A Time for Reflection

Well, i finished the Cactus rose 100 mile trail run. Yes, it was painful. No, I would not have been able to finish w/o my super pacer and good friend Mark Richards from Austin. What a super guy. I am glad he brought pizza. Basically I ran the last 55 miles on 2 pieces of pizza, 1 sausage roll, 1 pastie, 4 gels, and 1 mixture of spiz and 2 ensures.

Dont ever try that. If you go to a race where you have to supply your own food, bring a large pizza or two. What? Yes, I am that guy who tried to run a 100 miler on Spiz. Not a good idea.

As the other 100 milers I have attempted this year, this race was mentally taxing. Afterwards I felt more mentally drained than physically, but I do sleep alot better the first week, ha,ha. By, Wednesday my leg quads, calves, and hamstings were fine, no pain. But, my knees, ankles and hips were still killing me. I did a 4 mile walk with my dog on Wednesday. That went pretty good, but no running.

What's a guy to do when he caint run? Drink Beer!! So I drank beer the last 7 days since the race. I am feeling quite a bit better now. Oh yea, Wurstfest was great on Thursday. Lots of nice chickies to oogle.

I went out for some time this morning. 3 miles with the ladies from the parkway. Then some walking.

I am planning on running to the gym tonight doing a light workout and running home. That will be 6 miles, plus the 3 from this morning. Not bad, I think.

I am running the San Antonio Marathon on Sunday. It's my birthday, the big 31, and my anniversery marathon. Last years marathon was my first marathon, so I guess I will just run to the start, run the race and then run home. No hurry, and just make a day of it. I already did my 31hours of running for my 31st b-day at cactus rose so I will just try to make it a 100k for by B-day. This race should be fun, its a Rock-and-Roll marathon with 30,000 people. We are big time now, here in San Antonio.

I also signed up for bandera 100k in january. I figured it would be fun. My friend Mark is running this race also. Maybe I will be able to hang with him, but he is pretty fast so we will see.

Other than that for 2009, I have not made any decisions on any races. Not real sure what I want to do. I learned quite a bit about myself over the last year, but I am feeling like I need to feed my mind. And do some writing. I started reading a book about a polish girl who helped out Jews during the war. Pretty good book and it reads well.

Well, I am out for now.

If You Don't Mind It Don't Matter

I remember the first time I heard the saying in the title of today's post. It was the first week of basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

Some rough and tough drill sergeant told us that as we were getting ready for P.T.

It a pretty true statement.

I am all packed up and ready to head out to Bandera for the Cactus Rose 100 mile trail run.

http://www.tejastrails.com/CactusRose.html

I have not been feeling 100% since I got back from Palo Duro 50 miler. Hell I have only been running 3 times but not for very long. A friend of mine Mark from Austin will be pacing me through the night on this race. I have never had a pacer before, but it should be fun. I would like to run a 24hr 100 this weekend, but I will not push it too hard. I am just going to head out there and have fun. Take breaks, talk a little, make a day of it. Just play it by ear. We have to provide our own food at this race. I think I am ready, lots of SPIZ, Ensure, HEED, and gels.

I have been trying to talk myself out of this race all week. These 100 milers are so mentally taxing. I have been apprehensive and a little scared about this race all week. I have prepared myself physically for this one I think. I will need to manage my nutrition properly and my hydration and my expectations. If I am able to do this well, then the race will be good. This race will be my 3 100 mile attempt and hopefully my second finish. The biggest thing a person needs to complete a race like this is patience.

Wish me luck, I am going to need it.

14 Oct 2008

Dammit man, still tired as a one legged man in an ass kickin contest.

Did 4 miles with the girls this morning, but I was slow. Sore from yesterday.

Went to kung fu this afternoon, got my ass kicked.

They have a leg/groin stretcher machine there. I worked on that for a little while after practice.

Going to bed early.

13 Oct 2008

Ran 8.5 miles to the gym

4 x 30 reps 135 lbs squats
4 x 10 reps each leg 135lbs lunge squats
3 x 15 reps deadlifts 145 lbs
120 v-ups
120 crunches
5 x 5 reps pull ups
4 x 25 reps with 25lbs dumbells stifflegged deadlifts
4 x 45 reps 65 lbs leg extenstions
4 x 40 reps 65 lbs leg curls.
4 x 10 reps leg lifts
did about 20 min of stretching

ran 6.5 miles home

i feel like warmed over baby poop.

i left at 1730 and got home at 2230 i have been averaging 6 mile per hour pace on my runs.

wow i really fell like shit right now.

going to bed

11 Oct 2008

I woke up about 0300 this morning and got ready to run down to Brekinridge Park here in San Antonio.

