New Blog

There is a new blog out there is the world today, and no I do not mean that this blog is going away. My wife has talked about for about 3 years now of doing her own blog. Well yesterday she final started a blog. You are more than welcome to visit her blog at http://yellowmakesmehappy.wordpress.com/

2012 Year in Review

2012 Year in Review

Well I know I have not posted a blog in a really long time and so with some slow time at work I thought I would take the time and try to remember some highlights of the last year.

Ryan: I ran my 3^rd marathon trying to get under the 4 hour barrier but yet again was unable to. One of these years I will get under that 4 hour mark. Still with the same company but times are slow so not sure how much long it will last. There are some “coals in the fire” that hopefully will work out. Still in the same calling at church and still enjoying it (going on 3 years now).

Dacy: She ran in her first half-marathon and got under her goal time. I was supper proud of her and was amazed that we could find the time to allow both of us to train for some long runs. Enjoying her time at home with the kids (most of the time) and starting watching a baby this school year (helps pay some bills). Still playing the piano in primary and has good and bad Sunday’s with the kids during Sacrament meeting.

Quinlan: BIG YEAR for her. She turned 8 this year and was baptized. What a special moment for us. I am proud to report that I did not cry until after she was baptized! She is still enjoying school and gets sad when she has to miss school for what ever reason. Still playing the violin (and we are still pulling our hair trying to get her to practice). Did great on swim team this summer and still enjoys it. We ever got her to swim the 100 IM WITHOUT getting a DQ.

 Maxwell:  What a great kid he is. He has the energy of 12 people and the volume of 15 people. He is always looking to build something and looking for a tree to climb. He enjoyed going on his 1^st father-son campout this year and fishing, even though he did not catch anything. He did great on swim team this year also. Almost made it to the A meet this year and we hope next year that he can since so many kids will age up next summer. He is also still playing the violin and enjoying school.

Zia: She also has the volume of 15 people so our house sure can be loud sometimes. She is the life of the party most places she goes. She finished Joy School and started Pre-School and is really enjoying her time at Pre-School. She has learned to swim and hopefully will be on swim team next year (yeah for a family of fishes). She enjoys her time at home with Dacy and Miles when she is not at Pre-School and off course LOVES anything PURPLE.

 (Zia w/ her good friend Ethan picking strawberries)

Miles: Our little man has turned one and is into EVERYTHING. We think he will be our first kid we take to the ER since he has falling off chairs several different times but gets right back up. If he sees something he wants and is unable to reach it, he will take a chair and push it over to the location so that he can reach the said object. The said object is usually something electronic. He loves phones and remotes. He starts nursery at church on Feb 24^th (but who is counting. ME of course).

2012 has been a year of mostly ups with a few downs. We have been blessed in so many ways and are grateful for all the family and friends we got to see over our travels this year. Hopefully 2013 will only be better.

Picture Update

So the other day I was talking with my wife and she asked me why I had created a blog if I was never going to update the blog. I said that I had updated the blog back in August when Miles was born. Only then did I realize that was almost 8 months ago now. So I have decided to do a quick pic update of the kids.

Quinlan (almost 8 years old)

Maxwell (6 years old)

Zia (4 years old)

 Miles (7 months old)

Maybe I will be better at updating the blog. Only time will tell.

Welcome Miles August Ayres

Well August 23^rd, 2011 will be a day our family will remember for several reasons. The biggest reason is the fact that we welcomed into our family Miles August. He was born at 10:06pm and was 8 lbs 7 oz and 21.5 inches long. Most people I tell that to say this is a big baby, which he is but for our family of four kids, he was the smallest one.

The day started nice and early with a call to the hospital at 6am to see if they had a room available for us, since Dacy was being induced (her doc was on call and he likes to deliver his patients if he can). It seems that a lot of people are having babies so we had to wait until 9:30 to go to the hospital. Once there it took about another hour to check in and get into the room. Once in the room we had to wait another hour for the doc to come check. At that point, 11:45 am, he broke Dacy’s water and then the waiting and walking began. At point there were four women walking the halls trying to help the process to move a little quick (I am pretty sure we were the first one’s to deliver).

