Spartan Trifecta 2015, Not So Fast

As I fill out my 2015 race calendar I am starting to come to the realization that doing all my races may be tough to do.  I don't believe I can logically fit all three Spartan Races in with the Marine Corps Marathon.  I know you think I am tough, an absolute bad ass, the ultimate warrior, a man on a mission, a man and his two feet, a man that can conquer, okay well I am not - so fuck off!  Just kidding.  Bwahahahaha!  Anyway, as much as I want to earn the trifecta I would rather focus on completing my first marathon with the strong possibility of doing a Spartan race or two.

I guess I will just wait and see, who knows how it will all eventually play out.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas WannaBe's!

I don't know about you but I have slacked a little on my running and have caught myself overeating a few times.  So I think it is only fitting to go out for a little Jingle Bell Jaunt this morning to work off some of my splurges this week.

Anyone else running Christmas morning?  I can definitely say this will be a first for me.

Healthy Wishes

A quick, healthy shout out to those that have shown an interest in health and running over this past year with me.  So do not get upset if you were not mentioned, it just means I hate you, bwahahaha, JK.
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Who're (inside joke) you know who you are :) don't beat yourself up, you're kicking ass in school but you need to take 30 minutes a day and get fatigued.  Plus I want to run the Half in Malta with you one day, that would be so cool.
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"B" it's time to get it going, you can do it you just have to make the commitment and not the excuse.  Believe in yourself, I do.  2015 is your year!
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Wonder Woman keep rocking it and being a super hero.  I have enjoyed our little chats about health and appreciate your input.  I hope we get to run together one day.
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Moving Forward

With Christmas and my 2015 race calendar quickly approaching I can't help but think about the past and how I got to this point.  I took it on the chin a few times by some of the choices I made, no ones fault but my own and that's okay, I am learning to say this because failure is a part of life, right?  It is.  I have wallowed in self pity and misery for far too long.  I tried to hide it as best I could (the crying and wiping snot on my sleeve gave it away) from those around me but they knew.  I tried protecting my children from it, but they knew.  Kids are more intuitive than we give them credit for.

My bad decisions is what ultimately led me to running, well that and a lot of coaxing from my beautiful wife and brother.  Begrudgingly I set out to run a few times and man it sucked, it hurt bad.

When A Walking Fart Goes Bad (Parental Discretion Advised)

Ahhhhh, the walking farts.  Every one's had them, so much fun.  You can't help but laugh to yourself when you have a good one.  I love a good walking fart, especially when you can share it with someone you love and they are behind you.  I prefer the following, not in any particular order:  my boys, wife, brother, a person in the grocery store.  They are all appropriate no matter what your wife says.  Probably the most used walking fart is in the grocery store.  I can't tell you how many laps I have done around the grocery store, rippin and movin, rippin and movin.  Quick get out of the isle before someone comes around the corner.  God knows you don't want to be seen in the isle when someone wonders through it.  You might as well say, "hey look at me, I just shit my pants".  I have

3 P's of Running: Part III (Proper Gear)

Hey guys!  This is the last of my riveting post of the 3 P's of Running and it so happens to be the easiest, whoop whoop!

If you follow the first two you are in a strong mental place, ready to take on any of the obstacles you may face and you are running with good form.  Now lets spend some money.  Time to get a running shoe that fits your running style and feet properly.  If you are like me, it never occurred that I should go out and be fit for a pair of running shoes, I ran in whatever tennis shoes I owned at the time.  Hmm, might be another reason for my previous injuries.

Chances are you are a frugal Internet shopper and that's great, I am too, but I cannot stress this

Happy Thanksgiving

My last post was a little negative and not how I wished to leave it.  I left it because that was how I felt and I am not without faults or weaknesses.  In honor of Thanksgiving I felt I should post some of the things I am most thankful for.  I have a wife that loves me to the moon and back.  My two boys are healthy, happy and know they are loved.  They have added so much color to our lives.  We have a roof over our heads, others are not so fortunate.

If you have taken the time to read my blog, thank you!  I know it is not mind blowing material but it is something that I have enjoyed sharing with all of you.  I hope you will come back to visit and share your thoughts at some point.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!   I hope everyone will take a few moments today to reflect on all that is right instead of what is wrong in their lives.

Cheers!!!

Winter Boohoos

Hello.  I am losing my mojo people.  I was feeling so confident when I first set my goals for 2015, but that confidence has slowly disappeared.  Not sure why the sudden change in my motivation.  Is it because it's getting colder and that I am now forced to run on a treadmill?  Running on a treadmill is the worst.  Stupid, lily lizard licking, piece of monkey dung, the dreadmill sucks ass!  SORRY... mini tantrum.  Have you ever been on one and you found yourself wanting to shove the person next to you off of theirs?  I do.  Seems like every time I am running on one, the person next to me is shuffling along at a blazing 3 MPH and smiling while I feel like I am going to barf.  Sorry that's evil, I know, but I would never do it but the thought does make me laugh inside.

