GCM Registration Almost Here!

     The early bird registration for the Mercy Health Glass City Marathon race weekend is almost here.  If you are looking to qualify for Boston, run your very first Marathon or you are a seasoned veteran then this flat and fast course is just what you are looking for!  

     This event weekend offers racing distances of 26.2, 26.2 relay, 13.1, and 3.1, along with some great race swag.

• Short-Sleeve Technical Shirt (guaranteed thru 3/15 only)
• Pacing Service for Marathoners
• Marathon Exposition
• Commemorative Finisher’s Glass Mug
• Commemorative Finisher’s Keepsake Medallion
• Chip Timing Services
• Finishers Certificate
• Results Book (mailed after the event)
• Post Race Massage
• Entrance into the Post Race Party
• Registration & Packet Pick-Up

Mercy Health Glass City Marathon

YARK Subaru 5-Person Relay Marathon

Owens Corning Half Marathon

Medical Mutual Glass City 5k

Obsess Much

     This post is completely different than what it was a few days ago.  I had wrote this long diatribe about how I have been so pissed at myself for not loosing the 10 pounds that I am over goal.  I have lost sight of all the positives in my life and stopped thinking about how great it is that I am 183 pounds and not 317 pounds.  I have finally realized I am obsessing over the wrong things.  Yes I need to remember this is a struggle and I have to keep focus or I could ruin all I have worked for, but honestly who gives a fuck about ten pounds.  I sure as hell don't want to anymore.  

     Instead of living in "the glass is half empty" side of things I am going to write a bunch of "the glass is half full" stuff and try to concentrate about the positives of my situation.  The obvious one was the hard work and dedication I have put into changing my life and not being a victim to it anymore.  A painful injury sidelined me for months, caused me to need surgery and rehab and I was able to maintain my weight loss with my diet.  The old Dean would have just given up and slid back into his old habits.  I ate a really, really, REALLY good cookie and managed to be satisfied with it.  The old Dean would have obsessed and looked for every way to get more.  

     There are plenty others I am sure, but after I weighed in today I came to the realization that I can't let that three digit number on the scale control my life.  For example a couple of weeks ago I had been doing quite a bit of running and my weekly mileage had increased to almost pre injury numbers.  When I weighed, not only did I not lose any, I gained weight and it pissed me off to know end.  All I could think about is why nothing was happening.  Before surgery, the running did the trick and now nothing was happening and today, after not running for almost two weeks because of my back I lost 3 pounds.  (Quick side not because I haven't written much in awhile, I hurt my lower back will working on my motorcycle and it has been really painful.  Today was the first day I have felt like running in almost two weeks.)  There are so many things that can affect this number that I almost don't care anymore.  To be honest, I could lose at least 15 pounds right now if I had a surgery to remove a lot of the loose skin around my mid section.  My body might be telling me, I good with were we are, just keep doing what you are doing, so I am going to listen.

Meet Your 2017 GCM Ambassador Team

 

     Ever since I ran the 5K at the Glass City Marathon event in 2013 I was hooked.  I thought to myself if they can put on such a great event for those of us running 3.1 miles, I bet they do an incredible job with 26.2.  In 2015 and 2016 I was honored to be able to be a race ambassador and represent my hometown race and spread the word about this amazing event.  Well I am humbled and honored to say that I have been asked to return and represent our race with an incredible line up of ambassadors.

     While most of you are starting to ramp up your mileage for your fall race goals please keep in mind that we are just shy of 9 months away from the start of the 41st Mercy Health Glass City Marathon on April 23, 2017.

     So to kick things off I wanted to introduce you to my fellow Ambassadors.  We have a great group with a wide range experiences in this sport we love so much.  I can't wait to follow them and get to know them over these next nine months leading up to race day.  Click on their links below to start following them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and their personal blogs.

Amanda Schwartz

Theraretwosides

Instagram

Facebook
Twitter

Sarah Speer

Girl, It’s About Time

Facebook

Lisa Willford
Tech Chick Adventures

Instagram

Facebook
Twitter

Krista Balwinski
Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Brian Hackenburg

Fireman Rob Foundation

Facebook

Twitter

Renee Small

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Jen Govender

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Andrea Born
Finding Fitness By Forty

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Double Digits

     It's a happy and proud day for me today. While out on my run I was thinking about the last time I ran a distance with double digits in it, and I came to the conclusion that it was probably just shy of a year ago. I really wanted to know for sure so I checked out my history on the Garmin app on my phone and was floored by what I saw.  If you can believe it, the last double digit run I did was the Half Marathon during the Glass City Marathon way back on 4/26/15.  Yeah I know!  I couldn't believe it either.  This was my come back race from my issues with my IT Band and where I set a new half PR.  When I looked at May and June's history I had shortened up my long runs in May while recovering from the half I just crushed.  It looks like I was just starting the uptick in distance at the beginning of June to start getting ready for my second full marathon when the hip pain developed, and we all know how that turned out. 

     Being that I have not run a double digit distance in over 13 months I am really glad I took things rather slow.  It was in the low 70s this morning, but the humidity was climbing pretty fast so I wanted to get it out of the way before the sun really started cooking.  I kept my pace around 11 min miles for the first couple just to get my legs under me.  After that I slowly increased my pace to a 10:30 avg for most of the remainder of the run.  I didn't want to complicate things with a bunch of elevation changes, not that northwest Ohio has elevation changes, so I made sure my route only had one small hill and no highway overpasses.

