Running on Faith

It has been awhile since I posted as my training has been non existant.  I struggled at the Twilight 5K because of some pain in my foot which has been getting worse.  I finally went to the doctor and have found out that I have a bone spur on my heel and this has left me with three options:

1. drop out of the half marathon

2. bite on a silver bullet for 13 miles and run the half

3. walk the half and let Dara beat me to the beer…….

Option #1 is not really an option so I hope that the medication the doc put me on helps and allows me to start running again sometime soon.  Option #3 is not really an option either because us mexicans will do anything for free beer, so biting on a silver bullet for 13 miles may be the plan…….

Now for some scoop on the medication I am taking – one of them is helping to reduce the inflammation/swelling in my heel/cankle area.  To do this the fluid must be released from the body in some manner……….yesterday morning I was stuck on I-10 at 5 am as a semi had caught fire near Laplace.  Well, about 5:30 am I felt this really strong urge to relieve some of the swelling and when I looked in my truck there was not a urinal to be found anywhere.  I looked at the vehicles around me and it seemed as though there were thousands of Camry’s everywhere and everyone knows that a Camry is a woman’s car and so relieving myself outside of my truck became less of a plan as well.  About the time I thought I was going to die an embarassing death from drowning in my own urine, a gentleman with a 44 ounce styrofoam cup appeared – there is a God!!!! 

I am sure that many people were wondering why I sat in my truck with such a HUGE smile on my face while sitting on a bridge for 4 hours.  So, 66 ounces later, Paco was on his way to work, and by the way, the swelling in my cankle is going away too………like I said, there is a God!!!

The title of this post describes what I am feeling as I work to get my running where it needs to be. I am hitting the gym 3 times a week and running 3 times a week and my legs are really beginning to feel like soft tacos.  By the way, I did have a fan base cheering for me during my run last night.

Impressive to say the least…….at least they were alive unlike Hardcore’s fan base.

This has been a great week as far as training goes.  I have run  and visited the gym every day.   I have plans to hit the gym and to run (slog is actually the term I should use - ”slow jog”) as much as possible before heading to the beach on Thursday.  I saw the list that Tim, Christine and my wife Marcie came up with for beverages for the beach and it looks like a hangover for sure, but Tim says we’ll just keep drinking to avoid the pain.  I like the way he thinks…….

My plans for running last weekend fell apart as I only got 4 hours of sleep Friday night and then 2 hours of sleep Saturday night, but the weekend was still a postive.

I have managed to run a little this week and I am started back at the gym – a positive sign for me as I am becoming a little more committed to my training.  Now if I can get the weather to cooperate.

My youngest daughter Sara turned 16 today and she received a car from her mom and I – was she ever surprised, and it was great to see that she absolutely loves the car!!!  She is with her sister Taran shopping right now and cruising in her new ride…….pretty awesome to see my baby growing up!!!

I will need to do lots of curls at the gym the next few days as the Hutchinson family and the Cornejo family will be at the beach for a few days, and that means Tim and I have lots of beverage to lift!   I am motivated to train as I have not consumed any beverage for a month and this mexican is thirsty!!!

Just kidding, I couldn’t dance if I had to, in fact my running is far better and that isn’t so good either……..

The good news is that I am still running – mileage isn’t great yet, but it will be.  I have definitely enjoyed my runs this past week, it is amazing how pain can make one feel so good!!!

I have to alter my training schedule this weekend as I leave for a youth retreat tomorrow morning at 6 am.  I love working on staff at this particular retreat and I consider this my “superbowl” of youth retreats.  With that said getting up at 3 am on Saturday to run will be a little easier because of the atmosphere I will be in.

Another good thing I look forward to is that my youngest daughter turns sixteen in another week – I am happy and sad at the same time. She is in for a surprise!!!  

I did start running again this week – well almost running but  I am back out and it feels good.

My first intended run this week was on a 3 mile course and I managed to run 1.5 miles and walked the remainder – not good, but probably what I expected.  My next run was through my old barrio and it was great to see the newly renovated boxcars, the burrito trees and taco bushes in full bloom and that they were being harvested by migrant workers from Texas (sorry Longhorn fans, just another opportunity to jab you losers again…..), and the children working their margarita stands.  I guess this helped me to forget what I was feeling and I managed to run 2.5 miles this time out.  Not impressive for most but I know I will be just fine going forward.

