January 30th

Scheduled Miles: 8
Mile Ran: 8.44
Total Time: 1:02:40
Current Weight: 174
Current Condition: A bit queasy

I never really thought of Owings Mills as a particularly hilly area. Sure, we've got your average up and downs and a few big hills but nothing that seemed that out of the ordinary. The only thing that really stands out is a hill on Pleasant Hill Rd that I have run up, but try to avoid. It's steep, long and doesn't have a shoulder or sidewalk making it not only hard but a bit dangerous. I do, however, run down it quite frequently over the summers when the days are longer and I can hit it while the earth is still bathing in sunlight.

Now, thanks to my handy dandy little GPS watch, which measures ascent and decent for the length of my run, I've become acutely aware that I'm training in the marathoning equivalent of the Himalayas. Take my run tonight for example. My total ascent for an eight mile run was 598 ft. To give you some perspective, and I might have mentioned this a while ago when talking about preparations for my run last year, the Marine Corp marathon - considered about average in terms of difficulty - has a total ascent of 485 ft, roughly. Those ascents come in the form of two hills at the beginning, the first a long, ambling trudge and the second an energy sapping vertical that puts the fear of God into more than a few of the participants. There's also a small hill at the end of the race up to the turn around and then finally to the finish line. The hill to the turn around couldn't have been more than 50 ft, but for my money it was by far the hardest of the race.

So to summarize, in 26.2 miles I ascended a total of 485 vertical feet and tonight in 8.4 miles I climbed 598 vertical feet. If you ran the course I took tonight for 26.2 you would have ascended approximately 1,865 ft. That's over half way up Maryland's tallest mountain, Backbone Mountain, which sits at 3,360 ft above sea level.

I guess what I'm saying is that Owings Mills apparently brings the hills like the Duke Blue Devils bring the suck. And that's a lot of suck my friends. As long as I can keep close to my goal pace on the mid-distance runs, I think I've got a good shot at qualifying in Fredrick. Fredrick, among the easier of the local marathons, is mostly flat with a few rolling hills. Sounds like easy pickings.

January 28th

Scheduled Miles: 14 (from yesterday)
Miles Ran: 13.3 (I was only trying for 13)
Total Time: 1:48:28
Current Weight: 173
Current Condition: My right foot hurts

It's 9:16 pm on Monday night and I'm buzzing like no one's business. I did my taxes tonight, what else was I supposed to do? Luckily, I'm right in that zone where I'm all relaxed and can type for once and things seem to just flow. Hopefully, the trend will continue, though the more IPA I drink, the more the motor skills - not to mention the ability to think clearly - will go straight down the crapper. So I'll try to hurry before I finish the next beer.

I was too lazy/tired yesterday to post about the run, so I'll play catch up today. Trust me, it's still fresh enough in my mind to recount accurately, not because it was bad this time, just the opposite. I felt really good, strong and close to were I should be at this stage.

I didn't hold the ideal pace I had in mind before setting out but I stayed under the dreaded eight minute mile, which was an accomplishment in and of itself. After last run, the point of yesterday was to get though a long run without walking, passing out or dying. Happily, I succeeded.

The training regiment I followed last year, which I'm tentatively following again with advanced time and pacing goals, suggested that a person run their long runs at a pace a full minute slower than their desired race pace. Meaning that since I ran a 7:55 minute mile yesterday, I should be running a 6:55 minute mile on race day. Personally, I'm not sold on the whole idea. I'm the kind of guy that needs to experience and know what he's going into before the big day.

For example, in high school I ran indoor track my senior year. I was placed with the distance team, though it was more of a volunteer subjugation as they were hard up for upperclassmen participation. We trained by running around the school grounds after class, much like a cross country team would. The problem with that was I had never ran a mile race before and when it came time for the first indoor meet of the year, I hadn't a clue as to what the fuck I was doing. The race was sixteen laps and I sprinted out to a sizable lead, a rabbit without a pursuer, when the gun went off thinking the rest of my competitors must suck the big one. Unfortunately, I had no sense of pacing at that point and got subsequently passed by every one of those slow-ass losers I had mocked at the beginning of the race.

Needless to say, I need to know how the pace I'm running the marathon feels before I get out on the course. In fact, I want my slow pace on the long runs to be my goal pace for the marathon, but that's a feat that like the horizon always seems be the same far off distance no matter how fast I go. I need to get my distance minutes a mile down but for now the point is to get used to the distance. And thusly, I took my first steps.

