Staying on Top

Okay, this post is as much about getting something new out there as it is about anything informational, but hey, its something. Part of me is resistant to putting a new post up until I have at least one comment on the previous one but I guess you all have no opinion whatsoever about Mitt Romney digging up a stump so I guess I have to move on... My lovely wife can attest to my Primary Fever as I have been far more political this round than in election cycles past.

What I wanted to quickly write about is just how hard it is to sustain maximum effort. You would think that a distance runner would understand and master this concept better than most but alas, even I fall short... Since my run on Thanksgiving Day, I have run a grand total of ONE time for 3.1 miles. Now I could point out that I was "taking a break" after my race, or that I gave blood the following week since I had missed my routine donation a month earlier because I "was in training", or that I have been playing hard full court basketball one night a week since then so that should count some, or that it has been too cold to run outside since that time, or that I am catching up on some undone "Honeydoos" that Jamie let me pass on in the name of getting another run in leading up to the race... You get the picture I'm sure. Ultimately, these are what they sound like, excuses. Could I have maintained my 15-20 miles/week pre-race pace, probably not, could I have run twice a week, most definitely. This is why we admire winning streaks, and enduring champions, because for all the effort it takes to get to the top, it takes a champion to stay on top. I'm not there yet. And don't even get me started on how far off the mark I am in other areas of my life...

Back to the plus side - Milestones I have reached recently, I am now weighing in at 198 and for perhaps the first time in my ENTIRE LIFE, my waist is now smaller than my inseam. Yep, I purchased my first 32x34 jeans this week! (I was going to include a picture of the tag but decided that might come off a little to close to BRAGGING which we know I NEVER DO!) Do you realize how hard it is to find that size?!? I will admit that they are "loose" jeans, which I need to accommodate my MONSTER calves and thighs. Okay, enough with the chest thumping, but you understand I had to build myself back up after admitting my fallacies in the paragraph above...

I hope you are all striving toward whatever you have defined as your "TOP". Have any of you started to formulate goals for the new year? I think mine will be a full Marathon and 183lbs (the weight at which my BMI is no longer "overweight"). I'm sure there will be others, maybe addressing the "other areas" but those aren't as easy for me to set or reach... but I'll get there.

Christian Service

I don't often post about things beyond my family or myself but when I'm blown away by something, I sometimes do. I'm not shy about my support for Mitt Romney and I think I may have emailed this link to many of the people that visit my blog but I just thought this was a GREAT example of why this man would be a GREAT President. While visiting his son in southern California just after the San Diego fires, Mitt joined his son Matt and a crew of LDS missionaries and local members to help remove a stump from the front yard of one of Matt's neighbors. WITHOUT CALLING THE PRESS FIRST! How many other top candidates out there would do this? Probably a few of them, maybe a few more if they could get the press there, but there he was, goggles on, messy hair, down in the dirt with a chainsaw! This was a couple weeks ago and it is finally leaking out through some personal journals and amature photos. Mitt didn't and wouldn't publicize this himself but I think it needs to get out there...

Turkey Day Half Marathon

OK, anyone who knows me or has ever read this blog knows that the last 4-5 months have all been in preparation for a half marathon run on Thanksgiving day. I will skip the whole weight loss history (75 lbs total) leading up to this day and focus on just this one day... This day the scale read 199, I had reached my 200 lb goal set for this day.

I awoke at 4:15 remarkably more awake than one would expect at that hour. The only other times I am so awake first thing in the morning are the mornings of deer hunts. In a way this was similar, I was about to face a challenge of me vs. nature. I could taste it, I wanted the run to start right then. I took my shower and then sat down to... um... "lighten my load" to make sure I didn't have to go in the middle of the race. Problem though... I couldn't! It just wouldn't happen! After 20 minutes of futility I figured oh well I should have plenty of chances before the actual race time... I dressed quickly and headed down to grab some breakfast. I ate two slices of whole wheat toast, a banana, and drank a sports bottle of my favorite Gatorade.

My local Fleet Feet running store was offering a service that a friend had told me about, they provide a bus ride to and from the race from our Suburb outside of Atlanta. She said that it is the only way to go. Being my first ever long race it sure made sense to me to not fight the crowds so I had signed up. The buses left at 6am for the 30 minute ride into Atlanta. I sat with two friends from church on the bus and despite the welcome conversation my nerves slowly started to tingle. When we arrived at the starting line and bailed off the bus around 6:40 I was ready to run... except... remember that futility earlier?

We all went and got in line for the 4 Port-a-potties. As the line slowly crept I looked at my watch and realized it was going to be close. As the race speakers blared out "2 minutes" I was latching the door. Unfortunately this is one thing I can't hurry! The more I tried the more futile it got. When the loudspeaker pronounced 10 seconds, I gave up! Having not lightened my load, I bailed out of the facility as the starting gun sounded. Of course this meant me and my two friends were squarely behind roughly 10000 people now filing through the starting line. I am sorry for the graphic images here but it truly was part of my race day experience.

It took us 3 minutes and 2 seconds just to reach the starting line at which point I started my stopwatch. This meant that the official "clock" time was going to be that much slower than my "chip" time. (For you non-runners - in larger races you wear a computer chip on your shoe that signals a computer when you cross the starting and finishing lines. Official standings are based on clock times but my goal was based on my time which is of course the chip time.

The weather was quite nice as the race began. Average morning temperatures this time of the year in Atlanta are around 40 and just the previous Saturday it had been 29. I don't like running in that level of cold. Luckily, kind of, there was a weather front moving in that had the temperature at 60 degrees that morning. Of course, that same front was bringing in the rain. At about the half mile mark we got our first drizzle. If it had stayed at that level, I think all would have been happy. Lets just say, it didn't...

One of my biggest fears was that I would do what I always had done in my 5 & 10 kilometer races, that is, let the adrenaline flow and fly out of the gates with a first mile in the 6:30 to 7 minute range that would just fry me. My plan was to use my two friends to hold me back. I jogged along with them for that first mile knowing it was a much slower pace than I would set for myself. That had the effect of warming me up, settling my nerves, and providing me confidence as we weaved through slower runners at what I thought was not much more than a shuffle. When we reached the 1 mile mark I noted my watch read 10:50. MUCH slower than I had even planned but hey, I was now ready to let loose. I thanked my running partners and wished them good luck and good bye.

As I upped my pace I had to move to the outside just to avoid the hundreds of people that I couldn't weave through fast enough. My goal was to finish in under 2 hours. 9 minutes per mile translates into roughly 1:58 so I knew that with the roughly 2 minutes I had lost in that first mile, that was definitely the pace I would have to hold or best from there on out. Not long after I reached the outside of the throng of runners and got up to pace, the heavens opened! Monsoonal rain soaked us from head to toe. Large puddles formed and I could feel the water squish in and out of my shoes with every stride. I began to fear that all the wicking action in the world was not going to prevent the blisters from forming this day.

By mile three the worst of the rain was over but it would continue with scattered showers the rest of the way. If you know Atlanta, the course runs from roughly Peachtree/Decalb airport to Turner field through downtown Atlanta. The first 5 miles are fairly flat to gently rolling, then for two miles you descend quite a bit, at mile 7 you start a series of long climbs that go for the next 5 or so miles, then they give you a bit of a break with a slight downhill to the finish line.

One of my biggest concerns was running this thing without the security of my hydration belt. I had gone back and forth on that decision several times over the last month and only the night before convinced myself to go without. This made the aid stations quite important to me. If I hadn't been soaked from head to foot from the rain, I would have been from the aid stations. Drinking from a cup while running is just not a skill I have mastered yet... I had also pinned two packets of Apple-Cinnamon Carb Boom gel inside my waste band for a mid-race 100 calorie boost. I used them at the 40 and 80 minute marks and was surprised just how effective they were. I had used them on training runs but I guess had just not noticed the bounce they gave me.

