A Race In Every State

A few years ago I set a goal to run a race in all 50 states.  I'm not sure if I'll ever accomplish that goal.  That's a lot of travelling, especially when it comes to running in places like Alaska and Hawaii.  However, I'm still going to give it a shot.  What a great way to get to see the country!

I've already run in several different states, but have a lot to go.

I've obviously run several events in Ohio.  Michigan was covered when I ran the Ohio-Michigan 4 mile run that started and ended in Toledo.  Although it started and ended in Ohio, the 4 mile loop course was in Ohio for 2 miles and Michigan for 2 miles, so it counts.

In Indiana I ran the Firecracker 5K.  That was a run I found when I Googled "5K Columbus" and found events in Columbus, Indiana instead of Columbus, Ohio.

In Pennsylvania I ran the Steelers 5K run, which ended by running through the tunnel on to Heinz Field and the finish line.  Pretty cool, even for someone who's not a Steelers fan.

In New York I've run the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers run twice.  Without a doubt the most amazing 5K I've ever run.  20,000 people running through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the World Trade Center site is something I'll never forget.

In North Carolina I've run the St. Timothy's 5K run in Raleigh and the the Victory Junction Gang Camp 4 Miler.  I ran hills there that I've never had to run on any other course.

In South Carolina I ran my first marathon in Myrtle Beach.

My last out of state run was the Disney World Half Marathon in January of 2010.  I never thought I'd have to go to Florida to run a half marathon in snow and sleet.

In December I will add Nevada to the mix when I run the Las Vegas Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon.

So by the end of this year I will have run races in at least 9 different states.  A lot more to go, but looking forward to the journey.

Am I Nuts?

Well, as I've mentioned a few times on here, I set a goal at the beginning of this year to run two half marathons, specifically the Cap City Half Marathon in May (which I did) and the Columbus Half Marathon in October (which I'm registered for).  Since that time I, for some reason, got motivated to add the Little Miami Half Marathon to the mix in August.  Yesterday I clicked on an advertisement that was attached to my own blog for the Las Vegas Marathon, which is part of the Rock & Roll Marathon Series.

When I was running a lot of races back in 2008 and 2009 I had always wanted to try and run some of the Rock and Roll Marathons.  Well, I again started looking at the costs of flights to Las Vegas, which were better than either of the last two flights I've taken.  I also started looking at the costs for a hotel room in Vegas, which weren't bad either.  So...I decided to go for it and plan to run the Las Vegas Half Marathon, which is in December.

The Las Vegas Marathon and Half Marathon are a little different than others I've run, in that it is an evening Half Marathon.  So...instead of waking up early, starting while it's still dark outside and watching the sun rise as the race goes on...this will be one that starts in the late afternoon and will end after the sun goes down.  I've done some afternoon and evening 5K's in the past, but a half marathon in the evening will be a little different.

I'm looking forward to my first "Rock and Roll" Half Marathon, but I will say this...if the cost to register for the others in the Rock and Roll series is the same as it is in Las Vegas, it will likely be my last.  Actually, had I looked at the registration cost for the Half Marathon BEFORE booking my non-refundable flight, I would not have even registered for this one.  In 2010 I ran the Disney World Half Marathon and thought that the registration cost for that was high at $145 (and you didn't even get tickets to the park with the registration) but this is even higher.  For what I'm paying for this run, the SWAG had better be good!

So I guess I'll continue to try and pick up as much overtime as possible at work to help pay for this run while still paying for things like a roof over my head and meals on the table.  (OK...maybe it's not THAT drastic, but I've got to be careful not to be dipping in to my emergency fund to pay for my recreation).

As long as I've started to rant about the cost of running, let me continue.  In 2008 I started running ALOT.  It was not unusual for me to run 2, 3 or even 4 5K events in a weekend.  After running my second marathon in 2009, my running dwindled a lot.  In 2010 I ran two half-marathons (neither of which I was prepared for) and then didn't run much again until early this year.  As I got back in to running I started looking at some 5K runs in the area and noticed that the registration costs had, in some cases, doubled from what they used to be.  I used to pay $20-$25 per event and now...most runs have a registration fee of $40 or more.  I don't mind paying that once, maybe twice a year if the money is going to a good cause.  But to pay that just for the privilege of running in the event?  I don't think so.