So the next reason we will remember the day is because of the great east coast earthquake. We live about 80 miles from the town of Mineral, VA (the location of the epicenter) so we felt the earthquake. I was eating lunch in the cafeteria on the second floor will Dacy was sitting in the bed on the fourth floor when the quake hit. I did not think anything of it at first but after about 10 seconds I figured out what was going on and I did not like being that far from Dacy. In the end all was well with no issues caused by the earthquake.

So after trying to walk and walk and walk and walk, it was decided that Pitocin would be giving to start the process, and it did the job. After about an hour the epidural was giving and again all was well. At about 9:30-9:45 the nurse checked and said that Dacy was ready to push. Once they set up the room the nurse asked Dacy to push once and then told that she should not push again until the doctor was in the room. So after the doctor came in the room it was about 3 pushes and then Miles was born.

What a happy and long day it was. I am so grateful that our Father in Heaven has blessed us again with a wonderful and happy baby. Everyone is doing great and the older kids are so excited to have a baby in the house again and just want to hold Miles all the time.

Good Things to Come

Christmas 2010

Well Christmas 2010 was all about family this year. It was the first time in many many many years that all of Dacy’s sisters and their families would be together for Christmas. As typical Christmas’ go, we ate and then ate some more and then still ate some more.

Here are all of the kids eating the typical Christmas eve dinner of tamales and posole.

After dinner the family reads the Christmas story from a huge picture book which was colored by Dacy and her sister's when they were young kids

As with most families the kids are allowed to open one present before going to bed
which is always pajamas.

Lucky for us, the kids still like to sleep, so Christmas morning did not
start until about 7:30am which is a typical morning.

As I said before we seem to eat a lot during the Christmas holiday with family.
After all of the presents had been opened and us dads were trying to free
the toys from their boxes, breakfast was made.

What a great time is was to spend the holidays with family,
which always includes a family picture.

Here is memaw and papa with all six of the grandkids

And the final picture is of Dacy and her sisters. The reason for the pose is the
fact that Dacy's mom has a picture of her Aunts standing like that and she loves it.
So what mother wants mother gets!

2011 Running Log

Another year and another blog post with my weekly miles. Again, this post is mainly for my information only but you are more than welcome to keep track if you like to. I am not sure what this year is going to be as far as races go. I am thinking of doing at least two marathons this year, one in the spring and another in the fall. Only time will tell.

Week of Jan 3rd, 01/03/11 4 miles (Kemper St), 01/04/11 4 miles (Hollins Mill), 01/05/11 4 miles (Upper/Lower) = Total for week 12 miles
Week of Jan 10th, 01/10/11 4 miles (Kemper St), 01/12/11 4.31 miles (Cabel St), 01/13/11 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St), 01/14/11 3.6 miles (Friday run) = Total for week 15.91 miles
Week of Jan 17th, 01/18/11 4 miles (Lower/Upper), 01/19/11 4.13 miles (Island), 01/21/11 3.55 miles (Friday run), 01/22/11 9.6 miles = Total for week 21.28 miles
Week of Jan 24th, 01/24/11 4 miles (Kemper St), 01/25/11 4 miles (Reverse Miller Park), 01/26/11 4 miles (Island), 01/27/11 4 miles (Reverse Kemper) = Total for week 16 miles
Week of Jan 31st, 02/03/11 4 miles (Reverse Kemper) = Total for week 4 miles
Week of Feb 7th, 02/07/11 4 miles (Kemper St), 02/08/11 4 miles (Cabel), 02/09/11 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 02/10/11 4 miles (Reverse Kemper), 02/11/11 3.6 miles (Friday run) = Total for week 19.6 miles
Week of Feb 14th, 02/15/11 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 02/16/11 4 miles (Miller Park), 02/17/11 4 miles (Reverse Kemper), 02/18/11 3.6 miles (Friday run)= Total for week 15.6 miles
Week of Feb 21st, 02/22/11 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 02/23/11 4 miles (Island) = Total for week 8 miles
Week of Feb 28th, 03/01/11 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 03/02/11 4 miles, 03/03/11 4 miles = Total for week 12 miles
Week of March 7th, 03/07/11 4 miles (Kemper St), 03/08/11 4 miles (Island), 03/09/11 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 03/10/11 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St), 03/12/11 10 miles (Race Course)= Total for week 26 miles
Week of March 14th, 03/14/11 4 miles (Kemper St), 03/15/11 4 miles (Reverse Cabel/D St), 03/16/11 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 03/17/11 4 miles (Reverse Kemper), 03/19/11 10 miles (Race course) = Total for week 26 miles
Week of March 21st, 03/21/11 4 miles (Kemper St), 03/22/11 4 miles (Reverse Cabel), 03/23/11 4 miles (Island), 03/24/11 4 miles (Reverse Kemper) = Total for week 16 miles
Week of March 28th, 03/28/11 4 miles (Kemper St), 03/29/11 4 miles (Miller Park), 03/30/11 4 miles (Island), 03/31/11 2 miles (treadmill after 20 km bike ride) = Total for week 14 miles
Week of April 4th, 04/04/11
Week of May 2nd, 05/02/11 4 miles (Kemper St), 05/03/11 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 05/04/11 4 miles (Reverse Cabel), 05/06/11 3.5 miles (Friday run) = Total for week 16 miles
Week of May 9th, 05/09/11 4 miles (Kemper St), 05/10/11 4 miles (Miller Park), 05/11/11 4 miles (Reverse Cabel), 05/12/11 4 miles (Reverse Kemper st) = Total for week 16 miles
Week of May 16th NO RUNNING
Week of May 23th, 05/23/11 4 miles (Kemper St), 05/24/11 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 05/25/11 4 miles (Island), 05/26/11 (Reverse Kemper) = Total for week 16 miles
Week of May 30th, 05/31/11

