A man can fail many times but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. -Steve Prefontaine

The title, is one of my new favorite quotes.

Okay so there is so much to catch up on so I'll go ahead and dive right in. Last time I wrote, I had just got my new shoes and taken them on a couple of runs to break them in. I really like those new kicks! Melissa, Levi and I went on vacation about 6/7 weeks ago to Nauvoo, Illinois. It was an amazing vacation and one that I will not forget. As I expected, there was not anywhere near our hotel that was suitable for running. Plus, after a day full of walking everywhere, who wants to end the day with a long run...while on vacation?!!

When we got back to Wylie and into our daily routines, I ran about 3 or 4 times within a span of 2 weeks. I was starting to experience some foot pain. I thought that it was from my new shoes, and that the pain would go away as I got more mileage on them. However, this was not the case. I did some research on common foot injuries in runners, especially beginning runners, and found that foot pain is a common thing. All that I could find was for the recommendation to rest for a few weeks and try again. My biggest concern was that the annoying pain would turn into a major injury like a stress fracture. So that was the beginning of a month and a half hiatus from running.

So...fast forward to this past weekend. I got a call from a friend of mine that I go to church with. I have ran with him previously, he belongs to a running club in Plano. Twice a month, they have some type of race such as a 5k or 10k. Last weekend, they had a 3 x 3k relay race. He asked if I was interested. I said sure, but I haven't been able to train for several weeks, but I would love to. So me and the two other guys on our relay each ran a 3k (just under 2 miles) each. I knew that this would be a challenge for me since I hadn't even ran a hundred meters in 7 weeks. I had no doubt that I would be able to finish, my biggest concern was if I would get that foot pain again.

I ran the first leg of the race, down 1.5k and back to total 3. When I crossed the line I thought for sure that I was going to puke or pass out! I was really dizzy and was walking around like a drunk man. Luckily, it was a nice cool morning and the humidity was low. If it was humid, I know I would have lost it or collapsed. It took me at least 20 minutes to regain my composure. Since the race, my lungs have been really tight (due to asthma). They feel really heavy like I have pneumonia or something even though I know I don't. Sitting down in a chair is nearly impossible without bracing myself. Needless, to say the best part of the relay race was the fact that it hit me that I can't go that long without running. This was the best thing that could have happened to get me back into a running schedule. I am still sore today so I will probably only run once or twice this week and gradually work up to 4 days per week.

I still have the goal to do a half marathon but I won't train too hard too fast this time. I am hoping to do one this December or early next year. I would like to finish one before our second baby gets here Feb/March. I am probably going to join that running club in Plano to have some frequent events to run in. I guess that is enough for now. Thanks for your support!

It's been a while

Yes, indeed it has been a while since I have updated my blog. To be honest, the running has slowed down as the heat and humidity have gone up. I have lived in Dallas for 5 years now and this, by far, has been the hottest summer we have had. But, it is not the heat that has allowed me to slack off for a couple weeks. About 3 weeks ago, when I was suppose to be running 5-7 miles every other day, I was only able to make it about 2 miles before my thighs and my shins were burning. I rarely get shin splints and my legs don't feel like that until I get to the 5-6 mile range.

Come to find out, my shoes needed to be replaced. I was trying to find the best deal I could get and that took some time. I ordered some on line and it took a while for them to get here. So Monday I went running to break them in. I just did 2 miles and my legs are sore still today. Crazy how just taking a week or two off can allow your body to be shocked when you start up again.

My race is just one month away now. I don't feel prepared to run 13.1 miles yet. I do not want to injury, (or heat stroke!) so I am going to do the 10k (6.2 miles) instead. I still want to do a half marathon so I am going to shoot for one in the Fall when it is a little cooler. The nice thing about living in Dallas is that there are races almost every weekend in once city or another.

We are going on vacation this weekend and all next week, so hopefully there will be a nice treadmill, or a park/trail near our hotels. Thanks for reading!

Just me, the lightning bugs, the trail... and Enya?

