Andi's Movement Towards Change

Yesterday was the first time in a while that I was able to go outside and get a good run in. The weather was a pleasant 40ish degrees out, and for once this winter, it wasn't raining or snowing. I have been behind in my training program for one reason or another, so I knew that I'd have to really push myself today. I decided to go easy on my knees and run at the track. My pace, a sub-11 minute mile, which at one time was lighting fast for me) is now somewhat easy. (I never thought I'd ever say that.) Since I knew I'd be running for a while, I decided to break out my run into miles. I live one mile away from Grosse Pointe South's track, so the run in was a good warmup for me. Once I hit the track, I found my focus, listended to Tears for Fears (great running music, by the way), and just ran. 3 miles. 5 miles. 7 miles. I ended up running 9 miles around the track before I ran out of water (a sign that I should head for home). I ran all the way back, and couldn't be...

I have come to realize that I just don't get as motivated to work out unless the sun is shining, the birds are singing, it's warm, and there isn't a good snow fall every other day. But hey, it's Michigan. Despite the fact that this year has now proven to be the snowiest winter in Michigan history having already dumpted almost 90 inches on us (and April isn't even here yet), Team in Training triathletes like me must push on for the cause that we've committed ourselves to. This past week dealt me a harsh reminder that what I am doing here must not be knocked off course by a simple snowfall. One of my honored heroes, a man named Doug who was best friends with one of my co-workers, passed away last Saturday. He had battled lymphoma six years ago, beating it into remission with chemotherapy, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant. The month after he hit his five-year "cancer-free goal, he was diagnosed with Leukemia. After an aggressive chemotherapy, the leukem...

I'm glad to report that my foot is about 95% healed up. I elected to not run with the team last Saturday, and sleep in an extra half hour. If I could still feel the bite on my foot without putting any pressure on it, I figured why would I want to run a few miles only to realize that I have to walk a few miles back. Instead, I decided to head to Bally's of Bloomfield to do a hard workout in the pool. My intention was to hammer out between 6000-7000 yards (a good four miles). The long distance would certainly make up for the run, I thought. After my 300 yard warm-up, I was on my way for the long haul. My foot was giving me no problems, and I was in a zone for the next 2000 yards. At least until a woman intentionally put a kick-board in my face so that I would stop swimming. I looked up at her, and she asked me to move to the lane at the end since there was a seniors' water aerobics class starting. I would have gladly complied, but the lane that she wanted me to go to had stai...

Life is interesting, especially when unexpected things pop up, throwing you a curve ball. Last night, as I was sleeping the night away, I was awoken suddenly by something I never would have imagined. Now I've had dreams before that have seemed so powerful to me that I swear they were real. I've been overwhelmed by emotion, overtaken by paralyzing fear, and have even had the sensation of touch and physical feeling -- whether it was through an amazing kiss or a speeding bullet. That is why this time, for a second, I thought that I had come out of a dream. I woke up suddenly to a very loud sound, followed by an immediate sharp pain in my foot. Taking a few seconds to get my bearings, I realized that it wasn't me that was dreaming, it was my dog. And I gather his dream wasn't a dream about frolicking in a meadow chasing butterflies. Instead, he must have felt threatened, because it was his bark that I heard, and his bite that I felt. Yes, the gentle whippet that usually nes...

Today would have been spent as a recovery day for me after yesterday's awesome run, but instead, I had to meet up with the rest of Team Michigan for our first "practice" triathlon. What is a practice triathlon? For us, it was putting together all three emphases today (swimming, biking and running). Just like a real traithlon. We didn't go the full Olympic distance today, but we weren't far off. So what did today entail? We did our full distance swim today (.9 mile), and then quickly transitioned to our bike station (which was on our bike trainer since it's still way too cold and icy to ride outside). We rode our bikes for an hour (that equated to around 15 miles, about right for a sprint distance race. As soon as we were done, we had to quickly change into our outdoor running clothes and knock out a 4 mile run. I have to admit that my legs were a bit fried today as a result of yesterday's run. But I was able to run without INTENTIONALLY stopping. I did hav...

A while back, I set a personal goal to get up to a 10 mile run before March. Well, work (as you know if you've followed this blog), has taken a toll on my training lately, which has left me no time for long runs during the week. Today was such a beautiful day (30 degrees and sunny), I decided to get a long mile under my belt. My original intention was to run 6-7 miles, but then when I was around 5 miles, I was very happy with the way I felt, so I decided to modify my route and add on some distance. At the time, I had no idea how far I'd run, but I figured it would be around 9 miles (guaged by the time I ran, which was 1 hour 35 minutes. After tracking it on google maps, it turns out that I almost made it that far...8.81 miles. Well, I don't mind rounding that up to 9 miles in my mind...close enough for government work, right? Ok, so I didn't get the 10 mile run in BEFORE March. But I came close! I'll take it. On a different note, today I saw the first sign of spring...