Last Week of Half-Marathon Training - Week of Jan. 18th

Short and sweet. I did not run the 5K. We had a winter storm with lots of rice that was supposedly coming. I decided the night before I wasn't going to run. The race directors kept the race. The bad weather didn't hit until late that night. But it was freezing cold, my ankles hurt...it would not have been smart. 

I will be creating a new goal. A new plan. But first, I'm going to try and get my ankles working again and get out of this mental funk that I've been in. I help runners all the time get back into running and it always works for them. My issues seem deeper. I'm going to work through them. 

Half-Marathon Training Progress: Weeks of Dec. 28, 2025, Jan. 4th, 2026 & Jan. 11th

A sad couple of weeks. I really think I need to pull out of the Half. 

Sunday - Tried to go for a 2 mile run. I made it a half of a mile and had to walk to the mile mark. I thought I'd turn around and do a run/walk back but all I could do was walk. I was in a lot of pain. Shins. Calves. Feet. It was very disheartening. 

Monday - I received a delayed Christmas gift from my son. A walking pad. I set it up and walk .8 miles carrying 10lb dumbbells and did occasional curls while walking. My arms were spent after. But not bad for 20 minutes. 

Tuesday - I walked on my walking pad for 1.24 miles in 30 minutes and six seconds. I haven't tried running on it. for some reason, 2.5 MPH on this walking pad seems MUCH faster than the same on a treadmill. Maybe it's the much shorter walking area? I have no idea. In the gym, I walk at a 3.4 MPH speed and it's a brisk walk. On the walking pad, I feel like I have to run. No joke. 

The good news is that my weight is down a little. I had hit 206lbs last Thursday, Christmas Day. The last three days, I've been holding steady at 203lbs. So a 3 pound loss is decent. I'm sure it was mostly water weight, but I'll take it. 

Wednesday - It's New Year's Eve! I can't believe it's going to be 2026! That's crazy!! I took a break today since I'd walked on the treadmill the last three days. My ankles were a little sore so I figured I had been much more active the last few days. 

Thursday, January 1st, 2026!! HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Today, I ventured outside and ran 2.23 miles. I then did a squat and hold and some kettlebell exercises later in the evening. 

Friday, I walked 1.26 on the walking pad and did some kettlebell exercises and some more squat and hold exercises to help my ankles.

Saturday, I walked on the walking pad again and did some ankle rotations with a stretchy band the Physical Therapist gave me. 

This was  pretty good week. I was active and I got my weight down to 198. 8 POUNDS LOST SINCE CHRISTMAS DAY!! I'm very happy!

Week of January 4th 

Sunday I ran-walked on the walking pad for 1.71 miles 

Monday, I walked on the walking pad with dumbbells and did an arm routine for 30 minutes straight. I covered 1.24 miles while doing arm curls, shoulder presses, side raises, front raises and skull crushers. 

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday, I didn't do anything. Work got crazy and I lost my mojo. 

Saturday, I was able to squeeze in some PT stretches and some squats and 2 sets of overhead presses with a 20lb kettlebell. Overall, not a great week. 

Week of January 11th

Not a good week. This will be short. 

Sunday - Thursday I did nothing. I worked. I slept. I got up and repeated like some awful version of groundhog day. I have a situation at work that I'm having to deal with and it's just got me totally exhausted. 

Friday, Jan. 16th work was better. things have calmed down some but I was just so exhausted. 

As you can see, the last 3 weeks has been very little - VERY LITTLE - running. My ankles are still whacked so I definitely shouldn't run the half on the 24th. I just wish I knew what happened to my ankles. A month after the marathon, I was totally fine, and then they started hurting and aching all the time. I walk like I'm 90 until they loosen up. It's so frustrating!! 

For weeks, I've debating just running the 5K if they'd let me switch, so I looked into it and I was able to change my race distance. I ended paying a very small transfer fee and switched from the Half-marathon down to the 5K. Hopefully, I can do that. 

Saturday, Jan. 17th, my wife and I left for an overnight trip/getaway. Much needed, but not great for exercise and gym time. Also, I gained some weight back this week, but not too much. Still below 200 so that's good news at least. Being on the road so much, I was back to a lot of fast food, but I tried to be better and get less/eat less. 

