Ugh. Note to self . . . there is no such thing as taking a "week off" physically unless you're dead. As long as you're breathing your body is working. May as well push yourself a little harder for 20 minutes.

First day back to the gym after a week out of town, and it wasn't pretty. At all. The good news? Everything between now and bedtime is easier than what I just did. NEXT!

This afternoon I leave for New York City where I'll take my running "on the road". Then I'll be home for another workout in the gym on Wednesday, then working out Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It's the end of April, so I'll revisit the goals I set and see how I did. Then it's time to set goals for May!

The week began in Tallahassee where I visited my son at Florida State, taking in a doubleheader against Pitt on Saturday, and logging good runs on Saturday and Sunday. After Tallahassee, I hit the road for work and spent most of the rest of the week in Las Vegas where I logged zero miles. I had the best intention to run at Red Rock Canyon, but once in Vegas realized getting there around scheduled meetings would be impossible. The lure of "running on the Strip" didn't do it for me, and I wasn't able to find the motivation to get out the door. Combining a packed schedule of meetings and work-related meals with very little sleep, and the week itself was a marathon.

On the good side, taking a few days off seems to have calmed the noise coming from my right hip. There isn't much pain during normal day-to-day movement. Unfortunately, my right Achilles is acting up again. I've been doing the "Little Old Man Shuffle" when I awaken until it warms up enough to walk regularly. Walking down stairs is another challenge. 

What set it all off was The Run for the Trees 5K yesterday. After a week on the road with little sleep and zero miles logged, I didn't have high expectations. My first goal (set soon after finishing 3rd in my age group at 7:33/mile in my last 5K) was to run faster than 7:00 per mile. Aggressive. But over the past couple races, I EXCEEDED my expectations, so I felt bold enough to aim high this time. Given the results of recent workouts, and tightness in my hips and my right Achilles during those workouts, I figured that would be a stretch. My backup goal was to run faster than I did my last race, which a 7:33 per mile pace. My third level goal was to at least beat 24:00.

Beating 24 is deeper than just beating the clock. Beating 24 also means winning against my strongest competitor - the younger me. My number when I played football in high school was 24. It's how I defined myself as an athlete. "I am 24" is what goes through your mind. It would be more appropriate to say, "I was 24." I've always viewed myself as an athlete, but I didn't do anything truly athletic for several years. More time was spent sitting on my ass at a desk than pushing my body to see what it can do. While that has changed over the past couple years, I'm still chasing 24. I'm still learning how I can push my body and train my systems to work efficiently to cover more ground quicker and quicker, and do it without causing injury. And doing it while accomplishing more and more professionally and at home.

I arrived at the Run for the Trees 5K in Winter Park, Florida around 7:00 for a 7:30 start. I ran this race once before in 2008 with my son when he was 7 (which means we walked more than we ran). I had fond memories and hopes that he'd be with me. That didn't happen this time. I ran it solo.

The starter announced that over 1,500 people signed up this year. I stood in a packed crowd about 30 yards from the start line when the horn sounded. For much of the first mile, I used a lot of energy zig zagging around slower runners - something I avoided last race by starting at the very front of the pack. This route had something you don't see often in Florida. Hills. Not REAL hills, but inclines. The route is a point-to-point with spots where you do go up. The race was smooth, but there wasn't a sense of strength I had last race. 

The route meandered through Winter Park with the occasional resident sitting in their driveway on a lawn chair sipping coffee and waving. The last quarter mile is a wooded stretch on Genius Drive, an unpaved, sandy road usually closed to the public. The signature element of this stretch are the peacocks you don't notice at first. In fact, I didn't notice them until I heard one squawk loudly overhead, then saw another one cross the path. At that stage, I was more focused on my breathing, form and pace to notice much around me.

The final stretch is a cobblestone private drive lined with multi-million dollar mansions. By this time, I was BEAT, but found enough in the tank for a final push to the end. I ended up running 24:03. So while I did beat 8:00 per mile, I didn't beat 24 today. I pushed with what I had, and am confident I did what I could with what I had. The bright spot today was a comment after the finish. With about a quarter mile to go, I passed a girl wearing a Boulder Ironman tank top and matching visor, pushing herself hard on the sandy trail. At the finish line she caught up to me and said, "When you passed me, you reminded me I need to focus on my form. You have great form." So I have that. And that's a good thing since I've been focusing on putting things together the right way. And that includes form. That alone wasn't enough today, and it never will be, but hopefully it'll get me where I need to go in the long term.

