Yesterday...

I entered Noah's room to wake him for school and this is what I found...

Powell Spring 5k Results

5.31.08
7th Annual Powell Spring 5k.
This race is a nice family oriented race with lots of runners and crowd. There were lots of high school track students as well. The day was muggy, warm and windy. With a night of little rest (due to the nice storms that blew through), I wasn't sure what this race would hold. It was essentially a down and back, with wind (it seemed) in every direction. So by the way I huffed my way to the end, I was sure I'd be mad at my time. In all actuality, it wasn't that bad. Only about 17 seconds less than my Genoa Firefighters race:

Overall: 30/215
35-29 Age Group: 5/17
Time: 22:01

Genoa Firefighter's 5k Results

Well, last Friday night I ran the Genoa Firefighter's 5k. It was cool and rainy, so the turnout was less than expected. But thats ok, it was fun. I'm not too prideful, I'll take a good personal race anytime. So ready for the results?

Overall Place: 4th/60!
Age Pace: (30 - 39): 1st!
Time: 21:44

Turned out to be pretty awesome. I thought I'd come in around 25:00. My best is 21:08 from 3 years ago and 20 pounds lighter, so I'm pretty psyched about this years race potentials. I'm going to run another 5k on Memorial Day and see if I can match my best. It'll probably be a bigger and hotter race....and I'll probably be eating and drinking leading up to it, so it might not be a well run one!

Here is a link to pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/treymart/GenoaTwpFirefightersFightMD5K02?authkey=j4OJR-lZJrI

And just to top it off, yesterday I ran 7 miles in 57:00 minutes. All last year as I trained for the Columbus Marathon I couldn't get 7 miles in under the 60 minute mark. Maybe there's hope to actually make the Boston Marathon this year? :) Yeah, right!

Ok. Ok. So its been another long while between posts...but I haven't been idle!

Once again, its been another long time between posts, but that doesn't mean I've been idle! In fact, its been just the opposite. Since the last post, we've shored up our summer vacation plans (an all-inclusive resort in Cancun with the kids and our best friends) that we'll be taking in July. We've got our other good friends coming up from Atlanta for Memorial Day weekend. Sophie, the puppy, is now nearly 6 months old and passed her first round of puppy training. Round two starts tonight.

And as for my running? Well, I've crossed over 102 miles for the month of April. I've been running every day at lunch, sometimes again in the evening and longer runs on the weekend (this past weekend was 7 miles). This Friday night I have a 5k and I'll run another one on Memorial Day. I've got the Columbus Marathon picture hanging on my office window to remind me to forge ahead towards beating my pathetic time from last year. Oh, yeah, and I'm down 10 lbs so far. I'd like to lose another 20 before the marathon (bringing me down into the 150 lb range, which I feel I need to be at to be a more competitive runner). I'll try to get the chance to put my last running specs in the blog.

Thanks to my good friend Kathy for emailing me and wondering why I haven't updated this thing! We all need a kick in the pants sometimes (some of us more than others!)

Here are some pictures of Sophie:

Here we go again....

Sorry...

It's been another month and I haven't contributed much to the blog (in fact, none at all). I've also not officially run, at least outside in a month. Part of the reason has been the addition of our puppy, Sophie. I haven't quite figured out how to sneak out of the house in the morning without waking her, which in turn wakes everyone else. Tomorrow I'm going to try it anyway. Worse comes to worse, I'll start taking her with me!

The good thing is that I've been working out at lunch time, so I have done some running/elliptical/bikes there, as well as lifting. Unfortunately, the lack of outside distance is not helping me to keep my weight down as I've jumped to my highest in years!

But we'll see what this week brings.

Once again, I'm lax in my postings!

Once again, I'm lax in my postings! Man, it's been busy! New puppy, up and down weather, work, etc. My running has suffered due to the puppy (I don't want to get up early and wake her up and get her on that 5 am schedule!). However, I have been working out everyday at work (lifting and cardio) and I think I can tell a slight change. I'm trying to rotate the runs to the evening so at least I continue to run...that also gives Wendy the extra push to walk on the treadmill if I'm out running.

