Legend In My Mind

Isn't It Amazing

2009-02-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

Isn't it amazing how short a mile is when you're in shape and how long a block is when you have diarrhea?

Staying In Shape

2009-02-01T05:52:00.000-08:00

Staying in shape, or at least keeping from falling apart is quite a challenge for me in the winter, especially this winter.
I vowed to keep running through the winter but I have to confess I wimped out in January with the single digit readings and below zero wind chills here in the windy city.
As much as I despise the treadmill, I have managed to crawl onto the beast and get in a lot of 20 to 40 minute cardio workouts through the week and have kept up with my yoga and pilates workouts. I was talking to my pilates instructor, who up close appears to be in her 40s but from a distance looks to be in her mid-20s, about my lack of energy and she told me to get back into the weights.
She said she was having the same problem and started lifting again. I thought that was a pretty bold statement coming from a pilates guru. Sometimes I think pilates, yoga or about any other instructor thinks their way is the only way to health.
Anyway, I took her advice and got back into weights about twice a week this winter and lo and behold she was right!
My energy is much better since I started working with the weights so I plan to stay with the weight work. I'm currently lifting twice a week and want to work in a third session each week.
As usual, I want to do everything so am struggling a little with balance while I wait for some of the snow and ice to melt so I can run outside without falling on my ass and freezing my fingers.
I just can't get into running all bundled up like a damned Santa Claus.
Okay, so I'm a woose but I feel like I'm getting a little tougher and maybe someday I'll try another one of those crazy marathons?
And maybe not, we'll see!
Carry on.

Depression and all that jazz

2008-11-21T13:29:00.000-08:00

One reason I run, do yoga, pilates and lift a few weights is to escape depression. I firmly believe that if I take care of my body my mind will follow.
I'm told that we're in the midst of the worse financial crisis since the Great Depression that my dad experienced in the 30s.
Well I know I have it a lot better than my dad did and maybe we will end up in some weird depression but I can't imagine anything worse than what my father experienced.
My boss at work asked me to write a witness piece about my dad's experience and I did that and here it is.

Maybe I'll lose my job and have to run for a living?
Oh well, it could be worse, I actually enjoy running and none of my running buddies have ever asked me for any money so I have to say I've got it made.

WITNESS-This is no depression like that one
By Sam Nelson
CHICAGO,xxx (Reuters) - The country was in the throes of the Great Depression. It was a time of upheavel, of personal challenges and a test of the nation's mettle.
It was under these circumstances that dad, Clarence John Nelson, better known as Bud, decided to leave Scandia, Kansas, for a job in Chicago.
It was 1936, he was 19 years old, without a job and getting desperate.
Kansas farm life was in shambles because the deteriorating economy made worse year after year of dry weather that turned the sunflower state into part of the Dust Bowl.
Bud was recommended for employment at the Homestead Hotel in Evanston, Illinois, by the pastor of the Swedish United Methodist Church in Scandia. "Gosh I remember in the thirties, going up there to work at Evanston (a Chicago suburb), at the Homestead Hotel washing dishes, we didn't have a darned thing and there weren't any jobs, so away I went...took a bus," he told me recently.
Dad is 92 years old now, living in Kansas and looking at the country going through another period of financial chaos that is being referred to as the second Great Depression.
This time around, he's doing it from the confines of my sister's home, where he has lived after his wife and my mother passed away in 2005.
But memories of the 'first' Great Depression remain etched in his mind, especially those six months in Evanston.
"I'll never forget one time I took the L (train) downtown (Chicago) and some guy tried to get me in a store and sell me a suit, so I got scared and took the L back to Evanston," he said.
Built in 1927, the Homestead Hotel still stands in Evanston. And like many businesses today struggling with the financial and economic turmoil, the hotel went through a few challenges of its own back then, according to its website http://www.thehomestead.net/.
"After the 1929 stock market crash, the inn carried debt from being built when land and materials were at a premium," the website said. But owners -- Philip A. Danielson and wife Ruby Larson -- were able to keep it from falling into the hands of its creditors.
Dad's heading to Evanston and working at the Homstead Hotel, apart from getting paid, had a second objective -- to be able to earn enough money to be able to attend college.
But those plans went awry as he began missing home about six months into the job.
"The idea was I'd work and go to school but there wasn't anytime for school," he said.
"Mom wrote me a letter in the spring and talked about planting garden and I got so darned homesick. I just quit, took the bus back home," he added.
Dad found out quickly that there were no jobs in Kansas, but he got lucky.
"There still wasn't any work around here. Farming was no good, but I was lucky and got a job as an oiler on a dragline.
"They were going to dredge and straighten out the river, but that was another scam because that river had a mind of it's own," he said. "When that job ended they asked me to go to South America with them for some other job.
"But I met your mom here, she was teaching school and we started farming, boy it was tough...no one had a damned thing," he added.
"I've often wondered what would have happened if I would have stayed there in Chicago."

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·
Samuel Nelson
Correspondent
Reuters News

Just Thinking

2008-10-31T19:19:00.000-07:00

I was jus thinking that wouldn't it be great if we were all runners at heart.
There would be no more wars, no petty arguments about money or fame or status.
I now know why I run and why I miss being able to keep up with my running buddys.
It's because after a couple of miles, we're all in a deep sweat and our feelings flow.
It's at that point that we become equals, you and I, no matter the size, appearance, status in society, race or gender.
We become a beautiful machine destined to cross the finish line.
Just thinking.
Thanks for letting me share my life with you.

Elvis Is Alive

2008-08-08T14:56:00.000-07:00

Finally I got in a run that actually resembled running.
My running buddy Sara encouraged me to jump into the annual Elvis Is Alive 5k race Thursday night on the Lakefront here in the Windy City.

The race is sponsored by Fleet Feet one of the major running stores here and it is a lot of fun what with the Elvis impersonators and all, but I decided to try to be myself, despite whatever consequences that might bring.

I haven't had a good refreshing run in over a year and have really battled trying to get back in shape after my setback last summer. It's been very discouraging and frankly big, big valleys of depression have been knocking me on my ass.

Well Elvis Is Alive and I'm back dammit!

Sara is a new runner, full of piss and vinegar and she is built for speed. She has those long lean legs, graceful efficient stride and tiny upper body (don't tell her I wrote this), no woman wants a tiny upper ya know but we all have to play with the hand we're delt.

I met her over a year ago when she was getting started in this running game and we became fast friends, at least she is fast and hopefully I can continue to be a friend.

She is in great shape and I am not but she told me she would run, trot, walk or whatever with me, which is nice but it still embarasses me that I can't do what I think I can do. Ya know, the old mind is willing but body is weak? Oh hell, let's don't go there.

We posted up near the back of the pack and it was quite a pack. Lots of wacky runners on a narrow concrete path so staying upright was goal number one and try to run a little was goal number two.

Mile One:
11:03 min, not fast but faster than the 12 min pace I've been trying to run this summer. My pacing and judgment are off too because the really slow training runs have been taxing me and frankly confusing and frustrating me. Sara, bless her little pea picking heart that must have a built in metronome, was calling our pace WITHOUT A FREAKIN WATCH! How does she do that being such a new runner and all?

Mile Two:
I'm prepared to bonk or slow down but it doesn't happen, we pick up the pace a little and hit the one aid station so decide to grab a gatorade and chat for a couple of minutes as we ambled along, naturally wasting valuable time, oh sure! Time talking with a fellow runner is gold to me.
We hit the two mile marker at 11:54 pace. Now it's getting interesting because we must have walked 2 minutes and walked really slow and I'm under 12 minute pace so I'm really prepared do die during the last mile...but for whatever reason...I don't die...I actually start to run a bit.

Mile Three:
I'm in a pretty good lather now and my legs are feeling great, I push out a little more with minimal effort and know I'm going faster but not sure how much because as I mentioned I'm really screwed up with my running, pacing and judgement.
We approach the three mile marker and Sara says "ten thirty" and my little watch says 10:33. Pretty damned close and I'm psyched as hell.

I'm not bonking the last mile but, in a throwback to the good ol days, I'm accelerating and feeling like I actually can run. What a great feeling! And we talked all the way through that last mile although my sentences were getting a bit shorter as the breathing began to pick up tempo.

Time for my first actual race in my new life, my little Elvis 5k, a blistering 34:33 or 11:07 pace.

Way slower than my PR of 24:20 but way faster than my 5k New Year's morning this year of something like 40 minutes.

Why am I feeling good about myself because I ran 3.1 miles and ran the last mile faster than the first two and knew I had more in me? Damned if I know, and I don't care, I just know that I feel good about myself today.

And I hope you're feeling good about you!

Struggling!

2008-06-22T15:29:00.000-07:00

Ran or tried to do something resembling running this morning in the Miles For Malawi 5k race in Lincoln Park.
It was a nice morning but I struggled worse than I did last Sunday so I'm getting pretty discouraged and frustrated.
I keep thinking that if I stay with it I'll get a breakthrough someday but it's just not happening.

I know I should be grateful to be able to trot a little, and I am, but I want to get back that feeling that I can turn it on and off whenever I want.

Right now, I'm just involuntary shutting down, and I don't like it one bit.

I hope your runs and training are going much better.
Maybe someday I can give a positive report, you know the one that goes something like...."all of a sudden I felt I could really fly to the finish line?"
For now, it's a battle!

Father's Day Race

2008-06-16T15:34:00.000-07:00

Sunday, Father's Day, Jacob, Jessica and I ran the 5k Loop the Loop race for Children's Memorial Hospital and what a way to celebrate my special day.

After a 1 hour delay because of wind, rain and lightening we took off in what felt like cool conditions but what turned out to be extremly humid conditions which made the little run quite a challenge for me.

I managed to finish the thing and met my predict time of a 12 minute pace, well a little off, 12:01 to be exact. I would like to say that each mile was an even 12 but in reality I ran the first two miles too fast and had to walk/run the last mile, so it wasn't pretty but I'll take it at this point.

J&J treated me to a nice brunch at Gibson's, a nice steak house here in the Gold Coast. We found a nice spot outdoors and the weather turned near-perfect so all in all a great Father's Day and I'm glad I felt good enough to enjoy it.

We plan to run another 5k this coming Sunday in Lincoln Park called Miles for Maliwa (not sure about the spelling but I'm too lazy to look it up). It's another charity run so I'm looking forward to it and hoping I can pick up the pace a little.

I'm back running as many of these little 5ks as I can find right now simply because they're doable and I enjoy them. I really miss the long runs with my running buddies and the anticipation of another marathon but I'm just not ready for the distance yet and hope I get a breakthrough someday that will tell me to go for it again. Will see.

For now, I'll take what I'm given and keep training.

I hope your runs, walks, quiet moments or whatever it is that gives you pleasure are going great.

Feeling Good!

2008-06-08T15:08:00.000-07:00

My running is coming along quite well, surprisingly well.
Last Sunday Sara, one of my running buddies here, and I ran the annual Zoo Run 5k in Lincoln Park and we had a great time! It was a cool, breezy, sunny Sunday morning which is unusual this season with all the storms and rain around so we got a nice break in the weather.

It was Sara's first run in 7 months and I think she was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was for her, even though we planned to take it easy and did just that. Our goal was a 12 min pace and we averaged 11:57 so I was pretty thrilled with the pacing, especially in the narrow lanes packed with people, all of whom were in a good mood...which was a bonus.

I've always beat myself up for not being faster but after last year's setback I'm trying to mentally get a thrill out of pacing, trying to find a challenge in coming in as close as possible to a "predict" time. I think this is a good challenge for me as I heal up and my times are even coming down, without trying, so that is another bonus.

My first 5k since the injury was New Year's morning in the wind and snow in Lincoln Park and I struggled to run 13 min/mile so I know I'm improving.

Just running outdoors 3 days a week and from 3-4 half hour treadmill runs a week. Soon I plan to stretch my daily runs to 5 miles from the current 3 since I'm feeling pretty good but I'm sure in no hurry right now.

I had a wonderful two week vacation with family the last 2 weeks of May and that was good for me. We spent a lot of quality time and I was able to see my granddaughters play softball, a softball pitching drill with a professional instructor and a soccer match with 8-9 year olds. Now, that was a trip! Great fun! My little 5-year old granddaughter was in a dance recital the night of my 64th birthday and I've never had a better birthday present.

The markets are nuts but my work as a commodities reporter is going fine too so I have to say I'm a very lucky guy.

I'm looking forward to stretching out my runs someday but for now am focused on shorter runs for exercise and plan to pick up the pace and mileage when the spirit moves me...or something kicks me in the ass!

Hope your runs are going well!

Pissed Off

2008-06-01T17:10:00.000-07:00

Yes I do get pissed off, especially when someone I really care about has a setback while following their dream.
The latest disappointment for me is my daughter Sarah's foot which hurts so bad she can't run. She started running a few months ago and worked up to a good solid 3 mile run, then it went to hell in a handbasket when what I think is tendinitis flared up in a foot.
I've had setbacks too but deal with my personal issues better than I deal with other peoples's issues.

Why that is I don't know, I just know that it is.

Freaking brilliant? Now get well and back to kicking butt Sarah.

By the way, I ran the annual Chicago Zoo Run 5k this morning with another Sara here in the Windy City and had a fantastic morning and good solid run so I'm scrambling back after a long layoff. It was Sara's first run in seven months and she was thrilled to know she hadn't lost it all, and that made me feel good all over. Ahhhh, yes I know I'm a fluffy ol' fart and it doesn't take much to make me happy these days.

Back from two weeks vacation with family and feeling frisky, well at least refreshed. Carry on wayward sons and daughters!

Start Training Now!

2008-05-07T15:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have to make a quick post here and let whomever might stumble on to this freakin goofy blog that I'm officially in training for next year's (2009) Chicago Marathon.
My daughter Sarah was bitten by the running bug and is starting to crank out the miles now, getting for next year's Chi Thon and I plan to be there on the course, even if I can't keep up with her.
Somehow I have to get through at least one more marathon before I stumble off into the sunset.
Who knows, maybe more than one?
Dunno.
So far this year 2 5Ks, NY morning 13 min pace, another one 12 min and the annual Shamrock Shuffle here in the Windy City at 12 min for 8K, 5 miles.
Needless to say, I have a lot of work to do so wish me well.
Check out Sarah's blog and kick her ass for me.
I'm headed back to the land of corn and oz the last two weeks of May and run some freakin hills with her, I think:)

Keep on truckin!

Dreams Come True

2008-01-26T09:47:00.000-08:00

Now that I've had a few days to let the stardust settle in my mind I think I'm ready to scratch out a few lines about my trip to Disneyworld on January 11-14 in Orlando, Florida and the related Walt Disney World Marathon weekend.

I had registered for the marathon last July with my son Jacob's special one Jessica and for any late comers to this blog you need to know that a heart attack and bypass surgery last August waylaid my plans to run this marathon. I was just glad to be able to be alive and see the spectacle and watch my son run it in my place. He and Jessica finished the darned thing and I don't know how because their training went almost totally to hell in November and December. Deep down inside I thought of suggesting they scratch because frankly I didn't see how two first timers could get through that distance on minimal training, but by damned they DID IT! They are the proud owners of a Mickey Mouse medal as big as my hand, it is beautiful and I'm really proud of their grit, determination and lack of fear. They are two gutsy competitors and I gained even more respect for them but I would have understood if they had pulled out too because I've done enough of those things to know how hard they are, even with proper training.

I had anticipated having a pretty good time at Disneyworld because of its reputation as the gold standard of amusement and theme parks but the occasion exceeded my expectations, frankly I was blown away and very impressed and it takes a pretty major jolt to impress me at this point in my life.

My daughter Sarah, soulmate Shayne and my two youngest granddaughers Rylee, age 7 and Scarlett age 5 joined in the fray and we had a wonderful, wonderful time. Sarah asked me what my favorite was and for the first time in my life I really couldn't pinpoint a favorite because in my mind everything was perfect, fun, good, clean and just pure fantasy. Jessica's mom Eileen and her friend Dick also enjoyed the weekend with us and it was good to be able to compare notes with Dick, who had bypass surgery two years ago. He told me I would be able to run marathons again. I almost cried when he said that, because I really want to and right now I'm still a bit beat up and out of shape.

