Scary & Exciting

Well, this past month has been both exciting and scary. Scary because I haven't had a job since October 9th, and I am rapidly running out of money. I have applied for unemployment, but they are in such a back log that it might take a month and a half to receive any money. I have never been without a job as an adult, but I find being in this position a blessing because I now have the opportunity to try something I would never have tried if I had a job. And, that is to start my own business. That is the exciting part.
I have launched Berkshires Dog Runner! It is a dog running service, much like dog walking, only faster.
Nothing would make me happier than to make a living, running. And, maybe if I can get in really great shape over the winter, I can supplement my income by winning a lot of races in the spring!
My diet has been about 50% raw these days. Not anywhere near where I would like it to be. But, stress, as you all know, will make you consider unhealthier options just so you can feel better in the moment.
I think my next race will have to be the Adams, Turkey Trot coming up in a couple of weeks. I ran it last year, and came in third. So, we'll see how I do this year. I know I'm faster than last year, but I'm also about ten pounds overweight.
Anyway, I'll compete as best I can.

When I was planning to move to New York City, I was thinking about my blog name. It couldn't be Berkshires Raw anymore, right? I thought of other names I could change it to, but I didn't like any of them. Until I thought of, "My Hearts in The Berkshires- Raw" I liked that, but then it suggested that my heart would not be in the same place as the rest of my body. Not good! That's never good no matter what you're doing: where you live, work, relationships etc. And, when I got to NYC, would I be able to be "there", and not pine -no pun intended- for the hills and trails I love to run in?

I know happiness does not come from anything outside ourselves, but since I don't claim to be a Buddha, I can realistically assume that my surroundings could effect my happiness.

Anyway, that's a lot of blah blah blah, just to say I'm happy to still be here in the Berkshires.



So, what's the next thing? I believe it's going to be the snow shoe series. I'm really looking forward to it.

My friend, Chrissie, and I ran 8x 200m yesterday. I had some of my best times, and I felt quick.
Here are the times:
1) 32
2) 34
3) 33
4) 33
5) 33
6) 35
7) 33
8) 34

"every little things, gonna be all right"

I hardly know where to begin. My life in the past two months has been a roller coaster ride: from separation, to moving plans to another state, to new job, to girlfriend, to no job, to no girlfriend, to not moving, to not having a place to live at the end of the month. And, I'm trying to navigate all of this with a positive attitude, a smile on my face, and faith that the universe has a plan for me that is greater than the one I was trying to manifest; because that plan has completely crashed to the ground. Which brings me to my favorite phrase: God laughs at our plans.
OK, because this is mostly a running and raw foods blog I'll swiftly move to those topics. The good news is my running is getting better and better! DON'T ASK ME HOW!! Before my meltdown, and after the mountain series, I was putting in a lot of good training for the Rochester Marathon. I was running about 70 to 80 miles a week. The training was intense, and I was getting very good results. In fact, I ran a 8 mile mountain race up MT Greylock, and beat Tim VanOrden by thirty seconds or so. (Sorry to mention that, Tim) http://www.runwmac.com/results/greylock-road2009.html
I thought I could run the marathon in about 2hr 45min. But,in the last two months because of everything I was trying to navigate, plus stress etc., my training has been spotty at best. But, I have run two 5k races in the past three weeks and Pr's both times. In fact, in this past Sunday's race, I ran the first mile at 5:07. That's a PR for a mile by about 12 seconds!?!
And it gets weirder as I have gained some weight, my diet hasn't been all that great, and I have never slept less. This is the new training method I should submit to a running magazine: BLOW YOUR LIFE TO HELL AND GET FASTER IN TWO MONTHS!!.
Oh, and here is the better news: I won money for both of those races! Actual money, not a mug, not a little trophy, but real money. Life is good, right?
Anyway, thanks for hanging in there while I have been distracted, and thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers you have sent my way.
"Don't Worry, Be Happy"

Coming Soon To A Blog Near You

I'm so sorry that I haven't posted anything in awhile. There's so much going on in my life that my little blog has had to take a back-seat for a time. Please know, that I will be writing new posts soon, and maybe even more posts than I have done in the past.
With all that's going on I'm still trying to keep my fitness up as best I can. I look forward to the fall running season even though it doesn't look like I'll be doing the marathon in September.
Thank you for everything.

I've almost hit my one year anniversary! One year ago next week is when I decided to run again, and train for the Turkey Trot in Adams MA. What a glorious year it's been since I took that first run. I remember, I just wanted to run for twenty minutes. Now, I can do twenty mile runs. I have already posted that story, "Raw Journey" so I won't bore anybody with more details, but I feel reflective now that a year has passed.
I feel a little lost now that the mountain series is over. Those races, and the training for them consumed my thoughts and energy for months. Now, I've got to look for the next thing, which I believe will be a marathon in September. My friend, Chrissie, has been training for this marathon in Rochester, NY since February, so I think it will be fun to go out there and support her, and run the race myself. And, of course, if I'm going to run a marathon, I might as well try to qualify for Boston, as well.
So, I'm running more mileage, and trying to up the overall training. We'll see how it goes. I'm very optimistic that I can qualify for Boston. That would be amazing considering, once again, that I've been at this for a year. My shoulder now hurts from patting myself on the back.
I've found some great trails around Kripalu! Beautiful! It's easy to run for an hour or two when one is out in the woods enjoying nature. It really doesn't feel like work at all.

