Are you as excited as I am about starting out again?? I cannot wait to see old friends and make new ones. 2008 is going to be a 'makeover' for many of us. My goal (yes, I'm putting it out there for accountability reasons) this year is to be down to 250lbs. Because as Zig Zigler once said...."if you aim at nothing, you'll miss it everytime." So here are my 2008 goals in a nutshell:
1. 26.2
2. 250 lbs
3. Keep my hair
4. Try not to strangle my teenage son.
5. Invent something to make me millions.

This far into January, I think #1 and #2 will be the easiest!! ;-)

I've got the blues.....

Hey!! Happy 2008 to everyone!!
What a great way to start the year by doing the Ms Blues Marathon/Half Marathon. I am soooooo glad I decided to do it. This time last month, I was nursing a broken left wrist and no skin on my right thigh from a bike accident. Running was the last thing on my mind. I thought to myself, "Well, the blues marathon is over for me....".

I guess I've changed over the last year. Now normally, I would have given up and looked forward to eating everything in site over the Christmas holiday. But this year, I just felt 'guilty' for not moving. I guess I had "the blues for THE BLUES".

Now I know I still ate quite a bit, and not run as much as I should have, but my body and my mind kept telling me that I could still do this. So I registered thinking, "What the heck....".

Saturday morning, when I arrived, I was so thrilled to see so many familiar comforting faces. Most everyone was there just like in Chicago. My confidence meter began to rise with every face I saw and every hug I received.

Yes it was hard, and yes I have no idea how my teammates finished the entire marathon (even in 7 hours like in Robin's pics) but the fact is, I am now an "official Half marathoner" with the official medal and offical time to prove it.

Today, I start 2008 with new resolve. As I awoke this morning, I felt a new sense of accomplishment. A new sense of starting again. A new sense of dread running in August (ha!).

Lace 'em up boys and girls.........it's time to channel your inner Kenyan...........

Bike Accident

Typing one handed. Truck pulled out in front of me causing me to hit the curb. Bike has a lot of damage as does owner.......most serious is left wrist fracture and no skin on my right thigh. Please keep me in your prayers as I am in a lot of pain. Thanks.

Where's Waldo?

Ok.
I'm still in the land of the living......

Sorry I've been out of touch for a month. November has been shall we say.....less than kind to me. I have had to switch shifts at work and than means working all night on Friday nights the weekends Nissan has extra production. By the end of the week, I am just too darned exhausted to do anything. My training has taken a severe nose dive.

Then there is another reason I haven't been there. Two words.....Deer Season.......and you can guess where I have been the days we haven't had extra production.

That leads me to this past week. I was planning on doing the turkey trot at fleet feet on Thursday before heading to Columbus for Thanksgiving and then coming back to run with everybody on Saturday, (as Steve Martin used to say....) "But NOOOOOOOOOOO!

It seems I have become "too mature" well, ok, just too darned old to be sprinting. Everytime I sprint, I pull a hamstring. Well this past week, I was at work on the treadmill and a great song came on. I was feeling good at the 1.5 mile mark, so I cranked her up from about a level 5 to a level 9. I was flying and feeling good. Then......."POP", my right calf went out and down I went. Yes treadmills really do throw you off the back end if you are not careful. I now know from experience.

But the pain of the treadmill didn't even compare to the pain in my calf. Today is Sunday, and this is the first day I could actually walk on it. I hope I haven't torn anything, I really don't think so. Since I could walk, I was bounded and determined to get some cardio in today. (you've seen how big I am....and Thanksgiving didn't have a chance with an appetite like mine. What's that Austin Powers character? "Get in my Belly!! I'm gonna eat you!!) Anyway, so I got on my bike today and went for three miles after church. It's pretty sore, but I think I'm on the mend. Lots of stretching and ibuprophen.

So, barring any unforseen circumstances, I should be out there this coming Saturday. Just look for the big slob whose in the camo who's gained a few pounds..........

Happy Halloween!!

Sorry it's taken so long for me to blog again. Work has been a bear!! And to make it worse, I have to start night shift next Sunday night until they hire a new night shift RN. It could be 6 days or 6 months.......

Saturday was a great day for a run. I enjoyed running with old and new faces. My weekends aren't complete until I go stretch everything out at Heather's yoga class. For those of you my age, you might remember the children's toy "Stretch Armstrong". That's kind how I feel after class, but boy do I feel better. I was in the clinic today showing the other nursing staff some of my yoga stretches, and they were yelling at me at how difficult they were. Heh, heh.....not to long ago, I wanted beat Heather, now I can't wait to see her on Sunday afternoons...........

Yesterday when I got home from yoga, I decided then would be a good time to clean out the gutters before it got dark. Remember one of my first blogs when I fell through the roof and everything went in slow mo in a deep bass voice yelling oooooooooooohhhhhh noooooooooooo! Well part two: ladder came out from under me and down I plummeted. Lucky for me it was the back yard grass and the fact that I have some 'cushioning' around my petite frame. I laid there for a second and realized that yes, I was stll alive and no, nothing was hurting too bad, so I got up and finished the gutters (with my son Chris holding the ladder this time.....)

