5.29 miles / 1000 in 2013

At the end of 2012, a former student posted about her dad running 1400+ miles for the year. I thought 'Wow, that's cool.' Each year I make a couple of New Year's resolutions, and I'm pretty good at keeping them. So I decided to make one about running. I set a goal to run 1000 miles in 2013. To some this can be no big deal. To others, this seems unattainable. For perspective, I ran 75 miles total in 2012. (Note: I ran 26 miles in June 2012 because I was on a health kick). So this was a little daunting, but I set my mind to it. So- first a thanks to Lisa's Dad for the inspiration.

Today I ran my 1000th mile. Not only did I complete my goal, my wife and sister also completed their 1000th mile today. We all shared many runs this year including my first 1/2 marathon, several vacation runs, 5ks, 10ks, 15ks, etc... I really need to thank them for the motivation. The competitiveness between the 3 of us drove me for the second half of the year. If they hadn't been pushing so hard, I would have probably finished much closer to 12/31. We all started today at 995.22 miles for 2013. This was carefully planned. 

Also, a special thanks to my wife for 'making' me run many days when I didn't want to. Any one who has ever run any distance before knows you always feel much better afterwards. I have a hard time remember this the following day. She doesn't. 

To celebrate the 1000th mile, we took a polar plunge into the Atlantic. It was cold. However, the final mile and completion in the ocean is one of the best feelings I have experienced in a while. It was AWESOME. 

I'm not done. I'll keep this up for the rest of 2013 and start over in 2014. I have some neat ideas for next year. I'll write about those later. 

75 to 1000

That's my niece charging in behind us. She was a trooper, too.

Keep reading this year. I have some other stories to tell. 

3.52 miles / 994 in 2013

This post is a little off the beaten path, pun intended.

When at my wife's parents' home in Louisburg, NC, I have a 5 mile loop I run through the country. On this loop I pass Horton Hill (pictured above). Every time I pass it, I can't help but imagine the battle that took place on it during the Civil War.

The Battle of Horton Hill was a small battle. However, it was a very bloody battle where all but 2 soldiers perished on the grassy knoll. Although they were wounded and bloodied, Sam Horton and Dick Baker  survived the battle. Horton & Baker were both privates. However, Horton was a Confederate soldier - Baker was fighting for the Union.

The legend goes that after 4 days of engagement, Horton and Baker were overwhelmed by the silence. Both believed that on the other side of the hill remained a strong army in wait. They grew restless and afraid of the near certain fate of death, or worse capture.

It was on the second day of silence when both on their own accord decided to breach the hill. Rather die fighting for freedom, than lie in wait for death they raced up the hill to face their enemy. As they reached the crest, the silence haunted them. Then, they saw each other. Both fired! Both missed. It was in this fraction of time they realized - there was no army. As if looking into a mirror, they saw themselves. In this moment, they chose peace. With caution, they began talking instead of fighting.

As the story goes, they sat under the tree pictured and drank North Carolina moonshine for days creating a friendship that would last for generations. Still today the family names of Horton and Baker litter the country side in this rural area of NC.

In reality - I concocted this entire fable in my head while running on these lonely roads of Franklin County. It is not likely true, but generating the story has made the time go by while running the miles.

4.50 miles / 967 in 2013

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I originally was urged to write this blog to document all the things I was finding on my runs. The last 2 weeks have been good for the hunt. I found a bungee cord, a penny, a gel bike seat cushion, and a cool pencil with fish on it. 

Today I found the strangest thing to date. 

Wired burlap ribbon. New. Still in the plastic. Found on the side of a lonely country road outside Louisburg, NC. I think it's a weird find. You?

I also found 35 cents today in the grass along the same road. There were 2 coins that reflected the sun just right. One of them was not a quarter, can you guess what coins I found?

4.36 miles / 954 in 2013

If you've read any of my previous posts, or at least the first one, you know I set a goal to run 1000 miles in 2013. With only 46 miles to go, I've started thinking of how to run my 1000th mile.

My top 3 finishes that I've come up with so far are as follows....

1. Finish with a 'cool' race. My original thought was to finish with a marathon. I'm not sure I'm ready for a marathon, but I'm not ruling it out. The other problem is there is not one close and in the right time frame. So, then I thought maybe just a 'cool' race to finish would be good. I really enjoyed the Race of the Dead experience in Chicago. If I could find another experience like that to finish, I think that would be a great finish.

2. Finish at the NC State Bell Tower. The Bell Tower is very special to me in many ways. I can imagine running down Hillsborough Street for my last mile with the Bell Tower in sight as a great way to finish. If I could add actually running up the stairs in the Bell Tower and finishing at the 'top', that would be even better.

3. Finish where I started, sort of. My first mile this year was at Sunset Beach, NC on January 1. My thought is to finish by running over the Sunset Bridge (which I've done numerous times this year), onto the beach, and finish with a plunge in the ocean. This is where I finished my first 1/2 marathon (I created the route), but without the plunge in the water. It should be nice and cold. Brrrrrr

I need your help. Give me some ideas or give me feedback on mine.