But the puppy is doing well. Ornery like most 7 week olds. Still trying to get the potty training done. But at least we have no issues in getting her to sleep at night!

I'm heading to Dallas this week for national meetings, which always poses issues when it comes to eating correctly and trying to maintain some type of exercise routine. So we'll see what those 4 days next week brings.

Sophie - Our New Puppy!

Well, Friday night we picked up our new (and first) puppy, a 6 week old puppy named Sophie. I grew up with dogs and have been longing for one for a long time. After our move and one of our beloved cats passed away, it seemed like a good time. We chose a Golden Retriever because of their reputation as great family dogs, easy to train, and intelligent. That, and neighbor's on both sides of us have them, and our friends here in town now have 2. Wendy originally wanted a small dog, but we could never agree on a breed. She kept coming back to a Golden, so we decided to just take the leap. I may be a proud parent, but you can't tell me she's not cute. Take a look:

2007 Holiday Recap

Wow. Hard to believe that I've not posted in over a month! Guess that shows how busy I've been. I'll try to be better about it in the future, but for now I'll give a recap as to how 2007 ended for me and my family.

As my previous post noted, we started and completed tiling the master bath (my finger is healed, thank-you). My sister-in-law came in from Atlanta for a full week, which is always nice (if only because she'll watch horror movies with me). Alexander,Beth and I did take in 'I Am Legend' with Will Smith and was pleasantly surprised. Got to attend the annual Christmas Eve party that my mom's side of the family has been doing for 40 years or so. Since we've lived several states away for the past 11 years or so, I never got to attend many of them. But its a special time for me as I grew up going every year to my great-grandma's house. My parents now host it, at least as long as my my great-grandma is still alive (yes, you heard me. 97 or 98 and still kicking!). Wendy and I hosted dinner for my parents, my brother, his girlfriend and their son and, of course, Beth. It was a great time and though Beth is their daughter-in-law's sister, they have a special place reserved for her in their hearts. Spent New Year's Eve with our best friends and just plain enjoyed ourselves without having to do any long distance driving for once!

And now, here we are, Friday, January 18, 2008.

Today is special, because today is the day we pick up our new (and first) golden retriever puppy, Sophie. We pick her up tonight, so I'll check in tomorrow with some updates!

Master Bath Tile Project, done!....but...not without a visit to the Urgent Care

Well, over the weekend Wendy and I spent a full 2 days tiling the master bathroom. Besides what seemed like to me a non-square room and the issues that raises, it all went rather smoothly. Especially for us home repair challenged-types. Until.....of course, the end. All I had left was to cut a 1 inch strip of carpet to bridge the gap between the bathroom marble threshold and the closet carpet (we moved the threshold forward an inch and so a bare wood floor was left). So I went down to the basement to find the remnant carpet and a razor I could cut it with. You can see where this is going, can't you? After finding the carpet, and the razor, I decided I probably could use a new SHARP razor to make things easier. I laid the carpet on the workbench and proceeded to change out the razor. Put the razor down, grabbed the decent-sized carpet piece, grabbed the razor, carpet hits razor, razor cuts into the top of the index finger between the middle and top knuckles.

You know fingers, like heads, bleed a lot?

It was pretty deep, so I decided to have the urgent care take a look and yep! Stitches needed. How cool, my first stitches since I was five! The Doctor was really nice and we had a good conversation. Of course, he did see fit to stick the lidocaine needle in and around my wound at least 10 times. All in all it was a neat thing to see. The real cool thing is that he said in 7 days I can take the stitches out if I'd like! Isn't that every boy's dream?

Anyway, so I'll tackle the carpet again today!

Also, got a 4 mile run in.

My good friend, Ted, and I are going to do our own biggest loser contest come the 1st of the year!

