Fitness Geek

A New Year

2012. I’m hoping this year will be even better than last year. Lil’ Geek continues to grow and laugh and liven up the world.

I’ve got a number of goals for this year. Some are off to a good start. Others, not exactly.

Run 1,200 - 1,500 miles: I’ve got ground to make up here for sure. January will be at best 80 miles. That puts me well behind my goal, but I’ve got 11 months to make it up.

100 pushup challenge: I’m hoping to start this in the next couple of days.

Get in better shape: Not just running.

Run another ultra: As of last November, I’m no longer an ultrarunner. I can’t call myself one if I haven’t run one in the last year. I want to run at least two 50Ks this year with a goal of a 50 miler in 2013.

Be a better father. Lil’ Geek deserves the best.

Be a better husband. Mrs. Fitgeek deserves the best too.

I also want to read more, write and just do more to better myself.

Here’s to a good year.

On Running

My running has suffered this past week. Laziness, plus bad weather plus Lil’ Geek’s internal alarm going off at 3 and 4 am equaled not a lot of running.

That’s the bad news. The good news is I’ve run twice in the last two days and I’m almost back on track. Looking back at the past birthday year (Oct. 2 - Oct. 1) I ran 1,001 miles, my most in a 365 day period.

I’ve got a good base built up and my goal for the rest of the month and November is to build on that base and start doing some speedwork.

I’ve jumped into social media with my fitness. I’m on dailymile as fitgeek, and you can find me on www.fitocracy.com as schulmanwriter.

I’m really wanting to get back into shape over the winter.

That’s it for now. Time to spend time with the family!

Checking In

Another year has passed, and without much blogging. Part of that was time, and part was I didn’t know how to blog. I had plenty to write about, but that wasn’t the problem. It was the how.

How do I write when I feel like most people don’t want to hear me talk about myself. That’s something I’ve struggled with this year, trying to be less about me.

So the blog is changing, just a bit. But it is changing. Instead of writing this for me, I’ll be writing it for Lil’ Geek. The content will be the same, but hopefully it will be a little less rambly. That’s a word, right? Rambly? Probably shorter posts, but more often. That’s the plan at least.

First off, it’s a new year so new goals.

1. I’ll blog at least three times a week.
2. Run at least four times a week.
3. Reach 1,200 miles in the birthday year
4. Run at least three ultra distances. This isn’t races. Right now I don’t think I’ll be able to fit a race into my schedule. I’ve been cutting back on those the last couple of years, and I think it’s been for the best.
5. Read the Torah. I’ve been neglecting this area of my life for plenty of reasons (none are good ones).
6. Get in better shape. Totally vain. But this summer was a wakeup call.
7. Spend more time with Mrs. Fitness Geek and Lil’ Geek.
8. See at least two movies a month. This one has dropped in recent months (mostly for the better), but I want to catch up.
9. Read more.
10. PR at the marathon and 50K distance. Lot of work here, but I’ve got a year, right?

That’s it. Later this week, photos of Lil’ Geek and a recap of the running so far.

A good day

This was one of those days where the only place to be was outside with family. I started the day early, around 4 AM with my longest run of the year, 12 miles.

I had a time goal of sub 2 hours which would mean sub 10 minute miles.

This run was also my first with my new HTC phone and its mapmyrun app. It was fun tracking my splits and recording my route. I finished in 1:55, a good run.

Lil’ Geek was up not long after that and we spent the rest of the day playing. She refused to nap after playing outside, and it was obvious she was tired. She fought it until 5:00 or so when she fell asleep in the middle of eating.

We let her sleep sitting up. She didn’t mind! She woke up eventually but went down for the night a few hours later.

Relaxing days like this make me realize how much I enjoy weekends.

Prepping for 31 Miles

I’m in the middle of training for my second ultra, a 50K that I’m putting on just a few miles from the house of Geek. I’m definitely nervous. My mileage has been so-so. In my first race, I trained with fairly low mileage with my weekday runs average about 4 miles. This time my weekday mileage is closer to 6 or 8 miles at a time.

However, and this is a big however, my long runs haven’t been that long. This past weekend I hit 10 miles for the first time since the 50K in November. The upside is that the run felt easy, with the exception of the last mile when stomach issues slowed me to a walk.

The goal this week is to head toward a weekly total of 30+ miles with my long runs continuing to build to that 20 mile mark.

I had hoped for 100 miles in March, and I would have made it with ease except I lost 6 days of running to a bad cold that knocked me on my butt. I’m a Daily Mile guy and I’ve joined a number of challenges, including hitting 100 miles in April and another for running 1,000 miles in 2011.

Well, the 1,000 one will be a bit harder because I joined in March, and it doesn’t count any miles before you join. Ah well. I’m not one to back down from a challenge.

Tomorrow will be my first run this week since Monday was rained out. The goal is 8 on Wednesday, 4 on Thursday and then 6-8 on Friday to get started on 100 for April. I’ll do my long run on Sunday, and the plan says 14. I know I can get in the miles. It’s just a matter of getting up and getting out the door.

Speaking of running, Lil’ Geek spent Saturday running around being chased by grandparents and last night she and I chased each other up and down the hall. She’s a big ball of fun and sugar.

