My first day back outside in a few weeks was a tough one. I wanted to do more but I didn’t go out as prepared as I should have (not saying I would have done more anyway). Tomorrow I will carry my water with me, it will be a hassle but it will be worth it. Ialso went out today without my Ipod, that was a mistake. Without it being official I would say I did something in the 2 mile range. I know one lap around the block is about 1.67 miles so past my starting point around the block to the front office where I can cut back through to my apartment I would say is about 2 miles. Nothing major but a decent start. I took it very easy so there was no pain (at least not the kind to make you quit). I also finally tried out my new socks today, they are called the HVAC Glycerin from Brooks. I felt like my feet were in a cocoon for the time I was out there so they definitely pass the 2 mile test. If you have problems with blisters check those out. I’m happy with today, nothing spectacular but it is nice to feel that positive feeling you get long after you are done exercising. Well, at least until I fell back to sleep for the last five and a half hours. I forgot how this exercising really brings on the sandman, that paired with not being able to fall asleep last night like I wanted to will get you every time. I think tomorrow will be a bigger test than today, wish me luck.

Let’s see, where do i start? The first part of the year has been tough for me. the last couple of weeks, however, may have been the hardest two weeks I have had to deal with in my entire life. I won’t go into my personal issues at this point (maybe later) but I can tell you one thing. Life throws unexpected things at you when you are least expecting them. Talk about being in a rut, well that is where I am. I am trying my best to get out of it but everyday it seems like I say, “I’ll get out of it tomorrow.” To kick start myself back into it I did some ball exercises here at home today. I worked on a lot of core and I did some ballsquats. Over the last two weeks I have felt these two areas get really weak from the inactivity and I don’t want to even try to go outside without getting a little soreness in those areas so that I know that they still can work first. I would love to say I am back or I will do this or that tomorrow or this weekend but I can’t. It seems like every time i say something like that I jinx myself. So I will take it one day at a time and go from there. I said I was having maybe the hardest time of my life right now earlier and I meant it, however, I saw what has happened to people like Mike Tyson and Scott Schoeneweis and I realized that things could be much worse so who am I to feel sorry for myself right now? Let’s hope this pep talk works and let’s hope I can stay focused on the task at hand from here on out. I guess in a month or so we will know.

I’m kind of busy this morning so I will have to make this brief. I haven’t started my regular schedule yet so I have an hour less to workout in the morning than I will normally have a couple weeks from now. All that means is that I will wake up at 6 instead of 5. From what I know sleep is part of the deal so the extra hour will work, now If I could just stop waking up at 3:45 in the morning wide awake. Today I got the bright idea of doing a different kind of workout. In doing so I think I found something that will really help me continue to drop weight and be in great shape. I live on the 3rd floor of my complex so there is 1 large staircase and 2 smaller ones. These staircases are outside and across from each other (getting my idea too?). I went down one side and up the other. After the second trip there was no mini jog in between the staircases, it was a walk a nice slow walk to try to suck up as much oxygen as possible. Now after about 17 minutes I could not go up or climb down any staircases. I’d say I got maybe close to a mile of this in today, that’s just my guess. It was a nice little change up from the norm because I am still not all that comfortable being outside near those large roads, but that will probably never change. I think working out on the stairs works your shins, as a matter of fact I am sure it does. It seems more on the way down than on the way up. I will end this by saying I usually walk to work, today, I got a ride.

Where do I start? Let’s just say Phoenix has a totally different climate than Green Bay. Now that I have stated the obvious let’s talk about it. Last night at 10:30 it was in the 90’s, good thing I don’t wait until the evening to workout, I wouldn’t make it. 5 am in the morning here is about 70-75 degrees, not bad at all, but I was used to much colder in Wisconsin so it is taking a little time to get used to it here. By August I should be okay with the temperatures out here, just in time for 100 degree mornings. My apartment complex has 2 workout rooms, the second one being 10 times better than the first. That is probably the highlight of the week so far. I am trying to decide how many miles I want to do tomorrow, It wont be anything more than 6 miles (6.64 miles) due to the fact that I am trying to get used to the pavement. Hopefully I can get up pretty early and get it over with by about 7 or 8 am. Things are starting good again and I feel pretty good. Just trying to continue my mission.

I’m back on track today. Even though I stayed up past midnight setting up my ipod I was able to get up and get my workout in. It felt nice not to put too much pressure on myself. I can guarantee you that I will be sleeping well and sleeping early tonight. After all of that this morning as you may or may not know, I walk to work. I figure every little bit extra I can get will help. I started to rethink it halfway to work when my legs started feeling the effects of the squats this morning. all in all nothing major today but the return of my routine felt really good. Tomorrow no weights just cardio, whew!!!

The road has been long and difficult so far this year, things happen and they have more of an affect on you than you bargained for. This has been the case for me for the year so far. I have recently been able to start getting things back to normal but I am not ready for a half marathon today. With that being said I will not be ready for the full marathon in San Diego on May 31st either. I have to be smart about these races, my main goal is to lose weight. I don’t want to try to run a race just to say I tried and injure myself  to the point where I can’t recover. I was a tough decision to sit these next two races out but I don’t want to feel like I am struggling to finish. With that being said my next race will be on July 4th. It will be a half marathon then I have the Disneyland half marathon on September 6th. With some great training I should be ready for the Marine Corps Marathon on October 25th. I still need to enroll in the New Forest race in England and that would give me three half marathons before the full marathon in October. With this next half being 9 weeks away it will help me focus on putting less wear and tear on my body for a little while so I can focus on dropping the weight and not focus on recovering from shin splints or blisters. I’m in the perfect climate for running right now in Phoenix, Arizona and I don’t think I could be in a better place  to reach my goals. I have a couple people here with me that will do the weight training with me so we will hold ourselves accountable for getting that done. My work schedule is great so now I will have ample time to finish my workouts in the morning. My mind is now clear, run with me.