June 29th - Doing Good - Doing Good - CRASH!

Today I left the house early for a 5 mile run. Felt great, at one point I thought my legs were moving on their own! After about 2miles the infamous BEAR jumped on my back. Wanted to take a shortcut home....BAD! Decided to take a few walking breaks instead. Finished the run in 44min.

- Randy

June 28th Prayers needed!!!!!

Anyone who sees us day to day knows how much pain I have been in this week. I started hurting a bit last Thursday but ran through it successfully. So I thought. We went up north for the weekend and planned on running our scheduled 8 miles on Saturday. The roads were hilly and very scary. I found out quickly that I don't like running on roads so much where the cars are coming at you 70 mph. Not my thing at all. Stoney Creek or our subdivision suits me just fine. Anyway I ran 4 miles without too much of a problem, although I was quite a few minutes behind my normal time. At our turn around to head back to the cottage for the last 4 I stopped to stretch a bit. When I started up again I don't think I even got a mile and I had to stop. I basically crawled the rest of the way. My left ankle (on the inside) and my right knee have been @#$% ever since!!!! I haven't ran since Saturday and it's been very depressing. I have been icing and resting, bought new shoes and nothing seems to be helping. Standing for hours at work doesn't help. I went out this morning to test the waters and I barely walked a mile. Of course, had a quick little meltdown when I got home. Hopefully I will heal up soon and this will be my only set back for the rest of training. Anyone who may be reading this please say a prayer for me!!!! I'm dying to get out there and run. I've really come to enjoy running and I miss it!


~Kelly~

June 26th - 10:00 and Peacful

Waited for the day to settle down and left the house around 10:00PM. I ran for 5 miles and kept my pace around 8min/30sec. This was an interesting run considering we had pizza and lasagna for dinner at 8. Hmmmmm, not a good decision!!! The 5 mile and under runs are getting much easier. I can actually walk instead of crawl up the driveway when I'm done.

Our Honored Heroes and several other friends or relatives are really pushing us along. It's amazing how many people we know that have (or know someone who has) a form of blood cancer. Hopefully a cure is not that far around the corner!!!

Our Prayers and Support to All!
- Randy

June 22nd through 25th - Up North

This weekend we went up north with some good friends to enjoy some time alone (no kids!). Considering Saturday's are normally our longer runs, we needed to find time to get in some miles. The road leading to the house we were staying at was a hilly 4.3 mile track. Very scary because there was only a small shoulder and cars traveled around 60 - 70 mph. On Saturday I ran about 9.2 miles in 1hr/34min (the hills kicked my butt). Sunday I completed the 4mile track in about 33min. That was a new achievement for me, my mile pace was 8min/17sec. Today (the 25th) is a day off, so running will continue tomorrow. The biggest challenge up north was running past the Amish bakery that sells mouth watering cinnamon rolls and brownies. We caved obviously!!! Hey, we ran while on vacation so treating ourselves to it was a given - well that and a jar of candy bars!!!

- Randy

June 20/21 - New Shoes

June 20- Weight training at the gym. Need to build up these bird legs!!! LOL.

- Randy

June 21- When you hear how important a runners shoes are. They aren't kidding!!! I'm struggling this week with my left foot, and now my ankle also. We are leaving for the weekend and are suppose to run 8 up north on Saturday. Yikes. When I get past my 4.5 mile mark or so my toes on my left foot start tingling like I have frost bite. Hmmmm.........think I need to go shopping QUICK!!! I bought my shoes a 1/2 size bigger than normal but I guess it wasn't enough. As I write this I'm waiting for Randy to get home from his run so I can go out. I think I'm only going to do 3 this morning just to get out there, and help warm up for Saturday's 8. Then I think it's off to Hanson's Running Shop for me today.

P.S. I actually did my 5 miles today!!! Woo hoo!!!! My foot didn't hurt until I was almost home. LOL. Oh well new shoes soon!!!!

~Kelly~

6:30AM - Morning runs are hard to get up for, but well worth it after (meaning I'm done running for the day!!!). Completed 6.8 miles in just under 50min. During the first mile of my run I received a nice wake up - sprinklers at a condo complex turned on while I was passing and zeroed in on the side of my head. At least it looked to others like I had a good sweat going!!!

