Stefan's Insights

Thank you Daisy

        Team South Side Salazars – You are awesome. Congratulations on running the Chicago Marathon !!!

Preparing for and actually running the marathon has been an awesome and very inspiring experience. It has not been easy, but well worth the effort ! During the training, I have learned a lot about running, my bodies reaction to this kind of physical stress and healthier living in general. I feel generally much more healthier, fit and energetic than before. MAUI – I flew into Maui on Friday afternoon and had a day to rest before the race. The evening before we had a pasta party to load up on carbohydrates. 1:30am on Sunday morning, my eyes opened – minutes before the 2 alarm clocks and the wake up call I had scheduled. All clothes, gels, and other things laid out the night before, I went about getting dressed and loaded up with all equipment (6 rows of shotblocks black cherry, 10 salt packs, 4 water bottles with gatorade, shoes with running tag, running shirt with running number securely attached, YO STEVE in big letters written on it !, sweat arm band, running hat, 70 sunscreen (...

This is just a quick post to provide a link to the pictures: Click here for pictures (use runners / runners) . And I will post more  impressions, stories and experiences soon !

Image by super-structure via Flickr This Sunday all the getting up early on a Saturday, all the running and sweating is reaching its ultimate destination – the full 26.2 mile MAUI MARATHON. Find all information about it here . I am ready for it. I am not running training runs this week to give my body a rest. I am preparing my running stuff, gels, shot blocks, salt packs, etc. etc... This is also a great opportunity for everyone to support me in my efforts by donating to the AIDS Foundation Chicago ! < Click here > Wish me luck and no sunburn :-) ! Thank you !!!

Image by Michael248 via Flickr First of all – Chief O’Neills is a great place to have a party ! Thank you all at Chief’s for your help and support ! Given that there is a lot of things going on at work, I struggled to get to my own party on time :-). I just made it to the official start at 7pm – being greeted by my working colleagues who already were there enjoying themselves LOL. I checked in with the owner, the event coordinator and the staff to make sure everything is ready to go, set up my door table to give out the little ticket stubs in return for a donation. The staff had put a little round glass vase on the table – which turned out to become the donation container :-). I laid out the drawing block and the different color markers I bought, to allow people to draw and doodle about this event or about running in general. The band came and set themselves up on the little stage in the room I had available for this event. This room was perfect.. it was in the middle o...

I couldn't run with my regular running group this Saturday, but caught up Sunday morning with my 23 miler. Started at 31st street (which is the 6mile marker), ran down to the 1 mile marked (end of lake shore drive), back up north to North avenue beach (12mile marker) and back to 31st street, where I added just another 1/2 mile south and back to complete the total of 23 miles. For all you runners, I ran the first 12 miles on a 4:2 interval, and 11 miles on 2:2. No shin splint pain (new running style!), no blisters (double-lined socks), legs a little sore. Lessons learned - dont forget salt packs (important after 15miles), and !!! put sun lotion not only on face and arms, but also on the BACK of your legs (i ran 11 miles straight north) - got sunburned on the backside of my knees LOL ! Now I am back on my running schedule and am looking forward to run with my group again.. Thank you to all of you who provided donations so far - your support is highly appreciated and makes the effort ...

Image by kenkilfedder via Flickr 20 Miles – This Saturday morning I ran with my running group at 7am to do our step-down run with 8 miles at our typical 11:30min. pace on a 4:1 interval. This means that we tried to run each mile within 11:30-12minute pace and switch between 4 minutes or running and 1 minute of walking continiously during the length of this 8 mile run. Well, for me today was special. I had dealt with Shin Splint issues over the last couple of week, but by changing my running style, I was successful to get rid of it. Basically, my running is now similar to that of a cross-country skier. So after the first 8 miles (1:34 hour later), I stocked up with water again and within 10 minutes continued to head out again, continuing for 6 miles at a 3:1 schedule and finished the last 6 on a 2:2 schedule. Yes, it was hot – around 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Yes, it was loooooooong, but really not that bad. Appropriate hydration was really important. I am back !

Image via Wikipedia As I now know (learning by experience LOL), there are quite a few runners that eventually deal with ' shin splint ', a condition that causes pain on the front of your lower legs, in short because you are training too hard. I had bummed up my midweek mileage from 4-5 to 8 miles every other day and after the second week experienced this weird kind of pinch/pain, in this area that i didnt know i have muscles at :-). so now i had to give it a couple of days rest.. missed my 20miler weekend run (sorry running group, i really missed running with you!), but am recovering very well, trying to get back on track within the next week or so. my advise - dont force it, listen to your body, inform yourself and learn. this is not only for the short-term, but for the long-term and improvement of your health and your life-style, not just a short-term win. i told a friend about my marathon preparation and the shin splint issue, and he told me about CHi running. Now i am check...

Last Saturday, 5:30am – I am looking out the window and rain, thunder and lightning are making a clear statement about the weather conditions. I am getting prepared for the long run today anyway – 17 Miles. Like the one in California that every tourist drives along with their card.. except I will be running it step by step this morning. So I am mixing gatorade power in my 4 water bottles. I have a bowl of cereal, so my body has something to burn. I pack a backpack with additional bandaids, cremes, and stuff to change. Running hat, running cloth, switching the running interval on the watch, check, check, check. I know it will be tough towards the end of the run. My running group and me ran the 14 miler two weeks ago, but I also upped my mileage during the week. My advise to everybody running this distance the first time – be as well prepared as you can, then think of something that keeps your mind busy. In my case it is the constant time and pace checking since I am the runnin...

