A brutal 7 mile struggle at the falls

I don't know what happened out there today, but it was the worst freaking run I've ever had. Almost immediately after the start the pain started. It felt like I had a knife through my rib cage. I was sure I wouldn't make it to the 1 mile mark. I fought on and around the mile and a half point the pain went away and I thought I would put it on cruise control. I was hoping to run 9 miles today, after all I left work early and was planning this all week. Miles 2-4 were OK, not great. I could tell I didn't have my normal energy but I carried on. Miles 5-6 were brutal, everything hurt and I couldn't even catch my breath. At one point I stopped and walked for 50 feet. When I finished the second loop (the 6 mile mark) I stopped and was ready to quit. I mean ready to quit running forever. I was a mess. That's when I made the totally stupid decision to run the small 1.5 mile trail that I've never been on. I was filled with so much rage that this run sucked that I wanted to prove a point. A weird thing happened though, the last mile and a half was better than the previous two. Don't get me wrong, it still wasn't pretty!

I don't know what happened today! I've never had a day like this where nothing felt right. I was a damn mess out there, even now 2 hours later I feel like a bag of shit. I'm not sure if it was a hydration problem or perhaps a crap diet issue but I'm honestly afraid to lace 'em up again any time soon....WTF

BTW- I was asked last week if blogging holds me accountable. The answer is yes!! When I don't run, I don't post and when my friends don't see a post they call or email and bust my ass some. It's wonderful and appreciated!! Thanks and keep it coming!!

Song of the day- who knows, I couldn't even get into my music today!!!

My Nancy Pelosi Half Marathon

I'm planning on leaving work early today to run. I'm hoping to run a Nancy Pelosi half marathon. This occurs when I run 7 miles, stop and ask the government for help with the final 6!! A mini six mile bail out!! Then I can come here and tell everyone that I ran the full 13, sort of like the Boston hair dresser who makes 25K a year showing off her $500,000 house. No, I don't fail bad that you lost your house, I feel bad that your a freaking moron who thought you could afford that house. You should be arrested for being stupid!! Back to Pelosi, You are as useless as ever and finally the rest of congress is catching on. You don't fix a cracked foundation by pouring money into the roof!!! Thank God they voted that down yesterday!! I'll check back later after today's run in which I earn every mile. No hand outs for me!!!!!!

The boys are fired up!!

I haven't run since my 5 miler on Tuesday. It's been a busy week but I did have some time on Thursday but didn't run because I had tennis practice Thursday night. Yep, that's right the indoor season starts this weekend.

Thursday nights practice was terrific, my legs were fresh and I played great. The level of tennis out there was outstanding. After qualifying for the districts each of the last two years but failing to make it to the regional tournament we have a renewed focus. Our roster is very different this year, we have totally reloaded. You could feel it Thursday night, the team is fired up!!

So here I go with my predictions. We will rock the league this year and finish in first place ! We will make it past the districts for the first time in team history!!

Prediction # 3- I will have very little to do with my first two predictions. It's an honor for me just to play with a lot of these guys. I never minded being a role player, especially now with this roster!!

Watch out New Hampshire- You are about to witness Shock and Awe!!

I'm hoping for a pretty good run this weekend!! talk to ya soon..ross

5 miles after a Portland Shit Show!!

My wife and I went to away for the weekend to Portland Maine. It was a much needed weekend and I planned on taking Sean's advice and not running at all. But when we were checking into the hotel the clerk asked if I was there for the race. I had no clue what he was talking about but he filled me in quickly. The next day they were running the Portland Trail to Ale 10k. Perfect!! I could go running and have a couple of post race beers while my wife shopped away at the Old Port!! Where do I sign up!!!!!

We went to the mall to pick up some items that I needed for the race and then headed out to dinner. Before dinner we stopped at a bar on the waterfront to listen to some live music. This is where the Shit Show started! I started drinking Geary's beer, brewed right in Maine. This stuff is good and strong! At the bar a portly 50 year old lady started dancing by the band. She was a freaking mess. Here is a tip from Ross, If your belly button is down around your knees, don't wear a belly shirt. WTF were you thinking. My wife and I had a good time at that ladies expense.

After a few more Geary's we finally got to dinner. I ordered a 24 ounce beer brewed in Sri Lanka! That's s all she wrote. I was hammered, rocked, cocked, blasted, twisted, shitfaced, -whatever you would like to call it. Thankfully my wife drove home. Needless to say I didn't make the Trail to Ale 10k the next morning. I woke up with a brutal hang over.