     I was so pumped when I hit that ten mile mark that I got a little carried away and pushed rather hard for the last mile.  I got my pace up to a 9:51, which I was pretty proud of, but I have to remember I am still building my strength back and I don't want to have a set back.

Jax Has Arrived

   

   
     Eight to ten weeks ago Mandy and I had been really talking a lot about getting another dog, why I don't know, we needed one like we needed another hole in the head.  We follow a ton of dogs and dog specific streams on Instagram of dachshunds and were just falling in love with all these puppies.  We, and when I say we I mean Mandy, started looking for new litters of puppies in the area and managed to find two.  We visited one and just weren't getting a good vibe or maybe we were just still unsure and we walked away.  Mandy called the next day and he was already gone, so we knew if we wanted one we would have to make an on the spot decision and live with it.

     We went to see another litter that wasn't ready to come home, but we found out that there was only one still available.  The minute we saw him we fell in love.  I am not much for a white dog, and maybe that is because I wear a lot of black, but the markings on this little guy were amazing.  We didn't hesitate to put down the deposit started counting the days till he came home.  

   

 We had about 8 weeks to weeks to wait and at week 4 we really wanted to see him again, so Mandy texted the owners and they were more than gracious enough to allow us to come over and visit.  By this time his eyes were open and all the puppies were moving around a lot more.

     Fast forward to a week ago and we brought our little Jax home.  We named him Jax because we wanted a cute name that sounded good with Jedi and Jax is the name of Mandy's favorite character on the show Sons of Anarchy.  Plus I got to name Jedi so it was only fair she got to name Jax.  He sleeps a lot, which is common for puppies and he has some trouble right now with separation anxiety, but we are working on it.  He is just so freaking adorable, and I can't wait till he grows up and I can start taking him for a run every now and then.  

I've Got A Plan

     Yeah so things have been a little crazy around here with the addition of our new puppy, Jax, and this being the start of our busy season at work.  As you read in my last post surgery update, the doctor has released me from any further follow ups and now I can look to the future.  

     Last Wednesday I went in to see my physical therapist to create my plan for the rest of the year, so I can get back to running marathons and beyond.  When I got there, we sat down and talked about what I would like to accomplish.  I talked about obviously wanting to run a marathon again and wanting to look towards at least one ultra marathon.  I also mentioned that I wanted to do a trail race at some point, and she brought up the race at Oak Openings park.  They have a 25K and 50K race on the trails through the park.  We both felt that my first priority should be to get my strength back and build a good solid running base before I tackle a full or an ultra marathon.  I decided to run the 25K (15.5 miles) race and possibly a half marathon as well this year and I am officially announcing that I WILL run the 2017 Glass City Marathon in April.

     How I will get there is a strength and running plan that is set in a 4 week rotation.  The strength training will be done at home with resistance bands and body weight exercises that we went over during my appointment.  Running will be done through the usual combination of recovery, long, tempo, interval and hill runs.  Weeks 1-3 I increase the length of the long run and raise the intensity of the other runs, while week 4 I cut everything down to a nice light recovery week, to reset for the next 4 week circuit.

So my plan will go as follows

Monday - Upper body

Tuesday - Lower body

Wednesday - Long run + Upper body

Thursday - Recovery run + Lower body

Friday - Tempo run

Saturday - Rest day

Sunday - Hills or Intervals

Post Surgery Update #10

      So Wednesday was what I was hoping and expecting to be my final followup visit with my surgeon and it turns out I was right.  After I got called back to the exam room and got all my vitals checked and what not, I had a 5 - 10 minute wait for the doctor to come in.  Today he had a bit of an entourage with him as he was followed in with one guy that was taking all his notes for him and another guy that was just their to observe what he was doing.  They were defiantly training to be doctors so I would say it seemed like a internship would be for us non medical types.  Anyway he ran through a few questions about how I was feeling and asked me what my activity level has been.  I told him how Alisha had worked me up slowly doing 2-3 days a week of running and slowly progressing the distance.  He seemed pleased with my report and asked me to get on the exam table for a few quick tests.

     He went through a series of leg manipulations that he did pretty much at every other visit I've had with him.  He was checking for any symptoms of my issue still lingering and checking my flexibility as well.    By the end he instructed me to continue to increase my activity level, but stressed to take things slow while reminding me it could take 8 months to a year to feel completely back to normal.  The only thing he found that I need to work on is getting a little more flexibility in one area and gave me a couple of good stretches to do.   It was at that point that he told me to come back and see him if any problems should occur in the future but I was officially release from care.  

     I walked out of that office with a great big smile on my face and just happy that this was all behind me.  If I am not mistaken we are around just a month shy of one year since the first symptoms reared its ugly head.  Looking back now I am amazed at how quickly I was able to recover, but during all this it sure did feel like an eternity.

     Now I have to create a plan for the foreseeable future or I may run myself right into another injury so I called Alisha.  We setup an appointment for this coming Wednesday to create a strength training plan, talk about a running plan and I want to ask her opinion about when I may be able to tackle marathons again and my next big goal of an ultra.    

 

     So how does one celebrate this fantastic news, well with a race of course!  To be honest I in no way planned this it just kind of happened, but I couldn't ask for a better race to celebrate at.  Wednesday was May the 4th which if you are Star Wars nerd or even just a casual fan I am sure you heard it was Star Wars Day - May the fourth be with you, as they say.  The Toledo Roadrunners club put on a fun run called May the fourth be with you 4K and the Wookie 1k Younglings run.  Kids of all ages were encouraged to come out and run and dress up in cosplay.  I ran a solid race and didn't worry about racing it, just enjoyed the privilege of being able to run again!