The hills at mile 7 hit me like a ton of bricks. I had been warned about them but I don't think I was ready for them. Watching my splits to this point I noted that I had been holding roughly 8:45-9:00 mile times but now I was climbing and knew I would be for the next several miles and I began to fear I would fall off my required pace. With this fear I leaned into the hill and attacked it not wanting to resign from my goal.

Around the 10 mile mark my right calf began to cramp slightly but not bad enough to alter my stride. It was about this point that I realized something, I was passing people at a constant pace. Maybe I was blind to those passing me but I couldn't remember them and I was still weaving through people, 10 miles in, like it was that first few miles. In an odd way, starting at the back of the field and taking that first mile slow was now providing motivation to pass everyone that was not my equal. I don't know if other runners do this but all of a sudden it was was like magic for me. I held the field in contempt. I would look up, spot someone ahead that I felt I was surely better than, and would attack until I left them in the dust, only to pick out my next victim. My cramps went away, my breathing settled, my confidence soared, and the final few miles seemed to race by (no pun intended).

Capital Punishment, the last hill on the course which runs past the capital building was really not that punishing to me. At the 12 mile mark my watch read 1:49:50 which meant I had just over 10 minutes to go the last 1.1 miles which meant my 9minutes/mile pace would be about right, but close. Assessing myself I knew I could do better than that and I upped my tempo. Once the finish line was in sight, about a quarter mile out, I broke into an all out sprint with everything I had left. It felt great to be still passing people that didn't have enough left in the tank for the sprint to the end. Perhaps I should have pushed harder earlier and not have had so much left in me to sprint but sprinting at the end is such a great feeling.

As I crossed the finish line the official clock read 2:02:07 but my chip would record my time as 1:59:05 which translates to an average pace of roughly 9:06 min/mile. They don't post overall standings for the half-marathon, only in your age/sex groups. Based on official clock time I came in 272nd out of 573 35-39 year old males. If you review chip times you notice that there were 12 people that finished ahead of me by the clock but had slower chip times, however, there were 9 that finished behind me by the clock that actually had faster chip times so by chip time I finished 269th in my group.

As I got on the bus to ride home I thought of all the things I was thankful for on this day of gratitude. Starting with the immediate, I was thankful it was over, thankful for the towel and dry shirt I was smart enough to pack, thankful I didn't have to drive home, and thankful for the big meal in my near future. Then I expanded my view and was thankful for the moment of clarity 16 months ago that I decided I needed to do something about weight, thankful for a wife's patience that all of a sudden had to schedule around my runs, thankful that I had avoided serious injury during that time, and thankful for the words of encouragement that many had given me. Lastly I became thankful for a savior that has made all things possible, a perfect wife, 4 wonderful children, and a brighter future that the efforts of the last 16 months have brought to my horizon.

Family Pumpkins

Just a few Halloween pictures I never got around to putting up. These were our families entries at our church Halloween party. We won the "Best Family Pumpkin Carvings" award. They didn't give an individual pumpkin award.

My "GHOST RIDER"

Mischa's Jack-o-Lantern with her innovation of floating pupils suspended with paperclip wire inside the pumpkin.

Caleb's Happy Vampire Jack-o-Lantern

Register His Hands as a Lethal Weapon!

Here is Caleb's First Karate Tournament. No sparring just yet, just "forms".

And for this 18 seconds of work, what does he get?

1ST PLACE! WAY TO GO BUDDY!

Not to minimize this at all but the tournament has an approach to ensure every kid gets a trophy. They break the kids into small enough groups so they can have A LOT of 1st place finishers. That being said, both his performance and his teachers rate him better than almost all others.

Starts with a "1"

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words so I need not say more. Now lets see if I can make it stick!!! 11 days until the run...

Family Update - Pictures (and video) Added as promised

I guess I have to write an entry about the general status of our family since my dad sent out an email to the family claiming that all I was doing was running and babysitting so Jamie "can pursue some goals" a.k.a. girl scout leadership training. I guess if you are using my blog as your only source of information that might be the impression one might get. I would argue that I have discussed other things with my dad but I’m sure many of us would describe our current lives differently if given more than a sentence. Props to my father for at least communicating something to the whole family. I know it is more than I have done.

So, where do I begin? I guess I can start with the kids then get to Jamie and me.

Caleb - Cub Scout - Night he got his Wolf and became a Bear

Caleb is doing great in 3rd grade. His first quarter report card came in with straight A’s. I don’t know if that still means the same thing in these public school grade inflated times but it still makes a dad’s chest puff out. His other great endeavor right now is Karate. This past summer he won a door prize of 6 month of unlimited karate classes and has gone 2-3 times a week since our return from Utah. He is easily the best student in the beginner level courses and his teacher has requested to move him up to the next level of classes starting next week. At this pace we may end up having to pay for these things come January but the confidence and discipline I have seen it bring him is irreplaceable.

Mischa - Rockstar award at school (kind of like "Student of the Month")

Mischa is our bookworm. Based on the comparisons from my childhood, I’m sure she would make my brothers Loren and Oliver proud. She CONSUMES books. Since July she has read the complete Harry Potter series, twice, not to mention the dozens of other books in the same time frame. In a school program that assigns point levels to various books read and tested on, students have a goal of 25 points for the entire school year. Mischa is about to reach 200 points for the first 3 months. And the girl will read ANYTHING – don’t get me started… Her other endeavor is piano. She started lessons back in July and is moving along quite swiftly. Her teacher told me last Friday that she has never had a student progress through the books as quickly as Mischa who is already playing sharps and flats in three hand positions and can play several Christmas songs… guess we have to find a piano as she is outgrowing our keyboard.

Joshua - What makes you think we are drugging our kids?

Joshua is our tenderheart. Hard to believe he turns 5 in a week. He aims to please and will cry quite quickly if he thinks he has disappointed you in any way. The other day he heard me getting upset with his little sister for having marker all over her face. Twenty minutes later when he came downstairs he had a blanket over his head like a Jaw-wah. Upon further investigation I found that he had played with the marker first and was the source for his little sister’s escapades. He broke into tears and cried more about the experience than his sister. The boy loves his Star Wars, Spider-man, Power Rangers, and video games. Do you think we need to shield him from pop-culture a little better?

Liesie-Lu --- Who me?

As for Liesie-Lu (my nickname for her) she is not accepting the back seat to anyone just because she is the youngest. She is very opinionated and will resort to screaming to get her way. And is VERY jealous of her mother holding anything that even LOOKS like another baby. Her speech was delayed somewhat (may have led to the screaming) but she seems to be making great progress in her vocabulary and very clearly understands what is asked of her. Recently she has found an affinity to having books read to her, that is both good and bad I guess.

Jamie, Caleb & Liesie - Can you pick them out? Yes, that is Caleb with the last line in the skit

Jamie is the perfect diligent busy mother and wife. Apart from taxi driver she is a Cub Scout Den Leader, a Girl Scout Troop Co-Leader, frequent school volunteer, babysitter for two neighbors who are working mothers, and pretty much finds a way to always seem to be in constant motion. I don’t know how she keeps things straight and I often refer to her as my Franklin Day Planner. She is "working on goals" as dad referred to but I would guess that she would like to do a few other things if not for the constant deluge of tasks that beset a stay at home mother.