Half-Marathon Training: Week of December 21st

Half-Marathon Training Update: Sunday, December 21st

It's Christmas week and it's been a slow start. Yesterday, Sunday, December 21st, I didn't do anything other than go Christmas shopping. I had time to run. But I didn't. It's Christmas week and I'm off on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Hopefully on Saturday and Sunday too but work is picking up. In fact, today we started to get ballot proofs coming in for the March Primary so works about to get insane!

Reflecting on this Past Week

Well - Monday, Dec. 22nd and Tuesday, Dec. 23rd were tough. I didn't run or do anything. Wednesday and Thursday were no better even though I was off work. there was so much to do to get ready for the family to come over, etc. On Christmas Day, I weighed myself and I was at 206 lbs.!! My all time heaviest. I've been on Mars Men for a couple of weeks now and I'm not seeing any increase in energy, drive, or anything else. They say to give it 90 days. So far, not impressed, but I'm willing to give it 90 days. 

Friday, Dec. 26th, I did attempt to run 4 miles. It turned into a run/walk for 3.2 miles. My calves were tight. My shins hurt. My Breathing was like I had smoked four packs of cigarettes per day for all my life. It was just awful, but I stuck to it rather than turn around at the half-mile mark like I wanted to. I did turn around before the two mile mark though. My feet were really hurting. 

I'm seriously considering just eating the entry fee and skipping the half-marathon in January. I'm feeling like I'm too heavy, too slow, and just COMPLETELY unprepared for 13.1 miles with less than a month to go. 

I was talking with family on Christmas Eve and telling them how I ran the marathon in March and since then I've just had ZERO motivation to run. It's like my brain and body said "OK. You achieved your lifelong dream of running a marathon. You don't have to run ever again." I know that sounds crazy. At least, it does to me. But that's seriously what it feels like. 

I've done some research and apparently it is a thing. It's called the Post-Event Blues or sometimes the "Post-Goal Letdown". Basically, my body and brain have said, "Yep, we did it. Mission Accomplished. Now we can rest and chill into the sunset."

So my work now is trying to figure out whether I accept that and just embrace coaching, hiking, and other activities, or if I try to put some new spin on running to re-invigorate me. 

Half-Marathon Training: Week of December 14th

6 Weeks to Go

I can't believe I only have 6 weeks to go before the half-marathon. I'm seriously considering not running it. One, I don't think I'll be ready to run sub-3. Two, my ankles are whack! They seem to hurt all the time. 

I don't care about the sub-3 too much as the end of the race is on the greenway and a little traveled road so if support closes up, no big deal. I also don't believe I'd miss it by very much if at all. But the ankles. OMG, I just feel like they are trashed. 

Sunday, Dec. 14th I did not run. It was below freezing and the temperature continued to drop all day long. It was actually warmer at 28 degrees the morning than at night when it was 16 with a "feels like" of 2 degrees. That's cold! 

Monday and Tuesday I didn't run. I had ZERO motivation. I thought about it. I wanted to at some point during the day, but I just could NOT get myself up, dressed and out the door. I don't know if I'm just caught in a holiday funk, a work funk, a running funk or what. It's bad. 

On Wednesday & Thursday, I didn't run or hike, but I did do some push ups and held a low squat for 30 seconds the first day and 50 seconds the next day. 

On Friday, I held the squat for a minute and did arm curls with dumbbells and some front and side raises after. 

Saturday I didn't do anything, but on Sunday I held a deep squat for one minute and then I did 2 sets of 25 reps on a bench press type exercise with 25lb dumbbells. I didn't have a bench so I used a foot stool of sorts. I followed that up with 2 sets 10 deadlifts with 25lb dumbbells.

On the bright side, I did lose 1.4lbs this week. So that was interesting.

What to Do at This Point?

My ankles have good days and bad days. Because I haven't been running, I'm not sure what my long run even is at this point. Not to mention that I haven't been running, so I haven't been wearing my barefoot style shoes. Can I jump into a long run of 5 or 6 miles (assuming I can still go that far) in barefoot shoes without injury? As a coach, I'd advise against it. In fact, as a coach, I'd probably tell any client to just drop out of the race, I'm not ready, I show nothing / demonstrate nothing that would indicate anything is going to change at this point. But my ego! My ego is insisting I have time. I just need to figure out what's happening that I have ZERO motivation. 

