running streak

Funny

2011-10-26T17:06:00.000-04:00

I keep laughing!

Refreshed

2011-08-30T16:51:00.004-04:00

Crazy busy here with lots of traveling to different countries as well as local places. The beautiful angel wife and I went to Grand Cayman Island for a week without the kiddies or pets for our 10 year anniversary as well as my 40th birthday. She suprised me with some of our neighbors coming along as well as meeting up with our childhood friend from Florida. The island is absolutely amazing and we all had the time of our lives. We all needed it for sure as we came home with fully recharged minds and spirits. I did get out for 3 runs while we were there on the beach, about 4 miles each time. Was nice to sweat off some of the alchohol off but enjoying the white sand beaches and cyrstal clear water made it all worth while. We did some sort of island activity everyday with each one being unique and amazing. I was planning on doing some diving there but being the only one from the group that is certified, I opted to hang as a group and snorkel with them, which we snorkeled at least twice a day on the most amazing reefs I've ever seen and the reefs in the Florida keys is good in some areas. Was a great time and definetly want to go back again, next time with the kiddies, missed them and was happy to get back. Was nice to have adult time with the beautiful angel wife though, we needed it.

I took a week off of running since returning home to prevent injury and opted for some good earned rest with the family. Hope everyone is safe and sound after Irene.

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

hot! hot! hot!

2011-07-25T17:20:00.002-04:00

With temps all across the country in the red danger zones, outside events have been moved or missed in my neck of the woods. I decided to rest my legs after running 5 miles on the beach in Charleston the weekend before so I only ran early Saturday morning. I decided that I would do a quick 4 mile run and didn't bring water bottle with me. Wrong, even at 8 am. It wasn't bad once I turned back for the run home as I was into the wind but I was already hurting from the run out. I don't like to complain about weather but this is bad.

The weekend trip to Charleston was awesome and exactly what the beautiful angel wife and I needed. We had a blast together as well as with our friends who live there and are the best for letting us stay with them. We took them to dinner at a new place they wanted to try 17 North, absolutely amazing with a very relaxed atmosphere, local ingredients, and the most amazing food ever. Worth a trip in itself. The next day was a walk on the Ravenel bridge which for the first time for me a little rough, probably from the drinking the night before. Was great time visiting Charleston and love spending time with the wife.

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

mountain time

2011-07-13T10:25:00.002-04:00

Last week was spent up in the NC mountains at the parents house and we all absolutely loved it. We spent all of our time relaxing and enjoying ourselves together, can't wait for more. The trip did have a small visit to urgent care after the baby angel jumped face first into a rocking chair base. She is out of control almost all the time but such a wonderful angel at the same time and thankfully she was fine and needed no medical assistance. We all went on plenty of dog walks around the mountain with 3 little dogs needing to do their business. I went for a nice run up the mountain and not sure how someone could live up at the top. I really enjoyed the run and look forward to many more there. We spent many evenings on the deck and celebrated the 4th of July in Waynesville and with sparklers on the deck. Was a great time. I stayed up way to late every night there and carried that with me home so I have been extra tired lately.

Looking forward to tomorrow as the beautiful angel wife and I celebrate 10 wonderful years married. We are going to Charleston this weekend as our yearly getaway and are looking forward to it. So lucky to have all that we have in our life and be happy together all these years.

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

16 year old me

2011-07-10T21:35:00.000-04:00

28 years

2011-05-23T16:20:00.003-04:00

The baby angel and I did a 6 mile sweatfest yesterday morning that I wasn't sure I was going to complete or not. We left around 10 in the morning so I thought it wouldn't be that bad, WRONG. I felt good and strong for most of it but the heat and humidity was so bad, I had to walk some of it. The little angel loved all of it and took a good nap for about 30 minutes. It was so nice to go for a run with her outside enjoying the hot day. I thought the whole run about missing my mom. Yesterday was 28 years since she passed, even though I feel her watching over me and my family everyday. I do miss her alot as well as my dad too. I started doing the crossfit workout of the day the wife tells me she did that day and I love it. I only did half of the workout out the other night because I had the puppy with me for the run portion and was getting to much for him. Looking forward to doing more this week and in the future as well.

Seeing the damage and hearing the stories from Joplin is heart wrenching and makes me sad. That is awful and thinking and praying for all involved.

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

a year

2011-05-20T13:48:00.003-04:00

It has been a year since my Dad has passed and I miss him more today then ever. I haven't slept much this week and last night was a very rough night for me. I think of Dad every day and most of the time is happy memories but the hardest part is not being able to have the discussions or to run things by him anymore. I pray to him and Mom everyday which is a strong aspect to myself, but I miss them everyday. I am very lucky to have all the I have in my life and I love my life. My family is the best and live everyday as the happiest man alive, even though I do not live close by. My beautiful wife, son and daughter are the best also with so much love for me and life. Getting through some rough times just hoping for the strength to live everyday to the fullest and love everyone in my life. Thank you for everything Dad, still one year after your passing. You have given me the most amazing and incredible life, I am forever grateful.

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

running busy

2011-05-17T13:58:00.005-04:00

Busy, busy bee. Spring has been crazy busy as well as very crazy weather. Lots going on in our world from selling our house, building new house (with contigency), camping trips with scouts, patio building, walking baby, running baby, and puppy training class. Runs have hapened when I can fit them in and most have been short. The beautiful angel wife joined a running program through her work and we ran a 5k friday evening through downtown Charlotte which was fun. The race was the goal of the running group so the wife is saying she is done, I think I will get her out more though. I have gone on a couple of early morning runs before school and work to get them in and have enjoyed the peace and calm. This weekend I took the baby angel for a run facing forward and she loved it. My hamstrings were sore though and running in the heat was tough also but I kept at it.