As for me, yes, running has taken a central theme in my life right now. My wife might argue that it has taken a bit too much of my focus… Maybe that will die down some over the winter once I get past this half-marathon I am running on Thanksgiving Day. I think a full marathon is in the cards down the road but I will make that call sometime in the future. That may take more time commitment than I am willing to give. My problem is I can’t just run out there and do a 6 hour marathon and call it good because that is basically walking. If I do it, I want to do it right… Enough with the running already (I know you are thinking it!) It has provided results though. I am currently 201 lbs and I’m sure I will be at the 200 lb goal I set for myself to run this race on Thanksgiving, even if I’m back over 200 by the end of the day… In other news, my "new" job is going great. I am enjoying not having to travel as much and being at a plant instead of a corporate office every day. Our industry is hurting a little right now as a good chunk of our product goes into the housing market but we seem to be keeping our head above water. Speaking of water, if you haven't heard, we are in the middle of an historic drought in these parts. At least I can blame my dead lawn on the lack of rain and watering restrictions instead of my ineptitude of growing fescue in the south… Just keep your fingers crossed that we don't have to train the kids on "Yellow let it mellow, brown flush it down" as it is enough of a hassle just to get them to flush at all!

I hope this suffices as an adequate family update instead of a book-long, rambling post of themes you had already heard. I’m sure my wife would highlight other elements of our life right now if you had her write on the same topic, but hey, this is the view from where I sit. Pretty nice view I might add…

See, I told ya so! -10k Photos

Okay, for all of you that doubt whether I am really doing these things - Here is some photographic evidence. Of course they didn't post the actual race results for some reason so you have to trust my earlier posted time but hey, pictures speak louder than words anyway right?

Absolutely no clue who this guy was other than he was the guy standing closest to me when the lady with the camera asked if she could take our picture. Can you tell it was only 40 degrees F at the time?

This is the line for the Porta-potties - key for any racer. There is a reason most birds take a dump before taking flight. The fold your arms thing I am doing here and in the first picture is not a sign of reverence, rather stinking COLD!

If you look closely you can see me between the blue "FINISH" sign and the red pole. Despite the sign, this was also the start. I believe that is what the other side of the sign read. I am starting my stopwatch if you look closely enough.

This is a few seconds later as I officially cross the Starting line. This is a bit redundant to the last photo but you can see my face better if you had any doubts...

This is me roughly 54 minutes later sprinting to the finish line (next one will be under 50...). I'd like to say I had just passed that guy behind me but truth be told, back in the bend he was about to pass me and that kicked my ego into gear for this sprint to the finish. I thought he was a lot closer than he appears in the picture. Luckily the dark color of my shirt hides the amount of sweat I was soaked in.

First Full Half Marathon Training Run

Just wanted to write about my first full 13.1 mile run. I have done a handfull of training runs between 10 and 12.4 miles but this morning I ran my first full Half Marathon. I probably won't run that far again until race day about a month away now. Most professionals training schedules actually never require you to run the full race distance before race day but I wanted at least one run under my belt for confidence sake. For full marathons most training programs never go over 20 miles long runs before the 26.2 race day distance.

If you are interested in my time, I came in at almost 2 hours exactly. Do the math and that is an average of 9:10 per mile. The actual race course has more hills than the pathway I run each Saturday so my goal on race day is also 2 hours. Based on how much I still had in the tank at the end of my run today I think that will be doable - at least I hope so.

Little tidbits I have learned about running this distance that you don't encounter on shorter runs: 1) you MUST hydrate mid-run. For this I wear a hydration belt which gives me an extra 40 ounces of Gatorade. 2) extra carbs mid-run give a great boost. Most runners do this with an energy gell like Gu but you can also use special jelly beans or some form of energy bar. The key is something that is quick and easy and doesn't require much chewing that might disrupt. and 3) everyone thinks of the shoes but I am telling you that although important on shorter runs the socks are KEY on the longer runs if you don't want blisters. I am partial to Balega Enduros and not just because they are made in South Africa.

I give you these tips because I did it WRONG the first time and I don't want anyone to have to go through that! And 200 is so close I can smell it. I have been 203 for the last three days and you would think that my run would have done the job but with all the hydration I do I finished the run at 200.8. I'm pretty sure I'll be there by race day though.

100 Miles

Wow, I just surprised myself! If you look at the sidebar on my blog you will notice my workout history. This is taken from my Runners World Training Log. I have been recording my distances run since August 25 when I ran a 5k race. With last nights run my odometer rolled over the 100 mile mark! That means that over the last 53 calendar days I have averaged 1.9 miles per day. Now, considering the fact that over half of these miles were on my treadmill that I am CONVINCED is under reporting my distances (26:30 lowest 5k time vs. 23:51 on the road...) and I'm sure that in reality my average is closer (if not over) to 2 miles/day. I think the combination of preparing for the Half-Marathon and the knowledge that I am reporting my miles for all to see have driven me to be more consistent and longer in my runs.

It is a testament however to how the tortoise can win the race. Have you ever looked back and been amazed at how much you have been able to do over a short period of time with only persistence on your side? Pretty life affirming isn't it?

Turkey Day Run, Here I Come!

Well, it is official. I signed up and paid the registration fee for the Atlanta Half-Marathon to be run on Thanksgiving morning. No turning back now. That is actually why I signed up over a month in advance, to keep me motivated in my training right up to the big day. I have found out over the last year and a half of running that I am a much more committed runner if I have a race I am preparing for. The windows of time where I don't have a specific next race in mind I have found it much easier to skip runs here and there and even go entire weeks without running.

I think this is actually a common human trait. We need that light at the end of the tunnel to motivate us to move or take action. How much easier is it to clean our homes when we know someone is coming by? Get a project done when we have a deadline? I think the thought behind goal setting is setting a finish line in place so we have something to work towards. My goal is physical fitness but that is arbitrary to me. My competitive side wants something more tangible, so I work with races which are far more measurable - not to mention the T-shirts. You don't get a T-shirt for loosing 10 pounds!

My real admiration is for those people that seem self driven, not needing that reward at the end of the tunnel. We all know those people who just seem to get things done, no matter the situation or the odds (can you say McGyver?). Perhaps their "reward" is defined very differently or in an eternal perspective. In a religious setting I think you would call it faith, I don't know what you would call that same drive in a secular setting.

So here is the shameless plug, what tricks do you employ to motivate yourself to action? What have you found to help you reach your goals? I'm expecting a few "chocolate" answers but for someone training for a Half-Marathon, I may need something else to work with.

Race for Camp Grace

Well, I ran my first official 10k race today. I have a mixed report. I wanted to have a 10k under my belt before I attempt my planned Half-Marathon on Thanksgiving morning in Atlanta. While you can find a 5k just about every weekend somewhere in Georgia, finding a 10k is a little harder. They are out there but you just don't have all the same choices. In working with my dear wife on schedule, I targeted sometime in mid-October as my ideal window. It came down to today and I had a choice between two races. A run on the Georgia Tech campus for breast cancer or a run close to where I work benefiting a Christian Camp mentoring underprivileged children. The Georgia Tech run promised to be quite large and I'm sure would have had lots of co-eds but certainly drew more than enough support. I chose to support the small race supporting the Christian Camp. My experiences with these little races has been good and far less commercialized.

The only downside to this run was that it was a Trail Run. No paved flat surface. No, we are talking about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) of mowed cow pasture, 20%+ grade hills, and creeks to jump over. Sure, it makes it more interesting but certainly more brutal as well. The largest hill was about a mile in (after my 6:51 1st mile) and was roughly 300 feet up in a quarter mile. There were many other longer and shorter hills but that was the killer. Combine that with the 40 degree starting temperature this morning and it definitely was a new experience for me.