3 P's of Running: Part II (Proper Technique)

I bet a lot of you didn't realize this but famed criminal, Scarface was an up and coming runner in his youth.  It's true!  His eventual demise is believed to have started when he told his track coach, "Technique!?  I don't need no stinking technique!".  Don't be that guy, you need technique.  If you don't run with technique, you too could end up sitting behind a desk with your face laying in a big pile of coke.  ;0).

Okay, enough of my BS, there are a few standard rules you should follow that will not only improve your performance but help you remain free from injury.

#1 Heads up - A common mistake new runners make is running with their head down, looking at

3 P's of Running: Part I (Proper Prep)

Alright lets talk about the first of the three P's of running.  Before you go and throw yourself to the wolves and begin running you need to prep yourself for what lies ahead.  When we chose to do something a little outside the norm or out of our comfort level a little bit of self argument typically happens.  For new runners you will deal with excuse after excuse to not run as far today or to run at all, you have to get your cabeza in the game if you want to truly do this.  If you go in to this with self doubt then you will fail, may be down the road but as soon as you hit a speed bump chances are you will stop.  YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!  I don't care if you can barely get out of your chair because you are in such bad shape, if you have the God given ability to do something, you can do it.  If you are overweight or robbed of your leg from birth or a wreck you still have the ability to run.  Get your

Unintended Consequences of Being Healthy with Kids

This is without a doubt the one post I hope everyone will read and take something from.  Be careful, good intentions may have bad consequences.

Jeneen and I love, love, love our two boys.  I will even go as far as saying we are pretty good parents.  We teach them right form wrong, we expect them to use their manners and be respectful to others.  Discuss the importance of not bullying and to even stand beside those that are being bullied.  The list

Jogger Me Not

Hey WannaBe's!  I was thinking about this the other day and thought this would be a nice lead in to my upcomings post.  I have run on and off for years, mostly off but this is the first time I have considered myself more of a "runner" than someone that jogs.  What's the difference?  To me a runner is an athlete, someone that looks for ways to improve where a jogger, well, jogs; no real purpose other than doing it to be in shape.  When I started this time-around, my goals were no different except that I became a little more focused on injury prevention.  Without realizing it, this would lead to more than prevention.  My readings opened up doors that went far beyond injury, there was technique, never thought about there being a true technique to running, I just did it.  Without knowing it, I was morphing into something different than previous times.  I was becoming a runner!

Don't Look Back

Hey everyone!  Thought I would share something funny that happened on one my last trail runs.  In case you are new to my blog, I love doing trail runs.  If there is a choice between roads and trails, trails win hands down.

I typically do not run with any one else, not my cup of tea.  So I have ran several trails and had gone up a couple times with my wife and with my kids so they can see what all the fuse is about.  The last time Jeneen and I went up Crowders we took a new path that actually involved a little rock climbing along the path.  Needless to say it was a lot of fun and the view was amazing once at the top.

My beautiful wife and best friend.  My Great, Great Aunt Lela used to call her, "Jeneen my Queen" and she is.

So Jeneen my queen and I were at the top and I guess she had enough of my big talk on running trails

The Aftermath

Breaking news report... ... ....

Wes ran 13.2 miles the day before and woke up looking and feeling like this!  Absolutely shocking photos never seen before.

If you have a weak stomach you may not want to see this, you have been warned!





Disturbing to say the least....

Notice when this poor creature first notices how hideous he has become.

Halfway There

Are you a schizo if you write like someone is reading, when in fact no one is there?  HAHA, I think I must be but I am acting like I have an audience and having fun.  C'est La Vie ;)

Hey guys!!!  Well I finally made it to my big run day.  Found a nice trail I had never run before, but the distance would put me around the half marathon territory if I did it twice.  It was around 6.4 miles each time, so I would run it twice and then add a third little jog back to make sure I covered all my territory.  Chose Seven Oaks Trail in Belmont, NC, turned out to be a beautiful place that led me around the lake.

That morning I got out of bed at 5:00 am and immediately began drinking water and had a bowl of oatmeal.  I had decided I needed about two and a half hours for my food to settle and planned on starting my run about 8:00 am.  Had my hydration pack cleaned and ready to go, one banana custard gel pack, my trial running shoes and set out to a location I had never visited before but had nice reviews on the trial finder I used.