Ok, I have not run much at all in the last month.  Between work, five weeks of lean manufacturing training in Houston FOR work, and a handful of youth retreats I have not found much time to run.  I can honestly say that I have enjoyed the youth retreats very much – the more I am around the youth the more I learn to appreciate them and I know that I have received some really great conditioning as far as my faith goes……………

I will begin running again this evening and I know I have some catching up to do and I will get there – hopefully before December!!!

I do want to say that it has been a pleasure reading all the emails from Team ROF and I look forward to meeting all of you in the future.  This will definitely be lots of fun and I know we will all do well.

Last of all -  Happy Birthday to Hardcore!!!

Ok Tim, I am finally posting.  This week was very busy and but I did manage to actually start some training.  I got in four runs this week and they did not go too bad.  The first run was pretty uneventful until the neighbors dog smelled the fajitas on me and chased me for about 1/4 mile.  I never thought I had a 20 second quarter in me but was glad that it came at the right time.  Paco 1, neighbors dog 0!!!  The second run was not a thing of beauty.  I felt like I was in quicksand and was going nowhere very slowly. I did manage to beat my half marathon time, too bad I only ran 3 miles.  The third run was much better and I became a new superhero in my own mind – “Latino Heat”.  If I knew how to add the pictures I would as LH is pretty awesome.  My 4th run occurred before church this morning and the morning was really pleasant.  Another 3 miles.  I know have a LONG way to go to get back in shape, but I will get there – especially since Tim has offered a case of beer if I make 7 miles in July.  No wonder he is my best friend!!!

This next part is off the subject of training but worth sharing.  While sitting in the youth service this afternoon I loooked at Mason playing the drums – he has grown up quickly and I know Tim and Christine are very proud of him.  Then I took a look at Thomas – he is now a jr in high school.  When he was younger most adults would run as he made Dennis the menace look mild – but Thomas and I became friends nonetheless.  He has grown up and is a really good kid.  I guess what I am saying is that these youth are reaching goals and growing – kind of like team Running on Faith.  The team is growing and we have goals that we want to hit as a team as well as individual goals.  Even though I am very much out of shape I look forward to the challenge as my team will make this a very fun journey.  I look forward to meeting all of you and I really look forward to our fundraising effort as well.

Last year this little team of 5 misfits raised over $7000.00 for St. Jude Children’s Hospital.  What will our hopefully much larger team do this year?  $10,000.00?  $15,000.00?  More?  Only time will tell.

Where do I start? I never, ever wanted to run at football or basketball practice, let alone run a 5k or a half marathon. I can honestly say the only thing I would run for is to make it to happy hour before it was over.

About six years ago I had knee surgery and was told not to do any type of sports activity because a knee replacement was in store for me soon after. After a few months of inactivity, I decided to start walking to help get some weight off. It seemed to be working, which was more than fine with me.

Then my good friend Tim asked me to be his pit crew at the Rouge Roubaix bike race and then take a trip to see him participate in the Holy Toledo Triathlon. Watching him compete in the rain was pretty amazing but not as amazing as the leaks in our tents from the monsoon the night before the event. We all ended up sleeping in our vehicles! But even with all the craziness I had this urge to start competing again.

Little by little I began adding some running to my walking and really started to enjoy running. Then I ran the Jingle Bell Jog and the Oktoberfest 5k, which I do admit I enter only for the beer and sausage. Afterwards I told Tim I had this idea to enter a half marathon in Memphis, TN. Never mind the fact I had very little time to prepare because I had learned from Mr. Youroutofyourmind himself. So there I was in Memphis running my first half marathon and I was determined to finish. I did ok except for the cramps in my calves which hit at mile number ten. I finished thanks to a couple of other runners who helped me the last three miles.

It was during this race that I realized why Tim does all those crazy things while raising money for very worthy causes. I knew I would be back the following year and I was – as part of team Running On Faith. St Jude has found a special place in my heart and I will continue to participate and raise money for as long as possible. I am even thinking about the full marathon before I turn fifty as it will be another challenge that I know I can do.