No More Wasted Years

Victory....well sort of

2008-03-07T05:25:00.000-08:00

I completed the Disney World marathon, but came in just barely under the cut off time of 7 hours. Why did it take so long? Undertraining my friend. I started having cramps in my quads around mile 7, and my mile 14 both quads and both calves were cramping when I tried to do more than a slow shuffle. Even a fast walk was causing cramping. Favoring my first cramping leg caused silver dollar sized blisters to form and burst on both feet. I finished with bloody socks and bloody shorts from chafing...but I did finish. I can't let it lie like this though. Someday I will have to better prepare and turn in a more respectable time for a full marathon. Until later...

Self doubt is a bear

2007-09-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

It's not always easy when you are challenging yourself. I find myself slacking on my milage for the first time in any race training here in my second week. I have been sick and that has gotten me behind. We'll see how I feel after my long runs this weekend. I am still a really heavy guy even though I have lost the majority of my excess fat and the pounding my joints are taking is starting to worry me. I really hope I can do this.

ImageLists and GDI+ in general drive me crazy

2007-09-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

I have about had my fill of aggravation working with ImageLists in VS2005. We consistently, intermittently, get the "Image List failed to Load" error on forms that have ImageList object on them. Basically, ImageLists leak GDI resources when they are loaded from an ImageStream and the only way to stop these errors is to get rid of the image lists or possibly, load them from embedded resources. We have chosen to remove the ImageLists...goodbye pretty buttons...

A New Journey Begins

2007-09-10T07:31:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I start training for the 2008 Walt Disney World marathon. This will be on the major events in my life, and I hope a high note. Last March, as part of my weight loss journey, I ran the Inagural ING Half-Marathon in Atlanta, GA. When I began training for that race a lot of people expressed disbelief or concern for my health that I should attempt to run 13.1 miles. Even after losing well over 100 lbs I remain a very large framed, fairly muscular person, so running may not be the most natural activty for me. The race went great (but boy, was it a tough day...really hot and a hard, hilly course!) and my first thought upon finishing was that wan't enough for me. I had to run a marathon. Tomorrow starts a journey of 18 weeks. We'll see where it takes me.

Welcome...possibly just to me

2007-09-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

This isn't for you...it's for me. If someone reads the thoughts and experiences I express through this medium and finds some meaning for their life that is good, but I don't claim to be an inspiring writer. I intend this place to be an archive of my continuing journey from the person I was to whom I work to become. To anyone reading this blog, thanks for taking to time to read my thoughts and I hope you aren't too bored by the time you leave.