Theres something that I always think about when I run. That thing I think about is my reward at the finish line. So a shower, a bottle of water, air conditioning, whatever it is, it has to be something that makes you excited to get to the finish line. For me its a nice cold shower with a bottle of water. I get to cool off, get figured out and feel good after a nice run. Not a lot of people make running a good experience and I think that, it ruins the sport. I like to think that its better then being inside all day and at least im working my body. Im being healthy and I am doing what is best for me and that is all I really need at the end of the day. 

Truthfully it takes time to get excited to go for a run and it can be challenging to get outside and put yourself through all that hard work. It hurts, your legs are heavy, your sweaty, you cant breathe, and the heat may be unbearable but, it honestly is such a great way to start or end your day. For me running is detoxifying and it reminds me of my body and what it can accomplish . I may not like doing the running all the time but, I get out there and do it because I love the results and I enjoy it on a cool fall day. 

To run you should have a goal and a motivation. Maybe a friend, a podcast to listen to, a dog to run with, something to keep you going and to make sure you keep moving forward and up. To motivate you and make you move faster. Running is hard of you mentally and physically so it isnt for everyone but, if you decide to do it then you should give it a fair shot before putting it down. 

It may change your life a tiny bit, who knows. Only you will. 

Recently I've been having some bad luck with some new shoes I bought. I love them and I always run in them. The name of these shoes? Five fingers. Each pair is different and takes time to break in. This though just sucks. Ive been running longer distances and I got new shoes. My old ones were disgusting and falling apart. They were so bad that every time I wore them they needed to be washed because of how bad they stunk. So there was a pair that came up and was on a small sale. My dad bought them for me and I tried them out. They fit and were comfortable and the color looked real good. These are my fourth pair of them and I have loved each one. My first pair was orange and they really stood out when I wore them. I now own a black pair that are nice and light. With that I started running in them and they feel amazing. They are comfortable, light and have some support. Its crazy how a new pair of shoes though can ruin your feet. The first time I wore them my feet broke out and I was pulling off dead skin. I figured that it was just because they were new and five fingers takes two weeks to officially have them set to your feet. 

Then it happened, the next run I did I got blisters. Several ones that were on both feet and pretty decent in size. Sometimes you don't know till you take the shoes off and that was the case with this. Considering how much i'm usually on my feet I am used to getting blisters of all kinds so I just went through my usual routine . Now some of this is gross but I do end up poping blisters but not pulling the skin. I drain it and let it sit until the skin either falls off or becomes a new layer of skin since it may just suction cup itself back in place. Either way it works out pretty well. But in this particular case I just have bad luck. I cant stop running but i've been spacing my timing out because of the blisters and having them heal up. It is a real crazy time full of bad decisions with these blisters and it always sucks the next day. Right now I have blisters and band-aids all over the place on my feet and toes from getting blisters on top of blisters. But you know the saying, 

No pain, No Gain. 

Dieting. I have never been really any good with that word or that actual action. See I have this bad habit of loving sweets. I love ice cream, peanut butter items, fudge, I mean you name a sweet and I probably have had a problem with it in the past or even now. My all time favorite thing to eat though would be Reeses Pieces. I can eat a whole entire bag in minutes. Honestly I feel like a vaccum when I eat sweets and I never turn it off when it starts happening. Once I taste them I just want more and more and more. 

But with my half marathon training at the halfway point I have decided to go on this diet/low carb diet with my dad. see he is also doing the race but he wants to actually PR the race itself. So of course he is limiting himself on his favorite thing to drink, beer. To him beer is a wonderful thing and he is always trying new beers out or is at the bar with his friends after a run. I don't know how he does it. I think beer tastes like horse******but that is just my opinion. 

So even though I know this will be a terrible decision I have decided that I needed to go on this diet with my dad. I have let my sweet loving self get out of control and I need to dial it down to a minimum. I don't want to be three hundred pounds someday, I just want to be happy, healthy, and I want to do pretty good at this race. It'll be hard and I know that So far I have been doing ok with my training. Maybe this will give me that extra boost that I need to finish it at a decent time and to be ready for the race itself. I know that I want to do the half marathon and sometimes when you want to do things you have to sacrifice the things you love from time to time. 

Half Marathon training is now being turned up. 

As most of you know I have reached my one year anniversary for continuously running and I have had a love/hate relationship with running for about seven years now. In the past I used to get to a point where I would get really good at running and I would feel amazing every time I would step outside and go for the 3 miler or 4 miler and when it was over I would always feel like I never ran far enough or hard enough. It got to a point where I would get cocky and decide that because I got to that point, it meant that I didn’t have to run as often. Well as we all know too well, that’s not how sports work. To stay good at a sport it means you have to continue to do that sport. Not stop or pull back to the point where you then have to start over. 

