Because Its Been Over a Month

Good morning everyone! I figured since it has been been over a month since I last updated you on the training I had better get to it! Grandmas is only 71 days away, and boy have I been letting myself fall behind on my runs. I never thought that I would have such a hard time finding the time to squeeze in 4-5 mile runs a few times a week...but it's been terribly hard! Between school in Mankato (hour drive each way) and work (55 hrs a week) I haven't wanted to do much else. However, yesterday Bryan (training partner) and I finally decided to get off our asses and get to a moderate run!

We decided that since evenings have been congested with family, work and homework, we would try getting out in the morning before I left for Mankato. The lousy part about running in the morning is that lately it's been cold, cold, cold! I remember looking down at the thermometer in my car before we started our run and it was a whopin 32 degrees. I'm pretty sure the date was the 8th of April, not the 8th of March. But this is Minnesota and we cant do anything about the weather.....So we got into our cold weather running gear and ran our 8 miles for the day. Some of you out there may think "WOW, 8 miles! That's a long way to go"...However, for Bryan and I it's just the beginning..as we can see the 12, 15, 20 mile runs in our near future!

To everyone out there following me and this journey, thanks! I hope this motivation keeps up, for a few more days at least;-)

Make it a great day everyone! Make sure you let the ones you love know you love them!

Dave

Check Up

Hello all! I hope all my friends and family who live in MN are enjoying this balmy 30+ weather we are having today! I know as a "runner" I love to see the temp go up, and the snow levels go down! I absolutely love running outside, but the snow/ice/cold keeps me in on the treadmill...So come on Minnesota weather, keep up the good work!

Anyways, I figured since I hadn't given you and update blog as of yet, I figured in between classes today I would. This week is officially the 3rd week of training, however, Bryan and I got together Friday night and re-vamped our training schedule. As many of you know, last year my schedule had me training 6 days a week. While it prepared us for a successful marathon, it took a major toll on my knees and my attitude towards running. So what Bryan and I decided to do was drop down to a 5 day a week schedule, with days off on Sundays and Wednesdays. I'm sure this schedule will be just as successful as it'll make it easier to stay with the runs because I know I'll have that extra day off.

As for how the training is going thus far: Yesterday I did a quick 3 mile run at Gold's during my "lunch break". I felt pretty good as I feel that I'm starting to get my stamina/wind back. Today is the first official day off due to it being Wednesday, however, the nice weather has me thinking I might put on the cold weather running gear my mother in law got my for x-mas and hitting the street. ...we'll see!

Also, for all of you readers out there...I know there's at least two of you....Please write something in the comments section as its motivating to know who's keeping up with you!

MAKE IT A GREAT DAY!

Dave

Round 2

Just a little re-cap for those of you that followed me on my journey for Grandmas Marathon '08: The weather was perfect...It was a cool start to the morning, however, not a cloud in the sky. We knew it was going to heat up nicely as the day went on. However, I didn't anticipated the strength of the suns rays, and I thought I would be ok w/out sun screen. BOY WAS I WRONG! Anyways, Bryan and I met up @ Miller Hill Mall to board the bus..His uncle road w/ us up the north shore... There wasn't much chatter on the bus..as I'm sure that many of us had the pre-race jitters.....We arrived in Two Harbors....de-boarded the bus..and began to walk to the start point....We had to make the pre-race stop at the Biff's...You wouldn't believe how many they have, yet the lines are crazy long! Never the less we finished our "business" and continued on our way to the start point. After a little bit of chatter we began to stretch out...feeling good we fought through the crowd to get ourselves ready for the start. It was a sea of people...everyone jammed next to one and other...Once we were in there, there wasn't any room to stretch out. The National Anthem played and you could feel the rush of adrenaline through every ones bodies. With a loud snap of the starting pistol we were off!

If you read through my posts from last year, you'll see that Bryan and I had a goal time that we wanted to accomplish. We had figured that if we ran a 9 min mile throughout we could finish w/ a sub 4 hour marathon. Not too shabby for a couple of first timers! Well, that was just a pipe dream due to the "GRAND CANYON of CRACKS"! You may chuckle at my commentary on this "Crack" that I stepped in. But truly this thing was ENORMOUS! Lets recap: About a mile into the race (I'm not even sure it was even a mile) the sea of people is still running together. In fact it is so thick w/ runners you can't even see the ground beneath you. You find yourself moving from side to side mearly because that's the way the sea of people is moving. Well it was in the movement from the middle of the road to the left shoulder that I found the "Grand Canyon". I immediately knew that my ankle was jacked up. I stepped into the crack w/ the side of my left foot and immediately rolled my ankle over the top of it. I stumbled and nearly fell flat on my face. You may laugh at the though of this 200lb man falling on his face. However, imagine the anguish this 200+ man had to go through to even get ready for this 26.2 mile event. And then to top it off, have it happen w/in the first mile. Several runners around Bryan and I gasped in horror that a runner was going down....however, I recovered for the mean time. I collected myself and took a deep breath. I knew I was going to have to work hard to survive the remaining 25.2 miles, to save the last 18 weeks of training.

