Signs signs everywhere a sign...

Monday was my first run since the last days of 2008. It was a simple 2-miler. I had many opportunities to go for runs, but never really did take advantage of them. Sleep sounded like a better idea. The late-night and early morning baby feedings had taken an initial toll on me.

I started getting signs it was time to start rundning again. I started getting additional magazine subscriptions to Running Times and Runner's World. I got an e-mail that the registration for the Chicago Marathon was open. I got something in the mail for a local running event. Someone was telling me something.

I completed the 2 miles without problem. It felt good to be running again. I took my usual gear with me but my Nike+ sensor had died so I wasn't able to track my pace. I consider that a sign too. Someone telling me not to worry about pace and just go out and get moving. So I did just that. It was free and easy, not thinking about pace, heart rate, or some other metric.

So, it starts today. Running is back.

So the reason I'm not running...

...was just born on Friday.

Yep, Joshua Kellan was born late Friday. Mom and baby are doing awesome, and Sydney is ultra-excited about being a big sister.

Photos can be found at http://gallery.me.com/ricklawphoto/100113.

Now that everyone is home, I'm *hoping* that once everything stabilizes, I can get back to running. All I'm hoping for now is to get *some* mileage.

Mile 1 attempt, coming to a weekend near you...maybe...

It's been 15 long days since I ran anywhere. Given my childcare situation, it makes it difficult to actually go out and run.

It *was* my intention to go running this weekend, albeit at 24 Hour Fitness, it's still a run. They have Kids Club there that allows its members free daycare while they go workout. It's convenient for those who want to work out but can't because they don't have anyone to watch their kid(s).

So then, life happens again. Sydney has a cold...nasty cough and runny nose type of cold. So there's really no way I can leave her at Kids Club and get a whole bunch of other kids sick...so that's out...at least for this weekend.

I'm hoping that Syd will pick up running soon so she can go running WITH me. :)

The craziest start to 2009

Well, I'm 8 days into 2009...and not one single run attributed to it.

Why? Well, it all started with ... INJURY! Yes, after my milestone-breaking run, my ankle pain returned with a vengeance. It's only finally subsided in the past 2 or 3 days, but I'm taking some extra time off to make sure it needs the rest that's required.

Next, if I could run I would, but there are some things you can't control. Like life. Christine has been diagnosed with pregnancy-induced high blood pressure, which means she's been put on bed rest for awhile. This means that your's truly is responsible for watching our DD, and caring for Christine since she's not allowed to get out of bed, save for bio breaks and food.

Thankfully, my employer and my boss is VERY understanding and has allowed me to work most days from home so that I can take care of our daughter.

All the running around hasn't given me much time or energy for running...so maybe it's all a blessing in some sort of disguise that I have to put running on the backburner until life straightens itself out which will allow my ankle to get better.

So we'll see when I'm able to get Mile 1 in...but everything that life has thrown at us so far has been awesome, so I wouldn't give it up for anything.

Shut up and run, already.

Okay, so I quit all the whining and just "got 'er done" as m0mmymel indicated I should.

So as all of the 2 followers of this blog would know, I'm about to hit 400 miles for the year, and today it got done.

I didn't make it easy on myself, despite that absolutely gorgeous running weather (16 degrees Celsius) and zero wind.

Note to self: DON'T have dim sum as a pre-race meal.

Really, I didn't mean for it to happen that way...it just happened to be where we had lunch.

So yeah, dim sum for some reason is slow to digest for me. At about mile 1.5, I had digestive cramps and side stitches that seemed to progress up my GI tract. I think I slowed to a walk about 3 times to ease the discomfort.

Then with about 1/4 mile to go on my 4-mile run, I heard the song, "Desire" by U2. The song has got a very strong and complex beat which pumped me up a bit, not to mention the very appropriate song title as I hit mile 400. I was sure to make my very last 1/4 mile a strong finish for the milestone and sprinted as much as I could.

So, milestone accomplished. No fanfare except for the 2 people who follow my blog and myself. Just a simple pat on the back from myself with sense that I accomplished a lot for the year. And at a minimum, 500 miles for next year.

