The Good life

My brother John is heading to Iraq for a 2nd time on Tuesday. He's been to Afghanistan too, but this week its back to Iraq. He is an analysis for SAIC and does all this complex mapping stuff that is way over my head. He works mostly in the "Green Zone" which is supposed to be pretty safe. Pretty safe I think, but come on, I don't care how safe it is: being a government contractor in Iraq seems a lot more dangerous then being a Running Store GM in Arlington. (Picture to the right: L-R John, Kathy, Me, John's friend Scott)


A couple things about that:


-I have a ton of respect and admiration for my Bro. He's 25 and has a very important job that he's good at. He works all the time, and has a terrible social life when he's there in Iraq - but, lets be honest, makes a ton of cash when he gets all the hazard pay. But even more than that, I think he really feels like the work is meaningful and appreciates the opportunity to make a difference.

-I realize when talking to John, that I'm living the Good Life here back at home. He's seen a lot of adversity there, and experiences more than I can image from my Pacers Running Store box.

I hope this is last trip over there. Maybe one day he'll take me up on my offer to manager one of the stores. I'm mean I know I can't offer the helicopter trips over enemy territory, but just think John, with you in the fold we'll have the best running trails maps of any store in the country!

Good running weekend (relatively) - 12 miles on Saturday with Tim, Pearce, and Bri. 7 miles Sunday with Woody and Pearce.

x Farley

Practice Looms

So I coach this group on Wednesday mornings. The group is great. 10 or so runners all around the age of 35-45, trying to get in shape for a variety of Spring and Fall races. Waking up every Wednesday at 5:30am, not so great.

Coaching this crew is probably one of the most satisfying things I do all week, really. None of the crew (a few are pictured to the right) ran in college (except for one of my buddies who shows up once a month), but they all are really into running and getting into better shape. Enough so that they are there every week at 6am, beating me to the track, ready to roll.

Now I know 6am isn't that early for a lot of people. For me, though, it is. I usually get up around 7:30 to go for a run, so getting up 2 hours before that isn't too, too easy for me. Yeah, I know, I'm a wuss.

2 runs today.
5.5 miles solo in 41 mins

4 miles in 42:43 with Oscar and Oscars friend Lauren (Oscars longest run yet!)

9.5 miles - my achilles is still sore, but getting there.

x Farley

IPhone Apps and Running again

I don't have AT&T, therefore I don't have an IPhone. Kathy does, but I don't. I wish I had one, but I'm locked into Sprint for the next 2 years. I don't mind Sprint, and they are coming out with the "Palm Pre" an IPhone rip off, I'm pumped to get it, but still; it's no IPhone.

We are coming out with an App for your IPhone (an early mock up is displayed here) for the store. It is going to have information about sales, our events, fun runs, and locations. You could get all this information on the website, but if you've seen all the adds for Apps on TV, you can tell that seems to be where the market is going. We hope to have it out in March. It is going to be money.

In unrelated news, I decided to start blogging again because I feel like I had a real run today! Now that I'm running, I'll be back to writing daily (my blogging fans have been pining for it!!). It was good to be back: 6 miles solo around the Roosevelt Island, then another 7.7 miles with Cakes (his longest run yet!!). I also ran with Oscar (the other radio DJ I run with from the Big O and Dukes show) 2.6 miles easy.

16.3 miles total.

I'm back running. Another day in Paradise.

x Farley

Not too much

Today was the slowest day of the year at the stores. We had our first snowfall of any substance, it was cold and not many people made there way out of their houses. Usually I take an opportunity like this to get a good run on the trails behind Georgetown, but today, not so fast, my achilles is still banged up so I didn't run.

So I didn't do really too much of anything. I worked at the Fairfax Store, caught up with a couple of my colleagues, and helped a buddy with his training program. I guess I could have worse jobs.

The most exciting thing today, hmm.... I think it was one of my employees, Mark (above, far right above my brother who is the guy who is not me in the red shirt), started his own blog.

Man, I need to start running again. Sorry Mark.

I really shouldn't talk trash, he is one of my 2 loyal readers.

0 miles today, a couple of icings. Tomorrow will be better.

x Farley

Paying the price

Well I guess this is what I get for getting injured. Coach Matt came in tonight to ask how I was doing. I told him about my achilles injuries and my methods for getting healthy, and he wasn't hearing it at all. I was to "grab that bucket there" and "he was going to get a big bag of ice". He was gone for 5 minutes and then returned with the big bag of ice and a plan.

My idea of what icing was and his idea were totally different. I tried to dip just my achilles in the ice and was thinking I might be able to pull it out in 5 minutes or so. No dice.

He pushed my leg knee down so my entire foot was in the bucket of ice. Quickly I was in pain. "Farley, do you want to be a good runner or not? Your foot has to be numb for it to work!"

Coach Matt had me in that damn ice bath for 18 minutes, and you know what. My achilles actually feels a little better.

2 runs today - 11.2 miles

6.2 miles in 56 minutes with Cakes

5 miles in 39 minutes solo.

x Farley

The less you do, the less you can do

Throughout my running career I have been very lucky with injuries. I have been extremely resilient and able to handle high (relatively) mileage. I'll have the usual aches and pains with my knees and feet, but nothing I can't run though - well until now.

My right achillies has been bothering me for 3 days now. I didn't even run yesterday (hence the absent post). I think it flared up on Wednesday when I ran 15 miles in 2 runs. Usually that wouldn't have been a problem, I would have run that and been good to go, but not now.

In the last year, I have really run less than I have in the past decade. After college I ran up to 100 miles a week on numerous occasions. That is pretty normal for distance runners who are trying to break 2:40 in the marathon. I really kept pretty steady at least 80 until last year. Opening 2 new stores has really taken its toll on my running. But really, lets be honest, that is a just a convenient excuse. It really probably has more to do with the fact that I wasn't running faster and decided to not do all the little things for my running that I had done in the past. Regardless, it is what it is and I have no regrets: BUT, MAN does it suck to be injured.

I'm sure I'll be fine. It will just be a few days of easy running and a day or 2 more off than I'd like, but I'll be back running 80 a week soon (or I'll be a miserable person!). It just comes down to this: the less you do, the less you can do. I believe that in everything. If I run less, my body will become accustom to that and not allow me to transition back to running more, just like it is now with my achillies. Think about when you come home from vacation (picture on the right of Kathy and I in South Africa this past Fall), I mean seriously, doesn't it take a week for everyone to get back to being productive at work? Wait a second, I think I just gave my employees a free pass. Scratch that, be sure I'll be running tomorrow. No more vacations.

5.25 slow miles today in 41 minutes. Solo.

53.5 miles on the week.

x Farley

Training the masses

Just had a great conversation with my girlfriend, Kathy, and coach Matt about our training group we are developing. We have a meeting next Monday at the store in Arlington to introduce Matt and his assistant coaches. This is one of the most important things we do at the store.

The group is your everyday runner who is just trying to get into shape. We have a racing team and a club team who are more advanced, but these are the guys that make my business at the end of the day. We have a great women's group coached by Sandy May (picture right), a women who is 63 years young and has more energy than some of my 25 year old employees. Talk about inspiring, she'll run the Boston Marathon next year and set a new PR. These groups are really what keep me excited about running. The energy is amazing.

Today's run was with one of my best friends from college, Andrew Carnahan. We ran 7 miles in 48 minutes. My achilles was sore, but not too bad. I'm back at it tomorrow in the AM. Another day in Paradise.

x Farley