Good morning. Thanks for taking a look at the latest edition on my running blog! Thanks to all of you that support me in my training process. I have purposely told a lot of people about my upcoming half-marathon because, I want to be accountable to someone. As a wellness coach, I am the person that provides the accountability for so many people. It is nice to be on the other end of that for a change.

This week was pretty good, all things considered. I was sick last week with serious allergies/sinus junk (yes that is a real medical term). I was craving to go running, but I knew if I didn't take care of the sickies (another real medical term) first, it would take a lot longer to get better. So, with that said, I didn't run on my usual Monday and Wednesday last week. My training schedule had me set for 6 miles on Saturday. I was ready mentally, but probably a little out of shape physically since I hadn't run at all that week.

I mapped out a 3-mile trail on runnersworld.com and headed to the park around 8:00 PM. It has been near 100 degrees for several weeks now plus a lot of humidity (I prefer dry heat better). With heat index, it has been around 105. So I headed out on my first of two 3 - mile loops around Breckenridge park in Richardson Texas. This park has a really good walking/jogging trail with parts of it heavily wooded and others out in the open. Part of it wraps around a small lake and follows creek. It is really a nice park. When I finished my first 3 miles, the sun was starting to set. After chugging half a bottle of Gatorade and my water bottled refilled and in hand, I turned around to do the loop again, this time in the opposite direction.

This was when the run just got really beautiful. It started around the 4th mile. I headed into an area of the park with a winding path and big oak trees. It was much darker in this area of the park. I started to notice lightning bugs aka fireflies. There were a ton of them. It was really pretty. After crossing the creek, I started to round the lake. By this time the sun was pretty much set, the sky was orange and pink. I was the only one around. There were ducks in the lake swimming and the reflection of the sunset was on the water. I took a mental picture of that. It was really pretty. Finally, I was headed into the last mile. It was in a heavily wooded area of the park and the sun was down. It was really dark at this part of the trail. I was a little nervous but I went ahead anyway. The lightning bugs were everywhere. It was so neat to have the trail lit by their little spurts of light. At this stretch of the trail, Enya came on my i-pod. It was the most peaceful run that I have ever had. Just perfect! I felt so rejuvenated after the hour long run. My legs are still recovering today from the run, but the discomfort is well worth it.

My apologies for the length of this update. Every time I start to post something, I think that it will be a short posting, but I can't seem to shut up! Thanks again for all of your support!!

A case of the Mondays & Tuesdays

Hi y'all! Thanks for checking in on my blog. It has been a difficult couple of weeks. If you read my previous couple of posts, you would know about how little time there was for running a couple of weeks ago while our friends were in town and other friends moving. I was so glad to get back to some normalcy.

Last weeks runs went pretty good. Wednesdays are now speed work/interval training. I was suppose to get 5 miles in on that but was only able to get 3.5 before I was on empty. On the weekend, we went to my in-laws in Texarkana (border town of Texas/Arkansas). It was so humid there! The humidity really affects your run. Saturday, I found a local park with a 1/2 mile trail that went around a pond. I went early in the morning to get the run in while it was still cool (80 degrees). My goal was to get in 6 miles. I could only do 4. It felt like I could not cool off while running. I would rather run in Arizona heat than run in Texas Humidity. In dryer weather, the sweat evaporates from your skin, keeping you somewhat cool. In humidity, your sweat stays on you. After a few miles it feels like you are covered in butter, you can't keep the sweat out of your eyes and, lets just say, its chafing season. I think that I need to start running with some water or Gatorade to rehydrate as I go.

So we came back home Sunday. I hate doing any type of work on Sundays but I had to get the lawn done. I work 11 hour days on Mondays and Tuesdays so the lawn had to be taken care of. I was mowing part of our back lawn that use to be a flower bed (letting the grass fill in now) when dust was getting everywhere. My allergies got really bad that night and by Monday they were terrible! What started as sneezing turned into sinus pressure and runny nose and sinus headache. There was no way I was going to get a run in Monday. Yesterday, I felt even worse. Today I still feel sinus pressure, but allergy symptoms are decreasing. I hope to run today... I feel like I am full of excuses, but legitimate ones. I still am planning on running in this half-marathon. I need, and will, step up my training. Have a great week!

