Learn not to be discouraged

I talk to all sorts of beginner runners this time of year here in Houston who have just started training for their first half-marathon or marathon coming up in January. Many get discouraged because they can only go "so far" (whatever that might be for their current fitness level) because of the weather. Case in point... As I type this, here is what the Weather Channel has online for my current weather:

9:00 a.m.
Temperature: 86
Humidity: 100%
Heat Index: 112
Winds: Calm

Don't be discouraged. Nobody can run well under those conditions (and note again that it is ONLY 9:00 a.m.). I always tell them that during the summer months, which here can last into October, that the length of my average run is probably 20% less than what it would be in the winter or spring (our winters here are around 50-60 with many days still up into the high 70's and low 80's). I have also created my own little formula where I have figured out that my level of exertion for something like a 10 mile run in these conditions is equivalent to at least a 15-18 mile run if the temperatures were in the 50's or 60's. So hang in there and learn to live with your weather conditions, no matter where you live.

Getting back on track in many aspects

Those of you who are faithful readers (no pun intended) of the main Faithful Soles web site may have noticed that there have not been many updates to it in the last couple of months, but that will be changing starting this coming Monday, September 10. The main reason for the lack of updates has been getting my DVD produced, my daughter starting college, my son starting his sophomore year of high school, being the Vice-Chair of my 3,000 member church's Capital Campaign Committe to raise $13.9 million for new facilities, and having 3 of my businesses deciding to all take off at the same time with lots of work. On top of that, I've been squeezing in an average of about 6 miles a week swimming and around 40 miles a week running to try to keep up a decent base for my Ironman (whenever that might be) and the upcoming marathon season this fall and spring.

So why do the updates start again this coming Monday? Simply put, I have missed the time I have taken to building the web site. What I am doing in Faithful Soles is my true passion, it makes me happy, and it is what I want to start putting more of my energy into. Many thanks to all of you who continue to visit the site, and please send me some of your stories, race reports, pictures, etc. so that I can use them on the site. ALL of you are inspirational to me. Thanks.

New PR for 2.4 mile swim

ok, I realize that this was only my third 2.4 mile swim and that I have only been swimming now for a little over 5 months and improvement comes rapidly when you start something new, but I'm still proud of my effort. I swam it today in 1:15:48, about 3:30 faster than my first 2.4 mile effort back on August 7, and all of my 100m splits were under 2:00.

My running is also very strong right now and I have been consistently doing my 7-10 mile runs in the Houston heat in just under a 7:30 pace. For those of you who are not sure about cross-training, I can tell you that the swimming has immensely helped my running, especially in my upper body strength. I actually have some upper chest muscles and arm muscles now that were not there just a few months back.

The DVD "From Start to Finish and Then Some" is officially ready for distribution!

After a lot of hard work and input from more walkers and runners of all ages and abilities than I can name, the DVD is ready for sale starting September 4 (pre-order it now and get free shipping in the USA)! I am very excited about this opportunity. Please take a moment to watch my presentation about it below.

What I refer to as "Stupid Hot"

Relatively speaking, we have had a rather mild summer in Houston, mainly because for about a 45 day stretch we had heavy rains and overcast skies for probably 40 of those days. However, the sun is now out in full force and we officially hit 100 degrees today. Now for those of you in other parts of the country who may say, "oh yeah, well we get that hot", let me add this little tidbit... Tomorrow morning BEFORE THE SUN COMES UP, our humidity will be 90-100% and our heat index will be above 90... again, that is BEFORE the sun comes up. Trying to run in the morning is like having someone place a 500 pound weight on your chest as you try to breathe. This afternoon before 5:00, my son and I went swimming. I walked out of the locker room, got straight into the pool, swam 2000m, and then went straight back into the locker room. The first thing I noticed was that I was sunburned... ON MY FACE AND CHEST, and I was swimming breaststroke and freestyle the entire way. The pool water felt like a hot bath and the reflection of the sun off of the bottom of the pool is what burned me. When I walked in the door the first thing my wife said was, "I thought you went to swim, what did you do, lay out?" Yes, it is Stupid Hot in Houston now.