4 Miles and counting...

This morning I went out for a 4 mile run and completed with no issues or pains, and even at a 8:34 pace (though I was pretty winded after). I'm starting to wonder if some of the pain issues might be that '2nd' pair of shoes. These are my old shoes that 416 miles on them. Today I used my 'new' ones - the ones I bought just before and used during the marathon - and everything seemed good. Though my previous old shoes hard nearly 500 miles on them and I didn't have any issues. I'll run in the new ones for the next few days and see what happens. All I can say is that is sure makes me happy to be able to go out in run without pains. But, in any case, I think I'll cross my fingers!

Let it Snow (Part II)

Its snowing again! So in three days we've had 2 significant snows...welcome to the north! That's 2 more snows than the entire 4 years we spent in Atlanta. The boys are pumped! Now only if they'd delay or cancel school, it would make their day. Oh...and if there was snow on Christmas too!

A new lady that started at my company is a former Sports Physical Therapist. Awesome! So as I was helping her get her computer up and running I asked her about my knee/calf issues, as well as my still sprained fingers (from the end of October flag football game). She felt around my knee and calf, asked me if this or that hurt, etc. She said there was some minor swelling the knee in tendon area, which kind of backs up my initial prognosis about the tendinitis thing. She told me to take a course of ibuprofen to reduce the swelling and to take it regularly for a week. That's how it works as an inflammatory, she said. Its not like a headache where you take aspirin or Tylenol and its gone. Ibuprofen needs to build up in your system to reduce the inflammation. I started taking it that afternoon. I can still try and run as long as I stop as soon as the pain hits. I did a semi-hard 2.50 miles on the treadmill this morning and it seemed fine. She said I can continue on the treadmill as that will provide less stress on the body since its softer than the street, but I'll do both.

On the depressing side! I'm at my heaviest weight since I had initially lost the 60 lbs 3-4 years ago. It's a mental, spiritual and physical drain. The thing is, I'm not sure why. I guess my work day snacking is more than I realize, plus I'm awful on the weekends. Combine that with not being able to run heavily and I'm a disaster! That's got to change. To be a 38 year old competitive runner, my weight really needs to be around 145-150. I weighed in at 184 this morning!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Ok, so this morning, I woke up to my first real snow in over 4 years! Having grown up in Ohio, its something I enjoy! The kids will be pumped, however Wendy...well, let's just say if it was sunny and 80, she would be happy. For those that don't know, we left the Ohio area about 8 or 9 years ago and moved to Maryland, where we still got snow. But the last 4 years were spent in Atlanta, GA. No snow there! Of course they did cancel school at the first thought of snow (no kidding!). They once cancelled school on a Sunday night because they was a chance there might be some ice. Monday comes and guess what? Yep, no ice. Kids get a nice day off!

So, it snowed and I probably smartly decided to hit the treadmill. I got in 30 minutes with no real issues with my knee/calf. Either there is still some soreness there, or I'm just overly sensitive. I did go for 3 miles or so. I've been reading around and it may be possible that I have Popliteal tendinitis? Which, apparently, tends to be the tendon in the calf/back of knee area. Supposedly weak hamstrings are part of it. So I found some exercises to try and strengthen the hamstrings. The funny part is, I just wonder how I can run for a long time, complete a marathon, run some more, then all of a sudden it pops up? Go figure!

Meanwhile....let it snow...let it snow...let it snow!

Trial Run...

Well, this morning was (is) the morning I decided to take a trial run and see how the heeling process is going. I ran about 2.5 miles at a rather slow pace (which drove me nuts!), but it was something I needed to do to evaluate the knee/calf problems I started having. Of course wouldn't you know....it was 32, raining/sleeting/snowing! But hey, that's December in Ohio. It actually wasn't too bad. I do have some black tights I bought this summer after learning we were moving back here. I love them. I had gloves, hat, sweatshirt and felt warm enough. I did pass a guy (and remember this is 5 am) who was actually running in shorts...and they call me crazy!
Anyway, the run was OK. Felt very good in the beginning, but towards the end I still felt (possibly) a little in the calf, but I think it really must have been something around the knee, which may or may not be affiliated with the calf. So, I'll try a small run again tomorrow, most likely 2.5 miles again and see how it goes.
So, in summation, physically, the run was OK. But for mental health, it was awesome!