7.52 miles / 925 in 2013

IT'S COLD!! The temp in the mornings has hovered around 30 degrees this week. Although, I remember enjoying running in the cold weather earlier this year, I'm not ready to do it again. Yet.  So instead of braving the low temps, I wimped out and went to the gym.

I'm actually not a member of a gym, but I talked my way into a free one-day pass to our on-campus gym. (A big shout-out and thanks to the staff of Carmichael Gym.) This was the first time I had been in this gym since I was a student many years ago. It was weird how some of the same nerves appeared just like I was a freshman in college again. Also, it smells the exact same as it did in 1991. However, it is much more advanced than it was back then. It still has the old rubber track that runs around the interior of the building (I think. I actually didn't see it), but now it has MANY treadmills available.

In reality, I'm not a big fan of running inside, especially on a treadmill. I've mentioned in earlier posts - I like having a destination. On a treadmill, I'm already there. But - it's cold, so a treadmill it is.

I just picked a random treadmill, actually the first one I came across. It was in a row of maybe 18-20 treadmills surrounded by elliptical and stair machines. When I started, there was only one other guy within a machine of me. He finished pretty soon after I started.

About a thirty minutes into my run, I realized that I was surrounded by young college co-eds. Surrounded - 2 on each side on treadmills, 4-5 of five in front of me on elliptical, and the same behind me on the stair machines. My first thought was, wow the gym has really filled up. After taking a quick scan of the other equipment, that was not the case. In fact, almost all the other equipment was empty. My second thought was - "wow, maybe I've still got it" :) Why else would all these young ladies be surrounding me? This thought quickly passed when I realized that of the 20+ TVs in the gym all but one was on a 'sports' channel. On the TV directly in front of me - Survivor. I guess Survivor still has 'it'.

3.23 miles / 901 in 2013

Final weekend update...

Really this is from Monday - After a personal record at Carrera de Los Muertos and the Battleship 1/2 Marathon, I was on a running high. Add in all the travel and work, I was also very tired. Two emotions fighting each other like two seagulls fighting for the same piece of bread. 

Monday was a good opportunity to take a break and rest. However, I was only 2 miles away from running my 900th mile for 2013. Most would say - why not wait one more day? It's a rather simple answer...

For every 100th mile I've run this year, my wife has taken my picture. This is not an egotistical thing, but something that I want her to be a part of each time it happens. If I had waited until Tuesday, I would have been away for work and she couldn't have been there to take the pic or more importantly to me, to be a part of it. 

Courtesy of my wife's iPhone...

1/2 Marathon / 898 in 2013

2nd Weekend Update....

After the Race of the Dead, I spent the rest of the day in Chicago at the conference I was in town for. Normally, I would stay through Sunday, and take in more of one of my favorite cities. However this weekend, I needed to get back home for my first 1/2 Marathon - The Battleship Half Marathon. 

My flight was scheduled to leave at 6:30PM from O'hare to Wilmington with a layover in Charlotte. If you're not familiar with Wlmington, I'm not surprised. It's a very small airport. Very few direct flights. The parking lot for the airport isn't much bigger than a typical grocery store parking lot. No parking deck at this airport. 

Back to the flight- the flight from ORD to CLT went off without a hitch. Actually arrived 20 minutes early. Normally this would be a great opportunity to catch an earlier flight home. If 'home' this time wasn't Wilmington, maybe. There were no earlier flights to ILM. In fact, I think it was the 2nd of 2 flights all day. This was already a late flight considering my first half was the next morning at 8 AM. To add insult to injury we were delayed over an hour while seated on the plane waiting for a co-pilot. After arriving at my hotel around 1AM, I quickly got to bed with great anticipation for an early morning run. 

My first half marathon... 

I've run a 1/2 before, just on my on course. See an earlier post for more on that. This was special, I was going to run a 'real' half marathon! Not only that, my great support system was there too. 

Running with me - my wife, sister, and my brother-in-law. In the crowd - my mom, my brother-in-law, my nephew, and my youngest son. 

Although, much credit too my co-runners - much more to my cheerleaders. Running is a terrible spectator sport and it was cold. 

I must say, I was really excited to get this started. That sounds crazy to me. I used to make fun of my wife for wanting to run. I would say things like - 'if you ever see me running, somebody is chasing me'. So this excitement was exhilarating. 

My goal was to finish in less than 2 hours. Unfortunately, I failed. My time - 2 hours and 29 seconds. DAMN!! 29 seconds!!!!! Next time, I'll pay better attention to the clock. 

That being said, it was one of the most rewarding athletic achievements I've ever accomplished. I'm still a little giddy thinking about running that far with a pretty decent pace. 

Here's my running team, after the race...

And my awesome medal...

One more update to follow...