I got back at it today, 5 miles before work! My legs felt fresh, the time off was good. I feel a cold coming on, not sure what it will do to the rest of the week. It felt great to be back out there, although running in the dark and cold weather sucks!

That's all for Now!! ross

OOPS..almost forgot the song of the day-Stuck in a Moment by u2

An afternoon Ross-a-Thon

This running fever is taking hold of me big time. I constantly have an urge to run. My wife had to talk me out of running at 9:oo on Tuesday night after we got home from our anniversary dinner. It's probably a good thing she did, after all I did have four beers with my dinner. But the craving for running never left. All day yesterday at work I felt like a caged animal. It was killing me to be in the office. Finally at 2:00 I left work early and headed out for my run. I don't know where this is heading. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and never want to run again, maybe it will flame out slowly like last time or maybe this time is different and I'll run cross country like Gump!! I'm getting the same feeling as I use to get when I would cut school to see how many strato-matic baseball games (http://www.strat-o-matic.com/) I could play in one day. It's freaking addictive!! I don't know if I'm running from something or to something, I just know that I need to run.

I emailed Ken before my run telling him that I felt like going big today. After 100 yards I was pumped and really was thinking about going for 12 miles. My first 8 miles seemed effortless. There was not a doubt in my mind that I could go 12, but as i headed into my 9th mile my legs began to get heavy, very heavy! I decided to break it off at 9 miles. The Hampton half is still 5 weeks away, no need to get crazy or injured.

I really feel strong but I do have a couple of nagging things popping up. The band aids on my nipples fell off, I can't explain how bad they hurt from the friction of my shirt on these long runs.
When I took of my sneakers one of my socks was covered in blood. It appears a toe nail was scraping the toe next to it. Lastly, my FedEx knee was acting up. A FedEx knee is the knee that steps off the truck and lands on the pavement first bearing all of the body weight plus the weight of the packages a courier is carrying. Do a 110 stops a day for a few years and you'll know what a FedEx knee feels like. I'm not in a lot of pain, it' just a bit sore.

I had a long talk with Sean last night, and he has convinced me to take a couple of days off. He thinks I have increased my miles to fast and I'm setting myself up for an injury. Sean has marathon experience and I trust him with my life. I'm going to heed his advice on this one!

I called Ken out for not supporting Red Sox Nation in Tampa!! Ken, is not going to see the Sox the result of a reason or an excuse?..lol

It looks like I'm going to need a crane to lift Stu off his couch. He bailed out on some recent promises to train, I think I might need to put a fork in him. By the way Stu, when you speak of the financial deals you are working on, can you drop a couple of zero's from the numbers so I can actually comprehend what the hell you are talking about.

Song of the day- wasn't me by Shaggy!!

til next time...Ross

5 Miles for breakfast

I did the unusual this morning, I went for a run at 6:15. I'm not normally one to be so active in the morning, but I was stressing about getting my training in this week. I have commitments every night after work this week so finding time to run was going to be a chore.

So there I was, having coffee at 5:30, out the door at 6:15. Getting up early didn't bother me, but being ready to run at the hour is not much fun. Usually when I run after work I spend the day preparing, eating the right stuff, stretching out and drinking tons of fluid. Today, I had 3 cups of coffee and hit the road. I was too tight to even try to stretch at that hour. I was probably asleep for the first two miles. It was a pretty uneventful run, a nice bounce back after Friday's 9 miler. I know I will have to do these early morning runs from time to time so I will deal with them the best that I can.

Physically the only issue I'm having is another case of bloody nipples. I forgot to use my body glide on Friday's run, damn things are so raw it's like a piercing gone bad!! I used it again this morning, but it didn't help much, too much damage, it looks like it's band aid time for a while!!-File this under too much information if you want!!

I've now run 8 times totaling 38 miles in the 16 days that I've been back!!

It must suck to be a Jets fan today!! Anyone else want to punch out the guy with the white fireman's hat?? Jets is a four letter word, do you really have to spell it out for the crowd?? WTF

Song of the day-it's too late, by Carole King

Recap of yesterday's 9 miler

I'm not sure where to start. Yesterday afternoon was brutal at work. Nothing seemed to go right, and I was left to pick up the pieces of an operational fiasco!! When I left the office, it was raining pretty hard, so I had a choice I could use the rain as an excuse, or I could get over it and hit the trail. As I pulled into the Falls I called my wife and said "This might be a long one". I knew I had a ton of anxiety from work and I also felt ready for something special.