I thought that it would be about 20 miles, but it turned out that it was only 15 miles. I arrived about an hour early for the Alzehimer's walk. As I turned into the park, Team in Training was leaving for thier 18 miler. So I just fell in behind them and ran for another hour. Ended up running 20 miles today. As I was going back into the park for the second time my friend Janice pulls up along side me in her car, with family in tow, and says hey what are you doing? I hung out at the walk till about 0900 and called my friend Bill to come and pick me up. I met him at the Whitte Museum. He took me home and then we took off on our motorcycles and headed up to Johnson City for the pig roast/biker rally/ fundraiser. I hate biker rallys.

When we go to Johnson City, named after president Johnson, there was a big stretched dually limo filled with bachelorette girls. They were all dressed in stripper boots and wigs. They were from Austin. I was like, "Hey Bill, here comes the circus!" I chatted with them a minute and they were looking for a stripper, so I was like, Hey I'll do it!!!

The took some pictures sitting on our bikes and I took my shirt off and they took some pictures of that too. Good thing I ran that 20 miles this morning, I was looking pretty lean.

I told the bride to be, if it doesnt work out, then I live in Selma so come by and see me! haha

I looked at bill and says, "Well, we better just go on home because it aint gonna get any better than this!" He agreed.

Went made it over to the pig roast, and stayed there till about 5 pm. We left there and headed over to Lukenbach and had some fried potatoes and pulled pork sandwich. From there we stopped in Sisterdale, in a little roadside bar that was like the ones back home and played a few songs on the jukebox and had some beers.

Got back to San Antiono about 9PM.

All in all, everybody made it home safe, so it was a good day.

In the last 7 days, i added it up, I ran 96 miles. No freakin wonder my knees hurt.

I am taking Sunday off. Off to Hooters for some beers and some football viewing and lunch. Then I am going to put together some stuff for Goodwill and do some cleaning.

10 Oct 2008

Another good day. Laughed my ass off at work all day! I did some work too. haha

8.5 mile run to the gym.

Tried to do my leg work out, no dice. These stumps hurt like hell.

So I just did:
120 crunches
90 V-ups
3x30 Reps @ 45lbs dumbells bench press.
3x20 Reps @ 20lbs shoulder raises, front and side
3x15 Reps @ 25 lbs tricep extensions.

3 mile run home.

Fixing to go to bed. Planning on getting up at 0230 and run to Breckenridge Park here in San Antonio for the Alzheimer's Memory walk. Going to meet my friend Janice down there about 0730. I think its about 20 miles, so no later than 0330 leave time for me.

After that, planning on riding the motorcycle up to Johnson City for the Hog Roast/ Biker Ralley. Some kinda fund raiser, where after the gate fee, its free beer and free pork.

Good thing I am not Jewish, Because I love pork. haha

Oh yea, some stuff I ordered on line from Hammer came in. I ordered some bars, some heed, some gels, two gel flasks, a cycling cap, and a sleeveless tech shirt. I got the cylcling cap because I wanted to shade my bald head. haha I look like a dork. hhaha

The sleevless shirt lets me show off my "16in GUNS" "I dont need tickets for this GUN show" and my tattoo. I plan on getting another one on my left shoulder soon. So one on each shoulder. Pimpin it. hahaha

9 Oct 2008

I bought breakfast for the fellas in the shop this morning. I ate like 6 doughnuts and 6 sausage rolls. YES! I felt like a fat ass, but it really tasted good. I will be regretting that "for-ever".

4 mile warm up run. After work. I was really super sore, so I thought that I should do a run before I went to kung fu. I wanted loosen up so I could stretch better at kung fu, but I got there late and missed the stretching. I had to jump right in, and start sparring, so I got my ass kicked.

For Supper I went to my friend Ms. Karen's house. She is my friend from college. She made pork chops, cornbread, steamed veggies, and baked potato. I ate about 4 pork chops. That's my favourite food, pork chops. Its a good thing that the little piggy made it to the market, um um good. We got to catch up and we talked about the economy. Then I got volunteered to come by on Sunday to do some yard work. Yippee!!!

How are you? Mighty Fine, Mighty Fine, as an old Sergant Major used to say when I was in the Army.