Rylee is a bit bashful and shy about exteme events such as intense roller coasters but she finally agreed to ride the thunder railroad or some such thing and she sat with me. I was a bit concerned about doing this because I wasn't looking forward to a screaming seven year old on my hands about half way through a darned roller coaster ride. As it turned out it was one of the funniest and most fun times of the trip. After the initial up, down, up, down then a slower ascent up to catch our breath Rylee looked at me with a "what tha hell" quizzical look on her face and said "who's driving this thing?" We all laughed out loud at that one and I'm still laughing on the inside about the fact a little tot faced her fears, threw in with the family and ol' Grandpa Sam and let the good times roll. I confess I've been suffering a little lack of confidnce the past month about whether anyone will ever want to run with me again, much less ride a roller coaster, so it felt good that everyone felt secure that gramps could handle the coster with his little granddaughter. Needless to say, after it was over she wanted to ride the thing again and again. Sounds a little like distance running doesn't it. Once the first one is in the bag, bring on the next mountain.

Naturally, after that whirwind coaster ride I started to get cocky and went with the "big" people in our group on the Aerosmith Rock and Roller Coaster, and that my friend WAS one hell of a trip. They announced before we mounted that people with heart conditions should not do this one. Of course, I ignored their advice and figured that even though my running buddy Tanya wasn't there to give me CPR at the end, the Disney people surely must have a para-medic or two around. I have to face my fears and not let my setback keep me from living a full life. I was really grateful that no one in my group suggested I better not do it. They know me pretty well and are aware that I'll make my decisions and live or die with the consequences.

Jacob did say that that was his first and last marathon and that's also a fairly typical reaction to that event. Jessica has some crazy -assed idea to run one marathon in each of the 50 states. Either the person is hooked and wants to get to the next big run or the curiosity is satisfied and it's NEVER AGAIN! Either way it's okay and Jacob now has a first hand personal account of how difficult it is to cover the distance and has a fresh appreciation of all those who choose to make marathoning or ultras a career.

A bonus was running into Jenny Hadfield, a super special lady, the co-owner and coach extrodinare for Chicago Endurance Sports. She was there to run the marathon in honor of her father and with her brother, a first time marathoner. They both got through it in fine shape. Karma keeps on happening for me and bumping into Jenny in the middle of all those people and theme parks was sort of an out of body experience. She and several other runners with CES were instrumental in saving my fanny last summer and helped encourage me during my recovery. I'm forever in their debt and they're always in my thoughts and prayers.

I've never understood the special bond among runners and I've given up trying to understand it, I just know that there is a special connection regardless of age, gender, speed or financial status and I'm okay with that. When I think of equality I think of a brisk 10 mile run with one or more friends, it doesn't get any simpler or better than that.

We'll encourage each other, compete with each other, sweat, bitch and moan but in the end we're friends forever and for that I'm enternally grateful.

Snow Run 2008

2008-01-01T15:44:00.000-08:00

My first run of 2008 was an eye opening experience, a brutal reminder and reality check of how far out of shape I've gotten since my little "event" of a heart attack, surgery and setback of last August.

I decided to walk to Lincoln Park and jump into the annual New Year's Day 5k race. I debated much of New Year's Eve and early this morning about doing this run because of the roughly six inch blanket of snow that included some ice and a blanket of powdery new snow that fell last night and earlier this morning.

The race didn't start until 11:00 a.m. so I had plenty of time to go through my usual mental gyrations of trying to talk myself out of venturing into the 20 degree temperature and 10 to 20 mph winds from my warm home here near the Lakefront.

But, I bundled up and headed out the door, knowing that if I got into trouble there was always the walking route I could take, and frankly I just wanted to start 2008 by being around some runners and get away from some of this god-awful depression and self-absorption. That mission was accomplished and as a bonus I ran into 4 or 5 of my old running friends, who were glad to see me. I sure was glad to see them.

When I started running I knew within about 100 yards that my mind had again deceived me and instead of running what for me would be an average pace I was going to be going real slow with a sole goal of finishing the thing without slipping and falling down. What amazed me, other than the sheer beauty of the morning, was the fact that there were some other people running just as slow as I, so I had some company despite my snail's pace.

I got through the darned thing but it took me 40 minutes, which is the slowest 5k I've ever ran, including my first ever attempt at the race so I have a lot of work to do and what's on my mind now is the concern that there is the possibility that no matter how hard I work, I may have lost the capacity to even run a somewhat respectable steady pace. In other words, it was really hard and another humbling experience.

I was on my feet about three hours total including the walking around and jawing time before the race and the walk home afterwards. Once upon a time that amount of time walking and running would have been a bit of a warmup for me but today's race pretty much wiped me out, and I don't like it one bit. But I think I better get used to it, accept it and work on being grateful that I can be somewhat mobile and take care of my business.

I will say that the blanket of snow, the piles of snow on the barren trees and the jovial and friendly atmosphere helped soothe my wounded pride. So I'll try to take it a day at a time, a run at a time and hope for the best in 2008 and try to accept whatever life deals me.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-17T10:38:00.000-08:00

Reuters, the news company I work for, asked me to write a personal account of my experience this year concerning my heart attack and my return to the living. This piece ran globally on Sunday.

The "witness" stories are usually reserved for some Reuters correspondent who has witnessed first hand a battle in a war zone, a devastating tornado or a hurricane.

When I now think back on my embarassing "crash" in August and all of the commotion I brought to friends, family and co-workers I must admit that the powers that be at Reuters were correct in determining that I was now officially baptized and was qualified to write a much revered witness piece.

All of you became an even more important part of my life this year, especially my 10 year running buddy Tanya aka "Bambi". If she would not have immediately gone into action the outcome may have been much different. I can just see a group of sweaty well-meaning runners standing over me murmuring "gosh he seemed like a pretty good guy and a good runner, so sad":)

Welp, I'm still kicking along and trying to get back into shape for the 2008 running season.

I hope to see you on the trail or on the sidelines cheering next year and most of all I hope you'll hold all of your friends and loved ones a little closer to your heart this holiday season, I sure will!

Sam

14:00 16Dec07 -WITNESS-Cheating the grim reaper: a heart attack survived

By Sam Nelson
CHICAGO, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The smile on her face was the first recollection I had of being alive, knowing something had happened and that whatever it was I had been at its centre.

She was one of the young runners I had been training with early that sunny Saturday morning. She always seemed able to laugh at anything, even death.

Humour may be an acquired trait of distance runners.

She told me I had suffered a heart attack. My heart had stopped, was shocked back into rhythm, and then stopped again in the hospital, and was shocked back into rhythm again.

Why me? A 63-year-old with six marathons under his belt? My running was great, but my heavy smoking habit wasn't. My heart attack took place on Aug. 4, 2007 on a lakeside trail in Chicago. I was incredibly lucky to survive it.

I was finishing an easy six-mile (9.5 km) run ahead of the Chicago Distance Classic, a half marathon the following weekend. I was having a good time, it was great to be alive and moving.

I remember a sudden rush of puzzling thoughts: "I'm getting sick? This isn't right. What did I eat last night? What did I eat this morning? I'm getting sick on such a short easy run? During speed training, maybe. Sometimes in the last mile of a race if I push it. But now?"

I told my running buddies I needed to veer off the path and be sick. "We'll wait for you," I heard Tanya say.

Those were the last words I remember. I'm told I fell flat on my face, didn't move a muscle or make a sound.

I had always imagined a heart attack as a painful struggle: tight chest muscles, shortness of breath, numbness in an arm, textbook warning signs. This one was quick and painless.

HELP AT HAND
Great luck -- or some would say miracles -- kicked in.

Tanya had been reading about CPR the previous evening. She began blowing oxygen into my lungs and compressing my chest 10, 20, 30 times between breaths to try to keep my broken heart muscle and stifled brain cells on life support.

My other running buddy Jill helped. A lifeguard who ran by also stopped and helped with CPR. Someone called an ambulance. Another runner, a nurse, couldn't find a pulse. But my life savers wouldn't give up. They kept up the exhausting CPR for 12 minutes before paramedics jolted my heart back into a rhythm.

So I was dead for 12 minutes. My heart stopped again on Saturday night, requiring a second round of electric shock to jump-start my life again.

People later asked me: you were dead -- what was it like? Did you see a white light? An angelic face? I remember only waking up, coming back to life, seeing familiar faces.

It feels eerie to think of how many solo runs I had been on since late winter, without potential life-saving buddies.

One of the arteries feeding blood and oxygen to my heart had been 100 percent blocked and another was 95 percent blocked. I had chain smoked for 40 years. Now I have stopped.

Cardiologists and other doctors could find nothing other than smoking, along with years of stress including long days and short nights, as the causes for the artery blockages.

Two days later a surgeon opened my chest and carried out a double by-pass, installing new arteries taken from my left leg.

My first hobbling steps from bed the next day were a dramatic shift from the 30 miles (48 km) I had run the previous week and from my busy days of running around and reporting on the frantic grain markets of the Chicago Board of Trade.

The surgeon told me just one percent of people who have a massive heart attack survive.

I went home six days after the heart attack. Seven weeks of rest and slow, steady physical therapy followed. I returned to work as a reporter at Reuters Chicago news bureau on Oct. 1.

Now I've resumed running, initially three days a week at an easy pace for 30 minutes on a treadmill, and have tested the trails outdoors on two "easy" three mile (4.8-km) runs. I'm really out of shape. But I have a lot of good people in my life to be grateful for and that keep me moving.

(To more Reuters Witness stories click on: http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/reutersWitnesses) (Editing by Peter Bohan, Frances Kerry and Sean Maguire) ((sam.nelson@reuters.com. +1 312 408 8720)) Keywords: WITNESS HEART/ATTACK
Sunday, 16 December 2007 14:00:24RTRS [nL14234978] {C}ENDS

Christine StebbinsCorrespondentReuters (t) 312-408-8576 (m) 312-371-3980 (f) 312-983-7351 christine.stebbins@reuters.comReuters Messaging: christine.stebbins.reuters.com@reuters.netReuters news and information reaches one billion people every day. Get the latest news at Reuters.com
This email was sent to you by Reuters, the global news and information company.To find out more about Reuters visit www.about.reuters.com
Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender specifically states them to be the views of Reuters Limited.
Reuters Limited is part of the Reuters Group of companies, of which Reuters Group PLC is the ultimate parent company. Reuters Group PLC - Registered office address: The Reuters Building, South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5EP, United KingdomRegistered No: 3296375Registered in England and Wales

Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T16:05:00.000-08:00

I had much to be grateful and thankful for this Thanksgiving, especially my very life, which I admit I used to take for granted.

In my younger years I really couldn'g grasp the fact that I REALLY might get old someday and until this year I had never experienced the exciting event of dying of a heart attack and then being brought back to life by a couple of running friends, paramedics and then get my chest opened up and a couple of new arteries installed.

It's been an eventful year so far and Thanksgiving day I was glad to be able to eat a nice meal prepared by my son's girlfriend and enjoyed the company of my daughter, her hubby and two of my granddaughters. I won't be taking these special days for granted anymore.

My running was put on hold by my setback and I haven't been to good ol cardio rehab for two weeks because the blood pressure medicine the doctors put me on was dropping my blood pressure so low and keeping my heart rate so low that I came close to passing out at work. Therefore a panicky trip to ER, I was able to cab myself there this time, a couple days at Northwestern Hospital and a new medication regime. Recovering from a heart attack and open heart surgery is trickier than recovering from a tight hamstring or a pesky IT band problem. I'm floundering in unfamiliar waters right now and trying to stay brave and confess I have my moments of fear, and I don't like that one bit. Depression is apparently a part of recovery too and I don't like that feeling either....DUH!

I will get back to my cardio rehab girls tomorrow (Monday, November 26) and hopefully I can resume a little running on the treadmill this week.

I went to my "easy" yoga class Saturday and today (Sunday) went to my first pilates class since my infamous "event" in early August. Pilates is deceptively difficult and is a very effective core and total body strength workout and I was pleased to get through the hour of rather strenous activity. The "girly" leg work in pilates sets off a healthy burn in places in my hips and hip flexors that I never would get working out on my own. I put more pressure than usual on my chest and nothing fell apart but boy I've lost strength and endurance the past four months of recovery.

My favorite pilates instructor told me I still looked great. Naturally I thanked her and told her I hope to feel great ASAP. Suppose I'm in a hurry to get well and have to be grateful to be alive, be able to walk and talk and have an opportunity to someday run a bit.

I hope your holidays are going great and if not great at least I hope you can see a ray of light through whatever problem you're facing.

Life is short, run hard and often! But also take a break once in awhile, enjoy an easy run or stroll and soak up the current chilly breeze that is slipping through the Midwest.

20 And Counting

2007-10-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

Twenty years ago this Halloween I drove through a rainstorm from Kansas City to Chicago to take a new job writing about the grain markets at the Chicago Board of Trade. Not too long after I began my new job the corn futures market soared it's daily trading limit higher because of pending drought in the Midwest Corn Belt. It's been non-stop for me ever since and I've never regretted moving here.

My current editor-in-charge for my present company, Reuters News, treated me to a 20th anniversary lunch on Friday and it gave each of us an opportunity to talk about our respective dreams about eventually working here and at the Board. When you're a commodities journalist, correspondent or editor and assigned to report and write about the grain markets, the CBOT is the place to be. I told KT, my chief editor, that when I was a little farm boy growing up in Kansas, I used to dream and wonder what it would be like to live and work in Chicago, on LaSalle Street and get in the middle of the frantic action in the grain trading pits at the Board.

Boy did my dream come true!

It's been 20 years of ups and downs in the markets and in my personal life. KT asked me what I was thinking when I was driving here for the transfer and I told him I was thinking "I wish it would quit raining so I could see where I was going." I also told him I felt great when I got here and I still like it here. I thought I might stay a couple years and move on but I'm still pounding out the news.

My work life and career blossomed when I got here and I'm a very lucky guy but since this blog was originally intended as a running blog I feel obligated to write at least a little about my running life.

When I transfered here 20 years ago if you would have told me that I would eventually start running, complete six marathons, about that many half marathons, eight or 10 10ks and more 5ks than I can count, have foot surgery, IT problems, SI joint sprain, go into full cardiac arrest and die for a few minutes, get revived, have double by-pass surgery and start planning another running career I would have told you to get counseling right away.

My anniversary week has been a good one and it was nice to get some recognition from my boss for my 20 years of writing about the CBOT grain futures markets. Fourteen of those years have been with Reuters News and I've never regretted making the move to Reuters. Call me silly or old fashioned but the mandate within my company and within me has always been "get it first but first get it right." Always a challenge but it adds length to a company's life and to a career.

KT offered a toast to "another 20 years" and I'm not ruling it out.

My workout week has gone equally as well. Three runs on the treadmill, half hour each run at nice easy 4.5 mph, 13 min pace and a nice light sweat and I felt great. I've been doing nothing but walking since my release from the hospital the second week of August and all of the experts including myself insisted on letting the breast bone completely fuse before running a step. I think I"ll be okay.

I also went on a long bike ride Saturday morning to see two of my pace group friends Tim and Seiko run a marathon at the Chicago 50-50. The ultra was originally set up as a 50k and 50 miler but they added a marathon for anyone who had a disappointing run at the Chicago Marathon on October 7.

It took me about 40 minutes to ride down to south shore to saw howdy to them and 40 minutes back into a darned chilly wind. It really felt good to get some air, exercise and I think Tim and Seiko were glad to see me because there weren't very many spectators. I also saw a running bud Tom from work who threw himself into his first ultra, the 50k. His response for entering "why not!" Guess the running bug has bitten him too.