My finishing time of 54:25 was a little bit of a disappointment but not so bad as to depress me, especially in light of the grade change and roughness of the path. It was very hard to judge pace when you are constantly worried about where your next footstep is going to land. Considering all of that, and the longer distance, a minute/mile slowdown from my 5k at the end of August is acceptable I guess. I don't have all the numbers in terms of what place I came in or how big the field was. This was a small enough run and in its first year, I don't know what all they are going to put online. We will see.

For those that are interested, I'm weighing in at 205. I had stalled quite significantly at 207-208 for quite a while and couldn't get out of that rut but over the last 2 weeks I think I broke out of that rut. My goal is to be 200 by the time I run on Thanksgiving day. Depending on my pie choices that evening though, I might be right back up to 210!

Abandoned!

For all the times I have gone away on business trips, the number of nights my wife has left me with the kids and spent a night away from home can most definitely be counted on one hand. Last night my dear wife attended a Girl Scout training camp and left me drastically outnumbered. My concept of "don't let them see the fear in your eyes" was based on distraction and avoidance - laced with a good dose of bribery!

The day started with taking my eldest to Karate. You would think this would have been easy but when we walked out the door to get in the car, all of a sudden my eldest wanted a toy to play with in the car. Where I would have probably placated the other three in this request I had no patience for this from my 9 year old, on a 5 minute car ride, to go to HIS Karate class. Needless to say, the tears flowed all the way to class and I started the day as the evil villain. The 45 minutes of class went fairly smooth. The key to the scream avoidance was ignoring the stares of everyone in the dojo as I allowed my 2 year old to play and dance to her "Old McDonald had a farm" singing chicken all the way through class.

From there we were off to the store to buy some Crocs for my boys as their sandals are falling apart and they are very jealous of their sister's Crocs. Do you know how hard it is to find name brand Crocs??? Good grief! After about 5 stores I finally used my Blackberry to find a Croc selling location. Who cares that it was 10 miles away, more time in the car means less time at home with them running around screaming, right?

By the time we got there the kids were crying for food, it was 1pm, so despite my plans of not taking them out to eat, I caved to Uncle Ronald and his magic arches. A round of nuggets for everyone hit the spot. I think the other patrons noticed my predicament as a mother in the next booth offered to get napkins and ketchup for me and the store manager actually carried my tray to the booth AND retrieved the requested sodas from the store accessible fountain drink dispenser. Although I think I could have handled it, I appreciated the help. The funny thing was the mother that helped me. As I told the story of taking the kids for the weekend and where my wife was, she unleashed on her husband in that "why don't you do that for me every once in a while" tone. From the look the husband shot me, you'd think I broke some kind of Daddy's code.

From there we raced to the movie theatre and caught a matinee of Ratatouille. I know it has been out for a while and I'm sure will probably be out on DVD before Christmas, but it was the only family friendly film showing. Unfortunately I hadn't notice that that thing is almost 2 hours long! That is one long cartoon! I lost the 2 year old somewhere around 1:30 into the film and had to employ every trick in the book to keep her quiet for the one other moviegoer besides us that had decided to take in the matinee. Not a bad movie but not quite up to the level of other recent cartoon releases. I give it a C+ for comedy and an B+ for child distractivity.

From there we came home. I delayed the onset of dinner moans with the crumbs and dregs of a week old appetite spoiling Cool Ranch Doritos bag. That didn't last for long. Good thing Jamie had left me with one our kid's favorites for dinner, Mac&Cheese. Of course, I found a way to mess that up as well. We had a leftover cheese packet so Jamie had just purchased a random pasta to mix with it. Somehow my eyes missed the shells she usually uses for shells and cheese and grabbed the rigatoni. Rigatoni and Cheese just doesn't roll off the tongue the same way for some reason. It doesn't roll over the pallet as well either. Thank goodness for our kids non-distinguished taste buds who all scarfed down their dinner!

At this point I decided to take a risk and go for my weekend run on my treadmill hoping things wouldn't blow up downstairs. I left explicit instructions to "come and get me in case of an emergency or if Liesie-Lu needed a new diaper." Two hours and 10 miles later I came out to put everyone to bed only a little past their bedtimes. You can imagine my fear when I met a certain girl coming up the stairs to great me with a diaper held up in the air informing me that "Daddy, I oopy!" Thank goodness for dry ball poopies! That's all I'll say about that...

Remarkably the kids went to bed extremely well. Mishca asked Josh-Josh to sleep in her bed with her which left Caleb in a room by himself. So, upon his request I decided to let him occupy Jamie's side of the bed. Sometime around 1 am I was awoken by a leg cramp in my left calf. One of Jamie's jobs is to rub the arch of my foot to help make the cramp go away. I figured that if he wanted her spot in the bed, Caleb would have to do the same thing. (Hey, I was in mind numbing pain, I wasn't thinking straight!) After fighting for 2-3 minutes to get Caleb awake enough to actually be conscious enough to understand my request I endured another 2-3 minutes of my son tickling my foot while I cried in pain I came to my senses. I told him to forget it and then used a bedpost to rub it myself.

The rest of the night passed uneventfully. As I write this post Sunday morning is passing smoothly. Of course I was told "I should be home sometime around 10am" by a certain loving wife. As it is now, it is 11:30 and the natives are showing signs of hunger. I wonder what I can bribe them with, I mean feed them? Wish me luck, and pray that my wife is just delayed instead of plotting ways to extend this momentary freedom of hers...

The Emperor's New Shoes - Remix

Author’s note: if any of you read my post the other day regarding my new shoes, here is the update. If you didn’t, just scroll down two posts and read that one before this one as I am not going to rewrite elements of that post just to bring you up to speed. I mean, come on, I only write 1-4 posts a month, if you can’t keep up with that, you need help…

This last weekend I went out for my 12 mile "long" run for the week. I had run in my new shoes several times on my treadmill at home but this was the first time I had a chance to get out on a harder surface. My shoes felt great on the treadmill for the previous two weeks but for you non-runners who venture past here let me tell you, the surface matters. About 2-3 miles into my run both of my heels started aching quite significantly. By the end of my run they were screaming and I spent the next three days tiptoeing around the house.

Now, I’m not saying it was completely the shoes, but the largest change for this run was my new shoes. Considering my old Nike’s probably had a couple thousand miles on them (at significantly higher weights) I am hesitant to think these new shoes didn’t have enough cushioning. Possibly the change of shoe and hence the foot carry, pronation control, cushioning technology, etc, caused my foot to strike just differently enough to cause problems.

The other factor I will not rule out and potentially could actually be more significant is my increased training over the last few months. Not only have I been more consistent (aka "frequent") with my running schedule, but I have also upped the tempo and increased my long run distances from 5-6 miles up to 10-12. Perhaps the wear and tear of training or the rapid increase in distance/week caught up to me. The fact that this hit me so suddenly 2-3 miles into my first run in my new shoes could have been an unfortunate coincidence. The symptoms and causes are consistent, for the most part, with plantar fasciitis but not 100%.

I felt that, based on what I paid for the shoes, I couldn’t hang my hat on the coincidence theory. My wife would have never let me live that down… "Just look at those $100 shoes gathering dust because you were too embarrassed to take them back…" Okay, so she would never say something like that but it provided the motivation I needed to get the courage to go in. Do any of you use your spouse’s voice as your internal voice of reason like I do?

