Update

Sooo, it's been over a month since I posted.  I could make several excuses for why it's taken me so long, but that would not be interesting to either of us, so let's just summarize what has happened since I last posted.

First of all, I have still been running.  At least four days a week every week, increasing the weekly mileage little by little.  In fact, probably the biggest development in my training is that I started following a big boy training program.  For six weeks now, I've been following the Hal Higdon Novice Supreme Training Program in order to prepare for the Des Moines Marathon in October.  At this point, I haven't actually signed up for the marathon.  I keep telling myself I'm just going to keep following the training program and see how it feels.  I think in the back of my mind, I assume that there will be a point where it will be too hard and I won't be able to do it anymore and then I'll quit.  I picked this particular program because it gave me enough time to build a base and not add too much too quickly in order to prepare.  I should clarify that even though I've only been following the plan for six weeks, I'm actually on week 10 of the plan because that's where I need to be in order to get ready for the Des Moines marathon.  The mileage for week 4 when I started was actually right at what I was doing at the time, so I thought "If I'm running these distances anyway, why not train for something?"  So here we are.  I'm one third of the way done and just finished my hardest run to date.  Here's the route and statistics

I'm not gonna lie, this one hurt.  I think the biggest reason for the pain was because I didn't follow the training plan this week like I'm supposed to.  The plan calls for runs Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday with a long run on Saturday.  There was rain on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, however, so I moved those runs to Friday and Saturday respectively then did the long run on Sunday with no day off in between like the plan calls for.  The worst part of this run was a tightness in my left shin.  It's now about four hours after finishing and the pain is all but gone, however.

I've had a lot of encouragement and running with my friends during the time I've been gone.  I've had runs with Aaron and Ben who I think I've mentioned before as well as some runs with friends Melanie, Paul and Ana.  I also had several group runs with folks from the YMCA.  Unfortunately, my training schedule does not align well with the group from the Y, so my running with them has been infrequent.  I have found that I really enjoy running with someone better than running alone.  Even though I enjoy my music, I find that I can lose track of time better during a conversation, so I've been very thankful for friends who want to run with me and talk the whole time.

As you guys know, I really dig running gear.  Yes, I have acquired some new gear since we last spoke.  For one thing, I got another pair of my Brooks PureFlow shoes that I absolutely love.  They are a different color but I got them in order to alternate between the two and keep them fresher and more cushiony for my feet.  I really did research and try on a bunch of different shoes but in the end, none worked better for me than the Brooks.  I'm very happy that I've found a pair that works for me.  I'm even more happy to learn that they are coming out with the PureFlow 2 sometime later which means they're going to keep making them for a while.  If I ever find out they're going to quit making these, I will be in the store like Elaine stocking up on Today's Sponges.  I've also gotten several pairs of shorts, a few shirts, some socks, a hydration belt, and a hat.  I have found all of these items to be worth it in the way they help when I'm running and how they motivate me to get out there just to use them.

Finally, and most importantly, my wife has started running too.  I'm very proud of her for getting out there even when she's tired from taking care of kids all day or when she's sore or whatever and she is still getting out there.  I'm really looking forward to a time when we can run together in a race.  With the two kids, it's difficult/impossible to get out there at the same time now so we have to take turns.

Thanks for reading all the way through this, I'll try to keep posting more frequently.  I've been sharing my runs on Facebook/Twitter through Mapmyrun or Runkeeper so I haven't been posting them here.  I'll keep trying to work on a good balance.