have they run that has ever been successful? Be afraid.

Merry Christmas

Published December 25th, 2009 in MRI, Miles, Kari, Jason, Multiple Sclerosis | 1 Comment »

It amazes me that it is not “politically correct” to say those words because you might offend someone.  I bet all those people are not offended about getting a paid day off from their employer every year.

Catching up on a few things.  I had my MRI and met with my MS doctor last month.  The MRI showed no new lesions and the option was on the table to either continue taking my medication, or to stop taking it all together.   Going in I was thinking that I wanted to stop taking the medication, but I guess I chickened out.  What if I stopped and then things got worse?  Is it the medication that is working so well, or just the fact that things aren’t going to get any worse for me?  I hate the injections, but I hear that in the next few years there will be an oral medication that I will be able to take.  I might as well just keep on doing what I’m doing.

I still haven’t decided what my next marathon will be.  Jason and I still want to hook up and do one together, but he was diagnosed with an inflamed IT band.  So his running has been curtailed a bit.  If we don’t run together, I may do The Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach.  I’ll have to see how my training goes as well.

My daughter Kari announced yesterday that she is pregnant!  Yikes.  I’m happy for her and her husband, but then again I don’t want them to struggle financially.  They are both still paying off their college loans, and most of us all know that having a baby ain’t cheap.  Heck, having a dog isn’t cheap, and they have 2 of those.  Speaking of which, my dog Miles has been a big drain financially.  He got his side ripped open awhile back (about a 12″ gash) and had to go  to the hospital.  He ended up getting stitches and staples, but after a few days it got so infected that they had to remove the stitches and staples, and leave the wound open for a few days.  So then he got stitched back up and everything seems fine.  But then he got some eye infection, then he got another parasite.  It’s always something with that boy.

Back on Track

Published November 2nd, 2009 in San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon, Miles, marathon, Jason | No Comments »

I ran twice this past weekend, and knock on wood, it was all good.  Saturday I did 6 miles, and I did feel like I hadn’t run in quite awhile.  Actually it’s been 2 weeks, but it felt like 4.  My cardio sure wasn’t up to snuff.  Then the real test was Sunday.  I knew if I wasn’t fully healed, I would be hurting on Sunday, but I felt fine so I ran 4 miles.  The last mile was with my dog Miles.  I think he’s almost ready to take the next step and do 2 miles.  I’ll try that next Sunday.  Hard to believe but my marathon, The San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon, is in 2 weeks.  I know that I won’t set any records, and I’m really hoping I finish!  My plan right now is to do the run / walk system.  I’ll run for 2 miles, walk for 1 minute, and run again for 2 miles, etc, etc.  Jason just told me this weekend that he is having some major knee problems.  I think it’s all the mileage he is piling on, and he’s just not used to it.  So I told him to take the week off from running and either do some elliptical training, or ride the stationary bike.  We’ll see what happens with that.

Wow! It’s been a long time.

Published September 13th, 2009 in Miles, knee, beer, Running | No Comments »

I don’t know what it is other than being lazy.  I enjoy writing, but I just haven’t been motivated lately.  But the good news is I’m still running.  The bad news is my knee hurts again.  I did a very hilly 20 mile run yesterday where the elevation change was over 1,000 feet!  Actually got to the top of this hill and it was freaking chilly.  But, I really had a great run.  It’s the best I’ve I felt after a 20 mile run ever.  But as I said, my knee is hurting, so I will need to go back to the doctor and get those wonderful shots in my knee.  This will unfortunately, slow down my training for my marathon.  I’m just hoping that it will enable me to bounce back quick enough so I don’t miss much and therefore be able to run decent come November 15.  My dog Miles is now officially running with me.  We did a mile last week, and a mile today.  He does real well as long as he has a stick in his mouth.  Maybe I should try that.

Football season starts today!  Well it actually started last Thursday, but today is the official start in my mind.

50″ TV - check

Beer - check

I’m ready.