Fleet Feet, see first post, has a 30-day return policy. My first experience, that return policy, and their attitude when I went back in to talk to them about my experience will translate into my loyalty to them for years to come. I have to admit that I was hesitant to take my shoes back in, in fear of a "battle" convincing them that the shoe didn’t work for me, but with the reassurance of the person that referred me to the store I went back. They couldn’t have been nicer. They apologized about the problems I was having and set out to see if they could rectify the situation. They talked to me for about 10 minutes asking me about my training program, what shoes I was switching from, injury history, then they rechecked the shoes I had purchased for fit, remeasured my foot, and tried a custom insert. When nothing else felt right, he went back and got 4 more pairs of shoes and started the whole selection process over again. No hesitation was at all apparent in his voice in taking back the shoes.

So, take two, here are my new new shoes. They are Saucony brand Pro-Grid Omni 6’s. The uppers don’t quite feel as natural as the Brooks (the main reason I selected the Brooks the first time) but the cushioning has a much more pillowy (is that a word?) feel, both in the heel and in the pushoff. I will let you know how they work out in a couple weeks. They felt good on the treadmill last night, but as I pointed out at the start of this post, that may not be such a good indicator. I may have to stave off judgement for my next long run.

Your Candidate?

Thanks to one of my brother's blogger acquaintances I found this fun little quiz. Answer a series of questions and it tells you who your most closely aligned with in this election cycle. I don't know how scientific it is, but it was fun, and hey, it said I was 94.92% aligned with Mitt Romney - Dead on if you know my politics... Let me know who your man (or woman I guess) is.

The Emperor's New Shoes

OK, so I’m not really an emperor (king, prince, or knight for that matter – maybe squire…) but the new shoes sure make me feel different. But so did my purchasing experience…

I have had a pair of Nike’s for about 5 years and they have seen me through many a mile. They say running shoes should be replaced at roughly 500 miles, I think I exceeded that a bit. They were with me when I started my dissention from 275 down to my current 206. I have some emotion tied into them. But after a run that included a good bit of dirt path, I came to the conclusion that my shoes indeed had worn too thin. Every pebble could be felt in the ball of my foot. I don’t know how Shaka Zulu ever convinced his warriors to live and fight completely shoeless… Maybe he was a bit better emperor than me…?

Anyway, with the amount of running I am doing now I decided it was time to get new (and better) running shoes. Nothing against my Nike’s but they were the absolute bottom end of the running shoes - purchased on sale for about $35 bucks if I remember correctly. They were also not designed for my stride or foot mechanics. These are issues that really don’t matter to the fat guy just jogging to get in shape but really do matter to the runner wanting to improve his personal bests or extending his runs from 3 miles up to 6, 10, or more miles.

A friend of mine recommended a runner’s store, Fleet Feet, as a good resource for getting a proper shoe. I had been reading about shoe types, reviews of various shoes, and had a basic knowledge of what to consider. However, I will definitely say that the sales force of this store were far more knowledgeable than your average shoe salesperson (and me) when it comes to running shoes as they were all experienced runners as well. They took a seated foot size then a standing foot size, from this they determined that I have a fairly stiff arch that doesn’t collapse very far with each stride. While this is biomechanically a bit more efficient, it tends to place more shock and stress on the knees and requires more cushion in the foot. Typically people’s arches collapse a bit more and act as natural shock absorbers for the stride. They then had me run on a treadmill with a video camera on my feet to show the amount of pronation (foot rotation related to the collapsing arch) in my stride. There are different shoes for various levels of pronation. Once the saleswoman had my foot particulars she brought out 7, yes 7, pairs of shoes. As a guy, I have never gone beyond 2-3 pairs before saying "good enough for me". She had me try on and run a short distance in each pair of shoes (lacing and tying 14 shoes) with a smile the whole time. Eventually I selected the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 7 which set me back more than I would like to admit (certainly more than I have ever paid for a pair of shoes) but with absolutely no buyer’s remorse.

I know you think this whole entry was about my new "toys" but what really prompted me to write this entry was my shoe buying experience. Whether out of necessity, complacency, or ignorance, I think we as consumers have, as a culture, allowed ourselves to value price over ALL else. When was the last time you went to a specialty shop and paid a little more for what you really wanted instead of just grabbing what was available during your last run to Wal-Mart? I’m not one of those people that think that Wal-Mart is the evil empire as I have NOTHING against Wal-Mart and we do probably 80% of all of our weekly shopping there. But would I have been as satisfied or gotten what I really needed if I bowed to convenience? I believe customer service is undervalued in the retail world today. I genuinely think that my saleswoman wanted me to have a more enjoyable running experience. The subject of price or price range never even came up. I didn’t even know what they were going to cost until I got to the register but I knew that the selected shoe was the most appropriate shoe for me and so I didn’t flinch, wince, or bat an eye when the price rang up. I’m realistic enough to know that this was also due to the financial stability that the Lord has blessed me with but that same exact shoe WOULD NOT have come with the same peace without the confidence provided by my experience in the store. I think buyer’s remorse is the result of poor customer service and not convincing the shopper that they truly have made the right choice.

Have any of you recently made a purchase that was a particularly good (or bad) experience?

Blog Addition - If you care...

I just wanted to point out one small addition to my blog you may not notice if I didn't point it out. If you look to your right, under my picture and profile you will see a quick running summary. I have been filling out a running log on the Runner's World website. Each time I run I fill out a quick form about length, time, type of run, course, etc. and it will keep a log/graphs/personal records for me. I have linked my list of personal records (only those reached in official races since I started running again) and a record of my last 5 runs. If you click on one of the runs it will take you to my training log if you are interested. Here is an example graph of my log since my Stonemill 5k race when I started the log.

I know that VERY few are interested, particularly to this level of detail, but really, this is for me. If I know that my closest friends and family can go and see that I haven't run in two weeks, I will be highly motivated to get on the treadmill at least for a little bit. (We all know I would NEVER make up a fake log entry, right? My wife would turn me in if I did anyway...) If this actuall has the effect of guilting a few of you into going for a run as well... happy happy joy joy.

Stonemill Results and my Saturday Run

I knew if I just waited a few more days they would post the race results from my 5k last weekend but here they are for you to see. Key notes:

• 28th place overall
• 5th in my group - 30-39M as I stated earlier
• I was 15 seconds out of 3rd for my group and the ever coveted trophy
• I was the fastest citizen of Roswell - it helps when there are only 3 of us in the race
• Only 4 women were faster than me and all were in their 20's and 30's (no triumvirate of 12 year old girls this time...)
• The field was slightly smaller than I thought, 204 not the roughly 300 I posted earlier

As for my run this morning - I think I bit off a bit more than I could chew but I think it was a good experience. I ran on the Alpharetta Greenway which starts about a mile from my house and runs 10k (6.2 miles) along Big Creek. I decided that I would start at the Mansell Rd end, run an hour, turn around and run back an hour. At the one hour mark I was just passing the 5.5 mile mark. At this point I should have turned around but the draw of actually claiming I ran it from end to end to end (20k/12.4miles) was too inviting. That extra 1.4 miles made a big difference in the end... I should have turned around.

I completed the first 10k at 1:06:40. I noticed a slower pace after I turned around but I was still feeling pretty good at that point. By the 10 mile mark, somewhere around 1:50:00 I was starting to wilt pretty bad. My shirt now weighed probably 5-10 lbs and did not have a dry spot on it. My jog had slowed into the 12-13 minutes per mile range from the 11 minute per mile range I ran the first 10k in. I started to feel twinges in my calves and my hips started to ache as well. At the ll.5 mile mark I was doing not much more than a shuffle and finally decided to walk the rest of the way in. Funny how the body communicates that it has given all that it has to give. I actually arrived back at the end of the trail at 2:27:32.

