ScoJo's Running Down a Dream Journal (comments welcome)

[AmyBeth68]

Hey Scott

Thanks for sharing that quote from Ron Jaffe. I feel like I could have written this part myself:

But those who gain most from the trail, in my limited perspective thus far, are the ones who dare to change their life's perspectives and become different in some way, to become better or to choose a better life for themselves. Indeed this is what I'm trying to do for myself and I must tell you it scares the hell out of me. But somehow, I find the courage to plod on knowing, or at least believing at this point, that this change, this epiphony lies somewhere up the trail.

Ok...so maybe I wouldn't have written it so eloquently LOL...but it really does reflect my feelings of the marathon journey. Thanks again!!! As always you inspire me!

And just for those keeping score...yes I did barely beat your 6 mile pace this weekend. However, you clearly win on the Tuesday run...I couldn't even make 4 miles . You are doing so great, keep up the work and you're on for a head to head 7 mile competition. Only, I'm not sure about facing off this weekend since I might be scaling back a bit in preparation for my big June 23rd 5 Mile trail run . BTW that advice you got on the breathing is spot on.....give it a try and see how it works for you!

 

[CACruisin']

Thanks for sharing the excerpt. Really good. Have fun with your morning run and a day early!

 

[toystoryduo]

Scott!

I hope you have a great day and a wonderful year ahead!

I love that excerpt that you shared with us.... for some reason it reminds me of The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost...

The Road Not Taken

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

What's funny about that poem is that we sang that at our choir competition in 1993 in Orlando and after the competition, we went to Walt Disney World... my first Disney vacation ever! Oh...and we won 1st place!

Have a great day!

 

[kimwim8]

WOW Scott!! You are doing GREAT!!

To me, you always have been a runner. Since day 1. You're just getting to be a better runner!!

Take care, and thanks for the inspiration!!

 

[AmyBeth68]

Hey Scott!!!

OK....because you remembered all of us moms on mother's day. This is a day early....but didn't want to forget

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!



I hope you have a super fantastic amazing day! You deserve it!

 

[kimwim8]

haha, Amy...Great minds think alike!! I was coming here to do the same thing.....


HAPPY FATHERS DAY, Scott!!

You deserve a GREAT day....take care & enjoy!!

 

[toystoryduo]

Happy Father's Day, Scott!

I hope that you have a wonderful day tomorrow!

 

[goldcupmom]

I'm another early bird, Scott, because I just want to make sure I got here to wish you a wonderful Father's Day!! After today, I dont' know what tomorrow will bring, but I was thinking of you & wanted to make sure I came here.

Caught up a bit on your progress and you continue to Amaze me!

Have a great rest of the weekend!!

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Dang, man! I thought I might get here early, but alas I see I have been beaten not once but 4 times! AND I missed your birthday! So...

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY & HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!


Hope you enjoy your special day! As I said in my journal today, I am beginning to get a better understanding of the challenges that parents face So I think every parent deserves a very special day all about them...even if it is only once a year!

Keep up the good work!

 

[CACruisin']

Happy Father's Day Scott!


I hope you have a fantastic, wonderful, relaxing day. You really deserve it!

 

[eeyore25]

Hi Scott,

Sorry I have been MIA....I missed your birthday and fathers day! Sorry for that!

Anyway, Happy Belated Birthday and Happy Father's Day! Hope you had a wonderful time for each event!

Happy Monday

 

[ScoJo15]

WOW!! I feel so special! Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the birthday and father's day wishes!

And Tracy, thanks for posting that piece by Robert Frost...it does parallel the message from Ron Jaffe's journal. What a great source of inspiration!

Amy - just let me know when you're ready for the 7 mile competition...maybe we can post our routes on gmaps so we can compare elevations?!?

Quote for the day - "The early bird may catch the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." - Steven Wright... .....funny, but really think about it for a second...

Offtopic - I'm taking Edmonton in a huge upset tonight...oh what I would give to go see a game in their arena, those people are rabid fans! I'll also take the Braves to lose the rest of their regular season games...maybe then they'll finally get rid of the cancer that plagues them, Mr. Bobby Cox. Have you heard the latest? Maybe Chris really did sign with Fuel after all...they have a new lead singer but are keeping it under wraps...anyone watch Treasure Hunters?? I made it thru 20 minutes before drifting off into dreamland...were the other 1 hour and 40 minutes any better? And I'm wondering how accurate the leaked Big Brother list is.....guess we'll find out on Wednesday night!

k...enough rambling and on to the update for today....

Wednesday June 14th
Did another strong elliptical workout in the evening. Went for 50 minutes (5.31em, 9:25mpm, 163/155hr) and felt like I could have continued for days. I was reading about the benefits of doing reverse mode so I think I'm going to add that into the routine after my next race (don't wanna change anything now and risk injury or soreness). I maintained a steady weight at 205.6...I've been in the 205 range now since May 28th so it looks like I've levelled off for now.

Thursday June 15th
My parents were taking me out to dinner for my birthday in the evening which meant that I had to get up eeaarrrllyyy and get my run in. So, I was out of the door by 5:45am to do my 45 minute 4 miler. I'm not a morning person at all but there was something rewarding about being out there prior to sunrise, listening to the birds wake up & seeing the dew glistening on the yards as I trotted past. I was a little concerned about having worked out less than 12 hours earlier so I took it kind of easy and enjoyed myself. I ended up completing the run in 44:54 (11:22 mpm, 184/170hr). I really think the advice on keeping my head up while running has a big impact on my ability to not get winded and keep my heart rate down. Also, I really liked running in the morning! I think I'm going to move all of my runs to the early am for at least the summer.