Half-Marathon Training: Week of December 7th

Week of December 7th: Marathon Training Progress

Here's an update on training progress for the week of December7th. 

On Sunday, December 7th, my wife and I took a 4.5 mile hike at the arboretum. It was cold, but nice. That evening, for some reason, I decided after brushing my teeth, that I was going to drop and crank out just 10 push-ups.

I will add that my Mars Men T-Supplement arrived late Saturday night, but today was the first day I took it so I do not credit it for the desire to do 10 push-ups. It was just something I did.

On Monday, I got off work and really didn't feel like running even though I had told myself I would all day. I just wasn't feeling it and my ankles were hurting for some reason. But I sucked it up a little bit, put on a jacket and hat and told myself I'd walk 30 minutes. I ended up walking around 35 minutes so that was something. I also did 15 body-weight squats before bed.

On Tuesday, I didn't do anything. My ankles were pretty sore from the day before. 

On Wednesday, I did my arm curls, front raises and side raises before bed but no running. 

Thursday I didn't do anything due to work. I was on the road to Raleigh at 8 a.m., drove the 4 hours there, dropped off the equipment I had to take them and then drove home. However, on the way home, I did stop and see my son in Chapel Hill. We had lunch and I got to see his new place. Then I dropped him off at the airport on my way home. I got home around 8:15-8:30 p.m. and I was pretty beat. 

Friday we went downtown and walked around and shopped so that was some walking but I don't think it was too much. We did finish by walking up the same hill that the 2012 Asheville Half-Marathon went up around mile 12.9. That brought back some good memories. That was the year I ran Sub-2. Hard to believe that was 13 years ago. Crazy stuff!

Saturday, December 13th: 6 weeks to go before the Half. 

Saturday, my wife and I hiked 3.5 miles in DuPont Forest and took a trail to see the Wintergreen Falls. 

My weight started and ended this week at 202.2 lbs. I'm not sure what's happening and why my weight seems to be at a new set point. I'm not happy about that but we'll keep plugging along and trying to eat better. I hate that I'm over 200 lbs. If I was bigger guy, it would be a fine weight, but I'm only 5'7". They say that a better metric for weight is a waist: height ratio. One's waist should be half their height. So even on this front at a 35" waist (and that might be being kind) I fail the weight test. 

Overall, I'm feeling strangely more and more positive about the half but worried my ankles aren't getting better. Of course, I'm not very good at doing my exercises so that's on me. 

My fear is that I may be thinking I can do this since I ran a marathon. However, that was back in March, and I did NOT keep up that level of fitness. I really feel like I'm starting at square one. The weather is not cooperating either. It's been cold and sometimes rainy this week. In fact, tomorrow is supposed to be really cold with "feels like" temps in the single digits. 

Half-Marathon Progress: Weeks of November 23rd & November 30th, 2025

Week of November 23rd

Here's how this week week. 

Sunday: I spent the day in the ER with my daughter. She was fine. She had an enlarged lymph node yesterday and today it was almost twice as big. She was having trouble swallowing and therefore trouble eating and drinking. The urgent care center she went to told her to get a CT scan. That's when I picked her up and we went together. Turns out, you can get  stones in your salivary glands. How weird is that? She'll be fine but it did eat up most of the day. At night, I was exhausted having not slept well the night before. 

Monday: Didn't do anything. Just laid around the house. I had no energy at all. 

Tuesday: Today was a travel day. We went to Atlanta for a little getaway. It poured rain and the traffic was crazy, but we made it.

Wednesday: Didn't exercise per se, but did do a LOT of walking. Probably 3-4 miles.

Thursday: It's Thanksgiving Day and we traveled home from Atlanta.

Friday: Didn't do anything. Another day of low energy. 

Saturday: It is now 8 weeks until the half-marathon. It was cold and dreary but did manage to do a short hike of 1.6 miles. 

Week of November 30th

On Sunday, I had planned to do a long run but never did. I have no idea why other than low energy. 

Monday I did manage to do some of PT exercises and I even did some Arm Curls with the dumbbells along with some side and front raises. Still no running. 