Bryan and I tried to keep a constant pace together..We knew that if we started to fast we would surely burn ourselves out before the finish line...So we kept to our game plan...steady pace, steady pace! The miles kept rolling by..1 mile became 5 miles became 9 miles became the midway point. We checked our watches to find that we were right on track for our sub 4 hour marathon. We decided to stop and use the Biff's that were set up for the starting point for the half marathon...and boy did that turn out to be a bad idea! Once we got back onto the road I felt my left ankle begin to swell up in my shoe..and to make matters worse my right quad was starting to cramp from the favoring of my left ankle. Needless to say the second half didn't go nearly as well as the first had. The worst part of the entire race was that I kept having to walk. It started as only at the water points..then it was every few miles..and then every mile. Because I had to walk so much my running partner started getting knee pain...My Bad B! But we stuck together and finished together like we told each other we would do regardless! We ended up finishing right around 4 hours and 45 min. Now that wasn't our goal, but good work for a bum ankle and a first time marathon! Great work B!

So now we find ourselves at a cross road. Do I run the race again because I didn't get my goal time? Or do I call it quits because damn 26.2 is a long ass way to run? For those of you that know me, you know I couldn't just be done after a poor showing. So today I find myself on day 2 of training for my second marathon! So, this is your invite to follow me on my journey to have the best time ever!

!

T minus 8 hours

Hello all! As you can see from my title, it's only 8 hours until the marathon kicks off tomorrow! I can't believe that the day has come for Bryan and I to unleash all 26.2 miles. It has defiantly been a journey that I will remember for the rest of my life.
Just to get you up to speed on the festivities up here in Duluth. Jenny, Krissy, and myself drove up to Duluth this afternoon. Once we arrived, we went to Bryan's place and picked him up and went down to get our race packets.....then after walking around the steamy fitness expo at the DECC...we dropped Bryan off at home and headed up to the Martens house for dinner. Two pounds of spaghetti later I feel like I'm good to go...now all I need to do is get motivated to sleep..and then its off to the races!
So for all of you that have gone w/ my on the journey, thank you! I have appreciated all the good wishes and shows of support! I'll see you at the finish line!

Dave

We Were Soldiers Once . . . And Young

I sat at home this afternoon and watched a movie I had seen before. Actually the other day Jenny and I were at Best buy and I decided to buy this movie. When I picked it up on the bottom of the shelf I remembered what this movie was all about, and so too did Jenny. As we walked to the counter to buy it Jen told me how every time she saw this it made her cry, what I didn't tell her is that it did for me too.

The movie,"We were Soldiers" is about a cavalry unit in the Vietnam War, and the battle they fought. As the movie goes on you can feel the emotions of the soldiers the movie spotlights, as well as the family members, the wife's, that watch their loved ones go to war. The colonel promises he wont leave anyone behind, not living or the dead. It shows a soldier keeping the Colonels promise as he pulls his fallen comrade to security of the LZ, however, is killed doing this mission.

I guess the reason I'm telling you about this movie today, and not about my marathon training, is because I truly feel as though this current war and any of the other wars, has torn so many lives apart. As you sit and watch this movie you are taken on that journey with these families, and you truly feel the way they feel. The anguish of saying goodbye, to the heart pounding fears of having the telegram delivered to your home. It is not the politicians or the media that they show, for it is not those people that have the pain. It is the Soldiers, the Marines, the Airmen, and the Sailors who watch their brothers in arms fall. It is the families of these brave young and old souls that will never be the same as they are told their son or daughter wont be coming home.

The end of the movie shows the Colonel returning home to his wife, who thought it was the telegram that would change her life. It also shows two soldiers walking through an airport, not to a parade or hundreds of people celebrating their return, but to only themselves. The narrator tells us that in the end it is not the flag, or the country that the soldiers fight for, but it is the soldier next to him that he fights for.

In conclusion I'd like to leave you with a quote that Lt. Colonel Laura Richardson said at the memorial for my fallen friends. These men died when the helicopter they were flying in was shot down over Tikrit, Iraq on November 7, 2003. "In the deadly chaos of battle, soldiers hold trust and when they fight, they fight for each other because of the trust that resides in one another."

"Only the dead have seen the end of war" Plato

It has been a while

So I realize it has been a long time since I posted last. However, with fishing trips, finals, and all sorts of work to be done...not to mention training for this marathon..I haven't had all the time in the world to write.....SO I'll fill you in on what has transpired in the last few weeks.
Since the last time I wrote, I had been quite busy....and along with the busyness came laziness....I know I know, ME LAZY? Yup that's right...I've been slacking on my running. But not like you may think...I've still been running four times a week..but not the required 6 days as scheduled. Anyways, today was the big Kahuna....Bryan and I undertook 20 miles for the first time...and successfully completed ever bit of it.. I feel as though we came out of today with quite a bit more confidence about June 21st...as well as relived we don't have to do anymore long runs until the marathon......So once again Bryan..you did a great job!
I hope those of you that read this will be following Bryan and I via the Verizon tracker that you can sign up for on Grandmasmarathon.com ! Only three weeks to go!

Dave

Big Mac