Pedroza's Place

Weeks to the Half: 9
Weight: 302
Longest Distance Run: 7 miles
It has been a busy week. This week I went and got our Scouts tour permit settled for the district camporee on April 23rd. It was a lot of paperwork. I had a few good short runs, but as the results show I didn’t have any noticible improvement this week. Hopefully, next week it will be better.

Weeks to the Half: 10
Weight: 300
Longest Distance Run: 7 miles
Well, the weight is coming down again which is good, but I am really not happy about all the yo-yoing. I am in a distance block right now due to my weight and that is really frustrating. Any time I try to go up to 7 miles my shins start to hurt a lot. I think this is due to the extra weight I am carrying. This week I worked on strengthening them by doing more sprints and a couple of uphill jogs. I am hoping that it will help me break that 7 mile barrier.
On Monday, I had AJ come along with me for a 5 mile walk. He is quite the walker himself. He is only two, but he can walk two miles on his own. I was quite impressed. His problem is he gets distracted way too easily. I almost thought he was part dog because he stopped and pointed at every fire hydrant on the way to point at it and say “Yellow.” Then when an ambulance came by he started to mimic it by going “wooowooowooo.”

Weeks to the Half: 12
Weight: 300
Longest Distance Run: 7 miles
The bad news is I gained 5 pounds. I am definately having a problem with portion control. I am not snacking too much which is good, but I eat too much at my meals. Something I am going to work on this week.
The good news is that my walking endurance is definately going up. I got a blister on Monday, that was not fun. I am chalking that up to “no pain, no gain.”

Weeks to the Half: 13
Weight: 295
Longest Distance Run: 5 miles
This week my Scouts decided that they wanted to begin working on their Physical Fitness Merit Badge. Being the leader I try to be I told my Scouts that I would do this merit badge along with them. Big mistake, I earned this Merit Badge 20 years ago. I am sure when I did it I did admirably. I remember winning two ribbons for the amount of sit-ups and push-ups I could do. Times have changed and I am no longer so glorious in my physical fitness endeavors. Injury came when I found myself behind all my Scouts in the rankings. Insult came when they were done they went on to play a game of dodge ball and I sat in a corner feeling all my muscles really sore. Oh to be that age again.
In other news progression on the running front has been slow. I am basically going off the premise that something is better than nothing. I am beginning to feel Mother Nature is against me in that the weather has been really nice on my workdays but horrible on my days off. I’d write a letter, but I know I wouldn’t be able to afford the postage. Despite the weather I was able to do a long (long for me) run on Saturday. When I set out in the morning the weather was pleasant. So much so that I headed out in shorts and a t-shirt. By the time I got to Camp Switzerland (the far side of Lake Gregory) I noticed that these really big dark clouds were rolling in. The temperature dropped rapidly. There is nothing like the impending doom of a snow storm to get you moving faster. At this point I was already more than half way on my scheduled run, so there was nothing left to do other than increase my pace and get home as fast as I could. Needless to say that my time on this run was really good (for me anyway).

Weeks to the Half: 14
Weight: 302
Longest Distance Run: 2 miles
They say “that the road to failure is paved with good intentions.” This is how I feel my week went. I had a lot of good things planned this week as far as jogging goes, but none of them worked out. I was supposed to go on a 5 mile hike on Saturday, but it snowed. I was going to make it up for it on Monday (my early day at work), but traffic got in the way. My only saving grace is that with the traffic I had the presence of mind to go to the mall and start walking some laps while waiting for my ride to pick me up. I could chalk it up to bad circumstance, but I think it was bad planning on my part. This week I learned I need to have a plan B in case plan A doesn’t work out, because I know that plan C is to sit on my lazy butt and do nothing. This is how I got myself to where I am today!!
I also have an issue of after work training. I am a commuter and so I leave relatively early in the morning and I come home relatively late. I am not a big fan of jogging in the dark, but I am going to have to get over that. I guess I am going to have to get a good jogging flashlight or something. It gets really dark at night where I live (not a lot of street lights in the forest).
Anyhow, I am looking forward to a better week coming up. I think with a bit more of better planning I will have some better output. I am always looking for good ideas. What do you do when your plan A doesn’t work out?

Two years ago I did the Disneyland Half Marathon. It was great achievement for me in that I finished, but it also has become a major hurdle. Just to catch those up not in the know I finished the race in 3:19:35. For most people that is where the story ends, but for me it was just a beginning. First thing you have to know is that three steps after the race I collapsed. When I came to there were two medics helping me into a wheelchair. My blood pressure was up to 150 and they wanted to put an IV in me. The funny thing was I wasn’t going to let them do that until I got my medal. In the end I made a deal with the doctor that if he got me my medal I would let him put in the IV.

Not very rational, but I wasn’t thinking very straight at that moment anyhow. When I finally got home and took off my socks I discovered that I had no skin on the front part of my feet. Luckily, Denise’s mom hooked me up with some special pads they use for burn victims. The skin eventually came back, but I wasn’t able to walk for a week.
So why am I bringing up this? Well, after that race I didn’t do very well in keeping up my running training. In July I am scheduled to go hiking in the Sierras with my Scouts. My Scouts are trying to earn their Hiking Merit Badge. One of the requirements for the Hiking Merit Badge is that they complete a 20 mile hike. I don’t think I am at all ready for a 20 mile hike with my Scouts. After doing the Riverside 5K I know I am not ready for the distance. I will also add to that I am carrying too much weight to be carrying a pack (302 lbs).
So how do I remedy this? Well, I need a goal. The Sierra hike is a good goal within itself, but that is my Scouts goal. I want them to do well, but I need to do something else to help me prepare for that. For me, I need to conquer some of the gremlins that are haunting me from my last half marathon. I am not sure I can explain it well but basically I need to prove that I can do a half marathon and not almost kill myself in the process. So I have decided that I am going to train for the Fontana Days Half Marathon in June.
This is going to take a serious effort. To help me in this quest I am going to have to stay focused. I am going to need some help with this. To help me on this I am going to write about my progress every Tuesday. What I need is if it is Wednesday and you don’t see a blog entry about my progress I need you to email me at johnpedroza(AT)hotmail(DOT)com and tell me to get back on the goal. The progress is going to be slow, but I know if I am consistent I can do it. Thank you in advance for your help.