I walked the 15 minutes to my gym early this morning, Sunday morning, intending to ride the exercise bike but elected to jump into my first yoga class since I went down in early August. I'm happy to report the chest held up fine, no soreness at all but boy I'm out of shape and this yoga class was a bit more aggressive than I planned but I was able to hang on for the one hour session.

Looking forward to picking up the pace a little this week and also have this new dream that I might be able to run the annual Turkey Trot 8k (5 miler) this Thanksgiving morning in Lincoln Park.

Lying in my drug-induced fog in the hospital in early August I not only thought my running was over but thought walking and my very life had ended. The first month of recovery, walking with a cane for balance, brought thoughts that maybe some day I'll be able to walk at a steady pace and perhaps jog a little. Everything started falling in place my second month of recovery and I could see that not only would I be able to walk okay but possibly next year begin running.

Now, at the end of my third month of reovery and my 20th year in the Windy City, I'm thinking I'll get in a nice easy five miles Thanksgiving Day and the jury is out on where I go next year.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I have a lot to be thankful and grateful for this year and the opportunity to run is some delicious giblet gravy on that big pile of mashed potatoes.

Half Hour Run

2007-10-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, it wasn't fast and it wasn't very long, only 30 minutes on a treadmill but it was a run, my first run in something like three months, since the morning of August 4th. I remember that Saturday morning very well, five miles into a six mile run then kerboom, on my butt out like a light with my first and I hope last heart attack.

I showed up Monday evening for my prescribed cardio-rehab session at the gym down the street and my favorite cardio girl asked me "are you ready to run?" I could have cried, laughed, hugged her, jumped up and down screaming at the top of my lungs OH HELL YA!. But I quietly said "yes I am." And I confess that deep down inside there was a bit of fear that maybe I could not do it..

For around four weeks I had been walking the treadmill then striding on the eliptical trainer and waiting for the moment I could try a little run and it was a tiny one, but damn it felt good! I set out on a nice and easy 4-1/2 mile per hour pace, something like 13 min per mile and got this ol heart up to the low 130 beat per minute area and stayed there. I wanted to push a little more but I also want to ease back into this running biz and try to avoid doing something really stupid. Near the end of the 30 minute run my heart rate did climb up close to 140, so I FINALLY got in a workout, a good sweat to the point I toweled off a couple of times and soaked my gym shirt pretty well. Twas beautiful! And this from someone who used to despise treadmill work.

I even got an atta boy. "You runners are amazing, you did good," the beautiful cardio girl said. Of course I'm in love again. She had told me at my first cardio session they would have me up and running soon. She's just cool! Maybe she just told me runners are amazing to make sure I came back to rehab but I don't care, it worked, I'm going back for another session.

The five minute cool down was eventful too since instead of walking slowly on the treadmill I decided to walk around the track that circles the gym area including the cardio setup and didn't realize the heart rate monitor I was wearing didn't throw a signal to the monitors from the far side of the track, so I got scolded a little.

"Don't walk around the track because you flat-lined on the monitor and we thought we lost you," she said. However, she said it politely and with a smile and told me to just walk up and down the little straightaway so they can keep track of me and my healing heart.

So, as usual, I caused a little commotion but I apologized and won't do that again but I'm looking forward to my next run. It will be another easy one but it's a long way from flat on my back the first week of August with a fresh nine-inch incision through my breast bone. And I'm a long way from walking with a cane through much of August and early September.

Maybe there really is life after heart surgery?

I'm Eyeing The Road

2007-10-16T16:43:00.000-07:00

I'm into my fourth week of cardio rehab and my third week back at work full time in my job as a correspondent for Reuters News, feeling pretty good and starting to eye the possibility that I'll be back on the road running soon.

I've been turned loose on the eliptical trainer and told I can now work as hard as I feel like working, so I turned up the heat on myself last Friday and again on Monday and bumped the ol' heart rate up to 120 to 150, a move that brought the cardio girl over to my side to ask if I was okay. "You're heart rate is really up there, are you okay?" she asked. I was better than okay and finally felt like I was getting somewhere, into a light sweat and feeling good about myself and my effort.

I think as a runner my idea of workout is quite a lot different than many others. My perception of really hard work is still somewhere between the 15-20 mile area of a marathon and very, very hard begins somewhere between 20 and 26.2. I suppose work and workout is all relative and really is a personal thing.

I jumped the work and heart rate again on Monday and the other cardio girl told me later "you make it look easy." People have told me that all my life and I don't get it. Nothing has ever been easy for me so it's true that looks can be deceiving.

I confess it was nice to get a compliment about my workout and I've come to the conclusion that I need or think I need more attention than I care to admit. The running community is one place I go to get fairly consistent positive feedback and almost no criticism. Wouldn't it be nice if more of life's experiences could include less criticism and more affirmations. I think there would be less depression and almost no paranoia in this old world.

Work is going great. I like my job, the people I work with and am becoming more and more aware that my work ethic, which I'm proud of, is also a bit of a handicap in my social life...maybe a big handicap. I tend to lose focus in a quiet or casual social setting and start thinking that we should get busy and do something. Needless to say, I have some work to do in order to get a better social life going.

Anyway, just rambling here while I heal from my setback in early August. It's been a challenging year for me. I'm trying to learn from it and continue to seek positives from what has been a difficult situation.

30TH Chicago Marathon

2007-10-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

Frankly, I don't want to write anything about what I saw today but since I started this blog I feel a certain responsibility to lay something down.

The 30th annual Chicago Marathon was held today (Sunday) and it certainly was one for the record books. The men's and women's finishs were decided by seconds and for the men micro-seconds, .05 second to be precise. They were possibly the most exciting head-to-head finishes ever although I confess I'm not a marathon historian.

That was the only positive I saw on the course today, unless you count the fact that only one person died in the ungodly oppressive heat instead of several dozen. And one death is of course very said and my heart, which is still beating thanks to my running buddy Tanya, goes out to the friends and family of this individual.

I was a spectator this year because of my heart attack and setback in early August so my son Jacob and I spent the day together keeping track of his squeeze Jessica who ran her first marathon as a charity runner for the Leukemia Society of America. Jacob and I were able to make contact with her within the first mile and she was optimistic and excited about her first thon. By the 4th mile she was already getting a bit concerned about having to slow her pace and by 12 miles she had slowed to a walk and said she was going to walk the rest of the damn thing. It was that bad, and I'm glad I didn't have to run it. When I looked east out of my window early Sunday over the lake, the sun wasn't coming up. There was water IN the lake and there was water OVER the lake, the humidity was obnoxious and I have often thought that had I been in condition to run, I just may have been one of those 10,000 prospective runners who decided to bag the race. That was just too much and depending on which news account you listen too something like 250 to 300 people ended up in the hospital. As it turned our, something like 40 ended up in the hospital and something like 200 to 300 needed medical attention on and off the course.

I do know from personal observation that ambulance sirens were wailing at a nearly steady pace from about noon to 2 pm. It was pretty ugly. The roughly 4 hour or slower runners were turned around past the halfway mark and sent back to the finish line in Grant Park. Jacob's girlfriend Jessica got her 30th anniversay Chicago Marathon medal, she raised the money for leukemia research, did the long training runs and other runs through the summer but most importantly she is well and is aware that the heat wave was a fluke. This wasn't what she or anyone else had planned, but it's what everyone got.

Isn't distance running a lot like life?:)

The Marathon

2007-10-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

The Chicago marathon is on schedule for tomorrow (Sunday, Oct 7) and if today (Saturday, Oct 6) is any indication and the forecasts prove true for tomorrow, it's probably a good thing I'm not running that thing.

It's hot and humid this first full weekend of October and while I at times welcomed the heat and humidity on my training runs as "character building" and an aid to physical and overall mental toughness, I can't think of a more difficult 26.2 mile race than one in hot weather. Last year the marathon was held on a blustery chilly Sunday with highs around the mid-30s and, while it was a bit tough on spectators, I felt fine on the course and finished without a hitch. I'll watch this year, and considering my setback in early August, it's truly a gift to be able to walk and watch the other runners.

I finished my first full week of work this past week and it went fine. My peers and I even managed to squeak out a news scoop on Friday, so the boss and we were happy and we ended the week in an upbeat mood. It's great to get my mind on something other than my poor little bumps and bruises.

Also, I finished my second full week of cardio rehab and that's going good too. My favorite cardio girl, she's my favorite because she told me early on that she'd have me running soon, got me off the treadmill "you walk all the time anyway" and put me on an elipitical trainer. I was feeling good so I kept upping the resistance level but she hollered at me to back it down so I guess that means my heart rate was getting up a little higher than she liked.

I managed to get in a light sweat in my 40 minute session and although I know my mind is geared to harder effort, I also know I need to ease back into the training world...so I'm trying to be patient. A major concern of hers is my nine inch incision through my breast bone. The sternum needs to completely fuse or heal and I'm looking at early November as roughly the time frame that I might be able to get into a little light running, weights, yoga and pilates.

I miss the running and gym atmosphere and the people that I'm around when I'm working out.

It's lonely being a couch potato with no one around to bitch too. I keep reminding myself how lucky I am to be alive and that helps me get through each day. I also know that a lot of other people have some really tough serious problems to overcome and my healing heart goes out to them.

Treadmill Blues

2007-09-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

I completed my fourth cardio rehab session late on Friday and knew you would be thrilled to pieces to read about my travels so I thought I'd take a few minutes to log my progress. My training now is on a treadmill with three electrodes attached to my body. One of the electrodes goes under my right collar bone, the other two are attached to my right and left rib cage. I stick on the three electrode connectors, snap each connector to a wire that leads to a little box which transmits my heart signals to a monitor screeen that the cardio technicians look at while I'm doing my thing. Aren't you glad to know that? I realize this isn't quite as exciting as telling you about a grueling 20 mile long run in the heat and humidity with biting horse flies nipping at my heels, but this is the best I can do at this point.

Anyway, back to the treadmill workouts and for any late comers to this blog site you need to know that I had a heart attack in early August during a training run, died for a few minutes, received CPR from my running friends, ended up in a hospital, had double by-pass surgery and have been recovering. The recovery is slow and basically a son-of-a-bitch! But, I'm alive.

The treadmill workouts last 40 minutes, five minutes warmup and cooldown and 30 minutes of walking. Hopefully I'll soon be running. The cardio girl started me a week ago at 2.5 mph, no incline which got my heart to 85 bpm. They keep bumping up the speed and incline because what I'm doing now requires almost no effort since I had been running 20-30 miles per week before my attack and also was doing at least one yoga and pilates class per week. So, on the surface I was in shape but my two main arteries feeding my heart obviously weren't in shape, one was totally blocked and the other 95 percent blocked, which is why I almost died. No one can tell me how I could run with that kind of blockage. So, I'm a freak.

Anyhoo, late Friday we jumped the walking speed to 3.8 mph which is around 15 min per mile pace and if we go faster than that I really need to run because I don't like speed walking. I have short legs and just a low tolerance for walking. I boosted the incline to 2 Friday, up from .5. I'm assuming the .5 is a half inch incline and the 2 is two inches. I need to ask someone about it but you treadmill experts will know what I'm talking about. The combination of 3.8 mph and 2 incline got my heart rate in the 105-110 bpm range. This is all very clinical and boring for me. The cardio girl asked me the effort level and I told her it was easy to somewhat difficult, whatever that may mean. In my runners mind somewhat difficult is the stretch between 15-20 miles and after that the effort level goes off the chart.

I've noticed that no one has asked me if I'm having fun, so we'll have to put fun on the backburner for awhile. Personally, I think the cardio people in charge of monitoring me have an even more boring job than I, so I'm pretty friendly and cooperative. I've noticed they switch shifts a lot and I'm looking forward to seeing the one who was on duty Wednesday because she's the one who told me she'd have me running in 3-4 weeks. "The breast bone needs to completely heal," she said. Sounds like a good idea.

I've healed to the point where I take only about a half dozen tylenol per day and I don't think I'd need those now, but I may as well screw up my life with a damned addiction to pain killers too, right?:) Just kidding.

On a very positive note, I spent a few hours per day in the busy Reuters newsroom this week and it was great to get back with my fellow commodities journalists. The markets keep hopping and early Monday I am set to return to full time duty. My energy level continues to improve so I think I'll be able to handle a full schedule now and easily work in my treadmill sessions each Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon.

Life is short, enjoy!

Fog Is Lifting

2007-09-25T15:54:00.000-07:00

The past several days have been pretty enjoyable considering the spot I've been in since early August.

I met my running group early Saturday when they were coming in from their "little" 10 mile run and it was a pure joy seeing their smiles and listening to their banter and laughter as they wound up the run by the traditional starting and ending point for our training runs, the Ben Franklin statue in Lincoln Park.

It was my first meeting with the big group since I went down on August 4th with what I now call a cardiac arrest and my following double by-pass open heart surgery two days later. My cardio rehab girl has informed me that what I had was the full-blown cardiac arrest, massive heart attack, the kind that kills people almost instantly rather than a heart attack. So, I stand corrected and I'm still pinching myself when I think of how fortunate I was to have good friends running with me that early Saturday morning who were willing to jump into the fray and save my hide.

My pace group went to brunch on Saturday at a place in Old Town called Flattops. It's one of those "build your own" meal deals and we all had a good time with our unique concoctions of scrambled eggs, omelettes and/or pancakes. The self-described crazy Asian girl Seiko has a not so secret recipe for a chocolate chip/blueberry pancake that really is delicious and she again was willing to share and our mutual running buddy Tanya has picked up on the formula so I think everyone was well fed and happy after brunch. I know I was feeling good.

My energy level keeps improving really fast now, which is a good sign, and my balance and stability are almost back to 100 percent which is a relief. My second cardio rehab session was Monday afternoon and my treadmill guru bumped my target up to a consistent 95 bpm which I'm maintaining by walking 3.2 mph. Aren't I the numbers guy though. Frankly, I'm still not sure what the hell I'm doing but I know the second session was up from a target of 85 bpm so I know there are no irregularities in my heart rhythm, which is a relief.

The cardio girl told me I would outgrow it quickly because of my previous conditioning. I asked here what I would do then and she didn't bat an eye when she said "well I'll have you running in three, maybe four weeks." That was music to my ears and I fell in love with her on the spot. She also said she would have me running sooner but she didn't want to cause harm to my nine inch chest incision and I agreed with her that that incision doesn't look or feel like anything to take lightly.

Two weeks ago I was feeling like crap and thinking that if I ever did run again it might not be until after the first of the year or even spring. Today, I'm thinking early November and I'm also targeting Thanksgiving Day's 8k run in Lincoln Park as my coming out run. We'll see how I feel and how much progress I make in October, but I'm hungry to get back on the trail. If I can't run the whole 5 miles maybe I can run/walk it or some combination.

It was good to show up at the Reuter's newsroom today for a few hours, get around to see my old friends and start preparing for my return to work on Monday, October 1. As much as work might stink sometimes, it's a better gig than this sitting around, napping, walking bit. Driving myself nuts and my mind keeps going to places it doesn't need to be, like blue funk pitsville and beyond.

I also had lunch on Monday with the co-owner and a head coach of Chicago Endurance Sports Jenny Hadfield and it was cleansing for me to clear the air with her on our feelings about my making a darned spectacle of myself by almost dying. She and everyone else in CES have been wonderful to me and I want to continue to earn the support and respect they've shown me. This whole ordeal has been a bit of a lonely journey but it has been made tolerable because of the concern and love shown to me by people like Jenny, head running Coach Brendan Cournane, Coach Mike, Jillian and all of the pace leaders and runners in my marathon training group.

I'm still in awe that I went down near a big city hospital and running with a soulmate who knew CPR and was willing to keep me alive long enough for the pros to get to me.

Life is pretty good and the fog is lifting!

They Say I'll Run Again

2007-09-21T18:08:00.000-07:00

Everyone I come in contact with, doctors, nurses, heart specialists and trainers tell me that my heart attack on August 4 and following double by-pass surgery can be a blessing in disguise. Everyone is so optimistic that I'll not only be able to lead a full and happy life but if I choose, I will be able to run again and go the distance, marathon or beyond. They say my new arteries will allow me to feel "better than ever." Now, I'm not so sure what ever is, but it must be good.