I hate to say this, but I haven't run since the Cranmore Hill Climb. Results here: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/09/nh/Jun28_Cranmo_set1.shtml

I've done nothing but sleep for the past three days. Each day has been the same, get home from work, then fall asleep on the couch. Today, I didn't even make it to work. Oh well, it is what it is.

Tim, his father, and I drove up to N. Conway, NH and arrived early Saturday evening. After dropping our stuff off at the hotel, Tim and I drove over to the mountain and walked the course. This was the first time I had been able to get an idea of what a course looked like prior to a race. From the top of Cranmore you could see MT. Washington and the rest of the White Mountains. It is really beautiful. Getting a look at the terrain helped calm my nerves a little bit. I've been feeling slower and slower as the series has gone on, and as the races get harder and harder, I was spending too much time in my head fretting about what was to come.



The race is two 5k loops with a total gain of 2400 feet in elevation. Because we climb the mountain TWICE it would be a huge mistake to go out too fast in the beginning. But, sure enough, when GO! is given, people of every mountain running ability go out like a bat out of hell. It's just crazy. We hadn't even hit the 1K point, the real climbing hadn't even started, and there were people in front of me stopping to walk. I went out very slowly, and got boxed in early. Which was fine by me, it's a long race. The best guys run this race in about an hour. There's plenty of time to move up the mountain, and pass the over-exuberant.


I had a great climb up the mountain the first time, and I was feeling excited about where I was and how I was doing. But, then the downhill came after we hit the summit, and zapped all of the energy I had in my legs. Those of you who don't know, for many mountain runners, the downhills are worse than the uphills. They kill your quads, blister your feet, and sprain your ankles. And, if you take it carefully down the mountain, you get passed by everybody! The trick to downhill running is to run as if you have no regard for your personal safety, whatsoever. That's a trick I haven't mastered yet, so my legs take more of a pounding because I'm breaking as I go forward.


When I reached the base I was toast! My race was effectively over, and now it was just about finishing. Back up the mountain to do it all over again, I just put my head down, and put one foot in front of the other. Slowly up the mountain, I felt the mugginess in the air. The racers were now spread out over the mountain, it was quiet, and there was nothing but the mountain and my thoughts.


The second descent down the mountain was worse than the first. I was beaten literally and figuratively. I gave a nice final effort at the base, but I think it was just for show. Once I crossed the finish line, I slithered away, and looked for a place to sit down. I don't want to write this, but at that point I probably could have cried. I don't know why or how I managed not to, but I kept it together. Tim came over, noticed my facial expression, and said, "What's that face for?" I just shrugged my shoulders. He told me that I did very well, and that I had nothing to be ashamed of. I appreciated the words, but let them pass right through me.



I've decided to skip this weeks race, and rest up for the finale at Ascutney. The best five of the six races of the series are used for the point totals, so I can miss Loon and hold my spot in the top ten. And, I'm still third overall in my age group.



http://www.coolrunning.com/results/09/nh/Jul2_USATFN_1_set1.shtml



I'm glad that I've taken this break. I can hear my running shoes calling me back, and my mind is clearing. And I'm beginning to miss the wonderful trails out there in our beautiful forests.

Wow, I can't let this article go without comment. It comes from the AP, and was in the Berkshire Eagle on Wednesday. It's called "Disease Prevention Often Costs More Than It Saves". The first couple of paragraphs says it all.

By CARLA K. JOHNSON AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO (AP) -- When it comes to health care spending, an ounce of prevention is seldom worth a pound of cure. Take Mrs. Jones, a hypothetical 55-year-old obese woman at risk for diabetes. It costs $900 a year to hire a personal lifestyle coach to help her lose weight and prevent diabetes. Suppose that the coaching works for Mrs. Jones, and she is spared diabetes and all the resulting health bills.
But research shows that for every person like Mrs. Jones, six other people just like her get nothing out of such a program. They either don't lose weight or get diabetes anyway or wouldn't have developed it in the first place. The yearly cost of the prevention program for those six people: $5,400.
That's probably more than Mrs. Jones' health bills from diabetes would have amounted to.

...Right off the bat, this article doesn't make any logical sense. First of all, since when did any medication, CURE diabetes? Someone should inform the American Diabetes Association that there's been a pharmaceutical cure for diabetes! I think it would be news to them. Secondly, When, in this world, will everybody pre-diabetic be assigned a life-style coach? I don't know what planet this writer is from, but I can tell you, it's not this one. I tell you what though, if that were true, life style coaches would be the hot new industry to get in to, as there are about 24 million Americans with diabetes. And, if Mrs. Jones spends her own money on a life style coach, that would sound to me as if she were taking some responsibility for saving her own life.

Also, why would somebody put a price tag on good health? That's the big question here! Sure, you can add up all sorts of costs like a membership to a gym, running shoes, water bottles, organic foods, anything you want. But no matter what you spend on your health, it is far "cheaper" than poor health, and a life on medications.

If the "Doctor" from this article doesn't know that, she should take a quote from The Six Finger Man from "The Princess Bride": "If you don't have your health, you don't have anything".