Frog tastes like....

This may well be my last entry before the big day (Jan 11th) ... we've done all we can now, so it's just little runs to keep the legs working. I'm nervous and excited about it - I do know that if we hadn't signed up for the full Marathon we would never have trained at all, so whether we make it or not in the alloted time (7 hours) we have both got a lot out of this (as has our sitter!!). I think the weirdest thing for me is the amount of weight I've put on!! I have been a consistent 165-170 lb. for most of my adult life... not a lot for 6'3" - I now weigh in at 195 lb. !!!! (of course it's all muscle ;) ). Hopefully that extra weight will help my endurance - at school I was the sprinter and complained about distances further than 200 Meters !!!! Anyway, wish us luck and if I get the chance I will post the results post race.... then it's off to VEGAS !!!!!!

...training when you have family visiting. It is easy eating cake though!! This week my Dad will be here with his Claire. Really looking forward to seeing them - they also like to exercise so we can get back into the swing of things. Not long to go now!! Happy Holidays :)

...as you can see under my 'little man' we've completed our goal for the month - next month's goal is 50 miles on the road (that doesn't include gym work - little man can't see me on the treadmill :( ). This Sunday we'll be trying for 18 miles which should burn off all the Turkey calories!! Happy Thanksgiving :)

...well that's what we're aiming for tomorrow. I'll be bringing my little man with me so you'll see how we did :)

Get your mind out of the gutter!! As you can see, there's a little Nike+ version of me hanging around on this webpage now... we did 10.52 miles today and I somehow managed to lose the info whilst registering to the site.... but from now on every time we run, mini-me should be animating it :) Obviously it won't take into account all the treadmill work we do during the week (not figured out how it measures yet!) so it'll only be good for our weekend runs and the Marathon !!

Well we've signed up for our first official run - it's 13K (about 8 miles) and we have to do it in 2 hours 10 mins. I'm running on my own tomorrow (Sam's in Geneva) so I'll give it a go to see if I can make it in time. For more info click here .

Did I mention 18 miles? It was a tough start this weekend as I wasn't well, but I decided to be a hero and battle through it (Man-Flu!)... the first 9 miles for me were the toughest, and the 2nd 9 were the toughest for Sam so we kept each other going and even managed to keep to pace!! I'm done typing now - off to bed

We did really well on Sunday. Just shy of 16 miles. What was really good though was the time - we completed 13.1 miles (half-Marathon) in 3 hours 30 which is the pace we need to finish the full marathon within the time limit!! It was a good feeling for both of us... still a long way to go (they say 20 miles is the true halfway point!) but we are on schedule... As for the pic, William was being an incredibly good big brother on Saturday by having his picture taken with Pooh and Iain at Animal Kingdom :)

Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test... NBPS - The Idealist You perceive the world with particular attention to nature. You focus on the hidden treasures of life (the background) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the shapes around you. Because of the value you place on nature, you tend to find comfort in more subdued settings and find energy in solitude. You like to ponder ideas and imagine the many possibilities of your life without worrying about the details or specifics. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You prefer a structured environment within which to live and you like things to be predictable. The Perception Personality Types: Take The Perception Personality Image Test at H ello Q uizzy

Training is going well despite the lousy weather (thanks mainly to the gym!). We've been doing a lot of cycling, cross-training, and treadmill. I absolutely hate the treadmill !!!!!! Going for another long-distance this Sunday. Between 15 and 17 miles is the plan so wish us luck!!

We did 14.4 miles on Sunday - furthest yet... and it was just short of goal-pace for the Marathon! Good progress. Next week is a 7 mile speed/endurance run, which is good as we're going out the night before :D

Both of us achieved PB's at the gym last night. It's getting easier to go further and faster - I managed to do 45 mins non-stop running (4.6 miles) ... looking forward to seeing how it affects Sunday's endurance run/walk :) On a sad note, we lost Toby last night - he went very peacefully at the ripe old age of 16. Gonna miss ya Tubbs!!

Will is doing great in Tae Kwon Do - Master Choe and his black belt team are an awesome site to watch. Their training method is tough, but obviously enjoyable - from 4yr old and up you can see how much they're learning. Good stuff :D As for marathon training... it's all going well - although we were supposed to do a long tarmac run today, we are going to the gym later. Sam had a late night last night as she went to a George Michael concert! (And yes, she was singing along with the Wham songs!)