8.5 mile run to the gym
3 sets 30 Reps @ 135lbs squats with wide, normal, narrow stance.
2 sets 15 Reps @ 145lbs deadlifts
3 sets 10Reps each leg @ 135lbs lunge squats
4 sets 5 Reps pullups
3 sets 40 reps @ 50 lbs leg extensions
3 sets 40 reps @ 50 lbs leg curls
3 sets 35 reps @ 45lbs dumb bells flat bench
90 reps V-ups in sets of 30
90 reps crunches in sets of 30
3 sets 25 Reps @ 25lbs dumbell curls
a little bit of stretching
3 mile run home

Went grocery shopping, the new Budweiser American Ale is out, It tastes wonderful!

6 Oct 2008

Had a Great Day!

Ran 3 miles to the gym.

2 x 30 reps squats @ 135lbs. wide, medium, narrow stance 10 each
1x15 reps squats @ 185 lbs 3 different stances. 5 each

1x10 reps each leg lunge squats @ 135 lbs
1x5 reps each leg lunge squats @ 185 lbs these lunge squats really hit the hamstrings and glutes where they tie together at the back of the top of the leg. Great for hill running.

2 x 15 reps deadlifts with 145lbs, use 2 25lbs plates on each side, so you get real deep.

3 x 5 reps pullups

1x 20 reps cable rows @ 85lbs

3 X 40ish reps @ 50 and 65 lbs leg extensions do themfor 1 minute, practice breathing on these

2x 40ish reps @ 50lbs leg curls

went through a stretching routine for 30 minutes

4 X 10 reps leg lifts really hits the hip flexors

8 mile run home with intervals

If I keep this up, I should be strong for Cactus rose on 1Nov.

Wish me luck.

Oct. 4/5

I had fun at the trail twister 60K. This is a photo of my friend Mark and I after the finish. http://welshrunner.blogspot.com/

We have run a few races together and we always finish real close to each other, but never see each other out on the course. Odd, I think.

Did the 60K in 7:32 minutes or so. I had a rough patch about mile 21 to 25 but made it through. I went out to fast, but I had the best view on the whole course for 17 miles. No way I was gonna slow down. After the rough patch I decided I should try to run my race, not someone elses race, and ended up with a strong finish. Afterwards, Mark and I jumped in the lake to cool off.

This race was a trial run to see how it would be to ride my motorcycle to a race and camp. We the motorcycle bit and the camping bit went great. So in Two weeks I will ride up to Amarillo and run the 50 miler up there. This race will be a real hoot. Tons of folks will be there so I am already getting excited. Also my best friend Bill and his wife are coming up to camp and hang out, so whoo hooo!

On Sunday, I ran to the gym 3 miles and did about half my workout routine with a little less weight, then ran home 3 miles.

My plan this week is to work the squats and deadlifts and stretch. I will be running to the gym and back, which i can make a 6 mile or 10 mile. So I will have a chance to be on my feet.

On Saturday, a friend of mine is participating in an Alzheimer's fundraising walk in Breckinridge Park. I will run down there and then do the walk. Its about 20 miles from my house and is also the start of the San Antonio Marathon on the 16th of November. I will see how long it takes to get down there from my house so I will know. My plan to to run the start of the marathon and run it, then run home for about 62 miles. Its my birthday, so 2 miles for each year old I am and a nice 100k. We will see!!

29 Sept

Sold my big dodge truck to Car Max.

So, i left there and ran home. hah

Did about 11 miles today, and stopped by the gym for a little leg work and some stretching.

Blisters got a little worse, so I lanced them and then filled em up with super glue. Bought some duck tape for Wednesdays run. We will see.

Got the Trail Twister 60k on Sat. So I hope this works.

27/28 September

On Saturday I ran the with the girls from my running group. Ended up with 25 miles. Then wen to kung fu for an hour.

I got bored in the afternoon, so about 18:30 I went for another 15 miles.


Sunday:

Nothing, drank some beers at Hooters. Then threw the football in the street with the neighborhood kids. I got 2 blisters now on the bottom of my feet. That sucks.

25 Sept 2008

No running today.

Did two 1 hour sessions of Kung Fu.

Maybe tomorrow I will hit up some runs. The weather here has turned cooler, so that is a real incentive.

23 Sept

Some Tuesday fun it turned out to be.

Went to two sessions of kung fu, need to catch up on some material. It was very productive.

Ran, not sure how far, no watches, no garmin, just two hand held nathan bottles. I was out of water about 1 mile from my house. Had a pretty good time, a little change of pace. I aguessing 7 or 8 miles is what I ran, but who knows.