I felt great for the first 4 miles, then some doubt settled in, should I stop at 6 miles or go for 9 miles. I seemed to have lost my step a bit, but then it happened. "Hot Hot Hot" by Buster Poindexter came over my MP3, followed by "old Apartment" by the Bare Naked Ladies. I seemed to be right back on track and was in a good groove by mile 6. I cannot explain to you the effect music has on me. Every song on my MP3 is hand picked, and they all have meaning. At work, I listen to music all day, all kinds too. But not while I'm running, I have 94 songs that all mean something to me, and at anytime those songs have the ability to take my mind off the run for a while. I know what you're thinking, what the hell can "Hot Hot Hot" mean to me but that's on a need to know basis and you don't need to know...lol

As I was closing out my second lap, I decided to go one more time around and stretch it out for the 9 miles. I remembered a story about how Larry Bird would shoot hoops all night because he was afraid that if he stopped, some other kid in some other city would still be playing and working on his game. That's sort of how I felt yesterday, I knew somebody else would be training harder than I, so I couldn't stop at 6 miles. I didn't know if it was Brad, Ken ,Bib or some other guy from sweat365, but whomever it was , they pushed me to 9 miles. However I did know that it wasn't Stu..lol

Running in the rain was pretty relaxing. I was pretty much alone in the park. The trees protected me pretty well, there are only a couple of open areas where I got soaked. It was a bit muddy, but that's fine with me. It was really a terrific run and I felt great afterwards. No problems physically and emotionally I was jacked and pretty proud of how quick I have been able to get back to where I left off.

I have no doubt that I can run the Hampton Half, but I'm starting to get some crazy thoughts about actually running the Manchester Marathon on 11/2/08, a week after Hampton. No idea If I could get ready for that on such a condensed schedule, it wouldn't seem likely but the way I feel right now anything is possible.

Til next time..ross

Song of the day- "Something I said" by Micheal Grimm http://www.michaelgrimmmusic.com/

No excuses today- 9 miles in the rain!!

What a freaking run!! 9 miles at the falls!! I'm pumped. I can't chat now, but ill update tomorrow!!...ROSS

P.S. Bin Laden it's 24 hours later and you're still an asshole!!

Reasons or Excuses

Life is funny, it's always twisting and changing and full of challenges. It's during these times that things fall through the cracks. Ultimately one has to find the root cause of failure in order to prevent it from occurring again. When I was at FedEx, I learned that there are reasons for failure and that there are excuses for failure. Excuses are avoidable, and though not always easy to predict or prevent, they are ultimately preventable. An excuse may be a detriment on the path of success, but the not sole cause for failure alone. Reasons are not preventable and out of your control. Reasons are legitimate obstacles that prevent success.

That being said, what is it that prevents me from proper training! Why haven't I completed a marathon yet. Family life and work are very important, and certainly take a lot of time but are they excuses or reasons? I battle with this all of the time.

So today it is going to rain (excuse), And I can't run tomorrow because of my kid's soccer game(another excuse) and work (WTF! another one!) I need to over come the excuses and get after it!!

This blog is imported to my site at sweat365.com. There I have had the good fortune of meeting a guy who no longer accepts excuses. If you need to be motivated, or just want a good read check out http://brad.sweat365.com/. Brad was a regular guy, until he stopped making excuses. Now he kicks ass in Triathlons.

So there you have it, it will be raining today when I leave work, am I going to run or am I going to persevere?????

72 virgins and a cloud of Dust

Just got back from a 3 mile run on lunch. As usual, during my run I was thinking about what I would write here. There is so much I could talk about, the sox dropping two to Tampa, Tom Brady's injury, Joe Biden's visit to Nashua yesterday. But they can all wait!! Today is September 11th. The 7th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on our nations soil!!

Please take a minute to remember all of the lives lost that day, the actions of the hero's running into those burning buildings. Please pray for our soldiers who continue to fight for us, protecting our way of life, living horrors we can't imagine.

To Osama Bin Laden- You are the biggest piece of shit ever to walk on this earth. 72 virgins? Are you kidding me? Is that the best you could come up with? Let me tell you something, you could be locked in a cave with 72 virgins who are drunk and horny and after an hour there would still be 72 virgins, because you are a total ass blaster.