Happy Birthday Mrs. Fitness Geek

Happy birthday to the love of my life. You are the glue that keeps our family together. I hope this day is everything you want it to be and more.

I’m lucky enough to have married my best friend. Have a very happy birthday because you’ve made everyone in your life very, very happy.

Soooo, I’m back

Let’s see, the last time I posted, Lil’ Geek was almost a year old and I was training for my first ultra.

I stopped blogging for a number of reasons.

1. Lil’ Geek. As she got older, our time together became the most important time to me. Not that it wasn’t before, but suddenly we were chasing each other around the house, stacking things, tickling and reading books. Something like blogging just didn’t matter.

2. Mrs. Fitness Geek. For some reason, she wanted to spend time with me too. I’m still not sure why.

3. Running/Work. If I wasn’t spending time with the family, I was working or running.

Life gets complicated with a little one, but it gets simple too. Only a few people and activities in life matter anymore. Tasks that were so important suddenly seem insignificant.

My world today is Lil’ Geek and Mrs. Geek. That’s it. Everything else is just gravy.

Today I have a halfway decent hold on life. Or at least parts of it. I’m up in the morning before six four or five days a week to run. I’m getting in about 30 miles a week and training for my second ultra, a 50K (more on that later).

After work my life is Lil’ Geek. We have about three hours together and we make it count. She loves to play hide and seek. She gets so tickled when she finds me that she falls over laughing. She eats yogurt with a spoon and all of the yogurt makes it to her face, but only 75 percent or so actually gets in her mouth.

Bath time is a blast. Her big thing is splashing and pouring water on herself.

After bath and some more food, it’s time to play again: vroom-vroom (riding on her princess car), stacking stuff and tickling.

Bed time at last. A few books, always ending with Goodnight Moon. She grabs her Tigger and George (the curious one), and she’s out. Usually.

Tomorrow I’ll start posting recaps of some of the big events of the last six months. Later I’ll post my 2011 goals and hopefully after that I’ll be back on track.

First Steps

Some firsts this past Sunday. Lil’ Geek took her first steps, a feat that was as amazing as it was short. But she’s working hard to get up to five or six steps before she topples over.

Also on Sunday I ran my second of three 20 milers before my big race on Nov. 14. It’s my first ultra, and I’ve got to say I’m a bit nervous and excited. This weekend’s plan is 20-24 miles, depending on how the legs feel. That’s my last really long run before the race.

I’ve got a time goal of six hours, and a big goal of having Lil’ Geek cross the finish line with me. So she’s working on her walking and I’m working on my running. We’re quite the team.

17 days to go until the race!

11 Months and growing

Lil’ Geek, how time has passed us by. I’m sure you’re wondering why I haven’t written in so long. There’s a good reason. You may not understand it now; you might even see it as selfish.

Well, it was. See, you have to understand what our afternoons were like for the last 9 months. I would pick you up from the babysitter after work and we’d head home, just you and I.

And this is where I got a little selfish. That time at home, those 2-5 hours that were just ours, well, I spent every minute of it with you and you alone. Early on, the afternoons were spent holding you and getting you to laugh. Often you would fall asleep on me. Nothing was better.

As you grew, our playing evolved. You had your favorite toys grew more complicated, and you would crawl over me and smile and laugh and the world was perfect.

Over time you learned to say “da-da.” I would chase you down the hall and you would giggle and the whole world disappeared around us. When you learned to kiss (your version was leaning in with your mouth wide open, tongue hanging out) you somehow became even more adorable.

I probably should have written more to you these last months, but I think I was keeping all of those wonderful memories for myself. Whether it was sitting on the floor reading to you while you learned to flip pages or rolling a ball across the floor to you, those moments mean more to me than any letter could ever mean to you.

A couple of weeks ago your mom was out with friends so you and I had our first daddy-daughter date. We went to McDonald’s and you managed to eat a McNugget or two while watching other children play. I could see it in your eyes how bad you wanted to go play, but your little legs just weren’t ready for that yet.

That night you and I played. And played. And played some more. That night we sat in your room and as I was reading you your bedtime stories (with you turning the pages faster than I could read) you did something you had never done: you looked up at me, smiled and leaned upward with your mouth open for a kiss.

For the first time ever, YOU were asking for a kiss, proud of yourself for flipping the pages and happy just to be sitting on my lap on a Saturday night. It was without a doubt one of the sweetest moments of my life.

You’ve grown so much, Lil’ Geek. I love you more as each second passes. Your smile keeps my heart beating. I hope you don’t mind that I haven’t written much in your first year. I decided a while ago to spend every available moment with you. I’m happy I did.

I promise to write more and hopefully I’ll make you as proud as you’ve made me.

I love you Lil’ Geek. I’m looking forward to sharing McNuggets again with you real soon.

Back on track

This morning I had a great six miler. It was the first time I ran this course in nearly a year and the first time at this distance in months. I’m not proud of either of those statements but hopefully I’m back to regular running.

I need to hit the road hard and start lifting more, not only because I have a race in a month but also I’m just getting fat.

I’ve started putting some goals together for the year, both for running and on a personal level. I’ll share them on Monday.

For now though i’m going to just to enjoy the afterglow of a good run and a good start.