Jeff’s Post – It’s My Birthday!
Today is my birthday and I began my birthday celebration with a nice leisurely 5 mile run with Tamara. As I get older my birthdays are less about getting old and more about being thankful for the things in my life. I’m so very thankful for my wonderful family and Tamara’s incredible love and support. I’m also thankful and feel fortunate every day that I’m able to go out and run. I often wish I discovered the joy of running earlier in my life but also realize it found me at a time that I needed it most. Running – the gift that keeps on giving!
Running also allows me to eat cake on occasion and Samantha made sure we celebrated some cake before we left for our trip!
Have a great day!
Jeff’s Post – A Trip without a Race!
Tamara and I are on a mini vacation in Irvington Virginia and for the first time in a long time our trip is not geared around a race. It is very hard for us but we are going to try to relax for a few days. Some wouldn’t consider waking up the first morning of your vacation and going for a run relaxing but we do! We went for a nice leisurely 4 mile run this morning exploring the town.
More pics to come but I thought I would share a view from our room.
Have a great day, take a run if you can and remember it is ok to relax a little too!
Jeff’s Post – A Slight Hitch in my Giddy Up!
I feel like this is a broken record but Tamara and I continue to plug away on house stuff. We were up Friday night past midnight painting (that makes me a little grumpy btw) but we are finally getting there. I’m still wishing I had time to post more and will soon and Tamara will be posting again (one she finishes rearranging the kitchen!).
Now for your enjoyment a running recap of the past week :). I started Monday off with a ½ marathon on the treadmill. Some people think I’m nuts for doing this but after running on the treadmill so much I need to find things that challenge me and right now that is challenging me. This was actually my second Monday in a row doing this. I followed it up with a fast 6 miles on Tuesday, 8 on Wednesday. When I went to bed Wednesday night I was thinking I wanted to try for another 13 on Thursday and that is whata I did but at around mile 12 I felt a pain in my left calf. I thought it was a cramp and pushed through the final mile but I was definitely feeling some pain that day. Friday was a planned day off for me and I was relieved that my leg was feeling better but not 100%. I wanted another 50 miles for the week and only needed 10 over the weekend but my leg was hurting a little on Saturday so I decided another day off was best. This morning I woke up before the sunrise and headed out for a 10 mile run. I was a little nervous not knowing how my leg would react but by mile 3 I knew I was good. The run this morning was so enjoyable. The weather was perfect, watching the sunrise was amazing and it was so early that it was just me and the open road. I ended up having my second best 10 mile time ever coming in just a little over 1:14. The only thing missing was Tamara who was in the gym running while I was out on the road.
I’m thankful for another good running week and will definitely pay attention to my leg this week but I want to keep pushing it. It won’t happen for a little while but I really want to run a ½ marathon a day for one week and I want to run a marathon on the treadmill sometime this year.
Hope you have a great week – keep pushing and run smart!
Jeff’s Post – Making Strides!
After months and months of work around the house I finally feel like we are making strides. The basement is about 90% finished (pics coming soon!) and today we moved all of the remaining furniture that was sitting in the garage down to the basement. Now we can fit two cars in the garage again – Yeah!
One of the things I’m most proud of is that during all this chaos I did a good job of staying focused on running. In fact, running helped me stay focused on all the things that were going on around me. One of the many many things that I love about running.
Last week I had my first 50 mile week in months. I started off strong running a 1/2 marathon on the treadmill Monday and Tamara and I finished strong with 6 hot miles today.
Tamara and I are committed to picking up the blog posts and hope you continue to stay with us as we share our journey. Stay tuned as we gear up for a great summer – we can’t wait to share!
Have a great running day!
Run Free Kilee!
With a heavy heart we had to say goodbye to Kilee this weekend. Kilee was the athletic one and would often go running with Tamara. We miss you Kilee but know in our heart that you are now whole and running free once again.
Jeff’s Post – Ups and Downs!
