Archive for February, 2010

a quick note…

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

My posts have been few and far between lately.  I could go into excuses about being too busy blah blah blah, but the fact is I have been lazy.  My back is still giving me some trouble, so I haven’t been running like I should and it has been so cold, it is really hard to gain the motivation to get outside for endurance activities.

That being said, after (what I hope will be) a relaxing weekend with Jenn, I plan to start a 3-run-a-week schedule to get back into a routine.  I only have a little over a month before my next race, a half marathon, and I am a little intimidated by that thought.  Follow that up with a triathlon a month later and I realize I have a lot of work to do and that I need to be careful not to injure myself.  I need to stay injury free and in shape all year if I hope to finish my first Half Ironman that I have signed up for in November!

On another note, my Grandmother, Great Mia, is in the hospital with kidney complications.  Read more about it on Melissa’s post.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Random Thoughts, Triathlon Training | No Comments »

back to talking about training

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

After dealing with the wreck and finding a new car, I can focus on training and the rest of my life.

I did run my first 5K of the year last Saturday and it felt good to be in a race again.  It was the Alyce T Guettler Hunger Run in Rock Hill, SC and I mainly raced the event because they were doing it to raise money for a good cause.  It was cold and drizzling that morning, but it didn’t keep 100 people from showing up.  After I finished, I noticed that there weren’t many people cheering for the others as they finished.  So I stayed around and cheered people in, then went home to spend time with Jenn, Mia and Sadie.  As it turns out, I finished second out of four in my age group and missed out on collecting the award.  Oh well, hopefully there will be others.

Unfortunately, I think racing came at a price.  On Sunday, my back started to hurt pretty bad and after visiting the Chiropractor on Monday, I messed my back and shoulders up pretty bad in the wreck.  So I am forced to take it easy for a bit while I recover.  Hopefully the Chiropractor can work his magic the way he did before the marathon and I will be back at it real soon.  I will keep you guys posted!

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Race Reports, Triathlon Training | 2 Comments »

my new ride

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

After waiting to hear from the insurance company to tell me that my 4Runner had been totalled, I looked around for a replacement.  I would love to have a brand new 4Runner as they changed the body style for 2010 and I like it.  But, budgets have to come into consideration, so I (briefly) considered buying a sedan that would be much better on gas mileage, but I came to the conclusion that I would miss the capability that an SUV with 4 wheel drive provides.  So I looked around for a good deal on a used 4Runner and even considered a Nissan Xterra.  I finally decided that I would stick with Toyota, even though they are coming under scrutiny with their recent recalls, but I have confidence in Toyota as a company and especially the 4Runner.  They have not been involved in any of the recalls so far and even if they are at some point, I know Toyota will come up with a fix.

And now to present my new (well 2007) Toyota 4Runner:

newauto

My New Ride

 It is a 2007 Toyota 4Runner SR5 4WD.  It has just under 60,000 miles on it and has a clean history.  Was owned in North Carolina by one owner.  I found it at an Infiniti dealer and they made me a good deal on it.  Perhaps the flack Toyota has received recently helped me land it at more than $4,000 under NADA retail value.  What do you guys think?

Tags:
Posted in Random Thoughts | 5 Comments »

I feel like the luckiest guy in the world

Friday, February 5th, 2010

This week has been sort of a blur.  I am still trying to come to the realization of what I went through on Monday.  For those that haven’t heard, I was in a car accident on my way to the eye doctor on Monday.  I had just merged onto Interstate 77 and intended to merge into the second lane.  I checked my blind spot like I always do and when I looked in front of me again I realized I was going to hit the car in front of me.  I attempted to brake and go around the car when I acted too quickly with the wheel and lost control.  I ended up hitting the car, then hit the guard rail.  The car then flipped over 1 full turn before coming to rest back on the wheels, engine still running.  As my brain tries to comprehend what happened, I realize things in a manner that seemed like slow motion:

My foot hurts as it is still pressing as hard as I can on the brake.

I gasp for air (I think I might have been holding my breath)

I am covered with glass and the items that used to be in my backseat.

I am in the middle of the road and thankful other drivers were able to stop/go around me without hitting me and making things worse.

I think I am okay!  Nothing hurts too bad and I check to make sure I can move body parts.

The friendly motorist that came to check on me had a look of terror on his face.  His wife came to give me a hug after she realized I was okay.

Luckily the guy in the other car was okay as well.  He apparently spun around a time or two and then hit the guard rail as well, but not very hard.

Also luckily, I was okay even though airbags did not deploy.  I would have expected them to come out in a much less serious accident.  Makes me nervous about buying used cars again as I suspect it was in a wreck before I bought it and I wonder if the airbags were properly repaired.

As I said before, I feel extremely lucky.  And as I commented on Melissa’s blog:

Live life to the fullest by doing what makes YOU happy

and

Don’t dwell on things that aren’t important and things that you cannot change

Good-bye my dear friend...

Good-bye my dear friend...

When I saw Jenn, Mia and Sadie later that afternoon, I gave them all the love I could.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Random Thoughts | 5 Comments »