Day 5 7/15

Hey Folks!

Today was a special day!  Things did not go as planned and so I had the opportunity to change things up and do something different. The plan was, I was going to get 5 miles in of some country and city running with some pics (a lot of compliments on my run from yesterday.) So today I was planning on taking some of the dam I run around AND some neat pics of Lebanon City.  I was going to start my run around 8:30am shortly after my wife and kids leave.  Those of you who have kids know that things don't alway go as planned.  My son was a bear trying to get him out the door today and my wife didn't end up leaving until about 8:45 - I know it sounds dumb, but the 15 min were crucial and I had an appointment at 10.  I didn't want to rush anything. So, I thought, what if I divide my run up today.  2 miles in the morning, 3 miles in the evening!  I started at Stover's Dam, about a stone's throw from my house.  Beautiful scenery.  I snapped some pics below.  It really was a beautiful morning despite the heat.  Run 2 is described below the pics.

Here is the dam - purdy, huh?

 I know what your thinking - gorgeous, right?  Well it get pretty scary around twilight - like Icabod Crane scary...

 Awwwww.....sit fail...

 That's on the other side of the dam.

 I fell on that dam bridge once...

 Lebanon has stunning trees.

 First time I ever ran down that path - good thing it's secluded - had to take a pit stop.

 A lot of my friends in the Reading area that run at Gring's Mill know there's a "workout" area there. Stover's has one too.  I did 3 pull ups. Booya.

 Lilies.

 West side of the dam.

 Stunning. This was taken on a bridge over the dam.

Save Stover's Dam Project.












Now, for my next run, I was going to run through the city (Lebanon) and snap some neat building pics and places of interest.  However, my wife called me and asked if I wanted to go swimming at her parent's house with the kids and have dinner.  Well sure I did! So I told her I'd be down, but I have to run (again) - to which she thought I was crazy - it's 90 degrees. I got down to her parent's house around 4ish. Her parents live on the outskirts of Manheim, outside of Lancaster. Lot's of farmland. As I walked down the driveway to the road I thought, "what am I going to notice today?" Then I thought, "I know, I'm going to think about all the things I'm grateful to have in my life!"  It really did help - the heat didn't bother me a bit (at least for the first half:) and it was really nice to think about.  I'm happy, in a happy marriage, have a good job, beautiful kids, I'm in good health and still get called to play trumpet for money.  I think that's pretty good!  So I'm running - thinking positive thoughts.  I've run this route before many times.  There's a slight breeze and I'm savoring every moment of it.  Within about a half mile, there's a cow barn - and it's thick with manure smell.  Instead of thinking about snorting manure, it  reminded me of playing basketball with a friend of mine from high school that lived on a farm up the road from me.  She had a dairy farm and that smell was usually present while we played. Then after about a mile, I noticed a house (that I always notice on this run) with a mailbox out front that has the family's name "Stoner."  I always laugh thinking about what the people in that house look like - maybe the guys from Dazed and Confused, or maybe that Jim Breuer will be out washing his car (I know he doesn't smoke pot - but he does a good job of looking the part.) Well, there was a lady out there getting her mail today - and she was the sweetest looking lady.  She waved hi and I waved back.  I just thought it was funny that today of all days she was outside.

At 1.5 miles (the turnaround) is actually the church where I got married.  It was really nice remembering that day and all the people who helped make it possible.  How Shenna looked, dancing with friends, etc. Every now and then I lost focus and that sort of thing helps me get back into my run. The heat was really starting to set in though and whatever breeze was there in the beginning of my run was now long gone. Honestly, those guys that do the Iron Man - dude.  So I come up to the last hill of the route - past Stoner's house.  The sweet lady is out watering her flowers.  I see her and she sees me. I say, "Howdy! Can I get a spritz?" She says, "You seriously want me to hose you down?" "Oh yeah."  After typing this conversation, I can see the multiple ways it can be taken.  My "oh yeah," was innocent. The cool water got me up the hill quick and back to Shenna's folk's house. Good run.

