Clean windows, tailgating at Ohio State, & WARM temps

Friday my parents came up to help clean the windows... although for them it was more about spending time with Summer.  I taught Summer how to clean the screens... which was my Summer job when I was a teen.

Saturday we tailgated and I rode my motorcycle down because Summer was taking a nap and we didn't want to leave Jon alone... So rough, right?!  I was happy to go down earlier and then meet Dawn to help her get all of our stuff.

And the weather was FANTASTIC! You cannot ask for better weather! 

Summer was loving it as well.  

Seasonable weather for your Halloween this year and dry... which will be the first time in several years. Partly cloudy today and cool followed by more sun for Tuesday and Wednesday. A big push of warm air for Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of rain on Thursday. Cooler temps return after Thursday's rain. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Back to the farm, Ohio State visit, & Frost Advisory

Dawn had an all-day bachelorette party Saturday so Summer and I went back to the family farm.  We also went up to visit her great-grandma Jean.  Clark also came up with us, along with dad.  

Classic Clark.

My dad likes spoiling Summer with ice cream, so we stopped at Snack Shop in New Madison.

Dawn called!  Summer sat on my parents' front steps & babbled to her on the phone.

I also called my high school best friend Jimmy and he came over with his kids.  We had fun outside with Marcus's dogs.  I am going to miss the dogs because Marcus's ex-girlfriend is taking them to Arizona for a few months until Marcus can come back and take them to Bulgaria with him.

Summer and I went home and she was tired from the long day... so the Buckeyes loss to Penn State didn't go down very well with her.

Yesterday I went back to Ohio State to talk to the Geography Professionalism class.  They were getting practice for their information interviews, so they used me for 50 minutes of questioning.  Lots of fun.

I also stopped by to see Luke Marshall at his office.  I also went out to lunch with him and his other officers. 

Another dry day on tap, but a frosty start. Frost Advisory for most of Central Ohio through 9AM today.

Sun this morning followed by some afternoon clouds and temps topping out in the mid to upper 50s. More clouds Wednesday with a chilly start along with patchy frost followed by rain later in the day. More rain for Thursday then dry Friday. Temperatures staying cool all week. Some spotty rain possible this weekend, but forecast models are slowly weakening the rain, so stay tuned. Have a good one!

 

Best,

Andrew Buck Michael

World Series bound Indians, Summer's Mustang, rain leaving

Family members have shot me a few more running photos from the half marathon. This photo was just before mile 13 because I could see the big 13 ahead and knew I had to push it hard a little longer.  I have been going over in my head where I go from here.  I rested up most of this week and may go for an afternoon run today for a few miles.  I want to keep it going.  I am tentatively planning on the Cap City Half Marathon at the end of next April and then MAYBE the full Columbus Marathon next fall.  Still kinda weighing options with taking care of Summer and how much free time I will have because training for a full marathon will take more time.

How about the Indians making the World Series!  I am very excited! I have not washed my Indians shirt since the playoffs started.  I was NOT wearing it Tuesday when they lost.

So I posted a while ago about picking up some beeswax.  I started making my own hair wax using this, shea butter from Africa and some essential oils.

First batch turned out too firm, so had to remelt and add more shea butter and castor oil.

Cheers!

So I may have told this story before... but since I haven't been married for 5 years it has been a while since I shared the story... So before Dawn and I were married we were out one night and she was letting me know how she honestly felt about me having mopeds.  She asked why I was so into them.  I told her I was always jealous of the kid down the street with one as a kid and I always wanted one. She said she always wanted a Barbie car as a kid, but never got one.  So I looked on Craigslist and found this one for a great price.  I gave it to her as a wedding gift.  It has been in the garage or hidden under the stairs in the basement for five years now and I got it out yesterday to see how Summer fit.  She can't reach the pedals yet, but she LOVED getting into the car and playing around inside of the car.  I would take her out of it and she would run back up to the side of it and try putting her leg over the side to get back inside the car.  I would have to lift her back in so she could play with her kid kitchen utensils and balls. Fun times. 

A wet start to your Friday with the rain starting to move east midday and a few spotty showers for the afternoon, but staying cool and breezy. 

