Houston, we have liftoff

So on Sunday, I was in Houston, we (as in my friend Tom and I) and we ran the marathon. There was a lot of people there, yes about 15,000 in our race and roughly 30,000 people applied so it was nice to run with a ton of people. During the race, I was constantly looking for Jeff Van Gundy (The Houston Rocket's Announcer and ex-coach). I never found him. But that's okay, I still wasn't going to let that stop me.

During the race, it was the first 3 miles and I was going to take it a little easier and run with Tom. I ended up running with him and we crossed the 3 mile marker at 27:27 and when I had already gotten the gatorade that I needed, I kept on going. Looking for Tom all over the place, I couldn't find him. So, I assumed that he went to the bathroom or was walking a bit. I trodded along and kept a relatively good pace.

After about 10 miles, I decided that I was having fun and running a very decent pace, but I wanted to look around more instead of focusing all on the race. I looked around and there it was Rice University. It was so nice to see their stadium, and see how many times the University of Texas has come in there and destroyed them. It was a good feeling and kept me going. After about 15 miles, I was experiencing a "Runner's High". I was smelling Bengay and never once did I smell it at all during the previous runs. I felt like I was in an "out of body" experience and it was the weirdest thing ever, but also one that you really can't explain to anyone else.

Then the finish was coming along, I loved crossing that Finish Line. It was another milestone in my journey and I can't wait to start training for my next race, which will be a half marathon.

The snow never quits.

Today, I was off work and decided that it would be a good idea to head over to Mill Creek Park with my friends Aaron and Josh. They both ran at McDonald with me and it was a good run. We ended up running 10 to 11 miles down there half on roads and half on trails. It was snowy but it was an amazing workout. I loved every minute of the run and this run will help me out when Houston comes around the corner on January 17th. Can't wait to be done with that Marathon.

Also, can't wait for the Longhorns game. I am a "die-hard" Longhorns fan and am hoping that they don't disappoint me this evening.

Day 6. Ugly and Cold.

Today's running was a little cold out. In the morning, I woke up and was going to go running. I checked my phone, and it said that the temperature felt like it was 8 below zero. I quickly returned to my heated bed and slept for a half hour longer. Then, I decided that it was time to get up. I then got out of bed to see that it still didn't warm up. So, I decided the smart thing to do would be to wait until the afternoon to go run. So, I did.

After I ate lunch, I went over to my Grandma and Grandpa's to help them take down their Christmas decorations. After about twenty minutes, we were all done and I was going to head out for a good run, that was, until my Grandpa had volunteered me to help take down the Nativity scene at Our Lady of Prepetual Help Church in McDonald. I didn't mind and was happy to help some of the members of our church to take it down.

Then, I thought I would finally be able to get out and go for a run and be home just in time for the Cowboys game against the Philadelphia Eagles. I was wrong once again, and ate some Wedding Soup and had a Grilled Cheese with my mom during Halftime of the game. I thought to myself, once the game is over, I will go for a run.

All this procrastination, and I still managed to get out for a run, it wasn't long and it wasn't that warm, but I still got one in and was glad that I did. I was also glad for the Cowboys winning the last game of the regular season and beating Philadelphia twice in the regular season, hopefully we can pull through for another week next week.

Day 6 of running (3 for the New Year), and it's already starting to look like I may be getting another "streak" in.

Haven't done this in awhile...

Well, I haven't posted on this in awhile so I figured I would. These past few semesters have been pretty brutal on me, and I have been running a lot and studying a ton as well. I have the Praxis test coming up in a few days and I have been putting my energy into that. Also, the week after that, I am running the Houston Marathon so I have been training for that as well, along with seeing my girlfriend, working, and also seeing some friends from school. It has been a pretty good break, but I am ready to go back to school and get these last 3 semesters over with. I know it's not wise to wish away college, but I want to start making a salary!!

As for my running, I am starting something new this year. I had made a few New Years Resolutions this year. Some involve school, and there are several that involve running. The ones that I am going to include are as follows:

• Finish the YUT-C 50K this year
• Finish the Houston Marathon
• Finish the Mill Creek Distance Classic Half Marathon
• Run of the Mill 1 miler
• Akron Relay Race (whatever leg I can finish)
• Any 5k
• Turkey Trot 5 miler
• Peace Race 10k
• 2 mile race

These are my Resolutions for 2010, and the reasons I chose these ones, are because it is a race at every distance. I am going to try and be more well rounded in my racing, and I feel this is the way to do it.

As for now, this is all I am going to write. I am going to go run now, as my streak for the New Year has also started!! 2 days..we'll see how long this one stays up.