Close to Christmas.

How you know it is getting close to Christmas time? For some people once they put up their trees and for others it is once the decorations go up. For me I know that Christmas is getting close when I see these packages on the kitchen counter.

Those are bags of masa for tamales. My wife’s mother grew up in Mormon colonies in Mexico. Her family has a big Christmas Eve dinner of tamales and posole. So once Christmas get closer my wife starts to make her tamales which is a process that take ups large amounts of the kitchen but it is so worth it.

Richmond Marathon Race Report

It has been just about 3 weeks since I ran the Richmond Marathon so I figured I would do a race report and then I thought that would take a lot of time. So I was lucky to get an email forwarded to me from Darrell (who also ran the marathon) the other day. The email was an email from his sister-in-law giving her play by play thoughts on the race. I thought the email was funny and a much better race report than I could ever give so here is the email/race report:

7:50 Did you sleep at all last night? Did you get a blessing? Are you nervous? Your dream is just minutes away.

8:20 I wonder if your knee is hurting at all yet? Remember, NO REGRETS.

8:45 I'm worried that the tracker isn't going to work for me. Looks like I can't see any results until 10k. You can do this Darrell! I'm your 2nd biggest cheerleader.

8:58 Are you staring at your watch at each water station? It's OK to walk the length of the water station if you start feeling rough. Are you drinking enough? Do you have any cliff bars or gels with you? You are probably 1/3 of the way by now. I'm so proud of you, in so many ways. Thank you for taking care of your body so you can be a better father and husband. I know I've said it before, but let remind you that you are my favorite brother in law.

9:35 Holy Cow Darrell you're doing awesome. 54:57 for the first 10k. How is your knee? I'm saying a prayer that you will be able to withstand any discomfort. GO DARRELL GO !!! Ryan's time was 54:40. I call Nobs and she hadn't gotten a text so I'll be calling her at the half way point to let you know how you're doing. Lot's a noise in that hotel room.

9:47 The suns getting hotter. I hope you didn't dress too heavy. Think positive thoughts. Like . . . there's no more Welfare Meetings, no more Activities Committee's, no more RS Enrichment Music calling and lots of other changes to the handbook. Excellent training except the barfable "mock Ward Council Mtg". Honestly I could have strangled the woman depicting the RS President. You are my hero and I can't wait for every natty detail at Fairy Stone. I have GOT to take a shower.

10:00 YIPPEE You're halfway and your time is 1:55:46. Keep your eye on the prize bro!!! You're doing awesome. The hotel gang is cheering and calculating and strategizing for you. They are sending you subliminal messages about your pace. My personal advice is . . . breath in, breath out, and think about chocolate, a long nap, a hot oil massage, or anything else that will help you get to the finish line.