Interesting things I learned about trying to run this length of run:

• I actually was running slow enough on the return run that I wasn't even winded - my problems were in my hydration and energy
• When I try to run that far again I will take and energy bar and Gatorade
• I need to get a running shirt that evaporates or sheds perspiration quickly
• Don't run that far less than a week after donating blood (huge type O and AB shortage here in Atlanta right now so I gave last week after my race)
• Don't let my ego define my goals - inside I knew 2 hours and 10-11 miles was as much as I wanted to chew off today.
• 4 ibuprofen work wonders when your hips feel like they want to fall off (kind of like when my wife was in that last month of pregnancy)
• And lastly, even fully 100% dehydrated I am still not under 200 lbs (200.8 at runs end) - oh well.

Now excuse me while I go and sleep the rest of the day until that BYU-UofA game this afternoon...

Josh Josh and Liesie Lu

This was a couple weeks back but I'm finally posting them so forgive me. Here is my 4 year old with his magna doodle. He pulled me aside to show me that he had written his name for the VERY FIRST TIME without any help. The A didn't fit so he had to put it on the next line down...

Of course, his sister saw the camera action and wanted in on it...

Stonemill 5k

I half debated holding off until the official results were posted on the race website but, not knowing how long that might take, I decided to let you all know how my race went last weekend. As I indicated in a previous post, I ran in the Stonemill 5k (previously known as the Sugarloaf 5k). It is a relatively small race that is sponsored by a local church as part of their summer festival. The relatively small field (~300 people I would guess) gave me hope of doing respectable in the final standings.

For reference, on Memorial Day I ran a 25:21 5k, which was my best to date following my 29:47 last September. My goal for the race on the 25th was sub 25 minute. Maybe I should have had a lower goal with my last improvement in mind but keep in mind that step changes get smaller as you approach the peak, anyway…

The night before the race was a bit odd. I had severe leg cramps in my left leg. My wife can attest that on occasion I wake up with terrible leg cramps. Historically these have always been in my calf muscles, rub my arch, give me a banana and they go away. The last two times (Friday night included) the cramps have been in a muscle along the outer shin of each leg. Can’t explain it, but I didn’t know how to make them go away either. I was awoken 3 times during the night, each time for roughly 5-10 minutes with this cramp in my left leg and started to wonder if I was even going to be able to run. When my alarm went off at 5:30, the leg felt fine, so I proceeded as planned.

The morning was perfect. Considering the fact that Atlanta has been in the midst of a record setting heat wave I was afraid the morning was going to be unbearable. The night before the race a series of storms rolled through and dropped the temperatures significantly. The clouds even stuck around for the morning. The daily high ended up being almost 10 degrees lower than the previous day.

The course was along an industrial park road but the organizers were thrown a curveball when the city water department decided it was time to install a new sewer line less than a week before the race date. The organizers did a good job of routing us over and around the construction well however and the only people that complained were the two old men who planned on running the race barefoot as there were a few spots with more gravel than one would hope for.

With the small field I decided to be optimistic and lined up about 8-10 feet from the front of the pack and seemed to judge it about right. I passed a few and a few passed me but for the most part I started where I should in the field. The race started with the first quarter mile all uphill with the steepest incline we would face in the entire run. This had the wonderful effect of stretching out the field quickly and making the rest of the run seem, for the most part, downhill.

At the 1 mile mark they yelled out 7:38. This was faster than I had planned and considering the long uphill at the start was actually a really good opening mile for me. By that mile mark I had settled into a group of three guys and we started passing a few of those greenies that really go out fast and then just die! We had a good rhythm but perhaps ran a little slower than we should. At the two mile mark they said 15:33. If you do the math that comes out to a 7:55 second mile. Still sub 8 minutes, which was my goal to meet my 25-minute mark but, in hindsight, a bit slower than it should have been for this relatively flatter portion of the course. At that point I abandoned this group and started pushing myself the last third.

As I crossed the 3 mile mark I kicked into an all out sprint with everything I had left for the last tenth of a mile. My semi-official time (until the results are released) was 23:51. Here is the math for you. That means my last 1.1 miles was in 8:18 which on a minutes per mile pace is roughly 7:33 minutes per mile. I don’t know my overall place yet but my place amonst the 30 year old males was 5th, just an agonizing 18 seconds out of 3rd which would have netted me a trophy. Mind you, in a big race I wouldn’t have even been in the ballpark of the word trophy but it would have been nice. Hindsight tells me my slower second mile cost me that trophy, but, oh well. I killed my sub 25-minute goal, I didn’t puke like I did in May, and I am more motivated than ever to kick it up a knotch… 10k race… Half-MARATHON??? Stay tuned for the updates.

And if you are wondering… I’m at 205. I’m hoping to be sub 200 by Thanksgiving (part of that whole Half-Marathon plan…)

Mind Bender

This is Caleb and me at Six Flags over Georgia riding the Mind Bender roller coaster. The ride has two loops in it but was the only true roller coaster that Caleb was tall enough to ride. Mischa went on it once as well but I couldn't get her to go again. This video was taken on the last run of the day before the park closed. We had just been in the front car and I filmed the forward direction but the battery in the camera died halfway through the ride. I switched batteries but had to move from the front row but since there was no-one else in line we were allowed to move to the third row where I decided to turn the camera around.

August Updater

Just a short post to quiet some of my "why haven’t you posted?" critics and to hopefully break the logjam and get me back in the habit here.

Things I have been doing or have happened in my life for the last month and a half that I’m not planning additional posts about include:

1. Going on vacation to Arizona, New Mexico, Arizona again, Nevada, and Utah, which my wife is doing a much better job blogging about so I won’t rehash those items.
2. Caleb and Mischa went back to school for their respective 3rd and 2nd grade years. Their teachers seemed nice enough at the meet and greet "Sneak Peak" the school arranged. We’ll give them a few weeks to see how they handle our kids. Is it just me or does every Parent think that their children present some unique hurdles for their teachers?
3. Re-reached that 207 weight that I posted earlier (slight setback due to vacation). Actually, that first 207 was based on really being 210 on a day to day basis but having just completed a 10k run, I stepped on the scale and got the "dehydration assisted" 207 pictured previously. The 207 this morning was the first "daily weigh-in" 207 so is far more significant. Actually, on a post run, "dehydration assisted" basis I have had a 206 weigh in (last week) but I try not to fool myself into including those weights in my overall progress as they set unrealistic benchmarks at times…
4. Preparing for my next 5k event, the Stonemill 5k (previously known as the Sugarloaf 5k), this weekend. Hopefully that 25-minute mark will be obtained this time around but who knows? I’ll post results ASAP.
5. The mass air flow sensor went out on my car and we had to drop several hundred bucks into replacing that. Funny how when you get a raise, emergencies seem to arise to claim the new money. In the three months since taking my new job (with raise) we have had dangerously leaning trees, family vacation, and now my car. Each of which ate up any and all additional funds from my job for each of the last three months. But as my wise wife pointed out, at least we had the raise to pay for it and perhaps a loving Heavenly Father was holding back the tide until I had the levee repaired…
6. I have adopted my wife’s 6 tomato plants that she was doing her best to kill off. To be fair, the heat wave and lack of measurable rain in the last month have done their fair share of the killing. The plants are just now starting to bear fruit, some worth keeping, some not. Maybe I will post pictures later, but lets just say we will not be visiting the state fair any time soon.
7. Oh and of course, I read Harry Potter 7. Good book, I could comment, praise, and rant but really my thoughts and opinions are really not all that original for those of you who read the book and care about the topic. The neatest thing to me was to watch my little Mischa catch the Harry Potter bug while Jamie and I were reading the last book. She read books 1-4 in the space of two weeks! (She turned 7 in April if you don’t know her.) Talk about scary and exciting, I have been bragging to EVERYONE that even remotely brings up the topic of reading, books, or Harry Potter.

