Happy Holidays

Had a great Christmas at home with the family which all enjoyed all of the wonderful gifts. Didn't make it up to the mountain house to see my family and I am still very bummed about that. The holiday was cold and wet so there were not many outside activities but we had as much fun inside as we could. Looking forward to the new years weekend and a 3 day weekend, lots of little stuff to get done.

I have decided on a couple of things for a new years resolution this year that I am excited about. I usually don't make new years resolutions since almost all of them don't last long but I decided to give it a try this year. With the baby angel coming soon in the next month or so, spending time with the family is and will be priority number 1. We are all so excited and can't wait for the beautiful love angel to join the family. My new year resolution this year is to get a yoga program going for myself and also to get my running back up to where it was. I would love to do some yoga everyday just like the core workouts I do everyday which I can feel an incredible benefit.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

More

Finally got a run in the other night and I was loving every second of it. I did 4 miles on Tuesday night when the temps were up so it wasn't cold at all. I felt great throughout the run and even my legs were feeling good the whole run. I did have some moments where I wanted to pick up the pace as well as get more runs in during the week, but I have family first on my list.

I haven't started my Christmas shopping yet but I am planning on getting it all done this weekend. They are calling for snow here tomorrow and Saturday but we will see. Looking forward to the weekend with parties and finishing the baby angel's room.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest!

non-stop busy for 6 years

Still no run for me but have been able to do my daily 30 minute workouts twice a day. We have been extremely busy with maybe only two minutes for ourselves. The wife and I did birthing class last weekend which was great. Nothing new learned but nice to prepare the mindset for the coming months. Looking forward to it all and hoping for a better post partum for the wife. The beautiful wife is having the pregnancy discomforts that come along with being 7 months pregnant, but is doing well overall. We are planning on working on getting the baby angels room ready this weekend with paint and fan install which is exciting. I will take before and after pics. I also am helping the community christmas fun by being "Frosty" for a couple hours this saturday. Should be interesting and will post pics if available.

The big boy turned 6 last week and had a great party as well as time with everything. He was selected as a terrific kid at school this week and during the award ceremony at school, the teacher stated that "he has an excellent attitude", which he didn't know what that meant and announced to everyone, "I have an excellent attitude?" Good times and everyone laughed.

Local marathon is this weekend here in town, good luck to all the runners and volunteers.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

no run turkey

Thanksgiving was great with lots of good food and great family quality time. I didn't get a run in though up in the mountains like I was hoping to but I did finish the work I was hoping to get done. The weather was awesome as it snowed for about 5 minutes and then stopped for good with nothing but clear blue skies behind it. We were hoping for more snow but oh well. Did some shopping on black friday with no problems or issues. The little ones had a blast the whole time with non stop playing and hanging out. We have been non stop since we got home and a full schedule all weekend coming to boot. I am planning on getting a run this weekend even though the weather is being forecasted to turn for the worse. I have been getting good workouts in though everyday and can feel a good strong core being built. Now if I can keep it up.

The big boy turned 6 years old yesterday and we celebrated the big day at McD's. He was also selected as student of the month at his school and lost his front tooth the day before. Lots of change and good things.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

evening misty run

Went for a nice misty run last night in a constant very light mist. I used a very good pace during the run and even did some interval circuits in there as well. I was a little worried about the cold at first but the temperature was perfect. So nice to get a run in to start the week off, especially this week being a holiday week with traveling in the plans for the end of the week. I am planning on getting a run in this weekend up in the mountains in the cold. I am so excited that we are going to celebrate the holidays with my family in the mountains, I can't wait.This will be the first holiday spent with my family for my beautiful wife and big boy son.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

run and christmas time

I did get a good run in on saturday morning, little chilly but warmed up nice on the return trip home. I was bundled up though as the worst part was the wind, so I wore my 180 degree ear warmers which worked perfectly. I took them off at the turn around point as well as my gloves. I was out the door at 7:30 in the morning as I had plenty of stuff that I needed to do the whole day. Was very nice to get the 5 mile run done even though I was completely exhausted later in the day, but I did do some pressure washing and christmas light set-up.

We put our christmas tree up saturday night (I put it up) and was in the process of rearranging the furniture when I either kicked a chair or put it on my toes, but anyways I was on the floor in extreme pain with the beautiful wife and big boy son looking at me, the beautiful wife was laughing her butt off and the big boy asked "Is daddy turning evil?" and the wife lost it at that point. Good times and the toes are ok, still hurt though.