I guess when you look at it, I should be pretty thankful for my large frame. I've been in car accidents and other such mishaps where the medical personnel would tell me a smaller individual would have broken or crushed something. It still gets a little discouraging to see people pass me on the running trails, but I have to keep telling myself, hey! how many 6'3", 275 pound men are out here pullin down 8 miles? Not to many by my count.

Maybe if this running thing begins to catch on, one day I too will be 5'8" and 175 pounds like the normal male runner (when I'm 106 or 107........ :-)

Where were you when.........?

Ok, so I've come out of hiding now that this week is just about over. I just got through reading Mark's latest blog and it help me put things into perspective. Might as well write about it, huh?

This week for me has been one of the most difficult weeks in a long time. All of my emotions bouncing around in my head have made me feel somewhat schizophrenic! (No offense to my crazy friends out there.....) I have tried to hold my head high, but people keep calling, texting, emailing me asking me if I finished and every time I said the word "NO", I felt like a piece of me died again and again.

So today, I finally looked at my dog and decided to take him for a walk. What a beautiful cool day!!! 77 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. CJ and I went for a two mile walk. And you know what? It was great to "just start over". There I was admiring God's creations and enjoying the weather and there was CJ doing his business looking up at me like he wanted some privacy.....

Finally, I decided to give the jogging thing a try. Ok. Not bad. Not too sore and not too many twinges of pain. Maybe the body is going to be ok afterall. I jog a little more and walk a little more. We get home and I do my yoga stretches outside on the back patio. I think back to something my boss said on Tuesday. He said, "well, you know if you had of finished and the race was a normal race, then it would have been just another marathon. But you weren't allowed to finish in a marathon that will probably be remembered in running history, and you were a part of it."

Wow, part of running history. Now even though that's kinda bad because a life was taken, that still kinda blows my mind, doesn't it yours? You know you'll always remember where you were when Kennedy got shot, Elvis died, the Space Shuttle exploded and of course 9/11. I guess if we all keep running, we'll always remember Chicago-2007 as our greatest challenge.

But it is what it is. It is now history and I must look forward to each day as if it were my last. Just like when that Ape guy hit Cimba with a stick in the movie LION KING. Cimba asked, "Hey what did ya do that for?" and the Ape Guy, said, "It does not matter, it is in the past!" Well, Chicago was my stick. But, just like Cimba returning to his home to reclaim his life, by going out today for a walk/light jog.....I am reclaiming my health, determination, sanity, and MY LIFE. For I am STILL a marathoner!!

The Cat in the Hat

Ok. So I'm tired of reading all of these heartfelt blogs and crying! My eyes can't take much more! So here it is 5 days to countdown and I'm looking at my last blog. What to write about?

Today, I will write about my white "TITANS" sun visor. Why you ask? Let's just say that both I and it have a lot in common.......

It was exactly around this time last year (Labor Day, 2006) that I was walking on the shore of Kentucky lake by my in-law's lake house. I happened upon this sun visor lying there on the shore. Like me this sun visor had "washed up" and was of no use to anybody. It was just lying there, feeling hopeless and worthless. I had just turned 40 and in the fashion as one who has a mid-life crisis would do. I looked in the mirror and asked, "Who are you? What are you doing with your life?"

I pick up this sun visor and examine it. It used to be a really good visor. Probably came from good stock. Doesn't seem broken or torn anywhere. I think it can be saved.

I take it back to the lake house, put it in the dish washer, and what do ya know? It comes out looking brand new! I try it on. It's a perfect fit. It has new life!!

I get back to Madison and decide during this mid life crisis, that I'm either going to purchase a convertible corvette or get back in shape. My wife being the bookkeeper that she is agreed upon the latter. So off we run....me and my new sun visor. Our motto is just like a traffic sign: New Life Ahead!! I begin to feel better both physically and mentally. My sun visor is still with me, mile after mile.

Fast forward to 2007. Marathon Makeover! 26.2! All of the training and sweating has begun to break down the sun visor and the runner wearing it. But the visor never loses hope that tomorrow may be it's last run so it better act right and keep looking good today. I take my sharpie and write on it ( we're friends now, so it was ok.....) I write things to remind the visor and myself what we are doing. I put, "I am a Marathoner!" and Chicago-Oct. 7, 2007 and "No Reserves! No Retreats! No Regrets". The visor thinks it's cool now that it has been tattooed.

So on Sunday, Me and that ole ragged sun visor are going to do the biggest run of our lives. I'm running for my dad, who was tragically taken from me in December, 2004 by a bullet that was meant for someone else at the age of 59. But before he was murdered, he had several heart attacks and cardiac related problems. That was the reason I became a nurse....to help him. And more specifically, a cardiac nurse (until the move to Nissan) to understand his condition. Thus the reason for running. I didn't want the same problems as my dad. But you know what? My dad is Heaven praising God with the angels and wouldn't dream of coming back.

My sun visor? It's running with me to remind me that while I thought I was washed up, I'm really just getting started. A little rough around the edges. A little worn down. But with lots of good miles to go!! So on Sunday when you see me with my White TITANS Sun Visor, remember that tomorrow is never promised and run like it will be your last. I love you, dad!

Kelvin Jones
Nissan Nurse
10/02/2007