it's getting colder....

Travelling from Illinois back to Wichita and spending a couple nights in hotels along the way....it was so great to see lots of family yesterday, and we checked in late to a hotel in Illinois last night that was just outside of St Louis...I ran on the treadmill last night a few miles, but I could feel some pain in my shin and heel that was my body telling me it needed a rest, so I won't run today, and probably not tomorrow either....It snowed some today, and it is supposed ot be getting colder this week...not looking forward to having to run in chillier weather...but, as Bruce Murray from The Running Shoe says, there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing....to a certain extent I agree...if you're bundled up good, the cold weather won't even phase you.....so I am slowly trying to acquire and determine what "appropriate"clothing is for me......we had a great day today...

we went to the Rams-Dolphins game, and then took a ride to the top of the arch....had a fun time with the family...here is a picture of me and the boys at the Rams game...of course, I am wearing my K-State jersey.......

heading back to town tomorrow, and back to reality...

Black Friday Blues...

Today is Black Friday, the day when thousands of people get up at the crack of dawn to fight and claw their way to saving a few dollars on a wide range of things. Every year I think about how fun it must be to stand in line in the freezing cold at 3am and hope to get one of the 5 laptops or TVs allowed at the Wal Mart here in this small town in Illinois. But this year, I didn't really feel the desire. Which is ok. Our approach was to sleep in as late as we could, have a casual morning of eating breakfast and visiting with family, then meander down to Wal Mart just minutes before the 5am-11am specials were done, to see if there was anything left. As expected, there wasn't. There was really only one thing that I was kind of interested in, and it would have only saved my 7$ off the regular price, so I figured that wasn't worth losing sleep and fighting an angry mob for.

We stuffed ourselves yesterday, and went to see Bolt at the movie theater last night. I really enjoyed it. Last year we were the only people in the whole theater seeing The Bee Movie, but this year there were another 10 or 15 people, maybe because the move had just opened last weekend.

Today for lunch we went to Bonanza...yes, an all you can eat buffet. The day after Thanksgiving. It's kind of a tradition for us to go there since Lisa used to work there while in school growing up, and lunch today seemed to be the only opportunity before we leave tomorrow. Suffice it to say, I didn't really get my money's worth at the buffet since I was still stuffed from yesterday.

I took an afternoon run, 3.2 miles in about 28 minutes, pace was 8:58 or something like that. It was nice, almost 50 degrees, and I ran in shorts. May not get to run for the next 2-3 days, or blog, as we'll be travelling around Illinois on our way home.

Happy Turkey Day!

Got up and ran 4.1 miles, just so I can not feel guilty when I gorge myself later today. I ran down to the local high school and ran intervals for the first time. 4x400's, seperated by 200m walk break. All of them were sub 2:00, with the best at 1:43. It would be nice to work up to being able to maintain that pace over a full mile. That would equate to a sub 8-min mile, which would be great for me. Think my time overall today was averaging 9:20, with walk breaks and all.

Went to the high school basketball game last night and Lisa saw some friends she went to school with. Then we came back and took a picture with the family, to attach to a meal we are delivering to our friend Ann, who is home-bound with cancer. Every year we do a funny picture, and this year was no different. The picture here is the one on the card, with the caption "We looked all over for the perfect card, and we picked this one just for you."

Having a good time in Illinois. The weather is actually very nice, almost 50 I think. On the agenda for today: Watching the parade, eating lots of food, watching football, eating some more, opening Christmas presents, eating again, going to a movie, and eating lots of food. Good thing I got a run in this morning.

Marathon Shmarathon

So my wife said I should keep training and attempt to run a marathon. This got me to thinking.

First off, I don’t feel a deep burning desire to run a marathon, although if I continue to run it would seem like the natural progression of things…I think a marathon puts a great deal of stress and pounding on the body…I can’t comprehend people who run 50 marathons in 50 days, or who run from San Francisco to New York in 52 days…..although they must be in incredible shape, I can only imagine what damage, even if minute, they are doing to their bodies in undertaking such a feat…..

In college I made a list of things I would like to do before I die….one of them was to run a marathon….now that I am older, I think I would be content just running 5Ks or 10Ks, and not be so concerned with running a marathon….I know that the training for a marathon takes up enormous amounts of time, which I do not have, so really I think I’d be happy just sticking to my regular runs, staying healthy, and running a race here and there along the way…..

I heard a quote that 90% of people that lose weight end up gaining that weight back within 5 years….I guess that is why I want to continue to run…to inoculate myself against such a thing…..

Yesterday we drove 10 hours from the Land of Oz (Kansas) to my wifes hometown in Illinois. The boys actually did very good on the trip. (I bet my parents wish they would have had Gameboys and in-car movies when I was growing up.)

Today I got up and ran 4.3 miles around the town, just kind of exploring the area. It was a nice day, not too cold really. Didn't even need gloves. Felt great and had a 8:38 pace. I plan to do a similar run tomorrow morning before our big Turkey feast!

The Truth and Nothing But....

Okay, so when I said I just took up running three months ago, that isn't completely true. Just mostly true.
Here is a summary of my running background.
--I ran track in junior high, mostly because my friends ran track. My event was the 800m
--I ran the bases playing baseball from grade school up through high school
--I jogged a couple of times during college, not sure why
--in 2005 I tried to take up running, but failed.....as soon as the weather got cold (after about 2 or 3 months) I quit.

That's pretty much it, so running is really very new to me. As is blogging. So I'm learning two things at the same time here.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Oz Runner blog, a blog about my experience in discovering the sport of running. Earlier this year, my wife and I entered a local "Biggest Loser" weight loss challenge in my hometown of Wichita, KS. We did not win, but it served as great inspiration for us to exercise and eat right. I lost about 25 pounds during the course of the 3 month challenge, from mostly doing an elliptical 5-6 days a week, and eating healthy.

I discovered the sport of running about 3 months later, and got hooked. I run about 4 times a week now, and hope to keep it up. I am new to the sport of running, and have been learning a lot by following other people's blogs and through podcasts. I am not fast, but hope to imrove my speed, stamina, and overall health.

I had my longest run yet yesterday -- 7 miles at a 9:06 pace. The pace I run is usually about 8:30-9:15, depending on the length of the run. I am amazed when I hear runners on their blogs talk about running 6:30 or 7:00 pace. I don't know how they do it.

The other milestone I hit about a week ago was the 100 mile mark on my Nike Plus runs.

We are leaving tomorrow for Illinois for our annual Thanksgiving trip to see family and feed our faces. I'm hoping to get a run or two while we are there. It is supposed to be cold, so I will need to bundle up.

Have a safe and happy thanksgiving.