I don’t normally like to get off the topic of running but I will for a moment with this post. Tamara and I have been through a crazy range of emotions over the last week. So, I give you a little behind the scenes at “werrunners”. We didn’t discuss it much but some of our loyal readers picked up on the fact that Tamara and I are a “dating running couple”. We both own houses and decided recently to move in together (Tamara moving in with me – on Memorial Day weekend). We have been working non-stop (with an amazing amount of help from my parents) to get things ready for the move. Part of this was to finally finish my basement and to get a nice gym set up for us. Rewind to last Wednesday – Tamara calls me at 2:30 in the morning (still living apart) to tell me that her Manchester Terrier “Kilee” came in from outside and couldn’t move her back legs. She didn’t appear to be in pain but obviously we were both alarmed. Tamara stayed with her and made an appointment for her at the vet first thing Wednesday. She calls me from the vet and says that they think Kilee had a stroke and referred us to an emergency animal hospital about an hour away. I left work and met Tamara and we headed to the animal hospital. The doctor advised us that they would have to do an MRI to get a better idea on what we were dealing with. We took Kilee to an imaging center about 2 hours away for the MRI and then headed back to the animal hospital to discuss the results. The results – no stroke, no disc issues, no tumor, no cancer and a spinal tap confirmed no infection but the spinal cord was showing some sort of discoloration around ½ way down Kilee’s back. Kilee was a 100% healthy dog, she was the athlete in the family and Tamara often took her running with her and now she was paralyzed in the hind quarters. Needless to say we were devastated. 
Tamara has another Manchester Terrier “Kacee” and I have a beagle mix “Teddy” and we were so exited for all of the dogs to finally live together. They have spent many weekends together and Teddy and Kacee were fast friends spending their time chasing each other around the yard. We decided it was best to leave Kilee at the animal hospital for a few days to start a steroid treatment. Move to Thursday – We begin the move to my house on Thursday and Friday (again with amazing help from my family). We check on Kilee a few times a day with no change. On Saturday we decide to go get Kilee and bring her home. It was important for Tamara and I to make sure Kilee made the move with the rest of the family. Again, another range of emotions when we see her. She was scared but so happy to see us when we came in. I wish I had a video camera running when we brought her in the house. Kacee and Teddy were so excited to see Kilee and it was amazing how gentle they were with her. At the moment we are caring for Kilee in our home. We have been carrying her around like a baby and I have walked her some with a towel around her hind quarters. 
Tamara has quickly learned how to express the bladder and at the moment we are just glad to have her home. It is still heartbreaking to see her in this condition and we are hoping for the best over the next few weeks. We are puzzled, saddened and angry over the sudden paralysis of her legs and continue to look for answers. Of note is that she was treated with Simple Guard flea and tick medicine a few days before her paralysis. Tamara is convinced that this treatment played a role in Kilee’s issue and she will be writing a blog post over the next few days to talk about her findings. Hoping all the dog lovers can send some positive thoughts our way. We would love nothing more than to see Kilee run free again.
A few running notes: For the first time since I can remember I took 3 days off from running as we dealt with Kilee and our move. I did get a run in on Sunday – it was a hot 6 miles and I thought of Kilee often during my run. Tamara and I also ran a hot 4 miles this morning. Tamara got her new Landice L8 treadmill delivered on Wednesday and got to run on it the first time on Saturday. The gym is also nearing completion. Still have some things to add but we are getting there.
Have a good day – Go for a run if you get a chance and give your pet a hug!
Jeff’s Post – An Update!
Our posting frequency will pick up soon but we are still consumed by all things house related. We are making progress but I won’t lie I’m almost over the basement remodel. It is looking great but I can’t wait to get it done and be done with the dust – I’ve never seen so much dust. We were so busy that we skipped Warrior Dash this weekend. We could have gone (it was a few miles from the house) but there was just too much to do. We ate the registration fee. I hated to do that but sometimes you just have to punt. I did manage to get a nice 6 mile run in on Friday. I went out like gang busters with a 6:40 pace for mile 1 and 7:00 for mile 2 but then all the painting caught up to me and I slowed to an average pace of 7:40. Tamara and I were able to squeeze a run in on Saturday. Once again we were painting since the wee hours and were both tired but we managed 5 miles at a decent pace. I took Sunday and Monday off. Tomorrow is an exciting day – Tamara’s new treadmill (Landice L8) should be arriving and I will also be moving my treadmill to the new gym. I posted a few gym pics of the gym progress below – Note all the dust in the air from the flooring.
Started the day off right with 6 treadmill miles this morning. Have a great day and go for a run if you get a chance!
Jeff’s Post – Quick Weekend Recap!