I confess I've been down, blue, depressed or whatever you want to call this dark funk the past couple of months. This summer has been the hardest training segment of my 15 year running career. But the clouds are lifting, I'm beginning to see a ray of light on the horizon and I'm starting to find the mental motivation to dash toward that light. I'm sick of napping, walking, eating. Napping, walking, eating. I'm afraid I don't retire well.

My stress test on Monday went fine. As usual, the verdict was "no problem, get your ass moving to cardio rehab." Welp, my first session of rehab late this Friday afternoon was interesting. I started with a 5 minute warmup on the treadmill, 30 minutes of more intense walking and a 5 minute cool down. Basically, I'm starting from scratch at square one and it's a very humbling experience. The whole session was quite frankly amusing considering the running miles I had already logged prior to my heart attack.

The trainer monitoring my personal screen kept coming over to me and bumping up the speed to keep my heart thumping at what they say is my target heart rate in the mid-80s. I kept upping the speed, the heart rate would jump up to around 90 and quickly back down to the mid-80s, a very, very good sign, according to the lady in charge of my life for the one hour session this afternoon. I've never been a big numbers person when it comes to my running, so at the least I'll learn some new tricks about heart rate monitoring and whatever.

She told me too that there is no reason I won't be able to run. She also reminded me that I was lucky to be alive. "You had a cardiac arrest, open heart surgery and that's a lot worse than a heart attack," she said. My, we runners do have a flair for the extreme and dramatic don't we.

I have to look on the bright side. I'm a runner who dropped dead in a period of less than a minute on a pleasant Saturday morning surrounded by a group of the toughest, most beautiful and caring people in the world. My heart stopped immediately and stayed that way for 12 minutes. These fellow runners breathed oxygen into my mouth, pressed life-giving blood and oxygen from my chest on through this old 63 year old frame in a desperate attempt to keep me alive and they did a good job.

They cared enough to dive into the dirt with me, get down and dirty and in the process kept enough oxygen in my lifeless body so my brain wouldn't join my dead heart. It's because of them that I'm not only alive but I still have the brain power to read and write this little blog post. I showed up at the Reuters newsroom on Wednesday to check in, check my email and prepare to work part-time next week and full-time beginning October 1. My editor is obviously pleased I can still comprehend and write because my commodities markets remain explosive, volatile and hectic. I can't want to get back in the fray. Like running, writing just gets in your blood...there is no way to escape it and believe me I've tried.

I started this blog a little over a year ago on a whim and planned to track my training and running progress with the full intent to write about my completion of my seventh marathon here in Chicago on October 7th. But, I'll be on the sidelines cheerleading.

Boy, did my plans ever change!

Life Goes On

2007-09-13T06:21:00.000-07:00

I notice more and more leaves on the ground on my daily walks to Lincoln Park to park my fanny on a bench and contemplate life, which is usually a big mistake.

The breeze coming through the trees and down the street feels and smells like fall and I'm having to pinch myself to realize it's already the middle of September.

My running group is doing the 20 miler Saturday in preparation for the Chicago Marathon on October 7 and I'm disappointed I can't join them. Maybe next year. Maybe not. We'll see how my ticker responds as I add hours and days from the trauma it went through on August 4.

I met with my cardiologist this past Monday and he set me up with the first stress test with him personally conducting it this coming Monday. He wanted to see for himself how my heart responds to a little more rapid walking pace before he sends me on to a likely 12 week cardio rehab program.

Naturally, I would rather go out for a brisk five mile run right now than sit on my butt and think about what has happened and what may happen but I will say it feels good to be able to walk, talk and watch the change of seasons one more year.

Enjoy your training and I hope to be back on the running trail soon.

Cardio Rehab Ahead?

2007-09-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

Walked the four blocks down the street this afternoon and checked out a gym facility that is hooked up with a super-duper cardio rehab program with Northwestern Hospital. I didn't have a damned thing else going on so thought I would satisfy my curiosity.

I told the RN I had heart surgery about a month ago and it was suggested I do cardio rehab and I wondered of they were still in business. They were and she said to check with my insurance company to see if it is covered.

So, that's my next step. I see my cardiologist Monday afternoon and will talk or listen to find out where I go from here. The nurse said we start with a stress test to see where we are then we walk and trot on a freakin treadmill hooked up to electrodes three times a week for 12 weeks. Thrilling!

We also get a lot of advice on how to take care of our heart so I obviously can use that.

My training program really stinks but yes I think I'm happy to be alive and possibly can trot, jog or maybe even run some day.

I was thinking today, plenty of time to think, that I might set a long term goal of qualifying for Boston in two years, when I turn 65. Might be cool for an old 65 year heart patient to run another marathon or two and as you know Boston is the dream and fantasy for most of us.

I also was thinking today that I just might walk for awhile and maybe jog through a 5k or two some day.

What running has done to my mind is just weird!

As We Age

2007-09-02T17:37:00.000-07:00

I've been going to write a blog on how discouraging and unmotivating it is to continue hearing the drumbeat of this society as to how the world is ending now that I'm older.

My writing would have just been another pointless venting at how we're programmed to fail so I found this nifty little quote online that pretty well sums up how I feel about getting older or aging or whatever in the hell you want to call our condition.

Enjoy!

"I train people in their 60s who can kick butt," says Robert Reames, a Studio City, Calif.-based Gold's Gym Fitness Institute expert. "If you're a 65-year-old in good shape, you can accomplish what an average 25-year-old can accomplish."

Okay goddammit!

Go kick butt and shut the hell up about getting older:)

Feeling Funky

2007-08-31T18:34:00.000-07:00

Just feeling funky so thought I'd let you know. Thirty days away from a heart attack makes the heart grow fonder for friends, sunsets and monarchs that are willing to flit through the sky and do my exercising for me. Pigeons waddle around and poop a lot and unfortunately I still feel like a pigeon. Maybe someday I can again spend more time in the air with the butterfly and less time waddling around.

Hoping someday I'll return to the trails where my tough friends dwell so I can tell them about my setback if they want to listen, and they usually do want to hear from a fellow runner. I suppose it's just one of the responsibilities of running that brings runners together for sometimes brief and occasionally lengthy chats.

Do really good people naturally gravitate to the trails or do ordinary people attack the trails and become really good people?

Mental Speedwork

2007-08-28T12:30:00.000-07:00

A recent post by Red has had me thinking about my personal revulsion at doing speedwork. Now that I'm on some sort of injured-reserve status and can't do any work at all, the mental aspects of running are hitting me full force and the concepts of speed and speedwork have been swirling in my head. And since I'm not working or running right now there's plenty of space in my head for some swirling, not always a good thing, but I'll try to harness the energy and stay out of trouble.

Words and how they're used are interesting to me and I've always seen the use of words as an art form. And since I've been making a living writing for a number of years the use of words and the impact they have on my mind and my readers minds continue to become more and more important as the days go by. I've become much more aware of the influence that words either written or spoken can have.

Thus the current obsession with the word speed or speedwork.

I get really excited when I read the word speed or hear that word, think "Chariots Of Fire?" But throw the word work into the mix and the whole concept goes down the toilet. Speedwork my ass, I think to myself, just give me the speed and forget the work. Yep, now you know that I'm basically lazy.

It isn't always possible to find a group to do speedwork with and I've been lucky to live in Chicago where the running groups are large and there are great turnouts for the weekly speedwork sessions. I've been running with Chicago Endurance Sports for the past two years and each Wednesday our marathon or half marathon groups would meet in Lincoln Park for a roughly 30 to 45 minute speed session that features a variety of interesting workouts and relays. The speedwork seemed less like work when done with a group and also done with smaller group segments so I could find a pace to tuck in with.

CES also offers a speedwork session on Tuesday nights for "hardcore" runners. I've managed to stay away from that damned thing!

I would like to pick up my speed though when I heal up from my setback and right now I'm frustrated as each day that goes by because the time wasted is eating into my mileage base and limiting my opportunity to not only run but run faster.

I know speedwork can help because of the experience I had during the summer of '98 on a 400 meter track here in the city. I completed my first marathon that spring and my mentor at the time invited me to the track that summer to do speedwork with a separate group. Some, like I, were preparing for the fall Chicago Marathon and what my mentor didn't tell me in advance is that maybe half of the track runners were Boston qualified or would soon be qualified. I told him I wasn't fast anymore and he said it didn't matter as long as I liked the track atmosphere. I was dumb enough to believe him.

Needless to say, I spent every Thursday evening on that track in last place but I did get faster just trying to keep up with the next-to-last place runner.

I never was a burner, even in High School, but I could hold my own back then and I was fast enough to earn a spot on our mile relay team when I was a senior. Our mile relay team was advancing to the state regional track meet and for whatever reason some of the faster juniors and sophmores saw me running laps on my own about a week before that regional track meet and asked to join me.

Frankly, I wasn't looking for company because I usually preferred to suffer alone but the sun was getting low in the sky, I was running fast and didn't argue at their attempt to be cordial. I was bored anyway so why not cut up a little.

I knew I was faster than any of them but there was one exception I was worried about, a lithe junior who was soon to become a "burner." I kept bumping up the pace, run hard a lap, jog a lap and so on. After a half dozen or so of these quick laps it because obvious to me that this young junior was just having too easy of a time keeping up with me soooo I pulled out the stops for a lap and damned he stayed on my shoulder. We all jogged the next lap and took off with me determined to lose him this time and I did gain maybe a stride on him by the end. So we all went again, jogged a lap then I announced that this was it, the final, all for one one for all we're going flat out fast and man we did.

It had become a game, it was fun, and we each were probably training faster than we ever had. I remember managing to stay ahead of that young whipper snapper junior on that last lap, but not by much and I also remember his laughter once we caught our breath a bit. He knew he had almost beat me, and that his spot was more than likely ensured on the following year's mile relay team. I felt pretty good that we had pushed each other like that and could laugh about it.

I'll also never forget the mile relay finals in the regional track meet the following week. I was running second and just before I took the baton from our "burner" leadoff senior the runner in the blocks next to me said something that really pissed me off. To this day I don't remember what he said but I do know that he took his baton before I and I remember knowing I had to kick his smart ass. I always ran better when I was pissed off.

I was clocked in my quarter at 54 seconds, yes I know not burning fast for a quarter miler, but the 54 second quarter was a full two seconds faster than my PR of 56.

So I know from experience that speedwork, speedtraining, speedplay or just speed can help. It worked when I was young so there is no reason it won't work now.

Now, I just have to heal up, extend my daily walks to some light jogging, get a little mileage base built up and then hook up with a few zanies who I can sort of keep up with and see if we can burn up the track. Maybe next summer?

Ah, isn't the mind a fun place to dwell? I move so much faster in my mind than on the track or trail.

Starting Over

2007-08-26T06:18:00.000-07:00

It seems amusing to me that I would sit around on my butt three weeks removed from a heart attack and bypass surgery and beat up on myself because I'm not doing something to get in better shape. But that's what I've been doing.

The doctor's orders now are to basically do nothing and heal up. I sleep, eat, go for walks; sleep, eat, go for walks and on and on and on. It's an abrupt change from my life just over three weeks ago when I was busy each day writing about the insane grain futures markets and pursuing my hobby of running and working out.

The walls came tumbling down in a few short seconds and I'm now faced with starting over and I don't have a clue where I'm going. Some of my fellow runners have asked me when I'll be able to run again and I don't have an answer to that. Frankly at this moment I've lost my enthusiasm for running since I'm able to only see slight improvement on my daily walks.

I'm walking 4 segments a day with the total walking time around an hour. Maybe someday I'll be able to run a slow 5k again but for now I'm truly starting over, and I don't like it one bit.

But I'm alive and able to enjoy the pursuits of my fellow runners and bloggers. I hope to rejoin the parade someday.

Setbacks, Disappointments And Critics

2007-08-22T05:08:00.000-07:00

I don't think it's possible to have much of a life without taking a few risks. And sometimes taking those risks result in setbacks and disappointments, which aren't pleasant experiences but they can with time reveal a better path to accomplish the original goal.

I suppose an easier life would be that of a critic. Critics, you know, are only little people who somehow have been allowed to criticize others either verbally or in writing. All of my good and real friends are performers, not critics. Sure we don't mind offering some constructive advice here and there but usually only if it's asked for. Once in awhile I've seen a friend or two headed for obvious disaster and I've simply told them so, but I usually do a pretty good job minding my own business.

Not all of my good friends are runners so I'm not so smug as to think that everyone needs to be a runner in order to be what I call a performer. Most of my friends and family members have recognized a simple truth in life and that is this. They take care of their responsibilities and their first responsibility is to themselves. By taking care of their needs they are healthier, happier and therefere much better friends, fathers, mothers, brothers or sisters.

I think this attitude can make running more enjoyable too. I've been guilty of the old "I'm slow and not a good runner" curse, an attitude of self-loathing that stems from the childhood years spent in competitive sports. You know, if you weren't first then you don't count. And, unfortunately I sometimes run into control-freak tiny-minded little people who are willing to nurse along that defeatest attitude in others. I suppose it makes them feel big and important if they criticize someone who was second and not first.

I'm in setback mode right now so my thoughts, actions and writings are certainly a lot different than I thought they would be at this point in my training life. I have to maintain faith in the ability of my body and mind to heal so I can again perform at my best on the running trails of life. I don't want to sit around and become a critic, it looks like a miserable way to live.

Thanks Jerry; Mystery Unfolding

2007-08-20T16:39:00.000-07:00

A public, indeed global internet THANK YOU to a fellow runner named Jerry Olsen who called 911 early Saturday, August 4th to get the paramedics to me in time to save my life.

The mystery is unfolding as to the names of angels who swooped in on me when I went down that Saturday morning on the Chicago Lakefront running trail and despite my current bit befuddled state of mind, I love a good mystery.

A public think you too to Sue Burkwald for passing along the info of Jerry's quick thinking and good deed.

"Bambi" asked me a long time ago if I believed in angels.

Yep, I sure do. That lifeguard and nurse were busy helping me that morning too and deserve at least a big heartfelt shout out!

I want to do more but am at a bit of a loss for words right now.

Drama King

2007-08-19T06:12:00.000-07:00

Early Saturday morning August 4, I met my training group for a little 6 mile run as we wound down to the annual Chicago Distance Classic half marathon that was held early Sunday on August 12.

I was feeling good after completing a 30 mile week that included a hard 12 mile long run the previous Saturday in heavy humidity and a bit of heat.

I was looking forward to cruising through the easy six miler because everything was working fine and I was looking forward to a good half marathon because I knew my training had been going very well. I wasn't in shape to PR the half but I knew I was in good enough condition to shave a minute per mile off of last year's pace should I have chosen to open it up a little.

But, I didn't make it to the starting line of the half marathon.

I give you my word I'm not making up what I'm about to write. To the best of my recollection and from what people have told me the following is what happened.

With about a mile left of our six mile run I started to feel sick to my stomach. I remember thinking to myself that this isn't quite right, something just isn't right because I never get sick unless I'm really pushing a run or doing some intentionally hard speed work. Nevertheless I was getting sick and it wouldn't pass.

I told my 10 year running buddy Tanya "Bambi" and our mutual friend Jill that I had to veer off the side of the path and upchuck, throw up or puke...whatever you want to call that gross encounter that sometimes grips runners and other athlethes when they've been pushing it to the edge.

They said they would wait for me and I'm alive to write this little story because those two beautiful girls waited for me.

They later told me that I veered off the path to do my thing, bent over and I went down like a ton of bricks. The last thing I remember is leaning over to puke. The next thing I remember is seeing Tanya, Jill and Jenny Hadfield the co-owner and coach of my running group Chicago Endurance Sports in my room at Saint Joseph Hospital here in Chicago. I'm told that Mike, one of the running coaches was in the room too. It was a blur and I didn't have a clue as to what in the hell was going on.

