My Weblog

Quote of the day

Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.

George Sheehan

I know this isn't a marathon but in 2009 it's the closest I'm gonna get. And to have that as my quote of the day, from HIM of all people... Weird

Friday 5 Miles - 39:25 / 7:53 pace

Ran the Freehold "Born to Run" 5 miler.  Actually got to Freehold at 9am and registered and then was hanging out at the start line right before 10 and there was no one there.  Im thinking what a tiny race.  I finally see a race official and he tells me its an 11am start.  Duh!  So my plan had been run then do some errands well I went and got the errands done (mostly) and then was back in time for the race.

I was running by myself so I figured Id run with some music.  I put on one of my Power Playlists and sure enough as the race started and I hit Begin, Santana's "Im Winning" is the first song I heard. Bang, out the gate!  This course is very hilly so its actually a good warm up for Sunday.  I did the first mile in 7:47 and was feeling great.  Styx "The Best of Times" and The WHo "We're Not Gonna Take It" were other songs that were carrying me through.  Mile 2 I did in a strong 7:30 but then we turned into a park and met a few steep hills.  Ugh!  I was really feeling it.  I slowed to a (get this) 8:36.  A minute slower!  Ewww.  Right after the Mile 3 marker we got a down hill (about time) and I found my pace again and my wind and picked it up.  I passed Mile 4 at 31:50 so I had done a 7:57.  Better.  Mile 4 I have to admit I started to really slow down and I was passed by a few runners.  It wasn't until I saw "4 1/2" spray painted in the street that I really turned it on and started passing a few myself. Plus one of my favorite motivational songs "Dark Star" by Perry Ferrel came on ("it's time - to shine - and make all your dreams come true..." I think I was singing along)

I wound up finishing with a 7:35 last mile and a race time of 39:25 for a 7:53 pace.

If I hadn't done 37:30 on Saturday over the same distance I'd be happier with my final time and pace.  But thats the thing about running.  You don't compare yourself to the Kenyan upfront whose gonna beat you by an hour or the "walk/runners" in the back who will still be coming across the finish when you're in your car.  You compare yourself to what you've done.  Lately  And in that, today wasn;t quite as thrilling as Saturday.  But still, it's a good pace and solid last warm up for Sunday

Boston's Not as Easy and New York

Been told by 5 charities that they have no slots open.  One called me last night to ask a bunch of questions.  The fact that Liver Disease has never been an issue for me or anyone I know may be the stumbling block.  But then I got a call from the woman at The Living Center.  Thats the one I sent my application in to last week.  She wanted to phone interview me as well.  By the end she said she'd just like to hear more of a "plan" for how I would raise the money.  I sent her the following:

Julia

 

Thank you for your time today.  I enjoyed our conversation and especially finding out more about The Living Center.  As I told you the cause is something that is very important to me.

 

As far as a game plan for raising money and hitting and even exceeding my $3,250 threshold, our conversation has already sparked some ideas.  Here are the ways that I would go about raising the money:

 

* Approaching friends and family:  As I explained to you when I had to raise money for Freds Team it didn't take much prodding from my social network.  And if anything my sphere of influence has broadened since 2005.  I have been writing for a nationwide industry publication called "The Disc Jockey News" since then (http://www.discjockeynews.com/Home.html) and this platform has given me a pretty good reputation in the Mobile DJ Industry.  Of my 300+ Facebook friends, more than half are DJ Company owners, many of whom have sought me out for help and advice.  I have no doubt that these people will be generous when I ask.

 

* My own staff: As I mentioned I have over 30 DJs that work for me and last time I needed money raised they came through.  As one joked to me at the time: How could they not?  But in our conversation you mentioned a 50/50 and that got me to thinking.  I do an annual staff party for my DJs in January and many of my guys are fervent gamblers (our monthly meeting are often more about Texas Hold Em than the DJ business.)  At our party this year, I will definitely run a 50/50 to raise money for this cause as well as raffle off some extra equipment that we have in our warehouse.  I have no doubt that this will help me reach my goal.

 

* You also mentioned hosting a fundraiser which again got my wheels turning. I have a warehouse space in our office that we use for in house showcasing.  This is also the room where we have our staff parties and also our annual Halloween party.  I could easily host a fundraiser back there with no expense or overhead so that every dollar could go to the charity. 