HBBC starts today and I am hoping to get some good points in. I love this kind of challenge especially during this time of year. The team part is new but this could help motivate even more.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

no run tonight

I had full intentions of getting a run in this evening, but it sounds like I need to put that aside. The beautiful wife needs to get some rest as the baby angel growing inside her needs some rest. No worries though. I will get some runs in this weekend for sure. I think I need to get some plans together for a long run in the future, maybe even sign up for a race. Taking care of the beautiful wife and big boy son is top priority and then getting the things done for the holiday is next.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

wordless wednesday

resuming runs

I enjoyed a very nice evening run last night with comfortable temperature and perfect conditions. I did 4 miles at a good 9ish pace the whole run. Following a difficult run from saturday, I'll take anything at this point. Hoping to keep at this consistency for a little while with sicknesses and other issues behind us for the remainder of the season. Pregnancy is going very well even though there is lots of discomfort already. I think we all are looking forward to this time frame being behind us, and we are so excited for baby angel to be with us. Next week is Thanksgiving and we are going to parents mountain house with several others of my family which I am so excited about. This will be the first holiday that we will be spending with my family since I have been with my wife. Excitement can't fully express my true feelings.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

wanting to run

No weekend run or a run during the week yet for me and I am going a little crazy. I wanted to get everything done this weekend as well as a run, nothing got done and no runs. No work today for veterans day but major nasty weather all day and the big boy wanted to stay and hang with me so no complaint there. Hope everyone else is getting good runs in and enjoying it.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

busy

Things are still very crazy busy for us even though a major project has been completed for me. The house has been occuoied with sicknesses for several weeks and this week was my turn. Just a bad cold but not helping on the getting things done front. As if a busy work schedule isn't enough, keeping busy with kid activities is filling in any sort of vacanciesof our time. Loving every second of it though. I ran the small 5k for the big boys school a couple of weeks ago and had a good time. The course was along my everyday route so I was thinking of getting a good time. I finished in 27:05 which isn't bad for not racing in over 12 years but I think I could've done better. There was only less than 100 runners there and most of them were walkers or young kids. In fact one of the kids stayed with me the whole run, he couldn't of been 10 years old and he almost smoked me. He did get me motivated though which was nice.

I also got a good trail run in the pouring rain which was a blast. The cold rain was a great motivator as I finished in great time. My legs felt a little trashed afterwards though. Hoping to get over this cold soon so I can get back out on the trails.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

Moeben sleeves

Everyone should check out the giveaway over at Run to the Finish. Everyone needs a pair of moeben sleeves.

Still very busy but getting everything on my checklist done. I have continued to keep on a light running schedule thankfully which is making me happy. I have a small 5k race this weekend at the school that the big boy goes to, which I am looking forward to running. I wanted to run the Komen race for a cure last weekend but had to take care of the big boy. I am enjoying the change in weather here on the runs.

crazy busy

Just got back from a wedding in Tucson, AZ and had an absolutely wonderful time with the beautiful wife and friends. Was a very nice wedding as the sun set on a mountaintop. Work has been very crazy for us and the big boy had the swine flu last week before our trip to add to the stress. I haven't run or worked out in a long time and really can't wait to get back going. I did bring my running stuff to the desert with plans to get some runs in, but with the week we had and the beautiful sexy wife having a birthday there, decided to skip the run and enjoy every second with the wife. Hoping to slowly get back in the groove now that things should be leveling off for us.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

in the woods

going family camping this weekend up in the mountains of NC, Boone area. Loaded up the van last night and we are all ready to go as soon as we leave work today. We are looking forward to this as the weather is forecasted to be really nice. Hope everyone has a safe and great labor day weekend!

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

saturday morning run

Started out the weekend with a bang and didn't slow down for one second. Got a 4 mile run in on Saturday morning. I was feeling really good and very happy to be running after over two weeks off. When I got home at the end of the run, I was non-stop from that moment on, doing lots of little things around the house that needed to get done and then did as much as I could at the in-laws house. Sunday was non-stop as well all day but I was so happy to get things done.

My running consistency has been non existent lately due to many reasons but mostly because of the family needs. This year has been a little rough with lots of "things" going on affecting my runs. I'm not really worried about missing my runs or going crazy, as far as I could tell, but with the few runs I do get in I couldn't be happier. The good news is that the beautiful wife and I (and our big boy son) are very happy that we are expecting a little girl in February. I have been doing as much as I can around the house and beyond to help ease the burden and be a better man, sacrificing runs in the process. I'm still doing workouts at home when I have a chance, hoping to keep a good core strength for an easier return. We have started to tell people about the pregnancy now which we feel really good about. I have a ton of things to do to get ready for baby as well as be there for the big boy in his everyday life. I couldn't feel happier and feel amazingly blessed.