I have let my core slide some and I am paying the price. My shoulder area is killing me from holding and carrying the growing baby angel. I need to get back into the program of getting some exercising in the small windows of opportunity that I have. Work has been extra rough lately also which has been the hardest obstacle to clear. I need to try harder to take care of myself first though so we will see.

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

weekly ten

2011-03-07T12:09:00.002-05:00

I had babysitting duties with the little angel this weekend so I did what I know how to do best, run. We loaded up the stroller and headed out saturday morning before the rain started. It was misty through some streets but she was covered and took a nap for over an hour. The weather changed several times during the run with even the sun coming out for a couple of minutes. She fell asleep after the first mile and I didn't stop until she woke up, 10 miles later as I was just passing our street for another lap. My legs and feet were tired and beat so I was fine with that. The stroller I use allows for the little one to face forward or rear, and I always use the rear facing position during the colder weather. It helps having her looking towards me also for when she wakes up and wonders where she is, we usually laugh and play peek-a-boo until we make it home. She is so wonderful and amazing, getting so big and keeping us all on out toes as she runs all over the house. Looking forward to more runs during the week so I get back in shape.

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

It's been a while, how are we

2011-02-08T16:06:00.002-05:00

Time has been flying by with very little time for me to do many things, including updating this blog. Things have been good and very busy for me, never really allowing me to spend time on any projects. This brutal winter has not been playing fair though for both my outside activities and hobbies. I have been taking the little angel on runs every Sunday though so she can take a good nap and I get get fresh air with getting miles in. I run for about an hour to an hour and half around the community we live in for a 8 to 10 mile run. We both love being out there together spending awesome bonding time while I push her in the stroller. She is getting so big already and walks around the house likes she owns the place. She loves being around her big brother who has a blast making her laugh at his antics all the time. The two of them really have a special bond already that keeps growing, hopefully will always be strong with them as well.

Work has been absolutely crazy for me since October with no time to even take any deep breathes. I am enjoying being busy though so I am working hard on getting fresh air daily and walking around outside for a short time.

I hope everyone has been doing well and keep moving, doing something that makes them happy and feeling good.

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

keeps going and going

2010-10-29T20:19:00.002-04:00

I haven't had 2 minutes to post all week, crazy busy. I had a massage last week that I told the masseuse to go hard and focus on my foot pain. She did an amazing job to the whole body as well as the legs and feet. My foot was bothering me for the next couple of days but wasn't worried. I took the baby angel for a walk sunday morning which she was not happy with starting at a walk, so I ran. And ran, and ran. I ran until she woke up an hour later at 7 miles. I felt awesome with so much energy and strength. Was so nice to just go and go, not worried about time or distance. Just to be out with the sleeping baby angel. She wanted to go for a walk later the same day so I took her again and walked about 3 or 4 miles. I was exhausted at that point with no energy or strength left. Poor little angel is fighting some kind of sickness and having a rough week. Looking forward to our runs this weekend. Fall weather is here for sure.

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

sun valley elementary 5k

2010-10-18T15:30:00.002-04:00

Crazy week here for me, but a good busy. The wife and I ran the 5k at the big boys school last saturday with baby angel in her stroller. As soon as the run started, little angel was out and slept the whole race. The beautiful angel wife and I had a great run and everything was great. There was only like 75 people so it is very small and low key. We finished in 37:15 I think which is really good considering she started running 8 weeks before this. I think and hope she has caught the bug and we have more times together like this. I take the baby angel on runs every chance I get which is now once during the week and both days of the weekend. We love it.

The foot hurts still but now I just stretch it and massage the achilles which seems to work pretty well now. The good thing is that it is making me focus on running mostly on the forefoot. Sometimes it hurts real bad but is not criplling me any more. It is really bad though when I first stand up after sitting or laying for a while.

The weather has been perfect lately and making me want to get out more and more. The beautifule wife angel runs 3 early mornings a week and is looking for a boot camp that she can go to that is near our house. There is one real close but it is very expensive. We will find something for her to enjoy;)

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

Steady as you go

2010-10-06T09:50:00.002-04:00

I feel so good to say that I have been able to go for wonderful runs with the baby angel every weekend. This past weekend was an amazing 6 mile run/walk on sunday in absolute perfect weather. I can feel the pain and tightness in the foot during the run but focus on running mostly on the ball of the foot ( as we should). I am very excited as the wife and I are running the local race this weekend at our big boys school. I ran this race last year which goes along our regular route. This is going to be the first race ever for the wife and I will be taking the baby angel along so it will be almost a family affair. I would like th ebig boy to come along as well but not sure yet how that will work.

The big boy has started cub scouts and is very excited for all that is will be bringing. I have volunteered as his den leader so we have been very busy with all of that. I am looking forward to helping the scouts "Do their best" as well as remember the time when I was a scout. Good times.

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

Could it be possible?

2010-09-15T10:11:00.002-04:00

Believe it or not, I was able to go for another run on saturday with the baby angel in her stroller. The weather has been perfect and the foot has been very tolerable. Both the baby angel and I love the time and energy while we are out taking in everything the world has to offer us in our little world. She usually nods off at the halfway point so I take it easy going in and out of the sidewalk entryways. I think I may start to make plans for more regular runs now, still not pushing it. I had big plans to do lots of races this fall in honor of my dad and family but the injury killed those plans. We shall see what happens now.

The house was filled with sickies all weekend so I was the only one getting things done with both kiddos in tow. Was awesome though to spend the whole weekend with the family and was really a great bonding time for all. The little angel is starting to crawl more and more with a strong urge to be free and like her big brother, which is so cute and loving.