- Randy

June 19th - Early Run

Left the house early this morning for a 5 mile run. Felt really good - quick pace, no discomfort, had a lot of energy. I find it much easier to run first thing in the morning instead of later in the evening after a full day of activities. I completed the run in about 43min. It was raining, which I love, but today was quite humid. Glad I didn't wait till the afternoon when the temp increased! A quote was sent to me from one of our trainers. I've copied it below. It's from an 89 year old lady battling cancer. Made me think twice about the meaningful and meaningless things in my life. Enjoy!!!

“If I had my life to live over again, I’d try to make more mistakes next time. I would relax. I’d be sillier than I have been on this trip. I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers and watch more sunsets. I would have more actual troubles and less imaginary ones. Oh, I’ve had my moments, and If I had to do it over again, I’d have more of them. In fact, I’d try to have nothing else, just moments, one after another… I would pick more daisies.” - Nadine Stair (at age 89)

- Randy

June 18th - Day Off

After a long run yesterday, I gave myself a days rest from running. Went to the gym instead for some weight training.

- Randy

June 17th - Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there. Today I got up early to golf, played with the kids all afternoon, and completed the evening with a 9.5 mile run. Long distance runs in the neighborhood are difficult. Stop lights at intersections are interfering with pace, making it difficult to get a good rhythm going. Finished in 1hr/34min, so I was able to stay under a 10min. pace with stops at several lights. Feeling much better, maybe the flu bug has finally left our house for the summer!!!!!

- Randy

June 16th - Stoney Creek

Randy was sick and stayed home today. I met up with the team and completed 6miles in just over an hour.

- Kelly

June 15th - Crash and Burn

Last day of school today - I started my summer vacation. I walked in the door from work and crashed on my bed. Really feeling weak. I'm one of those stubborn individuals that won't see a doctor. I might need to this time. The bug hit me hard during the night and into Saturday morning. Couldn't meet with the team at Stoney. I'll change my longer run to Monday, and pick up my miles during next week to make up for the down time.

- Randy

June 14th - Need to Run

Still feeling off, but need to get a longer run in. I completed a 6 mile run in about an hour. My pace was off a little. Really started to think about our honored heroes during this run. My sister-in-laws mother has been in and out of the hospital. Can't begin to imagine the struggles she's going through right now. That reality makes a difficult run much easier. We don't have the power to change what's happening, but we can support these individuals through our training.

- Randy

June 12th & 13th - What's Happening???

The flu bug is not leaving our house!!! I was able to do a couple short runs, but nothing too strenuous. Just enough to keep up my miles and prepare for the longer Saturday run. Body is just not feeling right this week! Not sure what's going on.

- Randy

June 11th - Day Off

No running today - just some nice relaxing pool time with the kids (if you call that relaxing).

- Randy

June 10th - Oh The Pain!!!

Yesterday's run was great, and it felt good to make progress with an increase in miles. Today however I was in major pain!!! LOL. My hamstrings felt like stretched rubber bands ready to snap. When I got home from work I stretched and tried a short run. I must have looked like a wounded duck. Oh well, 3.8 miles in about 30 min.

- Randy

June 9th - New Mile Stone

Felt good today - needed the day off yesterday. I teamed up with about five runners for what started out to be 6miles. Half way through we stopped at a water station and all decided to push our miles to 9. Glad I had others to run with on this one. I finished the 9 miles in 1hr./24min. Excluding the two water stops I averaged an 8min./50sec. mile. That's certainly a new mile stone for me. This was the first time I walked away from a run feeling like I could actually complete the marathon. Many thanks to those pushing me along!!!

- Randy

June 8th - My Turn!

Kelly and the kids were sick this past week. I came home from work today and crashed. The bug finally caught up with me. I should have gone for a short run today, but decided to rest and hopefully make my long run at Stoney Creek tomorrow.

- Randy

June 7th - Gale Force Winds

For a Long-Day run I completed 6.3 miles in the neighborhood. I finished in just over 1 hour. That's about 12min. longer than the last time. Of course I feel the need to explain!!! As I stepped out my front door my hat flew off and sailed about 2 houses down. Not sure where the wind came from, but I felt like I was running in place for the first 3.5 miles. On the plus side, the last few miles the wind was at my back! Felt good, but I passed a guy on his way home from a party store with a six-pack of Bud! That was just plain cruel!