Last night.

Usually, Thursdays and Fridays are my rest/recovery days, but this week I had to modify it. On Wednesday, I headed out to a middle school to run on the track. When I got there...the storm that wasn't suppose to get to Wylie for an hour was closing in. Just as I was about to get out of the car, Melissa called and said that there was lightning really close to the house and didn't want me out running. I thought that was a great reason to skip Wednesdays run.

So I ran last night to make up for it. On Wednesdays, I work on interval training. So I was suppose to do a 1 mile warm up, 2 x 1600m (l mile) at a fast pace with 800m recovery jog between each set, and another 1 mile to cool down. Well I did my warm up, followed by a fast-paced one mile run (8:00 pace). I did my 800 m jog, and started my 2nd fast mile. I got about 800 meters into it when I got a side cramp that brought me to my knees. I've had cramps in my side from running in the past but these were 10x worse than any other side crap I've had. I had to cut my run about 1.5 miles short. I was so angry at myself. Taking last week off from running really hurt me. I need to pick it up this weekend. To make up for crapping out, I am going to do a 2 mile run tonight in Texarcana (where the in-laws live) and 6 miles on Saturday. I just need to find a good place to run out there.

Kicking it up!

Last night we had dinner with our friends that were in town. I was so tired after working 11 hours and eating out and then driving some more for a long time. Needless to say, I was not in the mood for running. My thanks to Melissa for sticking to her promise to make me run when I don't want to. I am so glad that I went running last night. I only did my short 2 mile loop but it was the best quality run I have done since starting. I think my body was craving to run. I usually pace about 9:00 pace per mile (PPM) but last night I ran a 8:30 PPM. I usually take a while to get zoned in on the run, but I was good to go from the start. It felt really good to get out there and run!

Off the wagon and back on again!

Well, as I said last posting, last week was difficult. I literally had no time to run except for Saturday, and even then I had to cut my mileage in half so I could get back home just to leave again. I am disappointed but it was a good learning experience. I learned that there will be days when running just won't happen. I really would prefer to run in the mornings because I would have more time at the end of the day but I can't get up any earlier than I do (4:45 am).

Monday night was guys night with a farewell to my good friend Trever as he moved to Austin this week (lucky!) Tuesday was girls night so I stayed home with Levi. Wednesday we had a going away party for our friends that moved. Thursday I had a softball game. Friday our friends from AZ came over for a BBQ. Saturday we spent 5 hours at a car dealership negotiating the cost of our new car (we won and got a steal of a deal thanks to Melissa's negotiating skills). Saturday evening we picked up a puppy that we rescued from being euthanized (a long story... now we are trying to decide whether or not to keep him or find him a home). Sunday we had church and I don't run on Sundays.

I always say that excuses are like farts...everyone has them and they all stink! "No Excuses...Just Results" is one of my favorite quotes. I need, and will pick it up this week. The last obstacle in the road will be when we go on vacation next month. I will go running in the streets of Nauvoo! That will be sweet!

Running is fun!

I didn't think that the time would come when I would say it but... running is fun. I went on such a fun run on Saturday. There is a really cool park in West Plano called Arbor Hills Nature Preserve. The thing that I love about this area is that there are actually hills (something very unusual about the Dallas area) They have 2 miles of paved trails and some unpaved, natural trails. I did my research and mapped where I wanted to run and did about 4.5-5 miles. I ran with a friend from church. We ran mostly on the unpaved trails. I ran in front to keep an eye out for snakes, luckily we didn't see any, and really had a good time on this trail. I wish that there were more unpaved trails around Dallas. We made really good time too, averaging about 8:30/mile. Not quite exact on that number as the trails we ran on were not marked very well.

This week is going to be a tough one. Our good friends are moving to Austin this weekend so last night we had a guys night, tonight is the girl's night, Wednesday we are having a farewell party for them, Thursday I have a softball game, and later this week, Melissa's best friend will be in town for another friends wedding reception on Saturday. I was suppose to do my usual distance of 2 miles yesterday, but I can do that tonight instead. Wednesday I am suppose to do 5 miles total, 3 of which are suppose to be at a faster pace than normal. Saturday I am suppose to do 6 miles. I haven't decided on a location just yet, but I would like to do another trail run if possible. Anyway, it's a busy week to say the least.