The week ahead will be focused on getting the Achilles straight, strengthening the core (with a focus on hip mobility), and balancing another week where I'll be traveling for work. NYC, here I come!

Quote of the day: "Next time I'll just run the whole final stretch and celebrate in the victory lap."

Words to live by.

who coaches or claims some other type of expertise and experience giving them credibility. A small handful are ordinary Joes (or Josephines) who discuss balancing REAL WORLD CHALLENGES with the seemingly superhuman commitment required to achieve the goal. It's humbling, but inspiring.

This past week I stumbled across a video on YouTube by Scott Partenheimer (as the first "guest" of the blog, I'd like to thank Scott for his efforts) - a regular dude who needed to run 26.2 miles in a superhuman time of 3 hours and 10 minutes in order to qualify for Boston. Then I poked around and saw HE has a blog documenting his efforts. He qualified running the Philadelphia Marathon and will be running Boston a week from today on Monday, April 20th. His message is about hard work and heart, and learning from his own experience. He doesn't employ the assistance of others or use tricky technology. As I was read about his path, I was inspired. Then I thought, "YOU might be able to inspire." And that is one of the reasons I'm doing this, even if the only people I inspire are my wife and kids. And myself.

To that end I made an adjustment to the site over the weekend. I added a couple pages, and decided it won't be "anonymous" any longer. So, here it is. A blog by a father, a husband, a guy who at times works 60-90 hours a week in a leadership position with a technology company, and who works in the community as a board member with a non-profit serving disadvantaged kids.

I added a page to document my races and personal bests to show how far I've come, and how far I need to go. I added another page to highlight my influences along the way. And I'll add another "About Me" page at some point over the next couple days or weeks. You'll see actual pictures of ME along the way (the photo above is from BattleFrog a few weeks ago). I'll also see what I can do to add maps and activity here (anyone with advice on how to link Garmin Connect data directly to a blog, I welcome your suggestions). Stay tuned for more! 

I'll post pictures of my experience and lessons I learned along the way. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them about my journey and my opinion, understanding I'm just a regular dude. I'm NOT a runner. I may be training for a 5K later this month and the Space Coast Marathon in November, and ultimately for the Boston Marathon. I may have finished third in my age group in the BattleFrog 5K Obstacle Race and the Wounded Warrior / Lone Sailor 5K last week. But I'm NOT a runner. I'm just a former athlete trying to find my old athletic self in an effort to inspire those closest to me - my wife and kids - and to show crazy things are possible with consistent effort. Most importantly, I'm doing this so I can bring my best energy to every moment of my life.

April has been a success already. Yesterday I completed the Wounded Warrior / Lone Sailor 5K finishing 19th overall out of around 550 runners and 3rd in my age group. Most importantly, I beat my goal of running 8:00 per mile by running a 7:33 per mile pace.

I started at the very front and was passed by only a few. It was a strong start, finishing the first mile in 7:01 - the opposite of what my coach recommended. I had confidence that didn't exist previously, without questions that popped up before (Am I ready? If I push too hard will I re-injure my Achilles or aggravate my hip?) The one question I did have was whether I'd be able to maintain the pace I started, knowing I started fast. Obviously I didn't, but I did far better than I thought I'd do. I can attribute that to (a) my strength training over the past few months; and (b) having my wife waiting for me at the finish line. Having a second straight third place finish in my age group blew me away.

The next race is April 25th, The Run for the Trees 5K in Winter Park, Florida. I ran this race in 2008 with my son when he was seven years old, so there's some history here. It's a point-to-point with a slight downhill angle. Given my lack of sleep the week before the Wounded Warrior / Lone Sailor 5K (averaging 4 hours of sleep a night thanks to end of quarter activities at work), I'll be looking for some aggressive improvement with an average per mile pace of 6:55/mi. If I accomplish that feat, we'll be approaching OVERALL PR territory (PR for 3 miles was a 6:18/mi. pace in high school for football). 

The month of April will see a focus on getting a better feel for pace while also continuing strength and mobility work for my hips. The key to reaching my goal will also be consistency. I cannot miss workouts - whether strength workouts or runs. To achieve my goal, the plan will include: (a) lower body workouts at home to compliment what I'm doing with my trainers; (b) getting my 6-pack, which means a focus on core strength and nutrition; (c) 20 pull ups; (d) 100 push ups; and (e) not missing a single workout (if a planned workout needs to be missed in the morning, it MUST be made up later the same day). That should get me to 6:55 per mile by end of April.

BOSTON OR BUST!!