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

light at the end of the tunnel

2010-09-08T15:25:00.002-04:00

I can only begin to describe the feeling I had when I ran some on saturday morning while taking the little angel for a walk. We went for a 3 mile walk/run that was so great and wonderful that I almost sang and danced on the way home. Luckily for people driving by I didn't but I was doing the jig on the inside. The little angel really enjoys her walks outside and then slept the half way home. The foot hurt some later that day but I did some icing and stretching that made it tolerable. I am so excited about running again but need to take it very easy and I am not going to push it at all. To make matters even better, the beautiful angel wife went for a run the next morning which I have never seen or thought of as possible. She is really enjoying losing weight and getting back in shape as she has been going to a boot camp at the Y three morning a week while I get everyone up and going for the day. She has three more weeks left I think and we shall see where she goes from there.

The big boy had outpatient surgery on friday that went very well and he is getting back to normal which is very nice. We relaxed at home all weekend to let him heel while we spend some much needed family time. Nothing like a long weekend at home doing nothing but spending time together to fuel the soul. The weather was absolutely perfect all weekend especially in the mornings when I am up and getting the small things done around the house. Little angel is starting to explore all around her and will crawl some if her big brothers toys are within view. Time to start baby proofing! Still no teeth for her though but she is as cute as can be and has me wrapped around her fingers.

Lots of prayers and thoughts for my cousin Tracy fighting her cancer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RURY02H495w Love you.

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

missing summer

2010-08-18T09:10:00.002-04:00

I miss running!! My foot is still hurting even after stretching, icing, anti-flamatory meds, and time off. The doctor checked it out, pressed against my achilles (it was very tender) and gave me a prescription for anti-flammatory and a stretching sheet to follow. I bought insoles that have helped some but the pain is still there. I am thinking about justing going for a run this weekend on the beach and say to hell with it. I really miss running!

This summer has been very busy for us though with very little windows of opportunity to go for runs. My sister visited us for a week and we all had a blast. A short weekend trip to Charleston was wonderful, exactly what we (I) needed. We actually rode bikes all weekend and walked the Ravenel bridge together one morning. The beautiful angel wife has shingles now but hasn't let that stop her from doing a bootcamp at the local Y. I am very happy she is doing all of this and wish I could join her some.

I have big plans for the near future in the works that will require an uninjured me to fulfill them. I will let the plans known soon.

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

half a mile try

2010-06-23T09:00:00.002-04:00

I took the beautiful angel for a trial run in her jogging stroller around the block. Worked great and could have gone longer had I not been pratically dying out there. She was fine and I think she really enjoyed it. My foot was killing me and I think it is time for me to get new shoes. I used our muscle massager last night on it and it feels much better today so I am going to keep using that. I have really been in a funk lately and I think that getting my running back will knock me out of it so I am wanting to run pretty bad. Not going to push it though.

Check out the ryders sunglasses giveaway Tricia is having.

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

2010-06-14T15:49:00.003-04:00

I didn't get any workouts or runs in this weekend as I was trying to let the foot heel, hopefully it helped. I did work hard though painting our master bedroom all day and night Saturday by myself, no biggie really but moving the furniture to the middle of the room killed my back and quads. The room does look great and glad to have that over with. Thinking of getting a run in this week to test the foot, maybe a nice easy 3 mile run/walk. I really want to run a trail half marathon in September and also am looking forward to taking the baby angel for some good runs with the jogging stroller.

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

P.S. - check out the roadID giveaway at My reason to Run

Plantar fasciitis

2010-06-11T13:39:00.002-04:00

I have diagnosed myself with Plantar fasciitis. I am able to walk on it now and not have a limp but I need to seriously take care of this thing very soon. Not fun but I will get through this and start working on half marathon training soon.

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

rough week

2010-06-09T10:29:00.003-04:00

Last week was a really tough week, not only for me but I believe for many of my loved family members. The week after getting back to life after a loved ones passing is when it really starts to hit you and the everyday things and rituals seem rather pointless. The good news is that we all made it through and I was determined to push through it so we could all be happy and feel good about everything he would want us to do. I made a trip up to the mountain house on saturday to check on things and get some stuff done. I was alone which was probably a good thing so that I could take everything in and let go of anything I needed to also. Was a great trip with lots of work done at the house and even a great hike/run up and down a mountain peak, waterrock knob. I did miss all my family and loved ones throughout the weekend but I did enjoy this experience even though it was only 24 hours. I came home and then immediately went to do some fundraising at a local grocery store for 3 hours by standing in the heat of the day collecting money donations for several charities the Knights of Columbus provide for. Was a good experience and will gladly do it again in the future.

I did get a run in for National Run day and enjoyed a nice 4 mile run though my development. A nice easy 10 minute pace for most of it with a 9:30pace following up the end. Felt great to be out running again not having to worry about certain things anymore, like a heavy load has been removed. I woke up the next morning though with the worst pain I have ever felt in my left foot. I could not really walk on it all day and took 3 ibuprofrin which helped tremendously. Don't know what is going on but I still feel some pain with every step I take today. It is on the bottom of my left foot around the back inner sole area.

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

RUN

2010-06-02T15:14:00.003-04:00

I need to get a run in, like as soon as possible. Today is National Running Day, so everyone should go for a run.

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

Dad

2010-05-24T10:54:00.002-04:00

I love you Dad and you will always be with me. I am glad that you are in heaven now with Mom watching over all of us always proving your love for us all. I will always continue to live by the way you have shown me to live, loving life everyday while treating everyone the way I would want to be treated.

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

St. Peregrine pray

2010-05-17T11:04:00.000-04:00

Cancer is limited ...
It cannot cripple love, It cannot shatter hope, It cannot corrode faith, It cannot eat away peace, It cannot destroy confidence, It cannot shut out memories It cannot silence courage, It cannot invade the soul, It cannot reduce eternal life, It cannot quench the spirit, It cannot lessen the power of the Resurrection.

