treadmills

I greatly do not like tread mills. For many reasons.
1) you cannot change pace. If you start getting tired you have to change the speed of the tread mill you cannot just slow down.
2) you don't get anywhere. You can run for thirty miles and when you are done you are left standing in the same place.
3) there is no air movement. If you are outside running you move through the air causing wind, you are not actually creating wind but I don't want to argue details. This causes you to cool off. I have a hard time sweating when I run out side but inside I become sweaty and shiny etc.
4) lets say your intestines are creating lots of methane gas and become so full they cannot contain it. If you are running on a tread mill you cannot escape the odor.

I will soon be running outside but I need to get a reflective vest so I can run early in the morning and wont get hit my a car.

It snowed here in Kentucky today. Being from Vermont I wish people would not complain and I wish that there was snow worth complaining about.

(just a note for myself) 5.76

Weekly goals

- Drink 2 Sigg bottles full of water daily.
- Eat healthier meals.
- Invest in some healthy snacks to keep in my room.(not priority 1)
- Keep some sort of meal log or plan for the week.
- Clean my room (may not be a physical fitness goal, directly)

Today I subscribed to runners world (first 2 issues are free and risk free). I found it by looking for ultramarathon training guides. http://www.runnersworld.com/

Had a good weekend. Was at men's retreat with 120 something Asbury men. Stayed over night for two nights hung out around the lake for a while and found lots of geodes. Played lots of tennis. Now time to get back to the business of school and training.

This week is going to be a good week. On Tuesday my ROTC class canceled. It is the only class I have that day so I have a completely open day.

Goals part 2

So are you wondering how I did with my goals?
1 drink 2 sigg bottles full a day. Fail. I left it in class on monday and forgot to pick it up today and failed to drink water in any other way in any amounts of good quantity.
2 eat healthier. Semi achieve. I did not eat as much bad stuff but I did not eat a salad everyday.
3 run everyday. Achieved. Jon and I ran every morning except thursday. on wednesday the woman who works at the desk told us that the woman who would be working on thursday would not let us in until 6:15 when the woman who worked every other day was letting us in at 6:05 or earlier if we were there. Jon and I decided to rest on thursdays and sundays.

Tomorrow is Saturday but we are going on a men's retreat with the college and I don't know if I will be running tomorrow.

Juice

I don't like to eat fruit. But I like the way it tastes. That is why I like juice. Right now I am drinking apple juice in the mornings and usually for lunch as well. I really like orange juice but the orange juice in the cafeteria is... no good. Simply orange is what I really like or florida's natural is also really good. http://www.floridasnatural.com/ http://www.simplyorangejuice.com/. Maybe I should ask them to sponsor me... ;)

Goals

Goals are very important in life. Without goals we will get nowhere in life because we will have nowhere to go. Short term goals are just as important as long term goals. Our short term goals help us to achieve our long term goal. So my long term is fairly obvious, participate in a 100 mile race in ten years or less. As far as short term goals go, I have to run a few fifty milers to be able to participate in the 100, But that is some what a long term goal as well. As far as short term goals I want to participate in a half marathon in a few months, I don't think that I will be able to run the whole thing but I want to run it any way if I can find a ride. Now onto REAL short term goals, every week on Monday I am going to post weekly goals.
This weeks goals
- Drink two water bottles of water everyday. (I believe that I have a 21 oz. bottle)
- Run every morning. (I missed a few days last week)
- Eat more healthily, this means trying not to eat fried foods and having a salad at least once a day.

toenail loss (not for the faint of heart)

The first week of this semester I was helping a friend rearrange the way his bed was set up and I dropped a bed support on my toe. With in an hour it looked like this.Yeah it hurt. By the end of the day it was worse.
Over night my toe swelled and the bruising was even worse. I went to the college health clinic and they said I should go tot the Urgent Treatment Center in Nicholasville and they would burn a whole through my toenail and release the blood that was pooled under the nail and that would release the pressure and make it feel better. So I did that and now my toenail has fallen off and the new one is growing back in. Running was interesting when it was still falling off but not to bad now that it has actually fallen off. Fortunately there was not a whole lot of time between when I got inspired to train for an ultra and when the toe nail fell off.

Adam Leopard

This post is dedicated entirely to Adam Leopard. Adam Leopard is a friend of mine from college. I met him last semester when he moved onto the same hall I lived on as our SLA (Spiritual Life Adviser). As the semester went on we got to know each other a little better, I used his desk as a place to piece together a puzzle and he was gracious enough to let me leave it there. Adam is one of those guys that I could just walk into his room and sit on his bed and read for a class and just not say anything and it is not awkward at all. He also has a very calming presences.

What does Mr. Adam Leopard have to do with my hundred mile race? Well two things.
1) When I first told him he did not think (at least he did not express this thought) that I was crazy.
2) He said he would come out to my race, even if it was all the way out in Colorado, and watch/be my handler.

What is a handler? 100 miles is a long way to go and most people are not able to run the whole thing without aid. All along the way there are aid stations where there is food, water and handlers can get to their runner. These handlers take care of the runner when they are not able to care for themselves. I have seen handlers carry extra shoes socks etc. for their runner so they could change if their feet got wet. Handlers also may bring special food since all the aid station may have is little candies and other things that the runner may not want. So this special guy said that he would do this for me which was very cool.

Early Mornings

I missed running last night. So today I had to get up early and run in the morning instead. I woke up at 5:45 and was at the Luce (Asbury College's physical activities center) at 6:15, I thought that was when they open but I think that I could actually go up earlier even. Friend Jon Drake came up with me and worked out. The run was actually much more successful at 6 in the morning than at 8 at night and I think that will be the standard time of action. After the run we returned to the dorm, showered and went to breakfast where we were joined by friends Josiah Sage and Zac Siele. New running development, as if running was not painful enough for me, I lost my left big toenail today. More on that story tomorrow and pictures too.

The Beginning

I am a college sophomore. In high school I ran cross country and did cross country skiing. My ski coach asked me to come volunteer one summer at the "Vermont 100". This is Vermont's long distance endurance race, 100 miles. Now that I am in college I have been inspired to run my own 100 mile race. My 10 year goal is to run an Ultra Marathon. Between now and then I will run many other races, marathons, half-marathons, 30's and 50's. For those of you who are interested, this is my journey.

I don't know how I am going to do this how often I will keep this updated but I will attempt to update daily and use this as a bit of a training journal for you all to follow if you like and I will do my best to make it interesting.

So tonight I consider day 1 of my training. I ran for 30 minutes. In the future entries will be more in-depth and interesting. Tonight we are watching "Fight Club" going to bed early and getting up early to go to Denny's for their free grand slam breakfast, some home work, and then another run. Then I will write more about my goals and myself. Good night