50k Training Week 1

This week is the first week ever that I started training for a new type of running.  Ultra Running.  Running an ultra marathon is running any distance beyond the 26.2 marathon distance.Common distances are 50k, 50 mile, 100k and 100 miles.  Your read that right. 100 miles.  This is where the physical act of running leaves your feet and enters your mind.  How long can your mind keep your body going? 

Over the next 4 months I will begin to unpack that question.  Now however we slowly build.  Keep in mind I built my program as a long distance triathlete dipping in to realm of Ultra running.  I am not or will I ever will be just a runner.  I love riding way too much.  Here is how the week looked.

Monday- Rest
Tuesday- 1 hour run (6.75 miles)
Wednesday- 1 hour run (6.6 miles)
Thursday- 1hour 42 min bike (27.5 miles)
Friday- 1500 meter swim in 27 minutes  15 x 100
Saturday- 10.4 mile run in 1hour 35 minutes.

I iced my knees after every run and ride, whether I was sore or not.  This will continue.  I am only running 3 days a week.  The long run will build up to 5 hours.  I will get in 1 maybe 2 bikes a week, and 1 swim a week.   Overall, I am very happy with the first week back at it.  More next week...

The real reason behind my Hiatus…

So now it appears I feel like saying something… actually a lot of somethings.  As you recall in early December I had a complete heart workup and all was fine. It still is, but I received a call from my cardiologist stating there was a “nodule” on my lung.  They wanted me to get to a pulmonary doctor to have it checked out.  Enter doctor #4 with his copay.

I headed to the pulmonary doctor and he was not too concerned about the nodule, but wanted to have a PET scan done.  This scan is NOT a search for Pets in your body, but it is a scan for CANCEROUS CELLS in your body. I now introduce you to Wikipedia for hopefully the last time for a while on this blog.

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Positron emission tomography (PET) ^[1] is nuclear medicine imaging technique that produces a three-dimensional image or picture of functional processes in the body. The system detects pairs of gamma rays emitted indirectly by a positron-emitting radionuclide (tracer), which is introduced into the body on a biologically active molecule. Three-dimensional images of tracer concentration within the body are then constructed by computer analysis. In modern scanners, three dimensional imaging is often accomplished with the aid of a CT X-ray scan performed on the patient during the same session, in the same machine.


If the biologically active molecule chosen for PET is FDG, an analogue of glucose, the concentrations of tracer imaged then give tissue metabolic activity, in terms of regional glucose uptake. Use of this tracer to explore the possibility of cancer metastasis (i.e., spreading to other sites) results in the most common type of PET scan in standard medical care (90% of current scans). However, on a minority basis, many other radiotracers are used in PET to image the tissue concentration of many other types of molecules of interest.
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So basically I had glucose infused nuclear material injected into my body, I had to wait in a room for an hour, to wait for the nuclear material to spread, and then I had to get the scan done.  That was a long hour. What if I have CANCER? Who will I call for support? Will I beat it?  Who will marry off my 2 beautiful daughters if I’m dead?  These are all things that passed through my mind while I was in that little room.  Then about 30 minutes in a peace came over me and I actually fell asleep in the chair.


They came and got me for the scan, they did the scan, and told me to come in Friday morning for the results.  I called Mary Ruth and had one of those cries that you can only have with your spouse.  I wanted her to come with me to get the results, and she asked if Rylynn could come with us.  YES I wanted her there.


Friday morning came.  I was nervous. I read Lance Armstrong’s book, It’s not about the Bike…  I know people who have had CANCER turn their world on its side.  People are diagnosed all of the time.  Would my world be turned on its axis today?  Would I have to tell everyone I know and love (even my mother) I have cancer?  These are all legitimate fears, but in my fear I forgot that GOD is in control, and I need to listen and follow HIM, not my own plan. Worry about today’s obstacles, not tomorrows.


The results.  Richard, everything is fine…  I want you to keep an eye on your breathing while exercising, as you may have a slight case of exercise induced asthma.  THAT’s IT?!  And just like that I felt better, I could breathe, and I felt normal.


As a result of the events the past 6 weeks of my life I have developed a slight case of anxiety. I have almost never been sick, and the several visits to all of these doctors has shaken my confidence in my health.  It however, has not shaken my foundation.  I have family that loves me and cares for me, I have an understanding boss, I have a lifetime of experience to draw on, and most importantly I have a GOD who still has more for me to do here on this EARTH.


I wasn’t going to write anything, but this morning on the way in a local sports radio personality, who is a cancer survivor, had a PET scan last week just like me and was talking about it on air.  He has lived my fears and is still here to tell the story. It was the CATALYST I needed to share where I am at on my blog so, I can focus my efforts on all of the things dear to me.  To move onward and upward… To do what HE has for ME.

Coincidentally, today is the first official training day for my first Ultra Marathon. 50 kilometers.  It is slated to be a rest day, and it is.  Now I step forward with a clean bill of health to attack the distance.

Most importantly I can move forward to improve myself as a person and as a father…  I have 2 little girls that need to learn about GOD, learn right from wrong, get an education, meet a nice boy, have a lifetime of adventures along the way, and SOMEBODY needs to walk them down the aisle.

-I’m BACK

My hiatus...

So it's been a month since I last posted on the blog.  I have been base training.  I have averaged 4-5 hours a week, and have gained about 7 pounds.  Rylynn and I have had a bear of a time kicking this cold.  One day we are not snotty or coughing, and then the next day it starts all over again.  My official 50k training starts next week.  I feel a little under trained but my knees feel great!  As soon as i finally kick this cold it will be full speed ahead.  In the meantime we have a month until Tough Mudder.  I think I will just need to tough this one out... ,but I do need to get back to strength training this year.  The weight will peel right off soon enough.

I don't know when I'll post again... Maybe when I have something to say.

Happy New Year!