10:23 Two Saturdays in a row of getting absolutely squat done while being glued to race trackers. The house is dirty, the cupboards are bare, there are no clean towels, and everyone has an attitude but hey, I'm supporting some of the most important men in my life and having a darned good time doing it. I will have to get going soon after your race. The 3 missionary sisters, a new convert, and investigator, and M and D are coming to dinner tomorrow and I don't think grilled cheese will cut it. Thanks for providing a lazy Saturday morning for me.

10:35 Out of the shower. No news. Back to brush my teeth.

11:00 Awesome. You're 20 miles in 3:00:01. Your knee's gotta be screaming. Looks like you and Ryan have split up. Nobs and the kiddos's are trying to find the finish line. They just realized they're heading in the wrong direction. Is anyone surprised??? NO. I want to know exactly how it feels to cross the finish line and find your family there to greet you.

11:32 3 of 4 teenagers have arisen and eaten scrambled egg sandwiches and juice. The remaining sloth will have to eat a cinnamon bun. In 30 minutes you'll be flying high. Your adrenaline will carry you for hours. NO REGRETS !!!

11:48 I'm glued to the screen. If you don't finish soon I will definitely be serving PBJ for dinner tomorrow.

12:05 Now I'm nervous. I don't know what a "chip time" is.

(Here is Darrell finishing the race)

(Here I am finishing the race)

12:08 4:04:26. Incredible. I'm so proud of you. Enjoy your victory. Ryan's time was 4:12:08.






Well I have caught the bug so I plan on signing up for another marathon hopefully before the end of the year (also see my post just before this post)

Bucket Lists

You all know what I am talking about, the list that people have made of their goals and dreams before they kick the bucket, so to speak. (Side note: How many people kick a bucket when they pass away?) I would ask you if you have a list like this. I never had one until the last couple of years when I started running. Once I started running I stated a list of things that I thought I would love to complete one day. The first event on the list was the Virginia Ten Miller, which I have now completed three times. After that I had a half marathon and then a full marathon. I completed the half marathon last year (see here) and I will complete a full marathon this weekend (fingers crossed on that one). So it is time I had to the list of things to complete. I have decided to move in the direction of triathlons. I completed as part of a relay team this year and will probably do it next year also. So I have decided I would like to complete a sprint triathlon, then a half Ironman triathlon, and then a full Ironman. I think I am crazy but then I watch videos like this and start to think I can do this. Time will only tell.

Bib number 2040

On November 23, 2009 I signed up for my first marathon in Richmond Virginia. I have trained hard for this race since July and did my longest long run last weekend. With only two more weeks until race day I find myself telling myself “You can do this in my goal time of 4 hours” or telling myself “I sure hope they do not close the course before I am done.” In two weeks I will let you know how this all turned out.

Here is video of the course

Running family

Well in the past 3 years our family has started to run more and more. In the town of Lynchburg we have the Virginia 10 miler, which has a four mile race and then a kid’s one mile race with it. In the past the kid’s race has been during the 10 mile so neither Dacy nor I could watch the kids. This year they moved the kids’ race to Friday night so Quin and Max were able to complete. Quin did a great job considering she fell at the beginning and was the very very last one to start the run. She passed several kids in the end and her time was 14:36. Max did a great job. He just seemed to be having a fun time and his time was 9:48 and he finished 7 overall in his age group (5 and under) and was the 4th boy in his age group. The past two years I have run the 10 miler while Dacy has run the 4 mile race. This year Dacy decided to run the 10 miler. She did an amazing job. I am training for the Richmond Marathon so I ran with her and used the run has part of my training. We used the run-walk-run method (run 1 mile, walk 30 sec) She did great until the last hill which is a 1.5 mile long hill, and it is the last 1.5 miles of the race. I will quote the winner of the race “It was very hilly course.” We finished the race in 1:42:00 which is 3 mins faster than Dacy’s goal time.

The kids after their races with their metals

The start of the race

I took pictures of Dacy every mile but the best picture which shows how hard the last 1 1/2 miles is, is the picture I took of her at mile 9

See what I mean. She may kill me for showing this picture.
Some breast cancer club was handing out the pink gloves
which is the reason Dacy has a pair.

After the race, standing in the line for free food

Summer 2010

LET THE FUN BEGIN.