Relay for Life

2010-05-11T09:02:00.002-04:00

The big boy and I did another Relay for Life friday night and had a great time. He was very excited to see his teacher during the walk and talked the whole time to her. The beautiful wife and little angel eyes didn't make it this year unfortunately. The beautiful wife does not support anything like this so it is always just me out there. It was so awesome seeing all of the families together throughout the night having such good times that I kept getting upset when I thought about it. I registered as a survivor and recieved a shirt and purple ribbon to wear for the survivor lap and the beautiful wife explained to me for the second year in a row that I'm not really a survivor, which I don't think of myself as a survivor as I had my cancer removed during lunch one day and never recieved chemo, I am one of the very lucky ones. I only register as a survivor so the statistical numbers for beating this disease are better. Throughout the whole walk I thought about all of the loved ones affected by cancer. Four days later I am still in a funk and not happy with the beautiful wife. I am planning on forming a team next year for the walk as well as staying the whole time. I will be looking for ideas to raise some money for the organization throughout the year. Hope all the mothers had a great day and felt all the love and caring they deserve.

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

Crazy

2010-05-03T09:05:00.003-04:00

Long time no post. I'm still alive and finally took a nice and easy weekend to slow things down. We did make the trip to south Florida last month for Easter and had a great time, took 20 hours to drive down on good Friday which will never happen again. We didn't even make it out of Georgia the first day after 10 hours on the road. So we didn't get to do anything on the trip I was hoping for except to see family which was great. When we arrived home, I had a terrible sinus infection for a whole week and then some kind of other sickness that tore my insides apart. Then the following weekend the beautiful wife gets a terrible kidney infection and ends up in the ER in the middle of the night Saturday. Meds are helping now and until this weekend, our house is getting back into a nice relaxing mode again.

I haven't had a run in ever but finally got out Saturday morning for an easy 4 miles. The run was great and enjoyed all the sweat. My foot has been bothering me since the run but I think it will be fine, just going to take it easy and keep an eye on it. My whole family will be coming up for my brothers graduation from college here in town and then the beautiful angel eyes will be getting baptized in the catholic church that same day. Can't wait to have the family in town and spend some time with them.

Hope everyone is doing well and those running in races are enjoying themselves while they go for their goal.

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

headed south

2010-03-31T11:20:00.002-04:00

We are going to make a family trip to south Florida this weekend to see my family. Traveling with a 6 week old will be interesting but I think we can handle it. It will be a short trip but I am really excited about seeing everyone and having a great time. The van will be full of baby stuff as well as necessities for all of us as well as my mother-in-law. We are staying 2 nights at the hotel we had our wedding reception at which is right on the beach. I am planning on running everyday while on vacation and I think the weather is going to be perfect. We are breaking up the drive into two days and staying in Orlando at my brothers house on a golf course.

The little angel eyes is doing great and getting bigger everyday. She is a wonderful baby girl who gets excited to see and hear her brother and parents. We have been absolutely blessed in that she has been sleeping through the night for the past couple of nights and was only getting up once (2 to 3ish) since about 2 weeks old. We are all so excited for her to start laughing and smiling at us, especially big brother. Little angel eyes has a bad gas/fussy time every night before bed that I remember her big brother having as well. All is perfectly well though and I am constantly thinking and feeling amazingly blessed.

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

2 runs in a week

2010-03-26T13:29:00.003-04:00

I had a great 4 mile run last night immediately following a small rain shower. The temp was perfect as I wore a long tech tee and shorts. I am getting excited for the coming seasons and the excellent running weather it brings. I kept a nice 9:30 pace and wanted to keep it nice and strong which I did for most of it. The last small hill was rough but I just trudged along knowing I was done shortly. Looking forward to another run this weekend.

“no one is truly dead, until they are no longer loved.” My Fantoms By Théophile Gautier

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

time flies when your busy

2010-03-24T12:43:00.003-04:00

It has been a little too long since I updated but have busy. I did get another run in sunday for a good 4 mile in the rain. Happy to be back out and no complaints at all. Saturday was an absolute beautiful spring day with warm temps and nothing but clear skies. The big boy started soccer Saturday so we all watched and I tried to coach. I am going to be helping coach the under 6 and under 8 teams some for right now. The kids are so cute when they play. Little angel eyes came to watch and enjoy being outside. None of us ate anything though so we were starved after both games. The rest of the weekend was spent chillin at the house and we were visited by my cousin and her 4 year old daughter. She held little angel eyes and it was the cutest thing ever, she wanted to keep her and take her home to snuggle. They didn't stay long but was a great visit. I didn't get anything done I wanted too and need to spend all day getting them done soon. Come on weekend!

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

I ran!

2010-03-13T15:53:00.002-05:00

I went for a 4 mile run this morning and loved it. So nice to get backout there and knock the cobwebs off. The weather was perfect with a light wind blowing cooler air and temps in the 50's. Looking forward to getting back in the swing of things. Came home and stretched followed by a short walk with the beautiful angel. She is doing awesome and growing so fast. Soccer season is starting for the big boy so should be plenty of opportunities to get outside with the family. Excited to see signs of spring all around now. Keep it coming.

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

a second road ID giveaway

2010-03-02T14:43:00.002-05:00

Two chances to win a road ID.

Road ID giveaway

2010-03-02T14:23:00.001-05:00

Another giveaway today, check it out for a road ID.

Bridgedale socks giveaway

2010-03-02T10:13:00.002-05:00

Greean socks giveaway. As I always look for a green product or company, Tricia is having a giveaway for socks from Bridgedale. Check it out.