The predonderance of pondering

Published June 7th, 2009 in Miles, Rocky Mountain Half Marathon, Undy 5000, Red Wings, Tigers, beer, training, Running | 2 Comments »

Next week is the Rocky Mountain 1/2 Marathon in Denver, and my goal for this one is to just break 2 hours.  I haven’t been running a whole lot since my last 1/2 marathon, which was only 3 weeks ago, and I can sure tell.   But that’s okay.  This was never a target run or anything like that, just something to keep the adrenaline going.

The Detroit Red Wings are playing well at home, and lousy on the road.  They are up 3 games to 2, and game six is in Pittsburgh.  As much as I would like to see them win at home, they need to get it over with now.

We finally got cable the other day.  Now my question is, “do I now have DVR, and can I get rid of my VCR”?  My dog Miles chewed the cord on my VCR anyway, so it’s not like I’ll miss it.

How do so many people think that what President Obama is doing is so great?  His massive, massive spending is going to ruin this county.  Soon we will all have to send the government over half of our paycheck.  Shit, I already send my ex-wife almost half my paycheck.  He wants government run health care?  The government can’t even run the post office or Amtrack effectively.

Not to be outdone, but the Detroit Tigers are in first place.  I haven’t been following them yet (it is still hockey season), so I don’t know if they are a good team, or just that there are so many bad teams.

Why is it that I cringe at the beer store when my favorite beer is about $8.00 for a six pack, but when I go out to the bar, I’ll not even think about paying $4.50 for one pint?

Did I ever mention that Tom Brady of The New England Patriots is great?  I think that if I were gay, he’d be the one.

There is a 5K that I’m going to sign up for and it’s coming up soon.  It’s called the Undy 5000, and instead of  getting tee shirts, you get boxer shorts.  This run is really going to be “brief”.

Neutering the nasty and bad guys

Published March 15th, 2009 in homeless, nuetering, Miles, Denver | No Comments »

I’m taking my dog Miles in next week to get neutered, and it got me to thinking about things.  I guess basically they want to get dog’s neutered so that there isn’t a trillion dogs running around homeless.  It’s bad enough in Denver where on every street corner is a guy holding up a cardboard sign that says, “help me, homeless vet, God Bless”.  Can you imagine if all the homeless dogs had signs like that?  Their sign would probably say something like, “I’ve had a ruff life, God Bless”.  And speaking of signs, I’ve always thought that it would be a money maker if I made signs for the homeless.  Start up costs would be next to nothing, just find a bunch of scrap cardboard, and buy a couple of magic markers.  I would make up the signs, give them to the homeless people, and have them give me a percentage of what they bring in.

But let’s get back to the neutering thing.  In all seriousness, neutering should be mandatory on all stupid men, criminals, rapists, pedophiles, and priests.  Whack the whole thing off so there is nothing left.  Prisons would definitely be a safer place to be for the pretty boy white collar type crime guys too!

Random thoughts

Published January 29th, 2009 in Hines Ward, Miles, Run Faster, super bowl, Colfax Marathon | 1 Comment »

It’s freaking 5:00 in the morning and I don’t have anything else to do but update my blog.  My dog, Miles, needs to get on a better schedule.  At least tonight he only woke me up once to go out and that was at 1:30 in the morning.  But then he got up at 4:30.  I’m trying to hold off feeding him for awhile though.  He’s as much work as a baby!  Well, not really.

Signed up for the Colfax Half Marathon the other day.  Thanks to Kristen at Run Faster for letting me use the friend for free coupon.  She signed up and then gets a code that she gave to me for me to sign up.  So it’s really like both of us paying half price.  Hey Kristen, let me know where to send my half!  I’m also thinking about doing the program that’s outlined in the book, Run Less, Run Faster, which Kristen talks about in her blog.  With my knee and other injury issues, this may be the way to go.

The Super Bowl is this Sunday and it’s really turned into a circus.  In the good ole days (I know, I hated it when I was a kid and grown ups would say this) it was about the game.  Now it’s over hyped, over analyzed, and dragged out too much.  Just play the game.  Who cares who the halftime show is?  Are you really going to watch the game just so you can see Bruce Springstein?  I think on Sunday, there is like a 6 hour pre-game show.  Now we’ll know what Hines Ward is really like!  I won’t make a prediction because I suck.  I want a good game and I want the Cardinals to play bad.

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.