We will be traveling out west this summer to Arizona for Dacy's sisters wedding and then after that we will head to a family reunion in New Mexico. Round trip we will be traveling about 4300 miles and will spend about 72 hours in the car. We have done this trip 2 times before but this year will be the first time we willing not be following anyone and will be heading thru different cities and spending more time with family and friends. Our kids for the most part travel well. The first day is the hardest (and one of the longest) days and then after that the kids realize that they are going to be in the car for a long time and just learn to deal with it. I will follow up on this post with pictures of our summer adventures.

The total number of miles we drove this summer trip out west!

2010 Running log

This post is for my information only. I need somewhere to write down how far I run every week just to keep track. This year is a big big year for me as I plan on running my first (and hopefully not my last) marathon in November in Richmond. When I start to really think about running 26.2 miles, which my goal is to do it under 4 hours or 9:00 pace, seems nearly impossible to do. Luck for me I have some great guys I have gotten to know over the past 4 months or so who the majority of them have run marathons before so they can and will provide that motivation that I will need. My biggest concern will be this summer when we are planning on being gone for two weeks for a weeding and family reunion in Arizona and New Mexico which is not cool during the summer. So I hope to be able to find the time and motivation to keep my training up during this time. So here we go.........

Week of Jan 4th, 01/05/10 3.2 miles (treadmill)= Total for week 3.2 miles
Week of Jan 11th, 01/13/10 4 miles (Percival's Island) + 01/14/10 6 miles (treadmill) + 01/16/10 5 miles (treadmill) = Total for week 15 miles
Week of Jan 18th, 01/18/10 4 miles (Kemper St) + 01/19/10 3.3 miles (downtown) + 01/20/10 4.2 miles (Percival's Island) + 01/21/10 4 miles (Wyndhurst) = Total for week 15.5 miles
Week of Jan 25th, 01/25/10 4 miles (Kemper St) + 01/26/10 4 miles (treadmill) 01/27/09 4 miles (Cabell St) 01/28/10 8 miles (Wyndhurst) = Total for week 20 miles
Week of Feb 1st, 02/01/10 4 miles (Reverse Miller Park) + 02/02/10 4 miles (treadmill) + 02/03/10 4 miles (Reverse Miller Park) + 02/04/10 3.6 miles (Graveyard run) = Total for week 16 miles
Week of Feb 8th, 02/08/10 4 miles (Reverse Miller Park) + 02/09/10 4 miles + 02/10/10 4 miles (new course) + 02/11/10 6 miles (treadmill) = Total for week 18 miles
Week of Feb 15th, 02/15/10 4 miles (treadmill)= Total for week 4 miles (bad week)
Week of Feb 22nd, 02/22/10 4.1 miles (new course) + 02/23/10 4 miles (treadmill) + 02/24/10 4.3 miles (Cabel St) 02/25/10 4 miles (treadmill) 02/26/10 3.1 miles (treadmill) = Total for week 19.5 miles
Week of March 1st, 03/01/10 4 miles (Kemper St) 03/02/10 swimming, 03/03/10 4 miles (Miller Park), 03/05/10 8 miles (treadmill) = Total for week 16 miles
Week of March 8th, 03/08/10 4 miles (Kemper St) 03/09/10 swimming, 03/10/10 4 miles (Cabel St), 03/11/10 6 miles (Rivermont Ave) = Total for week 14 miles
Week of March 15th, 03/15/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 03/16/10 swimming, 03/17/10 4 miles (Lower Basin), 03/18/10 3.1 miles (Wyndhurst) +03/19/10 3.8 miles (Friday run) = Total for week 14.9 miles
Week of March 22nd 03/22/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 03/23/10 swimming, 03/24/10 4 miles (Island), 03/25/10 2 miles (sprints)+ Total for week 10 miles
Week of March 29th 03/30/10 3.25 miles (treadmill) and swimming, 03/31/10 4.1 miles (Mike's course), 04/01/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St.) 04/03/10 3.1 miles (Point of Honor 5k) = Total for week 14.45 miles
Week of April 5th 04/07/10 4 miles (Lower/Upper), 04/08/10 swimming, 04/09/10 3.8 miles (Friday run) = Total for week 7.8 miles
Week of April 12th 04/12/10 4 miles (Kemper St.), 04/13/10 swimming, 04/14/10 4 miles (Lower/upper), 04/15/10 swimming = Total for week 8 miles
Week of April 19th 04/19/10 4 miles (Kemper St.), 04/20/10 swimming, 04/21/10 4 miles (Percival's Island), 04/22/10 swimming = Total for week 8 miles
Week of April 26th 04/26/10 4 miles (Kemper St.), 04/27/10 swimming, 04/28/10 swimming, 04/29/10 swimming, 05/01/10 swimming
Week of May 3rd 05/03/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 05/04/10 4 miles (treadmill), 05/05/10 4
miles (Rivermont Ave) = Total for week 12 miles
Week of May 10th, 05/110/1 4. 17 miles (Percival's Island), 05/12/10 4 miles (Lower/Upper), 05/14/10 5.7 miles (Grayson Loop), 05/15/10 10 miles (Grayson GA 20)= Total for week 23.87 miles
Week of May 17th, 05/19/10 4 miles (reverse Miller Park), 05/20/10 10 Miles (Rivermont Ave), 5/21/10 3.6 miles (Friday run) = Total for week 17.6 miles
Week of May 24th, 05/24/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 05/25/10 3.2 miles (Wyndhurst), 05/26/10 4.1 Miles (Island), 05/28/10 3.2 miles (treadmill) = Total for week 14.5 miles
Week of May 31st, 05/31/10 6.2 miles (10k race), 06/01/10 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 06/02/10 4 miles (Blackwater Trail), 06/03/10 10 miles (Rivermont Ave) = Total for week 24.2 miles