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I did nothing. I wanted to run in the a.m. but again, I have no energy or motivation. I really don't know what is going on. Normally, I would think someone is overtraining, but we know that's not it. I know work has me stressed, but it's certainly less stressful than a Presidential  election year and a hurricane. This year should have seemed like a walk in the park. 

Saturday I woke up and even though I didn't feel like it, I put on my stuff and I was ready to get out there and do a run-walk if I had to for just 30 minutes. I ended up running the whole way and actually felt pretty good. it was 36 degrees when I started which I think is my sweet spot. A long sleeve t-shirt, shorts and a hat and I felt great. Maybe it reminds me of running in Minnesota in the fall or spring. Who knows. 

In Other News

Today, Saturday, December 6th is now just 7 weeks away from the Half-Marathon. I feel so unprepared, but I also have this weird confidence. Covering the distance by then I feel like I can do. Once I lock in on a run, I can feel like I can run forever. My concern is the cutoff time, which I believe is 3 hours. That will be the challenge. 

Since my birthday and through Thanksgiving, I've gained a lot of weight. In fact, I've been over 200 lbs for over a week straight. I think that has maybe got something to do with my fatigue and lack of motivation. I try to eat better and I'm fine until the evening and dinner. At dinner, we keep having pasta dishes and I do love pasta! Could I cut down on the sweets. Absolutely. Is it easy? No. There's so much candy, baked goods, etc around ALL THE TIME. My birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving and now Christmas is coming with more and more sweets. I'm starting to sound like the Grinch on the top of Mount Crumpet. 

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I have ordered a Testosterone supplement from Mars Men. I have no idea if it will work or not, but I will let you know. It should be here by Monday. Hell, even if it's just a placebo effect, I'll take it. I'm so tired of feeling tired all the time. I tell my doctor this stuff - that I'm worried that at 58, maybe I have low-T, but he doesn't seem to care or just isn't concerned. He's a young guy so he probably thinks it's just natural. 

I know I could lift weights, eat more protein, do HIIT workouts and raise my Testosterone naturally, but I feel like I need a jump start and that's what I'm hoping the supplement will do. I don't want to get TRT - Testosterone Replacement Therapy. From what I've read, your body becomes dependent on it and it shuts down the natural production. Basically, if you start it, you have to keep doing it and paying for it. The supplement I ordered is supposed to boost natural production. Once I have more energy, I really feel like I'll exercise more and therefore create my own. Naturally, I will need to change some things. Diet. Exercise. Motivation. But I really feel that will come naturally once I get into it. I just need that initial jump-start or boost to get going. 

Half-Marathon Progress: Nov. 2nd until November 22nd

 You know how I like to post weekly updates. Well, obviously that hasn't been happening, so I wanted to catch you up on how things are going - or in this case - how things are NOT going. 

Week of Nov. 2nd

On Sunday, Nov. 2nd, I hiked 3.5 miles with my wife. This was just under 12 weeks until the half marathon. I did nothing for the rest of the week. I was just slammed with work and by the end of the day, I was exhausted. both mentally and physically. I'm not sure if something happened when I turned 58, but my motivation and energy are in the toilet. I talk a lot about embracing the suck and just getting out there even if it's just to walk. I can't even get myself to do that. 

Week of Nov. 9th

This week, I forced myself to do something. Anything. On Sunday, Nov. 9th, I went for a hike with my wife. Another 3.5 miles which was nice and relaxing. 

On Monday, I ran 1.5 miles and did some arm curls along with front and side raises. 

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I did the same arm curls, front raises and side raises. 

On Saturday, I hiked 5 miles with my wife. This was a really fun hike because there is a new Troll exhibit at the NC Arboretum. Trolls: A Field Study. It is awesome if you're in the area. 

Week of Nov. 16th

Sunday thru Friday I did nothing. I did have PT on Thursday night, so I guess that's something, but just a wasted week. 

On Friday and into today, Saturday, Nov. 22nd, my calves are insanely tight. I'm not sure why. We did a lot in PT work on my calves so perhaps it's delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Today, I did manage to hike 3.6 miles. Today is also officially 9 weeks until the Half-Marathon.