One day an eighteen mile run will look like nothing more than a quick jog. Unfortunately, that day has not yet arrived. I'm hoping to get it in the mail next week. Also, it's looking like this could be, dare I say, the first uninterrupted week of training. No business trips, other work related ventures or personal tragedies. I'm thinking this one might just work. Yippie Kie-yea, motherfucker!

January 24th

Scheduled Miles: 4
Miles Ran: 3.85
Total Time: 0:26:03
Current Weight: 174.5 (I consider this a minor miracle because the food in New York was exceptional and I ate an exceptionally large amount of it)
Current Condition: Rested

Much like everything else in life, speed week hasn't quite worked out as planned. I had a schedule, a plan, an idea and then NYC had to butt its way into the middle of the week and complete throw everything askew. So now I'm left picking up the pieces like a deep sea diver trying to salvage the wreckage.

But don't let me snow you, as pissed as I am about how the week has gone, I'm equal glad I got to visit New York. Hell, half the reason my training schedule went to fucked-up town was, in fact, because I got so fucked up in New York. Righteously fucked up. The kind of fucked up that takes a full days living out of your bed to get over. It was great, glorious and beyond fun for a one day work trip. Gin and tonics have never treated me so bad or made me feel so right. A recap is 1) not what I do here, and 2) completely impossible considering I can't name half the places I went on Tuesday night. Therefore, I propose we leave it alone and move on to the present.

Back to running. At least that was the theme I was trying to convince myself of tonight. And I guess it worked - I ran. Things really weren't that bad to be honest. I thought after a sloth-of-the-seven-deadly-sins-variety three day layoff it would take some work to get back into the swing of things. Luckily, the gods seemed to have taken pity on me and granted me at least some level of my former athleticism.

I did accomplish one feat tonight that was sorely needed - I ran a mile under 6 minutes. The first mile to be more specific, but first, last, who's counting? The point is that it needed to be done and I needed to hold a good pace after doing it. It's not like they give you prize for breaking the 6 minute mark then heading to the sidewalk to sit with all the rest of the spectators. I can't lie, it's fucking fast. Ridiculously fast even. And speaking of ridiculously fast, I also topped out a new maximum speed of 11.2 mph. Now mind you, that's down hill, with the wind and I only held it for about a half mile. Though I could never hold that pace on a flat to keep up with an Olympic caliber runner, at least I know I could run - no sprinting allowed - with him on a downgrade long enough to shove a stick between his legs. Those guys really are incomprehensibly amazing. The more I run the greater respect I have for people pulling 2:20's.

January 21st

It's the beginning of speed week - yesterday being the first day - and I'm looking forward to quick workouts that reinvent my idea of pace and speed. Plus, I'll get a little extra time back to do with whatever comes to my mind considering my longest run will be four miles.

As usual, this week's schedule will have to skew from planned due to an unexpected but much looked forward to trip to NYC tomorrow. It's a business trip but will hopefully involve a minimal amount of actual business goings on and a good bit of drinking. At least if I have anything to do with it. Because of said trip, I'm pushing tomorrow's run up to today. Shouldn't be much of a problem as yesterday's long run was an easy six mile tromp. I'll more than likely then move Thursday's run to Wednesday, ensuring I don't have a two day break - the killer of all things momentum. And since I'm always off Friday, ignoring last Friday, I'm hoping to get some track work or maybe hills in on Thursday to again avoid the two day layoff.

The way my whole training schedule lays out is two weeks on, one week off meaning that I'm pushing, adding distance, maintaining pace and generally logging a shitload of miles for two weeks straight then I get a week to fall back and recover before the next distance push. Things continue on as such until I run the event. It'd be sweet to run my four tonight in twenty minutes but I don't think I'm at that level yet. The fast single mile I've run was a 4:52 in high school and I still have trouble imagining that pace over a longer distance not to mention the addition of hills, cold, wind, ect. I'll report back later tonight, hopefully.

January 16th

Scheduled Miles: 8
Miles Ran: 8.5
Total Time: 0:57:15
Current Weight: 174.5
Current Condition: Good

Another successful day logged. I kept my pace under the 7 minute a mile mark without much of a problem. It's amazing how one fast paced run will completely change your perspective on speed. That's why speed training is so important. You can't run fast for a long time if you're not used to running fast for shorter distances. I should come out of next week feeling like a 7 minute mile is a jog. At least that's what I'm hoping because weeks 4 through 6 may be the hardest of the lot. But lets not get too far ahead of ourselves.