This has really been a nice week of running.  I feel great. I already have 18 miles in this week and I have another day to go.  Not too shabby. I know that not every run is going to be like this - it's naive to think like that, but I've never gone a week without hating running is some way.  Again - if any of you want to get together and run, don't hesitate to contact me!  I'd love to get out your way and see what new experiences I can have. Every time I become involved in my surroundings, it makes what I'm doing so much more important.  I still know I'm running - let's be honest, it was 90+ plus degrees today and I ran about a 8:2something pace. I just stop focusing on the things that "suck" and focus on the things I'm lucky to be a part of - how can you just ignore all of that?

Thanks again for reading and I hope you got outside today and MOVED.

Keep running!
Dustin

Day 3 7/14

7/14
8:30am
6mi

Greetings Everyone!
Today I decided to run 6 miles through some Lebanon countryside. My goal was to take some pictures of what I thought were some fun/great views. As I'm reading more in my book (Slow Burn by Stu Mittleman) Stu talks about how most time runners see in "tunnel vision." This was very true in my case.  There were lots of things I notice today on my run that have never seen before.  I've run this course more times than I can count, but today was really special.  I downloaded the pictures I took and made some comments on them.  Some of the hills were brutal, but I really concentrated on some rhythmic breathing and relaxing my hands and jaw.  The pictures below don't do what I see justice by any means, but still it's nice for me to share with you what I see on my run.

I smiled the whole time.

This was one of many fields I run by.  There's something very awesome about looking out and seeing all that space. 

 Just a cluster of bushes in someone's yard.  I hope they didnt look out the window to see me snapping shots of their yard and call the cops...

 Lots of farm land in Lebanon.

 This was a row of flowers I caught - it's longer than this picture indicates, but it was also really close to someone's house...so I didnt push my luck.

This is a jewish (I'm assuming) cemetery near my house.  Anyone translate?

You can kind of make the mountains out in the background.  For some reason, I wanted to paint this....I have no painting skills whatsoever.

This was half way through my run. Just a creek.

This was also half way through my run.  The picture does it no justice, but that was one big-ass hill....with several to follow.

So, there was a plane, but I couldnt see anything in the camera.  Plus I was trying to make sure I wasnt getting hit by cars.  I guess I missed the plane.  But I do see a face in the clouds...

Lots of corn. There's something awesome about running past all that corn.

My fellow runners will back me up on this one.  There's NOTHING more valuable than a porta-potty in the middle of nowhere.

 Big tree - and a truck coming...

 Apples.

Some lovely orchards.

 Does that tree stump NOT look like a boot?

 These guys seemed slightly irritated I was taking a picture of them.  I was trying to talk to them by mooing....Maybe I swore at them without realizing. Cows hate confrontations.

This was probably some trench dug for a sewer that was going into some 55+ community they're building near me.  I ran through it...because...why the hell not?

 This was the first pic I took.  It's my neighbors flowering bush - I have no idea what it's called, but I wanted to take a pic.

 This is actually something I do always notice running this course. This guy does this woodworking and always has stuff to sell.  I'm not sure I would buy it, but I have to admire it because I couldn't do it.

 Mo' corn.

 There's a nursery near my place and this is just a big-ass stone in the front.  I could lift it.

I know it's simple...but that's why I like it. See the mountains in the back?










I really do love this area - again these picture do not properly paint what I saw today.  I couldn't believe how quick it went as I approached my house after the 6 miles.  I think I ran it in about 50-55 min.  I really didnt keep track of that.

