BUSY BUSY BUSY

It has been a few weeks since I have written. I have been working 60-75 hours a week and trying to run, workout, and maintain some form of social life (which currently is nil!)

With that said, my weekly runs have really suffered. With having pneumonia and working weekends, it has been disastress to keep up... but I have been running on Saturday mornings before work (I have to get up at 5am in order to be there for the morning run! - YUCK!).

We are about to jump over the 10 mile hump as we did 10 miles last saturday (in under 2 hours) and 8 miles this saturday as a week recovery. Next week I will be in good ol West Virginia and will get to run my old route. I am VERY excited!!!! It has been over 9 months since I have burned those streets... so it will be good to be on some familiar turf without the fear of being shot, stabbed, robbed, or otherwise injured for and unknown purpose! :)

This Saturday (October 10) I volunteered at the Pinehurst Triathlon. It was awesome!!! After I complete my marathon, I think this will be my next training venture! I have the bike... the endurance (or will have) and the determination! See the pictures below.

Since I volunteered yesterady, I had to do my 8 mile run this morning... All went well except my Achilles tendon is acting up. I have iced it off and on all day today... and will take tomorrow off, so we will see if I just over worked it or what.

Well until next week -- I will try to be a little better at updating this :)

Run Hard,

Chris

Save Now

Death by Pneumonia

So my running for the week has come to a halt. On Friday morning... after a really nice run on Thursday evening, I woke up with a sore throat... nothing major, right? Well, by 10am I was coughing and started feeling hot, so i came home to rest up in order to be able to work Parents weekend on our campus on Saturday. Needless to say, my Friday night ended up being a fever filled, cold chilled, body turned, blanket cover, bad dream induced evening. By Saturday morning i was feeling bad enough to go to the doctor.... SHOCK!!!

Upon my showering... which was a feat all in itself since I was too weak to stand... I made my way to the urgent care where I presented the required information, but was denied service because I was told i needed to be referred by the school nurse. WHAT?!?-- was my response. Even though i am employed by the university? YES! I am not a student... I work there... I still have to be referred? YES! WHAT A WASTE. But this time I was too tired to go to another doctor or even the hospital, So i went to Walmart, got some popsicles, NyQuil and a thermometer and headed home to sleep my illness away.

Upon arrival home, I checked my temperature... 102.4 THAT IS HOT PEOPLE!!!! My brain could have fried, all because I had to be referred by the school nurse. IDIOTS!!!

I slept most of the night pretty well, but only thanks to Mr. Ny Quil and his friends Mrs. Ny Quil and Mr. Ny Quil, Jr. On Sunday i could barly move... so no doctor for me. By Sunday night... filled with drugs and bits of pieces of movie story lines that i missed due to drifting in and out of story lines, I decided i would go to the doctor on Monday before work. Before arriving at the same clinic, I called Cora, our on campus nurse and she told me I did not need a referral and if they asked to direct them her way and she would take care of them! I love her!!!

So Monday morning, I waltz in and am tested for Flui A & B, strep, mono, H1N1 (swine flu), bacterial and viral infections, and who knows what else! All were negative... GREAT!! I think. Upon diagnosis - Nasopharyngitis - AKA - the common cold. Pa-lease!!! The common cold is for pansies... this is death taking its toll on my body!!



Tuesday morning i came to work and upon coughing into a tissue, noticed there was blood in my mucous. NOT GOOD! Back to the doctor I go with no referral and coughing up blood. Final verdict after 3 hours in a waiting room, two chest xrays and a new doctor... PNEUMONIA!! This has just sealed my life in a barrel and rolled it over Niagara Falls. Six medications and $280 later... I am now on track to start back running next week with an 8 miler on Satirday. Having missed two big developmental runs on my way to 10 miles in another 2 weeks... I am a little nervous... but if Lance armstrong can do it being testicularly challenged... then I am sure I can manage with just one lung, Right?

On a positive... I have dropped 10lbs in 5 days... what a diet pneumonia is!!

Thats the thought for the day!

Much Love, CB

Training Week #5

This week's training has been interesting to say the least. Saturday's run was 5 miles. I am still getting used to the hills and the terrain of the course, but i finished in right at 57 minutes. I am still starting out too strong and fast... but the excitement gets to me, so i am going to need some pacing structure if I am going to continue the way I am! Too fast out of the gate means too slow back into the gate!

I have also been killing myself at work here lately. This past weekend, I went to the beach with my good friend Josh and his family right after my recovery run on Sunday morning. I took off of running on working out on Monday because of rain and the gym being closed and worked 16 hours on Tuesday, so that shot that day as well. I finally made it to the gym last night (Wednesday) when i got home from work after the first Sorority Recruitment Powderpuff football game. While the women played very well... the hysterics rested in the cheerleaders. (See pictures below!) I am also proud (I think) to call them my fraternity brothers. They are a good group of guys and follow my life motto to a tee, "Work hard, Play hard, and Never take yourself to seriously!"

