Ew, gross!

Bye Bye

Well, as every runner has experienced toe nail loss at one point or another, I'm going to need to do some extra work the next few months.

Last January, I walked the Walt Disney World Half in shoes that weren't quite broken in.  I had only really worn them 2 or 3 times before the event.  Instead of wearing an older pair, I went ahead and wore the new ones.

I ended up with 3 toenails that were what I would consider bruised.  The 2 splotches on the left foot have been doing well, but my right big toe I've been working with since January.  Well, this morning while performing toenail maintenance (Okay, yes, trimming my nails) I heard a loud CRACK when I cut into the right big toenail.  Yep, the bruised section broke away, leaving me with quite the mess of a nail left.  I've given a non-graphic graphic of my loss this morning.

Now the fun part comes.  I'm going to have to be extra careful putting on socks, until the new nail has grown out enough.

Winding down the week
As this week winds down, I'll be finishing up Week 3 of the Couch to 5K program today.  I went to the movies after work yesterday, so I didn't get my C25K in, but I did end up getting my 10K steps finished after coming home from the movie last night!

Oh, what did I see?  Independence Day: Resurgence!  I saw it at my local IMAX and they turned up the sound!  It was fantastic!  Sure, it was just as outlandish as the first one, but I wanted more!  I was actually disappointed that wasn't longer than it was.

Bike

Well, a challenge has been issued.  I need to get the bike off the stand and actually go ride it this weekend!

Our neighborhood is having a garage sale weekend, so I'll start any of my activities after the sales a supposed to close at 4pm.  So, Couch to 5K this afternoon and a bike ride tomorrow afternoon!



Thanks for Reading!
Regards, ~Kipp

2016 - Challenge Year: Me Vs. Me! Check the link above to see my current and past races.

Recap of this past week

Activities for Last week - Week 2 of 31

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

C25K W1 D3 1.98 Miles

C25K W2 D1 3.07 Miles

C25K W2 D2 2.32 Miles

C25K W2 D3 3.1 Miles

Walking 3.3 Miles

So, for the week that has put me at 14.72 Miles of activities, with a running total of 25.47 miles since starting on 6/5/16.  

I keep swearing that I'm going to get the bike out during the weekends.  I HAVE to get it out next weekend and take it for a ride!

The week ahead - Week 3 of 31
I've started this week off with getting over 11,000 steps in for today.  In the very LEAST, I want to get 10,000 steps a day.  Something to strive for each and every day.  

Monday-Wednesday-Friday are my scheduled C25K Days, and big changes come up on the routine for this week.  

Brisk five-minute warm-up walk, then do two repetitions of the following:

• Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds)

• Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds)

• Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes)

• Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)

I will be using the timed method.  So, that 3 Minutes of Jogging, at this point it seems HUGE.  All I can do is tackle it tomorrow and see how it goes.  Week 2 started off rough, but by Friday things were clicking together much better.  I hope that I can minimize repeating weeks.

I just have to remember, at my best, I was up to 8 Minutes of Jogging with 2 minutes of walking.  That was also the summer that we had temps in the 90's for several weeks of my training!  In re-reading my first 1/2 Marathon story, I had totally forgotten that I had jogged at least 4 of the first 6 1/2 Miles!

I know I have it in me!  It's just 3 Minutes, twice!

Other POI's
So, the selection of other jump ropes at Wally World were less than desirable for my tastes.  No, I really don't want a pink sparkly rope or a purple one.  The other ropes were all similar to the cheap plastic one I already picked up.  I may just break down and order the one from Amazon that keeps appearing in my suggested items, now that I've bought Buddy Lee's Jump Rope book!

In the very least, I've been spending 30 seconds to a minute before running kind of mimicking jumping rope and it seems to be helping the shaky ankle.  Yes, the ankle I injured several years ago still gives me fits.   Friday's run I felt much more stable than I have on it in a LONG time.  Today, it hardly bothered me at all!

When I went to put my shoes on to walk Saturday, I noticed that those were the shoes I had been running in all week!  OOopps!  Oh, well.  At least those shoes don't really have that many miles on them, so they're okay to still run in.  I'll have to make sure that my new shoes are put in a more prominent place for me to grab them Tomorrow!


Thanks for Reading!
Regards, ~Kipp

2016 - Challenge Year: Me Vs. Me! Check the link above to see my current and past races.

The first mile (plus)...

