Naples Half Marathon

I finish the Naples Half Marathon yesterday in 2:34:42. No world record but an improvement over last years time. It was a great day! Joanne and Tony were at the finish line to take pictures and to cheer me on.!

Joanne and Me at the Naples Half Marathon Pasta Party Saturday night. This was after we found out that I don't have a brain tumor. It was a great party with pleanty of pasta for the 1,500 runners taking part in the Naples Half Marathon on Sunday.

Futures and Options

Today at 4:30 pm, I see my nuerosurgeon (brain surgeon) Dr. Michael Lust. He comes highly recommended. Hopefully the oncologist has sent all of my test to him so he can give me an intelligent update on my options and my future. His office is at NASA (Neuroscience and Spine Asociates) it is close to the office so I can slip out at 4:30.

What could be worse than cancer? A brain tumor!

I got my results from all of my tests last week. It took a while and the oncologist would not tell me over the phone. Always a bad sign. I had to go in Tuesday during my lunch to get the results. The MRI showed a spot on the frontal lobe of the brain...and the PET scan showed that it was a tumor approximately 3.3 centimeters or 1.3 inches. The growth on my back is well...soft and squishy....

So I will be seing my surgeon next Wednesday to set up a time to have the growth on my back removed....

Next I will be seeing a Neurosurgeon to determine how to handle the brain tumor...

I still plan on doing the Naples Half Marathon this Sunday.....

Tomorrow's Brain Scan

Well tomorrow I'm scheduled for a CAT scan of the chest and brain. Tonight I have to drink some kind of dye....I guess I'll glow in the dark!!!! This all messes up my training and I wish it were over....

Here's my weakly totals:


Bike.... WOW A NEW HIGH 175 miles
Run....what a low......14 miles


Goal this week:

Bike - recovery week 100 miles
run -take Tuesday off- 20 miles

Tour de Cape Finish

Tour de Cape

Well it was a great time!!!! And I finished the 100 mile-which was my goal. Here is a brief report of the race.

Tony and I left the house at 5:45 to get to Cape Coral on time to register for the race. Yes we did not pre-register because of me. After registering while getting our bikes ready and pumping the tires a guy parked near use came over to tell us that he had a flat. He was looking for theSAG but no one was around. Since he didn't have tools or a spare or a patch kit...Tony and I changed the tire for him and Tony gave him his spare. Then the guy came back and said the tire was flat again.....there was glass in the tire...so we changed the tire again and give him my spare. So Iwas off with only one spare left.



When 7:30 came the Cape Coral police escorted us out of the parking lot and the race was off. Tony and I being in the middle just rode along at a brisk 23 mph....it wasn't long before we fell back to the second pack and fit in better there doing 20 to 22 mph. Each of us took a turn pulling and I did my share.....I froze my water bottles so I had no water for the first 20 miles....ugh! At the 50 rest stop the pack decieded to stop to "refuel" so I was able to drink eat, stretch etc.... then it was off again. I was a little stiff after the stop and wondered about the need to stop had I the fuel on my bike.

At the 60 mile mark...I began to have cramps..so bad they brought tears to my eyes...or maybe it was sweat! I stoped to massage my legs...the park ranger asked if I needed medical assistance and I refused....I drank some orange juice and continued on...but now I was alone...

I fould a nice lady who was cleaning her already clean garage. I asked her for some water and some salt. So I ate 3 teaspoons of salt raw then put some in my water bottle and drank that as well.....hey it helped I didn't cramp any more!!!!! I now had to deal with never been this far and the just plain pain...the ball of my left foot started to hurt....then at 75 miles I stopped at the aid station and drank some pickel juice, ate 2 bananas, drank some water, gatorade...ate some salttines with peanut butter.... and was on my way....

At 80 miles I had a major headache and dizzy spelll....but it passed...Finally I made it to the finish line...well there was no one there except Tony sitting on the tailgate of his SUV...no banner or line or clock or people to cheer...whats with that?

Well I finished and now I can say I did 100 miles....the first 50 was great being in a pack of riders was alot of fun. I averaged 20 mph for the first 50...so not to bad...