I have had a headache all day, day two w/o caffiene. Not really quitting forever, just wanted to see how many days I could go with out it. It might be just two.

Back @ IT

Ran 7 miles to the gym.

light squats on the power rack. 4 x 15 Reps 135 lbs.

leg extensions 4 x 50 R @ 65 lbs
leg curls 4 x 40 R @ 65 lbs

Ran 3 miles home.

Went through all my kung fu material.

Even grilled boneless beef ribs on the grill and made my favorite, potatoes, garlic and pearl onions browned in olive oil.

A Little Break in the Training

20 Sept 2008

Yea, I know I took some time off like almost 2 weeks. Don't really have any good explanation for it, but I got tired of sitting around and went for a bike ride. I did, however, serve as a groomsman for one of my many good friends who's name is Bill. I have like 6 good friends named Bill. Kinda wierd I think. He was married on Monday in Arlington, TX. I took Monday and Tuesday off from work so we could hang out. Our good friend and the best man, Jimmy was there. He just moved out to San Jose, California and says that so far it's going well.

I did 75miles on the mountain bike. I rode from my house to San Marcos, had lunch and rode back. I didn't take any electrolyte pills so I almost started cramping, but I managed to make it. I actually had a pretty good time and the dip I took in the river in Greune made it all work it.

21 Sept 2008

Ran 4 miles with my sister at McAllister Park. Ran into a friend of mine named Al and talked with him for a few minutes. I told my sister I need to practice running just after eating, you know like during an ultra run. So I gulped down a breakfast taco that looked like 3 breakfast tacos and took off on our little run.

Stopped by Bill's house. I asked him to help me catch up on some kung fu material. So he showed me some material that I needed a refresher on.

8 Sept 2008

1745 - ran 3 miles to gym at 9:18 pace

4 x 5R pull ups
4x 10R @ 95lbs lunge squats
1x 5R @ 135lbs lunge squats
200 Crunches
200 V-ups
4x 30R @ 45 lbs (db) bench press
4x50R @ 65 lbs leg extensions
1x40R @ 35 lbs leg curls
3X55R @ 65lbs leg curls

20:15 Ran 3 miles home at 9:10 Pace avg, but w/intervlas

5/6/7 Sept Workouts

5/6/7 Sept Workouts

5 - Sept:

Ran to the gym 3 miles
Dumbell work:
4 X 25R @ 25lbs curls
4x 20R @25 lbs front/side lateral raises
4x30R @ 30 lbs shrugs
3X20R @ 25lbs tricep extensions
200 V-ups
200 crunches
4x30R @ 30lbs Stiff-leg deadlifts
4X30R @45lbs bench press
4X50R @65lbs leg curls
4x50R @65lbs leg extensions
4x5 R pullups
Ran home from gym 3 miles

6 sept: HCTR summer social, great event, great folks. No workout

7 sept:

24 miles on the road, ran 15 with the girls from my running group.
10 miles trails at govt canyon SNA.

4 Sept Workout

Still sore as heck from yesterday. That Dehydration almost did me in.

1830 - Went to kung fu for an hour.

2030 - Drank six pack of Budweiser, discussed philosophy with my good friend. About how one
should try to understand who they are as opposed to defining themselves by what they
do.

3 Sept Workout

0530 - 4 miles with the ladies on Schertz Parkway 9.5 pace

1730 - 20 mile run on Schertz Parkway/Lookout road.
1st five in 830 pace
Next 10 @ 9:30 pace total time, but did intervals with 5 miles at 7:45 or faster and the
other 5 miles under 10:00 pace
Last 5 freakin almost died. Race walk, cramping, dehydration. 50oz Camelback, light but
shoulda drank more.

2115 - cold water bath, 2 servings of heed, 1 serving Recover Rite, real food. .5 teaspoon sea
salt w/trace minerals

23:10 - still drinking freakin water.

1st / 2nd September Workouts

Here are my workouts for the last 2 days:

1 Sept 2008

8am - 5 mile road race - Dry Comal Creek Whine Run 42 minutes 8:18 pace.

