Tuesday Time Warp

I've been following other running related blogs primarily Life's Little Epiphanies and OliveToRun.  Each day they seem to have a theme for their posts.  I feel that I should follow their lead, but somehow, I don't want to appear to just outright copy them.

I have been absolutely terrible about posting to this blog, I probably don't have too many readers following me anyway, but that's alright.

As some of you know from a previous post, I have been unemployed for about 6 months, it has been a very humbling experience and one that has made me reevaluate what is and isn't important in life.  I have been sending resumes, about 300; received two phone calls; and two interviews.  I was getting discouraged and started losing sleep over my next moves.

Until I received an e-mail for an interview, for a job that I really liked and wanted.

The company is based overseas, but they have offices in Houston.  They flew me down, put me up in a hotel and conducted the interview.  After two weeks, I received word of an offer!  I tried to remain calm and began reviewing the offer numbers over the phone before verbally agreeing to the offer.  The offer is very generous and will go a long way to righting the ship...  It will, however, mean relocating overseas, which I am very willing to do and excited at the opportunity.

 So in coming months, my GPS run location will be interesting...

In the meantime, here's today's run stats:


See the activity on RunSaturday

Type:	Run - General
Duration:	0:42:33
Distance:	4.00 mi

Fantastic Friday

Things are going well this week.  The running has been on track and consistent, I only blew off one day and that was weather related...well, sort of, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

This week was also the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, my family and I participated in a local rally that highlighted many of the same issues, only with a new twist...just look up anything having to do with North Carolina politics lately for a synopsis.  In the middle of all that though, I joined the NAACP and began working with a local college student to help him get elected to the city council.  My thought is that I really should be more in tune with the grassroots politics happening around here rather than bury my head in the sand and ignore it.

On the job hunting front, I received an e-mail for an interview for a possible position outside the country, it sounds interesting, is right up my alley as far as the work goes.  I'll provide more details as things develop.

On the running front, it appears that I might have a bout of Plantar Fasciatis on my left foot.  I have some treatment ideas that I will aggressively pursue and will stay aware of it.

Here's the stats from today's run:


See the activity on RunSaturday

Type:	Run - General
Duration:	1:20:19
Distance:	8.00 mi

Tuesday Time Warp

I know I have been very bad about keeping this training blog going, but I have bbeen good about mytraining and that is a plus.

Today was Interval Day, (6 x 800m with 400m Recovery), in addition I did a warmup with Little Mac Dog, because he really can't handle the distance or speed of the intervals, and there is no way I can get out of the house in my running gear without him.  He is also pretty good at holding me accountable and making sure I don't skip out on too many runs.

I've not been as good about the Marine Corps Marathon Training as I should be, so I decided to use it as a tune up for the California International Marathon.  This also allowed me to get  myself back on track with training and have fun.

I decided to give the Hanson's Method a try this time, the premise is that you don't spend big chunks of your weekly mileage on the Sunday Long Run, but use the other days of the week to get the mileage in and force yourself to become comfortable on tired legs later in the race.  We will see, how that works out, because doing 20 and 22 mile runs can feel pretty daunting.

I know I need to find other places to run, but the idea of getting in the car, driving somewhere, warming up, running, cooling down and driving back is just too much work, and really, I can get most of my miles done in my neighborhood.  I have a built in track, that is 1.5 miles and makes it easy to get the intervals in.

Enough Jabbering, here's the stats:

5.76 miles in 54:03 for a 9:23 average WU: 10:26 (1 mile) I-1: 4:12 R-1: 2:37 I-2: 4:11 R-2: 2:36 I-3: 3:59 R-3: 2:35 I-4: 4:10 R-4: 2:37 I-5: 4:16 R-5: 2:37 I-6: 4:29 (Last one kicked my ass) CD: 5:13 (1/2 mile)

Tough couple of months

It has certainly been a tough couple of months recently and if it were not for running, I would probably go insane.

Here's the story:  Not long after I returned from a business trip, I received a call from my employer telling me that I was being laid off due to not having enough new contracts forecast for the year.  Needless to say, I was absolutely stunned and not sure how to proceed.

