Update - to begin running again

Well, been awhile since I made any updates. Went to my doctor on Wednesday and got the official go ahead to work out and run again.. YEAH.

I did my first Pilate class on Monday and felt good.. but a bit slow and sluggish. On Thursday I worked out on Biceps and Triceps and did some core workouts and felt great. Today I took my Pilates class and did much better. Slowly getting back into my routine since my Pnemonia.

Tomorrow I am coaching so I will most likely be on the bike for that. I will either run or bike on sunday and monday

Cheers

Update on Marathon #16

Danny and Ruta at the start line

Well, there are lessons to be learn here, somewhere. Unfortunately getting sick the week of the marathon and trying to run it is not a good idea especially when your cold is from the next down. I was hoping that I could run it, but somehow, I knew this was not going to happen.
Ruta was very supportive and cheered me on no matter what. I did not have my heart in the race to begin with. Running the first mile, I already thought about what I was doing. I was evaluating my physical condition and trying to determine if I was indeed feeling bad or not. My breathing was becoming labored and my nose was getting stuffy. I can now feel the congestion in my chest and the flem being built up in my throat. My legs could go on with no problems but my chest was not. I had a hard time breathing. This is where you have to listen to your body. I started go through so many scenerious in my head as far as should I quite, should I walk it.. is it worth it. I decided, to take a DNF and stop at mile 10, where Ruta was waiting for me.
Now my focus was all on getting to mile 10 and just calling it quites. I had to.
Everyone else, that I was with, got thier personal best and Fang finished her 2nd marathon.
I was very happy for them.

Come Monday, went to the doctor, because I just did not feel well, espeically around my chest area and I ended having Pnemonia. Pnemonia on my right upper lobe of my lung.

Well, I am out for a couple of days from work and probably the next two weeks from any running.

But I will be back to try my #16 Marathon.. 5 in a row again in San Diego at the end of May

Marathon #16, 5th in a row in Champaign, IL

Well... it is upon us another marathon and unfortunately, I got sick this week... Trying my hardest to say healthy and get rid of this.. but I think it is now in my chest. You know the rule above the neck you run below, do not run. So, I am hoping that by some magical miracle that I will feel 100% better and be able to run the marathon tomorrow Saturday. I am in a dilemma and ok, call me obsessive, but I have the following choices..
1. Run full blast for a PR (not going to happen)
2. Run the half instead of the full.
3. Run the full and be a fool.. but do the run / walk program.. Run a mile / walk a minute and take it easy
4. Don't run at all and either do the Marathon in St. Louise or Ann Arbor on April 26th. St. Louise is flat, while Ann Arbor is in the trail and hilly...

Stay tune.....

Finding yourself

A while ago, back in 2003, I was going through some tough times... problems with my ex girlfriend, got laid off from my job and just not happy with the direction my life was going. I decided through all of my camping and hiking equipment hoped into my 4x4 and drove across America.
I decided that in order to find myself.. I needed to be by myself with no one to escape to. If you are with someone.. you would tend to escape yourself through that other person... so I figured I needed to corner myself and confront myself and see what I had to say about myself.
A couple of things I started to do. I asked myself some honest questions. I started from a clean slate and decided that when I get back I would begin life again, sort of a reborn era of Danny. I had to find solitude, away from humans, media, noise and be there in the rawness of nature. That is where you can find yourself, at least myself. There is no hiding from yourself.... you are who you are and that is it. You decide what direction you should take from this point. You have the will power and choice to do what you want to do and where you want to go and only you have that responsibility. No one else will do it for you. You live your life and no one else. It matters to you and no one else. You make that choice. Forget what others thinks about you.. what matter is what you think about yourself. No one knows you better then yourself. You can't satisfies everyone. "He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away." - Raymond Hull


A friend of mine told me the following quote... which I love:
God doesn't give you the people you want, He gives you the people you NEED. To help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you and to make you into the person you were meant to be.

• Love many, but trust few; always paddle your own canoe.
• You're never as bad or as good as people say.
• Resist the urge to feel like you're the only one going through this:

  All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory. I was naive. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer. It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: that I am nobody but myself. ~ Ralph Ellison, "Invisible Man"

• Be yourself and make sure no one influences who you are. It will make finding yourself even harder since people are influencing who you think you are.
• Don't be afraid to sleep on it. There's no hurry in making decisions, and you'll be more likely to make good ones if your mind is calm and rested.
• Be forgiving and learn to let go

Take care