 

I want to reiterate to you how important this cause is for me.  I got a little choked up on the phone when I was trying to explain this to you so please allow me to do so in written form.  My older brother Mark was with Anthony Scanlon for over ten years.  If New York had allowed it at the time there is no doubt they would have been married.  They were lifemates in every sense of the word.  Along with my parents (who are married 45 years) Mark and Anthony were the greatest example of "true love" that I have ever witnessed in my life.  Anthony died of AIDs ten years ago.   It is still to this day a great loss, not only for my brother Mark but for our entire family.  It would mean the world to me to raise money for your charity and then to run the Boston Marathon in Tony's honor.

 

I look forward to hearing from you next week.

 

Mike Walter 

Wednesday 3.7 in 30:07- 8:37 pace

With a strong 7:55 finish.

That shin pain in my left leg is flairing up a bit again so I think ill take tomorrow off or at the very least run a short (<2) one. Then Friday there's a 5 mile race in freehold which I'll either do or run a similar length. Then take Saturday to rest before the Navesink Challenge on Sunday.

Tuesday 2.2 18:05 - 8:15 pace

I like the fact that my pace time is improving, especially with the shorter runs.  Felt strong today and was pushing it but not to the point of total exhaustion.

Sunday 5.3 in 47:52-8:59 pace. Weekly total 26.2

Slept at Robin and PGs last night and I never like to miss a chance to run central park. Got up at 8am and stretched and headed out. I was pretty stiff from yesterday and that first mile is mostly uphill so I'll have to excuse that opening 10:08 mile. Once I was in the park I figured the big loop would be too long (symbolically I really wanted to run 5.3 today) so I did the reservior loop and then the outer reservior loop.  I haven't run that reservoir since my days at Regis and that's even if you count what we did as running ( more like shuffling along till we were out of the teachers sight so we could light up our cigarettes.)

I picked up to an easy 8:40 pace inside the park. Just as I was finishing that 2nd loop I saw a bunch of runners and that's when I remembered that this guy gabe was telling me last night that there was a 4 mile race in the park today. So I fell in with the racers for the last little bit in the park and then exited and made my way back. I stopped at 5.3 even though I wasn't back all the way yet just so my weekly total would be that magical mystical abhorent number. And there it is. 

A great week of running. 2 of my favorite loops, a surprising pace for the 5 mile race and then a nice central park run this morning. I used to listen to this sports show host and when callers would ask him "how ya doing?" he'd say, "lousy, but I'm turning the corner.". Well I'm not lousy but I definitely feel like I'm turning the corner. 

Saturday 5 Miles

Ran the Manasquan Turkey Trot this morning. It's a fast and flat 5 miler. I went into it thinking if I ran 8:15s I could do about a 41:30. So that was my plan and goal.

Kelly decided to take the ride down with me so of course Shea tagged along. We got to the start line about a half hour before the start and found Dave Nase.  His partner Joe was running too and his son Kyle.  Kelly took a picture of us before the race

I also saw this guy Jay who I knew years ago (he worked with my ex-wife)  I said hello to him and he remembered the last time we saw each other: At The Dublin House on St Patricks Day, which was 2 weeks after my surgery.  He said You've come a long way and I could only agree with him.

So the race started with a shot gun blast in the air (poor turkeys) and I started out very strong.  I was feeling very good and though I knew I was moving my cardio wasnt that bad.  I was thinking I was at an 8:00 pace or maybe a little less so when I came up on the first mile marker and it said 7:20 I was very surprised.  I didnt feel like I was running that fast but okay.  I was feeling good so I kept the pace up.  I did mile 2 in 7:30 (14:50 on the race clock) and mile 3 identically (22:20).  By then though I was starting to feel a little fatigued.  I said to myself "slow it down.  Do an easy 8:00" and that made me feel great just thinking that to myself "an easy 8:00"  Wow maybe I have come a long way.  Well when I got to the 4 Mile Marker I had slowed down but not quite to 8:00.  The clock read 30:00 exactly so I had done that last mile in a 7:40. 

