2012?

Many bloggers have already posted their goals and planned races for 2012. I applaud them. I cant think of what I'm doing next week never mind 6 months from now..... The only goal I have for 2012 is to finish my first marathon. I have yet to sign up for it, but I think I'm ready for it. It is definitely  my next step ( I think ) as a runner. Finishing a marathon would put a stamp of approval in my mind, labeling me as a true runner.

There are races I want to do this upcoming year, but for me, the cost will play a big factor. I have 2 kids graduating high school this year and between planning a graduation party and getting them financially ready for college, you can imagine how tight money will be.

So.... I'f my only major race this year is a marathon and I complete it.... I will be happy with that. Any other race I do will be a plus!

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In other news.....

I'm loving the Garmin I got for Christmas! Thanks for all the comments and tips. I'm still trying to figure it out, but I think I'm getting it. My biggest problem right now is remembering to bring it with to work with me when I run during my lunch time. I forgot it twice! Grr! I did run with it to today: 5.36 miles in 40mins. I set it up with Dailymile so I can put it on the widget on my blog and so I can tweet it. Thank you for those who follow me on twitter. I'm not a big poster on Twitter, but I do my best.

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I see I have a couple new followers! Welcome!... and thank you for following my little blog!

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I don't know if I will post again before the years end, but if I don't, I wish you all a Happy New Year and hope you all have a great year of runs ahead of you!!!

- Jose

I got a Garmin!! Woot!!

The wife Santa got me a Garmin!! I felt like a little kid. I had to go out and try it!

I was surprised at how easy the setup was. I mean I was ready to go within minutes. Today was day 2 of using it. The first day I was all over it. Started it up and kept looking at my pace through out my run It was awesome! In today's run, I forgot to stop it off after my run... Doh! It recorded like 2-3 minutes of me walking and doing stretches before I remembered about it. LOL... I'll have to get used to this.

This is cool. I can finally start tracking all my runs. I'm wicked excited!

What did Santa bring you guys??

The Jog Strap

Someone sent me this video this morning. Made me laugh... it was a great way to start my morning, so I thought I would share.... Enjoy!

Have a great day!


Edit: I just saw that The Boring Runner had already posted this... This guy is sooo funny!

My look back @ 2011

This year has been a really fun year for me running. I wish I knew exactly how many miles I have put on these two feet of mine. All I know is that I have put the most memorable miles of my life this past year!

Since Miss Zippy's line of questions have been the standard to outline this past year, I guess I'll do the same:

Best race experience? 
For me, it has to be 2011 Worcester Half Marathon. It wasn't a big event like the RnR halfs, but it was my first half. I had registered for it like 3 weeks prior to it, but I was ready for it.

I literally held back tears as I crossed the finish line because I could not believe what I had just accomplished.

Best Run?
Ernie, my co-worker invited me on one of his trails runs during lunch. Honestly the best 7 miles I have ever done!

The entrance to one of the trails

Best new Gear?
My iPod. I picked up a new one after my last one died during the RnR Providence half.



Best piece of running advice you received?
Slow down. You get better with time, not by killing yourself. - a good friend


Most inspirational runner?
I would say YOU guys. I love reading about your running experiences. I learn so much from each and every single one of you. You guys are helping me become a better runner (and blogger). Thank you all.


If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be?
I'll do with pictures:

RnR Providence Half

Running With the Wolves - 10k

Harvard Pligrim 10k @ Gillette Stadium

Warrior Dash -NE

This was a great year for running. Hope 2012 is more of the same. Next year I plan to become a marathoner. Bring on 2012!!!!

Whatever it takes....

This my friends is laptop battery...

...I dont own one of those Sport sticks or foam rollers. I wish I did, but I'm way to cheap to buy one. Maybe Santa will get me one. Who knows...

So this is how I work out those muscle cramps or tightness after a run:

This battery has worked wonders! One side of the battery is curved so it glides perfectly up and down my leg. This is honestly one of the best things that I have used to get the job done. Trust me, in times of need, I have used just about anything I could find.

