My turn to be Goofy

Good luck getting the kids on board Dave! Concentrating on shorter distances is probably a good idea for everyone from time to time. I know my time is coming!

Good luck with the training Dave!

I think I saw something on facebook about you wanting to run the Tough Mudder this spring in VT. Lemme know if you end up signing up for the race, cuz I'll be there

Neil Ruggiero wrote:Good luck with the training Dave!

I think I saw something on facebook about you wanting to run the Tough Mudder this spring in VT. Lemme know if you end up signing up for the race, cuz I'll be there

Dang, I should have mentioned this race sooner. I sent you a PM. I'm already signed up for the Tough Mudder & looking for others to join our team. My oldest & I are doing it.

Well Dave I wish you the best with your future training and races. I think that the smart thing for you to do is what you are doing take a step back and allowing your body to heal 100%. With doing that you will then allow your body and mind a new fresh start at training, again with doing that there is no doubt in my mind that you will have a great chance of reaching your goals.

Over the last year I just never thought you were giving yourself a fight chances, it is easy for someone like me to be a Monday morning quarterback and say that, but it was up to you to realize that you had to make some changes and I'm glad that you have realized that you need to take some time to step back.

Us runners are a crazy group, we are very dedicated to our goals and we will do anything to achieve them except for stepping back when we need to. And the result of that is that it ends up taking us longer even years to get back on track and to reach goals that could have been reached much earlier if only we would have not been so stubborn.

Trust me I just went through this with my training for the JFK 50 miler. I found myself being mentally defeated and was trying to push it, finally I just said it is time to back off. And I mean I really backed off I went from my 100 mile weeks to running 30 to 70 miles a week. And my goals for JFK have changed to just having fun. At the same time I have a new fire for my training for Boston and I even signed up for another 50 mile race today that will take place in August.

Anyway I wish you the best on your journey and look forward to following it and give whatever input I can to encourage you along the way.

Been without power since Sat afternoon. I have well & septic, with an oil furnance - that means, no heat & no water. I've been transporting water from my brother-in-law's house, & I filled the bath tub with snow in order to extend the food as long as possible. I'm using the grill to cook up meat & then pack it in the snow. I've been able to workout & shower at work, which is a huge blessing. My wife hasn't been able to shower yet, but since her brother got power last night, she'll be able to tonight. We're on a dead-end street in the sticks, so we'll be one of the last ones to get power back. It's looking like that will be another week or so. We were in the direct path of the snow storm. The foot + of heavy wet snow clinged to the unfallen leaves & brought branches & trees down everywhere. It's like a war zone here in CT.

It looks like Conn. got slammed worse than any other area. We were lucky, only losing power for about 30 hours. I hope they get around to you soon, but you're right, living on a dead end street puts you at the back of the line. Are they really talking about it not getting fixed until next week? I thought they were looking at Thursday or Friday at the latest.

Crazy ass storm we had. I just got power back yesterday but I live right on a main road. Try and keep warm and have fun until you get yours!

CL&P, our power co., stated on its Web site that our town will have power back by Sunday at noon. YIKES!

Damn, over a whole week without power! Sorry to hear that man.

My parents live outside Boston (Natick to be exact - mile 11.2 of the marathon), and they were without power until late on Wednesday. My mom said that she figures it was downed lines from the wind and rain as they really got no snow. Kind of glad NY is this Sunday as I doubt I would have been able to get up there had it been last weekend. Guess I could have switched to Charlotte or Columbus as Savannah is sold out.

Goofy is fun. I did it in 2008 and it was not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, I actually thought that I could have run both races (especially the marathon since I played and didn't run much at all) a lot faster if I had really wanted to. I guess it all depends on what you make of it.

Thanks for the feedback Michele, & for everyone else keeping me alive on here.

I managed to get Jacob to run 3.5 miles with me on Monday. It was his 1st official training run for the Disney Half. Josiah claims he'll run at the track after school, but that's yet to be seen. The big goal this week is to get them both to complete a "long" run of 5 to 7 miles with me on Saturday. It's like pulling teeth. It's also like a tight-rope between pushing too much & not doing enough to encourage them. I sure pray it's all worth it in the end.

Jacob's total mileage last week: 13.5

Josiah's total mileage last week: 2.5

My total mileage has been the same for the last two weeks: 13

Jacob's motivation is that he wants to be a Marine Corps officer, so he wants to put on his Annapolis application that he ran a half marathon at 16, as well as making dad happy..