- Randy

June 6th - Feeling Great!

Well thank God all is back to normal at our house. Everyone got sick except for Randy and if he is lucky it has bi passed him. My running schedule was all messed up last week with the flu bug so I was actually able to make it to the Warren Center and run 4.5 miles on the treadmill today. I watched the older folks walk the lazy river through the giant windows overlooking the pool area while they chased and squirted eachother with water pistols. YES!!!! This is a planned activity for them. It is the cutest sight EVER. This makes me laugh so hard I try not to fall off the treadmill. Today I had Kid Rock on in my IPOD and just let me tell you.........If you don't have the Live Trucker cd you really don't know what you are missing. I love the Cowboy song it makes me want move. So I'll leave you with a few words from the Kid "Keep on truckin' till it falls in the ocean"

~Kelly~

Day off for me....Let's see "King of Queens" or "Everybody Loves Raymond"?

- Randy

June 5th - Addicted

OK....I'm officially addicted! The day was getting away from us today, but I still wanted to get in a run. We were leaving a store in the neighborhood around 8:30 tonight and I told Kelly I'd run home. 2.8 miles and a little insanity!

- Randy

June 4th - Rain Drops Keep Falling...

I know I said I like running in the rain, but it seems like every time I get a chance to run it pours. 2.3 miles in about 22min. Nice and cool outside. Took it slow and easy tonight - enjoyed some tunes on my iPod!

- Randy

June 3rd - Feeling Better

Needed to make up for the couple days off. I knew last night I was going to get in a morning run, I didn't expect to look out the window and see rain! Believe it or not I was happy. I get in my best runs on rain days. Today I pushed it to 6.3 miles. The 2 days rest was good for me. I finished in 48min/17sec (no walk breaks today). I could have kept going. I learned a new lesson today: "People late for Sunday church will drive over you in a heart-beat if you're battling to see who has the right of way!" AMEN BROTHER!

- Randy

June 3rd - Wasted Day.........or was it?

This has been a really rough week for me to try to get in all my runs. On Thursday I was dressed and ready to run after I dropped Ally off at school. What do ya know.......she ended up with the stomach flu. Kids are so funny, they sure bounce back quickly. I did end up running late that night after both kids finally got to bed. Randy and I took turns. Running at night is peaceful, maybe a little dangerous, but hey, oh well.......try and catch me. LOL. So as Randy stated in his previous post, we really enjoyed our Friday off. We enjoyed a nice dinner and a movie night. Then Bam!!!!!! Guess who gets the stomach flu........me. I always seem to escape any of the bugs the kids try and pass on, but not this time. We missed our weekly Saturday Team in Training run at Stoney Creek, which I am very sad about. It feels so wonderful to train with other people. It motivates you, keeps you moving, especially when people are passing you. As I lay around the house today feeling yucky, and missing the team run, I couldn't help but think how tomorrow will be another day for me. I (hopefully) will wake up feeling much better, able to get in a run. Most importantly it made me realize how my one day struggle with the flu is so completely minuscule compared to what our honorary hero's faced in the past and and today, the present. It will help me get out of bed tomorrow morning with a smile on my face and keep running!!!!!

~Kelly~

Not feeling as bad as Kelly, but not up to a run. We're both giving our bodies a day to re-coop!

- Randy

June 1st - Day Off

We are scheduled for a day off right before our longer Saturday runs. Tomorrow we will increase our runs to 5.5miles. I'm not one to argue, so if the training book says take the day off then call me "Mr. Couch Potato!"

- Randy

May 31 - Night Vision

Went out for a night run after the crazy day settled down. I'm finding myself enjoying the peace that comes with each run. They are real stress relievers. Today was a LOW DAY, so I completed a shortened 3.8 mile run in about 25min. Energy was up, especially after being chased by an EVIL PUG!!!

- Randy

May 30 - Back to Basics

OK.....time to get away from the picnic food and get back to training! Went out for a 5 mile run today and felt pretty heavy (like I was carrying a 100lbs. of hot dogs and hamburgers) LOL! Oh well, I finished the run in one piece. Today's run 40min. 34sec.

- Randy