Where have I been?

Well, happy belated Thanksgiving! Sorry I've been out of touch. For Thanksgiving, my family and I took off for Hilton Head, SC to see the in-laws, then over to Atlanta to see our old friends. I think everyone had a great time, especially the boys, who got to see their grandparents, their favorite aunt - Aunt Beth - and their friends they had to leave behind when we moved this summer.
Injury status: Well, just to be smart, I've taken this week off so far to let my calf heal. So I've not officially run for nearly 2 weeks. The whole area from the knee to the calf is feeling like its old self, so I'm eager to get back out soon. As my wife will tell anyone, I'm pretty grumpy when I can't run. Even I'd half to agree!
I still want to talk about the death of my sister one of these days, but haven't quite figured out how to start 'at the beginning'. So stay tuned....
I've always wanted to be a writer and its been literally years since I put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, but lately I've been feeling the urge to start again. Maybe I'll post something here!

Injured....

Well, a few weeks ago, I felt a 'pull' in my right calf area. At one point during my run, I actually had to stop, stretch, and walk. I though maybe it was just a cramp or severe pull. I laid off a few days and then was able to run a couple more times. Then last Monday, I felt it 'pull' again. I laid off and did some searching and came to the conclusion that it must be a - hopefully - slight muscle tear. I stayed off all all last week and it began to feel good again. So, this morning I headed out for a short 2-3 mile run. Well, other than my knee feeling a little tight, it seemed to be going ok. Until 2.75 of my 3.00 mile run and riiiiiiiiiip! Well, I guess, I'm laying off of it for another week and see how it goes. This time when I felt the pull, I didn't push it.
Its funny how a runner's life begins to revolve around running. I spent most of last week being grumpy and somewhat 'depressed' that I couldn't hit the road. I was going nuts. Now I've got another week and most likely another one after that according to all I've read. Frustrating to say the least! I guess I'd better turn my attention to starting my workouts at the office since I now have access to the little 'gym' in our building. Maybe for now, its even time to start 'writing' again.

David Crowder* Band Concert

On November 7th, Alexander and I ventured to Cincinnati to see David Crowder* Band. It was Alexander's first concert.

For those that have not seen DCB, whether you are into Christian bands or not, I highly recommend it. DCB is a worship band from Waco, Texas that spends a lot of their efforts ministering to the college age/20 + crowd. Not to be pigeonholed, their musical styles is a hodgepodge of everything, with a heavy emphasis on modern. They pull from old hymns, gospel, rock, bluegrass and just about everything else. At the Cincinnati concert, Dave even pulled out a Guitar Hero guitar and played it during one song.

In my opinion, they've begun to have a following similar to Grateful Dead or Dave Matthews. Meaning, many of those attending were doing so for the 2nd or more time, attesting to the power (& fun) of DCB's concerts. Tickets were only $22 - $26, which is a bargain in this day and age, especially considering there were two (2!) opening acts.

Regardless of the music and message, it was a great experience for me and Alexander, who, at 11 and in 6th grade, is already showing those signs of 'my parents aren't cool' type of attitude. Alexander has also been amazingly mature for his age, and somewhat introverted. But there are several things upon which he and I connect: Movies, Books, Video Games, and now, ever since getting his first MP3 player, music. It was a cool thing to be able to share in the DCB fun. Even more so that he already liked them and liked their music. But I think seeing them live was something I hope he found very special.

And for the rest of you: If you've not see David Crowder* Band...what are you waiting for?

Garmin 305

Well, I finally got the Garmin 305 Forerunner that I order this past weekend. I got to use it on my first run yesterday morning, and it was pretty sweet! It kept my distance, total time, pace, etc. But the cool thing is that I can bring it home, plus it into the computer and it downloads the info, including a map of my run! How awesome is that? I highly recommend one....and I know just how to get the amazing deal. In the end, I'll only pay $137, or about $200 less than retail.

