Spring Cleaning...

I am feeling better but now have a nagging cough that I am dealing with. I wanted to get some long runs this weekend but have elected to rest a bit more in an effort to get rid of this flu once and for all. But having said that, I did run yesterday for 8 miles on the local trails.

Tinkers Creek had flooded again a week ago and effectively swept the trails clean. Any fallen limbs, leaves, brush, basically anything that wasn't rooted down, was swept away. It looked like someone had come through with a broom and cleaned up the woods. It was nice running, a bit cool, but nice running.

I seemed to have no energy during the run but kept going anyways, taking more walk breaks than I cared to admit. I returned home and Abby and I continued to work in the basement framing the walls for our remodel project. Pretty fun and we made good progress.

Denise wanted to get a 4 mile run in, Abby wanted to get 2 miles, so the three of us headed back to the bike path. Abby and I ran together and Denise caught up with us as she finished her 4 miles. As we were passing by a clearing, I noticed something in the brush and motioned for the others to stop. A red fox then jumped out of the brush and bounded across the clearing. It was pretty cool to see and we all were happy that we could experience this.

Denise and I ran another 6 miles together today and are planning a 18 miler tomorrow! I am taking a week of vacation to catch up on some home projects. I cannot think of a better way to start than a long run with my wife!

Now, off to bed to rest up for tomorrow!

Vegetarian Update

I wanted to provide an update to our family's vegetarian experiment. I posted earlier about us giving up meat for Lent and living without meat has actually gone pretty well. We still eat eggs, cheese, and other dairy so we are not going true vegan.

We are all feeling good and actually like not having that bloated feeling you get after a meal of meat and potatoes and everything with it. It is like eating Chinese food, you eat a big meal and 1 hour later, you feel hungry again. I have lost a few pounds already, and am sure it is a combination of healthier eating and ramping up my running mileage again. I find myself snacking every couple of hours with an apple or piece of fruit. Again, these are things that we should be doing anyways but never seem to be able to do.

Denise has it the hardest with planning the meals and shopping. Since we are eating fresh as much as possible, it means more frequent trips to the store as well. We have a list of meal ideas posted on the fridge which helps somewhat. We found a really good lentil-loaf recipe that was a huge hit, although next time a double batch will be made to help offset the time of the prep work. Throw the extra into the freezer for a meal next week!

I read somewhere that good nutrition is really the simplest thing to know, but the hardest to implement. It takes planning and time; which is an investment. We are treating this as an investment into our family's health and just another way to encourage healthy choices.

Bad Timing....

Absolutely beautiful weather this weekend I had to come down with the flu or cold! Argh! Gina had swim champs this weekend and I went down yesterday to watch. We left at noon and pulled in the driveway at 8pm.... A long day at the pool! Today, just Denise and Gina went down and I stayed home with Abby. She pretty much read and I pretty much slept... We did get out twice to walk the dogs which felt really good.

This week was a planned recovery week so it worked out well getting sick now.... but, I really would have liked to run today in the sunshine! There will be more sunny days I am sure, and some snowy ones too, but that first warm day of spring is always so so nice.

Signs of Spring

A great weekend comes to a close. Warmer temperatures and spring-like weather provided great conditions for running and just brightened our moods. Last minute changes allowed JP and I to run 20 miles yesterday at Bedford Reservation in a light rain. The temperatures were warm enough that we ran in shorts which felt really good.

Denise and I ran together this morning in slightly cooler temperatures and a heavy rain. Once we got started, it was actually fun. The rain was wet, but we were warm and moving; it was all good.

Denise and I celebrated the 20th anniversary of our first date this weekend with a trip to see the orchids at the Botanical gardens followed by lunch at Tommy's in Coventry. It was a very nice day and the flowers were stunning! It seems that every trip we make to the gardens has been in either a rain or snow storm. We are looking forward to a trip with good weather to enjoy the outdoor gardens!

Daylight savings time has thrown us off a bit with our night-time routine, but the extra light in the evening will be very nice!

A recovery week is in store for the Mochican 50k training, and I plan to enjoy it! Big miles are coming and I need to let my body absorb and rebuild from the past couple of weeks. As always, the goal is to stay healthy!!

School days...

Each day this week has felt like the first day of school: New teacher (new manager), new classmates (new co-workers), new classess (new job responsibilities). It has been interesting to say the least. Oh yeah, the best part, I am tasked to complete a project that someone else started. There is absolutely no documentation to go with this. So I am in a new class with no syllabus or text book. Fun!

Fortunately, these are the types of challenges I enjoy. I have been blessed (cursed) with the ability to learn new things quickly, and I have wanted to work with this technology for a while anyways. It is all good...just different.

My running has been going great! Nothing like a having a little stress added to my life to 'encourage' me to get out and run. I am thankful that I can run and have an outlet, otherwise I think that you would be reading about me in the paper. Headline reads: "Man's head explodes after company makes crazy decision!"

Weather is warming up, daylight-savings time is this weekend, and SPRING is coming! It is all good...

No more meat...

We have decided to give up meat for Lent. We normally don't do anything for Lent as a family but this year decided to use Lent as an excuse to turn vegetarian. The girls are very excited about this new adventure and we have been collecting recipes all year to use.

I know that I will be craving a huge hamburger after my long run this weekend, but will have to settle for something else. This will be a great opportunity to purge some bad eating habits and to make a real run towards getting back into shape.

It was great to see the sunshine and feel the warmer temperatures. I took advantage of this for a mid-day cleansing run from a very stressful work-day. I was able to meet Denise and Abby as they finished their run together. I went back for just over an 8-mile run and it felt really good to blow out some stress.

After over 3-years of development, my employer decided to cancel the project I was working on. Needless to say, the project team was decimated and most were let go. I was fortunate? to be moved into another group within the company, so, I still have a job. Although I should feel relieved, I don't feel that way. It hurts....bad!!! We devoted a lot of time and energy to this product and now it will not see the light of day.

I feel the need to run...

Snow, wind, and beaver damage...

I met JP at lock 29 today for a trail run. We both just wanted time-on-feet and miles really did not matter. We left and headed up old Akron-Pennisula Road toward the Buckeye Trail. Hit the trail and it was not in as good of shape as we hoped. It was pretty icy and with the new snowfall, hard to tell where the ice was and was not. I wore my screw shoes, which helped, but both JP and I each managed to take a fall.

We crosssed 303 at Pine Lane and took the bridle trail towards Salt Run. Just after the golf course, there was a section of the trail that passed close to the river. There were several trees that had been fallen by beavers. Lots of bark eaten off of the fallen timber and several trees in process... The beavers have certainly been busy! Neither JP nor I had a camera but I want to go back again. There was one tree that was at least 12 inches in diameter that had fallen. That must have taken a while to chew through!

We traveled the Salt Run trail to the Kendall Hills. The snow was very pretty as it fell here and several people were taking advantage of it and enjoying a great day of sledding. We headed down the hill and circled the Cross Country course and compeleted the other half of Salt Run. We retraced our path back to Lock 29 for almost 3 hours.

The snow kept falling and the wind kept building as the day progressed. It was a nice day out and our mission of time-on-feet was accomplished. This was my biggest weekend so far this year mileage-wise. Pretty lame compared to where I was last year, but I'll take what ever I can get!

I'm just thankful for being able to get out and enjoy the day!