The more you go to the gym, the more you want to go to the gym. Worked hard today - did the cross-trainer (OMG!) for about 5 miles, then 11 miles on the bike and some weights. Our sitter is coming over tomorrow instead of Sunday so we'll be on the road again... just so we don't forget what it feels like :) Hoping to do another half-marathon distance, but we'll see how it goes .... oh, and William still loves Tae Kwon Do :D

Went for my free (1 of 3) personal training session today to determine how fit I am, where improvements (what? I'm perfect already!!) can be made etc. Brad seems like a nice guy - couldn't get him to smile though. Anyway I had 'white-coat syndrome' which screwed up some of the test results. Apparently my blood pressure was a little high and my heartbeat recovery was poor (I shall be keeping an eye on it, don't worry!!!), but overall I'm in a good place - my current health age is 2 years younger than I am, my body fat %age is low. It will be interesting to see what I would get for my $89 sessions if I were to go with the personal trainer regularly.... honestly, I think I'll use the 3 freebies to get pointed in the right direction and go from there.

Well I went to the Gym this morning! Iain absolutely loves it there. He has lots of toys to play with, and lots of kids his age to interact (and catch colds!) with. As for me, I got my ass on a treadmill and ran for an hour. It took me about 50 minutes to get used to it... let's just say I was a bit wobbly on the edges - it's not easy running on those things!! Anyway, I walked @ 4mph for the first 2 mins then pumped it up to 6mph for 1.2 miles (the same distance as a lap around our street), then down to 4mph for another 2 mins etc. until I did 5 miles (57 mins total) then cooled down @3.5mph.... The positive side of it is that you're forced to pace yourself, but it's not quite the same as being on the road. Loving the Gym though :D K.M.F... with a/c :D

Well I took the plunge... it's really difficult to train every day when you have kids and your partner goes away a lot on business, so I decided to join a GYM ("Gime? what the heck's a Gime?" - Homer J) It's surprisingly nice, has great Kids facilities (2 hours a day!!), 100's of treadmills etc. and it's half the price of the Y .... oh, and you can get all naked in the tanning machine - I've never tanned my butt before !!! :D Anyway with William back to school tomorrow I shall be starting up my morning with a workout that isn't at 5:30 in the am ... YIPPEE!!!!

I'm taking the frogs jnr to an interview with Master Choe tomorrow - he is a 9th level black belt (you get 10th when you die apparently) specializing in Tae Kwon Do - he is even in the Guinness Book of Records for training a 5 year old to black belt level! Now depending on the cost and the times etc. I may even join in - it's a good way to stretch the old bones!! Watch this space...

This week has been a tough one for training as Sam has been away a lot (she only got herself promoted!! :D ). We also went out for a meal last night - the company was excellent, the food average. Of course, when you go out to eat, you eat later than you normally would so this morning's run was a little slow and bloated! Not to worry though as this week we'll be able to train every day :) KMF---->

Training has stepped up a notch over the past couple of weeks - we're moving faster over shorter distances (fastest lap is now 10"50') in order to increase our distance with speed (that made no sense, but you get the idea). This in turn leads to shin splints!!! Got that covered though, and I'll be bike training all week this week to rest them. I'm actually getting a tan this year!!!

It's been a stressful time at the Froggy household. Mainly due to our 2 dogs being seriously ill - Toby (age 16) collapsed and was bleeding... he's fully recovered now though and back to wagging his tail. The following week Blue (age 7) had an uncontrollable cough and was struggling for breath - turns out his heart is failing (twice normal size)... we have medicine to keep it under control and he's been given 2-3 years according to the vets. They are both happy now though as they get medicine stuffed in cheese cubes every night :)

We fiinally got up to 13.2 miles yesterday! Did it in 3hr45" which means we need to speed up a little, but it's good progress - training during the week is really paying off now.. K.M.F...

....well I had some help this morning!! (My DW pushed me out of bed :D ) Did some nice quick laps this morning... 1) 14"30' 2) 13"05' 3) 12"20' 4) 12"01' ...even thought about doing a 5th lap (then thought better of it!!) It feels good once I'm finally on the road, but it's darned hard getting up!

The long walk this week was tough (with a capital T).... Incredibly humid as we started out, then as it warmed up we did too...we had to take on much more fluid than usual, but at least we still got 11 miles done. I've noticed that the recovery time has improved also... the first time we walked it took all week to recover!! K.M.F....