It’s not just a step, it’s a start

I have a friend that signs off on all of his inspirational posts in that manner.

Dave over at Eastern Walking is a very inspirational writer.  I've just not been listening.  Click on that Facebook icon to go to his page.  Give him a read, you'll like it.

It's such a simple phrase.  It's not just a step, it's a start.  A start that I've been putting off for one reason or another.  Just knowing the real reason is just being lazy, complacent it just being the way that I am.

The 40th Indy Mini has come and gone, and I didn't participate.  One of the medications I'm on kind of backfires on me sometimes and makes me very sick.  Well, the day before the Indy Mini, it hit me hard again.  I didn't even make it to get the packet, let alone even think of starting the event the next day.

The Tour DeCure has come and gone too, and I didn't participate.  I've not been on the bike since last year's Tour DeCure and I was in no shape to try it this year.  I missed my donations goal too, so I wasn't eligible to ride either.  A very BIG thank you to those of you that DID donate this year.  I WILL make it up!  100 miles 2017?

I'm tired of taking this nasty medication.  I'm tired of taking ALL of the medications I'm currently on.  The only way the doctor is going to even consider taking me off of them, is if I get this weight off and show that I'll be able to KEEP it off.

This evening, I put on the shoes and stepped out that front door.  I TOOK that first step.  I took that first step TODAY.  Tomorrow, I will have to take that FIRST step again. This will be a daily battle for me, until it becomes second nature to me like it did five years ago.

FIVE YEARS AGO!
Yes, it was OVER five years ago that I swore that I was going to loose that 100 pounds.  IN A YEAR.  I followed my plan!  (For the most part)  I followed my diet!  (Mostly).  I had some slippage along the way, but I did loose the weight!  I did go from a couch potato to someone that can do a half marathon!  I didn't make it that 100 pounds, but I made a good dent in that total.

Five Years Ago, interesting...  Did anyone notice..
I was going through my files that I had set up for my training those five years ago.  It was a simple Excel file.  I had one tab with my Couch 2 5K, then a tab for my Bridge to 10K, finally a 3rd tab with my plan for my Half Marathon training!  It's all there. Dates I did what, notes on how I felt and most importantly, the weight I was loosing.

Oh, so then I noticed something.  The dates this year, MATCH the dates from five years ago!

Me Vs. ME!

So, this brings me to my next point.  For the remainder of this year and leading into the Half Marathon next January, I'm going to be competing against myself!  I'm going to take my records from five years ago, and go against them this year!

It was around this time those five years ago that I started running outside, as the Treadmill-o-doom was giving me fits.  So, I'm going to be starting behind myself for now, but things will sync up well by the time we hit Half Marathon training time.  

Training
Here is my Schedule:

Couch to 5K - 9 weeks 6/6/16 through 8/5/16
Bridge to 10k - 6 weeks: 8/8/16 through 9/16/16

Vacation: 9/9/16 through 9/18/16.  During this time, I hope to get with Dave and see if I might be able to learn this walking technique!  It also overlaps the last B210K week, which I might put off till after vacation.

4 week gap / makeup: 9/18/16 trhough 10/15/16 - Use this time in case of slippage in the C25k/B210K Plans.

Half Marathon Training: 12 Weeks: 10/16/16 through to the race on 1/7/17!


Weigh-in Tuesday


Dad and I were doing the "Biggest looser" style weigh-ins each week.  So, to match up from five years ago, my next weigh in is Tuesday, 6/7/16.  By that time, I had already gotten down to 256.  I'm NOT going to like what the scale has to say Tuesday, but that's what it'll be.  I've taken that weigh in file and updated it so that I can track myself to it this year.  Weekly, my goal is to BEAT what my weekly loss percent was then.



Thanks for Reading!
Regards, ~Kipp

2016 - Challenge Year: Me Vs. Me! Check the link above to see my current and past races.

Here we go again...

8 Months Down the Road
Last that was heard from me was 8 months ago.  I was starting to "train" for the 2016 WDW 1/2 Marathon.  Well, since there were no updates, there was no training.  

I went to Disney World for Vacation in September and then I was back down for Marathon weekend in January.

I made it.  I was not last like I was the year before, but I wasn't that far ahead of the back of the pack.  