BTW - thanks for those of you reading these blog posts. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback which really make this worth doing. As I've stated I live in Lebanon, but if anyone wants to get together for a run either here to where you live, let me know.  I can find something to talk about and I'm always looking for new places to go. If you have any questions about the blog so far or the book I'm reading feel free to ask.  See you's tomorrow:)

Keep Runnin Ya'll!
Dustin

7/12 Day 2

7/12
7am
3mi

Last evening my wife and I enjoyed some time with friends of ours.  I'm a huge fan of microbrews, so I filled up a growler (2L) at my local "good beer store" and we had a good time. I was still planning on running the next morning because another friend of mine was coming up from Lancaster to run with me. So my alarm goes off at 6:30am and I was not feeling 100% (by any means.) However, I was still looking forward to my run! I drank some water and headed out with my buddy.  Again, I didn't worry about my pace or killing myself to get finished with the run, I enjoyed my surroundings and noticed the things around me.  I smiled the whole time!

Today (as one of you requested) I concentrated on smells.  It was a bit difficult at first because I was a little stuffy starting my run - but still got some good stuff!

While stretching I noticed the smell of my flowers.

We ran around a dam - so I noticed the smell of the water and marsh.

The dirt we were running on.

More flowers.

Goose poop.

Grass.

We pass two people and I smelled their perfume.  Older lady perfume.

I noticed my smell (I actually wore the same shorts this morning that I wore yesterday, but only because my wife was still asleep when I woke up and didn't want to disturb her while finding another pair of shorts.) I smelled my shorts - but also my detergent.

The smell of my buddy when he was in front of me - more detergent.

Car/truck exhaust.

Cigarettes.

Cologne coming from people's cars passing us.  Some dudes wear a lot of cologne...

Sometimes I smelled a smell that reminded me of the first day of fall sports in high school.  I guess it's a mix of flowers and cut grass - it was nice to go back there for a little.

Dead animal....really dead.

Sweat.

Well that covers about all the smells.  Some of the smells were nice in that they took me back to memories - which is common for smells.  Tomorrow I'll be running again - but probably not until later in the day.  Once again - I'm open to suggestions of what to notice!

Thank you those of you reading this blog!  I hope that it changes the way you look at running (or maybe exercising in general) and you just start to enjoy moving!

Run on ya'll.

Thurs 7/11 Day 1

July 11, 2013
5:45am
4mi

My goal today was to notice at least 5 sounds while I ran. If things started to get difficult, I would concentrate on my breathing until I could again notice more sounds.  Here's what I noticed:

Birds calls - at least 5 or 6 different kinds of birds.
                 - I think I heard crows and doves, but I don't know the others.

Car engines - Lots of them, the loudest was a guys who modified his neon, or the garbage truck.

Church Bells - at 5:45am on a Thursday??

Multiple AC units - some industrial, some window units.  When I could really concentrate, I noticed that on 2 occasions, AC units that were across the street from each other, one set was a Major 2nd apart and another was a minor 3rd apart (nerdy musician stuff)

Dogs barking - not at me, which is good.

Wind - there was a slight breeze that was nice after about 2 miles.

The sound my shoes made on the street.

The rhythm of my breathing and how it changed going up or downhill.

How the birds were harder to hear when I entered an industrial area.

Me farting - hey, it happens, and it was pretty funny.

People talking outside of Turkey Hill - Usually they talk around the trashcan.  Why?

A guy singing on a corner with his headphones in.

2 teenagers having a conversation about girls - where were they going at 6am?

Garages working on cars.

Some kind of beeping.

A train whistle - not uncommon ANYTIME in Lebanon.

Woodland creatures playing in trees.

People's radios in their cars - sometimes they were really loud for 6am.

In the industrial park I ran through, there was a garage open and a radio playing - never heard or saw that there before.

So that's what I noticed.  I became aware of every sound around me. When I concentrated on that and not WORRYING about how fast I was going, I actually wanted to keep running.  Tomorrow I'm running with a buddy of mine.  Not sure what my goal will be tomorrow - I'll let you know tomorrow.  I'm open to suggestions as to what to notice around me. I'll also keep you posted on the book I'm reading, Slow Burn by Stu Mittleman.

Have a wonderful day!

My Blog About Running!!

