Happy New Years Everyone!!

I hope you guys have a great night tonight! Kristin and I are going to go run "The first Run" which is a 5k that starts at midnight. The weather man says it is supposed to be 24 degrees out at midnight. Kristin and I are stoked to do this tonight.
Take care guys!

That's his "Play Bark" (WTF?!!?)

Kristin and I went for a trail run today on Wildwood trail. This trail is a great trail in Forest Park (The largest park in any city in the US). We were happily running through the mud and the slop because it was raining out, and has been for a few days. We had made it out to our turn around point and we had not seen a soul because the rain kept everyone away.
On our way back we came around a corner and met two dogs, who barked. We both stopped in our tracks as they were barking, then another dog comes up from behind them, what looked to be a Pit Bull and Boxer mix. This dog went past the other two who had stopped and were just barking cause we scared them too, and this dog came at us growling and barking. I went for the nearest thing I could, which was a hand full of mud. The dog comes up to both of us growling/barking and looking to be the the Alpha. Kristin and I both yelled at him, waved our arms, etc.
About this time I hear from around the next corner as this lady with a baby on her chest who starts yelling at her dogs to come, sit, etc. then she asks us "Do you have a dog with you!" All I could think is WTF, does it matter, you are yelling at your dogs they aren't responding!!! You can see you have this dog growl/barking at us. Next to this lady is three more moderately sized dogs, which makes six, none of them have a leash or collar. Now we have six dogs, one acting agressive, what the hell do you do? The lady can't make her dogs do a damn thing.
Anyways, after this dog makes us aware that he isn't to be trifled with, he calms down, and when the lady stopped yelling he calmed a bit more. At this time I realized we weren't getting hurt, but Kristin hadn't quite calmed down. I started walking further down the path and told Kristin the dogs were fine and lets get going. The lady once she caught up said, that's his "play bark", we haven't been home for 2.5 weeks, so they are full of energy. Play BARK!!!??? What the Heck!!! Seriously a growl followed by a bark is a play bark! Had I had pepper spray on me I would have sprayed the dog. He was growling, barking and running at us and he stopped just short of arms reach when I would have thrown the mud in his eyes and then hit him!
Seriously, don't walk six medium to large dogs without leashes and colars who don't listen to you on a hiking trail. I don't mind dogs, and I don't mind well behaved dogs off leash, but dogs that don't listen and bark/growl, need to be on a leash!

Other than that one moment, we had a great muddy trail run in Forest Park. We both got our butts kicked and running in mud definately makes you work harder.

Sad story

This is a sad story, but an interesting point for me. Even world class athletes have problems, which they didn't know about. One of these athletes (Ryan Shay) died during this competition for the Olympic Marathon team.

It really brings some thoughts to the front of my mind, and I feel like sharing them with my friends and family.

The question for me, should he have never pushed his body that far, or should I be happy for him because he was able to do everything he ever wanted to? I started thinking about this for myself and as a husband of a runner. For me personally, I may have a unique perspective. I honestly feel that it is better to live a full life and do everything you could ever want, than to sit at home and never run a risk. Ryan lived a life doing something he loved, he was healthy and for 99.99% of us we would not run in to this issue, but it just happened to him.

For me, I will keep riding and running and take the risk of some odd problem, or person, or car, or natural freak accident taking me out. At least I will lead a healthier life that I truly believe in and have a great time doing it. It is good for my mind, body and spirit and I believe it has made me a better person to be around.

Also, thinking about it as a husband, I feel the same way. I would not ask, or expect, Kristin to stop running just to prevent potential problems. It is a risk we will take, and I will support her as she runs her first marathon this next year.

To me, these "risks" are far less risky than continuing to be a morbidly obese smoker who does not exercise, which was me. For other people in my opinion, it is better than obesity, smoking, drinking, partying or whatever bad things we do and spend time on in life. Not that we don't all do bad things (drink soda anyone?) but we can do things to limit our health risks in the future, and sometimes it has to be at the risk of more immediate problems we may not know about.

I think some people don't exercise, or do something, because they think they are so out of shape they are going to give themselves a heart attack. Trust me, I thought I was going to give myself a heart attack when I first started riding a bike and I hit a hill. Turns out our hearts are strong and they can get through some strain. So, if you are really concerned about your heart/lungs, go to a doctor and get their opinion, then get out there and start to make it hurt!!!

Amazing feats

I was sent another video of a pretty amazing event. It is the JFK 50 miler, ultra marathon (yes, that is a run). This 13 year old girl and her mom did it!!! To me, that is just amazing. Doing an ultra is amazing, but at 13?!? I wonder if this girl will try a 100 mile ultra or even worse/better the Badwater.

Plan for 08

For those of you who are interested, this is my planned event schedule for 08. There will probably be more events than this, but these are the main ones I am looking to complete this year.

• Worst Day of the Year Ride, February 11th This is just a fun ride to do and it is a good baseline ride for me.
• Reach the Beach, May 9th One of the first centuries of the year (100 miles) and a very well supported ride. This will be a good way for me to get trained up and in shape. I plan on doing this ride hard, so I will train that way. This will get my bike fitness up.
• The Havoc at the Hideout, May 17th This will be a 5-6 mile trail run/race at Hornings Hideout.
• Helvatia Half Marathon, Saturday June 9th
• Blue Lake Duathlon, June 15th (Olympic)
• Pacific Crest, June 27-29th I am not sure which event I will do, but they have everything from Half Ironman's to 5k runs. Most likely I will do the half marathon with Kristin. Our friend Tony will be doing the endurance duathlon (52 mile bike, 13.2 mile run), which is on Saturday and we will be there to cheer him on. If we do an event it will definately be on Sunday so we can cheer on Tony on Saturday.
• Hood To Cost Relay (197 mile relay run with 12 person team), August 22nd and 23rd
• Pints to Pasta 10k, September 9th This is a really fun race that Kristin and I love to run together. It is a very "happy" event with everyone in such a great mood.
• Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, September 23rd The goal is for my mom to be able to do the walk for the cure with me. I plan on doing the 5k run, then do the 5k walk with mom.

Running/Biking

As, I think everyone knows I am going to try doing duathlon's this year. Correct that, I am doing duathlon's, but I am going to try and be in the top half of the pack. It will take a couple years at best to be able to finish in the top percentage. To be honest, I am not sure I have the time and dedication to be able to be that good, but we will see.
Anyways, I am back to running again and I have worked my way back to running a 5k, so that is good. I am not running fast yet, I have been trying to just put on steady mileage with some good intervals here and there. Not only that I am getting strong on the bike again.
I am not saying I am as stong as I was in the summer, but for winter time fitness I am starting to build up for my summer time activities.
All in all, I am feeling really good and mentally ready for the rest of the year.

Long time

It has been a long time since I have blogged. Well... For my site anyways. I have been fairly busy on my mom's blog and documenting her fight with cancer.

I was sent this link to a YouTube video that I thought was really inspirational. You don't have to be an athlete to appreciate this one.

After looking at the video, you should check out the stats of this team.