Did my long distance solo this weekend as my DW is away on business .... but I did manage to get 10 laps done in 2h 45"00' (12 miles) which I was very pleased about... my knees certainly know they've been running !! I'm currently following the 5 min walk / 1 min run training method which is recommended for Marathon training.... seems to work well for me so far :) "K.M.F...."

Don't think I'll be beating these women any time soon!!

I was tired this morning... didn't want to walk. So I rode my bike instead... got just shy of 10 miles in before running out of time (spent long enough pumping the darn tires up!). I did enjoy myself though - think I may alternate as it's a good way to strengthen my knees (yes they're struggling to keep up with me). Ah sweet Trek :D

Good going this week - 4 days of speed, 1 day of endurance, 2 rest days. Total mileage = 30... 30 !!!! That's more than a marathon!!! ... okay it took us a week to do it, but all the same I'm happy with that :D Keep moving forward....

:)

Yeah... pacing.... I'm not fit enough to be pacing myself yet, but I am trying to go for consistency with my first 3 laps, then seeing if I can pick up the pace on lap 4. My 4th lap time this morning was 11'48" which I am very pleased about. I am hoping to get that sort of time for each lap eventually - this for me is about improving my overall fitness first, then doing the marathon second. The marathon is both for Sam and myself - it's a couple thing :) Anyway, if I beat my time, I'll post it... if I don't, things will get quiet ;) Keep moving forward (pacing yourself) .....

It's been a long time since (now I'm singing Led Zep!!) I blogged about running... busy busy etc. etc. Anyhoo, it's on like Donkey Kong now! We've been walking every Sunday since I last posted, but time is ticking so we're now adding miles during the week. My Dad was here 2 weeks ago and he did 4 (1.2 mile) laps with me - half running, half walking... he's pretty fit for an old fart :) He also reminded us several times how hard the Marathon is going to be, which was probably the kick in the ass we both needed. I am now getting up (in the middle of the night!) at 5 (maybe 5:30) in the morning to get 4 or 5 laps in before the day begins - it's actually a great feeling (not the getting up part) .... my speed is also increasing - best lap this morning was 12 minutes ( I worked out that I need to average 18 minutes per lap to finish in the alloted time ), worst was 15... now it's all about endurance..... Keep moving forward.....

Good day today - planned a different route (see link top right 'find my route' ) for a couple of big laps as opposed to our usual 1.2 mile laps.. it's nice to nose at houses you've not seen before :D The great thing is, even after finishing, I feel like I could do it again - that hasn't happened for a while !!

we walked a different route this weekend - probably did a mile less but it was well worth it! Looking forward to exercising lots this week... Tae Bo tonight :)

Not a good day for exercise today - the weather was nice, but the bed was much nicer... it's been a tough few weeks what with being unwell and not seeing my wife etc. plus I went camping with Will the night before - plenty of exercise there I can tell you!  So today is a day off (also it is my Birthday soon!!) .... thank goodness!!!!

Weather seems back to normal, which is good - I hate cold weather!!!! I had to break in a new pair of sneakers today, so my feet are complaining a little. I also tried a couple of laps without the knee support, which was a dumb idea as it started hurting again :(  It's been a crazy start to the year what with one thing and another, but I think the exercise plan is finally starting to kick in properly....

...well it was by Florida standards at least! The first 3 laps were torture as the wind was blowing so hard - managed to get 8 laps done though with out much trouble (had to stop a little early as Sam's knee was playing up). I have actually had cold light laser treatment on my knee which seems to have helped quite a bit (think Star Trek gadget that heals with light - it basically boosts good cells while ignoring the dead ones), and my back is a lot better since having some work done (thank 'work' for insurance !!). only another 50 or so weeks until the big one :O

We are officially signed up for the  2009 Walt Disney World Marathon  . There's no turning back now :O

....everywhere!!! It's good to be back on the road though... registration starts tomorrow for the 2K9 Disney Marathon... they're actually running this year's Marathon as I type. Anyway, I'm going to go rest my weary body - at least it helped unlock my back a bit !! *Useless movie quote of the day*  "I ain't got time to bleed"

OMG I have put on weight this holiday!!! Anyway, starting Sunday, it's back on (not the weight, the training!!!) Fear me Mr. McAdam - I will be burning you up soon :D