A little clearing overnight with patchy frost likely for Saturday and Sunday morning. Mostly cloudy Saturday and then more sun Sunday. Staying dry and sunny early next week with temperatures topping out in the low 60s. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Football, my first half marathon, & record temps coming

Dawn's cousin's football team from Cleveland was in town this weekend playing a team from Cincinnati, St. Ignatius vs. Moler.  Friday night we watched one cousin play in the JV game and then the freshman team played on Saturday morning.  It was a lot of sun and Summer loved it. 

Saturday afternoon I got all my race gear ready to go for the Columbus half marathon.

Well… my first half marathon is under my belt. I am going to lose a couple toenails and have a handful of blisters and wouldn’t change any minute of it. Traffic was a cluster getting into downtown and we ended up letting my cousin’s boyfriend take the car to park. I ran along with two cousins and one aunt.

As we got into the corrals and started moving forward after the start I saw the doctor(medical director for the marathon) that helped me with my stress fracture/glutes issues. He fist bumped me a hundred yards from the start and said “Have fun out there today.” That totally pumped me up.

I ran steady for the first 4 miles. Saw another aunt and uncle, then my brother and the husband for the aunt running, then I was keeping my 9 minute pace a while. All of a sudden I saw my wife, daughter, and two friends about a mile before the spot they said they would be. I ran by and gave them all high fives. Summer, my daughter, looked at me like What the heck is he doing?! She was adorable with her sign for me.

I tried to find other runners to pace myself and around mile 4 I started to feel some pain. I walked and used some numbing gel on my gluteus and hips. It took another mile of running before I felt the chilling numb. At this point I was walking every mile, per docs orders, to see how I felt and not over-do-it. Once I rounded the Children’s Hospital and saw the kids outside their rooms along the route… that did it! I was determined.

I saw a director from the station and he snapped some GREAT photos. I had about three miles left. 

I started to feel a lack of endurance after taking the last 3 weeks easier than my training plan. But I kept pushing on. Walked a little and found someone to keep pace with for another mile or so.
I never got to see my grandpa and I looked for him everywhere. My mom surprised me and took a photo of me about 200 yards from the finish.

2:01:35. My goal was 2 hours before I was injured. I’m very happy with that, but would LOVE to re-run it. I coulda got under 2. I know I coulda pushed harder. Next year. 

YES!

Oh… and I got to ring the PR gong! 

 

Thanks for all the support today on the course, and over the last couple months on Tumblr. I’ve never done a half before, but I think I want to break 2 then go for a full… maybe. I turned to head to the finish and I thought “How the HELL are some of these people doing another 13 miles?!?!”

Here are some of the signs that helped push me on...

But I finished and so grateful for all the support. Summer was very happy to see me at breakfast following the race.  On another note. Start to finish of my training and run… down 15 pounds(and that’s after a gallon of water and HUGE post race breakfast.)

Staying warm and windy for the start of the week followed by rain on the way.  Strong winds out of the southwest, 15-25 MPH with gusts 30+ MPH, for Monday and Tuesday will be pumping in near record temperatures.  The record high temperature is 83° Monday and Tuesday.  We will see a mix of sun and clouds Monday and Tuesday then some rain returning late Tuesday and continuing on and off Wednesday and Thursday.  Rain starts leaving early Friday followed by cooler temps and more sun heading into next weekend.  Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

A quiet day around the house

I went out to West Jefferson yesterday to work on my next School Shout Out.  It's going to be a good one! I think it will air Monday.  I think that is the new plan to have my SSOs (as I call them) air on Mondays.

I went home a little early to take a nap because I felt VERY nauseous.  A three hour nap did the trick and I cleaned the house and made some bun-less chicken phillies.

I washed all the bedding yesterday too and while waiting I put up the hammock and did some reading in the backyard.  Excited for Dawn and Summer to return home today!