Whatever it takes....

I've got a stack of these... who needs one? LOL.

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I ran a tough 5 miles yesterday. I struggled halfway through this run to put one foot in front of the other.... I dont know why. It was just one of those days I guess. My legs are achy today so I'm going to rest them and massage them with the laptop battery. 

Don't judge me...... :)

Chilly 10 mile run today...

Thanks to those who played along in the tagging game. It was fun reading your 7 tidbits about yourselves.

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Ran 10 miles this morning. The temperature was a chilling 18 degrees when I walked the door. It wasn't so bad until I hit one of the main roads and the wind picked up. My nose took a while to adjust to the cold air. It hurt to breathe!! At about mile 2 everything felt OK (when the wind wasn't blowing). I planned 10 miles, but told myself as I was running that if I got too cold I would cut it short and head back after at least getting 5 miles in. Toughed it out though. Luckily the sun was shinning and helped keep me somewhat warm.

Plus, it helped that ran with a nice warm Santa hat. Sure I was getting stares as I ran through town. But I'm that weird running guy.... I'm used to it :)

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I got a nice surprise this morning when I checked my twitter account:

I totally forgot that I had entered his contest. It was a great way to kick off my morning run! Thanks Jeff.

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Tomorrow starts another busy week at work. Ya'll have a great one!!

Tagged!!

I know I mentioned before how busy I am at work. Sometimes I wish I was exaggerating. But being the only helpdesk person for over 300+ people is just killing me. I'm being spread out thin. I am soo lucky that I can run during my lunch time. If it weren't for that stress relief, I dont think I would have lasted this long in this job.
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So I was thinking of something good to post about today when I realized that I was tagged by Jeff over at Another Mile. This is cool. This will make for an interesting post!! The task is to give 7 random tidbits about yourself and then tag 15 7 other bloggers. I'll give it a shot!!

1. My real name is Jose, but my nickname is Pete... try to figure that one out!

2. Spaghetti & meatball is my weakness. I can eat enough to make me comatose.

3. I have 3 tattoos. Tribal on my left shoulder & chest. Youngest daughter's name on left forearm, and a lighting bolt with my 2 older kids names on my right arm.

4. The Boston Red Sox are my favorite team!!! Go Sox!!

5. I love music! Just about all kinds of music. From country to classical, from dance to lounge, from Rap to Rock, from oldies to the new stuff. If you ever listened to my iPod on shuffle, you would think I was a strange fellow......

6. And so it Burns used to be my music video blog. I deleted the blog, but kept the name. The name came from a Jedi Mind Tricks song "And So It Burns" ... (NSFW)

........ummm.... this is harder than what I thought.

7. Though I like to run, I hate to workout. I have to really motivate myself to do anything like that. I'll do a couple push ups, sit ups, etc... and I'm done. I really should be doing more.


That's it & These are my picks:

Forward Foot Strides
The Unexpected Runner
Last Mile Lounge
In Clean Air- a running philosophy
2 Slow 4 Boston
50 after 40
Slowly Tri-ing


I really didn't know who to pick for my seven. But there they are. Hope my 7 tidbits about myself shed some light about me.

Hope you all have a great week!!!

Thursday's Thoughts

It's been a crazy week. Monday I had planned a run at work during lunch, but half way to work I realized that I left my sneakers back at home.... doh!! The thought of turning around ran through my head, but that would have turned my commute into 1hr and 20mins IF I didn't run into traffic. So no run on Monday.
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Tuesday & Wednesday I was at our Danbury, CT office. This it about 2 1/2 hrs away from home. Worked some long days, but I did get a run in on a treadmill at the hotel gym. This was the second time I have ever run on one. Took me a bit to figure the damn thing out. I pressed some preconfigured random run and I only lasted 15mins. It was way to fast and the inclines were way to tough. Plus I forgot to mention it was 4:30am and I was still half asleep. Images of people falling off treadmills on youtube kept running through my mind.