I wish I remember the guys name that stuck with me after the climb up to the overpass coming off of World Drive, heading to Epcot.  He was going back and forth with several of us back in the back, and he helped me keep my mind off of how bad I was feeling.  I wish I would have seen him at the end or even remembered his name.  It's people like that that give these types of events a good name.  He wasn't one of the Team in Training coaches either.  Just a guy, helping out the back of the packers make it those last few miles.

I walked the entire route.  I didn't even attempt to do any running, as I was THE HEAVIEST I've ever been.  I was pushing 292-295ish (possibly over the 300 mark...) in January.  

The next morning, I was up even earlier than I had been for the 1/2!  I was a volunteer for the Marathon on Sunday!  I was on my feet all morning, from 2am till 9 am, I was "on duty".  I was part of the teams that put out the snack boxes and bananas.  Our only duty was to load them up for the first and greet the super elite and wheelchair racers as they came in.

Anyone who thinks the wheelchair racers have it easy for a marathon, has never witnessed any of them crossing the finish line.  These first racers in were just as run down and shaky as the elite runners are when they come in.  

It was amazing, because we were able to see everyone in the corrals leave on the jumbo screens they had set up in the family area.  We would then get updates as to where the wheelchair racers were and where the elite runners were, and when we could expect them to come in!  It was an amazing experience to have.  Not so much the stacking of the boxes, but to see a lot of the behind the scenes work that goes into putting these events on!

In February, I saw a nutritionist.  I'm on a new diet and I'm having a rough go at even attempting to stay true to the plan.  I'm getting better, and those "better" weeks are the ones I've actually seen the scale move down.

I'm currently at 283.  Back in 2011, when I started training for my first half marathon, I was just a bit lighter.

So, today, I've signed up for the 20th running of the Walt Disney World 1/2 Marathon.  We are now five ears down the road from my first race.

Coming up
I have the 2016 Indy Mini Marathon coming up in a couple of weeks.  Again, next to zero training effort.  I will be walking this one too.

A month after that, I have the 2016 Tour De Cure bike ride!  I'm way short of my donations goal.  I may actually have to pay out of pocket to meet the minimum.  I have to remember to take in my packet, so I can see if I can get some donations from work.  They have a matching plan, that I missed out on last year because I didn't get the correct paperwork.  Now, I'm very short on time.

Once the Tour De Cure is finished, its then time to fully focus on these two new goals.

When I hit that start line in 2017:

1)  I am to be AT or lighter than I was when I crossed that line five years ago!
     (242 lbs or lighter is the actual goal)
2)  I will finish the race in a better time than I did that first race five years ago!
     (3:48:49 2012 WDW 1/2 Marathon, 
      3:32:27 is my PR time from the 2012 Flying Pig Half Marathon.)


Blogging about it helped me stay honest back then, and I hope that I can use it as a tool to help keep me honest in this go around.

Thanks for Reading!
Regards, ~Kipp

2016 - Some witty catch phrase goes here! Check the link above to see my current and past races.

I don't like Monday's

Monday
Time to hit the treadmill!  

I start getting ready and find that my sport earbuds that I've used for the past 3 years have basically exploded.

No problem, I had bought a new pair last year and only used them like once.  Time to break them out and start putting them to use.

I power up the treadmill-o-doom, put the safety key in and get all my gadgets ready...  start!  


Start!!


Start!!

Treadmill-o-doom is back to it's old tricks.  It's not recognizing any button presses.  Just great.  I'm tired and really didn't feel like messing with it.  Scrapped my plans for Monday night.

Tuesday
It could be nice enough to ride outside... but it's pretty windy.  I decide to just leave it on the trainer and go with that.

I tightened up the resistance a little bit and it felt a little more of a natural ride.

Goal was to make it an hour in the saddle.  I managed that.  In fact, my record of the ride was short, because I was going for 5 minutes before I realized I didn't hit start on the watch!  OOPS!

The GPS watch recording of the ride says that the wheel turned the equivilent of 13.11 miles, just about a half marathon's worth!  LOL.  1 hour to do what took me over 4 hours by foot back in Janauray!

Wednesday
What can I say.  I plug in the Treadmill-o-doom and it fires up!!  GREAT!

I go get ready, get all my stuff together.  Get onto the treadmill-o-doom and it WON'T GO!

Well, I'm not standing for this tonight.  I took the console apart again and disconnected the left side buttons.

Yep.  That did it, I can get it to work, but I have no incline control.  That is the ONLY control on the left side that I ever use.  OH well.  Hopefully we'll get out of this rain pattern and I'll transition to running outside full time.

Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend!
Early registrations for Annual Passholders opened up yesterday.  It's really killing me that I can't register for the Half!  I'm hoping that spots will still be there Friday!  If not, I'll have to take my chances at open registration next week.  I'll hate that, as the registration site usually overloads and it will be my luck that it'll fill up in like 10 minutes...

Tour de Cure - Indy June 20, 2015!
Well, apparently I suck at fund raising.  I'm still at the same place I was when I first posted about this.

Click this and help!

Thanks for Reading!
Regards, ~Kipp

2015 - Rebuilding from the Shoes up! Check the link above to see my current and past races.

Picture This

C25K - W1D2
It was nice out tonight so I did my run outside.  It was a shock to the legs to be pounding the asphalt.  There were other people out and about tonight.  One pair of runners ignored me, didn't even return my hello.  Most everyone else said hi and/or waved.

Took a picture last night....
I forgot to take the picture I took last night.  So, I'll post that one and one from tonight.

3/31/15 - after riding on the trainer

 I was also in my biking gear.  The shorts still take some getting used to with the padding in the nether region.

4/1/15 - After C25K W1D2 run outside.

This was tonight.  I was wearing one of my new shirts I picked up at WalMart.  I got 3 shirts, all XXL.  They're made out of recycled techshirts!  They're also really cheap.  Comfortable on the run, so that's what counts.

Tech Junkie!
I had some PayPal money sitting out there, due to a seller never sending me an item back in January and E-bay sided with me.  I got a refund.  

So, I did what anyone else would have done... well, okay, maybe just my other tech obsessed friends.

So, being the tech junkie that I am, I bought a new weight scale off of E-bay.  It is a Taylor SmarTrack Bluetooth Body Analyzer.  It's a weight scale... with BLUETOOTH!  There's an app for that too!  TECHNOLOGY!!  

Here is what it registered on the phone app this morning:

Weight: 279.8 lbs
Body Fat: 47.8%
Body Water: 43.0%
Muscle Mass: 25%
Calories: 3223 (If I wanted to STAY this weight... well, THAT'S useless...)


Bike Pic!
Someone sent me a picture of what my first bike would have looked like!  That would be before the icicle crushed it, of course.

THE Bike in the early '70's!

Tour de Cure - Indy June 20, 2015!

Click this and help!

Thanks for Reading!
Regards, ~Kipp

2015 - Rebuilding from the Shoes up! Check the link above to see my current and past races.

Back on the Saddle

What happened then...
Growing up, I loved riding bikes.  My first "real" bike I remember was the standard bike for many kids in the '70's.  I had a Red Schwinn Stingray.  Banana seat...  tassels on the handles.  The whole deal.

In the blizzard of '78, I had left my bike outside.  I giant icicle formed on the side of the house... you guessed it, it encased my bike.  When it thawed, it pretty much crushed the bike.

My next bike didn't last long.  It was a Huffy "BMX" bike.  Months after getting it, it was stolen from school.  Myself and 2 other friends had our bikes all locked together onto the playground fence at grade school.  Mine was closest to the fence.  We left school at the end of that day and my bike was gone, the other 2 were still sitting there.  The "good" thing that came of this?  The school installed bike racks up next to the building for us to lock our bikes up.

My next bike was a small 10 speed.  I've never been all that tall, so this small 10 speed fit me and I had this one until it literally fell apart around about the time of my Junior/Senior year in high school.

By this time, I had my drivers license.  Getting a new bike wasn't a priority.

About 10 years later, in the early to mid '90's, I had a junky 10 speed bike that I paid $25.00 for.  It didn't fit me well, but I rode it all over the place for several years.

In 1996, I was swiped by a car while riding my bike into work.

It's a moment that plays in my mind in slow motion.  I can remember feeling the car so close to me and seeing the hood of the car.  Then the sharp pain as the side view mirror finds it's target in my left side caboose.

It sent me, and my junky 10 speed flying.  Irony being as it is, this happened right in front of an EMT's house.  The EMT heard the car and came rushing out to see me and the bike sprawled on the pavement.  He came up to me and asked me where it hurt.  At the time, all I could think of was my back.

He had a call into emergency and the ambulance was on it's way.  I got the full deal ride.  Neck brace, back board, gurney ride.  A trip right to the hospital with all the bells and whistles going the whole way.  X-rays were taken, I was poked and prodded for a while.  