I did run yesterday, but took today (Friday) off so I can run a longer run tomorrow and can't wait to use my new watch on that!

Hope...

In 1989, my sister passed away from injuries sustained in a car accident. I was twenty and on the verge of moving away from home. She had just turned seven.

In the future, I hope to use this blog to re-examine this tumultuous period of my life. What insights, if any, it will bring me, I cannot guess. But maybe, just maybe, it might bring some comfort and possibly a small fraction of hope to someone else that might be experiencing something similar.

I don't claim to know anything special or insightful in regards to losing a loved one or the grief that follows; I don't claim to have made it through the madness with any particular ease; I don't even claim that I (or any other person for that matter) ever gets over losing a loved one; I only claim to share my recollections about living, loving and loss.

Please keep in mind that these memories are mine and mine alone. Neither substantiated nor corrorated by anyone else that was there and close to me. They are what they are: memories from a boy on the verge of manhood, perhaps forced to grow a little too quickly, looking back down the fading path of time to that one sorrowful day.

As I embark on this journey, I'd like to remind anyone who reads this that there is hope. There is hope in Christ, first and foremost. But there is hope in within oneself and what can be overcome and accomplished; there is hope in our family and friends; there is hope in helping others; there is hope everywhere, now if we'd just open our eyes, minds, and hearts.

As I'll go into detail in another post someday, I wasn't always full of hope. I despaired. I treated others wrongly. I lacked responsibility. I lacked compassion and love. All of this I lacked, especially following my sister's death. I'm sure my close friends and family would attest to this.

It took a while, but after all these years, I hope.

I'll leave you with this quote:

Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime,
Therefore, we are saved by hope.
Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;
Therefore, we are saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone.
Therefore, we are saved by love.
No virtuous act is quite a virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own;
Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.

- Reinhold Niebuhr

Anniversary

Today, October 29th, Wendy and I are sharing our 13th wedding anniversary. You know, I often hear people say that "thirteen years is a long time" or "you've been married forever" or even stuff like "how'd you do it?" A friend of mine who was going through a divorce once asked me how I got so lucky to find someone like Wendy. Actually, truth be told, I hear that all the time! I remember that I replied to my friend that there was no luck involved (at least not much), and that it was surely, if anything, that God had a plan for me and was looking out for me though I didn't deserve it. How else do you explain how she came along at the right time and in the right place and it moved quickly after that? To say I married up is an understatement.

So here we are, 13 years and two kids later and, as far as I'm concerned, still going strong. Sometimes I feel guilty because things have seemed too easy. I constantly hear people griping and moaning all the time about their marriages and wonder, "Am I supposed to complain like that?" I won't.

For me, I promise to always remember how blessed I've been and will continue to be in the future.

Happy Anniversary, Wendy!

Love,

Trey

1st Marathon Post Run

Yesterday I got my butt up and out for a 4 mile run and it felt good, if not still a little tight and sore. Monday will be back to normal, pre-work runs. Even though the weather was warm for the marathon, Ohio is starting to fall into its more typical fall weather with lows starting to drop to 31 and the highs in the day having a hard time getting to or out of the 50s. Got my hats and gloves ready!

For those that want a great weigh to track their running workouts, the Cape Cod Athletic Club has an awesome excel spreadsheet that I've been using for years. Take a look, its called Run2007:

http://www.capecodathleticclub.org/files/home.shtml

My wife has decided to start running, so we've got her on a 10 week startup program to running 30 minutes. She seems to be enjoying it, enough in fact that she wants to 'jump' weeks. Next on our list is to take her to Fleet Feet and have her running style tested so she can get the correct shoes.

Kinda bummed. I was looking for a Turkey Trot 5k to run in Hilton Head when we're there visiting Wendy's parents, but it doesn't look like there are any.

As for website design? Thinking about a quotes section, maybe a calendar, maybe my runnign spreadsheet. We'll see.