Tour de Cape tomorrow

Well I've had a headache and ringing in my ears since Monday. No big deal just a slight headache rather dull ache, a stiff neck and a little dizziness. I've been able to run and ride though it.

I saw the dermotologist and mentioned the lump that is growing where my first surgery was...orginal melonoma. He said it is not noral for something to grow so quickly. dah!!! Since then it has almost doubled in size...so he said to call the oncologist....

The oncologist says she wants a CAT scan of my back and since I'm having headaches a brain scan....then a PET scan to see it the cancer has spread anywhere.... I want to wait until monday...soooo and I also call the surgeron for a Wednesday appointment....

So tomorrow is the 100 mile Tour de Cape. I've been looking forward to this for about 6 months. Tony is going to do the race with me. Our goal is to keep a steady pace of about 17 mph. But I'm sure Tony will want to go fast at times.

Tour de Cape Start

Old Shoes

This morning I didn't feel like wearing my regular running shoes for some reason, so I pulled an old pair of Brooks Beasts off the rack. They don't look pretty but they feel good! I thought since haven't been running in two weeks I'd just take it easy and slow with my old shoes. Well I felt pretty good. I did the first mile in 9:54 with a heart rate of 145 then for the next 6 miles just tried to keep getting a little faster. I did stop at the 3 mile mark for water then to take off my shirt but all in all I think it was one of my best runs in a long time. 7 miles in 59 minutes! Maybe I should just rotate old shoes......

Goal Setting

Last year I set a few goals for myself....

Complete Naples Half Marathon...Done!
Complete a Sprint Triathlon... Done Ft. DeSoto!
To Swim/Bike/Run every week... well almost....does sickness count?

My weight goal was to be 175 lb...I'm 15 lbs short of my goal..ugh!

Here are my year end stats:

Bike 3,456 miles
Run 1,289 miles

So I hope to do better in 2005! Here are my goals...A goal without a plan is a wish!

Training Goals:

Swim 600,000 yards or 12,000 yards a week
Bike 6,250 miles or 125 miles a week
Run 1,850 miles or 37 miles a week

weight Goal 161 by 12/31/05 lose 0.58 lbs a week!

Race Goals

Complete Naples Half Marathon under 2 hrs.
Finish St. Anthony's Tri
Finish Florida 1/2 Ironman
Qualify for Boston Marathon at Steamtown Marathon in 3:30

Back at it....

Now that Christmas is over, I'm back to my training and races. This week is the 100 mile Tour de Cape and then later in the month is the Naples Half Marathon.

My break really started the week before Christmas when we had some cold weather here in Florida. That week I was only able to ride two days out of my regular 4... Over Chirstmas week I did no training until I got home on Thurs (Dec. 30). Also when I got home I had a flu bug so that didn't help either. It is amazing to me that when you take a few days how quickly you lose fitness and gert sick.

Weakly Totals:

Bike 65 miles
Run Nada
Swim Nada
Weights Nada

Goals this weak:

Bike 80 and 100 mile race
Run 25 miles
Swim 3,000 yards
Weights 2 times

Christmas Vacation

My Christmas Vacation started with a nightmare. Tony took me to the airport thursday night December 23...in pleanty of time for our 8:40 pm flight. After check in I discovered the plane to RSW was delayed...delayed due to weather in Newark, The plane was to arrive at 7:30 and leave again at 8:40. After much waiting, watching Lord of The Rings on the puter and waiting and waiting the 7:30 plane arrived at 12:30 am Friday and we left at 1:300 for a 3:45 am arival in Newark.

Even worst was the cold ! When I left Estero it was 75*. When I arrived in Newark it was a balmy 26*...needless to say I was cold!

Training is taking a vacation!

Weakly Totals

This past week was a little disappointing, I've been tired and it has been chilly by Florida standards. Sunday was down right cold in the morning, 45* at 7 am!

