Half-Marathon: Day 3
Day 3 -June 15, 2012:
Weight: 262 lbs
Run: 0 minutes
Distance: 0 miles
Terrain: N/A
Weather: Gorgeous and Sunny (72 degrees)
The calendar says “Rest” for today. Who am I to argue with it? I’m a little more sore than I was yesterday but overall feeling great. Waking up to see a 4 lb loss will always make me feel better. What does it say about how bad my diet was that I can lose 4 lbs in a day just from NOT eating certain foods? I don’t know how many documentaries about food I’ve seen, but it makes total sense that the more organic foods you can eat, the better. Less chemicals and unknown ingredients mean an easier time for your body to process them, not to mention that no one really knows the long term effects they may have.
Once in a while, even though I’m a comedian, I’ll have to get serious on here. Today is the first of those days. Although I’m not running today, it’s still a very important day. Today I’ll be playing in the 3rd Annual “Alex Jones Memorial Golf Outing”. Ironically, the purpose of the outing is to raise money for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, the same charity that I’ll be running with for this half-marathon. Alex took his own life at the age of 17 a few years ago because of how depressed he’d become from the complications of Crohn’s disease. Once a happy kid who excelled in baseball and soccer and did very well in school, Alex was unable to participate in sports and had to miss many days of classes because of his symptoms. They tried every medication, every known strategy, and nothing worked. His family has become very involved with the CCFA and are some of the most dedicated and kind people I’ve met. It’s people like this that have really opened my eyes to what’s important.
On my dad’s side of the family, we’ve lost six people to cancer. Six. Including my dad. And that’s just from his immediate family (his parents, three siblings, and my father). One of my cousins and my sister-in-law are battling breast cancer right now. When you see those kind of numbers hit home, not a statistic in a pamphlet, you stop taking things for granted. For me personally, it’s been my health. Here I’m surrounded by people I love who’ve become stricken with these horrible diseases and I’m wasting a perfectly clean bill of health because I can’t stop eating candy and baked goods? It’s almost insulting to them for me to say, “Poor you” and then devour five tacos and a large Coke. (In fairness though, if you don’t enjoy cake or appreciate the genius behind turning a Dorito in a taco shell, we shouldn’t be friends.)
So I guess that even though I’m not running today, it’s a good day for reflection. I’ll be surrounded by a family that lost their son, but who decided to do whatever they could to make sure no one else has to go through it. What an example for others, huh?
This Sunday is my first Father’s Day and I’m sure I’ll be all over the place. Joyous for this amazingly perfect child we’ve been blessed with. Swearing I’ll do anything I can to make sure that no one ever wrongs him or hurts him. Missing my own father, my best friend and the best human being I’ve ever known. I’ll try to keep it together peeps, but no promises.
Well, I guess today’s not an off day after all. I need days like today that give me the time to help others, appreciate what I have, and maybe have a little dessert after the golf outing. Don’t judge me people, it’s for charity.
Half-Marathon: Day 2
2nd Run -June 14, 2012:
Weight: 266 lbs
Run: 26.5 minutes
Distance: 2.02 miles
Terrain: Hilly
Weather: Gorgeous and Sunny (72 degrees)
Today was run number two. I was a little sore when I woke up so I thought for sure that my time was going to be a little worse than yesterday. I did the same route, but shaved off about 90 seconds. I’ll take it!
It’s so hard to not remind myself that I’m running while I’m running. If I could zone out for a while I think I wouldn’t hate it as much. So if anyone has any suggestions for doing that, please pass them on.
I remember that about halfway through my last training, when we were up to 6 miles for our long run that week, I was reflecting back on a time where one or two miles seemed like an eternity. I wish I was at that point again. If there’s one thing I learned from the last time, it’s that you can lose what you gain very quickly if you don’t stay on it. I also think that at some point during my last training, I learned how to run and that made it way easier. I can already tell a difference this time as my breathing needs work, but my shins don’t hurt like when I started the last time. Stretching after my run has been key as well. Now if I can just get this belly to disappear, I won’t have sore ribs from it bouncing all over the place when I run.
So send me some tips on how to not think about running when I’m running. Anyone?
Tomorrow is a rest day but I’ll try to post. Back at it Saturday on my first group run with the team.
As always, if you’d like to donate to the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and help me reach my goal, use the link below. It is 100% tax deductible. Thanks all!