Love and hug your loved ones everycahnce you get! Live everyday to the fullest.

mountain weekend

What an absolutely amazing weekends that both me and the big boy did not want to end. We left friday afternoon for the mountains to spend with my parents while they work on getting a house. We didn't do anything friday evening but go to the hotel, but we made up for that on saturday. We woke up a little late and went to breakfast at a small mom & pop place. We then went to look at the house they are buying and what an amazing thing. The house is absolutely beautiful with a view to die for. Looking at the property as well as the house, I was thinking of all the endless things I would do on the numerous weekends and vacations at this house. We then left and went to go for a nice hike on a trail, the boogerman trail. Very nice horse trail (lots of landmines) that starts off crossing a stream on a tree bridge. The big boy lead the way down the trail with my parents and me following his lead. The weather was absolutely perfect and even better in the shade of the forest trees. We hiked for about a total of 4 miles and we were all ready for lunch when we arrived back at the car. After lunch, we decided to split up and my dad and I would play golf while the big boy and mom would go to the pool park. The golf was great as I played really good for not playing since January. We walked the 18 holes though and the two of us were beat at the end. We all went to dinner afterwards and then a deep sleep back at the hotel. Sunday morning we had a really good breakfast at Joey's Pancake House in Maggie Valley, which will be a regular stop for any mountain trips. The drive home started rough with very heavy traffic leading up to and through Asheville. Still made it home within 3 hours and then I had to go to a Knights of Columbus meeting. I joined that night and am looking forward to doing many good things with them. Still no runs to report but would miss many more for a weekend like that.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest!

greenway biking

I decided that I was going to take it easy this weekend and spend as much time as possible with the beautiful wife and big boy son. If I was going to get any runs in, I was going to wake up early before they would wake up. Didn't happen. I was exhausted both mornings when I finally did wake up and my usual "natural alarm clock" must have been unplugged. No worries though as I took the big boy for a good bike ride at one of the greenways last evening and we both loved it. He did real good and we are planning on doing more of those adventures very soon. We biked for 30 minutes and were completely soaked with sweat. It was so hot this weekend with the weather staying this way for most of the week. Hoping to get a trip up to the mountains this weekend with the big boy and my dad, waiting for some things that my dad is working on. The big boy starts kindergarden in 3 weeks which we are all very excited and looking forward to it, so I nice time in the mountains would be great.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

Time out is over

Wow, what a crazy long time of no blogging for me. I have been extremely busy at work for the past 2 months and when I get home, I am taking care of a wife and son non stop. I really haven't had many chances to blog or even read up and comment either. I have been getting some runs in and even did several runs in Charleston last month over the ravenel bridge, which was awesome. I have so much going on right now all around me and have been really focused on taking care of the big boy to get ready for starting school this month. We are all very excited and looking forward to starting that chapter in his life. I am planning on getting back to normal blogging and catching up with other blogs as well.

My thoughts and prayers go out to fatty and his family as his wife Susan has passed away after a long and inspiring battle with Cancer. We must all Fight Like Susan! Donate to fatty's livestrong challenge and a chance to win a bike.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you can. Live everyday to the fullest.

long time no blog while kayaking

Have not had many chances to blog or check all the blogs out there lately. I have gotten some great runs in lately and looking to pick it up even more. The weather has been great even though it is very humid and hot. No complaints though from me. I have been really focused on the beautiful wife and big boy son lately, absolutely loving every second of it. My best friend came for a short visit up here to the Carolina's and we spent the day at the National Whitewater Center and had a blast. The big boy wanted to spend the day with the men so we brought him along as well. We did rock climbing, buddy did the whitewater rafting while the big boy and I watched. The big boy didn't want me to go rafting so I took him flatwater kayaking. This was one of the best days ever. We had so much fun being together and on the water, he has been telling everyone at his school about the day for weeks and he even drew a picture of us kayaking. He is the best boy in the world and I am so blessed to have him and the beautiful wife in my life. I've been looking everyday for a kayak to buy so we can go whenever and wherever we want. I did a 6 mile run saturday morning at 10 and wore a sleeveless tech shirt during the run. I didn't think much of it but I came home and noticed my shoulders were burned. Lesson learned.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

Memorial day

We did celebrate memorial day this weekend as well as I always think of those that have lost their lives while fighting for our freedom during the day. I am very proud of being a veteran myself so it gives me a feeling of what more can I do now for my family and country. I woke up early on monday and head out for a nice 6 mile run. The weather has been a little crazy lately with lots of rain for several short periods of time. It was muggy out but was lucky to not have any rain during the run. I was planning aon some more runs earlier in the weekend but missed the small window of opportunity. Was a good run though and went without the ipod so I enjoyed listening to the birds and other noises during the run. Looking forward to more runs this week and my best friend is coming to visit this weekend for a day so I may do some other funs things as well.