I don't want to jinx myself, but I've been quite please with how my body has been responding to the hard work. I've cut a good bit of weight already, though I will probably plateau this week. Week one drops all the water weight, week two the body fights back holding on to every last ounce of fat it can but after that the body tends to give up its cellulite treasure and the pounds start shedding again. I'm looking forward to that point because it means I'm one step closer to increasing my daily calorie count translated Ray gets to eat again. Most importantly, I haven't caught a whiff of the injury bug. Trust me, he stinks. I haven't really even been that sore. Let's hope things keep up.

I'll have to take a post soon and explain my dietary habits and plans for each phase of my journey. I'll make a point to get to that soon, though I don't know how entertaining it'll be. Of course, how entertaining is any of this?

Anyway, I've got another six miler lined up for tomorrow, probably at today's pace. Shouldn't be much of a problem. Also on the horizon, my GPS watch will hopefully be arriving Friday and I'm heading to NYC for a couple of days next week to attend a conference for work. Luckily, it won't be much work, I don't have to learn anything or even pay attention, I get to go to a Rangers hockey game and, best of all, it's on someone else's dime. And don't worry, I'll only miss Tuesday's run which I'll substitute with an out of schedule but necessary Monday run. It would be cool to run through NYC but I suspect I'll have better things to do, like getting shit faced with people I don't know.

January 15th

Scheduled Miles: 6
Miles Ran: 6
Total Time: 0:37:05
Current Weight: 175
Current Condition: Recovered

In Million Dollar Baby, Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris says in voice over:

"To make a fighter you gotta strip them down to bare wood: you can't just tell 'em to forget everything you know if you gotta make 'em forget even their bones... make 'em so tired they only listen to you, only hear your voice, only do what you say and nothing else..."

I got stripped down to bare wood on Sunday. I did it to myself without even realizing it. I broke myself (break yo self, fool!) down to rock bottom, but I had to before I could start building back up. And as shitty as it felt to be at the bottom of the pit two days ago, it feels that much better to be climbing myself back out now.

I had to do something today to get my confidence back up. I had to push and prove I could accomplish something. I was low after Sunday, discouraged by my performance and questioning whether I could finish what I started. It's times like those when you can't help but ask, "Can I really do this or is it just a pipe dream?" And it's times like those that you need to do something positive to convince yourself that you've got a shot, that you're not wasting your time and that all the effort isn't in vain.

I told myself before I took a step out of the front door tonight that I was going to do a speed run. Really, I'm not starting the speed training till next week for various reasons that I can explain later. I felt like I needed to kick it up a notch or two and make a strong comeback from what can only be considered a humiliating defeat. While researching my training schedule for the Marine Corp last summer I found an article that said to realistically have a shot at a sub 3 hour marathon you have to be able to run a 10k (6.4 miles) in 39 minutes or less. If you do the math, what they're asking is for a person to maintain a 6 minute mile pace for 6 miles. Obviously, you wouldn't be running the marathon at that pace, but they correlate in some form or fashion.

So, if you look at my numbers for tonight - 6 miles in 37 minutes - you'll notice that I ran a 6:10 per mile pace. Only ten seconds a mile slower than what the article outlined. Not too bad for only the second week. I felt so good after looking at my watch when the run was over it was like being high. I swear it was exactly what I needed to start rebuilding that confidence, to rekindle the fire. It's not where I want to be by the end - 6 miles in 32:45 - but since it's just the beginning I'm not concerned. I'll get there. And I feel like I took my first step in that direction.

I'm syked to run tomorrow. Should be a nice and easy eight miler. Can't wait.

January 14th

Scheduled Miles: 0
Miles Ran: 0
Total Time: -
Current Weight: 174.5
Current Condition: Who knows

Sunday, as it will be for the remainder of this training period, was a long run day. I was supposed to complete 12 miles yesterday and I'm happy to say that I travelled those 12 miles plus about a half mile more. What I'm more than a bit upset about is that I didn't run the whole thing. I'm not even going get into the amount of time it took me because it'll get me upset. Needless to say, I found my first double digit run more of a challenge than anticipated.