Gym:
30 Minutes of Heavy Bag, punching and kicks.
4 x 19 R @ 25lbs Lunge Squats
200 V-Ups
3x 10 R @ 20lbs Lateral Shoulder Raises
3x 10R @ 20lbs Side Shoulder Raises
2X 30R @ 20lbs Shoulder Shrugs
3x 25R @ 20lbs Curls
3x 20R @ 20lbs Tricep Extenstion
4X 5R Pull Ups
3x 30R @ 20lbs Stiff Leg Dead Lifts
4x 50R @ 65lbs Leg Extensions
2x 50R @ 50lbs Leg Curls

2 Sept 2008

100 lying side leg raises
200 sit ups
1 hour kung fu

August 24

Well this week wasn't too bad. I had a few successes this week, both in the gym, at the dojo, and on the road.

I went to kung fu on Tuesday and Thursday just like I should have. Hit the tread mill at the gym on those days, 15% incline for 30 minutes with a 3.5 to 4 mile pace. On wednesday I hit the weights pretty hard. I want to start putting some focus on my hamstrings. I did let curls, stiff legged deadlifts, and lunge squats. Also did leg extentions and bench press (45lbs 4 sets 20,dumbell).

All my weight sets will be in sets of 4 for reps. I see a 100 mile run as 4 marathons (25 not 26.2)
you can break it up in 4 parts. I will train like that. I may move to 10 sets of 10 reps in the future but maybe make it 20 reps. This is called German Volume training. either way, I need to put some time into the hamstrings. This week was a success.

I did however drink a bunch of beers Friday night, maybe 6 or so. I went to bed early because on Sat. I had a 9 mile run with the ladies out at Randolf air base. That 9 miles sucked, it was boring. I ran with my 3 litre camelback and it was heavy. The ladies took of in the car after we were done, I just kept on running. I put in about 21 miles on Sat. The bad thing is that I went up to Hooters that afternoon and drank about 12 beers.

On Sunday, I went for a run, about 11.5 miles, it was slow prob because I had way to much alcohol in my bloodstream, and I was a little oxygen deficient.

The fact remains that, at least, I went out and got some miles in. I am on nights this week at work, but I plan on starting Day 1 on my workout plan I have made for myself. Cactus Rose 100 is 9 weeks away and I want to run sub 24, I got some work to do between now and then. No more beer for me! Dammit.

Until next time, later!

Johnt

Aug 16th

What a week, I think. I started off well with 9.5 mile run on Sunday in the heat 98 degrees or so. Monday was a nice 4 miler, kung fu practice, and then the gym for stretching and some abs and pushups with a little 3 miler afterwards. Tuesday was an 8 miler in the morning. The afternoon was kung fu and I tested for my green belt. It went well and I was able to start learning some new material. I was pretty trashed on Wednesday morning and didn't meet my running group for hills and speed work. Dammit, those ladies are gonna kill me. Wednesday was also a good friend of mine, Bill's birthday so no workout. I picked him up a litre of Glenlivet 12 year and went to the small get together. We drank a few Warstieners with the neighbor, H, who is like 92 and his wife Ms. Betty. With that said, there was no running on Thursday morning. I did however go pick up the kayaks for this kayak trip we took down the Guadalupe River from Gonzales to Victoria. Well that was the plan. Rick and his brother Bill came down from Ft. Worth on Thursday night for the trip. On the way to Gonzales in the morning, I was pulled over for doing 62 in a 50. Dammit man, I have been so lucky in the last 2 years, but my time was coming. I looked at the fee schedule and told the officer, "Damm, man these tickets are expensive, no wonder all you fellas have new cars." He was not amused. I guess I have to call the lawyer man, Mark Sideman and have him take care of it. Well, on to the river. We put in at Gonzales, Texas. For those of you who don't know, Gonzales is the Birthplace of Texas Independence. Come and Take it, is what the settlers told the Mexicans when they ask for their cannon back. And, as they say, the rest is history! Well, little did we know we would paddle those damm kayaks for 11 hours and still never reach the first bridge. The river was moving like a stagnant pond. All was fine and good till about 5 PM, and we became a little pissy. By 830 PM still no freakin bridge, we saw one person the whole day, and there was only one power line that crossed the river all day. It was fun if you like solitude, I guess. After about 4 hours, every bend in the river looked like the last and it was no longer really amusing anymore. I was getting pretty bored to say the least. We were singing songs, and mostly talkin crap to each other, like guys do when they are good friends. Breakin out the occasional movie quote, would bring laughter, "Hey, Rocco, take her to the zoo, I hear retards like the zoo", or "I see a red sash, I kill a man wearing it, the cowboys are finished around here". And of course we worked on our Sean Connery imitations. Well by 30 minutes before nightfall, we were like "fuck it" I guess we better start putting up the tent. We had a rain storm about to blow right up our asses, with lighting, thunder and all kinds of mayhem. We got the little pup tent up just in time. This thing is made for like two people, and 3 grown men crawl in there. Not cool. I was like, " I hope that rancher who owns this place doesn't show up, he is gonna be like, dammit, Brokeback Mountian up in here. hahah So it starts raining, and after 15 years of having this tent, I have used it like 3 times, I find out, hey its not water proof. Who Knew! The rain came down in torrents, for about and hour and a half. We had about 3/4 of an inch of water in the bottom of the tent and we were colder than a Popsicle. Once it stopped raining, we poured the water out of the tent and in the process, we got bit by hundreds of fire ants. Wow, great! All we could say, between laughing at our situation was, "Man, this fuckin sucks." We slept a little and got up about 6 am and packed our gear up and headed out about 7ish this morning. After about 2 more hours of rowing the kayak, we get to the bridge. Holy Mary, mother of Jesus! Wow, we were like, "I didn't think we would ever reach this freakin place." I called a buddy of mine to pick us up, and finally about 1230 this afternoon he shows up, with some Budweisers. That was a nice treat, being as how we didn't have any whiskey, scotch, or beer with us. So now that we are back home we have learned a few lessons, the main one being, if the river aint flowin, your gonna be rowin!