Although I have already worked about 40 hours in the past 3 days... and will push out another 20+ this weekend... I look forward to Saturday's run of 6 miles to cap off week #5!!!

Stay strong, Chris

Run for the Red 5K

So, a week later, I finally have the opportunity to write about the Run for the Red 5K. Put on by the American Red Cross in Fayetteville, this course was KILLER! You start off going up a very large hill... then down another... then a steady incline up another hill until you turn around and do it backwards.

Not only was the course pretty hardcore for my first 5K in a while... but the heat was almost unbearable! It was around 80 degrees at 8 am when the race started... and the sun did not let up. The race also had its own iss

ues with check in, cold water, start times, etc., but I am sure that only really bothers people who are in it to win it. It takes a lot to organize something that big, so I applaud the leadership for taking on su

ch a daunting task!

Here is a picture of some of the people I am training with! Valerie is in the middle and Cheryl is on the right. I wish I could have gotten a picture with all the team members that ran, but alas, I did not.

I would have to say the highlight of the event, for me, was the slice of free pizza from one of the local pizza establishments. It was AWESOME!!!!

I forgot to mention. I finished the race in 37:46 which is A LOT slower then my normal pace. Not sure if it was the heat, or the first hill, but this Sunday, I finished 4 miles in 41:33, so i'm definitely finding my marathon pace!

Easy 2 miles

Today was another training run of 2 miles. Nothing major and finished in just under 20 minutes. I supposed to have logged those miles early in the week, but I worked about 14 hours on Monday, 16 hours on Tuesday, and another 8 on Wednesday. Needless to say, I have been a little overwhelmed with the start of school.

Tomorrow is our All -Greek BBQ, something I am bringing to campus to try to gain a little unity. It also helps that there is free food and access to a pool!!! -- So no run for me tomorrow.... but I'll be grilling for 3 hours... Grill Master CeeBee!!!

I missed the TNT meeting on fundraising and apparel tonight... but made up for that by running, I believe. 5K on Saturday... time to get some rest.

First run... 2 miles

So yesterday (Saturday) morning was our first training run. A short 2 miles, but killer nonetheless. The trail we run, Cape Fear River Trail, is the hilliest I have run since moving to North Carolina. Heck, I didn't even know there were hills in NC until you traveled towards the VA border... I was WRONG!

For the first 1/2 mile or so (all flat or downhill), I ran with a group of people, chatting and whatnot, but I eventually broke off from the group with a man and woman (I forget their names) and ran with them until the turn around at the mile marker. From there, it was mostly uphill and KILLER! I broke ahead of them during the first hill as I tackle hills at the same pace I ran the first mile. At the turn around, the woman told us how she liked to tackle hills by keeping her head down and not looking at the hill, because then she will think about how far she has to left, and I said, that's why I run with my head up! So i can see how much I have left! If I know I only have 40 yards, I am going to push and push until i get there. At that point, I looked up and bam... she was 20 yards behind me. I ran the last mile by myself back to the start point.

My friend Cheryl was ahead of me, so she greeted me at the line with people filtering in behind me. I am still not into the whole "GO TEAM" mentality yet. GO TEAM is something that we are supposed to say/yell, depending on when and where you say it, as you see other teammates in your group. I understand the purpose, it is just not something that I feel necessary. Who knows... I better get into it soon -- or I will feel completely left out!!! HAHA

BTW- I forgot to charge my camera, so there are no pictures of the trail but will come within a couple weeks. Next Saturday, I am running the Run for the Red 5K in Fayetteville but on by the Red Cross. Time to work on the training schedule and find my race watch.

Kick Off!!!

Tuesday (8-11) was the official kick-off of our Team in Training (TNT) group. There are officially 22 people in my group. I have only met seven of them... I'm sure more will follow. If not, let's just hope i can keep up with those seven!

When I first walked in to the hotel where the meeting was being held, there were a group of people in the lobby eating pizza. I, of course, migrated

in their direction! I am still not sure if it was the fact that I thought they were members of my TNT group I hadn't met yet, or if it was the pizza. Whatever it was, I was in the wrong place and was quickly corrected. I thought people in the south

were supposed to be nice!

I walked in the correct room, signed in, grabbed my information, and quickly made contact with Cheryl. We walked around the room, filled our bags with lots of goodies (see picture) and proceeded to sit down until the meeting was to start.

In talking with Cheryl, she told us that she was planning on blogging her experience for her friends and families, as well as individuals who donated to her

cause. I decided that since I am now more removed from the happenings of my northern kinfolk, that I too would blog my experience. Thank you Cheryl!!!

Now, this Saturday (8-15) is our first run. An easy 2 miles. However, according to my training schedule, I progress up 1 mile each week for the next 8 weeks. I'm sure these e-mails will become more and more painful, not only in writing, but also in m

uscular distress!! I know this will be an experience of a lifetime, and who knows, maybe Mickey will run with me!

You know the drill,

Chris