Angel Eyes is here

2010-02-22T16:01:00.003-05:00

Beautiful angel eyes was born on thursday evening. Things have been a little crazy since then with lots of no sleep thrown in. We are starting to adjust nicely though and hope to have everything back up to par very shortly. The angel eyes has been wonderful with an overflow of love from everyone around. I did take the big boy brother outside to play all afternoon yesterday with perfect weather to enjoy playing with all the neighborhood friends. It is so nice to have family and friends just outside of our doorsteps with lots of helping hands. I am thinking that I will be back to getting some runs in maybe next weekend.

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

no rush

2010-02-10T13:47:00.002-05:00

Still no sign of labor in the 38 week although the big boy picked last friday as her birthday. We are all ready for her and just taking it easy at our house. The room and house is ready for her, as well as her big brother is ready to love and hold her. He has informed us that he is excited to teach her to beat me up and tell me I am stinky. Can't wait. We did have a rough week last week with the big boy getting the 24 hour bug on wednesday and all night. He is still scared of getting sick and thinks germs are everywhere and in everything he eats (they are) but we are calming him some and helping him understand how our bodies work. No runs and no workouts for me and I can certainly feel the effects. Looking forward to spring when my family will be coming up to visit baby angel as well as the mountain house.

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

ready for angel

2010-02-03T16:25:00.004-05:00

Sorry for the delay in post but I haven't had 5 minutes of "me" to update. We have been non-stop lately around here and only have 5 minutes now due to a "24 hour bug" that made the big boy leave school, I'll take the down time and all is good now. I was "surprised" at work with a surprise baby shower which was so nice and unexpected. I have never in my life been surprised and they did everything including have my wife there to also surprise me. I spent the whole weekend getting the nursery ready as seen in the photos.

I did get the virtual 10k done though on the 23 and did much better then I thought I would. I pushed hard and kept a good pace even though I haven't run that much. I haven't run since then though and not sure when I will get a chance. The weather here has been rough for any runs period which is not making me go crazy. We are very ready for little angel to arrive and join the family.

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

busy long weekend

2010-01-20T13:33:00.004-05:00

I was non-stop this weekend from the second I walked out of my office on friday. I am still working on the baby room as now the crib that we saved from when the big boy was little has been recalled so now I have to replace with another crib that should arrive in the next couple of days. It is all coming together though and will be really nice when completed. I did go for an early run on saturday which was nice, still little chilly but felt great and comfortable at the turn around. Monday was a day off for me and the big guy and with an absolute perfect beautiful day, we were outside almost the whole day. We ended up going to the neighborhood park with several of the neighbors and then ventured back to our house. We all had a great time and look forward to many more times like that. Below is the group snacking during play. And the beautiful wife at 8 month with baby angel!

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

long weekend

2010-01-15T09:32:00.002-05:00

Everyone needs a hat light clip so head over to Nikki blog and enter to win her giveaway. Hurry as today is the deadline.

I didn't get a run in last night as when I got home I started to not feel good. I will get a run in maybe tonight though as I feel better. The beautiful wife is having a baby shower tomorrow at the mother-in-law house so her best friend from LA is coming into town today and chillin with us. Should be lots of fun and hopefully will help the wife take it easy and focus some. We have so much stuff as it is at the house that I am sure we will have to go through it next week and make a big donation to the battered woman shelter, where we always do.

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

virtual 10k

2010-01-12T08:42:00.002-05:00

I signed up for a virtual 10k on January 23 being put on by Casey at Running after Violet. I like the fact that anyone can do this run and they can do the run either outside or on a treadmill. I am looking into getting a treadmill for the house so I can still get runs in when the weather or family needs arise cancel a run. The beautiful wife doesn't want one even though it won't even be in the house. I only have 2 things left for the nursery and promise to post the pics soon.

I did get a great trail run in saturday with temps around 20 degrees but it was the frigid wind that was absolutely brutal. Part of the trail was soaked still and there was some frozen parts but I enjoyed every second of it. My legs were hurting after the run but felt great the next day.

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

Starting 2010

2010-01-08T11:34:00.002-05:00

I did get a run in New Years day which wasn't bad at all. I felt good and the temp was not bad at all. Since then though has been a different story, freezing weather all across the US which has made my runs be put on hold. I will get one or two this weekend. I found some local runs that I am really interested in running this year, two half marathons that I am really wanting to do. I am trying to get a time schedule going for me at home so that I can get runs and workouts in, anything has got to be better than currently. Our weekends are filled with things to do all the way up to when the baby comes, including finishing her room. I hope to finish the room this weekend and will post pics when I can.

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

Happy Holidays

2009-12-31T09:12:00.002-05:00

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.

2009-12-17T14:41:00.002-05:00

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

2009-12-11T08:37:00.002-05:00

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

2009-12-03T14:13:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-24T08:51:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-23T11:01:00.004-05:00

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

2009-11-19T16:18:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-18T14:36:00.001-05:00

resuming runs

2009-11-17T09:34:00.002-05:00

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

2009-11-11T14:29:00.002-05:00

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

2009-10-30T10:43:00.002-04:00

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

2009-10-06T13:30:00.003-04:00

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

2009-09-23T11:42:00.002-04:00

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

2009-09-04T09:14:00.002-04:00

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

2009-08-25T10:58:00.002-04:00

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

2009-08-18T15:14:00.003-04:00

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

2009-08-10T14:31:00.002-04:00

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

2009-08-06T08:54:00.003-04:00

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

2009-06-08T11:44:00.002-04:00

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

2009-05-26T11:48:00.003-04:00

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

2009-05-18T10:36:00.002-04:00

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

2009-05-14T09:59:00.003-04:00

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

2009-05-13T15:22:00.003-04:00

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

2009-05-08T11:25:00.002-04:00

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!

