• Challenge,  running

    What a 69-Year-Old Does On A Nice Fall Day…

    Runs Six Miles… Kris, Val, and Steph did the 5K, I went for the 10K. Needed to see if my time would allow me to run the marathon next Sunday. Well, it was a good test. The first three miles was all uphill. Steep between mile 2 and 3. Then it was downhill back. Did the first three miles in a run/walk in about 45 minutes (mostly walking), did the next three miles back down the hill in just about 35 minutes. 1 hour, 20 minutes, and got third in my age category of 60-69 so got another medal for that. But not fast enough to run the marathon. I…

  • Challenge,  running

    Running 10K

    Got to Be Up in 7 hours… So not going to do anything tonight because I would like to get some sleep. The course tomorrow morning is out though the desert up above Henderson with a fantastic view of all of Las Vegas in the distance. Up a hill one direction, downhill coming back. If I can make it between and 60 and 70 minutes, I might be able to do the marathon next Sunday. The problem is that if I do that time, then I will still be dithering. (grin) No matter what, there will be pictures later. And this post kept the blogging streak alive.  

  • Challenge,  running

    Instead of Reading Stories

    As I Wanted to Do… I spent most of the night figuring out if my running times allow me to try a marathon in a week. Same marathon I have been aiming at now for four years, losing weight to try to get to, and so on. But my weight isn’t down enough yet, although close. And my pace is lacking, and this marathon I want to try to do a week from Sunday has a 5 hour cut-off. And my training is far, far from normal marathon training. So logically doing the full is a really bad idea. But the course is flat, running on the Strip for over…

  • Challenge,  Fun Stuff

    Fun This Week After Workshop…

    Wednesday… Lunch and Dinner with Writers… Then on Thursday back to exercising and starting the catch-up from a week away from normal routine. Friday, a fun dinner with Carolyn Clink (Rob Sawyer’s wife and partner. Carolyn came to the Master Class while Rob was in China.) Then the three of us headed off to see John Cleese. Turns out that even though we had bought the tickets in the large concert hall at separate times and dates, Carolyn ended up with a seat right beside us in a four-person row. I can’t even begin to calculate the odds of that happening. Then when the show was over, the nice guy…

  • Challenge,  Fun Stuff,  running

    The Promised Pictures

    Completed the 10K… (6.2 mile run) It wasn’t pretty, but I did it. Actually, the course turned out to be 3.1 miles uphill to start, and it turned out to be a ton warmer than I expected. All desert and concrete. So I got overheated, which for a person with my heat history, is not a good thing. And the hill made it harder for a person like me who is still too heavy. I managed to stay hydrated just fine and slowed down some to even walking and running, so didn’t hit the time I was hoping for. But finished alive and without heatstroke. Win. So here are some…

  • Challenge,  Fun Stuff,  running

    Friday Night In The Fall…

    So For Me That Means An Early Run in the Morning… In fact, up at 6:30 am or so tomorrow, three or more hours before I normally get up. And tomorrow I am running a 10K (little over six miles) instead of my normal 5k runs. Seems like all fall there are runs on the weekends. Great fun, actually. My time goal is under 70 minutes, although I would love, love, love to get it under an hour. But got a hunch I will do a little too much walking to hit that. And I am still a little too heavy. We shall see how it goes. 70 minutes is…

  • Fun Stuff,  running

    Got To Get Up Early

    To Go Run in a 5K Charity Run… Kris and I have to go out of the house at 7 a.m. at the latest. So I’m not staying up late tonight, that’s for sure. (grin) So two running pictures one year apart. Last Year at the Vegas Strong Run… I was down 45 pounds from heaviest, but still a long ways to go. Second picture this year, down 82 pounds from my heaviest. I will post pictures here when I hit 100 pounds down. What I looked like at a hundred pounds more. But these two pictures, same run, same time of year, shows some of the progress over one…

  • Challenge,  running

    A Good Run

    Vegas Strong 5K… Basically three miles. Started on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, went for about a mile on Las Vegas Blvd toward the Strip, then headed out into the neighborhoods, ending up back on Fremont Street. About 2,500 people ran or walked for a great cause. This was to honor and help all those killed and injured in the mass shooting on October 1st two years ago. This city is amazing in how it has dealt with that. It started at 8 am, so we left our condo at 7:30 and walked to the race. Very early. For me, this was the first timed run of the fall…

  • Challenge,  running

    Losing Weight

    Might Be The Hardest Challenge I Have Ever Done… Now, granted, I am being successful at it. Frighteningly slowly and certainly not in a straight down line. But it dawned on me this week that this might be simply the hardest challenge I have ever taken on, and I’ve tackled some big challenges over the years. For three years now I have aimed at a marathon here in Las Vegas. For a year before I moved and also last year. Both previous times (and maybe one other a few years earlier) flat didn’t work because I couldn’t get the weight down fast enough to ramp up the running in time.…

  • Challenge,  running

    Running On Hot Pavement…

    Yeah, That’s a Good Idea… But for a good cause and we raised some money for it, so we did it. The course was around and through a mall and its parking lot. The race started late and it was over eighty degrees and bright sun when we finally started. I ran most of the first mile, then settled into a plan. I would run in the sun, walk the shade. So I ended up around 40 minutes or so. I think. Pretty good pace and I didn’t push myself at all. So fun. And here are some pictures of me and Kris. And yes, Gavin, our cat really is…