I vaguely remember asking what happened and they told me I had a heart attack, was in the hospital and would have to have surgery right away. The next few days were a blur and I remember very little other than my kids, sister, some co-workers and fellow runners popping in to visit off and on.

I'm told that as soon as I went down on that running trail Tanya and Jill ran to me, Tanya started giving me CPR, for whatever reason she had read up on it the night before, another runner who happened to be a nurse was trying to find a pulse and a lifeguard who was driving by stopped to assist in reviving me. The lifeguard and Tanya were going through several series of CPR and despite no pulse they kept me alive long enough for the paramedics to arrive and do their thing. I'm told it took the ambulance 12 minutes to get to me.

My son Jake, who along with his girlfriend Jess had arrived at ER said my heart stopped again in the hospital and there was a lot of commotion as the medical staff shocked me back to life. Needless to say this wasn't a pretty sight for anyone and I missed the whole darned thing.

Early Monday morning August 6 a couple of supremely confident, re-assuring and brilliant surgeons named Dr Breyer and Dr Bradshaw cut through my chest to get to my heart. One artery was completely blocked and the other was something like 90-95 percent blocked. I had a double bypass and the doctors said my heart wasn't damaged by the trauma, I would be able to come back stronger than ever and be able to run better than ever. At this point, I'm happy to be walking around.

I was told only 1 percent of the people who have this type of heart attack survive, I was lucky to be a runner and that my fellow runners saved my life. Needless to say I'm still struggling to find the words to express what my life has undergone the past two weeks and at this point where it may be going.

I mean, what do you tell someone who has saved your life? Thank you? That seems lame but for now it's all I know to do.

So thank you "Bambi"for saving my life, thank you Jill, thank you whoever the runner nurse was and thank you caring lifeguard. I'm just now feeling up to searching for the unknown saviors so I can at least send them a card and there surely must be some special award or citation of some kind for saving a life.

I've been saturated with calls, messages and cards wishing me a speedy recovery and basically my whole life as I thought it existed has evaporated. The summer was going well for me. The running and workouts were up a notch in intensity from last summer and the Tuesday morning before my heart attack I had the biggest coup or scoop of my journalism career.

What's it all about? Damned if I know. Right now I'm just trying to hold on, expanding my walks a little, short-term disability from work, preparing to set appointments for rehab and hoping I can extend this second chance at a life into something good for myself and others.

I do know there are many brave, courageous, insightful and bright people in this world and for whatever reason a group of them descended on me a couple of weeks ago and gave me a chance to keep on living.

I also know that on my walks through Lincoln Park whenever I see a fellow runner I want to shout at the top of my lungs.

"Pretty big setback, but I'll see you out here in a few months"

About Water Running

2007-07-29T05:00:00.000-07:00

I really do understand the need for me to appreciate the opportunity to participate in the running community. It's a privilege to be able to have enough money to buy a good pair of running shoes, more running shirts than I will ever need and to have a job that provides me food, a safe place to sleep and enough money left over to waste on a collection of cool shades. As a matter of fact I'm currently obsessed with buying a new pair of Bono wraparound shades, not because they're designed for running but only because I think they might help me stir people up a bit. I think part of my responsibility as a distance runner is to provide as much entertainment as I can for anyone who might be extremely bored and decide to watch a bunch of damned fools try to run further than five miles.

It's important for my mental health to try to remain grateful that I have two legs that will still move forward, that I have found some people who like to do crazy crap like training for distance runs and that I have some lung capacity left after all these years.

Okay, I'm well aware of all of this good stuff and that it's important for me to be grateful and stay away from the unsettling feeling that the "I wants" lead me too. But my gratitude evaporated into a pool of water early Saturday morning.

The downward spiral started when the sun failed to rise over the east edge of Lake Michigan. Instead of sun I saw a cloud of water hanging over the Lake and as I began gearing up to meet my group at 6:30 in the morning for our 12 mile training run my thoughts ran from. 1. Get back in bed and pull the covers over your head. 2. Call your running buddy Bambi and tell her you're really sick. 3. Run your Trek into a tree somwhere on the 30 minute ride to Montrose Harbor so you'll have an excuse for missing this run. 4. Make a commitment once and for all to quit this running business, take up chess or checkers or head back into the bars...air conditioned bars with de-humidifiers, strobe lights, jammin tunes and dancing girls.

I knew I was screwed as soon as I left my little home and began the 30 minute bike trip to meet the troops. The air wasn't air, it was damned water! It wasn't hot, maybe 70 degrees, but it was not air I was breathing and I could tell that the morning would only be an experience of survival, another oxygen deprived character building or destroying slog.

I've been running for about 15 years and I've done enough runs in these conditions to know what was coming and I wasn't looking forward to it. I was spoiled during the previous Saturday's little 8 miler in near perfect running weather. The kind of run you want to share with anyone who will listen, the one where every stride was effortless, every breath was a gift and the finish was a burst of joy because you could have gone forever.

I met my group at 6:30 and lo and behold I wasn't the only grump ass in the crowd. Bambi was already pissed off about something, Sara a new runner was growling because I don't think she knows why she keeps showing up for this crazy business. And one of the zany running coaches offered the understatement of the year "the humidity is a little high." Why can't they just tell it like it is, something like. "This air sucks and anyone who wants to try this should have their head examined." Needless to say, I'll never be a running coach, a pace leader or even a good example. Runners can always use me as a measurement of their progress and an ego builder, like "well at least I'm a better runner than him."

The only reason I stayed with this run is because I know how much fun I have on marathon day. It has been said running is 90 percent mental so I turned on my mind to the need to do this run so I can get in shape to get through a 26.2 mile run on October 7 here in Chicago.

There were maybe a dozen or 14 who started in my pace group Saturday morning and a few were making idle chit chat the first two miles but I just wasn't in the groove yet. Bambi was fuming about something so I just shook her off and left her back to annoy someone else for awhile. I think her friend Jill had to listen to her those early miles. I had my own pot boiling so I just focused on keeping pace and trying to breath. The pace leaders, the terror twins Emily and Meagan were doing their job, metronomes that they are, and were really upbeat especially given the humid conditions. There must be a special place in running heaven for people like that. Too bad I won't be joining them.

The first four miles were basically awful, not only oppressive humidity but no breeze, it was like running through a darned steam room without the heat. A 10 degree bump in the temperture and I would have been toast for sure. As we crossed over the foot bridge near North Avenue a blast of cool air coming off the Lake hit us and there was a collective cheer from the group, so I knew I wasn't the only one struggling and I think everyone wanted to peel off our shirts and fully absorb the breeze. I suppose Tim and I could have done that but out of respect for the girls, who chose to retain their dignity, we kept our shirts on too. Believe it or not some of us guys just grew up with this equality thing ingrained in us by our fathers and our mothers.

It's a six mile run from Montrose Beach to Navy Pier, our turnaround point and we stopped for a quick breather under the shade trees and the pace leader Meagan offered everyone a gummy worm or something so I took an orange one, hell anything at this point to survive the return trip. Sweat had been running off of me by about a half mile out and by this point every thing was sopping wet, socks shoes, fanny packs, cash...everything.

Four of the group had either dropped or dropped back at this point, one with some serious knee problems which I never like to hear about and I'm concerned about her. A few others were just pooped, and I can understand that. The rest of us were just standing around sipping whatever fluid of choice we had brought and kind of staring at each other and yammering a bit, at least that's my perception of the gathering. Someone else may have taken away some deep enlightening thoughts from that informal little meeting but I was thinking "shit, six more miles of hell to go."

The return trip was better, a little breeze had come up across the Lake and at least it helped cool down the old body and gave me hope I had a chance to finish this run.

I had been running in the middle or back of the pack all morning, partly to meet people and partly to keep track of any serious problems that might come up, like freakin collapses or something of that nature. Keep in mind that many of these runners are doing this for the first time, their first 12 miler, their first attempt at running a marathon or half marathon, and their first long run through water. I don't claim to be an expert but I have been running long enough to know myself pretty well. I knew this was difficult for me but I wasn't dizzy, wasn't experiencing extreme fatigue so I was alert enough to keep an eye on my comrades for signs of such trouble, it's part of my responsibility as a friend and fellow runner.

A few more dropped on the return trip and everyone, including myself, checked on their well-being as we kept trudging ahead. I think the terror twins appreciated the reports and they often would check on those of us in the back of the pack, so despite the struggle, there was a good supportive and bonding experience that happened Saturday morning.

There were many positives for me that came out of Saturday's run:

1. I saw my son Jake doing his 5-6 mile run, hollered at him but he didn't hear me. The girl running next to me said "he's in a groove." I smiled. I know the feeling.

2. I saw my son's squeeze Jessica training with her TNT fund-raising group and stopped for a brief chat with her then had to sprint to catch my group and was reminded my fatigue was in my brain, not my body.

3. Seeing them out there training, getting in shape was a big lift for me. I wouldn't have blamed them or anyone for bagging a run through water.

4. Sara, a new runner, wanted to go fast the last three miles. I told her to have at it because I wasn't going to go with her. She held back until about a quarter mile to go then asked the pacers if she could go and she went ahead, really fast. I told Sara she needs to step up her pace a notch or two. She's really fast and I'm not. Dammit!

5. Several runners were beaming because they had just completed their longest run ever and I congratulated them and I meant it.

6. I met a new runner named Mary Kate, who's doing this for the first time, never ran before and she said it's easier than she thought it would be. One of her goals is to run a marathon. As usual, I was blown away because as I watched her run off and on Saturday I could see that easy natural stride, graceful movement throughout the body, seemingly without effort. The motion and she are beautiful.

I rode my little trek home after the run and the biggest problem I had was getting on and off the damned bike, the biking motion felt good and was good for my legs. Rested for about an hour and got to my little yoga class at noon and wanted to take a nap but went through the motions of stretching and twisting and felt better at the end.

So I'm happy to report I survived a run through water and also can say there were no negatives.

I'm just having a hard time growing up, but someday I'll get there.

Thirty miles for the week, no injuries...knock on wood...starting to taper for the Chicago Distance Classic on August 12 and then the mileage starts to build in preparation for the Chicago Marathon on October 7.

Please Jesus or somebody, give me an easy run soon!

Running Is Honest

2007-07-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

I've tried for many years to be an honest person. The reason I want to be honest is not to ensure my spot in heaven or avoid hell but for a purely selfish reason. I want to sleep at night and be able to look everyone straight in the eye.

I'm sitting here on a late Friday afternoon just hanging out after a busy week at work. My thoughts continue to veer to a 12 mile run I'm set to do in the morning, starting at 6:30 a.m. on the Lakefront. If I'm allowed to live through the night and the alarm goes off as expected, I will probably go through my early morning ritual of 1. Questioning my sanity as to why I'm getting up early on a Saturday morning, drinking water and gatorade endurance formula instead of coffee or a bloody mary. 2. Deciding whether to wear my new silver-framed Nike shades, my pricey Rudy Project racing glasses or my cool Bolle shades with the matador red frames. At this point I'm thinking Bolle. As you can tell...I have plenty of time to think and I also have a wonderful cushy life.

I've just finished reading RunnerGirls blog and see where a former running coach/friend of hers has just died from cancer. I don't think I have cancer but I don't know that for sure. I've lived long enough to realize more and more that this is the only day and the only moment I really have to enjoy, so I'm enjoying myself by writing my thoughts.

And if the running gods smile on me in the morning, I will meet my rag tag running group and hopefully finish a 12 mile training run, ride my little trek bike back home, shower off and head for a yoga class.

Reasons to run are many and personal to each runner. I have a number of reasons that I run but I've come to the conclusion that it is possibly the most honest thing that I do. I start at point A and finish at point B. When I'm through I can look anyone in the eye who's interested, and most people aren't interested but I don't blame them, and I can tell them "I ran from A to B, it was 12 miles. No roller skates, no bike, no one carried me, many supported me but I had to do the work and it was hard work. I didn't take a short cut and there were a few times I questioned my sanity but I didn't quit, and that's the truth."

I also will admit that there were a lot of runners who got from point A to point B a lot sooner than I, but no one did it like me. No one on the face of this earth had my experience, it was all mine but I will share it with anyone who wants to listen. It's one of my responsibilities and I'm trying to be a responsible person.

Occasionally I will hear a fellow runner say something like "I'm not a very good runner" or "I'm not very fast."

Well, all I'm going to say is "you're a great runner and so am I" and that's the truth...the honest truth.

The Best

2007-07-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

Finally a race photo that actually looks like I'm doing something that resembles running. This is from the Nike Bastille Day 5k that Jess, Jill and I ran a couple of weeks ago.

Below is a link to a chat with Alan Webb, the 24 year old American who recently broke the American record for the mile.

The interview with him after the race fired me up a bit so I thought you would enjoy it too.

http://www.flocasts.com/flotrack/coverage.php?c=69&id=4443

Be the best you can be and I'll try to do the same.

I have a lot of work to do but plan to get it done day-by-day.

A Good One

2007-07-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a so-called "refreshing" run for a long time but today was a literal happening. Eight easy miles with my group on the lakefront, 70 degrees, sunny, 50 percent humidity instead of 80 something and a persistent cool breeze.

I was able to push along with the troops almost without effort. Everyone was in a great mood and I had a fantastic time shooting the breeze with first one then the other. Was like a pup turned loose in the woods for the first time.

My running has been a bit labored lately, partly because I'm pushing my pace about a minute per mile up from last year and partly because of the muggy weather. The runs have all been good ones because I was out there pushing and accomplishing my goals. But today was a treat, a gift and pure pleasure. I knew I had been in a bit of a dog fight at the end of the run but I wasn't wiped out. I almost feel guilty writing about it. Maybe this is the runner's high I hear about?

I met another Sam today. This one is a girl Sam and we had a good time yammering a bit about the coincidence of our names, which aren't really that common.

Sam ran her first marathon two years ago, didn't run one last year and she told me she cried when she watched the Chicago Marathon last year because she wanted to be running it. Soooo, the Sams are training for this year's thon in the Windy City.

I've had many interesting conversations on my runs and today's chat with my new friend was, for me, pretty profound and meaningful. She told me she ran some shorter races last year and her friends have encouraged her to stick with the 5ks and such but "it's just not the same." All I could think of saying is "it gets in your blood."

I don't think it's really possible or even necessary to explain why a person would train for and run a marathon or, god forbid, train for and run an ultra.

It's a mystery to me, and I've always enjoyed adventure and mystery.

I Was Thinking

2007-07-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

When I run in high humidity, let's say 80 percent and 80 degrees does that run add more to my endurance basket than say the same run at 40 percent humidity and 80 degrees?

All I hear about running in heat and humidity is to slow the pace down but let's say I run the same pace in the different conditions. Does a 5 mile run in the high humidity count as a 7 mile run? I hope so because I ran a 7 miler this past Tuesday and thought I would puke for sure so that bastard better have been worth at least 10 on a normal day.

This is the kind of crazy shit I think about at work and when I'm running.

I think I need to get a life and a friend to talk to or something.

Got Grit?

2007-07-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

Jessicas' got grit! Look at that smile under the fashion shades and this after 10 miles of her first ever 14 mile distance run. We're on our return trip from Navy Pier to nearly the Museum of Science and Industry and back and our destination at this point was the Chicago skyline in the background and we both made it. This takes grit and determination for a new runner because you don't really know if you can survive that distance until you do it. And then the sky opens up and you realize that you can do it and more with practice, patience but most of all grit.

Speaking of grit, I've been obsessively reading Sensationally Red's blog about her adventure and challenge of becoming an ultra-runner and she not only finished her first 50k ultra trail run Saturday but came within 2 minutes of nailing her predict time. That accomplishment is truly amazing and in my mind the ability to know yourself and come so close to predicting what you can do is impressive.

I think exercise whether it's running, biking, swimming, yoga or whatever is more important for the mind and a person's self-esteem than the body. Perhaps it's true that if you take care of the body the mind follows. I know Jessica's move into training for the Chicago marathon has been fascinating to hear about because of the changes that she's going through. It's almost like listening to a scientist begin to unravel the cure for some horrible disease, truly a pleasure to be a part of. And this from a person who a couple of years ago told me "I can't run." Oh sure.