I got up early Sunday morning - well, early for a Sunday anyway - and headed down stairs with the intention of getting my run in before the football games started. I don't normally run in the morning, though it's not a bad thing to get used to considering most marathons start early in the morning. I'm not sure if unfamiliarity really breeds contempt but I can say for sure that it produces mistakes. My mistake was not eating a proper breakfast before I set out. I should have known better but you live and learn, you know?

So, to keep from a boring recap, skip to about 10 miles in and I'm literally dying. The course I was running, mapped out during summer training, is mostly uphill on the second half, a fact I didn't think would be much of a problem. However, by the time I'm halfway though the climb my energy is fading big time. Another mile later and I've hit zero. There's absolutely nothing left in the tank and I'm not even close to home.

The crap feeling started as an intense hunger. It was like nothing I've ever felt before. The only way I can think to describe it is when a pregnant woman gets a craving for something. Obviously, I have no first hand knowledge of such things but I imagine that's what it's like. Seriously, I would have killed for a Jelly Belly sport bean or a pulled pork sandwich. And the fact that I didn't have one and wouldn't have one for quite some time put such a weight on my heart I was afraid it was going to drag under every ounce of motivation I had to keep moving.

That lasted about 15 minutes and was subsequently replace by a worse feeling of nausea. It felt like something was lodged in my throat as, all the while, my legs are giving out, dropping my pace to a slow jog. Everyone moves through phases of energy usage - simple and complex carbs go first, then the fat stores and finally the body begins breaking down muscle - and each is associated with a certain wall that must be pushed through. I swear I pushed though them all until the only thing left to burn was brain cells. It's like I'd ran myself to the equivalent of two days at Bonnaroo. To say I was out of it is an understatement.

I had not felt that bad during the entire course of the Marine Corp marathon, which I believe had a lot to do with better prep the day before and morning of on my part and the availability of food on the course. Long story short, I made it home walking a significant portion of the final two miles and proceeded to eat three sandwiches - one ham, turkey and cheese and the other two pulled pork. After satisfying my hunger, I turned my attention to satisfying my will to die, drifting off to sleep and hopefully into some kind of coma. Unfortunately, I awoke several minutes later and uncurled from the fetal position to a plethora of stiff joints and aching muscles.

Next time, I'll eat some breakfast before I go, that's for sure. Walking when you're supposed to be running is beyond depressing and yesterday will be the last time it happens. No more walking, no more shitty performances. That's just how it has to be.

By the way, I bought a new training toy to aid in the pursuit - a GPS watch. I'm so stoked to use it. I ordered online and it should be here the beginning of next week. No more estimating how far I've gone or how far I have to go. Plus, it measures heart rate and bunch of other nifty stuff.

January 10th

Scheduled Miles: 0
Miles Ran: 0
Total Time: -
Current Weight: 176.5
Current Condition: In recovery

So, it seems Us Weekly decide to get me flipping out of my chair mad by reporting that dead-eyed, servant-slave to Xanu Katie Holmes was planning to run the Boston. I happened upon the article whilst browsing StarPulse.com because apparently they'll publish anything. I honestly had to sit on my hands and collect myself to keep from throwing the monitor half way across the office. If race organizers had bent the rules and exempted her from the 3:40 qualifying time for her group, especially since she put up such a gaudy time of 5 hours and 30 minutes in the New York, I would have seriously considered not going if I qualified.

Instead of freaking out and tearing down the office brick by brick, I decided to dig a little deeper, hoping to confirm my suspicions that the story was nothing but shitty reporting and/or a complete fabrication. Thankfully, the Boston Globe came somewhat through, disproving the story citing the equally untrustworthy Ok! Magazine as their source. For my health and the health of those around me today, I'm going to assume Ok!'s got their story straight. And if by chance they didn't, meaning alien Queen Crazy is participating, don't tell me until someone is ready with the straitjacket.

January 9th

Scheduled Miles: 8
Miles Ran: 8
Total Time: 0:56:12
Current Weight: 176.5
Current Condition: Tired

I was close to eclipsing the 1 hour mark today and let me tell ya, it wasn't fun. Eight's the most I've ran thus far, of course, it's only the first week. Honestly, the distance wasn't a problem. Once you've run 26.2 nothing seems far, but it did feel like it took a long time despite keeping a good pace. After four straight days of pounding pavement, I am quite the tired boy and I absolutely can't wait for a day off tomorrow.

