I know how stupid it is

I just noticed on my blog stats Ive had a lot of hits for that phrase.  "I know how stupid it is"

To add fuel to the fire... Here's another one.


I know how stuipid it is, but I have about 13.5 weeks before Oct 21 which happens to be the date of a marathon Im about to sign up for. I hope I have enough time. Mr Higdon and I are going to be close friends for a while. Ill do my first ever Half Marathon 15 days before I do my first Full. Is that how your supposed to do it?


Half Marathon High Trestle Trail Half
Full Marathon DesMoines IMT

***UPDATE***
High Trestle Trail was cancelled.  So I wont be doing a half marathon this weekend.  

From Woodward City council Mayor Pro TempThank you for your interest in participating in the High Trestle Trail Marathon on October 6^th.  A third party company was responsible for the event’s organization, registration, and execution. This company is not affiliated with the Community of Woodward, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, or the High Trestle Trail Authority. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, that company is no longer able to host the marathon, and the race has thus been cancelled.
 On behalf of the High Trestle Trail managers, I apologize for the event’s cancellation, and I want to assure you that you will be receiving a full refund of your entry fee via Active.com. Please allow 1 to 4 weeks for this refund to arrive.
 With that being said, the High Trestle Trail managers were excited about the idea of a trail marathon and even more thrilled by the response that it received. They are considering hosting a marathon in 2013 so please keep your eyes and ears open for future updates on that potential event.

Reflection on Old photos

I found this old photo of me tonight and it reminded me of how bad things had gotten.  I think this maybe the worst photo of me ever.  Even worse then my semi-naked ones I took before I started losing weight.

I cant believe this is me.  I cant ever go back her EVER.

Onederland Baby!!!

Thats right...this morning!  I finally got back down under 200.  I feel it this time Im going to stay under this time.  I have momentum now.  Im going into this weekend motivated and and excited.  Weight is finally starting to come off again.  Just glad to finally see the scale moving.

Todays weight 198.8  Check my ticker for total weight lost --->

Cool Story from My Hickory grove Tri

Nothing stops Alexandra

This young girl road 14 of the 15.5 mile ride on a flat tire!  Read about how she placed!

Boy do I have a story for you

Im a new Daddy! Yay!

Thomas Joe
7lbs. 6.4 oz
21"
Born 4:03 PM Aug. 16th

So... Baby was scheduled to be born via C-Section on Aug 29th at 8 AM.   I left for Kansas City for a conference on Sunday the 14th.  I was supposed to come back on the 16th at 3 pm.  My wife said, "Im going to have this baby while your gone."  She said that for 2 months leading up to my trip.  Sure enough she went in for an appointment on the morning of the 16th and she was dilated to 2 cm.  so they decided to keep her for observation.  She called me at 9:30 am and warned me what was going on and that I may need to start driving back.  The morning progressed and at around 11:10 am she called again and said the doctors were going to go ahead and do the c-section that day and they would hold off as long as they could with the plan to go in at 3:00 pm.   I packed and left the Hotel at 11:30 drove like a mad man stopped for gas and food once just outside of KC.  I actually arrived at the hospital at 2:55 and was changed and ready to go to the Operating room at 2:58pm.

As I mentioned above baby Thomas was born at 4:03 pm.  Mom was sent to recovery and I went with baby up to the birthing suite where mom and baby would remain for the next 2 days.  Baby was all cleaned up and stats taken and all the other little things nurses do to new babies just after they are born.  Thomas was doing great I got to hold him and he is AWESOME.  About an hour later mom came up from recovery and she got to spend time with Thomas and feed him.

This is where things get scary.   I came in to see how mom and baby were doing after feeding.  He wasn't really hungry they said and the nurse was gogin to take him and do a vitals check.  That's when they started telling us that he wasn't breathing good and his blood oxygen levels were low.  He wasn't maintaining his body temp very good either.  The nurse suggested they might need to transfer him to a bigger hospital,with with a special Childrens wing, about 30 miles away.  About 20 min later they told us they were definitely transferring him.   My wife is still stuck in her room and I'm hovering around the incubator he is in just hanging out and being with the little guy.  We are very concerned and no one can really tell us why this is happening.  The nurse gets off the phone with the doc and she tells me that They are going to send him by Life Flight Helicopter and that it is on its way and will be here in a few minutes.

At the NICU Day 1

The Life flight crew gets there and they have brought a nurse form the neonatal unit with them and they start working on him and end up putting a tube down his throat to force oxygen into his lungs.  This is probably the scariest thing I have ever been through.  I'm just glad my wife didn't have to see any of this.  It was so horrible to see him laying there so completely helpless and unable to even breath on his own.  At this point they are starting to get him stabilized and they move him to the helicopter transport incubator.  They are preparing to leave and they wheel him in to say goodbye to mom before taking off.  The nurses are talking to mom and letting her reach in and touch his hand.  I get handed some paper work that says I agree to let them work on my son and fly him off to the other facility.  Then one of the Life Flight nurses asks me if I want to ride along.

YES!! Of course I do.  They never let you ride with them! I couldn't believe it.  She says, "how much do you weigh?"  I tell her I'm "right around 200lbs" and she says "I think that will be fine but we will check with the pilot before take off".   Im so glad I lost all this weight. they wouldn't have even asked me before.  I was way to heavy.