I'm still learning too and Red you'll be happy to hear that early Saturday morning I nearly nailed my predict time in the Nike Rock N Run 5k race at Sox stadium. Jess said we should gun for a 10 minute pace so I thought that was a brilliant idea and a challenge and I'll be damned if I didn't come in at 10:04. Yes I could have gone faster and I could have gone slower but I was more proud of being able to come so close to my predict time. It let me know that my conditioning is coming along pretty well and that I'm in pretty good control of my pacing right now. I have a lot more work to do but a day at a time and a run at a time and barring injury or doing something really stupid, which knowing me is always a possibility, I see I have a chance of getting through another one of my Chicago Marathons this October 7th.

Jake, Jess and I hooked up for this race and it was a really good one. Nike and the Sox can be proud of this one and I hope they bring it back next year. I'm still not sure what Jake's time was but I'll only say he was so far ahead of Jess and I it wasn't even funny. Jake is just one of those people who can't run slow, he claims it's harder on your feet and knees if you run slow, poor guy. Damn, he gets a lot out of his runs though and keeps getting faster but most important he's enjoying the challenge and his private time on the Lakefront.

And on the subject of fast or slow, what is fast? And, what is slow? Well I just don't know. I think 7-8 minute milers are fast but I suppose the elites training at some obscene 5-6 minute pace wouldn't see it that way. I see my 11 minute training pace as slow but I was getting back in the swing of it last summer running with the 12 minute group and they told me I was fast. One of the most fun, funniest and most personable runners in my training group runs something like 14-15 minute pace and quite often runs alone. So maybe that's the slow group. I've come to the conclusion that I'm the only one concerned about my speed or lack of. No one has kicked me out of my running group because I'm too slow. What's sad about me is I often ruin my running day or experience by beating up on myself for not being faster. Jeez Sam, get a life! There's no money involved and you sure as hell won't make the olympics anyway.

I've had a good week. I just didn't feel like running Tuesday, grumpy and pissed off, so I bagged my usual 7 miler, ran a little 45 minute speed/tempo run with my group Wednesday evening. We were working on negative splits and we ran our return trip 2 minutes faster than the initial 23 minutes out so that was another fun confidence builder. There are two young women who have been appointed co-pacers in my pace group and they are a trip. Always, laughing, smiling and cutting up but boy they are metronomes when it comes to pacing. I've nicknamed them the Terror Twins and I think they kind of like it or at least they're nice enough to humor the goofy old man who's always yammering back in the pack.

Jess and I ran the Nike Bastille Day 5k downtown Thursday evening. This new running buddy from my running group Jill joined us and we had a great time. Lots of people and lots of laughs and an interesting course with a bunch, I mean a BUNCH of tight corners but it was a short 5k for some reason so I guess even Nike can make a mistake. Oh well, the times were pretty impressive even if they weren't correct. Evidently not everyone wears a watch on these runs because there were a few people really tripping out about their fast times. I hate to inform them but Jake mapped it out and it was something like 2.97 miles instead of 3.1. We knew when we hit the second mile marker in just over 8 minutes that someone really goofed, was kind of funny...guess you had to be there.

I got in around 25 miles last week not counting the 3-4 extra miles I covered this morning meeting Jess at Navy Pier and returning home and I feel great. So far, everything is working fine, I'm moving well and trying to balance easy and hard so I don't tighten up a hamstring again and am staying alert for the chronic tendinitis that flares up in my right lower calf, soleus/achilles area. I've been more diligent in stretching that area going into training and I know the one or two yoga classes I get to each week really help.

Pretty basic week ahead with one 5k downtown on Thursday at Soldier Field and the rest pretty routine. Will try to get my head straight and get back to my traditional totem pole run 7 miler on Tuesday, speed work with the group on Wednesday and I see from the schedule it's cutback week so the Saturday morning long run is only 8 miles, so I just might jump up a notch and run with the 10 min pace group instead of the 11 minute. However, since I really am basically lazy I'll probably stick with the Terror Twins and just bullshit along at 11 min for the 8.

It's what I do best...just ask my kids:)

Warming Up Here In Chi Town

2007-07-07T16:58:00.000-07:00

It's warming up here in Chi town with the heat index approaching 100 on Sunday. Makes running a bit more challenging and have to slow the pace a bit so I can tolerate the run and adapt to the heat, which usually takes around two weeks.

Got in a nice 9 miler this morning with Jess and enjoyed a lunch with Jake and Jess at BeBes. I hadn't been there and I'm glad I went because it was a real nifty place on lower Hubbard Street, outdoor seating and we had a nice table under a tree so we dined in shade and a cool breeze. The roast pork sandwich was really good and as usual the portion size of sandwich and fries was about twice what I eat these days so I boxed half of it and will finish it off tonight at dinner or maybe sometime Sunday.

I pushed a 7 miler a little on Tuesday. Wednesday July fourth I was off work so went for a long bike ride in the morning and knocked out a brisk 5 miler in the afternoon.

Big running week ahead for me with five miles early tomorrow (Sunday) then pilates, will do my usual 7 Tuesday, little speed work Wed eve with my group then the annual Bastille Day 5K and block party is Thursday evening downtown. Nike is now sponsoring this race and like Nike or not you have to admit they really know how to put on a race, always first class. Jess and I and a woman at work will run that thing together. Jake informed me today his personal disciplined training program involves no races during the week and no runs over 6 miles. I'm glad there is one somewhat sensible person in my group of friends and family. I've always agreed with him that several 3-5 mile runs during the week are good for health and anything beyond that is just craziness. And, there sure is a lot of craziness around here. The Lakefront looked like keystone cops early this morning with all the marathon training groups in motion.

Saturday morning Nike is sponsoring a new 5 mile race at Sox stadium so Jess, Jake and I will run that one together. Jess and I will miss our respective group long run Saturday morning so we agreed today to team up early Sunday and knock down a 12 miler together. I think I talked Jess into running the Lakefront south from Navy Pier Sunday morning instead of north. The Lakefront south shore isn't quite so loaded with people and there are more trees, lots more grass and open area so it will be a new trip for Jess and a run through nostalgia for me.

One of my all-time favorite runs for me occurred in the late 90s when I was in pretty good shape. I ran solo from Oak Street Beach south to South Shore Country Club and back which pencils out to 24 miles. It was my longest training run ever and I discovered a new level of mental toughness the last 5 miles of that thing. I'll never forget that run and how special it was for me. It was a big breakthrough for me as a runner and as a person.

Starbucks Girl Lost 100 Pounds

2007-06-30T17:52:00.000-07:00

One of my habits is making the block long walk on a regular, almost obsessive basis, down to the local Starbucks coffee shop. I agree with Sensationally Red and others that there is no downside to caffeine in moderation but I just drink too darned much coffee. It isn't that I like the coffee so much that keeps me trekking back and forth to Starbucks. The reason I go down there so often is that I live alone and I get lonely. There's always a smile and a "hey Sam" down there because I'm one of the regulars and I'm sure they laugh behind my back about "the old runner who comes in here all the time" but I don't really care about that. Years ago I'm sure the comments about me were on the order of "oh shit, here he comes and he's drunk, quick let's get the hell out of here because there's going to be trouble." So, even though I still have my issues, I know I'm improving my health and have enhanced the peace of mind of those who know me.

My plan this evening was to write a note about the fabulous 9 mile run this morning in a cool breeze, low humidity and sunny lakefront. The reality is for whatever reason I struggled with the run from start to finish. I knew through the early miles that something wasn't right and I don't have a clue what was wrong. I was talking to someone else in my group about it and they offered up the tired old phrase "some runs are like that." Welp, guess they're right. I got through it, kept pace and all, but it wasn't the run I wanted. Poor me.

I've been a bit pissed all day about the crappy run but my last trip to Starbucks for the evening pulled me out of my funk. The tall pretty girl looked a bit tired or down so I asked her how she was and she kind of frowned and mumbled something like same old crap or whatever. Now that I'm old I've gotten used too and accepted the fact that young people many times feel they can confide their true feelings to me, and in reality they can do that without fear of judgment. I don't know why that is, it just is, sort of like the crappy run...it was just that way, no particular reason.

She knows I run for a living so she said she might be tired because she usually runs 3 or 4 miles on her own but today she ran 6-1/2 with a friend. Could be she was just tired.

But then the sky opened up and with a big beautiful smile she told me she lost 100 pounds by running and with better eating habits. "I used to be a big girl," she said. I looked at her big smile that had been absent a few seconds ago and I offered up something really bright like "holy crap, that's just wonderful" or something like that, then my eyes teared up and so did hers but we both had a big smile on our faces and I told her I started working out and running about 15 years ago, not because I was overweight but because I was underweight, had almost no muscle tone left anywhere and despised myself.

I walked home with my tall coffee and also dragged home a moca frappucino for the doorman. The frap had a big load of calories in it, the Starbucks girl said, and it wouldn't be good for me to drink. Well, that's true but once in awhile I do splurge and the doorman is in his early 30s and plays pretty aggressive hoops on an almost daily basis...so he'll be okay.

So my habitual trips to Starbucks are usually a waste of time and money but tonight's journey was pretty eventful for me. In a few short minutes I could see the humor in my situation and my irritation at a so-called bad run and I understood again that there are no bad runs, some are just better than others.

Ms. Legs Is Doin' 9 Saturday

2007-06-26T15:28:00.000-07:00

I was getting off the elevator in my building this evening and Ms. Legs was getting on. She's one of the prettiest and nicest women in my building and is the one who a few weeks ago, during another elevator encounter when I was coming in for a run, asked me if I would happen to be training for the marathon. I told her I was and she said she was too. It's her first marathon and she's turning 40 this year.

Well that's about all I know about her, but it's enough for now and maybe forever because I have a new friend who's not rude and has a really warm and real smile. I saw her coming in the front door a couple of evenings ago but I was yammering with the doorman about either Paris Hilton or the war so I didn't get to talk to her. However, her big smile reached me across the lobby. What is it about distance runners and the immediate bonding? Maybe we just know we're all nuts but also know the only harm we may cause is to ourselves.

I asked Ms. Legs this evening how her training was going. She said she was going to do 9 Saturday and she would be glad to see how that goes. I didn't even think to compliment her on her beauty, or whooo hooo her fine frame, I'm thinking I've lost it or beginning to lose it or maybe I've found it? It's all a bit confusing how my priorities have changed.

I hope she can train this summer without hurting herself and get to the finish line of that marathon. I remember well my first marathon. The medal looked and felt like the biggest pot of gold anyone could place on this earth. It was the spring of 1998 and a Cher look-a-like was wandering around at the finish line giving hugs. She told me she liked sweaty men. But...she had an awfully deep husky voice? Hmmm, how do you spell transvestite? I was so happy I hugged IT anyway. I mean, hell we were in California.

I'm really proud and humbled too that I've been able to run and learn how to suck it up near the end of some difficult training runs and marathons. And I'm also seeing how I can be of help to other runners, especially the newbies, just by showing interest in their adventure and giving them a bit of encouragement.

Also, I would like to say that my hat's off to any ultra, trail runner, mountain or hill runner, that may stumble across this writing. I've been reading about you all and I can't relate to your stamina but I can relate to your bonding and support for each other and I respect you.

One decision I made in the fall of 1998 when I ran my personal best here on the flat asphalt of Chicago was that I'd never run further than 26.2 miles the rest of my life. All that was one my mind the last 2 or 3 miles is "I need a big bag of M&Ms and get this bitch over with." This was when boca burgers were being promoted. They were serving them at the finish line and I ate 4 of them as fast as I could and was still hungry but was starting to embarass myself.

By the way Red, the ham jerky was just okay. Fairly mild, not too salty but you'll have a happy and full life if you never buy a bag of it.

So, Ms Legs is doing 9 Saturday morning and that's what my schedule calls for. The 8 miler last Saturday felt great since it was nice and cool so we'll see what's in store this weekend. Ran a brisk 5 Monday, took today (Tuesday) off, will run 3 early tomorrow morning, 7 miles of tempo on my own Thursday, kick the 9 or get kicked with my group Saturday morning then pull out the stops Sunday morning in a little 5k race downtown called the Race To Taste, in association with the annual Taste Of Chicago.

I'm picking up the pace a little after trotting along and treading water last year and feeling very, very good but most of all I'm very grateful that I can be active and alive.

Goody Bags, Hyponatremia, A Brisk 5K

2007-06-22T13:52:00.000-07:00

I ran a 29:46 5K Thursday night in Grant Park in a little race to raise funds for cancer research. The 9:46 per mile pace was slow for me but considering where I've been the past two years I'll take it because it's the fastest I've ran since a trip to the emergency room at Northwestern Hospital in the summer of 2005. About two weeks after I got out of ER my mom died and I went to her funeral feeling like crap, worried that I might trip and fall down, so it wasn't a good summer. However, I did learn another lesson and frankly I'm quite tired of lessons but I know there are more ahead of me.

I've not been keen on talking much about my injuries or setbacks because I usually get the usual "shit man you're old" look "give it up, read a book or something." That really gets old! The trip to ER was due to what experts say is a rare condition called hyponatremia, low blood sodium, not enough salt. I was pushing it a bit in the heat and humidity and was losing my balance but thought I was having trouble adapting to the heat. Very embarassing. Well, I got to a point where I thought I was going to fall down and was worried that I might be having a stroke, thus the trip to ER.

One intern after another would stop by and ask if I were still having chest pains and I kept repeating that I never had chest pains. I knew I was in deep shit lying on my back in that place. My "old" running buddy Bambi, who's 30 years my junior and of course beautiful, called me and these are the first words that came out of her mouth. "Boy you'll do anything to get out of a run." My running friends are true friends? Jeez! I was in ER on a Friday night and we were supposed to do a 10 miler early Saturday morning and I had to bag a run...dammit!. I stayed overnight and took the prescribed stress test the following morning on a treadmill and was told by a cute nurse with a Jodie Foster like southern drawl "urrrr ahhh-some." YES...I KNOW! The cardiologist told me "you're out of this hotel." YES! And the only thing the Doctor could find was "your blood sodium is a little low" so he recommended increased salt intake. Duh! Yep, so now I know about not only hydration but electrolyte imbalance and its affect on the brain. And I need to conserve as many brain cells and nerves as I can considering what I've put myself through in this journey we call life.

I've not had this funky hyponatremia problem since then but I ran very, very slow last year and ran with fear. And, that isn't the way I do anything, much less run.

Soooooo I have been pushing a bit more this summer and thus my excitement about actually running a little brisk-er 5K and being able to walk straight the next day. It's the little things in life that are important, like being able to talk and walk, enjoy a sunrise or sunset...much less run.

Speaking of little things, all of these little 5ks here in the Windy City have the usual goody bags, stuffed with stuff like a mini energy bar. I usually get home, look for the energy bar and toss it on top of my fridge for later use, then I pitch the rest of the stuff. Once in awhile there's a running shirt in the bag called a "keeper."

Well, the goody bag I got last night featured a bag of Jeff Foxworthy ham jerky, never tried it, didn't know it existed but it put an even bigger smile on my face than I had because of the refreshing heart-pounding run I had just completed. I might even share a piece of the dried ham with my son, with my blue collar friends and hide it from the suit and tie crowd.

Yes, this working stiff farm boy has to keep a few secrets from some of the aristocrats around here. But there are a lot of good and real people in this big brawling city...really there are! Tomorrow morning I'm meeting a bunch of tough son-of-a-guns for an 8 mile run along Lake Michigan and there will be no fear, maybe a little nervous, but never afraid.

I've found a home, I'm no longer a misfit and I'm in hog heaven with my little bag of ham jerky that I won. Git-er-done!

Five Reasons To Run

2007-06-20T14:50:00.000-07:00

I almost feel obligated to blog something now that I have one or two pen pals. My day job as a correspondent for Reuters News, covering the insanity of the grain futures markets at the Chicago Board Of Trade, tends to discourage me from writing another line about anything when I'm in my little home.