I began applying for positions and even had a couple of nibbles, that ultimately failed to pan out.  That meant I needed to start filing for unemployment.  Of course, the week I begin that process, my state reduced the amount payable to individuals on unemployment.  On the plus side, my former employer reported my eligibility to a different state and it looks like I will be able to collect a higher rate, but I am going through the difficulty of doing everything by phone.

I updated the resume, and have been floating it around to potential employers, including some in the running and endurance sports industry.  That would be the best ever combination, public relations and running, what a sweet combination.

Throughout this process, I have been feeling down, and dare I say it depressed.  Nothing to the point of requiring medical attention, but enough that I needed to pull myself out of this darkness.  To accomplish this, my spouse and I bought new running shoes, and I started hitting the roads with Mac, my four-footed running partner.

I often feel better after each run, and motivated to continue pushing through the job search, I also have to thank my fellow run bloggers for continuing to post and getting me motivated to hit the keyboard once again.

Overall, the running has been going well, and I have many more runs posted on my profile at www.runningfreeonline.com.  Additionally, I started a 30-day squats challenge and began lifting weights a couple of times each week.

If anyone has a position available for a Public Relations Specialist, Public Affairs Specialist or Communications Specialist with 20+ years of experience willing to relocate, please send me a an e-mail.

This morning's run:

See the activity on RunSaturday

Type:	Run - General
Duration:	0:31:38
Distance:	3.00 mi

On the road for work...again...in Arkansas...again

I'm back in Conway, Arkansas for work and scheduled to be here for the next 8 days or so.  There's not toom any running routes arond here, at least not that I can find.

There's too many fast food restaurants and a few semi-decent food options.  I was driving around, exploring and found a running store called The Sporty Runner, I'll have to make time to check it out and maybe pick up a shirt or visor with the store name on it.

Little did I know, but Conway has an abundance of colleges, and I found one that has a track, I'll have to go see if it's open to the public for interval day...

I'm missing Mac Dog, as he's the best running buddy ever.

Here are the stats:


See the activity on RunSaturday

Type:	Run - General
Duration:	0:38:43
Distance:	4.00 mi

Monday Long Run

This morning Mac Dog and I did our Long Run, we were supposed to do it yesterday and have Monday as a rest day.  I was little lazy yesterday and decided to bag it, knowing I could do it today.

We were right on target for our average pace, but do need to work on the individual splits.  We managed to pull off negative splits, getting faster at the end of the run, so that is a positive.  The wind was blustery at 20 mph with the temperature in the upper 40's, I'm sure the wind chill knocked it down a few more degrees.  This Spring has been a bit of a tease, warm with a touch of humidity one day and cold the next...I'll be much happier when it's warmer and I can run without a top and put some color on my winter pasty white skin...

So much has happened in the Boston case, that I don't even want to bother with comments, my only hope is that we get an answer to the why.

For those of you in the Hampton Roads area, Running Etc. is holding a group run fund raiser  for the One Boston Organization at both of their locations tonight at 7 p.m., A $20. donation will get a limited edition shirt, with all proceeds going to One Boston.  For more information, visit their site at runningetc.com

Enough rambling, here are the stats:

See the activity on RunSaturday

Type:	Run - Long Run
Duration:	0:51:37
Distance:	5.01 mi

Drizzly Run, and other thoughts...

This morning, Mac Dog and I went for a run, we were scheduled to go 4 miles, but due to a drizzly rain about halfway through the run, we cut it a little short.


See the activity on RunSaturday

Type:	Run - General
Duration:	0:33:42
Distance:	3.44 mi

As I got back, my son filled me in on the Boston suspects.  Maybe I'm numb to the whole thing, I'm not celebrating, but I'm not unhappy that one is dead and the noose is tightening on the other.

I used to live in the Boston area, and it is weird to see the streets of Boston empty.  Someone on MSNBC just said, this is the goal of terrorism, putting a city of 600,000 give or take on lock down, I just never thought I would see it in the United States.

Reports are saying that the suspects are two brothers from Chechnyans that have been in the country for about 10 years coming here with their parents.  I hope they catch this one alive, because, I'm curious as to why they did this...Maybe I need closure.

UPDATE: Just before I hit the publish button, MSNBC announced that BPD has a location for the remaining suspect.