Maybe that's why I've focused on running so many half marathons this year.  If I'm going to spend the money for the registration, I might as well get as much out of it as I can.  

Week #6

I started week #6 of my half marathon training today.  In 9 weeks I will be running my next half marathon (The Little Miami Half-Marathon) in Morrow, OH.  I've got the hotel reservation made, because driving 2 hours that early in the morning and then have to run 13.1 miles is NOT what I want to do.  I will, however, have to drive 2 hours back AFTER running 13.1 miles, and those of you who run know that you don't really want to be stuck in a car that long so soon after running a longer race.

I'm still losing weight along the way, and if things keep up at the current pace I should be able to drop about 18 more pounds before race day, which would put me about 45 lbs. lighter than I was when I ran my last half-marathon.

After that throw another 9 weeks of training in and another half-marathon.  That will be the half marathon that I'm looking forward to the most.  Having run the Columbus Marathon in the past, I know how much crowd support there is through the first half of the marathon and I'm looking forward to 13.1 miles of some of the best crowds I've ever seen at any event I've ever run.

The Power of Running

Must Run More

Last week was a good running week for me...after all the time I've been running I was finally able to find a comfortable pace and settle in..first for 3.1 miles and then again the next day for 4.2.  I started listening more to my body and knowing when to slow up the pace and holding back some at the beginning of the run in order to make it all the way through with no walk breaks.

Doing this made me change one of my goals.  My original intention was to run two 1/2 Marathons this year...the Cap City Half Marathon, which I ran in May, and the Columbus Half Marathon in October.  But I've added another half to the count.  Today I registered to run the Little Miami Half Marathon in Morrow, OH.

A typical half marathon training program for me is fourteen weeks long.  My conditioning right now puts me at about week #4 of that training program and is excellent timing for the run in August.  After that I roll back to Week #6 and continue training to prepare for the Columbus Half Marathon in October.

The tough part of any late summer or fall marathon is training in the Summer...not too bad if the weather is in the 70's and low 80's...but I have to hope that it doesn't get in to the 90's too much.  One other aspect of this is that, in July, I'll be in Las Vegas for a week.  When I went to Las Vegas last month it got up to 103, so I can only imagine how hot it will be in the middle of July.

This will also be a good opportunity to see how close I am to hitting the goals I set for the Columbus Half Marathon.  This one will be less about setting goals and more about training and preparing for Columbus.

We Can Really See it in Your Face

I think pretty much everyone who reads my blog knows me and knows that 6 years ago I had the Roux en Y gastric bypass surgery.  When I started that journey I weighed 440 lbs.  I lost 45 pounds prior to the surgery and another 155 pounds after the surgery.  I put some of that weight back on (not anywhere close to the 200 lbs I lost, but enough) and have been working to get the weight back off.  I've been pretty successful so far, having lost 18.5 lb in the last 7 weeks.

My brother has also been working on losing weight, and his latest blog entry expressed some "disappointment" in the fact that he had lost 10 lbs in the last month.  Now he's happy to have lost the weight, but was hoping to have lost more than that.  What he needs to realize is that 10 lbs. in a month is a good number...a really good number, and at that rate he will lose the 100 lbs he's hoping to lose within the year in which he's hoping to lose it.  In addition to that he is much more likely to keep the weight off.  One thing I've learned is that dieting always succeeds, but is never successful.  What I mean, is that, if you diet you will lose weight, but eventually you will put the weight right back on.  If you change your lifestyle and eating habits you will take off the weight, but be much more likely to keep that weight off and be healthier a lot longer.

But all of this was a lead up to this...my brother has heard something this week that I have found humorous.  I heard it a lot after my surgery...I had lost over 100 lbs and people would say "we can really see it in your face"..I'll let comedian John Pinette explain why that's so funny...