However, I am discovering a pretty good release from a bit of stress that may have built up by tapping out something that eyes other than mine can see. It's one thing to keep a private diary, quite another to expose myself to the wild and wacky world of the web...this keeps me honest.

It seems a bit egotistical and arrogant for me to think about a legacy that I may leave my kids and granddaughters. I grew up with a false sense of humility, you know, be damned sure to never think highly of yourself because if you do god will get you.

Well screw it!

I want my kids and granddaughters to be proud of their Grandpa Sam. It's a miracle that I'm alive, much less have a family, considering the hell raising I did from the late teens to the late twentys. My antics have mellowed a bit over the years, but I still have to be on the edge to feel alive. And, maybe that's really why I run. And frankly I like the attention, the shoes, shirts, shades, laughter, jammin music and of course the pretty girls. So, I'm a big show-off and headed for hell but I sure have a lot of good company.

I'm meeting my running group this evening for an easy hour of some damned running. I don't know why anyone ever calls a run an "easy run". I've never had an easy run but some have been less difficult than others. Easy in my mind is sitting on my ass dreaming of what I want to be if and when I ever grow up.

It's sunny, 78, low humidity and a cool breeze here on the Lakefront in Chicago and I'm headed out the door to kick butt, my own, and believe me it needs kicking. I'm doing this running gig for many reasons and here are five of the most important ones.

Stephanie, Natalie, Mallorie, Rylee and Scarlett

I hope you can laugh and tell your kids and grandkids that Grandpa Sam was a little different but was a pretty good runner...for an old fart!

A Brief Visit Into The Past

2007-06-18T06:22:00.000-07:00

Since Sensationally Red has this blogging obsession and since I have somehow fallen into her internet web, I thought it would be good to check in and let her know that I really am trying to learn how to post pictures to this darned thing.
This is me before the start of the Suzuki Rock and Roll Marathon in San Diego in the spring of 1998. It was my first marathon. I trained and did the fund raising thing for the Leukemia Society Team In Training marathon program.

You can't see the writing on my arms but in magic marker is written Orlando who was the little six year old Leukemia patient I was assigned to run for. On the other arm is written Mike, who was the friend of mine who died in December 1997 of Leukemia. His death made me mad enough to accept the challenge of running "A" marathon to raise funds to help find a cure for the disease. Welp, for some dumb reason I'm still running.

This one's for you Red, now I need to find a camera and refine my "so-called new-found skills." When I run across a hot young woman who is so passionate about fitness and/or running I simply cannot ignore their fine example. I have five little active, healthy and athletic granddaughters and I want them to be like you when they grow up.
Carry on!

What Is REALLY Going On?

2007-06-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

Something's in the air, or water, or in my head. Being an admitted head case, it's probably the latter.

I've been running for awhile now, been involved with several training groups and there has always been a big group of eager "newbies" ready to tackle the marathon, half-marathon or maybe their first 5k. But I have never, never seen so many people coming out of the woodwork and lacing up their new Nikes, Sauconys, Asics, Mizunos or whatever as this spring. I do tend to embellish events at times and maybe I'm just an old drama queen..er I mean king but this borders on a running explosion rather than a running revolution.

The training group I'm currently with SOLD OUT the training program for the Soldier Field 10 miler that was held Memorial Day weekend. And, they had to put a cap on the training entrys for this summer's half and full marathon here in the Windy City. The Chicago Marathon registration was increased to 45,000 this year from last year's 40,000 and the damned thing filled up a month earlier than last year.

People have always been a bit curious about my running and quite often bring it up in casual conversations. You know the questions such as do you get high running? How many marathons? Are you training now? How far did you go Saturday? What do you eat? Do your knees hurt? And of course the two inevitable questions..."if I may ask, how old are you?" and "how in the hell do you smoke and run?"

Those questions continue. But there is a big exodus of people, for some reason mostly women and a few good men, coming up to me with a big smile when I come in from a run with sweat dripping from my bald head and matter-of-fact stating that "I'm signed up for the marathon, my first one." "Well, let's rock," I say.

One of my editors at work, a woman I think around 40 something, says she's getting the running bug but isn't going to give up yoga. "Never give up yoga," I say, "it's a great complement to your running."

Last week I got on the elevator in my building with a freakin beautiful tall leggy girl who looked at me in my running togs and gave me a big beautiful smile. Hell even I, the guy, was envious of her good looks. Naturally, I got a little light headed and was wishing I had packed a really bold, manly deodorant in my fanny pack. I was taken aback and sort of smiled back expecting her to turn away but NO! And she said, "you wouldn't happen to be training for the marathon, would you?" "Well, yes I am." "Me too, it's my first one, I'm turning 40 this year so why not." Ah crap, to be 40 again!

There is another young woman in my building training for her second thon and she wants to run with me when we get to the high mileage part of training because "it gets boring then and harder." That's sure as hell true!
Foxy Shelly at work is going for her first thon, a young man named Ron is new to our group and training for the half but he already has a sore foot. Then there's Curt, big strapping young man who wants to run fast, gunning for his first half. Damn he works hard, very proud of him. And my favorite newbie is Jessica, my son's squeeze. Jess is kicking butt, taking names and had this goofy idea of keeping the running going over the winter and do the Walt Disney Marathon on January 13 too. Sheesh! Get over it girl. So now I'm registered for the damned goofy Disney thing in early 2008 and I'm not sure I'll survive the summer.

The running trail along Lake Michigan early each Saturday morning looks like a darned locust swarm during a hot dry summer on the High Plains. The poor bikers are freaked out trying to dodge crazy-assed marathon trainees popping all flavors of gel packs or shot blocks and discussing the merits of gatorade over tap water all while trying to stay two abreast and avoid tripping the traveler in front of them.

I started running in the early 90s, not because I was getting old but because I wanted to see if I could do it. I did it and I'm still doing it because no one will let me quit!!!!

It's really hard living in my head, but at times it's pretty interesting.

Keep Trying-Don't Quit

2007-06-12T16:49:00.000-07:00

Everyone has their own journey, personal dreams, strengths and weaknesses be it physical or mental. There are a lot of people who are faster than I, bigger, stronger and much more disciplined. But there is no one just like me and no one just like you. So we're unique...just like everyone else:)

I read your December 3, 2006 blog Red and it would be great if that were posted on some "help for smokers" website or something. It is very motivating and reminded me that I need to think and become a non-smoker, instead of continue to smoke and wish I were a non-smoker. I'm having a hard time growing up, but I'll get there.

And, yes I agree that it's a bit puzzling how and especially why some people smoke and run. I've been asked about that many, many times and all I can say is that I run slow. A young trainer told me several years ago and these were his exact words, "you sir, are a genetic freak." Still not sure if I like that label. But I'm just weird and I've accepted that. I will say though that I enjoy people, even like some of them and mean no harm to anyone.

I just got in from a seven mile run on the Lakefront and the weather was picture perfect, nice sunshine, cool breeze and 70 degrees F. Yes, that's unusual for Chicago. I've never heard anyone say they moved here for the weather but we do get a few days here and there to brag about. I'll have to get off my butt in the future and get this blog set up for pics, get a cool camera and show off some of my running friends and my personal running havens.

Running on asphalt and concrete isn't my idea of a running mecca but when I keep my head up and my mind in a good place, it's a pretty nice world around here.

I've been running and working out for around 15 years, have heard about and experienced a lot of training programs and the reality is most of them are good, providing I get off my butt and get into action.

The bottom line for me whether it be starting a training or exercise program, addressing a habit, addiction, vice or whatever you want to call them is to keep trying and don't quit.

Setbacks are inevitable...giving up is not an option!

Six Weird Things About Me

2007-06-11T15:47:00.000-07:00

I see Sensationally Red has given me an edict to post six weird things about me. The timing is perfect because I've been beating myself up over one of them and it's time to make a few changes in my life. Unfortunately for anyone who may stop by to read this, none of it is very funny/weird. Well maybe it is a bit humorous. I don't blog much and frankly don't comment on very many blog sites so I don't know who I'll pass this too.

But, here goes.

1. I'm 63 years old, have been running for around 15 years, completed 6 marathons, training for my seventh and I have been smoking for 40 years. Okay, not weird...just sick!

2. When other runners find out I smoke they think it's weird, but they let me run with them anyway. I think I'd run away from me.

3. It's weird to me that I'll lace up my sneakers, go for a five mile run and the last mile all I can think about is getting down to Starbucks, get home, plop my butt in my chair and light up.

4. I quit smoking two years ago for over two months and I felt better from day one. In the first couple of weeks, I thought about smoking but I didn't have any physical withdrawal symptoms. I was calmer, running was easier then I tightened up a hamstring, got pissed off and lit up. Now, that's just weird.

5. I've become obsessed with wanting to be the healthiest, happiest and fastest 63 year old I can possibly be but I have a cigarette going as I write this. Weird?

6. Tonight is my I quit night. I can keep a commitment and I've never committed to do this in writing or expressed my frustration publically. Wanting to be the best at something and continually almost deliberately sabotaging the opportunity to achieve a goal is just freakin WEIRD!!!

There, I did it. Now you know I'm just overall weird.

I'm getting up an hour earlier starting tomorrow morning for an early morning run before work. I've done this before and it felt great, and I want to feel great. I've worked hard on my body so I can handle some pretty heavy workouts. Now, the mind has to focus on the big nicotine hurdle.

Looking forward to more positive, happier and maybe less weird posts in the future.

Thanks Red for the kick in the pants.
You are one active, honest and interesting blogger and an inspiration to us all.

Zoo Run Run

2007-06-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

My son Jake, his girlfriend Jessica and I ran the annual Run For The Zoo in Lincoln park this morning and had a grand old time cruising through this family-friendly 5k. There is also a 10k version but we elected to run the short one and I figured I'd look a bit conspicious in the kids run.

I got passed by a couple of baby joggers but it didn't bother me much because the paths were narrow, the humidity high and everyone was having a good time, including me. I was in no hurry to get this little race over with because the race planners really sent us on a scenic and interesting winding path around the zoo and Lincoln Park. There were a lot of families with little kids and that made the morning even more special than a PR or an attempt to run fast-er:)

One of my favorite runs is my personal zoo run. From my abode near Oak Street Beach on the Lakefront, winding through Lincoln Park and the zoo to Belmont Avenue and back is close enough to 5 miles that I don't feel guilty about notching that number in my mental chart of weekly mileage.

On my winter runs, if it is really cold, I will sometimes duck into the underground passage/observatory at the sea lion exhibit, warm up a minute or two and watch the sea lions do their underwater cartwheels and whatever. There's a nifty glassed in cove that allows human intruders such as I to watch the show, and perhaps the lions get a kick out of some goofball human staring at them through a glass while the frost melts off his beard in the winter and the sweat beads drip from his bald head in the heat of summer.

Jessica is doing well with her initial foray into running and has registered for the Chicago Marathon, hooked up with the Leukemia Society's Team In Training program and is getting stronger and faster. I keep reminding her to get the mileage in first and the speed will come later but she's young and I think she wants to go really fast...hmmm, don't we all.

Jake is cracking out 3-5 milers with ease now. Despite his silence, I think he is convinced we're nuts for pushing runs over 5 miles...and of course he's right. What's really great though is that he is very supportive and encouraging of anyone who wants to tackle a marathon.

He has always been fascinated with the show that Chicago marathoners put on here each year so Jessica and I will try to liven it up to the best of our ability, assuming we get to the start line with no serious injuries while training through the heat of summer.

I was thinking today of Gerry Lindgren (sp), the great mid-distance runner of my era, the late 60s and early 70s. He says his job was to make other people better runners.

A major difference between he and I is that he pulled runners from the front while I push from behind. But we're all part of a special team...and I'm proud of that!

10 Mile "Race"? Not

2007-05-31T12:27:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 26th I sort of ran the annual Soldier Field 10 Miler here in the City Of Big Shoulders.

I sent the following email account of my experience to my 10 year running buddy Bambi.

She'll probably be mad at me for sharing the email but it wouldn't be the first time I've annoyed her...it's my job and role in life.

Hey Bambi,
Couple things to tell you about the race.
1. Boy it was hard!
2. I'm too old for this running crap.
3. You made a wise decision to stay in camp and drink liquor and eat.
4. Next year I'd like to go camping with you instead of run this foolish race.
5. That Asian girl Sara, the "new" runner was BORN TO RUN...I knew it, I could see her natural easy stride the first time we ran together. So if there's any consolation I got from training and running this goofy race it is that I can spot a runner when I see one. She has that same fluid ease of movement that my nephew has.
6. DAMMIT!!! I wish I could run like that.
7. I either have to quit smoking or quit running, the turmoil is killing me.
8. I don't know why you still speak to me.
9. But I'm glad you still speak to me.
10. And I hope you had a great weekend, maybe I will now that I got this foolish run behind me.

There, that pretty well sums it up:)

Now the blow by blow account, just in case you're really bored. I wouldn't expose my stupidity to anyone but you since I think you're the only friend I have with an extreme sort of perverted tolerance for silly old farts:)

Mile:
1. 10:43:90 (feeling frisky, lots of pretty girls but couldn't find one to match up with you)
2. 10:39:52 (warmed up now and planned to pick up the pace...HA HA HA)
3. 10:39:38 (what can I say, didn't have it in me...^$%%#%#)
4. 10:59:77 (thinking maybe I'm an 11 min miler instead of 10 min miler %$%%#%, cough, spit, belch, bitch and moan)
5. 10:23:71 (okay, little better but I'm breathing too hard. what's wrong with me? fume, curse, curse)
6. 10:43:65 (screw this business. there's a cute girl with pink short, shorts...maybe I can keep up with her)
7. 11:39:68 (okay, so I can't run, I don't care, I wanna go home to my Starbucks and Marlboros)
8. 11:30:09 (guess I'll trot this bitch out but I'll be damned if I'm going to smile. sara hollers "hey sam"..she caught me)
9. 10:10:09 (sara threw down, she was flying and having fun...what's an old man to do)
10. 9:44:63 (glad that's over, sara is excited and enjoyed the "speed" the last mile, so i'm happy for her..mad at myself)
Total:
1:47:15:42
Average:
10:43:54

My goal was 10:00-10:30 min pace.
Missed my goal, I was slow but I WAS OUT THERE!!! WHOO HOO!
What did I learn?

I'm not the only cashew in this big bag of mixed nuts called the human race.

Now I'm going to take a nice hot shower, take a nap and wing my way to the corn fields of Nebraska and to the Land Of Oz!

Wish my mother were still alive to bake me some swedish rye bread. Sigh!
Life goes on.

Carry on wayward daughter.

See ya!
Sam

The Man With No Legs

2007-04-24T18:41:00.000-07:00

I've been on many runs in the past 15 years or so. In a way, all of them have been difficut but in a more important way, all have been good...some better than others. One of my most difficult races also ranks near the top of my most memorable and fulfilling runs.

It was a 10k race in the south loop of Chicago, a charity run for the Chicago Rehabilitation Institute. This institute helps people recover from severe physical impairments.

My long time running buddy and good friend "Bambi" had the bright idea to run this race, in the heat and humidity, on the hot asphalt, in the summer of 1999 or was it 2000? Doesn't really matter.

Bambi was in shape, had another brilliant idea to run a couple of miles before this "wonderful" race so we would be loosened up and ready to roll. Like a dumbass I agreed with her, pretty girls can still talk me into more darned trouble than I could ever discover on my own.

I wasn't in shape but figured a 10k wouldn't be much of a problem, and it wasn't too bad until the last 2 miles. For whatever reason, the proverbial freakin "WALL" came tumbling down on me or I ran headlong into it or whatever. I was drenched, cussing, pissed off, tired and decided I would never run another step the rest of my life. Oh sure!

Bambi was just cruising, talking...girls talk a lot...and having a grand 'ol time then we ran into our old running coach and they started up a just marvelous conversation, getting caught up and all about how fantastic we are as really cool runners...you know how it goes.