Week of June 7th, 06/07/10 4 miles (Kemper St.), 06/08/10 4 miles (Wyndhurst), 06/09/10 4.87 miles (Dearington), 06/10/10 11 miles (Rivermont Ave) = Total for week 23.87 miles
Week of June 14th, 06/14/10 4 miles (Kemper St.), 06/15/10 4 miles (Wyndhurst) = Total for week 8 miles
Week of June 21st, 06/21/10 5 miles (Mesa, AZ) = Total for week 5 miles
Week of June 28th, 07/01/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St), 07/02/10 3.6 miles (Friday run), 07/03/10 12 miles (Trent's Ferry Loop) = Total for week 19.6 miles
Week of July 5th, 07/06/10 4 miles (Lower/Upper), 07/07/10 4 miles (Island), 07/08/10 10 miles (Rivermont Ave) = Total for week 18 miles
Week of July 12th, 07/12/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 07/13/10 4 miles (Reverse Miller Park), 07/17/10 14 miles (Trent's Ferry Loop) = Total for week 22 miles
Week of July 19th, 07/19/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 07/21/10 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 07/22/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St), 07/24/10 12 miles (Blackwater Creek trail) = Total for week 24 miles
Week of July 26th, 07/26/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 07/28/10 4 miles (Miller Park), 07/29/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St), = Total for week 12 miles
Week of Aug 2nd, 08/02/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 08/03/10 4 miles (Lower/Upper), 08/04/10 4 .1 miles (Hollins Mill Rd), 08/05/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St), 08/07/10 16.1 miles (Trail) = Total for week 32.2 miles
Week of Aug 9th, 08/09/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 08/10/10 4 miles (Island), 08/11/10 4.4 miles (Wild Card Wednesday Bob), 08/12/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St), 08/13/10 10 miles = Total for week 26.4 miles
Week of Aug 16th, 08/16/10 4 miles (Kemper St.), 08/17/10 4 miles (Island), 08/18/10 4 miles (WCW), 08/19/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St.), 08/21/10 17.13 miles (Rivermont Ave) = Total for week 33.13 miles
Week of Aug 23rd 08/23/10 4 miles (Kemper St.), 08/25/10 4.1 miles (WCW), 08/26/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St.), 08/28/10 18 miles (Cracker Barrel loop) = Total for week 30.1 miles
Week of Aug 30th (Cruise week=not good) 9/2/10 4 miles (treadmill) = Total for week 4 miles
Week of Sept 6th 09/07/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 09/08/10 4 miles (WCW), 09/09/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St) = Total for week 12 miles
Week of Sept 13th, 09/13/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 09/14/10 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 09/15/10 3.82 miles (WCW), 09/16/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper St), 09/18/10 20 miles (10 miler/Blackwater Creek Trail) = Total for week 35.82 miles
Week of Sept 20th, 09/20/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 09/22/10 4 miles (WWC), 09/25/10 10 miles (VA 10 Miler) = Total for week 18 miles
Week of Sept 27th, 09/27/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 09/28/10 4 miles (Rivermont Ave), 09/29/10 4 miles (WCW), 09/30/10 22 miles = Total for week 34 miles
Week of Oct 4th, 10/04/10 3 miles (Island), 10/05/10 4.5 miles (MTY), 10/06/10 4.5 miles (WCW), 10/07/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper), 10/08/10 23 miles = Total for week 39 miles
Week of Oct 11th, 10/11/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 10/12/1 4 miles (Downtown), 10/14/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper), 10/15/10 10 miles (Rivermont Ave) = Total for week 22 miles
Week of Oct 18th 10/18/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 10/19/10 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 10/20/10 4 miles (WCW), 10/21/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper), 10/23/10 24 miles = Total for week 40 miles
Week of Oct 25th, 10/25/10 4 miles (Treadmill), 10/29/10 4 miles (Friday run), 10/30/10 18 miles (Long run) = Total for week 26 miles
Week of Nov 1st, 11/01/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 11/02/10 4 miles (Upper/Lower), 11/03/10 4 miles (Island), 11/04/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper) = Total for week 16 miles
Week of Nov 8th (RACE WEEK), 11/08/1 4 miles (Kemper St), 11/09/10 4 miles (Upper/lower), 11/13/10 26.2 miles (Richmond Marathon) = Total for week 34.2 miles
Week of Nov 15th, 11/15/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 11/18/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper), 11/19/10 3.6 miles (Friday run)= Total for week 11.6 miles
Week of Nov22nd, 11/22/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 11/23/10 4 miles (Miller Park), 11/24/10 4 miles (Island), 11/25/10 14.5 miles (Trail) = Total for week 26.5 miles
Week of Nov29th, 11/29/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 11/30/10 4.25 miles (Cable St), 12/02/10 4 miles (Reverse Kemper) = Total for week 12 miles
Week of Dec 6th, 12/06/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 12/07/10 4 miles (Reverse Miller) = Total for week 8 miles
Week of Dec 13th, 12/13/10 4 miles (Kemper St), 12/15/10 4 miles (Upper/Lower) = Total for week 8 miles
Week of Dec 20th, 12/20/10 4 miles (Reverse Miller), 12/21/10 4 miles (Hybrid Friday run), 12/22/10 4 miles, 12/24/10 4.25 miles = Total for week 16.25 miles