It totally sucks that I had to rearrange my training schedule in the first week. It's something I'll try avoiding in the future, but I have a thing for work after work tomorrow, making a run impossible. It pretty much screwed up the whole week. Normally, I would never go four straight days but maybe getting through a rough beginning will help me out later. Twenty-four miles in four days. Seems like a lot but, trust me, it's nothing.

I know it's tangential, but I'm going with it anyway, so let's talk about showers. They're tedious and boring, unless that's your masturbation time and then they might just be the highlight of your day a la American Beauty, but we've got to deal with them every day so let's deal.

I take my shower at night after I run, mainly so I'm not getting into bed all sweat crusty and nasty. I'm a firm believer that everyone has at least one shower routine, whether they're aware of it or not. For example, I happen to have two. The first is a top to bottom wash - hair, face, body in that order. That's the preferred method. The other would be a bottom to top wash - body, face, hair - but I've always had a problem going straight from washing my ass to washing my face. Call me crazy and I know there's a lot of water and soap in between but I just can't bring myself to scrap crusties out of my ass, rinse my hand off, then proceed to put that filth hand all around my eyes and mouth. Nasty. So that one ends up going body, hair, face. I don't know what the difference between poo particles in the hair and poo particles on the face is but I'm sure there's a difference. Anyone out there brave enough to go bottom up?

January 8th

Scheduled Miles: 6
Miles Ran: None, yet
Total Time:
Current Weight: 177
Current Condition: Less sore

Dear 6 lb. 8 oz. baby Jesus,

If you see fit in your infantile wisdom, could you please keep the weather just like it is today until after I run the marathon. I understand, tiny little Jesus, that this may throw the world's climate into chaos plunging us into the next ice age but I'm willing to risk it. Please, diaper-wearing, shitty pants, laying in your own filth, thumb-sucking Jesus, answer my prayer.

Amen.

January 7th

Scheduled Miles: None
Miles Ran: 6.5
Total Time: 0:45:08
Current Weight: 178
Current Condition: Sore as hell but happy about it

I felt bad about pussin' out on my long run yesterday, so I went out tonight even though I was supposed to be off to put in the rest of the work. And to be honest, I didn't consciously sherk my responsibility from the day before, I simply didn't have my training schedule with me at home - an oversight I rectified today. It not an excuse and thus I took it upon myself to make up the difference. Rest days will be vitally important later on, but at this point with relatively short runs each day it doesn't matter quite as much. I definitely don't want to overtrain because I know where that leads. However, it's imperative that I get the work in.

Tonight, I thought I might divulge a bit more recent history to help fill in the gaps. After the marathon I went nuts. For a solid week after I ate and drank anything and everything I wanted. It was my reward and I felt I had earned it. Needless to say I stayed stuffed and drunk for much of the week. Naturally, I couldn't just stop completely. I need to come down slow to avoid a massive hangover that had been waiting in the wings for a full week. I cut back on the drinking, but truthfully only slightly, and went back to my pre-training eating out habits the next week and for the rest of year.

The beauty of marathon training and running in general is that it pegs out your metabolism. For all the abuse I was putting my body though, I wasn't gaining back any weight because I had a supercharged fat burning machine watching my back.

My goal was to maintain a 20-25 mile a week average over the course of the "offseason" (defined loosely as Nov. and Dec.). Unfortunately, like many goals set without a truly defined motivating factor, I found it next to impossible to keep up. I let it slip, choosing to focus on speed training over distance. I need to run less than a 7 minute mile the entire marathon to go sub 3 and if you're not used that kind of pace it's going to feel fast. Over the course of a month I had pushed my pace to close to 6 minutes a mile over short distances (less than 5 miles).

I was disappointed that I wasn't keeping up with the distance stuff but the improvement in speed had me feeling pretty good about myself. That was until the week of Christmas. Something happened that week - maybe it was the laziness of a holiday without work (I was off for a week and half), maybe it was the mountains of food I was devouring, maybe it was the reservoir of alcohol I had made my personal mission to drain. Who knows. More than likely, it was a combination off all three but the end result was that my body threw a switch I didn't even know existed.

It was a switch that changes a man from an athlete to your average shlub. I started gaining weight, packing on eight pounds between the two holidays. It seemed my fat burning machine had sprung a cog or two. And when I went running during that week, I felt like total crap. I mostly blame the alcohol. It's impossible to hydrate when you're drinking every night. Wearing a permanently attached ten pound weight couldn't have helped either.