It came back that there was nothing broken, but I was going be having a very difficult time sitting down for quite a while.

The bike sat in the garage, until I moved to Indy.  The bike stayed at the old house, I never even thought of bringing it along.

I started running
After moving to Indy, I'd finally had enough and started running.  You can go back to my first blog entries to find out about this trip.

In many of the sites, books and magazines I read about running, it came up over and over again that cycling was a good cross-training activity for runners.  So the thought was planted in my mind about getting a new bike.

I would look online at bikes and drool over everything that I couldn't afford.  

I finally made up my mind at the end of 2013 after I had sprained my ankle.  It was time to serious look into getting a bike.

We wound up with a decent bonus at work for the year and I made my purchase.  I briefly spoke about that in the blog when I got it.

Giant Defy 5 (small)

Giant Defy 5, size small.  I got it on closeout.  The first time I picked it up, I was amazed!  It's so light compared to anything I had ever ridden before!

I went through and got fitted to the bike.  I purchase clip in shoes and pedals.  I have a water bottle.  I got a trainer so I could still use it in the 6 months of crap we call winter here in Indy.

Bottle Holder - Matches the bike almost perfectly!

The Water Bottle!

SIDI Genius 5 Road Bike shoes

and, of course, a helmet.

And there it all sat.  I rode it a total of 4 times in 2014.  FOUR times.

2014 - The year of saying F-it.
2014 was not a good year fitness wise for me.  I pretty much gave up again.  

Sure, I did several races, but I didn't train properly or at all for them.  They were all painful experiences.  Not something I would recommend for anyone.

One day, I hear on the news about the Tour de Cure here in Indianapolis.  I look into the event and it sounds really cool!  A chance to ride your bike on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway!

So, I tell my good friend Rick about the ride and it sparks his interest too.  By the time November rolls around, we're signing up!!  I'm jazzed to go for the big ride.  Let's go all out and do the Century ride!  100 Miles on the track.

Once we sign up, there's 2 options for the Century, all on the track or do the 75k ride and finish out the 100 on the track.  We're opting for the latter.  40 times around the track sounds like it might get boring!

My Century training has begun
So, here we are, 12 Weeks out until the Century ride on June 20th!  My training has officially started!

Tonight was my first time back on the saddle since sometime last year.

I'm saddle sore.  I'm also other kinds of sore.  Biking uses different muscles than running.  Those muscles haven't been used in way too long.

The PLAN for tonight was to ride an hour.  I made it 35 minutes before I just couldn't stand to be on that saddle any longer.  My GPS watch sensor on the bike says that it was near equivalent to 10 miles today.  Wow... 1/10th of the way!  That's a scary thought right now.

That was also on the trainer.  I had some resistance, but not enough to make it seem like a real ride yet.  

I also need to do something I never did before while training for my running events.  Get some other types of training in!  I will begin phasing in some in-home core exercises that I can do that should benefit both running and biking.


Tour de Cure - Indy

Click this, and help!

Thanks for Reading!
Regards, ~Kipp

2015 - Rebuilding from the Shoes up! Check the link above to see my current and past races.

The Long, Long road ahead.

My journey there and back...
Just to give a comparison, I have a picture of me in the same shirt 3 years ago and then again today.  Bad haircut 3 years ago and needs a haircut today!

Sad part is, the huge neck and extra chin are back, making most of my shirts uncomfortable.  The huge belly means my shirts no longer tuck in very well either.

May 2011

April 2014

First intervals since the groin pull...
This is kind of how I felt the first times hitting the run interval, for at least 2 out of the 3 miles tonight:

Yeah, it wasn't feeling that great.  Like a big knot or having an extra... *ahem*  Once I got past 2 miles, everything started to feel better.  Now that I'm home and cleaned up, everything is still in it's proper place, so I think I'm good to go.

The last mile I was actually able to get in some longer intervals of actual jogging speeds, without it feeling awkward.  

How I think I look out there
The self consciousness of being out there again at this weight is just making me feel uneasy.  I know that I've just got to say I don't care what anyone is thinking, just get out there and get this done... again!



Around the 3:50 mark in the video really is a strong expression of how I was feeling out there today!

Eating
I was much more aware of what I was eating this week.  Was it all good, no.  But I was much better than I have been in months.  