Did spend all weekend with the family and absolutely loved every second of it. We hung out with the big boys best friend from school and they are the two best kids in the world. They had a great time playing and hanging out while the beautiful wife and I hung out with his parents, great time for all as the boys didn't want to say goodbye. We will be hanging out lots more in the future for sure.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

packages

Another great weekend in the books with nothing but family time for all of us. The beautiful wife had taken thursday and friday off to spend with her mom on her birthday and also visiting family staying with the inlaws for the mother-in-law birthday. The usual crazy family stuff going on but we did our own thing and didn't have to deal with any of it, whew. i didn't get anything done on the outside of our house as I wanted to but I did help the wife go through her closet and I have four huge bags of stuff to bring to the battered womans shelter.

I was able to get a trail run in on thursday evening and it was the best. I could tell that I haven't been in a while but was super pumped to get the new shoes dirty and see what they have. They were better than I thought giving me the support and cushioning I needed. I could tell that the area has had lots of rain lately as the whole trail was very technical with lots of roots showing and the usual technical areas were extra technical. A great 6 mile run to start breaking the shoes in and looking forward to many more.

Then I came home on friday to another package at the door for me, two in one week let alone one year, crazy stuff going on. It was a package from I love steaks with a rei waist bottle carrier inside. I'll take pics and post soon, but the nicest and coolest thing ever. I took it out for a short test run sunday morning and it is absolutely awesome, easy to use and very comfortable. I have been trying to think of a way to thank him for the pack and will definetly being sending a thank you package shortly.

The run sunday morning was a little rough but it felt so good to be outside in the quiet morning enjoying the beautiful morning although it was very overcast. Looking forward to many more runs with both the shoes and pack again soon.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

sweet angels on the feet

Check what was at my door last night waiting for me to take them out and get dirty.

I won these by joining the montrail group on facebook. Absolutely amazing thing to win and then when I put them on my feet, beautiful angels disguised as trail shoes. I haven't stopped smiling since I got them. I am planning on taking them out on the trail after work as long as I can make it through today, I keep fighting the urge to leave knowing all my stuff is in my car waiting for me. So excited.

I have been having bad problems with knots in my back this week that made me decide to take yesterday off from all workouts and lay on a heating pad. The beautiful wife even gave me some narcotics to help but still have soreness today. Not sure what to do but I'm not letting it stop me from running the trail, Fo Sho!

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

walk to poop

Well, I didn't go as long as I wanted for the relay for life, but was absolutely a great event with plenty of great things going on for the event. I was hoping that the beautiful wife and big boy would do some walking with me but neither of them cared at all about the walk, except the big boy loved the tons of kids things to do there. I brought the big boy with me at the beginning and he was very excited when he saw the field filled with lots of kids activities but was fighting me trying to get situated with where things were. Took me about 10 minutes to find the registration tent, not even sure it was the registration tent but I was able to grab a survivor shirt, hat and pin which I wasn't planning on getting since I don't really consider myself a survivor. Yes, I had a cancer (stage II) and it was removed but it was removed during my lunch break one day. I didn't put the purple survivor shirt on at first or take a survivor lap but walked around with the big boy looking for a shirt for him or even his school tent. Never did find it and he just wanted to do the kid stuff anyway. We were in line for the sphere ball roll where the kids get in this big ball and they roll you around, when an old classmate of his was in front of us so we talked to them for a couple hours. I didn't like any of the food that was at this event so decided to take the big boy to McDonalds at 9 for dinner since the beautiful wife wasn't going to do anything. Dropped the big boy off at 9 and then decided that I would just walk back to the school for the walk. BAD IDEA!! I walk for several hours and then my feet started to hurt so I sit on the bleachers for several minutes and then ... I have to poop! No way am I going to at the high school so my thought is, home. I start walking and it gets real bad, and as soon as I get in my development I start running. It isn't that bad except when I finally get home I am sweaty and have to unlock the house, turn off the alarm and then finally get to poop. I am exhausted at this point so think I will just go to sleep and go early in the morning, but I'm still sweating so I decided to cool down on the floor down stairs. I wake up two hours later and finally climb into bed, wake up late and then the wife stays in bed so I am stuck watching the big boy. I finally decide that I'm going to just go to the walk by myself and drive there but there is only like 15 people most there, so told myself to forget it. I have a ton of stuff to do anyway so I start working on that. Busy weekend for me and didn't get anything done that I wanted to but oh well. Next year I want to go real big and probably going to create my own team and stay the night!

Good run last night of 4 miles with absolutely perfect conditions. Felt great to be out moving around and again thinking that I really need to build up my running mileage. I didn't run much through winter cause I didn't want to get sick so I can visit my dad when needed and the spring has been consumed with not only my dad but helping the wife, and be there for her and the big boy after the loss of the baby. It has been a very difficult couple of months but very happy to made it through strong and ready to get back out enjoying it all. The pool opens up this weekend so I'm hoping to get in some cross training.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest!