One of my all time favorite quotes: "Your attitude determines your altitude in life. You will go as far in this life as your attitude will let you." -Paul H. Dunn

Family Blog

FYI, If you would like to hear how the whole family is doing, please check out our family blog. Melissa is really good at keeping everyone up to speed on our life and posting pictures of Levi. Thanks for all of your support!

-Matt

http://youngfamily1204.blogspot.com/

Love those Dallas weatherman!

Okay so last weeks running went pretty good. Mondays runs are only 2 miles and this just seems too easy. I think I am going to move it up to 3 miles from now on. It is suppose to be a "recovery run" from my Saturday "long run" but it doesn't seem like it is worth it to only run for 18 minutes.

This time of year the weather is unpredictable in most parts of the country, Dallas is no exception. So this last weekend it was 70% chance of rain on Saturday afternoon. Well, I like to do my yard work on Fridays after work, and run in the morning on Saturday. I wasn't able to get the yard work done on Friday so I needed to get it done before the rain came down in the afternoon. So 12,1,2,3,4,5,6, roll by and no rain! Now it was getting dark so I decided to post pone the run until Monday morning and do a longer run than scheduled. By the way, it rained for 5 minutes at 8:00 when it was suppose to be down-pouring by 3!

So yesterday, I went to Breckenridge park to run. They don't have distance markers placed very well so I just decided to do a big loop. This was a really good run, I did part of the trail that I hadn't run on before and it was very pretty. I ended running for about 32 minutes, so I probably only ran a little over 3 miles when I was suppose to run 4 or 5. So tonight is usually my rest day, but I am going to run 3 miles to make up for it and 3 miles again on Wednesday.

Last thing, I have been trying to eat better and I have, but I haven't lost any weight. My clothes fit better and my stomach doesn't seem as giggly. I am probably building muscle and losing fat which is fine with me. The most important thing is that I feel really good after a run now, when a few weeks ago I use to feel nasty after running.

Slacking on the blogging, not the running!

Hey everyone! I'm not sure that anyone is reading my blog, but I really don't care! I am doing this for myself as a type of accountability to stick to my training schedule. So this week I did 2 mile run on Monday and Wednesday. I can tell that my body is ready for more mileage, so I am excited to run 3 miles tomorrow. I find it strange that the older I get, the longer it takes my body to get warmed up. This is something that I either didn't need to do as much when I was younger, or just never realized the benefits of doing it. When I don't warm up, I really struggle with aches and joint pain for the first mile or so. After that, it is no problem, I can just keep running. Doing a good warm up has now been Incorporated into my routines.

On Saturday last week, I was sad because I wasn't able to run at the park that I wanted to. Like every Saturday for the past month or so, it has been rainy. So I decided to run closer to home on a trail that I hadn't run on in Richardson. Well, the trail was closed, not quite sure why, so I went up the road to Breckenridge Park. I really love this park, it's a great place to take a walk and let Levi feed the ducks. However, there was not a good mileage system there so I had to estimate how far I was running. I only had to do 2 miles but I think I went closer to 3.

On Mondays run, my headphones got a short in them so every stride I took, the music in the left headphone came in and out. It was really annoying. So on Wednesdays run, I found some old earbud headphones that Melissa had stashed aways somewhere. I don't know if I have funny shaped ears or what, but I am NOT a fan of earbuds! They kept falling out while I was running and my ears were in pain by the end of the run from me jamming them back in my ear every 30 seconds! I need to go to Wal-mart today and get some new ones.

Tomorrow, Saturday, it is suppose to be raining (go figure!) I think I will stick close to home again in case the rain starts coming down. Spring time in Texas is yucky! Way humid and rainy. But in 3 or 4 weeks it will be really hot for 4 months straight!

It's official

Well, last night I started my official training schedule. In 16 weeks, I will be fit and ready for the Hottest Half-Marathon. I am still very excited for the race and I hope to carry the excitement with me throughout this training because I know that it will not be easy (especially when it gets to 100 degrees outside!) Last night's run was just 2 miles which will be the typical distance on Mondays. Monday runs are the easy/recovery run. My long runs will be on Saturdays.