You did nothing but kill innocent people. You did not advance your cause! You only made us stronger! We are a better America today because of you, thanks you piece of shit.

Did you read the paper today, oh wait, I forgot you live in a fucking cave! Well let me update you, the US military are making raids inside Pakistan, without Pakistani approval. That's right asswipe, GW's getting restless. He wants your ass before he leaves office. My money is on GW! I hope you die a thousand deaths and burn in hell forever you fucking gutless piece of shit.

God created Ross so Todd could have a hero

What a day! What a run!! 7 miles at Mine falls again!! I think it's fair to say that Mine Falls park is my bitch..lol

Today just felt right. I had 3 planned, but after about my first 30 yards I knew today's run had potential to be special. I breezed my first 3 miles. I was the only one on the trail running in the mud after the heavy rain storm. It was damn near perfect. Around mile 4 I started thinking about going for 9 miles today. No doubt at all that I could have gutted out 9! But why do it now? The race at Hampton Beach is still 6 weeks away. Ken's been telling me to ease back into it, and he's right, why risk injury? That being said I pulled the plug at the 7 mile mark. It was a perfect time to stop. I ran a mile more than last Friday, enough to feed my ego, but I left some on the table for next time. It looks like I'll have a mild recovery run in a day or so, then look for something bigger and better on the weekend.

I spoke to Todd about about running Hampton with me. He's not sure he can be ready by then. So he's going to the gym (that might be code for Jenny Craig)this week and we will see how it goes. Unfortunately the CIA has called Bib for duty again and he will be unavailable for the Hampton half Marathon.

Was I the only one that felt like I got kicked in the balls when Brady got hurt the other day??

How good is Mike Lowell??

The Counting Crows "Rain King" played again during my run today, very fitting. It was followed by "Have you seen me lately". If you haven't heard their latest Album, check it out. It's brilliant. Adam Duritz continues to blow my mind.

Take Care Ross

Go Big or go Home

I ran 6 miles at mines falls today. It was outstanding!! The weather was great, the course was great, and i felt awesome for 5 miles. The last mile beat the bag out of me a bit, but I'm fine and ecstatic. According to Hal Higdon and every other freaking expert, I shouldn't have doubled my miles today. Ideally, they would have had me run 4.5. That's like going to the pub and ordering a 12 ounce draft! GO Big or Go Home! I knew I had 6 in me, I woke up thinking six and i wasn't going to be denied. I'm hoping for 9 in 7-10 days.

It's funny, I'm running with such confidence now. I respect the half marathon distance, but I don't fear it like i did last year last year. It's a very different mindset.

One quick observation- Bill O'Reilly reminds me of a great boxer who fought past his prime. He reminds me a little of Tyson. He's still able to get the big fights because of his name, but he has nothing left in the ring. The O'Reilly from 10 years ago would have knocked Obama out cold last night. The current washed up Bill barley landed anything but jabs. It's a shame, I was once a card carrying "Factor" maniac, but i know I'm a Glenn Beck fan. O'Reilly couldn't hold Becks jock on a good night!!

That's all for now...Ross

Slow miles are better than no miles

I ran 3 pretty uneventful miles at Mine Falls yesterday! It was great to be back at the falls, it's so peaceful there. I ran real slow yesterday, not sure why but when i saw my time at the end, i was pretty demoralized. I don't run for time, never have-distance is my thing but still yesterday was pretty poor. But then I spoke to ken and he gave me today's title and I feel much better now!

I need to pick up the distance soon. These 3 mile runs are for kids, nothing better than running a nice 7 miler!!

Did you see speeches last night?? Obama took a beating, and I loved every second of it. People at my office think that Sara got a little to personal with her attacks, Can you blame her? She and her daughter have been getting crucified the last couple of days!! Go Sarah Go! I'm still worried about her lack of experience, but then again Obama just scares the daylights out of me.

I got a great response to one of my post about Sarah Palin- "Alaska cold state-Hot governor"

Today's motto from my friend JB- "If you are going to polish your knob, make sure the rag is clean" I've been laughing bout that all day!!

3 Miles in the bank

I just crushed a 3 mile run. Cruise control the whole way!! I wasn't really fast, but at no point did I have any difficulty. Hey Bib, anymore kid's races coming up? I'll be ready by the weekend..lol ross