Now I was running on empty.  I was saying to myself (but out loud) "come on Mike, dig deep."  And I was.  Digging as deep as I could.  My cardio was strained but not enough to make me stop and my legs were heavy with fatigue but still had some strength in them.  They are nice enough to have a clock at 4 1/2 miles and it read 33:50ish.  So I was till on that 7:40 pace.  That was just fine with me.  We made one last turn and I saw the Finish Line up ahead and I just said Fuck It and started picking people off.  I passed one guy then two guys together and then this guy that had passed me about mile 4 (I remembered him because he had a grey tee shirt that was soaked in sweat)  I was bringing it home strong and it felt awesome.  I saw Kelly and Shea right before the end too.  Very satisfying.

So I came across a little under 37:30 (I think it said 37:24 but I didnt stop my timer till 37:34) Dave had run a 36:05 so I wasn't too far behind him.  I never caught up with Joe to see how he did. 

Thats as satisfying a run as Ive had since surgery and take it back even further, since 2008 ended with nothing but frustrating runs with the tendon injury, it's probably the best I have felt since the Chicago Marathon last October.

Thursday 6.73 Miles in 58:52 for a 8:44 pace

Ran the Cold Indian Springs Loop with Shea.  While I like the final average pace, I have to admit I slowed in the 2nd half.  I was running an 8:30 pace at Mile 3 so the 2nd half, especially starting at the hill by the Church was closer to a 9:00 pace.  It was a combination of dead legs, cardio exertion and that left shin throb.  But I toughed it out over the last 3 miles, settling in at a 8:45 pace over the final flatter 2 miles and finished proud.

I dedicated the hill by the Church to Kelly who is having a shot in her back on Monday. Shes understandably nervous about the procedure so I prayed for her to be at ease and of course for the shot to work and for her to start feeling better.

Tuesday 9.2 in 1:18:24 for a 8:31 pace!

Met up with Dave and Jake at noon in the Molly Pitcher parking lot.  If you asked the Lord for a perfect day to run, this is the one He'd hand you.  Cool, clear, zero wind.  Just perfect.

We set out through Red Bank and as usual the easy half was fun.  We chatted and joked and (after a slow first mile) kept a very steady 8:45ish pace.  Then we crossed the bridge and hit the hills.  Dave Nase is in incredibly shape and he pulled away from Jake and me on that first big climb and then slowed when he got to the top so we could catch.  I struggled a bit on that first hill but Jake was really huffing and puffing and I thought he  was going to have a bad run.  Boy was I wrong.  On the next hill Dave pulled away again but this time Jake stayed with him and then they both slowed at the top and let me catch.  I was fine with that in fact I was trying to telling them to run their run and not worry about me.  I was fin because even though they were waiting for me I knew I was still running a great pace.  The audio cues on this new program I have tell you total time, distance and then average pace over the whole run so in the second half of the run as those averages kept coming down (from 8:48 to 8:45 to 8:41 and then 8:38) I knew I was running some steady 8:30s and that felt awesome.  Plus, unlike this weekend I wasnt having ANY pain in the calf or the shin.  When you've run with a slight nagging pain it is just awesome to run pain free.  You feel like you could conquer the world.  So who cared that Dave and Jake were pulling a tenth and then two tenths of a mile in front of me, or that I was SUCKING for air on the hills, my legs were strong and pain free and that felt like a million dollars. 

Pace at Mile 8 was 8:32 and I couldnt hear what she said at mile 9 but that means with a finish of 8:31 I must have been dead on 8:30 at the end.  After all that, wow.  I'll take

So Kris A and Mike Fuoco are both injured and wont be running on the 29th and after today there is NO WAY Im beating Jake (I knew I couldnt beat Dave anyway) so the only thing left is focus on my time (which is what I should focus on all the time)  I think I can do this race in 1:15.   Yeah, that shoudl be the goal.  1:15! 

Monday Off Pix and Maps from the weekend

Gonna run the Navesink loop again tomorrow so it was perfect to take a day off and rest the legs. 

Heres the out part of the run on Saturday morning:
When we got to the end I took some pictures so we probably had a minute or two off before returning the way we came.  Here's Shea looking at the Ocean and the best shot I got of how churning it was from the storm:

 

 
And heres the map from Sunday.  We covered as much of the Island as I could think of.  I dont know how they do a Newport Marathon