Relay for Life

I've been wanting to run, run, run lately but just haven't made any moves. I have been saving up any runs for the Relay for Life tonight in hopes I could do a total of 26.2 miles for the love ones with cancer. I haven't done really any runs lately so I'm not sure how I'll do but I will go dig deep and push my limit as far as I can. I am really looking forward to this relay and excited that it is happening at the high school right outside my development, with plenty of stuff close by for support. Also the beautiful wife and big boy son are going to do some of the relay walk with me. I am planning on wearing my new heart rate monitor (Polar F1 I believe) to learn what it can do. We have been busy working on things around the house as well I have been working on joining the Knights of Columbus. I am looking forward to that as well with my Dad and 2 brothers are members as well. I have been wanting to do more for the community around me as well as everyone that is close to me. I think this will help and looking forward to getting started growing in this aspect.

I have a really big list of loved ones and friends that I am walking/running for which seems to be growing quite large. My Dad, Mom, Grandma, Aunt Pat, Mr. M, Cousin Tracey, co-worker Lare's husband, next door neighbors brother, and many many more. Each one is always with me and in my thoughts 24/7, no matter their condition. Loving spending time with everyone and looking forward to everyday!

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest!

I was finally able to go for a run last night and could feel the effects of not running for 2 weeks. I purchased a heart rate monitor last week and was eager to get it a test run. I ran 4 miles in 39 minutes with my average heart rate at 155, trying to keep it easy and slow. The weather was absolutely beautiful and absolutely perfect running conditions. It was so nice to get back out and even though it was a little tuff, I really enjoyed being out.

I've been busy the past couple of weeks visiting family and last weekend we went to Charleston as a family. The wife and son went to see Cirque du soleil show with her parents (who traveled with us) and a friend of ours, while I went fishing on our friends boat with her husband. It was awesome to be back on my old stomping grounds and even got to see my old Coast Cuard crew do their job when a small plane crashed in the marsh a few hundred yards from us. We saw the plane circling the marsh and island several times and when we entered the intercoastal waterway, ICW, I had a feeling it was out the ordinary to see a plane that low in that part of area. As we were making our way down the ICW I had to stay clear of the 6-7 emergency boats going by enroute to the plane. The CG boat and another law enforcement boat went by us at close to 80 mph's and it was low tide with very little room for any boat to stay out of the way. Very cool and then the CG helo was on site and found the wreckage and dropped the rescue swimmer, we had our handheld radio on and listened to the rescue swimmer, pilot and radioman at the base communicate that there was no POB persons on board. The father and son landed in the marsh and then walked to a house several hundred yards away. It was awesome to see this all go down all the while enjoying a sweet cold beer and all the surrondings on the water that day. We then left the crowded ICW and found our fishing spot but only caught a cast net when I pulled the anchor on board. Was such a great weekend down there and the wife and mother in law will always be looking for a way to move there. We showed our in-laws and the big boy all the area the next day including the beach, plane crash and all of downtown Charleston. So as much as I would of loved to run or get outside and do something, I have no complaints at all and would take these two weeks off again to spend with family in friends.

Stinky Daddy

This morning aa I was leaving the big boys classroom, he was standing with all of his classmates and they all watched me walk down the hall. I could hear him proudly tell all of his classmates, "that is my Daddy, he's going to work now. He stinks when he runs! Whew!" One of the proudest moments of my life. I did get a 5 mile run in last night with absolutely perfect weather and temps. Felt great throughout the run with a couple of stop breaks for a shoe tie and a loose dog near the road. He was a beauty too with 2 different eye colors (heterochromia iridis), and I always stop around a loose dog to see if I can help keep it from getting hurt by cars. He didn't really care about me though and kept on trekking on his way. My neck was a little stiff on the left side from working on the computer and kept locking up on the run. No real problems though which is absolutely awesome and even did a 100 all out sprint to finish with the neighbor teeneager out to improve his girl. Not sure if I'll be able to get a run in this weekend as me and the big boy are headed to Hotlanta for my niece's first communion and visiting my family, very excited.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest!

loving spring time

I am loving the spring time with ever changing weather conditions and temperatures. The weather monday and tuesday were cold and windy. Wednesday warmed up nicely and I went for a great 5 mile run. I pushed hard on the run though because I could. Was a beautiful evening with temps around 60 so I wore a long sleeve technical shirt and shorts, which was perfect. Today the weather is wet as storms move through the area. Should be over with tomorrow morning with nice weather all weekend. Perfect timing for the big Easter weekend. Lots of hopping going on this weekend with a good visit from the Easter bunny. Speaking of the Easter bunny, I was doing some planting in the yard last night and 2 bunnies were hanging out in our yard enjoying the nice weather as well as I was. Was really cool to have bunnies hop close by checking out what I was doing.

Happy Easter everyone! Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

another nice weekend

Busy weekend for us with not many things getting done on the need-to-do list. Was a great weekend though with the weather being absolutely amazing. I did some yard work and washed the van, but did not get much more than that done. I did get a 5 mile run in the middle of the day sunday which was pretty warm. It was nice though and I enjoyed the run. The weekend flew bye but I did enjoy every second with the beautiful wife and big boy.

