15 lbs Down 20 To Go

Life seems too busy to be a good blogger, but I reached one milestone in my training. I'm now under 200 lbs. My goal is to be at 180 by the time of the race. It took me almost 2 months to lose 15, so by the time July comes around, I should be pretty close. I've had to ease off of the running a little bit because my right calf was giving me issues. I've started running shorter distances at a faster pace because my calf seemed to get inflammed after my longer runs. This week I've just been running a mile at a 6:15 pace and today I ran 1 1/2 miles at a 7:00 min/mile pace. So far the calf seems to feel okay. If I stress it too much, I'm usually down a week for it to feel better. There is some sort of micro tearing going on that causes pain and inflammation.

A lot of you wrote some nice comments about your spouse for Valentine's. Danya and I have never really been big on public displays of affection and even the term "I love you" is usually only used during special moments. I remember someone giving us the advice to say "I love you" every day. I tried this at first, but it began to lose its significance. I still believe in the spirit of the advice and I think we have found ways to express the same sentiment to each other on a daily basis, without losing the significance. I rarely will leave the house without giving Danya a kiss. She may not really know why I do this, and the explanation may seem a bit morbid, but if for some reason I never make it home again, I want her to remember that our last moment together was an expression of my love for her.

Danya definitely has found more ways to express her love to me than I have to her. She has never tried to control me or asked me to give anything up. She lovingly sets expectations, but rarely guilts me into meeting them. She knows all my faults and continues to love me in spite of them. She laughs at my stupid jokes. I consider it a miracle to have found someone who just gets me.