I'm excited and worried and scared all at the same time.  The nurses have assured me that Thomas is going to be fine we just need to get him up to the hospital so he can be cared for by specialists.
We head out to the HeliPad and I get the break down and instructions on what I should and shouldn't do.  The pilot comes out and says "we are way good to fly".  *Thumbs Up*

They load Thomas in the back and then set me up with a headset and show me how to work it.  Next thing I know we are in the air.
the Helicopter ride was surreal and amazing.  I was so worried for my son but by the time we were almost there I was looking around and checking things out.  We flew over the fairgrounds and the rides were all lit up and shining and going.  fireworks were going off and the view of our capitol building was amazing.  The ride was just minutes Id say more then 10 but less then 15min from lift off to landing.  It was crazy cool and something awesome I got to share with my son.  Ill have to tell him about the hot Life Flight nurses who thought he was so cute when he is older.


They get him admitted into the NICU and start hooking him up to all kinds of machines and I'm just sitting there watching all these nurses and doctors work on my son.  Time is nonexistent and is only a theory.  I knew at one point what time we got there and remember looking at the clock as things settled down and one of the nurses told me I should lay down and try to sleep at 2:35 am.

The next day the doctors gave me a more elaborate explanation of why we were there and what had happened.  During the C-Section as he was being delivered he took his first breath of air and inhaled blood into his lungs this is referred to as blood aspirated pneumonitis.

How long will we be in here?  7 days minimum until antibiotics have finished.

Look Ma' No Oxygen

I spend the next 36 hours alone in the hospital with my new son before my wife is able to be released from her location and we spend the next few days together all day in the room waiting for things to change watching the monitors and oxygen meter parying for things to get better.

Tuesday the 23rd is his last day of Antibiotics But he isnt allowed to leave because his oxygen levels are still to low.  So our stay is extended.




Thursday morning we get the OK!  We are going home!!!

No turning back now

I have lost my mind.  Since February, and my knee injury, I have been plagued with gettign back into a full swing of running.  I have struggled as you have seen on the pages of this blog.  But in the last 2 weeks I have had several good runs including 2 different 5+ milers that were further then my previous distances.  So I felt as if I was ready to actually do a race.  So this morning in a fit of idiocy I signed up for Hickory Grove Triathlon on August 28th.  

That's 24 days!!

I must be a fool.  I mean I know I have the ability to do this and I know I can finish that's no problem.  I just feel overwhelmed with incredible emotions of fear and failure.   Freaked out!  

On top of that I have verbally committed to doing the Des Moines IMT Half Marathon Oct. 16th.  Strangely I feel much more confident about the half marathon then I do about the Tri.  I have no idea why.  the furthest distance I have ever traveled a half marathon distance on foot was probably at the state fair while sucking down a corn dog over 8 hours.

I intend to work on my distance over the next 40 days leading up to the marathon and my swimming over the next 24.   

I felt I needed to pull the trigger on some races before I allowed a season to slip away.  The injusry set me back and has kept me from really making forward progress and I believe a hard date with no backing out will do that for me.   Plus I promised myself I would do the Tri this year.  The Half marathon is just a bonus!

I cant wait!

Negative talk reinforces negative feelings

6 Unhealthy things you should stop saying now

Someone had reposted this on MFP earlier today and I quickly glanced through it and can confirm many of these things really do bring you down. This article is written towards women...Im not sure why because guys do this too. Ive said lots of these things and still struggle with a few of them.

I frequently have a problem with #4 and really need to try and stop doing that. I'm sorry self implies so many negative things to others and your own self image.

Here are few others that I have noticed in my own daily interactions.

"I'm bored" I hear this a lot from kids and young adults. Really are you really bored? This says I'm a follower and I'm boring. Do you want others to think your boring...Well you are boring if you say this. Get up and do something. Ughhh I hate this when I hear it.

"Im so tired" This is very negative if your really tired go take a nap...Or adjust your schedule to eliminate the lack of sleep. I know sometimes we cant help but miss some sleep do to a deadline or an intense training schedule but remember this. Do you want to be around someone who is always tired? I dont. I'm more awake and alive then I have ever been I dont want someone else bringing me down.

Dont let your own negative talk bring you or others down

Go Be Fit!

Say hello to my "Little" friend.

Just a huge shout out to my friend Rachet. She is truly an inspring and driving force in my journey. On sunday she finished the Lone star 70.3 Half Ironman in Galveston, TX. She's just practicing really, because she is already a Full Ironman finisher. Check her out HERE Im sure she will post a race report in a few days and some great pictures.

Thanks Rachet for your inspiration and take care of that sunburn!

Iron Sharpens Iron

The Iron

Wow saw this yesterday. It is truly a great inspirational read. Never knew this side of Henry Rollins. Makes me want to do a little more reading on the guy.

The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever found. There is no better way to fight weakness than with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened to their true potential, it's impossible to turn back. - Henry Rollins

Definitely check it out!

When you feel discouraged

This morning I'm doing my morning routine and Im talking with my wife and I go to that negative place that we all know so well and I say something stupid.

"It doesn't matter my goals to run a triathlon are over if this MRI comes back bad. You know how down time injuries play with your head"

I just kind of went off the deep end. Losses have been coming so slow and Training has been difficult to maintain with my knee. When I said those last words... "plays with your head" It clicked

I felt Frustrated, discouraged...

But, I know one thing.... I know the truth! Im not blind to the lies I tell myself anymore. You know the ones. The ones that creep into your mind when your weak and vulnerable. They stay and feed on your insecurities and self doubt until the next time something trips you. Then they attack you! You have to learn quickly that no matter what the lie is or how its told or disguised that its still a lie. Even if it sounds like its almost true. You dont have to be that way. You odnt have to accept it. You make it a lie by the way you react to it. Stop letting it feed. Smother the lies with Motivation, Success, and a Desire to be more tomorrow then you were yesterday.