Lots of give aways going on out in the blogging world, check out chic runner's online shoes giveaway.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

Needed

Things have been a little out of the ordinary lately which has led to a small break from running and good workouts. I really had to focus on my family lately and do everything I could and more to help us get through a very difficult time. It was very rough several days for the wife and I but we have come through together ready to get back to enjoying everything we have. Everything is starting to get back to normal as well as the weather is making it's spring change around us also. I did get a good 4 mile run the other night that I decided to take it easy while enjoying everything around me. I was in charge of all food and meals at our house for the past couple of weeks and didn't do too bad of a job but not great, even though it was mostly for me and the big boy which is easy. We enjoyed many home cooked meals using the small selection of items we have to offer. I like this change I have been making trying to be involved in more cooking services then the normal grilling. I am just starting this hobby with not much talent but very eager to learn and I love reading other food blogs.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

Big boy prays

The big boy and I went to the evening mass on sunday after staying in the house all weekend from the cold wet weather we had. It is a very laid back church with a very casual evening gathering. The time came for the congregation to say the lords prayer and I told the big boy what we were doing, praying to God. He then states "I will pray to God also!" and begins to say out loud as he looks up to the sky, "Hi God, I am very happy and love everything I have!" It was the cutest thing ever. He was a very good boy during the whole mass so I let him ring the church bell upon departing. He has been telling everyone about the fact that he had to pee twice during the mass though so it seems that is the most memoriable piece he will take from this weeks liturgy.

Nike+ pooped

The shoe sensor for my nike+ bit the bullet. I have read that that happens as I think the thing only has a small watch battery inside it. The problem is the stupid thing is $19 to get a new one. The whole sytem cost $30 so why does the sensor cost $10 bucks less, stupid nike. I am still debating on wether or not I want to replace it, we'll see.

I did get in a nice tempo run last night but I'm not sure of what my pace was or how long I was doing the splits for. I decided to attack the hills and then slow down on the flats which hurt a little on the legs. The weather was really warm and muggy but I enjoyed being out in shorts and t-shirt, felt strong and relaxed. The weather is taking a turn though but hopefully won't stay long.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest!

National wrong turn day

I didn't know that today was "National Turn from the wrong lane day", as several drivers in front of me demonstrated to me this morning. The first instance was a semi trying to get into a small parking area so he had to turn from the far lane to make it, but becuse he was waiting on the other lane to clear, our lane was stopped with no where to go. I only had to wait 1 light for the truck to make the turn in so it wasn't too bad. The second "idiot" decided to turn left from the middle lane, no one was hurt or affected but my mood. I look forward to this evenings drive home for more wrong turns.

We have had amazing weather here for the past 4-5 days and I was able to get a run in on sunday evening. I finished some chores around the house and washing both cars, so I decided to go for a run in the weather. I ended up going 5 miles around the development but they were very tough 5 miles. I had a 5 hour energy shot while washing the cars, which isn't bad at all, but it didn't help at all for the run. I think I should of had some gatorade or something to give me some kick but I had nothing. Glad I went though and really enjoyed the temps and weather all weekend. We had the windows open all weekend and I grilled out both nights. The big boy and I have been playing outside every possible chance in this weather and loving it. The time change came at a perfect time with the temps allowing everyone to stay outside a little longer before calling it a night.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

needs

I like to consider myself a very easy going person with very little needs. I am happy and very blessed with all that I have in my life and have had in my life. I always try to focus on the positive in everything no matter how negative it is. This positive attitude is one of my strong points that others usually notice about me almost instantly. I love to get outside and run to keep myself moving while enjoying everything around me, with very little needs or expensive equipment. I have 4 runnings shoes that I use with 2 of them I have had for 10 years. I enjoy running with my ipod that my wife got me for Christmas years ago and now use it as well as the nike+ system as the only means to measure and track my runs (not sure where my watch went to) even though I'm not out to trully race or judge my running. I only want to track my runs and exercise cause I know that one day I will not be able to do it and would enjoy looking back. I would love to have a heart rate monitor one day only because sometimes I can feel either a slight strain on the old ticker and get a little worried. I would like to also run a race (haven't run a race in over 12 years) one day to enjoy all the others runners and the amazing experience we all have together in races, but have a hard time spending money on races for myself instead of time and money with the family. Just me and the open road or trails with lots of fresh air is all that I really need.