2009-04-30T08:03:00.003-04:00

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

2009-04-16T11:25:00.002-04:00

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

2009-04-10T14:44:00.002-04:00

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

2009-04-06T09:42:00.002-04:00

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

2009-04-01T10:34:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-17T08:39:00.003-04:00

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

2009-03-12T10:05:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-10T07:50:00.002-04:00

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

2009-03-06T08:57:00.002-05:00

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

2009-03-05T14:29:00.003-05:00

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

2009-02-21T20:41:00.002-05:00

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

2009-02-18T20:48:00.003-05:00

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

2009-02-11T09:46:00.002-05:00

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

2009-02-09T08:45:00.003-05:00

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

2009-02-02T13:02:00.002-05:00

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

2009-01-30T15:34:00.003-05:00

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

2009-01-29T13:26:00.002-05:00

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

2009-01-25T21:01:00.002-05:00

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

2009-01-15T09:15:00.002-05:00

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

2009-01-12T09:52:00.002-05:00

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

2009-01-08T10:15:00.002-05:00

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.

And so this is Christmas.

2008-12-30T07:55:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone had a good Christmas with lots of love and laughter. I worked everyday except Christmas and then came home to a sick wife and a loving son. I didn't get any chances to run or workout over the holidays but enjoyed the time with the wife and son. Still working on the new tv and hiding all the wires in the walls, which has left me with lots of scrapes and sliced up knuckles. The hard part is done now with patch and painting left. The hard part of this holiday is that I didn't start my shopping until an hour before the store closed on Christmas Eve but I finished it with plenty of time and all items were available.

I am planning on going for a run tonight (60 degrees) and then on New Years day (40 degrees). I am very busy at work over the holidays as well at home.

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

chore filled weekend with a run in

2008-12-22T10:17:00.002-05:00

I had lots of things on my honey-do list and it started Saturday morning at 7. I had to take the beautiful wife's vehicle in to get serviced at 7 am so I woke up early and headed out. I decided to do some Christmas shopping across the street while the shop worked on the vehicle and nothing was open for another hour. So I walked around the plaza planning out the shopping exercise until Target opened at 8. Vehicle was done early and I finished the shopping soon after that. I got home and started on the honey-do list right away. When I was done with setting the TV up, I went for a good 6 mile run in a light mist. Felt great throughout the whole run with 5 miles being my usual route through development, the last mile or so was through the small trail we have in our development. If I run the development trail I usually start with the trail in the first part of the run and finish on the road, so this was different but great. Some of the low areas had mud and water so I had to be careful through there but was nice to get some trail running in. Finished with 6 miles done with a 9:30 pace for the whole run. I started right back up the honey-do list upon my return and didn't stop until dinner time.

Sunday was family time and the big boy and I played outside some and then played with some neighbors inside. We had a blast with our neighbors while catching up with all the goings on. I did not complete the choir list as well as the Christmas shopping so I am a very busy man this week.

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

relaxing evening

2008-12-17T13:51:00.002-05:00

I didn't get a run last night or a daily core exercises in either. I don't fell bad or worried about except for the fact that I am going to a hockey game and lots of beer drinking tonight with coworkers. I haven't done anything like this on a weeknight since being married, so I deserve this. I will have to get a run/workout done thursday night and friday night.

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

Weekend work and run

2008-12-16T09:14:00.002-05:00

Had a very busy weekend with a 52" LCD tv mounting and installation complete with running all wires through the walls. I was thinking that it would only take up some of the day saturday but I started at 8 am and didn't stop until 9 pm. We moved are old projection tv to a friend of ours house so I moved that and my butt muscles are sore now. It is all complete now and we are so happy to be done and enjoying our new tv. I woke up early sunday and decided to go for a run in the cold morning. I was bundled up though for a good 5 mile run even though I warmed up after the 2 mile mark but was so happy to be outside. I then came home to enjoy my coffee so I could put up my neighbors Christmas lights as they are too old to do it and I like to make everyone happy.

I am going to list my HBBC points on the right side of the blog to keep track as suggested by Run to Finish. She asked me about my core workouts and if there were any that helped with my running. I do a mixture of exercises starting with a 20 rep of dumbell curls or something similar. I then do 30 sit-ups, followed by 30 pushups. Then 20 leg lifts followed by 30 closed grip pushups. Then 30 crunches followed by 10 pull-ups. I do this everyday and also a 30 push-up, 20 ab-roller, 15 closed grip pushups first thing in the morning. The morning routine drives my wife nuts but I love it as it gets me up and going for the day.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get and you need to tell them your love for them every chance you can also. Live everyday to the fullest.

full moon run

2008-12-12T08:43:00.003-05:00

I set out last night for a 4 mile run and was lucky enough to not have any rain during the run. It was a little warmer during the run then it has been in a while so I really enjoyed that. The light coming off of the full moon was awesome as it lit some of the ground and all of the sky, very beautiful night. Did my core workout exercises before the run again which took some of my energy away from the run. Was a great run though and I was happy to be outside running.

HBBC= 7 points + 1.5 points for workout two nights before.

I am planning on getting two runs this weekend even though my schedule is full setting up our Christmas present of a big LCD hdtv above the fireplace and other things around the house. Looking forward to it all.

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

finally a run

2008-12-09T13:22:00.002-05:00

I went out for a run last night finally even though it was a little cold. I layered up nicely so I was not worried at all about the cold weather. I did my 4 mile loop with the first mile feeling like I was running on pegs. It really felt great to be out for a run and the night sky was absolutely beautiful. I kept a nice 10 minute pace for the whole run even though I had a small knee pain for a couple of minutes. Did a good workout segment before the run and then followed the run with a long stretching session to get 6 points for HBBC. Planning on doing a good workout this evening at home to keep things going.