Weekend and West Branch Witch Trails

This week was pretty brutal as classes were just starting. Have a nice schedule but Calc should be a challenging one. This week was probably not the best for running as I had to figure out my schedule and see what times would work best to run. I quickly found that I think I might get up before class and run so that I can get the run in and still have plenty of time to do homework and other organizational programs such as F.Y.E. I am an advocate for freshman during their first year, and the program that it is called is F.Y.E which stands for First Year Experience. So that is one organization that I am involved in which can take up most of your time on some days.

So this weekend was pretty odd from many other weekends. I went to my sisters meet and watched her race along with Joey as well. I didn't get the opportunity to do a long run this weekend which makes this weekend pretty odd. I will however be doing a long run this week possibly tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday, or Saturday. I may do two long runs also because I feel as though I need the long runs this week to get back into the swing of things.

Yesterday, I went to Sarahs grandfathers 80th birthday party and thought that was very fun and I got to meet some of her family along with her grandfathers friends. I still wish I have as many friends as he does when I am 80 years old. The trip was about a half hour drive to pretty much the middle of nowhere but regardless, it was fun! Then I came home to watch the football games and was very excited that the Cardinals with old man Kurt Warner are in the Superbowl, but am really angry that the Steelers are now in it. Oh well, if the Steelers win it, then they are two up on the Cowboys, and I don't want that!

Today, Dr. Martin Luther King Day. Jeff and I ventured out to the West Branch Witch Trails. I am still wondering why they call it West Branch State Park, when West Branch "Area" is between Alliance, Salem, Sebring, and Demascus. If anyone knows why, I would be more than happy to know why.

Running in the Snow.

Today's run was one that I won't forget for a while. I decided to wake up at 6:30 and go for a run in Mill Creek Park. I was going to leave my house at 7:20 and start running by 8AM as I was going to meet some fellow runners for a jog. I ended up leaving right on time and was out the door at 7:20. I looked outside and honestly thought, I don't think I can get my car out of the driveway. As I got my car out on the driveway, I kept sliding down the road. I thought to myself, "Only I would go out in this crap." I got up the street and noticed that none of the roads have been salted or plowed and thought to myself, this is going to be a crappy day and I can already feel it. I got to the Sheetz on Salt Springs Road and it took me roughly 20 minutes to get there, so I decided it's not worth it for a run down in Mill Creek Park. I ended up coming back to a father and a mother who questioned my every move, then I quickly took notice to how bad the run would have been in Mill Creek.

So I figured oh well there's plenty of other things I could do today, like pack for college since I have to do that still and leave tomorrow. I then noticed my dad suiting up for outside and decided that I should probably help him out too. I shoveled the driveways, all three of them and my dad used the snow blower. Seems as though he had the easier job...

As we got done with the driveways, my mom had already prepared us breakfast which were very good. Cinnamon Rolls and Tea are the perfect breakfast during the winter times and I wouldn't trade it for anything. After eating and doing absolutely nothing for two hours, I was talking to my sister, who was wishing that she could see her boyfriend today but since the roads were bad, he was unable to join. She then was asking how bad of snow we got, and then I decided, "Why not take the camera out for a run and show her how bad the roads are over here?" My parents also thought it was a good idea.

Here are the pictures from today's Run:

First Blog

Well, today is my first day with a blog. I'm not so sure how to use this or how often I will be typing in it but we'll see how it goes. I'll start out by saying that this weeks runs have been pretty good and was very happy with Monday's run. I ended up running in the morning before work and then going after work. I ended up running around town both times and pretty much doing the same course twice, but I liked the course. I then went on to enjoy taco's and tostitos with Sarah as we watched the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Everyone in my house was rooting for Ohio State, yet unlike me, I am a Texas Longhorns fan and was very impressed and disappointed at the way the game went. I was very impressed with how well both defenses played, they both really stepped up the challenge. However, I was really disappointed in how Texas played because they should have beaten Ohio State by a greater margin. Oh well, a win is a win. All I can say is, Jim Tressel that's 3 consecutive bowl losses in major games, looks as though Youngstown State could use a new coach...

Since I was so happy at how the outcome went and with how my mileage was going for the week, I decided that I would take the day off of running, and am now thinking it was probably the best idea. The road conditions were terrible all day and figured it would be better to take the day off anyway. So, I did. I ended up making Sarah and I a pretty big breakfast and just relaxing all day since I had taken the day off of work.

Today, I have gone out this morning for a jog before work and started at 7AM. It was nice to go out at that time because no one is really out there to talk to you or distract you. It's pretty nice to be out when the sunrise is just getting ready to come up. It really gives me some time to think and I like doing that in the morning. Now, I'm relaxing and am going to go for my second run of the day to have fun this time around.