Grand total for the year of 887.94 miles

I don’t need no pace.

Most people know that I was a swimmer for most of my life. During my last two years of high school and all 4 years of college I had the problem of always taking races out way to fast. Well now that I am getting into running nothing has changed. My first race last year, the 2008 Virginia 10 Miler, my first mile split was 8:30 which when compared to my goal pace of 10:00 is way to fast. Well on Saturday November 14, 2009 Darrell Manning and my self signed up to run the Danville Half Marathon (13.1 miles). It was supposed to be on a FLAT trail next to the river (I highlight flat for a reason). Well the week of the race the left over rain from a hurricane came through the area and the river flooded. So the race director had to find another course and find one very quick. The course they choose was very hilly, which is not what I was prepared for. So when the race started, as usually I took off like a bat out of h***. Our goal pace for the FLAT course was 8:00 but with the hills we were thinking closer to 8:15 would be good. Our first three miles was at a 7:30 pace, which is not close to either of my goal paces. The biggest and longest hill was at the beginning of the course (which we had to run 3 loops of). In the following pictures you can tell that each time I was in more and more pain. By the third loop around my body was done with and I had to walk almost the entire last loop.

(1st time up the hill and still felling good)

(2nd time up the hill and starting to really fell the pain)

(4th time up the hill almost to the finish line.

I thought I was going to die at this point.
There is no picture of us going up the hill the 3rd time because I was walking)

I am grateful for my good friend Darrell who decided to stay with me the whole race even though I know he could have easily run the last loop with out stopping. The only lesson I learned from this race is “slow and steady wins the race.” Darrell and I have signed up for our first full marathon (26.2 miles) at Richmond in November 2010. Luckily the Richmond race will have pace teams which will help me make sure I start out at a good SLOW pace.



On a little side note I am grateful for our wives who have learned to put up with a training schedule for these races and also for good friends who come to support us and watch us die in pain.