Aug 7

Just checkin in. I have been trying to get into the habit of doing a blog post every day, but sometimes I am just not motivated to write. I havent run since Monday. I think the heat kicked me in the pants on Monday. Additionally, the back of my left knee was hurting and my right hip and right knee on the outside were bothering me. I am planning on heading back to San Antonio on Friday. So I think I will take off till then and then hit up 60 or so miles on the bike, and if I feel froggy I may try to hit 15 or 20 miles running. Or maybe I won't, who knows. Thats the plan though. I have been working on a training schedule to prepare for Cactus Rose. If I stick to it pretty well, I think I will have a good 100 miler or at least I will be better off than if I never started. Thats the thing that matters. Starting, getting off of the couch or pushing away from the bar. A friend of mine said after the Bighorn 100 that maybe the event was more like a pebble thrown into a pond, as opposed to some kind of divine whatever. I think he was right. The run was the pebble thrown into this pond of my life. The ripples are still moving out from center. How will others and myself be affected? I dont know that answer. Time may tell it.

Have you ever heard about the mobile theory? This is an allegory. In a childs crib usually there will be a mobile with little horses or some type of animals hanging from a string that spin in a circle while some melody plays. If you displace one of the little hanging animals, the mobile becomes out of balance and the other animals in the mobile try to put the other back into its place. Its a pretty good representation of what happens to a person in life when they try to make changes. Others are trying to put you back into the place they expect you to be, because its uncomfortable for them. But, I think that one of the things this theory did not address, (maybe because I dont know the whole story) is about the person who is making the change. Sometimes when making a change, even if its for the positive, its uncomfortable. Some what like Plato's allegory of the Cave. In one sense you understand everything around you, i.e. the shadows on the wall, and as you move to the door its very frightening so you move back to what is comfortable. More to follow on that thought ...

Aug 4 Running

It has been awhile since my last post, like two months or so. Since then I have completed 1 100 miler and DNF'ed at anohter at 75 miles. I was a little depressed after the DNF but it only lasted about a week. I have been working on a training plan for my next hundred miler the Cactus Rose 100 in Bandera. Also a friend of mine has talked me into doing the MS150 bike to the beach from San Antonio to Corpus Christi. Its a two day event, and I am thinking of taking the following monday off to ride back to San Antonio. Who knows.

I went for two seperate runs yesterday, one at 0530 for 6 miles with my friend Bill Conway up here in Southlake. Then at 1730 i went for 9.5 miles it was 102 degrees. Crap that is hot. I took two electrolytes before I left but forgot to bring anymore with me. It took me about 1 hour and 40 minutes to run the distance down the side of 170 to 114 in Southlake Texas. The grass was about 4 to 6 inches high which really sucked also. But, now the inside of my left knee is hurting, so maybe I will have to take some time off. Who knows?

This afternoon its off to the gym and I have to spend about 1 hour practicing my kung fu material because I am supposed to test for green belt this coming Tuesday. Hopefully all goes well.