Good job to all who ran races this weekend and a couple of qualifiers. Way to go.

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

cancer sucks my left

2008-12-08T15:26:00.003-05:00

Had a good weekend with the beautiful wife and big boy son although there was no workout or running. There was a long list of things that I needed to get done around the house which I did so it was not a total waste. The wife and I had a Christmas work party for her work to go to saturday night and then Sunday was the big boys birthday party. Great times had by all at all activities and good pics as well.

The damn cancer thing is al over the place lately and battles are being fought and some are being lost. My cousin just completed surgery for her breast cancer and went well during surgery. I am praying that this battle is completly defeated soon and she can claim victory, having lost her mom last year to this bastard. Another family member and the biggest part of my life is still fighting and has good days and bad. I completely treasure every second that I have been able to spend with him and remain positive through this time.

Lastly, I have followed the blog and fight of Erica for the past year and a half. She is such a beautiful person inside and out that even a blog reader can feel the large loss of her passing. Erica, you will be missed and God bless you and your family.

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

**HBBC- 6 points**

no wet cold run

2008-12-05T11:56:00.002-05:00

Was dressed and ready to go for a run last night but as I was walking out the weather decided to change with cold rain. I did my 30 minute workout before and decided with the traveling last weekend as well as the tired long week, a cold wet run would not be worth it. I will get some runs in this weekend as well as my 30 minuteish workouts.

I am thinking of putting together some activities to do for raising money for fighting Cancer organizations. I am in the brainstorming part right now and well post my plan here when I have one.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get! Live life to the fullest everyday! Good luck to those running races this weekend.

Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge

2008-12-04T09:01:00.003-05:00

I am gonna do the Holiday Bootie Buster being put on by Run to Finish. I always try to do something active everyday and it is going to be nice to be a part of something. I don't believe in focusing on races or competition for staying fit but just living everyday to the fullest and teaching my big boy son to be active. I have been taking it easy since being back home with only a shortened exercise routine and no running. It is cold here as well as being tired from the traveling has me not wanting to get sick by over doing it.

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

Best Thanksgiving weekend ever!

2008-12-02T13:51:00.004-05:00

I was very stressed and tense for a week leading up to the holiday weekend. I was worried about the long drive down to south Florida with all the crazy drivers out there. It was a long drive that took 12 hours and getting in to my parents house at 3 am. I woke up at 7am and hung out for a little with my mom and little sister. I decided to go for a run while my mom went to the store for a couple of things. I did a quick 3 mile run through my old stomping grounds and really enjoyed the flatness. The temp was perfect and no issues what so ever. When I got back to the house I helped my mom with a couple of things and then we all got ready for our family pic. Everyone was there except my beautiful wife and big boy which hasn't happened since my wedding over 7 years ago.

The rest of the day only got better and we played games outside, drank, joked, talked, and visited with old friends. The meal was awesome with tons of good food and cold beers. My family are the biggest Dallas Cowboy fans so we all watched the game while the wives talked. A couple of my brothers and I played football against another 3 boys and we beat them pretty good. When it was over with and everyone went the seperate ways, I decided to head over to my best friends house to hang out for a little. Two of my brothers, best friend and myself hung out and talked til around 11ish about anything and everything in his back patio. I slept on his sofa and had one of the best night sleeps ever. We woke up around 8 when his wife was leaving for work and had breakfast. I said I was planning on going to the beach and running and my best friend said he would ride his bike with me. We loaded up and made plans to go out on the boat later with my brothers and SIL. We drove to a shopping center parking lot in Deerfield beach in which we started from there and began to cross a intercoastal waterway bridge which started to open for a boat so I had to really run fast. When we got to the beach we stopped for a second to look at the awesome flat ocean. I proceeded to run north up to Boca inlet and decided to keep going to the next main intersection of Palmetto. We stopped there for a second and I talked to another brother and then my wife called. We turned around and headed back along A1A to our starting point. Before we were headed to the bridge I thought I saw my brother and his family driving along the beach so I said hey lets go see if we can find them. So we went a mile down the beach and didn't see them so we headed back to the car. We did a total of 7.6 miles at a 10 minute pace according to nike+ which doesn't account on the stopping. Absolutely was one of the best mornings, runs, and times I have had. We then headed to another brothers house to meet up with my family (which did not go to the beach) and made a timeline for the boat outing. We went out on my best friends boat and cruised up the intercoastal to the Hillsboro inlet and anchored next to the beach and dredging barge. We all hung out on the beach for a little while and then we decided to go to the top of the lighthouse. Absolutely awesome up there and having been born and raised in south Florida, this was one of the coolest things I have done there as you could see forever up there. When we got back on the boat we discovered that the battery had died and the anchor didn't set so we drifted to the barge. I dove down to get the anchor and had to swim out with the anchor about 100 yards and set it in deeper water away from the barge. What a workout and as I finished this the sea-tow boat showed up to give us a jump. We headed back to dock and then went straight back to my brothers for a bbq cookout. My dad was too sick to come so it was just all the brothers and sisters hanging out and eating while some were making fun of each other. A couple of brothers and sisters and I decided to go see a movie so we drove there and saw the new bond movie. Come 12:30 I am at my parents house and going to sleep. Wake up at 6:30 and decided to hang out and enjoy the day with my family at home. I helped my mom get the Christmas stuff out of the garage and did other things around the house to help out. All of the brothers and sisters showed up for lunch and then I decided to leave the next day for a long drive back. Went to church that night with the family to our church where I haven't been since my wedding and then went and had a great dinner at home. I went to the store and got a real tree for my family and put it up for them. My other best friend came over later that night and we talked for a little until they went home. My dad and I watched a football game until 12 and then talked for little. We went to sleep and then woke up at 7 to leave. It took us 14 hours to get home to Charlotte that day as South Carolina was the worst state with stopped traffic. Abolsutely awesome time and I would do it again today to see family and friends.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live everyday to the fullest.
Happy Birthday Big boy! 5 years old today!

cold night run

2008-11-21T10:18:00.002-05:00

Well, I didn't get out for a run the other night like I was hoping for. But I did go for a short 4 mile run last night with the reflective vest on. The run was good and the vest didn't cause any issues at all. It was cold and my ears-sinuses hurt at the half way point. I didn't wear any head gear and I had my headlight on so I took it off and carried it in my hand which helped. I was happy to get a run in during the week as I started to feel like a weekend warrior a little.

