Week 1 day 1

Ok so I told myself that I was going to do another round of P90X after vacation was over. Well got home last weekend and said ok get through this week and start. Decided that Sunday would be day 1 because if you have been following my progress you will know that Saturdays are reserved for long runs on mine and Dennis' quest for the marathon in Dec. Anyways to make a long story longer after I got home from church today ate a big lunch so couldn't start then cause was just to full, so after watching 3 hours of the 100 best songs of the 80's on VH1 classic I knew if I didn't get my butt off the couch it was gonna stay there.

I decided to do the lean program this time cause I really don't want to bulk up and I don't want to interfere with my running at all in fact I told Dennis if this started hurting my runs I would hold off until after the marathon. So today was core synergistics to start now I didn't do core synergistics the last time until week 3 cause I did the classic routine and by the time I did it I was getting pretty good at the P90X thing. So I get all my stuff together and start the DVD, warm up was no problem but 20 minutes in and I was beat, I truly forgot how hard P90X was I did finish... well all except the 5 minute bonus.. and am ready for a 6 mile run tomorrow after work and then week 1 day 2 cardio X. I am excited about the cardio cause I never had to do it the last time around we did the plyo workout instead.

I really think though after todays workout I am going to see a huge benefit from this program in my running and I think after a few weeks my min/mile will start to come down. Until tomorrow have a great day

The Great Race

Participated in my first triathlon today. It was a 5.82 mile run, 12.5 mile bike ride and a 6.35 mile kayak. I did the run my Cousin Paul did the bike and his GF Tiffany did the kayak

Thats us before the race. I actually made the run in 53:18 which is right on the time I wanted. When I broke down the split I did about a 9:30 mile for the first 3 and an 8:30 mile for the last 2.82, the thing is I felt like I could have pushed a lot harder when I got done. When I crossed the 5 mile mark I really picked up the pace and was planning on a full out sprint for the last quarter mile but before I knew it I was at the transition point, oh well next year I know where that run ends. I really feel that the 2 mile run I did 1 hour prior to the race just to warm up real good and then stretched for like 15 minutes after the short run was the key. I never once felt any tightness or soreness at all once the race started soooooo I guess I will have to remember that little trick for short races. It should be noted that Tiffany wasn't even sure she wanted to do this but when she shredded the kayak portion in a great big heavy tandem kayak she is already fired up for next year and said she wants a smaller sleeker kayak so she can shave off some of that time. The girl kicked butt finishing in under and hour that means she was cruising down that river. Here is the link for their page the results should be up sometime next week we did the coed division and our team name was The Little Engines That Could.

The Little Man With A Big Heart

The other morning I woke up thinking about my time with the carnival, Thats right for those of you who don't know I traveled with the carnival for 2 years back in the mid 80's.

Anyway I got to wondering what had happened to the people who I worked for. So I did what any sensible person would do I started googling.

You really should be careful when you are looking into the past cause the more I looked around and the more I found the more I wanted. Long story short I ran acroos the thing I didn't really want to see

Jerry Lee Bohlander, 65, of Gibsonton, Fla., and formerly of Milton, Ind., died on Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008, at Tampa General Hospital. He was born on Oct. 4, 1942, in Batesville, Ind., to Harold and Jeannette Rodgers Bohlander.

Yup my favorite boss ever the little man with the big heart Big Hearted Jerry Bohlander. I was shocked and saddened when I read this and memories came flooding back.

I first met Jerry in 1985 as I was drifting around the country using only my charm and my thumb (hitch hiking) and I saw these carnival trucks at a truck stop. Me "you guys need help" Terry (Jerry's son) "yes we do" Me "OK I need a job" and that started a 2 year friendship.

It turned out that Jerry was rebuilding his route and was just moving all the rides to Washington DC and winging it from there, so we got the rides up there and then set up camp at a local campground with Terry's fithwheel and Jerry's motorhome. Here is where the Big heart comes in. Jerry didn't know me from Adam yet I stayed in his motorhome, we would get up in the morning watch Phil Donahue and drink coffee and just talk for a while before getting started on the day. Even though we wern't working at the time and no money was coming in Jerry made sure we were fed and when the work was dry for 2 weeks he took us to another carnival in the area and got us work in the games so we could make some cash.

When we were in Key West and would go out and enjoy the night life I could count on a knock on my trailer door the next morning and Jerry's smiling face standing there with a glass of ice water for me "come on time to work, those rides won't paint themselves" even though he had been out with us all night he would be the first one up.

So it is with a sad heart and a tear in my eye as I say Good bye Boss I know you are missed, even though I only knew you for a short while you had a greater impact on my life than you will ever know.

What Happened...

To the sun that is. I decided to go on a short 4 mile run when I got home today just to try to loosen up a bit after saturdays half. Although the clouds had been black and the wind was blowing the rain had not started so I was safe right?

Well I was as far from home as I could be on my route when it started raining, yup 2 miles out no stopping now. I guess that was just natures way of making sure I got my whole run in.