Weekly Update

It all started last Sunday June 1st. I helped out at one of the races for the Rogue Trail Series called the The Loop. On the way back from Austin, as the temperature reading in my truck showed 97 degrees, I decided I would go for a run once I got home. I did a nice little 12 mile run @ 3pm in the afternoon. NICE! I was sweating my ass off. Good thing I have lotsa ass. I did 8 on monday, 4 on tuesday and 6 miles on wendsday. All in the afternoon heat. 97 degrees plus. On Friday I went out to Bandera and meet up with some of the trail series folks. I pull up about 8PM and reach for a beer from the cooler and Joe says, "Hey man were leaving for a night run in about an hour, you may wanta put that beer back in the cooler." Dammit! I havent run at night before on trails so I figured I had better go. 12 Miles on friday night. Then about 630 in the morning i get a knock on the window of my truck. Hey man, wake up were about to head out for a run. What, i just freakin went to sleep, I dont wanna get up. No such luck. I jacked around for a while and finally left about 8am, about an hour after everyone else left. But not before a nice lady named Mindy made me some coffee. I ran mostly by myself. I am learning that I dont really like to run with anybody.

Saturday 10 May

Planned to run about 25 mikes today, but i had to attend a graduation for a great freind of mine. Didnt get up to Bandera till 3pm. It was HOT 95 degrees. I Ran 10 miles and went through 3.5 liters of water. Whoa, that was vicious. Needed to get a feel of how my body works in the heat, so I got a pretty good taste. Good thing I didnt loose my shaker of salt. Or I would have been hatin life.

Training 7 and 8 May

WED:
Woke up at 0500 and meet the ladies of the Schertz Running Club at 0530 for 4 miles at a nice easy pace.

I have some new footbeds I am trying to break in, so the feet and ankels are feeling it a bit.

Went to Austin after work for hill training with the Rogue Running trail team. 2 hours of hill work were pretty killer. I didnt want to let on, but I think it showed. I was hurtin.

Thurs:

Ran 3 miles after work at 8 to 8:30 pace, which is fast for me right now. Then went to kung Fu practice for 1 hour of intense work out.

Relay For Life

Here is the thank you note I sent out the individuals who donated.

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to take a few minutes to say thank you once again for each of your contributions. Because of you, we were able to raise $1060.00 in 12 days. With the Verizon Foundations matching incentive program for employees an additional $610.00 will be contributed for a total of $1,670.00. What a success yall have made this campaign! I have never gotten involved in the community for this type of event, but I saw the flyer for this Relay for Life event at Starbucks, and for some reason I just wanted to get involved. The gates at the track opened up Friday afternoon at 5pm for all of the teams to come in and set up their campsites on the football field. So I went in and set up my area and dropped off my silent auction item. At 7pm the opening ceremonys began and a speech was given by Congressman Cuellar. The event staff also presented the cancer survivors who were in attendance with a survivors medal. One lady was 98 and the youngest was 8 years old. All of the cancer survivors took one lap, some in wheelchairs and some with the aid of a walker. The next lap was taken by the caregivers. At about 2000 (8pm) I was able to start running and ran until about 6:35 am covering 52.5 miles. There are alot of things a person can think about when running around a 1/4 mile track for 10 hours and 35 minutes and I think that I thought about alot of them. My sister recently bought me an IPOD, and thank goodness because w/o it I don't think I would have been able to make it. I also ate a piece of pizza every hour after about 10pm which helped alot. About 3 am I broke out the chocolate covered espresso beans, what a life saviour. It is amazing how after about 40 miles, how humble I felt. At 50 miles I wanted to quit, it was about 6am. I thought what is it in a person that makes them want to keep on going when they don't want to go anymore? I don't know but I got up and ran another 30 minutes. I talked to a fella as I was packing up all of my stuff, he had been out there all night. Looked to be about 16 or 17 years old and was a cancer survivor. He ran about 26 miles through the night and I said the only thing that really came to me, "Wow man, you're one tough son of a ......" One of those John Wayne sorta toughs. He said thanks for being out here and supporting the event. You could see it really meant alot to him. So maybe that's why folks get involved, because out there somewhere, someone needs you.


Thanks again for being involved.

John T. Sharp

Ultra Running

I was going to write about how my 50k went on Saturday but I really wanted to talk about the experiences I have had so far with competing and volunteering in Ultra distance trail races.