I did go for a good 4 mile run last night with temps in the lower 50's which wasn't bad after the freezing temps all week. I kept an easy 9:30ish pace with a nice relaxed state of mind making an effort to look up and around enjoying my surroundings as well as the beautiful sky. Feel good and hope to make a couple more runs this weekend. Hope everyone has a great weekend and good runs.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

snow

The Carolina's ended up getting two days of non-stop rain and then it turned to snow Sunday evening with 4 inches falling in our neck of the woods. I didn't get any runs in and only a small workout on saturday before my brother came over to hang out. We didn't do anything the whole weekend with the cold wet weather followed by really cold temps all week. It is warming up today with weekend temps looking to be in the 70's and we can't wait.

I have been making an interest to make better eating choices and to start making meals. We have always been on a cheap and easy diet with meals-in-a-box lunch and dinners which are high in sodium and other garbage. I have found some healthy cooking blogs lately and am getting a fresh cooking bug. I have been bringing a frozen meal lunch man since our son was born to save time and money, eating a banquet meal every weekday for years. I enjoy bringing meals from home to eat at work but am now going to kick it up a notch and make more fresh meals.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

6 mile

I got a nice 6 mile run in today with a couple of times into a really strong headwind. I was feeling tightness or some slight pains at different parts of the run and even tweeked my left knee at one point but just kept on going. Really looking forward to the warmer weather runs that should be soon. I going to try to get a couple of runs ins this week to keep the muscles loose.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

busy, busy

A little late on this post but I have been crazy busy at work. I had a great 5 mile run on saturday with a easy 9:15 pace. I was planning on another run on monday but decided to spend the day with the big boy and we went for a hike on the trail I usually run instead. We had a blast all day together with playing on the play ground, hiking the trail, practicing golf, eating at McD's, and playing with the cats at the inlaws, nothing but great times. The temps and weather have not been good this week so I am not worried about my runs til the weekend.

I don't really worry about the low miles I have been, or haven't been getting in this winter. I will crank up the miles soon especially when the weather cranks up. There may some difficulties to the miles and runs though as I seem to have knocked up the old lady, so we will be working on lots of family time which is not bad at all. It is still very early on in the pregnancy but we are hoping for the best, and will tell the big boy later on in the pregnancy.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

feeling great

I got a good 4 mile run in on Monday night with a nice easy 9:30 pace. I wanted to relax and enjoy all that the run had which I did. It was really nice to get a run in during the week again which I plan on doing more often. I have been feeling really good this week so far with a good run and workouts as well. I am planning on getting a run in again tomorrow evening at a nice easy pace as well and with a 3 day weekend this weekend for me, I hope to get 2 runs in.

I am really looking forward to the 3 day weekend ahead and the fact that I don't have much on the agenda is also a great thing. I was thinking of visiting the family again this weekend but decided last week that I needed to skip that and plan for another weekend soon. Seeing my dad as much as possible is one of my top priorities but the strain has been very high so I decided to take the weekend and enjoy it, preparing for another trip soon. I think I may fly down for the next one to save time.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest!

7 on the 7th

The frigid cold winter finally made its way out of town for the weekend and it looks like it may be gone for the week as well. I woke up early on Saturday morning to get my 7 miles in for the 7 on the 7th race. The temp was around 40 and getting warmer as the sun rose during the day. The first mile was cold with a chilled wind making my hands numb, but I shoved them in my long sleeve and kept at the run. The second mile I was starting to warm up some but didn't have much energy in me from a light breakfast composed of a breakfast bar. I fueled up on some gatorade which helped for most of the run. I finished the run in 1:05 with a hard run uphill which I was hurting alot at this point. Having only been running once a week is really showing as well as I am feeling it in my lungs. I am planning on getting some short runs in this week with a desire to get back to at least 3 runs per week.

We had good friends visit us for the weekend from Charleston so I had to hurry up and clean up after the run. We hung out at the house and really enjoyed the time with them. We ended up going to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner that night with them but the beautiful wife and I shared a meal and appetizer as well as a dessert. The place is absolutely amazing and is definitely one of my favorite restaurants. Had a wonderful time with them there as we ate and talked, planning a trip to Charleston in April. We woke up Sunday and spent all morning drinking coffee and talking more about all the wonderful things we have in our life's, family and friends. The left at noon and I immediately starting working outside in the 70 degree weather on the stone patio I'm building. I was able to get what I needed to get done for the patio with a big desire to finish it this weekend if weather permits. The big boy was sick all week and weekend so he chilled out at the in-laws place but had a good time. I miss him but needed to spend time with our friends and wife.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest! Carpi Diem!

eating to much

I got the bottles for the fuelbelt friday night and worked on getting them ready for the run on saturday. The weather was a little chilly from the wind but was a nice sunny day overall. The fuelbelt is awesome and worked perfectlly for my 5 mile run. The run was good but started out a little rough with a walk for a little in the middle. I was keeping a 9:15 mile pace for most of the run even though my lungs were struggling some until the walk. I was hoping to get a heart rate monitor this weekend but the beautiful wife advised me of a tight budget for the next couple of weeks. We went out to dinner saturday night with the inlaws to a nice local family itilian restaurant which I ate to much. Sunday was a chore day for me with cleaning the carpets in our house. Took me most of the day so I was not able to get a workout in. We went to a neighborhood party for the superbowl with another night of eating to much for me. This time I payed the price as I was up all night trying to get whatever it was that didn't like me out, so I am home sick today. I was hoping to get a run in today but may have to rough through a cold run another night.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