Right now were at the hottest time of the year and every summer I run into the same problem. I want to quit running. Its not because I actually hate running, it’s because of the heat and humidity that makes me want to stop running and never do it again. When you run in the heat and humidity it feels like your running in molasses and every time you speed up you feel like you might trip and every time you slow down you just want to walk. The past week it has been getting harder and harder to continue my half marathon training and it’s because the heat is going higher and higher. Now some might say that I’m dehydrated or I’m not pushing hard enough but, I know that I’m pushing hard enough and I know I can do the six miles I need to do.....it just gets too difficult to run when you feel like you’re a puddle of skin and bones. 

I’m not going to stop running and I’m not going to give up on the training. If I don’t make it in time for the half marathon then ill push it back a month and do the next one. It’s not the end of the world if I don’t make it to the October race. Now if a meteor is coming our way then yea it’s the end of the world and were all gonna die. Some heat and humidity is something I know I can survive, it’s just getting through the summer that takes all my strength and will. It’ll be gone before I know it and I’ll be out running in the cold and faster than ever. I just have to keep my head up and keep working. Nothing is ever easy and for me, this sport isn’t in the slightest bit easy going but I do enjoy it. I like the way it makes me feel and I like how I can keep in shape from it. It uses muscles that are supposed to be used and it makes me feel like a powerful human being. 

Running isn’t for everyone and I do sometimes wonder why I’m doing the sport but, that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy it.

Father’s Day, the day that we honor our fathers and celebrate with them. They day that all people who are considered Fathers get to enjoy a gift of some kind from their family. Maybe its a beer at the bar in town. Or a trip out on the boat for a nice long fishing father and kid friendship relived. Could be that you get a card made from your favorite person. Whatever it is, it is usually a gift of some kind and if it’s a good or bad gift, well I guess it depends on who you raised. 

This year we already kicked off father’s day with a blast. We had the Father’s day Run down here in sunny side Florida and it started around 6:30 p.m. Along with opening the store at my part time job, I got around six hours of sleep in total, I also had to immediately go to the race once I got home and changed into proper gear. In honestly, I was so exhausted and not looking forward to this run. My legs were cramping up a little bit when I was at work and I thought that would make me way slower then I wanted to be. The sky was cloudy which was nice....until the sun came out. Then the humidity came with the heat for a little while and I thought that we would all become eggs on a sidewalk. Lastly we had this route that was so straightforward that I was sure I would die from boredom. Honestly I wanted to go to bed right there but I wanted to try and be a good sport so I ran the race with my father. 

Once the race started I felt like the actual run went quickly but I felt like my physical self was dragging behind mile by mile. At one point I really wanted to stop and just not keep going but somewhere inside of me I heard the army side of myself that I only use in exercising situations and just cursed the rest of the way to the finish line with just my thoughts alone. Really became the ending drive that made me finish up quicker than the rest of the race. When the race was over we stayed around and chatted with others of the running community. There was even a puppy that we all got to meet and play with. Up for adoption and just beautiful. The people were also very nice and enthusiastic about her. Wonderful pairing for her to take after. From there we waited while they made the finalization on the results. I chatted with this lady about Spain, the beach, art, her grandkids, her family members passing away, my blog, to then being interrupted by the results being ready for the public. They quickly went through the masters and grandmasters and to both of our surprises my Dad got Master. At first we didn’t hear him, the area was so loud with people talking that hearing someone on a mic was pretty close to non-realistic. When he finally realized it was him and got the prize we both waited anxiously to hear my name, to see if I did indeed win anything and before I knew it, bam my name was in First Place for my age group. 

Really both of us walked away with total surprises. We just didn’t see us placing so well and yet we got the prizes to show for it. Great start to a great celebration. Of course it is now father’s day and I sadly don’t have much to give this year. Really I just wanted to tell you how much he inspired me and how I think he is one of the few people in the world I respect. He knows so much about the world and I may not agree with everything he says, or like some flavors of cheese he eats, and get annoyed when he takes fifteen minutes to get to a point in a story (only sometimes) but, despite his flaws I think he is going to make it the way he wanted to make it. No tricks, no flash of a light, no fireworks and candy, just exactly the way he wanted it. Complete in a way that makes him feel good. For me these past few years have been difficult for me to go through and we both fought a lot but, were still here and I still respect and love him. He may be an old fart but he does ok at teaching me something new and is decent at air hockey and for that I can respect his ways and his character. 

Really I guess that’s all any parent can ask for, Happy Father's Day Dad!