Friday June 16th
Went to the fitness center after work and did a nice 40 minutes on the elliptical (4.78em, 8:22 mpm, 157/145 hr). I also came in at the exact same weight again (205.6).

Saturday June 17th
Off day! Wife came back from a two week trip to Mexico in the late evening, so the day was spent cutting the grass, chillin' at the pool, and cleaning the house.

Sunday June 18th
Got up early and went to the park to do my 7 mile long run. The weather was perfect and despite getting a ton of exercise in last week, my body felt strong. I set out to accomplish two goals....one, to keep my head up to facilitate better breathing and two, to quicken my pace just a little and see if I could maintain it for the duration of the run. It ended up being my best run ever! I felt so good out there. I never got winded and really felt like I could have completed 10 or 11 miles. My mile splits were amazing: 9:29/9:58/10:04/10:22/10:12/10:31/10:54. I covered the 7 miles in 1:11:30 (10:13 mpm avg!!! and 188/172 hr!) Everything about the run was really perfect for me! Afterwards, I decided to see what my real walking pace is...not the pace I use during runs, but the pace I'd use if I was just leisurely walking down a street. So I did 1 mile while sipping water and strolling along without purpose....I completed that mile in exactly 17:00. It was one of those things that I was curious about but never really knew what my pace was.

So, I'm now two weeks away from the Peachtree. This week's training will mirror last week.

Monday - off
Tuesday - 45 minute 4/1
Wednesday - 40-50 elliptical
Thursday - 45 minute 4/1
Friday - 40-50 elliptical
Saturday - off
Sunday - 7 mile 4/1


Hope everyone has a great day! Thanks again for the kind words!!

 

[AmyBeth68]

SCOTT!!! Amazed at that 7 mile run you had. Simply amazed! You really kicked butt! Sooo proud of you! Not sure I want a head-to-head competition now. I am pretty darn sure I couldn't keep that pace up. You speed demon! The Peachtree is right around the corner! Can't wait to hear how you do!!!

Sorry I can't help you out there with Treasure Hunters...completely forgot to DVR it! Oh well....doesn't sound like it was much too interesting anyway lol. And I'm hoping that Edmonton wins as well!

And one final thought....I've got to give you major kudos for getting up at that ridiculous hour to run. I am not sure I'd be nearly as dedicated if I had to do that!!!

 

[CACruisin']

Scott, sounds like you had a great birthday and a great week. You training is going great!

 

[toystoryduo]

WoW Scott!

You did a great job on your 7 mile run! I definitely think that you are more than ready for the Peachtree! I know you are going to do a great job! Woohoo!

I'm glad you liked the poem by Robert Frost. Like I said, we sang it as a song in high school and the message has stayed with me all these years.

Have a great week!

 

[kimwim8]

HOLY COW!!! 7 miles ?!?!? You are THE MAN!! Peachtree, Schmeachtree.....that'll be NO problem!

Thanks for the Big Brother reminder...gotta set up the series recording!! I did watch Treasure Hunters...gotta say it doesn't compare to The Amazing Race for me. If it's on and I happen to catch, I'll probably watch, but I'm not going to be glued like with TAR. I really didn't like the vagueness (is that a word?) of the clues they had to follow, the host was pretty darn annoying!! And those southern guys (no offense here, southerners) - they were just rediculous...looking at every rock thinking it might mean something??

Have a GREAT week! Thanks so much for stopping by my journal and offering so much encouragement!

 

[CACruisin']

Ok, Scott. I totally spaced on BB last night and didn't record. So what's the scoop? I need the details

Hope you are having another great week!!

 

[plutosmyfav]

Hi Scott,
I didn't realize you had a journal. Cool! I"m glad to see your training is going full-steam ahead. I haven't seen you on the training thread for a while, or maybe I've been speed-reading so fast I've overlooked your posts. Anyway, glad to see things are going well.

Steven Wright? Too much! A Lost fan and Steven Wright-- you don't happen to like the Ramones do you?

Sunny

 

[ScoJo15]

Thanks for the posts everyone....

Well it's hot around here now, mostly due to the summer sun... and while I'd much rather be sitting on a terrace in St. Maarten, it is time to move the runs to the mornings and focus on the task at hand.

Here is a quick update of my week so far...

Monday June 19th
off! Felt good after the 7 miles on Sunday (I was fearing some soreness).

Tuesday June 20th
Got up eeeaarrllyyy again and completed my run. I did 3.95 miles in 43:07 (10:55 mpm, 181/169 hr)

Wednesday June 21st
Hit the fitness center in the evening and did 45 minutes on the elliptical (4.68 em, 9:37 mpm, 163/155 hr) I weighed in at 204.7! Down another pound

Thursday June 22nd
Was kind of hard to force myself out of bed at 5:30am, but I did it and was happy I did so afterwards. Had one of my best neighborhood runs so far...3.95 miles in 42:00 (10:38 mpm, 183/166 hr)

So it has been a really successful week and I'm looking forward to the long run on Sunday morning.

 

[Foxfiregrrl]

Hi, Scott!

WOW! You are doing Awesome! And your determination just blows me away! 5:30 am! I don’t know if I could go there! You are going to ROCK Peachtree!

Treasure Hunters- I was excited about this one too, but it is fairly lame. I agree w/ Kim about the Redneck guys (as Dh labled them) they were just absurd! Not sure if I will watch or not.

Big Brother! – I didn’t watch last season, but I may be hooked again! I used to be a Huge fan and even had the live feed for one season (season 3 I think). Who do you want back in or not in? I am somewhat undecided…. I really would like to watch Will again, but he did win his season and I don’t really like the winners getting another chance. Hmm… this could be a hard decision.

Well, Have a Fabulous weekend and an Excellent long Sunday run!