It really wasn't that bad the wind was worse than the rain cause my legs are tired today and running into a head wind well you might as well be running uphill. I guess its good for me but dang it what happened to all that sunshine we just had. I know in about 2 months I'll be complaining its to hot but could we just have some nice 75-80 degree weather for about a month solid, that would be really nice.

Second Time Around

So out the door at 5:30 A.M.... yes you heard that or maybe it should be read that right. Picked Dennis up by 6 and head to Sac for the parkway half marathon http://www.parkwayhalf.com/ . So it was a little rainy and were in the heck was all that sun we had lately?.

When we got close to the park it was obvious we were going to have to park on a side street and walk a little. I could not belive how many people were there. The mood was light and festive, I felt a lot looser than I did at the Bidwell Classic and thought "this is gonna be fun"

The run was scheduled to start at 8:15 and was only about 5 minutes late starting. It took a couple miles for things to start spreading out, it amazes me at how many people will start towards the front of the pack, even when they have signs saying 6 min/mile 7 min/mile and so on. I guess some people just think they are going to be faster at a race. It is kind of satisfying to pass those guys as they are walking next to the path sucking air cause they didn't pace themselves.

The course was really nice with some gentle rolling hills (did I mention I train in flat farmland) good thing Dennis and I are working on some hill training just not enough to make a difference yet. I was bound and determined to keep a steady even pace and not try to push the uphill portions and it worked. I am not going to say it was easy but I pushed, pushed and then pushed some more and when I passed that 13 mile marker and knew I had 1/10th of a mile to go I spent every last bit of energy I had and even passed a few more people before the finish line. I think one of the coolest things they did was call out your name as you finished it really added a nice touch to hear that over the speakers

So I just looked up the results this morning and I finished 835 out of 1837 overall so that means more finished behind me than in front of me which was a goal I had for this race and finished 54 out of 84 in my division ( men 45-49) so a little work needed there my official time was 2:09:30:7

Longest Yet...

Run that is. We did 14.14 miles this morning, that is a full mile longer than our longest run. Time wasn't bad at all 2:17:40, half of the run was into a stiff wind but most of that was the first half so not really that bad, in fact we talked about it and that is probably some really good training conditions cause when the wind isn't there our time should be better. Overall it was a great run and both of us felt like we could have made the 15 miles, which is the next step in 2 weeks. So full marathon watch out we are coming for you.

Done

So we headed out this morning abot 7:15 got up to Chico and the atmosphere was just really cool everyone was excited and talking about the day. We got checked in and just kinda walked around and soaked up the great vibes. We watched the start of the 5K and also saw the first guy finish in 15:51 now thats a smokin time. He was 2 minutes ahead of 2nd place.

We were in the second starting wave of the HM so we watched the first wave take off and my excitement kept building. Now our estimated finish time was supposed to put us at the front of the second wave, but neither Dennis or I wanted to be the pace setters so we went all the way to the back of the pack. When that starts horn went off we started moving, my excitement built and when we got to the start line and could take off in true Greg fashion I went just a little to fast. I did manage to reign myself in after about a 1/4 mile and we took about a 9:15 pace. Got to the first aid station and the guy had a nice cup of water in his hand and I kind of threw it at my mouth figuring I would catch some and cool off with some...guess what it was lemon flavored energy drink DOH!! Just a little stickier I kept on going and learned a valuable lesson when approaching the aid station ask "who has water?" problem solved.

This half marathon was setup as 2 6.5 mile loops and then the 0.1 finish trail. The first loop went really good and we started the second loop. At about mile 8 Dennis was starting to put some distance between himself and me (I had told him earlier to run his race) and I was starting to slow. By mile 10 I could no longer see Dennins and my pace had slowed quite a bit. Between mile 11 and 12 was bad I actually stopped and walked 3 times for 30 seconds each. This is not normal for me I have never stopped to walk and when I stopped the third time I gave myself a good talking to and said "You are not going to stop again, you will be running at the end of this race . Now get your butt in gear and go boy!" so I did cause myself sounded kinda ticked off and I didn't want that guy mad at me. I also took off my headphones when I restarted running just to focus a little more.

When I came to the point that I knew I had about 1/2 mile left I started pushing a little harder and when I turned the corner and had that last tenth of a mile I put it all out on the line. Dennis had already finished and was waiting about 100 feet from the finish clapping and hollering encouragement and then it was done. When I crossed the line and went to the little stations they had set up to cut off your timing chip, well when I went to put my foot on the stool I almost fell over. Just a little dizzy, kinda cool actually. My gun time was 2 hour 14 minutes my time on my heart rate monitor was 2:08:48 I don't have my chip time yet. Dennis and I talked and he finished about 6 minutes ahead of me. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what had slowed me so much, well the course had some incline, not hills just long steady inclines and that is not something I am used to. So hill training is in my future cause that will not happen again. As for Dennis finishing so far ahead...he is 21 years younger than me we will just chalk it up to youthful exuberance.

All in all it was great day and I am so happy. I did say no more running in those shoes and we went to Big 5 I rewarded myself with 2 new pair of running shoes and a new compression shirt. I think the next big run is May 3rd Avenue of the Giants. Its on the NorCal coast through the Giant Redwoods.