A New Leaf

Well, I turned 50 a few days ago, had a great time back in New York with my friends and family. Then Linda, the girls and I flew to California which is where Linda and I will now be living. We have decided to lease a place in Dana Point. Its a pretty nice part of the world, we are going to be about a mile from the ocean. We have a pretty good view from the back of the house, which is the kitchen and dining room as well as the master bed and bathroom. We are looking forward to moving in. Kitty has really handled the move well. She has been on a plane and in the car more then ever in the past. The girls are both back at school getting ready for their Jr. years. They have both done very well and I expect will have happy and productive lives. They are both training for a marathon which will be great. When they were visiting they had a 16 mile run - that is a long long way. 

We have found some pretty good places to eat around the apartment we are in - did I mention that we are in a one bedroom apartment! It is just like when Linda and I met in San Francisco. (It was also pretty packed when the four of us were in it for the week the girls were here) We go to a place calls Fred's quite a bit, which is a Mexican cantina type place, or at least we were going there. Now we are both trying to stick to a more restricted eating and drinking plan. Will report on that later. It has been great having Linda here to say the least, our life is getting back to being a bit more normal - the biggest difference between here and NY is that we are outside more, we are able to walk everywhere. 

Oh well, the next couple of weeks should be fun. I will report later.

The Heat Is On

It has been really hot in Southern California this week - 95 in the Beach areas, 100+ inland. Since I have no air in apartment in Dana Point, it makes it a bit more difficult to get cooled down. It has been a real help to have joined the 24 hour fitness here - it has allowed me to run in doors and start to build my base back up. I was able to get a 6 miler in this weekend!

I went and drove around some areas that I have not spent much time in yet. There are some really nice areas around Dana Point and Laguna - we may look at leasing for a while so that we can get a better feel for the area. I will post some pictures up when I get a reader that I can connect to the laptop. All in all I am pretty bored being here without Linda and the girls, I just run out of things to do. I am really dreading the July 4th weekend, three days of boredom. Oh well - I guess I have to go figure it out.

Oh well, got to keep the running up this week and get ready for a 7 miler next weekend.

Some Better Running Days

The new job has made running a bit more challenging, really not having Linda around has made it challenging. I did however join the local gym and have started to get some runs and cross trains in. This weekend I went for a 5 mile on the treadmill, it has been a while since I ran 5 miles. Today I was able to get a 4 mile run in along the beach area in Dana Point. The weather is pretty nice right now so getting outside is good. It is nice to have access to a steam room and suana after my workouts.

I have started to add some cross training is just to keep it interesting. No telling where it will go from here, but it is a bit better. The girls put in a 7 miler over the weekend - wow....

I am getting a little bored being by myself most of the time. The weekends are a challenge. We are not getting a great deal of action on the house in Rochester which makes it a little more stressful. I know it is harder on Linda because she has to play the waiting game back there. Well we have to keep the faith. Work is going well, starting to get a little settled - still have lots and lots to learn but at least I am starting to get into some key routines. Will try to update more often. Of course the best thing that could happen for me is a little weight loss. I go out to lots of lunches and dinners - just keep trying to eat a little lighter. Also have to keep away from the beer, it really adds to the waistline.

Will try to update with some pics next time, it is beautiful here most of the time. There have really been no bad weather days.

Later

Sunny California

Been a pretty active 4 weeks. Since my last post, I have changed jobs and relocated to Southern California. In September of last year, I started talking with folks at Paetec, which is a Communications firm, HQ in Rochester. I ended up in the Western Region which is based in Irvine CA. I came out on March 3rd to start the job. I moved into an corporate type apartment in Newport Beach on the 8th. It has been a pretty busy week needless to say.

The plan is to sell our house in Rochester when Spring starts to surface - Linda will then get the girls settled in thier Junior years at school and then head out. My region is pretty big geographically so I will be on the road a bit more then I have in the past few years. I am planning to get to Rochester monthly and we think Linda will get out here monthly as well. She is planning a 10 day trip at the end of March.

The weather is perfect - sunny and 78...

I have run outside a couple of days which has been great! I am off to Vegas for three days later tonight. Will write later.

It is really cold out there!

It has become a strange winter. We have really cold spells and then we get a bit of a warm wave. Has not been too bad for running outside as of late. I was in LA a couple of weeks ago however and ran in shorts - it was 64. Today it is probably 15 with 25 mile hour winds. Yesterday it was 40 with no wind. Ran outside yesterday and inside today.
I did just finish a really interesting book that I would suggest to anyone who thinks they cannot run. It is To The Edge, written by Kirk Johnson. One of the girls friends gave it to me to read. Her coach had made the team read it and she thought I would like it. I did. The author decided to run in one of the most difficult runs in Death Valley. This author had not run prior to being 40, he took it up to resolve some internal issues sparked on by his brothers death. Within 18 months, he ran the 135 mile race in temps exceeding 115. He ran it in 54 hours. There is a great deal of inspiration in this book for those who are really trying to improve themselves. A short read as well.
Other then that, things have been busy at work, at church and at home. The girls have settled in again, Linda is starting to get a little more work. We are both not sticking with a diet of any sort. We are both however getting our exercise in. Perhaps the next couple of weeks will provide a new direction for weight loss. I hope so because I have to drop some weight to get my running up to where I want to.
On some other news, Linda and I decided not to go on the mission trip to New Orleans, there have been a couple of things come up that made it difficult for us to do. We both really want to go so we will be looking at the one in October.
Not much new to report.
Try to update more later.

Build Up Schedule

I found a pretty neat marathon training site tonight while I was surfing. It is one of the few sites that includes a build-up schedule. The author also says that speed work, hill training etc, are not really needed for the first marathon. It is just mileage, mileage, and more mileage. He also says it is important to be running 25 miles per week for a year prior to starting the actual marathon training - thus the build-up schedule. It looks to me like you would be in good shape to run a half marathon after you complete the build-up schedule so I think I am going to plan a half around that time and then train for the full.

Below is the schedule - it looks like I am going to start around week 3. Last week I ran 14.5 miles, this week should be 16. I will have to sync up to starting my week on Sunday and not Monday - not a big deal. Of course, losing weight will help the effort more!
I am also reading a book that was given to me by my adopted daughter, Kathryn W. called to the EDGE by Kirk Johnson. It speaks a great deal to the mental side of running - this runner ran the Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley (135 miles) He was 40 and from what I can tell thus far he had not run in the past - he trained for 18 months. Anything is possible.

It seems like the time is right, lets pump it up a notch.....

A Sad Day

On Friday, I got a call from Doug (my brother) who told me that our niece, Danielle and her father were in an auto accident in Tucson on Thursday. Don was killed, and Danielle is in serous condition. Since then, it seems that Danielle is out of danger and might be going home in a couple of days. Diane was able to get to the hospital quickly to be with Danielle which I am sure really helped.

I must say that hearing of Don's death reminded me of how precious every minute you have here is. It can end at any time.

I will say that the folks at our church have really been sending their prayers to Arizona which I know are being felt.

More to report later.