Took a while to find, stupid GPS but I left early enough to get there, warm up and start by 8:00.  My anxiety is through the roof but I am pretty hyped considering my ankle hadn't been hurting and my

Two Weeks to My First Half

Hey guys!  Still getting caught up with my training to this point.  Gonna try to knock it out this week.  If you have read any of my previous posts you know that I am training for the three Spartan races for 2015, better known as the, "trifecta" as well as the Marine Corps Marathon.  I've been running close to four months now and felt like it was a good time to see where I stand as far as capability.  I've done six miles several times and two eight milers in the same week, without feeling too bad.  Seemed like a good time to run a half.  I am still not confident enough to run a real one but wanted to go for the distance to see if I could do it and how I felt afterwards.

I should note one important thing that I have discovered up to this point.  Trails!!!  Running trails are awesome, I cannot begin to explain the pure enjoyment I receive from trail running.  You are so focused  on foot placement, trying to avoid stepping on a rock or root the wrong way.  This probably sounds a little juvenile and maybe I should keep it to myself but I want to keep this as honest as possible... I feel like an absolute bad ass doing it.  If you haven't given it a shot, find some trails and go run.  I think it's okay to feel like a bad ass, I'm not talking about beating someone up but a feeling I have never duplicated when exercising.  If your lucky like me, you will have some mountain trails you can run up and be rewarded with a beautiful view.  There are some nice websites dedicated to helping you find trails.  I can't recommend it enough, trail running has changed the way I feel about running.  Wanna see some true bad asses look no further, you can't go too far before you start reading about ultra-marathon runners like Scott Jurek.  These guys are truly amazing.  As Joey would say, "WOOW"!

Training: First 4 Months

Hey again!  I have probably gone at all of this in a strange order, but it is what it is :).

In all of my previous attempts to start running, post Marine Corps, have had the same outcome... shin splints.  I usually push through it for a month until I can no longer stand the pain.  I push through it because I know once I stop I will likely not start back up.  For some strange reason I am programmed this way.  This time around I have made a mental note to be cautious, I am determined to not go down the same path of over training.  This time I held back... a lot.

Instead of running blind, I started reading about the intricasies of what it takes to be a good runner, that might be a good next post.  I established a pretty basic routine and to date it has worked, with a

My Chemical Smorgasbord

The last thing I want to share before discussing my current training is what my overall health was years past.  Wasn't pretty :(.

Most people would probably say I am not fat, however my doctor several years ago surprised me by saying I was obese, what an asshole.  I admit I wasn't the skinny kid but I had been heavier the year prior to when he told me this.  I was weighing around 225 to 232 when he was telling me this and according to his chart I was.  I was floored, my wife was floored, we all had a good laugh about this.  There are a million people walking all around me that make me look like an Olympian; what in the hell was he talking about.  Then came the test results....., not gonna lie, it gets pretty ugly.  My blood

2015 Goals

Hey again!  Before I get into logging my training, food or much else I better go over my goals.  Might help explain where I got the idea for the blog's name, "WannaBeast".

My first set of goals kind of fall under one set of races.  I want to complete the Spartan race trifecta.  I am sure most of you are familiar with Spartan races, if not,  click on Spartan Race and check it out for yourself.  To earn the trifecta you have to run all three Spartan races, the Sprint, Super and Beast all in the same calendar year.  Three levels of difficulty, with the Beast being the most difficult of the three.  And in case you haven't guessed it, this is where my name comes from WannaBeast, I am a

All about me

I guess I should tell you a little about me.  Hmmmm, not sure how far to go here.  Since this is a blog about running I will spare you all the details of my winning a twerking contest last year.  SO we will stick with things relevant to my being a runner.

I am 6' 2 and currently weight 209.  Since I began running 4 months ago, I may have lost 8 pounds, that's pretty pathetic.  Been stuck at 209 for a while, which is pretty heavy for a runner. My goal weight is 185 lbs.  Fingers crossed.

2010 Me and my boys.  I think Jacob is trying to eat my face, lol.

Have to start somewhere...

Hey everyone!  Thanks for checking out my blog.  My name is Wes, like the million other bloggers, I thought it would be neat to share my love of running with you.  I am not sure why, I am no one special, but I have become very passionate about running and being healthy.  It's kind of funny, truth be known, I fantasize about being an Ultra Runner, getting the Spartan trifecta among other things.  Considering I am 42 and I have only been running maybe four months this time around, most will remain a fantasy but who knows.  

So I've decided to journal my journey to becoming fit.  Hopefully I will look back at this and see a transformation.   I will share all my everything from food to products I have tried.  If you happen to come across this blog and you want to chime in, please do but be nice I'm sensitive :).

I have no clue what I am doing...more to come.