It never ends..

"It never end, and so therefore it never starts."

-my head just now.

I haven't been running. I haven't been cycling. I haven't been eating right...

But I also haven't been gaining weight! I'm somehow all under 195, yet my gut has enlarged so it doesn't really come across as a positive.

Life never shows down. I thought once we moved to Conroe I could start running because we wouldn't be remodeling a house. WRONG! I moved here and started at a job working crazy hours, then I got a job with steady hours, and we start house shopping, the kids start playing sports, and we start "training" for the MS150.

On top of that, my little cousin Spencer passed away last week. It's something that didn't really come as a surprise, but it still wasn't easy... I know he's better off now, and he's not suffering anymore, but I still took it really hard and still haven't fully recovered. It's never easy when some one so young and so full of life passes on.

Well, we've found a house! We're in a contract pending inspection, and it's in a great neighborhood too! Every time we've driven into the neighborhood I've seen a handful of people out jogging / running! And our house is right next to the sidewalk that runs down the main road. I'm not sure how long the side walk is, but I would guess a round trip would be something like 4~5 miles.

So hopefully the combination of being in our own house, on our own schedule, with our own groceries and our own space in a beautiful neighborhood watching people running around will inspire me to get off my fat lazy ass and do something again!

Switching Gears

I'm changing things up a little bit right now. My focus right now is on cycling.

My wife and I signed up for the BP MS150 the other day. For those unfamiliar with the MS150, it's a charity race to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis that goes from Houston to Austin, which is approximately 150 miles. I did get a new bike a few months ago, a Quintanna Roo Caliente tri bike. I've ridden it twice...

We also just purchased a Cannondale Synapse road bike for my wife, and it's pretty freaking sweet!

The ride isn't until April, so we've got 3 months to prepare to cover 150ish miles in just 2 days.

I'm excited!

Not running yet.

Thanks to this inner cleanse that I'm currently taking, I'm holding off on running until after its finished running its own course.

It's a 15 day cleanse. 6 pills in the morning, 6 pills in the evening, and a lot of shitting everywhere in between... A lot...

And it's not like your everyday "Oh, I need to go poop!" It's more like "I think I need to fart, but I'm not trusting it. I better get to a bathroom NOW!"

AND I'M ONLY ON DAY FIVE!!!!

At least I'm over half way. I've lost a good amount of weight. Somewhere around 8 pounds since the start. I've also started back on the Makers Diet in combination with the cleanse, so it's sort of a double whammy right now to my gastro intestinal track.

But as soon as this is all over, and my daily bowel movements are back to normal (or at least controllable!!!) I plan on running my not so fat ass off again! Weekend long runs included!

2014 Resolutions

I've come up with a small list of "resolutions" for the new year.

1)  Be a better father to my children.

2)  Be a better husband to my wife.

I don't feel like I'm a bad husband or father, I just want better for my family!

3)  Keep running. After remodeling our old house, moving, and changing jobs 3 times last year I spent a lot of time not being active, and that Shit SUCKS!!!

4)  Run another ultra. I don't care if it's a 50K, I want to run another ultra.

5)  Lose weight, and don't find it again. I'm already down 6.something pounds this year thanks to eating right again. Hopefully after getting our own place we will be able to keep eating right and keep the weight off long term. I'm tired of people giving me funny, disbelieving looks when I tell them I enjoy going for 20 Mile runs on the weekends because I have a pronounced gut.

6)  Ride my new bike more. Hell, ride my new bike period! I'm wanting to ride in the MS150 this year, and I want to do an Iron Man at some point, so cycling and swimming are a must!

7)  Meh... 6 Resolutions are good enough I guess.

Birthday Run Carnage Report...

Well... I didn't make it the full 29 miles like I had hoped to, but I did run a very, VERY hilly 24.

I also learned a very valuable lesson early on in my run. Shit happens... especially when you down a probiotic drink right before you start running! Thank God for porta potties! If there wasn't a house being built 30 down a intersecting road this story would have a very shitty ending. Pun quite intended!

I haven't posted about my new favorite drink, Kombucha with Chia seeds. Mmmm... more on that in a post to come.

But any who... it was a very good run, a great way to spend my birthday! Then to make my day even better! My awesome wife and mother in law cooked one of my favorite meals! Fried eggs and bacon sandwiches... Mmmmm Mmmmm!!! Topped that off with a massive glass of chocolate milk!

Perfect way to end a really good day! Well.... there's some special mommy daddy time to hopefully end it later on, but that's not going to be discussed here!

Birthday run!

I feel like a virgin with a drunken prom date. I'm excited, yet a little nervous. 

Next Wednesday I will celebrate my 29th birthday by attempting to run 29 miles. My new job gives you a floating holiday to use on your birthday. Most employees probably use it to sleep off a hangover. I'll be using it to run my age in miles. 

I think there's something wrong with me. 

And, just like that prom night virgin, I'm afraid my party might abruptly come to an early end. I'm not sure if I can go for 29 miles right now. And even worse, I really don't know of a good place to attempt knocking out 29 miles in the middle of the week! The only place I can think of is The Woodlands. 

The Woodlands is the next city down the road from Huntsville, and its a real happening place. It's also home of several marathons and triathlons and such. So there are a lot of rich people that run and cycle often. Being rich has its benefits. For example, they get nice wide sidewalks on damn near every street. Everyone I drive through The Woodlands I see a dozen or so people out for a run. I choose this area to celebrate because of the sidewalks and the fact that I will never be far from a good source of calories and hydration. Plus I might get to have lunch with the wife if I time it right!

So while I'm really unsure of how things will turn out, I am very excited for the challenge. If I succeed and can actually move the next day, then I think I could actually be ready to run in the Rocky 50 mile come February!!!

League Line Road, Revisited...

I'm slowly adapting to hills.

Hell, I'm even starting to enjoy them!

The other day I ran home from work. Something like 7.1 miles or something like that according to the Garmin. But I was more interested in the elevation changes because of all the hills and valleys around here, so I used a new app I downloaded on my phone called "Map My Ride". Its called that, but it can be used for more than cycling. That's all in another post though. Maybe one day I'll get around to writing it...

Anyways. Map My Ride gives you a elevation profile of your run. This is about 90% of the reason I downloaded it. 

So here's my elevation profile from my run home from work on Tuesday. 

It's actually backwards from how it felt. I can't wait to run TO work now! Its mainly down hill from work here as you can see. 

Today I ran League Line Road again. This road has kicked my ass several times before, but today it wasn't bad at all. In fact, it was quite enjoyable! I think its because I just ran. I didn't try to beat any set time, or work harder on the up hills. I just ran. Nice easy stroll. Everything felt really good!

So here the out and back profile of L.L.R.

Pretty steep climbs and decents, but taking them easy seemed to make a world of difference. 

I really like running LLR. It's got a good sidewalk, and it's hilly. What more could you ask for!

I even decided to snap some pics during my run. 

This is from the crest of the first hill. You can see the 3 remaining hills in the background along with the nice sidewalk. Lake Conroe is about a mile and a half directly behind me. 

Very steep valley. You can't see the bottom from the top of either hill. 

This is the steepest climb, and you know it about halfway up. 

Another steep ass valley. Its fun gaining speed on the way down. You can really let the leg turn over and feel the gravity working in your favor for once!!

At the moment, LLR might be my Conroe replace my for FM 421, my old favorite running road. It's defiantly safer as I'm not running on a 2 foot wide shoulder down a road with notorious blind corners. 

After writing all this I realize that I should probably make another post regarding my opinion on running and training on hills. I'm no expert in the field, but if I keep running courses like these, I might get there quickly!