Saturday morning.. around 8:30am.. I am running.. running in the rain.. and I like it !!! Today is our 12 mile run.. and knock on wood, things are going just fine. No muscle cramps, no pains, not short on breath. The only thing Image by otomatuah [so tired] via Flickr annoying is the water stream running off the front of my hat. It is pouring, soaking everybody running this morning in not too cold water.. add some wind blowing against you into it.. WHAT MADE ME DO THIS ? Oh, I remember – the good cause, the opportunity to make an important statement, and at the same time get fit, make a healthy living joice. Better running in the rain, then sitting in a doctors office... One note on my fundraising – less than a month to go and I am still over $2000 away from my goal. Please help me achieve the goal of $3500 by July 10th ! Any contribution counts ! Thank you http://afc.aidschicago.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=739&frsid=8976

  Again, it is a wonderful Saturday morning, sunny and – along the lakeside – a little chilly. There we are – about 60-70 people, all dressed up in running gear, at 7am on a Saturday morning, and – while my wife is thinking of me as she turns around in bed one more time – we are preparing to run 7 miles on a 4-1 schedule today. 4-1 ?? Four minutes running, one minute walking, a program developed by a famous marathon runner, used by the AIDS Foundation choaches to train us for the different marathons this year. This morning we are ‘guest-running’ at the Foster beach area, because there is another race going on down at 31st street, where our usual weekend-long run  location is. It has been a bit of a struggle to keep up with the mileage (at least 45 minutes every day while I was on vacation visiting my parents in Gernsheim, Germany   (including a little ‘secret’ side trip to Cinque Terre in northern Italy( Pics , Info ) . The picture to the left is from the a...

Image via Wikipedia This week ran by fast ! LOL, nice play on words.. the week RAN by fast..  Sorry, corny german humor . Every day of the week (except for Friday, as per plan), I was able carve out 45min. to an hour to run. Either inside in our training room on the treadmill (convenient and saves about 10min. but the scenary doesnt change), or outside (with the running group from work or by myself). Per plan I am supposed to run 2 times 45 minutes and work out 2 more times. I ran 45-60min every day except Friday, trying to stay a little ahead of schedule. Its the second sunday and we did our 4 mile run today. The other members of the running group picked me as their running group leader. While running for 4 minutes and then walking for 1, we continue to talk and get to know more about each other. Definitely a great team building exercise. I had purchased a watch specifically on advise of the running coaches. Really great watch and very helpful for the intervals of ...

Image by Paul Morgan via Flickr Monday, 4/27/9 Running with the group at work for a 5 mile along the Lakeshore. I am caught off guard on how humid it is and end up huffing and puffing and walking the last 1/2 mile back to the office. Lesson learned – i have to adjust my speed based on weather conditions, and drink more water when the temperature is higher.

Image by Marcos Vasconcelos Photography via Flickr Saturday morning – 7 am. Oh boy, it is early and I am on my way to meet others that have signed up to run the Marathon in Maui in support of the efforts of the Aids Foundation. I was surprised to find about 60 others to be there. The more I listened to them explaining how things work (slowly building up, run & walk at your pace), the more confident I became that my age and ‘ring of experience’ around my waistline will not hold me back to achieve this ambitious (26.2 miles) goal. We started with a 3 mile run at your own leisure pace to determine who else runs at your speed and to bring them together as a running group. I am getting excited about this. Fundraising is a bit new to me, but I am sure that I will learn. I even set up a ning social networking group ( http://mauimarathon2009.ning.com/ ) for the runners to be able to connect to each other online and share their experiences and lessons learned.

Thought about some statement that friends made about being online often isolates someone from the ‘real’ world. My experience is the opposite. I have never been as connected as I am now, where I talk to a lot of people in person, as well as online. For example, I re-connected with people from Germany, old friends and working colleagues, who otherwise would not run into me in person. Used appropriately and with caution, being connected can be a wonderful help in establishing, keeping and/or re-establishing human connection.

shared with me by one of my working colleagues: Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. -William Jennings Bryan Free From Worry Stop worrying about being perfect. Just be sincere, honest and authentic. Stop worrying about what might or might not happen at some future time. Put your energy and attention into connecting with the richness of right now. Take a deep, refreshing breath and feel the freedom as you let go of every worry you've been holding. Experience the full power of your thoughts and actions when they are constantly pointed in a positive direction. Allow your thoughts to support and encourage you rather than hinder you. Free yourself to deal effectively and successfully with what is real and what is now. Get in the habit of choosing and following your best possibilities instead of worrying about the worst ones. Bring your highest intentions to life and leave...

Image via Wikipedia Driven by the need to be able to scan lots of documents to avoid a huge pile of paper on my desk, my organization allowed me to order the Neat Organizer portable scanner. What a find ! This neat (!) little scanner feels solid, works reliable and with the latest software version 4.0 makes scanning business cards , documents into PDF and receipts an absolute breeze.