Team Hoyt in America

Last week in Epcot, we decided to warm up for a couple of minutes in the American show. It was a good show and being the day after Obama being sworn in was extra moving. At the end of the show is a bunch of short clips and there was the Team Hoyt men. Absolutely amazing show and moving especially when I saw them.

I decided to take a couple of days off of all exercises and will pick back up tomorrow. Good luck to all the racers out there this weekend.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

tired

I haven't been feeling 100% this week with lots of doozing off moments and feeling exhausted most of the time. My workouts haven't been very good at all with yesterdays being missed all together due to having to work late and then pick up the big boy at the in-laws afterwards. We did wrestle play for a while so I wasn't a total lump on a log. I am planning on getting bottles for the fuel belt this weekend and testing it out on a couple of runs. My eating habits are off as well lately so I am planning on getting into a healthy eating routine tomorrow (today). The weather has not been good here at all this week with lots of cloud cover all week as well as lots of rain yesterday. Could of been worse though as the rest of the country so no complaints here.

Everybody needs to check nhershoes awesome camelback giveaway she is doing. Would be nice to win the bottle but need to get one no matter what. Drink water everyday so the beer on weekends is better, not really related to each other but helps me feel better.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

cold Florida

Back from a great week at home with my family in cold Florida. The beautiful wife, big boy and myself spent everyday with my family and stayed with one of my siblings everynight. When we left Charlotte it was 10 degrees, we arrived to Orlando with 50 degrees and 60 degrees in south Florida. I did get 2 runs in while down there and was hoping for some good warm runs but nooo, cold. We played golf in Orlando in 40 degrees, still enjoying the time as a family. The week was nothing but the best of quality family time. We even made a trip to Epcot for an evening and it was freezing, even though we were all bundled up, efinetly worth it though. The week was awesome and I really hope to be able to do it again soon.

We are very happy to be home now with warmer weather when we got back. I got a great 5 mile run in with the weather perfect and a little sun. Looking forward to getting back to the norm some with getting things done, both at work and at home. I came home from the trip to the fuelbelt from Chris and can't wait to use it this week.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.

cold run and winning a fuelbelt

I commited myself to a run the other night in the cold and very happy I did. My ipod needed to be charged so it was a musicless run, probably the first one since I got the Ipod and nike+. The temps were in the 30's but I was comfortable for the 4 mile run. I am looking forward to a week in Florida and wearing shorts all week.

I won a fuelbelt from Chris at http://southerntriathlete.blogspot.com/ which is the coolest ever. I sometimes run with a large bottle waist pack that I've had for years. It is tuff to run with most of the times as the bottles need an insulated sock to keep from bouncing out and I don't know where it is, so I am constantly holding the bottles in there. I will look around the house to see if there is anything I could "pass on".

This artic blast that is across the country is a little extreme and I hope everyone stays warm and safe.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest!

Jam packed weekend

Very busy weekend for me with a full completion of everything on the list to do. I had a great 6 mile run on saturday with lots of fun while enjoying the good temps. Getting all the things on my list feels almost as good as the run feels. I had lots of fun on the run staying relaxed, strong and so happy to be running in the daylight, it really changes the mind set. I don't mind running at night but it is a little hard to stay relaxed in the dark, even though I run with a headlamp and reflective vest. After the run I took my elder neighbors christmas lights down and stored them in her garage, finishing just in time as it started to rain. The beautiful wife and I had a stay at home date and made a nice dinner while we watched the movie "Ironman" which was really good. We went to bed at a good time and woke up Sunday with a feeling of calm energy to get going on the list. I got just about everything done but was hoping to squeeze a run or bike ride in but didn't as I had to go pick up the big boy over the in-laws. House is looking good and the vehicles are clean, ready for a long week of work before we head to south Florida for a week next week. Lots of running!

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest!

getting back to things

Finally got out for a run last night after a nice week off. I was missing runs and workouts big time but promised myself I wouldn't be upset about missing them. We bought a new sofa set so I have been very busy and occupied on this with no time or energy going towards workouts of any kind. No problems though as we are all settled now enjoying our new items and I am getting back into the swing of things. The run and workouts have been hard but the good kind of pain. Last night during my 4 mile run, I walked at the half way point and told myself, "I needed this so you better enjoy it." That I did even though the wind was blowing close to 30 knots. Looking forward to more runs soon.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.