Well, that should do it for now. Everything else that has happened I have planned a post in my head. Keep your fingers crossed and maybe I will actually write about them later.

Results - Celebrate America 5k - Alpharetta, GA

Well I went back to the web and found the RESULTS for the race I ran on Memorial Day. So lets see how I did with a brief analysis of the data:

Overall: 101st place out of 384 - not quite in the top quarter

Fastest time: 16:32 - Wow! - I had about a mile to go at that point

Slowest time: 49:17 - One of about 10 that actually lost to the top finishing 10k runners who made two loops of the course.

My time: 25:21 this was actually faster than the 25:33 I reported earlier - why the discrepancy between what I thought at the time and the posted results, I don't know but the 12 seconds faster translated into 6 places overall and 1 place in my group.

My group (30-39 M): 11th out of 23 - I'll take that considering that without the "pinched butt" (see previous post), I think I could have cut the 16 seconds off that would have given me 8th place in the group

Youngest contestant: 6 yr old Davis Eddleman who ran it in 37:57 - I couldn't pay my kids to run that far!

Oldest contestant: 83 yr old George Abercrombie who ran it in 45:40 - I hope I can still do this at that age.

Catagories they didn't have that I would like to think I would have won (or come at least a lot closer) Why don't they expand their classes to help people feel better about themselves?:

1. Runners who previously weighed 275 lbs
2. Runners that had lost a minimum of 40 lbs in the previous 8 months
3. Runners who have a graduate degree from Western New Mexico University
4. Runners who's favorite work out music is Everclean - Spiritchal as Me

On the blow to the ego side:

1. If I was a teenage girl I would have come in 12th for the group!
2. I lost to a trio of 12 year old girls!

Oh well, I guess I have room for improvement! Guess I'll have to keep on running!

Amazing Brit - Paul Potts

I'm sure many of you have seen this guy, but if you haven't, you have to watch! We are talking about an Average Joe who is really the next great tenor... I've never cried to a song that I don't know the words to or doesn't come with a video... until this. All my descriptions won't match up to what this guy can do so I won't write any more, just watch!

Tale Repackaged

Charles looked down at his watch and ran through the calculations in his head once again. Fifteen minutes had passed since he had sprinted out his front door, settled into a redundant stride, and prayed he had set the right pace. The rhythmic beating of shoes hitting pavement served as a hypnotic calming force as the turmoil of the situation played out in his mind over and over. Already the sweat beaded and rolled off his face as the Georgia humidity was paying him no favors. The sequence of events leading up to his run played out in his mind over and over, only heightening his sense of urgency.

Charles worked as an engineer for a marble mining company. As he collected a water sample from one of the mine dewatering sumps that morning he could not of imagined how that day would play out. The cool, constant, 58 degrees that the underground environment of the mine offered sounded so inviting to him now as he struggled to maintain his focus, now just 20 minutes into his run.

It was roughly a half an hour ago, just as he kicked his boots off and plopped onto the couch, that the phone had rang. The brief conversation now played over in his head.

"Hello, this is Chuck."

"Honey… it’s me." The faint crack of a whimper divided the phrase.

Sensing the stress in her voice he perked to attention like a private as his commanding officer enters the room. "Sweetie, what’s wrong? I thought you would be here when I got home… where.."

She cut him off, "Honey, I don’t have much time. This cell phone is beeping like the battery is low, I don’t know how much longer I can talk. I am at the church house, we were setting up for tonight when a stranger came in and demanded $1000 dollars. Don’t call the police because he says he will start shooting if they show up. Honey, he has given us until 7 to come up with the money or I don’t know what he is going to do… plea" beep, beep, beep, the tell tale signal of a lost cell call never came with more horror!

He frantically called her back but was met by her voicemail on the first ring, confirming that it was her battery that had given out. All the "network" in the world couldn’t help now. Digging through a kitchen drawer he found the number to the church house but repeated calls only produced an answering machine.

What his wife was not aware of was the fact that on his way home from work that day his serpentine belt had failed and he had hitchhiked his way home. Months of ignoring the squeal from the belt had finally caught up with him, producing a 1 ton paperweight alongside Georgia 400.

Having made that drive many times he knew the church house was 6.2 miles from home, 10,000 meters now separated him from where he needed to be. As his options played out in his mind, the adrenaline had altered his decision making ability and the only conclusion he had been able to produce was to make a run for it. He strapped on his running shoes, grabbed his wallet and bolted from the door.

As he ran out he had glanced at his watch and noted that he had 65 minutes to get there including, he estimated, 2 minutes at the ATM. Although he had run many 5k events, averaging roughly 25 minutes for the distance, the concept of twice the distance in just over an hour felt very daunting, as he had never even tried it before. He knew it would be a matter of setting the right pace and holding it.

As he approached the ATM, he struggled to regain his breath as he punched in his PIN, having to repeat it due to his jittery fingers. Now 30 minutes into his run, he knew he was roughly halfway. As he typed in his request for $1000 dollars from his checking account, the machine denied his request. Knowing he had the available balance he repeated the request with the same result. Halfway through his third request he suddenly remembered that his account had a daily maximum of $500 built in, as a security feature. Resigned to that reality, he took the reduced amount and prayed that the "stranger" would accept that explanation.

As he left the ATM he realized he had burned precious time with the delays. Instead of 2 minutes, it had taken him 5. With his watch now reading 6:30 he knew he had to complete the second 5k in the same time as the first, except his lungs and muscles were already straining at the endeavor.

The panic struck him that perhaps he had made the wrong choice. Couldn’t he had asked a neighbor? Shouldn’t he had called the police despite the warning? With the cliché of hindsight is 20/20 playing in his head the anger at himself provided the motivation that the adrenaline had provided earlier. As he trudged on he began to feel like one of Hanibal’s elephants in a forced march over the Alps, driven on by the cracking of a handler’s whip.

As the time and miles passed by, Charles tried anything and everything to take his mind off of his wife and focus on the run. Surely this man wouldn’t hurt her if he got the money, right? His pace was now sporadic, waning as his thoughts drifted followed by periods of sprinting as he regained focus. Precious seconds ticked by and he started to wonder if he would make the deadline. With one final hill he noted he only had 3 minutes remaining. Angry as the reality of his pending failure sunk in, he took solace that the 47 lbs he had lost that year made even getting close a reality. His 207-lb frame was doing something his 255-lb frame of a year ago could never had done, let alone the 275-lb frame of years past.

As he crested the hill and the church came into view, the sinking feeling that he had failed came over him. Now just a few hundred yards from the church his watch read 7:00. He listened for the sounds of gunfire, praying that the man had extended the deadline or perhaps the church clock was running slow.

He burst through the church door at 7:01 and 51 seconds, screaming for his wife and her unknown captor. Frantically he searched as he waved the $500 ransom over his head. As he heard a noise in the gym he whipped around and tore down the hall in that direction. Jerking open the door his brain could not believe what his eyes absorbed. Standing before him were all of his best friends, co-workers, and fellow churchgoers, celebrating… No sign of his wife or the stranger she had alerted him to.

As he cleared the sweat now pouring into his eyes he started to leave the gym to continue his search of the building, the reality of the situation still not clicking in his head. As he turned to leave someone finally noticed his entrance and yelled out, "he’s here!"