Not in a hurry...

Getting to 400 miles for the year has been fairly difficult, not so much from a physical standpoint, but more of a mental and motivational standpoint.

I guess it's hard for me to actually get motivated to run right now with the distraction of the holidays and me not really training for anything in the coming weeks or months.

Right now I'm only 4 miles short of getting to 400 miles and it's something that I know I can do in a single run, which actually makes it less challenging since it's going to be so easy. I know, I know, I should just go out and just do it. This afternoon should be a fairly nice day so I might just go out and knock it out.

At the beginning of the year, Christine set a goal for us to run a collective 500 miles for the year, which I thought was definitely doable. That's like 3/4 of a mile a day. Little did I know that I would end up running 80% of that by myself! It's crazy now that I look back on it, but the motivation of training for a half marathon was really the catalyst for a lot of those miles.

I'm one of those people that needs that extra competitive reason to get things going, at least for right now. Having that training schedule helped and understanding that the schedule was necessary for helping me run a half marathon made the mileage more meaningful.

Right now I'm looking at some events for the early new year, some 5Ks and 10Ks further out. I'm definitely thinking of running a marathon later in the year and a half marathon thrown in their somewhere. But I'm somewhat content with getting through this year and then starting next year with a renewed effort.

2009 Goals and the Marathon Dilemma

After hitting almost all my modest goals for the 2008, I'm approaching 2009 with some more aggressive goals. The main goal is a marathon, which I'll get to.

I'm planning to do more 10Ks (i actually didn't do any this year) and possibly a half marathon. I did a few 5Ks this year which were fun but I'm hoping to do some longer distance events next year, not so much to actually win them, but to do some events at the intermediate and longer distances.

I'm pretty confident I can get a PR at the 5K distance since my 5K times have been gradually improving so it's not out of reach. As much as that's a nice accomplishment I do want to do a marathon. My half marathon this year was such a great time and I had quite a sense of accomplishment afterwards, but I want to experience running a marathon.

Actually one of the goals this year for both Christine and I was to do the Walt Disney World Marathon in January, but that pretty much went out the window when we discovered we had a baby on the way that was due in February! :) Theoretically I could have still done it, but Christine wouldn't have been able to travel. I was hoping to be able to do a marathon this year, but because of all our adjusted plans, there wasn't enough time for me to properly train for one so that's been tabled 'til '09.

Which leads me to....what marathon do I want to run for my first marathon? I am pretty much contemplating 2 possible choices: one would be the Chicago Marathon. Chicago is a fairly flat course so a decent time *is* possible. There is a fair amount of prestige with the Chicago Marathon as well as it's one of the World Marathon Major events. My other option would be to run one of the two marathons in my hometown of Toronto. One of the events in Toronto is the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon in late-September which is a run up and down Lakeshore Blvd., which has the advantage of being fairly flat. The other event is the GoodLife Toronto Marathon in mid-October (around the same time as Chicago) that has part of the course goes along Yonge St., including the deadly climb just past York Mills Rd. I've rollerbladed up that hill and it's something to behold. Anyway, I think be able to run down Yonge St. would be an awesome experience but this course would be nowhere near flat.

Given that timing for all three events are within a similar timeframe, I could train starting in April and pretty much be ready for any of them, it's just what is really going to be a priority for me as far as what marathon do I want to be my first. As convenient as it would be, the Dallas White Rock Marathon would be another option, but it would have the same meaning. You'd think I was losing my virginity or something! :) Well, in a way, I am losing my marathon virginity...so the fact that it's my first, and I want it to have some significance, means that it's going to be a tough decision.

Oh yes, today was my first recovery run since my half marathon. I would have run earlier, but I was also fighting a cold and today was the first day my sinuses didn't feel like they were filled with cement. It was a quick 2-miler and everything felt fine. All parts were working without problems.

Also I'm 9 miles away from hitting 400 miles for the year. It's going to be about a mile a day, so I think I can do a few 2-mile runs every other day until the end of the year to hit that mark. If today's run is any indication, my body seems up for the task to finish up the year strong.