I will now be hitting the farmers markets and local butchers to start getting some cleaner foods into me.  Today was the first local farmers market of the year and they didn't have much.  They said Mid to late May is when they will have a good variety of items.  I still bought a pound of ground beef from a local farmer and looked at some lamb patties, thinking that those might make some nice lamb sliders, if I can find the recipe again...

A big difference 3 years ago and now was that I was monitoring my carb intake much more closely.  I know I need to drop most of what I have been eating because my body cannot handle those carbs anymore.

Past time to hit the RESET button...

*BAM!!*

Indy 500 Mini Marathon (1/2 Marathon)
With a week to go for the Indy 500 Mini Marathon, I'm really not sure what to expect out of myself.  Almost zero training and a lot of extra weight.  It's going to be rough.

Oh, I'll be there!  I'll be starting!  Next Friday I'll be at the Mini expo and I know I'll post some pictures up about that on my Facebook account.  I don't remember if KT Tape had a booth at the past Mini Expo's, I think they did.  The Indy Mini is a pretty big race, so I expect they'll have a taping boot there.  I may get my ankle and calf done up again, just for some extra psychological measures (and maybe some physical ones).

The thing I'm most looking forward to is actually being on the track.  Kiss the Bricks!!!

The Long, Long Road Ahead
It's very evident that I've lost a LOT of conditioning these past 6 months.  It's nowhere near as bad as when I started 3 years ago, but it sure feels like it sometimes!

I'm signed up for races throughout the year, all leading up for next years Goofy race and a Half challenge at Disney world.

I have plans, I just need to stick to them and STOP EATING all the junk I have been.  Also to eat much less than I have been too!  

I have a couple of months left to pay off my car, so once that monthly expense is released I'm going to sign up at a local gym too.  I want to have a full Running/Riding/Strength training program in place before I go to my full marathon in September!

Thanks for Reading!
Regards, ~Kipp

2014 - The Road to Goofy 2015! Check the link above to see my current and past races.

Full Circle

I've come full circle...
I've actually gone the wrong way around.  I'm right back where I started from, all that time ago.  Albeit I'm still in better shape, but my weight is right back where I was.

Welcome back to 272.

Welcome back to BIG clothing.

What happened at the Marathon?
I didn't make it even as far as I had hoped.  The balloon ladies caught up with me in the Magic Kingdom parking lot.  I went back and forth with them several times before they last passed me going through Adventureland.  

I started off that morning feeling pretty excited.  Watching the other corrals take off is quite the experience in itself.  When you're as far back as I was, it can get pretty nerve wracking to wait your turn.

It finally started and, as usual, I had to hit the very first port-a-potty's.  I'm quite convinced that it's just the waiting around and then the excitement of actually starting that sets things in motion.  Once I had made it to the 1st mile marker after the short break, it became quite clear that my ankle was NOT happy with me pounding the asphalt.  No matter what I tried, I couldn't even squeak out 2 minutes of constant running.  So, I swapped my pace around, from Run/Walk 2/1, to Walk/Run 2/1.  

By the time that I got to the underpass going towards the Contemporary, I was even having difficulty in keeping that going.  I had managed to run for a few minutes to pass the balloon ladies briefly.

As I finally made it into the Magic Kingdom, I just really don't know what emotions I was having at this point.  It was great to be there, but I knew I was currently in the "last place" position and would be fighting the whole way to keep ahead.

At this point, my bright spot is that... Hey!  I'm in last place.  I should be able to get a GREAT picture coming out of the castle.  Yeah... wrong.  As unbelievable as it is, the 2 gals in front of me... JUMPED IN FRONT OF EACH OF THE PHOTOGRAPHERS coming out of the castle.  I've checked my photos online.  Yep, sure enough... not a damn one of them has just me in the picture.  In each and every freaking one of them these 2 ladies are in them.

I progress into Adventureland and the Balloon Ladies pass me again.  I'm pretty crushed at this point.  My ankle is hurting with every step I take (no, not song from The Police), I'm experiencing a jolt.  With fear that I may have a stress fracture, I make the decision to bail at the medical stop outside of the Magic Kingdom.  I stop by the tent, request an ice pack and a towel.  The also give me some Tylenol.  

I entered the med van and wait to leave.  We get the clearance to leave and we make our way out.  2 ladies in the van with me were attempting Dopey.  With no training!!  So I listen a bit to them talking.  The lady directly in front of me is in great pain.  They get out of the van and I hear the med techs say something that it looks like she ruptured her Achilles, because she was unable to move her foot.