First 2.4 mile swim

I started swimming 4 1/2 months ago while recovering from a left shin splint injury, and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I remember getting into the pool that first time, swimming 800m (very slowly I might add) and thinking it would take me forever to build up to the full Ironman swim distance of 2.4 miles. So day before yesterday, I went to the pool after having completed 2.0 miles a number of times, and 1:19:21 later, I finished my first 2.4 miler without stopping and without doing flipturns to simulate as much as possible an open water swim. I'm still nowhere near strong enough to do the entire thing freestyle (I did this swim alternating breaststroke and freestyle laps), but from what I can tell from other men my age (late 40's) that have done Ironman competitions, I'm not too far off the mark of the average swimmer. My goal now will be to continue to improve on my form and mix up my swim workouts with more interval type work. I do not have a specific time that I'm trying to get down to, mainly because this is all still very new to me, but my guess is that I have a chance to get down into the 1:10:00-1:15:00 range at some point in the next year. Any input on this from the real swimmers is greatly appreciated.

After a lengthy hiatus... a DVD is born

It's hard for me to believe that I've let 2 months go by without posting, but it has been a very busy summer since my daughter's graduation and my son's end to his freshman year. Both kids have been on a week long mission trip with our church where they helped to repair homes and build wheelchair ramps for people in need, and as soon as they returned from that, they both left with 30 other high school youth and adult leaders for an 11 day trip up to Wyoming and back. Normally, my wife and/or I would have gone on these trips, but being self-employed entrepreneurs with some large contracts coming in for one of our businesses has kept us tied down at that. My daughter has gotten a job as a Day Camp Counselor at the local YMCA for young children, which is a perfect position for her since her goal is to get her teaching degree. My son has started swimming regularly with me and wants to attempt a short distance triathlon some time in the fall. I am very blessed to have such great kids!

As for Faithful Soles, I have been hard at work on the production of a DVD entitled "From Start to Finish and Then Some", which has a release date of September 4, 2007, and is now available to pre-order on the main Faithful Soles web site. I have been giving motivational speeches to running clubs for many years now, as well as various speeches on training and racing tips, have written and been interviewed for articles in newspapers and magazines, and have made television appearances on running topics. After constantly being told, "You should have this information available for people to watch... I would love to be able to hear you tell that story again... I have a relative or friend who just started running or is training for a particular race and wish they could have heard that topic...", and so forth, I finally decided to do something about it. It took quite a while to decide the outline (major topics, sub-topics, etc.), format and storyboard. Once the outline was finished, I interviewed walkers and runners (male, female, all different age groups) at a beginner and intermediate level to ask them what they were most interested in knowing about, and found out that my outline had literally touched on every single topic they came up with. I also interviewed a number of advanced and elite runners who told me that although they knew the information in the DVD from experience, they still found it to contain great refresher topics and even some things they had not thought of before. I also asked various people who had heard me speak over the years if they had a favorite inspirational or humorous story that I told, and I got an overwhelming response to at least a half-dozen of them, which are all going to be on the DVD. Finally, once the DVD is released, I am planning to begin a speaking tour in major cities to running clubs and race events. My life-long dream has always been to do this as my full-time work because I am so passionate about it, and I am excited that I have the opportunity to go for it.

As for my training, I have been running about 30-40 miles a week, and swimming about 5-8 miles a week. I finally broke 30:00 for a mile in the swim (29:34 to be exact), and am comfortably swimming 2 miles without stopping at least once a week in about 1:03:00 - 1:05:00. Due to a big project that has come in for one of my businesses that will last several months, I made the decision to postpone an Ironman attempt until late 2008 or early 2009 simply because I know that I will not have the time it takes to devote to the training. I still plan to do at least 2-3 marathons and some shorter distance triathlons in the next year just to keep myself focused and maintain a solid base once I am ready to go full throttle on the Ironman training.

Thanks to all of you who continue to visit the main Faithful Soles web site. I hope that I can continue to inspire you as much as you do me.