Josiah's sole motivation is to make dad happy, & that's not proving to be enough. He works out at the gym after school & wants to bulk up. I've tried to explain to him the importance of endurance as well as strength, but it's falling on teenage deaf ears.

Both boys have told me that they'll do the scheduled 4 miles today - we'll see.

Maybe you need a cattle prod.

I can't tell you how many times the game plan has changed with my boys & the Disney half. The latest is that Jacob is 100% committed now to the training & Josiah is 100% NOT committed. Josiah is telling me he can still do the half with light running & walk breaks with zero training. Ah, to be young & naive again.

This past Monday, I walked up & down the 22 flights of stairs of The Hartford insurance co's office tower - twice. Then, on Tuesday I did 4x400 at an ave 6:25 pace on hilly roads during a 6 miler. I had planned on resting yesterday (Wed), but Jacob was enthusiastic about meeting up with another CAP cadet to do track intervals. How could I possibly say no? We met up with my friend Alan & proceeded to do 400's at near 6:00 pace in the rain. I did only 3 since my legs are sore from all the recent workouts & need a break. The rest of our group hammered out 3 more while I went slow & easy watching them. I'm very proud & happy for Jacob doing so well & putting so much into it. I keep telling him that as long as he keeps up this good training, he'll have no problem with the Disney half. He still has his doubts, so hopefully as the Sat long runs get longer his confidence will increase. Meanwhile, my old legs need a couple days off!

Last week's total mileage...

Jacob: 15

Josiah: 0

Dad: 20

Tonight is PT testing with the CAP cadets. Looks like rain, so they'll need to "put their marine on," as Jacob would say. I've held off my running yesterday & today in order to run a good mile with the cadets. Then Jacob wants to get them to run another 2.1 after the testing, so he can prove to them that they can do the Blue Back Square Mitten run (5K) on Dec 4th. Jacob just left the "enlisted ranks" & made 2nd Lieutenant recently, which is a huge milestone for a cadet. I'm a 1st Lieutenant in the senior member ranks, so now both our heads turn when someone yells "lieutenant Poppel." Also, he's no longer a flight sergeant, but now a flight commander. Pretty cool.

I know what you mean about trying to keep the kids motivated to run. My son ran CC and track freshman year and did fairly well considering it was a new sport for him. However, he didn't share my enthusiasm for the sport. So now it's golf and baseball which I'm fine with as long as he stays out of trouble. Hope all goes well for you all and above all try to keep it fun. Disneyworld should be a blast assuming you'll be hitting the park, which I'd say is a given.

The Blue Back Square 5K was fun. Jacob & I did it in full uniform, combat boots & rucksacks (mine weighed in at about 15-20 lbs.) We still beat a significant amount of other runners while maintaining about a 10 min pace. We never walked, which was a challenge with all that extra weight. The crowd went wild during the last sprint to the end when I raised the American flag in the air that I was carrying. Josiah ran it in regular running clothes, but was disappointed with his 24:18 finish. I told him he couldn't expect better than that with the extremely limited running he's been putting in.

Jacob continues to rock the training, averaging 13-15 MPW. He hit a double digit mile run for the first time this past Saturday by clocking 10 miles at about a 9:18 pace. He did it alone (I had to run earlier), and he said that he felt good & could have gone longer. We're officially back to his goal of hitting sub 2 hrs at the Disney half.

All 3 of us are planning to hit the track Wed night for some speed work.

Dave P wrote:The Blue Back Square 5K was fun. Jacob & I did it in full uniform, combat boots & rucksacks (mine weighed in at about 15-20 lbs.) We still beat a significant amount of other runners while maintaining about a 10 min pace. We never walked, which was a challenge with all that extra weight. The crowd went wild during the last sprint to the end when I raised the American flag in the air that I was carrying. Josiah ran it in regular running clothes, but was disappointed with his 24:18 finish. I told him he couldn't expect better than that with the extremely limited running he's been putting in.

Jacob continues to rock the training, averaging 13-15 MPW. He hit a double digit mile run for the first time this past Saturday by clocking 10 miles at about a 9:18 pace. He did it alone (I had to run earlier), and he said that he felt good & could have gone longer. We're officially back to his goal of hitting sub 2 hrs at the Disney half.

All 3 of us are planning to hit the track Wed night for some speed work.

Awesome. Looks like it is coming together.

Thanks Brian.

I'll let the kids do the track workout tonight, while I watch. I did 8x800 on the TM (Yasso's) for a sub 3:10 marathon (9.5mph/ 6:19 pace.) It was real sweet to get in some solid speedwork. I'm resting today, before another tempo run tomorrow.