Once I make my way out of the van at Epcot, they shove a medal in my hand.  I told them I didn't want it.  They replied that it's mine, take it.  Whatever.  I slowly hobbled my way to the buses.  Thankfully, the Pop Century bus takes right off.

6.2 miles.  That's what I did that morning.

After the Marathon attempt
After I get back to the room and go through the shower, I'm feeling a bit better and decide I've got enough time to go to Epcot and cheer on those still running the race.

I first made my way to the center part were the Christmas tree normally stands, it's the Marathon's last turn towards Space Ship Earth.  I sit down and cheer on people as they come around the corer.  It's extremely hot in this area though.  I'd not eaten anything yet and didn't have anything to drink with me either.  I decided to go to where the runners enter into Epcot at the UK Pavilion.  It was a bit shadier there and I was able to get a Teabreeze (with no alcohol, its the frozen lemonade that I love plus some tea, an Arnold Palmer slushie).  

I got to cheer on many people.  I got to see several of our WiSH team mates come through the last stretch.  I even got a full body tackle hug from one them!  The remainder of the trip on Monday, I met up with teammates for breakfast at the Boardwalk Bakery, hobbled around Magic Kingdom and then got on the bust to the airport.

After the DNF and ankle injury in November and the results from the Marathon, I was pretty crushed.  I was at least hoping to make it half way and didn't managed to get even that.

BONUS!
I came off of Marathon weekend to find out that we made a decent year end bonus at work.  I had decided last year that if we did make bonus, I would finally buy a new bike.

The last day of January, a local bike shop had a sale going on on 2013 models.  I wound up with a great deal on a GIANT Defy 5.  They had one left and it was just my size!

GIANT Defy 5

I also picked up a few things for the new bike.  A bottle holder and a helmet.  They weren't going to let me leave without buying one.

I had not ridden a bike since 1996.  I was swiped by a car while riding my bike into work one morning and I hadn't ridden since.

I made an appointment early in February to get it fitted to me.  I also picked up a pair of biking gloves and shorts.

I learned a lot from the fitting!

In late February I picked up a trainer, so I can ride it inside.  I've only ridden it a couple of times, both inside and outside.  We had a couple of days in March where I could ride it outside and I did.

I'm HUGE!

A new injury
A little over two weeks ago, I suffered a pulled groin muscle.  I made a doctors visit and they gave me a prescription for some pain medicine to help me get some sleep.  I was told to call back if by the end of the week my leg wasn't responding, it would mean I would have a very serious tear.

Since I was walking around, they were pretty confident that it wasn't that serious of a pull.

The pain is slowly dying out and I'm getting some of my range of motion back with the exercises and stretches that the doctor told me to do.

What comes next?
With the bonus that I mentioned earlier, I've signed up for more races this year.  I had already signed up for the Indianapolis 500 Mini Marathon that is in May.  Here is a brief schedule:

Indianapolis 500 Mini Marathon
May 2, 2014

With the 18 minute pace minimum, I've decided that with the weight and injury, I'm going to walk this.  I know I can still maintain about a 17 minute walking pace with little effort.

Chicago Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 Marathon
July 20, 2014

Chicago will be my race to fully start serious training.  My new training schedule I've come up with incorporates bike riding as my cross training of choice.  I will be running this with many of my Disney running buddies from WiSH and other groups.

Air Force Marathon  (Yes, MARATHON)
September 20, 2014

I HAVE to get a full marathon under my belt.  Again, I will have Rick as a running buddy.  He was great as a running partner for Cincinnati last year.  He was disappointed that he couldn't be at Disney for my first Marathon, well, he'll still get to be with me on my first marathon!

Indianapolis Monumental 1/2 Marathon
November 1, 2014 (A shot at redemption)

I'm just going to do this because I KNOW I can do this one.  I have to make up for spraining my ankle last year.

This is all in a lead up of hopes of doing the 10th anniversary Goofy for the 2015 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend.  Goofy is 1/2 Marathon on Saturday, Marathon on Sunday!

I just might have one more race for 2014, but I haven't made up my mind about it yet.

Now it's time to say good-bye...
Thanks for reading this long post.  I've needed to get some of that out for a while.  I've got to get my mind going in the right direction again and start making things happen.

See you real soon!

Thanks for Reading!
Regards,

~Kipp

2014 - The Road to Goofy 2015! Check the link above to see my current and past races.