Coach made the dumbest observation and comment I ever heard from him, and I had heard a lot. He had the nerve to smile at me and say "Man, you're looking great." Jeez, I guess I do hide my pain rather well.

I managed to hold pace and keep up with them and stumbled over the finish line, walked a few steps and came face to face with a middle-aged man or older...maybe in his 50s which was about my age at the time. He was sitting in a wheel chair, under a shade tree and had the biggest warmest smile on his face and this saint had no legs. I stared at him in a fog and he asked me a most difficult question.

"How was your run?"

I looked at this man with no legs, enjoying the circus of sweaty runners and through the humiliation of a really difficult and "character building" run I smiled, then started to laugh and in all honesty I could say:

"IT WAS GREAT!!!"

I just got in from a bit of a difficult 7 miler, still trying to get in shape...whatever the hell that may be...and through much of tonight's run the memory of the man with no legs kept me moving. Tonight my legs are both attached, a bit sore, but in the morning...spirit willing... I'll be able to swing out of bed, walk into the shower and tackle a new day.

And this summer, assuming that race is still in existence, I'm going to lure Bambi back to that starting line and: KICK HER ASS!

Damn, I love running for a living.

Okay, I'll keep running

2007-04-23T14:09:00.000-07:00

I've been beating the hell out of myself for I don't know how long for not training better, not running a Boston qualifying time, for getting too damned old too soon.
Then Saturday morning I ran a 5K with my son's girlfriend. It was her first ever go at that distance, first time running outdoors, first time running with a group of crazy goddamned fools!
I ran with her, thinking she might want to walk a bit but noooo!
Then we hit the one and only aid station and I suggested a cup of water thinking we might sip our drink and walk and talk a bit. Hell noooo!
She took a drink, threw the cup in the waste barrel and took off.
So, I said to myself...self...this girl is on a mission...and you know something funny...I started smiling as I BSd with her to around 3 miles then told her we needed to sprint finish and scare the hell out of some people.
She thought that was great and away we went.
To make a long story short, I don't remember now what I have been bitchin about.
To run with someone in their first ever race and see them finish strong and with a big proud smile tends to make any bump or bruise I may have ever had disappear in a big hurry.
I'm signed up for Chicago's Soldier Field 10 miler the end of May, the Distance Classic half marathon this summer and....of course I'm in for my Chicago Marathon on Oct. 2.
And I'm for sure going to get in as many 5 and 10ks as I can this summer.
CONGRATULATIONS JESS!!!!!!!

Guess I'll keep running and training.

Alternative to this lifestyle

2007-03-03T18:48:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking, thinking a lot and that's usually a big mistake. I've been thinking about where I am in my life, taking an inventory of sorts and I decided to jot down a few of my thoughts and maybe I can get my butt into action. In other words, quit thinking about where I've been and what I want to do and start doing.

I see this blog as sort of a diary and by exposing myself like this mabe I can be more disciplined and honest in my training and in my life. I don't think many read this blog anyway but I check back on it off and on to see if anyone shows up and I read through my latest entry. I now see each entry as not only my personal/public diary and my discipline coach. Now that's a thought. Let's start a health club and we'll hire discipline coaches? Oh, probably not. The word discipline doesn't sound good. Kind of like workout, damn! Why can't life be all beautiful sunrises and sunsets, skip the workout and discipline stuff, take pills and feel good.

I've been running for around 15 years now. My first run was here on the Chicago lakefront with my son Jake and a friend of ours. I was in my late 40s at the time and hadn't ran since high school, and even then a 2 mile run was just punishment issued by our football coach for not hitting hard enough in football practice.

My run with Jake was going to be a three miler. I had been working out some so I wasn't too worried and took off. I made it maybe a half mile and my lower legs, shins started hurting like hell and my breathing rate went through the roof. Who knows what my heart rate was.

Jake and our friend told me to run and walk it through and they would wait for me. So that's what I did. Why I perservered I will never know. All I know is that my thought at the time was "boy this is hard, I have to learn to do this."

Since that first run I've completed 6 marathons, several half marathons and who knows how may 5Ks and 10Ks. I start training now for the 2007 running season. I'm committed to the local Shamrock Shuffle 8K at the end of March, the Soldier Field 10 miler this spring, the Chicago Distance Classic half marathon this summer and the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 7.

AND...I'm going to get back into some speedwork this year because I miss it and because it helps me run faster during my distance runs. I still have a Boston qualifying time on my mind and I want to qualify in my first love, The Chicago Marathon, my marathon. There is a great 400 meter track about a mile from where I live. In the late 90s and the summer of 2004 I would jog to that track, do a steady mile then go as hard as I could with several 400 and 800 repeats, cool down a mile and jog the mile home. It was good for me and I felt better about myself as a runner and as a person for having faced it down and endured. Thinking about the workouts I did intimidates me, but once I got rolling the actual workout never did intimidate me, even though I often red lined and puked a bit.

There is a 5K or two almost every weekend here and I went through a couple of summers where I was running one almost every weekend and sometimes one during the week. They were part of my speedwork and there was always someone to race with.

I quit doing those 5Ks a couple of years ago and I miss them so that is one goal I have for this summer, push my butt through some 5Ks, race a little and have some fun. My running has turned into another stressor in my life rather than a stress reliever and this has to stop....NOW.

The days are flying by and while I don't mind being old, I'm 62 pushing 63, I don't relish the thought of feeling old so I'm going to do everything in my power to stay independent and healthy. I'm always in over my head, running this, yoga this, pilates this and now a funky thing called core fusion. While these workouts aren't macho oriented each one addresses a vital part of my body and my mind and are healthy alternatives to weights as cross training workouts. However, I want to get back on the weights too because I enjoy them. I haven't touched a weight in over a year and I confess I enjoyed flexing my biceps on occasion at the local races as I spit and strut a bit. I'm not the fastest boy in town but I'm sure I must really worry some of the front runners before the gun goes off. (insert a little laughter here)

For years I've been trotting along and experimenting with this running game, having fun, and I now want to see what one old body can do if it is properly cared for and nourished. I've finally gotten it through my thick head that this body is the only constant in my life. People come and go, money comes in and goes out, the sun rises and sets, days pass by, occasionally a cute girl will smile and say hey and move on, once in awhile a fellow runner will run and chat with me, then we go our separate ways....but I'm stuck with me 24-7 for better or worse.

I've been told and it's been implied I'm abnormal. And for that I say hooray.

A "normal" 62 year old male in this society is 1. Overweight 2. Watches TV and drinks a lot of booze. 3. Drives a sports car and pays for nice clothes for a 20 something girl (well that one doesn't sound too bad though). 4. Doesn't like to be around young people (I don't understand this one. Maybe youth reminds us of advancing age? Anyway, I sure remember being young and it was hard so my hat's off to the young) 5. Thinks he's hot stuff only because he's lived a long time and has experience (the reality is we're just damned lucky to be alive) 6. Is on who knows how many prescription drugs. 7. Thinks old farts like me who train and run marathons are crazy (and they're right on that one) and I'm proud to be crazy.

So, the alternative to an active and healthy lifestyle is to be a couch potato, spend insurance money on doctors, prescription drugs and keep driving up the cost of health care all to the joy of the alleged health care machine.

I remember as a little boy thinking that society was screwed up...and I was right.

Bring it on!

2006-12-28T16:15:00.000-08:00

I got back from Christmas vacation Christmas day and jumped into the work scene Tuesday, ran for an hour on my own Tuesday afternoon then hooked up with my running group Wednesday evening and ran hard for 50 minutes in the chilly dark night on the Lakefront.

This woman I trained with over the summer wants to get faster and boy is she competitive. I hauled her out for 25 minutes and back for about 15, then the old rip took off and left me in the dust. Okay, my excuse...I'm up 10 pounds since the October 22 Chicago marathon (and I"m freakin lazy). Soooo, I have a lot of work to do...after all, I'm competitive too and am determined to take her to school in 2007 and learn a few lessons myself along the way.

It feels good to be back into solid runs with no breaks after a summer of getting back in shape a bit and experimenting with this new-age run/walk program. I just hafta run, different strokes ya know.

I had a lot of healing and training to do this year after my bout with the electrolyte imbalance (low blood sodium) I got hit with the summer of 2005 and an embarassing trip to ER and following self-imposed exile from running a step for about seven months. I have no excuses now. My legs, feet and movement are right on and now its cardio, cardio, cardio...and I've been running long enough to know what I have to do.

BARF! BARF! BARF!
Can't wait, I love to puke:)
Boston here I come.
Bye for now.

Sixteen Seconds!

2006-10-28T17:22:00.000-07:00

Completed my 6th marathon here in Chicago Sunday, October 22 and almost nailed my predict time right on. Was gunning for 5:15 and chip time was 5:15:16. It was the first marathon that I deliberately ran slow. Did a run/walk training thing this summer and did the 5 min run 1 minute walk on Sunday. Goal was 12 min pace and right at 12:01. It was an interesting summer training and I had more fun than one old man should have had during the marathon. Was all over the course, flirting with girls, grabbing spirit beads from one group then handing them off to little kids with their parents who didn't have any beads. Was chilly around 35-38 degrees, wind gusts and high humidity but it didn't matter at all. I was alive and moving. I was shocked at the big crowd of spectators despite the nasty weather.

I just have to quit smoking and see what I could do with my running with clear lungs and a clear conscience. I've cut corners with my training but really haven't gotten by with anything. I have to run under 4 hours to qualify for the Boston Marathon. At this point, I've done all the marathons I want to do for fun. The next one has to be a fast one, which is another level of fun. I have to find the guts to do my hardest training ever....STOP SMOKING!

I committed to the run/walk program this year because I had heard so much about it and some people love it. I did it, but mentally I just couldn't adapt. Once I get in the zone with running, I just have to keep running to feel good about myself.

Different strokes for different folks. Not original, but it holds true.

"All We Are Is Dust In The Wind"
Later
Sam

Twenty and a half and counting down

2006-10-03T16:50:00.000-07:00

I survived my endurance and confidence building weekend. My groupies and I did our 20 early Saturday on the lakefront and for some reason the 20 was so much easier than the 18 miler
two weeks ago it's scary.

Soooo. I got cocky and went ahead with the Chicago Half early Sunday. About half way through the thing I was seriously thinking that I should have filled out the emergency contact info
on the back side of my bib number.

It was really, really hard but I got the darned medal and by Sunday evening I was feeling like I may have a life after all. I don't have a car here in the city, I'm too cheap to spend money
on a cab and of course I can't ask anyone for a ride. Sooo I ride my little Trek to the start of these runs. Saturday morning's early ride was into the wind and rain and 5 miles and naturally it was a 5 mile ride back home after the 20 mile run.

It's around 10 miles to the Museum of Science and Industry, the start point of the Chicago half so all told I ran 33 miles over the weekend and biked 30. I'm going very, very slow and easy right now because of a setback I had last summer and a visit to ER here in the Windy City.

I'm learning to go slow and enjoy it but I'm looking forward to picking up the pace over the winter and into next year and see what this old man can do. My race times and training runs are around 12 minutes per mile right now. I don't like to admit that because I know I can go faster but this is where my mind and body is today.

And as for tomorrow...just hoping for another breath of air, another run and a few more smiles from these beautiful girls.

"All We Are Is Dust In The Wind" - Kansas

When It Rains...It REALLY Pours

2006-09-25T15:06:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday morning I decided to sleep in rather than meet my group for a "puny" little cut back 10 mile training run. It was nice and warm in bed and I decided to do one of my favorite out and back 10 mile runs "sometime" Saturday afternoon.

Well, I finally got out the door at 4:00 p.m and figured an hour and 45 minutes from Oak Street Beach here on the Lakefront to a little past McCormick Place to the south would be a nice casual solo run for me. I've done it many times before so it seemed like a good plan.

The stroll to McCormick Place or around 5 miles was a good warmup and I turned back north to make my way back up the lakefront to Oak Street Beach. Jolly good time I was having. About a mile into my return trip, around Soldier Field it started to rain a bit and it felt good on my bare chest and back. When I run on my own I prefer no clothing but I do keep my shorts on here in the city to avoid jail time.

I looked to the skyline up north and it was pitch black, clouds were rolling and I said to myself "self, you're in for a long haul here." By the time I got to Shedd Aquarium, maybe 3 miles left of my return home, the wind and rain started whipping in "sideways" directly into my face. And I said to myself "self, this is survival just keep moving and try to stay on your feet so they don't have to dredge the lake for you." The next mile had to be worth a 5 mile tempo run. So much for a nice casual mid-range run.

In a quirkish way, it was enjoyable and cleansing and my breathing rate certainly told me I was building endurance. And what was really funny is there were a few other idiots on the lakefront also trying to do something like running, so I wasn't totally alone...and that's kinda nice... sometimes.

I took Sunday and today, Monday, off. Tuesday a 5 miler, Wednesday speed work with my groupies, Thursday 5 miler and Saturday morning is our granddaddy 20 miler. This training season I'm also doing the Chicago half marathon on Sunday so I'm facing a new challenge. I've done 20 mile training runs before and followed them with an easy 5 the next day to loosen up but never a half, so we'll see what happens.

My nephew told me it would really help build endurance and be a confidence builder and I agree. I'll see how I feel Saturday afternoon and I always reserve the right to bag a run if my body and mind is just too spent. I don't want to injure myself at this point because I've come too far this summer.

Keep on truckin!

"It's A Long Way To The Top If Ya Wanna Rock N' Roll" - AC DC

2006-09-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

I had a surprisingly good long 18 mile run this morning with my running group. It felt good to run in some human-friendly weather for a change and I also had to accept that I was trying to do my long runs too fast so I dropped back a bit, slowed down and enjoyed the morning.
I have been struggling all summer with my long runs and have been thinking of bailing out of the groupie running scene and this week I discovered why those thoughts were coming to me and it is this: I would rather struggle and suffer alone. People mean well when they attempt to encourage me when I'm having problems, but in my mind my struggles mean that I'm weak and that I'm failing. And I don't like to feel failure in front of an audience. So, I think I'm going through another growth spurt here.
Other runners have told me things like running is 90 percent mental. When I first heard that statement I thought it was a bit of bunk, but the longer I run the more I can see and feel that at least a LOT of running is mental.
My mind is my worst enemy and also my best friend. There were several occasions during my run today that the evil and negative portion of my mind, told me to STOP DUMBASS! These patches in my runs have to be recognized quickly by me and quickly replaced with a positive thought from the good or positive part of my mind, or I will quit trying and also not be able to have fun and enjoy this hobby.
This morning was a confidence booster for me and I now think that I may be able to get through another marathon.
Our head running coach was not at the run this morning because his mom died unexpectedly this week and the other coaches said it really had an impact on him. My mom died over a year ago and it hurt me a lot more than I expected. I still miss her and always will. Death for some may be a topic to avoid but the longer I live the more I realize that I will never be able to outrun death. So, a good attitude for me at this point is, assuming I'm still alive, to roll out early tomorrow morning, down a glass or two of water, pull on the running togs and get out for an easy and pleasurable 5 miler to get the ol legs loosed up. Then around noon I will meet my new friends, they don't even know they're my friends, for a kickass Pilates class and get this old frame lined up so I can keep moving.
This lifestyle may not be good for everyone but it is good for me.

Legend In My Mind

2006-07-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

Okay here I go with this blog business. My nephew Caleb got me into this and I'm a true rookie but willing to learn. Will add something brilliant soon.
This is me on the left in white hat at the finish line at my first marathon at the first annual Suzuki Rock and Roll Marathon in San Diego California in the spring of 1998.
One of my running buddies Larry White is on the right and beat me by 2 or 3 seconds. Well, he was 3 or 4 years younger than I at the time.
I was 54 then and fast!
Think I'm slowing down or maybe it's the heat that's zapping me. Am training now for my 6th marathon, assuming I survive the summer here in the windy city. It's not going too great right now. Will see what happens.