Wow – the weekend just flew by. The basement remodel is in full swing but we found time for a few runs. Saturday we got up early and went for a speedy 4.85 miles – ( I know – we should have gone 5 but Tamara said no). This was such a fun run and there was definitely some racing going on. We ended up with a 7:25 pace – No world records but it was fun to go fast and I loved how we pushed each other. After our run we headed to Lifetime Fitness and finally bought Tamara’s new Treadmill. She ended up picking out the Landice L8. This such a nice machine and after 10 years on her current Nordic Track I think she deserves it! Now I want one :). We should be getting it in around 3 weeks – They are waiting for us to finish the gym! Saturday night we stayed up until 2:30 am painting the gym (don’t you love the color) – Then after a few hours sleep we went for another fun 3.1 miles on Sunday morning. We ended the weekend with a nice Mother’s Day brunch with my parents.
Hope you have a great running week!
Tamara’s Post – OC 5K Race Report
I’m behind again – with just about everything in my life – so here is my late race review for the Ocean City 5K. I really wasn’t expecting to run a race when we headed to OC. Since I found the 5K filled up a week before the race I was determined to not train and just run – and eat. When I heard they might open more charity slots, I thought maybe there was a chance – but knew we would be getting in town late on Friday. The weekend was all about Jeff and I wanted him to be relaxed and I wanted to watch him finish the ½ marathon. So when we got to the expo (ok, really just a registration table) we noticed they still had 5K slots opened. It didn’t take long for me to pay my $70 and sign up. Done. I think Jeff was a bit relieved because he knew I really wanted to run. Race morning I was my usual grumpy self – Jeff was up too early (in my book) and I was just in my pre-race foul mood. I tried hard not to complain about being tired (after all it was his day – not mine). We drove to the race start and hung out until the ½ started. I loved watching the start of this race – I stood up on a set of steps and overlooked the 100s of runners streaming down below me (yeah, there goes Jeff! I think he saw me!). I noticed the course looped back to the boardwalk and I was thrilled to be able to see Jeff again and get an action shot (1/8 of a mile in and he’s looking strong!). It seemed like forever (really was :45) until the 5K started – I sat in the car and listened to music. I was determined to run a good race, but thought a flat 23:00 was probably all I had in me. When I lined up at the start line I was shocked (ok, I was angry) to see a row of people at the very front of the pack with backpacks and casual running clothes on (way too judgmental, I know). I jumped out of line to quickly use the restroom when I noticed we still had 5 minutes (I’m quick like that). When I returned I butted my little self right smack in the middle of the front row – yup, I made someone mad and I got a remark from a woman next to me. I apologized and sincerely told her that I was only able to run about a 21:15 5K and she was welcome to step in front of me – she quickly said “Nope, that’s ok!” and we chatted a bit about the race. When the gun went off I bolted outta the chute and panicked when only 2 men started as fast as me (what the heck?!). We made a sharp turn onto the boardwalk and soon a few other raced past me. I was the lead woman – for a short time – another girl caught me and we ran together for a few seconds and then she smoked me. I watched her go ahead strong (she was young I reasoned, it’s ok). I’ve run on the boardwalk before but never raced – wow, was it a weird feeling trying to kick as hard as you could while the old boards moved under your feet. I felt clumsy. I didn’t look at my splits and when I got to the turnaround I gathered I was about 30 seconds or so behind the lead woman. And the woman behind me was a least a minute. It was a wonderful feel to be in the first pack of runners heading back to the finish as 700 other runners were still making their way to the turnaround. I loved the cheering from those behind me – the enthusiasm, the excitement, the smiles. I got several heard several comments such as “Way to go!”, “Look another woman”, “You are the 2nd woman”, “Nice job!”. I was motivated and excited and I tried my hardest to kick harder to catch the lead woman – every time I got closer she pulled away. Ugh! There was a nice little cheering section at the finish and being the 2nd woman overall was a wonderful feeling! I was satisfied (not thrilled) that my time was 21:50 – I did better than I expected, but didn’t beat my time from a few weeks ago. I chatted it up at the finish then jumped in the car. I was able to shower and change before I got the awesome news that Jeff got a PR in the ½! I was excited for him and hurried over to meet him at the bus stop at the post-race party. Great food, great (strong) drinks, and a pretty cool trophy made this race one that I would definitely do again! I don’t want to talk about the “morning after drinking too much run” all I can say is – wow, that was painful!
werrunners 