Howdy Folks,

I've been running pretty regularly since 2007.  Slightly before this, I stepped on the scale and it read 213lbs.  I really wasn't satisfied with myself physically, so I tried to loose some weight.  I was an athlete in high school, so nutrition and exercise was not uncommon to me, I was just out of practice. A buddy of mine turned me on to the Body For Life program. It seemed to really work for me.  In about 3 months, I was down to 173lbs by doing cardio (20min/3x week) and weight lifting (40-45min/3x week.)  In short, I was looking fly, or so my then girlfriend, now wife tells me.

I remember walking into my local gym one morning and noticing a 5k flyer.  I thought, this would be   a really fun thing to do now that I'm in shape. For those of you who don't know, a 5k is 3.1 miles. So I signed up.  It was a November morning, pretty warm for November.  I was excited to do the race, thinking I was in great shape and looking forward to testing my new body:) The gun went off, and so did I.  I was shot out of a cannon. I ran at a pretty decent pace for about a mile.  Then, I noticed something.  I was starting to hurt. Bad. I made it about another half mile before I had to stop and walk - which I hated that I had to do!  By the time the race ended, I was so exhausted and happy to see the finish line. At that point I thought, I want to be a better runner.

Another friend of mine told me he ran a half marathon (at the time, I didnt know how many miles a full marathon was, let alone a half.) When he told me it was 13.1 miles, I was reluctant to sign up. I thought, "13.1 miles is a lot of miles, I ran 10 once in high school, because a girl I had a crush on talked me into it and that kicked my butt." My buddy sent me a weekly running schedule that broke down the milage into 4 day increments. I looked at it and thought 13.1 was now doable!

So, I had this goal - run 13.1 miles with my buddy and cross the finish line smiling.  You would think someone training for a half marathon would LOVE to run, right?  Not really.  I didnt LOVE running.  It was something I looked forward to being done with on a daily basis. Does that sound right?  Looking back now, I don't think it was, but I was blinded by my goal.  I completed the half with my buddy in about 2:20 (2hrs/20min.)  I LOVED to run that day.  I loved the atmosphere, I loved talking and laughing with my friend, I loved the smell, the sights, the sounds, EVERYTHING. However, when I saw our time, I thought, "hmmm...that's not really good, I know I can run faster than that."

I signed up for another half that was 2 weeks after the one I had just done with my friend. It was in Ocean City, Maryland in April - and it was cold. I sized up all the other runners, some of them were tall and "runner looking," some were bigger, smaller, some were dressed in goofy outfits. The gun went off and race started. I ran hard. It was grueling. My heels were split open, my body was getting beaten up. The worst part was that you could see the last mile marker about 6 miles away. It seemed to  stay 6 miles away even after about 5 miles. The last mile was over this big bridge. It was so windy that the downhill off the bridge seemed like an uphill. I ran a 1:42, but I didnt enjoy it.  Even the "payoff" of seeing my time didnt last long.

I thought, OK, I could do a marathon now. So I started training for the Philly marathon which was in November of 08'. Now....you'd think someone who is training for a marathon (26.2mi) LOVES running right?  No...I still didnt love running. I loved running with other people - but most of the time, it was by myself and I only looked forward to the finish.  I completed the marathon in about 4 hrs and 20 min. I had a nagging injury at about mile 14.  Looking back, I think wasted a lot of my experience worrying about it.

After my marathon, my buddy who I ran my first half marathon with called me up and asked me to run it again with him in 09'. I was looking forward to doing that race again. When the day came to do it, again, I had a great time!  Didnt get my best time, or even tried to, but it was great noticing everything around me and enjoying a conversation with my good friend.

Which brings me (finally) to the point of this blog.  I'm reading an excellent book call "Slow Burn" by Stu Mittleman.  I'm in the beginning of the book right now, but Stu talks about not looking at running as a burden, but noticing all the things around you - to be part of the run and your surroundings. Pace shouldn't be what to concentrate on.  So I put this theory to the test....

My goal here is to blog about my run for a week.  After a week, we'll see how things are going.