I am really glad that I have been running for the last couple of weeks because last night when I was running, something happened this time that didn't happen for the last two weeks of running...I didn't want to quit half way threw! During my runs for the last two weeks, I have fought threw the running because I really wanted to quit...my muscles were burning and my lungs were on fire, but I kept at it so I could get to the point I am now. I wanted to quit for the first half mile but after that, my muscles were warm and lose and I had good energy for the entire 2 miles. I think I am going to have to do a better warm up and stretch, from now on, before I start running.

On Saturday, I went to Bob Woodruff Park and ran 3 laps around the lake for a total of 2.1 miles. It was a nice run. This Saturday, I am going to run at Arbor Hills Nature Preserve, a really nice trail/park in West Plano. That trail will be a challenge because it has the only hills in the county! Hopefully the weather will be nice and Melissa and Levi can play at the park while I run. Anyway, this post was much longer than I expected it to be.

Quest for the half!

Hello one and all to the 2nd edition of my blog. Only 17 weeks until that glorious 13.1 mile run aka the hottest half-marathon race. For those of you getting this link for the first time please read my first entry - it has a lot of stuff about why I am doing this wonderful race in August in the heat of Dallas. I am going to do 3 days of running this week tonight (Monday), Wednesday and Saturday. I am only doing 2 miles each day and possible 3 on Saturday.

I am still excited for this quest of the half marathon. As I mentioned in the last email, one of the reasons I am doing this blog is to keep myself accountable. So if I don't post something at least once per week ask me how my training is going. Although I am a wellness coach and support and encouraged people for a living, I too need support and encouragement. Who would have thought, the wellness coach needs wellness coaching!

I believe that by telling as many of my friends, family and co-workers as I can about my quest for the half-marathon, the better my chances are of finishing it. Anyway, Melissa just got back from the gym so it is my turn to lace up the shoes and hit the street!

Love all ya'll!

Matt

Here we go!

Well it's official, I'm either crazy, stupid,dumb or going through my mid-life crisis 15 years early! I'll explain: After thinking about this casually for a couple of years and seriously thinking about it for the last month, I have decided to get back into running. Not just jogging, that would be too simple, I am going to start training for a half-marathon - for those of you that don't abla runners language - that's 13.1 miles. If all goes well with that, and I somehow fall in love with running again, I may even go further and try a full marathon near the end of the year.

So that's that. I created this blog so I will hold myself accountable - so each of you following me let me know what you think or if I haven't posted anything in a while, yell at me.

I thought that it would be a good idea to post the reasons I would take on such a task. There are so many reasons so I will touch on just a few.

1. I really want to get back into shape. I don't consider myself really "out of shape" but I want to work on improving the way I look and feel.
2. I want to lose some weight. Right now I weigh 190 lbs and have 19% body fat. My goal is to get to 170 lbs or to 12-15% body fat.
3. I am a wellness coach by profession and I want to set an example for those I coach. I want to experience the challenges that they go threw when they make lifestyle changes. How can I expect people to make lifestyle changes if I can't do it myself?

My background with running:

I ran track in Jr. High and part of High School. I ran the 400 and 800 meter races. In fact, I believe that my 9th grade 4x800 meter relay team still holds the school record at Sage Valley Jr. High (shout out)!

I have never considered myself a long-distance runner. I was never in cross country because I have asthma and I thought I would die if I did those long runs. Now that my asthma is under control I will find a way to stick out the long runs. The longest that I've ever ran without stopping was during my sophomore year of High School when I ran 10 miles for track practice. I think the day after that, I quit track. Needless to say, I have never been a fan of long-distance running.

The half marathon I am preparing for is in Dallas in August and appropriately called "The Hottest Half". I begin my official training regimen the first full week of May. However, I have started running this week (just 2 miles last night) to get my body ready for this change.

I think that that is enough blogging for now, stay tuned for frequent updates. Your support is appreciated!

-Matt Young