Looking forward to 2005 and keeping with my goals I did sign up for St. Anthony's and I'm considering Walt Disney Half Ironman in May so far here is my schedule:

Jan 8, 20056 Tour de Cape 100 mile Bike Race
Jan 23, 2005 Naples Half Marathon
Feb 12, 2005 Chilly Willy Duathlon
March 6, 2005 Bay to Bay Classic - 12k run
April 25, 2005 St. Anthony's Triathlon - Oly distance
May 22, 2005 Florida Half Ironman
June Publix Fitness Tri Series - sprint
July Publix Fitness Tri Series - sprint
September Publix Fitness Tri Series - sprint
Oct 9, 2005 Steamtown Marathon - Boston qualifier
November Great Florida Triathlon -Ironman distance

Here are the Weakly Totals for the Week ending 12/12

Bike : 130 miles
Run : 17 miles
Swim: 1,000 yrds
Weights 1 x
Pilates 0

Broken Treo

Well I went and did it.... I dropped my Treo! The screen looks weird! I can't use it and will be getting a new one in a few days. But I find it hard to live without my Treo. I read my emails onthe way to work. Use Verichat to IM people. Surf the web on the way home and read the Philly papers. I even use it for work having Outlook and all of my contacts. I've been using a laptop for a few days instead of my Treo. It works great when your near a wireless connection. But it just isn't the same as the Treo.

Weakly Totals

Last week was a little odd...so here's the upddate

Run 20 miles
Bike 150 miles
Swim 1,000 yds didn't feel like swimming much


I registered for the St Anthony's Triathlon in April. It's an olympic distance Tri.... Also for the Tour de Cape Jan 8, it's a 100 mile race (not a ride) and the Naples half marathon Jan 23 (this year I think Joe Bonness is in my age group!).

Josh Called

Josh, he's my youngest, called from Iraqi where he is serving in the Army in a forward communications unit. Satilites are us! He may be coming home in January IF he doesn't get exteneded and then will come to visit with me in Feb for a couple of weeks.

Birthday Colonoscopy

I've been a little lax about updating my bog soooo.....

Hey it was my birthday Sunday....the 15th anniversary of my 39th birthday...54! I watched the Eagles beat Green Bay whoa! GO EAGLES>>>>

The oncologist has been on me about getting a colonoscopy. I kinda don't like things that don't belong there being pushed up there.....so I've putting it off. So I made a pact with myself to get all of my medical done in tax year 2004 so hopefully I can get a deduction for these expenses....

The doc doing the colonoscopy said the prep was worst than the test and he's right! I had to take 2 laxatives and then mix this stuff with gatorade and drink 8 oz every 30 minutes. He didn't menton you can't get to far from the bathroom. I didn't sleep well and my test was a 10:20 am so it was a long night. I had a little trouble getting some one to take me to the test since I couldn't drive afterwards....no one wants to sit about for 3 hours....so I bribed Joanne with a dinner at a resturant of her choice IF she would drive me home.

The doc was 1 hr behind schedule sooooo since my test was at 10:20 I didn't get in until 12 (an hour huh?) They put me out completely...the nurse said they found this best because people tend to scream and they have even had people crawl off the table....but it was a pleasent sleep. No dreams....

When I awoke the doc came to see me and yup you know me, they found something....he said he would sent the results to my surgeon and oncologist and he call me in 7 days or so with the results. I just don't want to poop into a bag.....kinda will mess up swimming.

When I got home there was a message from yet another doctor, my favorite painful giving doc the dermatologist. I had an appintment I had forgotten about....so off Tuesday to see Dr. Hurt. He did a full body scan, which means he looked EVERYWHERE! (yup everywhere). On the site of my first melanoma, which was the size of bagel and he removed with a local OCH, he found a growth growing about the size of a golf ball. He dosen't want to remove it this time, thank God. I think he was a little surprise since the nurse asked him if that was normal and he siad no way.... So I have to see the cocktail mixer and the cutter....my oncologist and my surgeon.

Kids Visit and Busch Gardens

The kids and grandkids came down to visit for Thanksgiving. Actually they arrived the Saturday before T-day and left the Saturday after. Needless to say my training schedule was a little disrupted. I did run on Satuday and did a 20 mile bike on Sunday but after that it was somewhat down hill.

Sunday I had my riding partner, his wife and their rabbit, Mango, come over for dessert and drinks. Then my neighbor on the west side and her husband dropped in at the same time so the party was on....with beer, wine and Scotch. No a good combination if you want to get up Monday at 6:30 to ride.

Max with a Bird on his Head