My First Attempt at Vlogging

I have way too much time on my hands....

This video was recorded while out on a walk today. It was not planned. I had no clue what I was going to say. I just went with the flow. I debated if I should post it the blog or not. But what the hell. Here it goes:

It's the first time I played with Windows Movie Maker too. I played for a while with the settings and the music. I was pretty cool.

.....again, I have way too much time on my hands. I need to start running.... soon!!

I miss running.....

I haven't run since Sunday.... And I miss it. I know, I know,  it's only been 6 days. But for me this is my longest stretch not running. The reason? I haven't really mentioned it on my blog only because I felt that if I didn't talk about it, it wouldn't be real. Or it would just go away.

My left knee has pretty much always bothered me from day one of running. I had it looked at once, 2yrs ago, but I was just told that it was normal wear and tear, and some rest would do it some good. Which I did.... Kind of. I didn't stop running, I just ran less.

Fast forward to the present....After the marathon, that was what I had planned, to run less.
But nooo.... I just kept pushing it. After this past Sunday's 8 miler, the pain in my knee was just unbearable. It didn't hurt anything out of the ordinary while running. I have become used to running through that pain. But after the run, while stretching, that was when I felt it!!

There was no way I could ignore it. It was time to face it.


So now the plan is to just rest..... not sure for how long. Maybe a week, maybe two weeks, maybe more.... I'll have to feel it out.


It's killing me. But I know it needs to be done.


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On another note... This is my first time blogging from the train ride to NYC on my Nexus 7 tablet. The tablet works really well with the Blogger site since its Google based. I purchased the tablet since I am going to doing a lot my traveling for work. So far, I am impressed with it.

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Not sure when I'll post again, so I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Send some good vibes my way so that I can get back out on the streets soon.

Cheers!

The Plan

These past two weeks, after the Cape Cod Marathon, I have been giving a lot of thought as to what to do next. First and foremost, taking it easy is number one. My body has taken a beaten the past couple months and a well deserved rest will be welcomed. But after this, I need a plan.

I think what I'm going to do, is to continue running as if I were in marathon training. But not as strict. I want to run 15 to 20 miles during the week and on the weekends do long runs of 8 to 15 miles. If I miss runs here and there, no biggie. I just want to keep up with this routine so that when I run my next marathon (because I will run another) , I'll be ready for it.

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Now I have been told (by other runners) that we runners aren't that bright. As much as I don't want to agree with that saying, sometimes I do. In my case anyways, I'm not that bright..... . A week after the marathon, I run a 5k and come in 3rd overall. Probably not the best idea..... I ran 15 miles this past week and then ran another 5k this past Saturday. I ran a charity run to support victims of  hurricane Sandy. Then this morning I ran a good 8 miles.

So much for resting.....

But I need the rest. I know this.... This week, I will be doing some traveling for work and I don't plan on bringing my running gear. I will be in NYC and as much as I love to run in the city, I will leave my stuff behind. I'm just going to enjoy my time there. When not working of course..... Which will suck, but for me, it will be easy to do as appose to being local.


So..... that is my plan. Short term anyways. Long term, is still a work in progress.


I hope everyone has a great week. Keep on running!!!

- Jose

Best Race Picture Ever!!!

My daughter and I holding hands as I reached the finish line at the Cape Cod Marathon!

Love it!!!

Great first run.....

First of all,... thanks to everyone who commented on my last post. Comments were very much welcomed and appreciated. ....
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Moving along...
I woke up Saturday morning with the mindset that I was going to run that morning. I don't know maybe 3 or 4 miles, something like that. As I was drinking my coffee and checking out my Facebook, I saw that two of my friends were running a 5k only minutes from my house. Eh, I figured I would go check it out support the runners and maybe get my run in for the day.

When I got there, my mind was already telling me "to run the race".... so the heck with it, I signed up and met with my friends on their warm up run. I figured what the heck? At least it will get me back out there and out of my funk. The plan was to just take it easy as it was my first run after the marathon. But I knew most of the people running. It was the usual bunch of local runners and in my mind I knew that I had a good chance in placing in this race.

We lined up, the horn went off and before you know it I had a good strong hold of third place. There was no way I was letting that go! It was a hard zig zaggy, hilly race, but sure enough, I got 3rd place!!

Fortunately it was a small race so I had somewhat of a chance. There were no athletes from the local colleges to steal my glory. There were no prizes, no medals. Just a congrats and thank you for donation and we were on our way.

I was kinda upset about the no medal thing, but what ever, I wasn't even planing on racing, so I can't complain. The best part for me was just hanging out with the local runners, meeting new people and trading war stories.

My friend Chuck, Anita and me after the race...

 It was a great first run back!

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By the way, if you do not follow me on Facebook, you are missing out. Ok, not really missing out.... but there is a lot more up to date posting, pictures and comments for And so it Burns. Like my page and join the fun!!

Post Marathon Depression

I've thought long and hard about posting this, but I've always tried to keep this blog real. Real for you, but most importantly, real for me. This blog has always been about my thoughts, my feelings, and my experiences with running. I have had many highs in these past few years, and I have shared them freely with you. But with these highs, also comes the lows.

Post marathon depression. I only recall reading one post about this from one of the blogs I follow. I don't recall which one it was. But, yeah, it real..... I got it. I feel it. I've been down in the dumps the last few days and I can't snap out of it. Looking back, I've been here before. I just didn't realize it.

What I am to do? Do I need to continue to have goals to continue to feel content? Do I need to run a marathon every 6 months or so to feel happy? What I missing here?

I've only been running 3-4 years. I still consider myself new to all this. Especially to marathons. One thing I do know, is that I really love marathon training. I love everything about it. I love knowing that the weekends will bring a long run. I love knowing that I have a goal to shoot for. I love the build up to it. But the marathon is over.

I have read of some of you right back at it. Putting in the miles already. Not me. I'm resting these achy bones of mine. 4 days of no running. Probably the longest stretch in over a year. I probably wont run until the weekend. Maybe a full 5-6 days of rest. I just feel like I need it. But I would be lying if I said it wasn't driving me crazy!

I'm just rambling on at this point. I just feel like I needed to get this out.

I will not be sharing this post on my Facebook page like I would normally do. I don't think my non-running family and friends would understand what I'm talking about. They already think I'm crazy as it is.

I welcome any feedback on this topic. Have others experienced these same feelings?