I have run in 4 and volunteered in 1 ultra race. I have meet quite a few folks out there on the trail and everyone, save none, are some of the best people I have ever met. I first met a fella named Curtis at the Bandera 50k. What a super guy, I tracked behind him the first 10 miles trying to pace myself. I then met him again at the Rocky Raccoon 50 miler. Still just a stand up guy. Another fella that I met at Bandera was a guy named Chuck. He gave me some suggestions on gaiters and then I saw him at Rocky. Ran the first 16.5 mile loop with him. We talked about ancient roman history and politics. He gave me more endurance tips and told me about times when he would do 500 mile endurance rides on his road bike. He also convinced me to join Hill Country Trail Runners http://www.hillcountrytrailrunners.com/index.shtml . That was the best decision I have made in a while. What a group! At these races, its alot of the same faces again and again and what can I say? Everyone is helpful and willing to share their stories whether they be successes or failures. If you can say failure, failing not to finish a 100 mile race after running 80 miles is really not a failure. I I have meet a fella named Mark he is welsh I guess or at least that's what his blog says. We finished minutes apart from each other at the Rocky 50 miler and then at the Austin marathon, same thing about a minute or two apart. He is pretty good at this stuff, his splits are always pretty even whereas mine are lopsided from hell. I was giving him a hard time at Rocky saying, "Hey man, slow down or I am not going to be able to pass you!" He didn't slow down! HA! HA! I also met one of the guys who puts on about 10 races here in Texas named Joe. This guy is great. His races, if you get the opportunity to go to one are none less than 100% professional. It takes quite alot of volunteers to get one of these off the ground, but because of his personality and approach folks enjoy volunteering at his races. On Saturday I met a fella name Ray from the Dallas area. I met him briefly at X-timbers back in February, when my feet were all messed up, but I DNF'ed tat race and didn't get to talk to him again. After this race we had a few beers together with another fella named Mark from San Antonio. We ran together the last 3 or 4 miles helping each other with words of encouragement. I also Met Bob and Charlene while we were having some beers. Charlene passed me with like 1 mile to go, that hurt. But she was running like the wind. Another person I have met is Robert he is one of the Rogue Running http://www.roguerunning.com/ coaches, a group that I am a part of but don't run with because of the issue I was having with my feet. We worked an aid station together at Hog Hunt 50K. Got to see some familiar faces, but this time I was on the other side of the table helping out. Robert knows his way around these races, training, and the ultra world in general. On his advice I got me some green LED flashlights that I plan on using this weekend actually for some night running. Moogie is another fella that was working the aid station with us. Super fella who trained on a treadmill on a research ship for a 100 miler. That is dedication now let me tell ya. Josue is a pretty nice fella that I met also. Super friendly and turns out we know some of the same folks through our work contacts. He is putting on a 100k run in Nicaragua http://fuegoyagua100.com/ . I am thinking about going down there to help set up the course and then run it. Maybe spend a week down there. I think that would be fun. One other fella I wanted to mention is Jason from Lake Jackson. We leapfrogged each other my last lap and his second lap (he was running the 50 miler). He was hurting as bad as I was, but he said he had to finish because his running partner is his 12 yr old daughter and she was calling and texting every five minutes asking how things were going. That was really impressive. Not only that but he was always in the best of spirits each time we hit an aid station. I am glad to be a part of a community of people with this kind of character. None Finer.

Before I close I want to mention the folks who helped me so much to get to this point, the point to where I could actually do 50K or a 50miler.

The ladies of the Schertz Running Club. I am the only guy. The rest of the members are ladies. I started running with them back in September of 2007. Laurie got me ready for my first marathon! I also want to mention Frances, Erin, Marty, and Sharon. Wow! I thought if these ladies who have kids, jobs, etc... can get up and run at 0530, hell I can too. What an inspiration they have been. They helped me quit dipping snuff after 15 years and didn't even know it.

Lastly, I want to let everyone know that I am going to run in the Relay for Life to help support the cancer society. The folks who donated so far have helped me to raise 550.00 so thanks a million y'all. I said 12 hour relay, sure I just run the whole 12 hours is that okay and the lady was like yea sure. So on Friday May 2nd at 7pm you can join me at Steele High School in Cibolo Texas on the track for 12 hours of party time.

Getting Pumped

I had been sidelined since Feb. 23 with a dual foot injury, but over the last few weeks the feet are healing up nicely. Shoes were too small b/c my feet have grown and I did not realize it.

You know anyone who needs 5 pair of Brooks size 9.5 ?

I can feel the excitement return! It's like I am 5 years old and I just opened up that new Dukes of Hazzard race track for Christmas.

During the month of March I can say I was basically depressed because I could not run.

I am back now! Went for a bike ride on April 12th, 60 miles, up to Canyon Lake and back.

Then on Sunday I ran a little 12 mile run! Whoosh, can ya feel it. I can feel it.