Chopperguy's TNT Blog

Ok, I'm going to try and allow anonymous comments, as long as the SPAM doesn't get bad. If it does, I'll require a registration.

Well, Friday night we went out late, but managed to get up early Saturday morning and join the team for our Saturday morning run. My wife was with me, so of course I had to do my best to keep up. We ran the 3 miles in a half decent time, and most of the team stayed together.

Today's inspiration was a 41 year old guy that had been running for LLS to raise money for a relative that had Leukemia, only to pass away from AML himself, the same disease that took Blakes life. Man, it sucks for everyone that gets it.

Although it was my wife's birthday this weekend, we lost 3 people that were close to people in our lives. One was my cousin that had been fighting cancer. Her son was married Saturday afternoon, and as they said a prayer for her in Williamsburg, she passed away in Richmond.

Keep everyone in your thoughts this holiday season. Enjoy the time you have with one another, because you never really know when you, or they, will be gone.

After a fairly stressful day yesterday, and a less than stressless evening, I went out and ran a 5k last night. It was supposed to be a 2 miler, but I made a turn and took the long way home.

Although it was chilly, it was a great run none the less. I'm looking forward to the Team in Training run tomorrow morning. It will be nice to go run with a group that all have the same goal. Haven't had anything like that since the military.

Anyway, I hope all is going well with you and yours.

Ok, Monday night was cross-training. I did an hour of Wii fit. Not quite what I expected at the time, and seemed fairly simple while doing it, but I sure was sore the next day. Who would have ever thought Yoga could be that demanding.

Tuesday night, Tammy and I went out for a quick 2 mile run... 33 degrees and let me tell you there was nothing quick about it, other than the quick loss of breath, energy and the sheer willingness to survive. Riding a motorcycle hundreds of miles in sub freezing temperatures has nothing on running in near freezing weather.

This time of year it looks like I have no choice but to suck it up and drive on. 3 miles tonight, 2 miles both tomorrow and Friday nights. I may post about those runs if I get a minute.

Well, this week has been uneventful. I started the week out with a Sinus infection so I didn't get to train until Thursday night. Ran just over 2 1/2 miles at a pretty fast clip. Friday, I took a rest since I was to run the Ntelos 8K today.

The morning started at 5:00, windy, raining and warm, really warm. 65 degrees in November warm. Before the race, it rained a bit, but once it started, it was all clear. Of course my wife and I started out in the "slow" corral. She was supposed to be in the fast corral, and I in the slow. That was messed up since I had the fast corral, and she the slow. The bad thing about being in the slow corral, getting around all the walkers.

We started out together, keeping a nice pace for the first mile, dodging the walkers and slower runners. That's when I had to let the wife go. I kept her in my sights until just after 2 miles, but then she was gone. I will have to continue to work on my running legs.

I had 3 goals today... Survive, check... Run more than I walked, check... and finish in under an hour, check.

My finishing time: 55:31, 5 minutes behind the wife. I'll be up to her speed soon. It would be nice to actually run one of these things WITH her, and not way behind her.

Tomorrow is a rest day, I think it's well deserved!

And the journey begins...

We met up at Fountain Lake at 7:30 this morning, where we all got to meet one another and we even had time to talk a little. From there, we went over a few of the details, given our name tags and I was awarded the Highest Fund Raiser tag to wear. After that, Art gave us an inspirational speech.

We took off for a quick little warmup around the lake, which was just shy of a half mile, and my legs were actually under me. I did a bit of running, but speed walked it for the most part.

From there, we were to run at an easy pace for 15 minutes out, 15 minutes back. We hit the top of the hill, where our distance and time begins, and I was ready to go. I started at a slow pace, and gradually picked it up. Next thing I knew I was actually running. And it felt good. It's been years since I've actually run for a really good reason. I've been doing a bit of running the past few months, to include walking the San Jose half marathon, and a run for the Families of the Wounded.

So there I am, running, then I hit the wall. Run a bit, walk a bit, run a bit more, but I find myself walking more. My mind kept telling me, "The further you go out, the further you have to return". So there I was, just about a mile and a half out, in 15 minutes. True I was able to run 2 miles on the treadmill in just over 15 minutes, but actually running? Yeah, I can do this. I ran and walked on the way back, and my mentor stayed by my side for the last mile. I felt as if I didn't want to stop running, but I just couldn't do it... yet.

I was never a runner growing up, I was a swimmer. Now, at least I know I can do it, once I get my running legs back under me. You see, 5 years in the Army gave me my legs the first time, and knowing I'm running so one day families won't have to suffer like mine did, and kids won't have to suffer like my step-son did, will give me my running legs once again.