A wet and cool start to your Thursday and temperatures will remain cool the next couple of days. The early morning rain will clear out and more sun by the afternoon. Patchy frost likely overnight with a low of 38 expected for Columbus and lower 30s in rural areas. A spotty shower possible Saturday afternoon, mainly for the Southern half of Ohio, then more rain possible later on Sunday. A big warm up coming next week. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Old tunes

I spent a lot of yesterday importing old CDs for the upcoming marathon, now in 5 days.  I lots all my digital versions a while ago, so this was a way for me to only bring back the "good stuff."  I decided to go with a lot of older music for the marathon.  A lot of tunes that I listened to while running cross country.  Listening to the music pumps me up, despite how mellow some of the tunes are.  They bring back memories of all the different courses and distract me from the current run.

For some reason, I decided some afternoon coffee was a good idea.  I always go to bed early because of waking up around 1AM, but still didn't have too hard of a time falling asleep.  It was still 0-0 for the Indians game when I fell asleep in the third inning. 

Patchy early frost as clouds are moving in for your Tuesday.  Mostly cloudy early becoming partly cloudy by the afternoon and clearing for the evening.  More sun for early Wednesday, more mild, and more clouds by later in the day.  Scattered showers for early Thursday then drying out for the second half of the day and Friday and Saturday will likely stay dry.  More rain for later Sunday. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Running, beeswax, running, & more running...

Saturday morning we woke up early and went to watch our niece Ally run cross country in town.  Summer had a good time. Ally broke her personal record and ran the 2 miles in 13:54! We then tailgated for the Buckeyes game, but watched it from home.  

Sunday Dawn went north to Cleveland for a birthday party so I rode my motorcycle down to Honeyrun Farm for some raw honey and get some beeswax.

Something I have not mentioned on here, but I have been training to run the Columbus Half Marathon this upcoming weekend.  I have been plagued with running injuries through high school and even college, so I have kept it pretty quiet.  My injuries continue to roll on.  I had shin splints when I started training about 12 weeks ago, but that went away with better shoes and other tricks I have learned.  But now I have a bigger issue.  I saw a physical therapist last week because of pain in my lower back/tailbone area.  It has been bad a few weeks and he thought it was a stress fracture so he had me go get x-rays.  So I did that Friday and nothing was blatant so they wanted to do an MRI to get a better look.  UGH! I passed, but I will be treating it as one once the race is over.  Doc said only 2 more 4 mile runs before the race... I did one of those last night and felt pretty good, but still going to take it easy.  I have kinda threw out my goal time for the race, because just finishing with my pain will be an accomplishment.

The race does look very warm this year.  Temps in the mid 50s in the morning.... In my opinion, that will be perfect!  I know some people want it cool, but I like that mid 50s.

Another cool day with plenty of sun! Temps only warming into the mix 60s today with lots of blue skies and sun for your Monday. A few more clouds Tuesday as we warm to near 70 for the high. A mix of sun & clouds Wednesday with highs in the mid 70s. Some early rain possible Thursday as cooler air returns. Have a good one!

Best,
Andrew Buck Michael

Akron, Ohio State, Columbus Marathon, & Hurricane Matthew

Friday we dressed Summer up in her University of Akron apparel to cheer on Dawn's cousin, Danny, who runs on their cross country team.  The All Ohio meet was in Cedarville and he ran the 8k.  He had a pretty awesome time, despite straining his hamstring before the race.  BOY was it wet!

Saturday was drier and great conditions for the Ohio State Homecoming.  I had a friend with an extra ticket, so I was very happy to help him fill the seat.

Amanda passed through town this weekend and she stopped by to spend the night and I got to see her briefly.  Always great seeing the fam.

Summer is still getting over her cold, so I hung out with her yesterday watching Cinderella in morning before nap time for her and mowing time for me.  

Hurricane Matthew is packing quite a punch in the 5AM update with 145 MPH winds and headed toward the East Coast.

For anyone running the Columbus Marathon or Half Marathon in 12 days, it is looking dry in the morning on the 16th with low temps in the upper 40s.  So chilly, but not NEARLY as cold as past years.

Finally back into a typical fall-like week for Central Ohio. After all the rain last week, expect the grass to continue growing fast thanks to all the sun this week. Mild temperatures with highs in the upper 70s and mostly sunny skies the rest of the week. A few more clouds by Friday as a cold front moves in for Saturday bringing a few showers for the start of the weekend. Our temps cool off into the 60s for highs for the weekend and early next week. Have a good one!


Best,
Andrew Buck Michael