So I took a 5min break, drank some water and jumped back on. This time I started at a steady 10min mile pace and then hit the random button to get some inclines in. About a mile into it I started getting in the grove. Ran for a good 45min and worked my way to a steady 7:30 the last 10mins of the run. That was by far the best run on a treadmill I have ever done. I just hope I don't have to do it again.
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Today I got a good 6 miles in during lunch. It was good to be outside for this one. Temps were in the upper 30's. But it was windy. The run back to the office was was a tough one. Felt like someone was holding my shirt from the back as I tried to move forward....LOL
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Oh... I got that Asian Massage yesterday. It was OK. I mean I felt good and relaxed afterwards, but I dont think it actually fixed anything. My friends were telling me that sometimes it takes more than one session to really work out any kinks in the muscles. eh... I'll think about it.
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One last thing before I go catch up on the blogs that I follow... The Unexpected Runner,  was the 2nd place winner of my giveaway. I want to  publicly apologize for not getting your prize in the mail yet. I walked into my office today after being on the road and I saw the box still sitting there. I promise to get it out to you ASAP!!

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Great weekend for running!

The crick in my neck is almost gone. I have been massaging the crap out of it the past couple days. Can't wait for the Chinese Massage I have scheduled for Wednesday. I'm hoping it fixes me up quick.

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Yesterday I ran 5 easy miles in the morning. It was quick and uneventful. Can't ask for more than that...

Today I met up with Jenn, a member of the running club I joined a while ago. She's training for the Rock&Roll DC Marathon in March. Her first marathon. Her training schedule called for an 11 mile run today, so I offered to run with her. We did one of my 11 mile routes. I've done this route many times before, but I don't think I ever ran it as smooth as I did today. It was the first time I had company and what a difference that made. We were out in back in what felt like no time. She also brought her dog Mya, a collie (I think). She also ran the 11 miles with us. How cool was that?

Tomorrow I plan a quick couple miles at work during lunch. I'm traveling Tuesday & Wednesday for work, so I doubt I'll get any runs in. Though I'll bring my running gear just in case. I'm staying in Danbury, CT at some hotel I have never been to and if they happen to have a gym , I might just hit the treadmill Wednesday morning before going in. It would be the second time I have ever run on a treadmill.

Well, I'm done for today. Hope you all have a great week!

Pain in the neck..

I got a crick in my neck last week that would not go away. It hurts to look either right or left. It sucked at work because I'm constantly moving. I looked like Frankenstein having to turn my whole body just to look around.

I have an appointment next week with a local guy that does Chinese massages. I have never had one before, but my friends rave about this guy. They say he is a miracle worker. For $40 an hour he better be good!!!
Even though my neck didn't hurt while I was running, it did hurt to look to my left and right. Trying to look for on coming traffic became a challenge. So I decided to take a few days off to help it heal up. 4 days to be exact. I can't remember the last time I took 4 days off from running. My neck feels a lot better today, but it's still a bit achy. I ended running 5 miles today. I also bought 2 new pillows. I think my old ones where part of my problem.

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I got my HeadSweats hat that I won from the Detroit Runner's Giveaway. I can't wait to wear it on a cold day!!

 Here it is in Black

Reversible in blue

I've worn a winter hat just a handful of times this winter. And only during morning runs. It just hasn't been cold enough to wear one. Dec. 2nd tomorrow and it's going to be in the 50's.... unreal. I have my winter beard growing too. I'm about to shave it soon if it stays warm. It's getting itchy!

I plan on not running tomorrow. I have somethings to do during my lunch time so I wont have the time. I'm planning a long run on Saturday. Hopefully 10+ if all goes well. It will be a early morning run so it should be cold enough to wear my new hat!

Hope you guys have had a great week. Weekend is almost here!