It looks like it is going to be a cold weekend here and I am getting excited to go to south Florida next week and get some runs in. I am driving down with one of my younger brothers and no beautiful wife and big boy which I am both happy and sad about. I will miss them but will try to take advantage of the time away with my family.

Hope everyone has a good weekend and is able to get out for a run or walk. Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get. Live life to the fullest everyday!

veterans golf and a great saturday run

2008-11-17T13:26:00.002-05:00

I decided to not run last week until saturday because I was not feeling great when I got home everyday. I am glad I took it easy during the week and really enjoyed playing golf with 2 guys from work on tuesday which was veterans day. Golf was awesome and we had a great time with some good golf mixed in. The only problem with it was it took us all day to play 18 holes but glad we played. I guess it wiped me out though and now I would love to get the driver I was sampling from the clubhouse, I went this driver straight and very long.

I was able to have saturday to myself for a couple of hours since the big boy wanted to go to his grandparents house. I got stuff done around the house and then went for a run around lunch time. It was very windy out with some gusts blowing around 20ish knots and at one point when I was running into the wind, the wind picked me up some. It was a great run and I did a good 5 mile route with a 9:30ish pace. I picked up a safety vest at the store this weekend for my night runs and I am planning on giving it a try tonight.

Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get and live life to the fullest.

a great run

2008-11-10T08:40:00.002-05:00

Had a great weekend with spending good times with the beautiful wife and the big boy. We hung out at the house and played some and then went to a park and played some more. The beautiful wife and I went on a date to dinner and a movie which we saw Zack and Miri make a porno. The dinner was awesome at a mexican restaurant Cantina 1115. The movie was good but not one of Kevin Smith's best.

On sunday, I got some small things done around the house and then went for a run. I started the run feeling good and was happy to be out during the daytime and wanted to just enjoy the run. With just under a mile left to go, the nike+ training run came on the ipod which was a 20 minute pace builder. I did the training run which increased my distance some and also my pace. I was spent though when it was over which was nice. I did have some chaffing going on in the crotch area and a weird cut on top of one of my toes. Not sure how that happened. I will try to get more workouts like that from Nike+.

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

a welcome shower

2008-11-04T14:10:00.002-05:00

After taking all of last week off from running and working out, I was determined to start this week off right and go no matter what. So I headed out around 7:30 in a light mist rain. I was going slow the whole time to prevent injury with a focus on relaxing and enjoying the run. And I did. Was a great run the whole 4 miles and at the turn around point, the light mist started to become a real good down pour. It only lasted for about a minute which isn't bad and I was wearing a hooded vest which helped. As I was ending the run it really started to rain hard so I ran the last 200 yards in an all out sprint (uphill). As soon as I get to the house and in the garage, it stops raining. I am so happy to be back out running again no matter the weather.

Love and hug your loved ones and live life to the fullest everyday!

Feelings!

2008-11-03T15:26:00.001-05:00

time off

2008-10-30T08:35:00.002-04:00

Not much going on here except trying to stay warm and healthy. The big boy has an ear infection and I have had sinus issues all week so I am using these as excuses to slack some on the running and workout routines. I am going to get back in the swing of things tonight but I won't go for a run until saturday morning. I recieved news this week that another family member of mine has just been diagnosed with breast cancer at a very young age. It is hard for me to handle all of these medical issues right now but I am getting through it. My cousin has a very treatable kind of breast cancer which is good news and I will do anything to help her, even though I haven't seen her in a long time.

My heart and prayers go out to fatty and his family. Love and hug your loved ones every chance you get and don't wait to say or do something with them. Live life to the fullest every chance you get.

running streak

Funny

Refreshed

hot! hot! hot!

mountain time

16 year old me

28 years

a year

running busy

weekly ten

It's been a while, how are we

keeps going and going

sun valley elementary 5k

Steady as you go

Could it be possible?

light at the end of the tunnel

missing summer

half a mile try

Plantar fasciitis

rough week

RUN

Dad

St. Peregrine pray

Relay for Life

Crazy

headed south

2 runs in a week

time flies when your busy

I ran!

a second road ID giveaway

Road ID giveaway

Bridgedale socks giveaway

Angel Eyes is here

no rush

ready for angel

busy long weekend

long weekend

virtual 10k

Starting 2010

Happy Holidays

More

non-stop busy for 6 years

no run turkey

evening misty run

run and christmas time

no run tonight

wordless wednesday

resuming runs

wanting to run

busy

Moeben sleeves

crazy busy

in the woods

saturday morning run

mountain weekend

greenway biking

Time out is over

long time no blog while kayaking

Memorial day

packages

sweet angels on the feet

walk to poop

Relay for Life

Stinky Daddy

loving spring time

another nice weekend

Needed

Big boy prays

Nike+ pooped

National wrong turn day

needs

snow

6 mile

busy, busy

feeling great

7 on the 7th

eating to much

Team Hoyt in America

tired

cold Florida