Should I have done more prep working leading up to yesterday? Of course. But I feel like I'm doing alright and might be pushing that switch back to the athlete side ever so slowly. Give me a week and I'll be back in the swing.

January 6, 2008

Scheduled Miles: 10
Miles Ran: 3.5
Total Time: 0:23:40
Current Weight: 180

And thus it begins. The first run of many more to come. It's a sobering thought - such a long journey. A truckload of hard work ahead and you know nothing scares me more than a shitstorm of hard work on the horizon. But I got myself into this and I'm going to see it through. I've done it before and I'll do it again. They say the first step is always the hardest. Don't they? So here we go, time to lay out the map.

First, let's get some formatting issues out the way. I'm planning on starting every entry with the list you see above. I may add some categories as needed but I figured this was a good start. Each entry will be titled with the date I wrote it, unless it's off subject/a tangential topic, which I'm sure will happen every once in a while. No Lindsay Lohan stuff, though, I promise. That's pretty much it. The list then I'll move on to reflections on the day's run, updates on my current condition, whatever.

Being the goal oriented creatures that we are, I figured I'd start by laying down some supplemental goals to the aforementioned Boston qualifying and sub 3 hour performance. Most of these are intertwined with the main goals and are things I feel I need to do to reach the pinnacle of success.

1) Get to a running weight of 160
2) Improve my eating habits
3) Stick with the training schedule I laid out before training started for the Marine Corp
4) Incorporate weight training into my daily regiment
5) Become a ripped, hot and sexy model
6) Talk about how much of a ripped, hot and sexy model type I am all over the internet with people who can't and probably never will actually see me or give a shit

Ok, maybe those last two were a bit of joke, but it would be cool to transform into a hot and sexy model type. My wife would probably like it till all the media attention strained our relationship to a breaking point and we divorced in a bitter and ultimately mind-numbingly long court battle for custody of the dog.

Back to the running, huh? Today's run was, by all accounts, short and easy. But it was definitely what the doctor ordered as I am supremely sore from the flag football game I played yesterday. Frozen ground really does feel amazingly like concrete when you're diving for the endzone on it. More to come Tuesday. I have off tomorrow and will more than likely just throw some weights around a room or toss Brandi from a second story window. I'm just looking to get a little work in.

Revamp

This site was the rambling missives of a complete and utter idiot. But no more, because this idiot is taking his personal blog in another direction. No more absurd rants, no retarded op ed pieces on startletards you and I shouldn't care about anyway, no more postings on random idiocy from the far reaches of the internet universe. A new year, a new start if you know what I mean. So without further ado, I give you said new direction.

From this time forward till I change my mind, this site will serve as a running journal while I'm training for the Fredrick and ultimately, God willing, the Boston Marathon. If you don't care about running or anything marathon training entails then I'm sorry but you probably won't give two shits about what I write here. I'd suggest not wasting your time on me and moving on to some other distant corner of the internet. If you need any suggestions, I've got plenty of them listed in the "links" section of this page. All are true masters of their craft and will assuredly provide you with the hours of enjoyment you so richly deserve.

For those of you still around and who care about running, marathoning or Ray, here's the deal. The Frederick Marathon goes off on May 4th. Check out their website if you'd like more information. And more accurately, I'm running the Maryland double, meaning I've also signed up for the Baltimore Marathon running fall of this year. My primary goal is to qualify for the 2009 Boston Marathon with my '08 Frederick time. But more than that, I want to run the marathon in under 3 hours. For those who don't know, the qualifying time for Boston is 3:10 for my age group (I'm 26).

Now that where I'm going has been taken care of, let me divulge where I've been. Frederick will not be first marathon, but it will be my second. Last fall, I ran the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington, D.C. It's one of the largest marathons in the nation, on close to the same level as Chicago, New York and Boston. It was an amazing experience, one which I was looking forward to chronicling on these pages and have started, see Marathoning: Part 1. Unfortunately, I haven't found the time to finish, but don't worry, I will. In fact, I'll more than likely separate the complete story out from these pages and give them their own section simply to not interrupt the flow and format of the site. In the Marine Corp, I placed in the top 9 percent of all finishers with a time of 3:37. A good base but I have a lot of work to do. I'll explain and expound on the aforementioned work as we go along.

If you're still with me, I hope you find this website interesting, possibly informative and most of all well written entertaining. Wish me luck and stick with me, we've got a long road ahead.