Thinking they were speaking of the stranger, Charles turned in the direction of the voice. Catching a view of his wife, apparently okay, he stepped toward her, surveying the area for the gunman. To his utter astonishment the entire gym screamed out, "Surprise, Happy Birthday!" His wife’s smile turned to bewilderment as she noted his perspiration, panting, and stagger.

But Charles would have his revenge. Finally grasping the situation, he made his way to his wife, wrapped his now sweat-soaked body around hers and gave her the biggest, wettest kiss he ever had, something Hanibal’s elephants would have done too, if given the chance, I imagine.




Of course, the only two elements of this story that are true...

A Month and a Half of Happenings

OK, once again I have fallen pray to the "I'll get to it tomorrow" bug so often afflicting my blogging. Of course, it has been quite the month for me in terms of life changes... So, here it is, a recap of the last month and a half highlights.

First of all, I have started my new job. I am working for Imerys. It is a French performance minerals mining company. I am working in north Georgia for their marble mining facilities. So far, so good. That is all the direct details I will give on the company as I have promised myself not to discuss work matters on this blog. I haven't had to travel since early April (at my old job) and I am really enjoying that aspect of this change. The 50min to 1hr drive each way is tiresome but not the end of the world. Sure glad I'm driving a 4 cylinder rice burner but even with that I am averaging about $40-50/week for gas.

Next, I won, I mean Caleb won, the cub scout rocket race. Hey he chose the design and colors... OK, I'm a bad father having to do it myself so he won't "mess it up" but if you know my competitive side, hopefully you understand. The directions said that 3 rubber bands is ideal, so that is what I used. I was shocked that every other contestant was competing with two and sometimes only 1 rubber band. I'm sure this had a major roll in CALEB's victory. The other element of the directions that I followed and others didn't was to lubricate the rubber bands. Many of the other dads, I mean kids, didn't put anything on their rubber bands and most of them ended up dropping out of the competition due to running out of rubber bands. At least one father tried to lubricate his with WD-40 which is actually a solvent, not a lubricant, so it ended up eating through his rubber bands before the first turn of the propeller. Now for the G rated nature of this blog I will not list the exact lubricant I used on my rubber bands but suffice it to say my ASTRO rocket GLIDEed beautifully! Hey, it worked didn't it? I am SO DEAD when Jamie reads this!!!

And the third event of the last month worth discussing is of course, my running. I ran another 5k road race on Memorial Day. It was my first official event since the race I ran last September that I blogged about. My goal was 25 minutes but unfortunatlly I didn't make it. My official time was 25:33. I guess I can't complain as I did cut about 4:20 off of my time last September. I think I would have came close if the urge to use the restroom hadn't hit me at about the 2 mile mark but I will not use that as an excuse. My first mile was ~7:30, the second ~8:00, that meant that my last 1.1 miles was around 10:00 which is way slow for me even with pinched buns. I do think it is the hardest I have run to date. My earlier blog about a sub 25 minute 5k was, I'm sure, treadmill assisted.

As for my weight, slow and steady progress. My lowest weigh-in to date was 209.8 but I'm sure that was dehydration assissted as it was right after a morning run. My weigh in this morning was I think a little more representative, 213. With any luck I will reach that 210 mark by the time I come out west in July to see many of you who read this blog. That is my goal.

I look forward to seeing everyone in July. Hopefully my blog about that trip won't be my next post...

Times, They Are A Chang'n

Today presented a rare moment in my life. It is the type of day I hope to have very few of in what remains of my 30 some-odd years of scheduled employment. When I started this blog I made a personal commitment to never write specifically about my job or my coworkers. I have written about the joys of travel but never the work itself. Today I will discuss another element of work that I feel remains true to that pledge but touches on the periphery. Today, I quit my job!

For some of you this is not a surprise as I have told you about my situation and the opportunity that presented itself to work elsewhere. For others of you may be a bit shocked. I, of course, am not going to name either my current or future employer but I will say that it is a return to the mining industry I left 2.5 years ago. At the same time, I don’t have to move as the site is roughly 40 miles (50 min drive) from my current home. I may move a bit closer in the next year or so but there won’t be the mad scramble or months of separation that sometimes accompanies a job change. The new job will be less than 10% travel, at the mine site (can you say "blue jeans and no more corporate politics!?") comes with a nice kick in pay, and a killer bonus package. Suffice it to say, I think I will be happy.

The hardest part about leaving a job for me is actually breaking the news to my boss. This morning was no exception. If you know me, you know that outside my twin brother, I will avoid confrontation AT ALL COSTS! I will watch scary, gorey, or tense scenes in movies and on TV without batting an eye but you put someone in an uncomfortable or embarrassing situation that he has to deal with… I will change the channel so fast it would make even my channel happy father’s head spin. Luckily, I don’t think I caught my boss completely by surprise based on some recent changes in our department. So, although he was disappointed, I think he was somewhat mentally prepared and I was able to avoid the actual “confrontation” I feared.

As I explained to too many people today, although I see myself as a very loyal individual, I first and foremost need to be loyal to my family. I have traveled enough over the past few years and I am sure my wife is excited about me being home more often. We have been praying quite a bit about this decision and I think this is the right path for us. Since making the decision to move forward I have had a comforting peace in my heart and the path has been smooth.

For those of you who want the juicy details, I guess you will have to either give me a call or wait for July when we fly out that way for Mom and Dad’s 50th…

Disappointed

I have to admit I am somewhat disappointed. I was really kind of proud of my celebrity challenge post but for some reason, not a single person even tried to identify these people... I know I barred my wife from playing, maybe that was a mistake. Maybe then I would have had someone play... I know people are coming to the site based on the Cluster Map I have on my site. Shucks, even the guy in China didn't make a guess! I realize you all have better things to do than look up celebrities but if you guys don't play along, I may just have to write more of my treadmill exploits, and I'm sure none of you want that, right?

Tag I'm It? Stinky Doo Doo Head!

I guess I got "tagged" by my wonderful brother over on his blog. I've never heard of being tagged but really it is nothing more than the blog equivalent of spam email that ends with something like "if you don't forward this to 4 of your friends including the person that sent it to you, you are a stupid doo doo head and your house will fall down in exactly 3 hours, trust me, it happened to my friend!!!!!" But I guess I can play along if for no other reason than this way I won't have to come up with a subject of my own today.

4 jobs I have held you may not know about:

1. Boy Scout Camp Counselor (Summers 88-89)
2. Medical Records Clerk (6 months 93-94)
3. Mining Claim Surveyor/Marker (3 weeks Jan 97)
4. Environmental Consultant (1.5 years 97-99)

4 movies I have watched over and over:

1. Cool Runnings (someday they won't crash at the end)
2. Midway
3. Search for the Holy Grail (of course)
4. Any movie on TV at the time (usually it is Overboard just because TBS plays that so much)

4 places I've lived before now:

1. Tucson, AZ (college years)
2. Phoenix, AZ (6 months after college looking for a job)
3. Playas, NM (5 months after being hired 2 months before finding out the plant was closing down)
4. South Africa (Cape Town, Paarl, Uitenhage, George, & Kwa Magxaki as a missionary)

4 TV shows I love to watch (but don't always get to):

1. Lost
2. Scrubs
3. My Name is Earl
4. Monk

4 Favorite Foods:

1. Creamed Eggs on Toast
2. Hungarian Roasted Pork with pickled Paprika peppers (yes there is a story behind that one - best meal I have ever eaten!)
3. Curry
4. Carnitas

Who am I going to tag? There is only one person, not yet tagged, that has a blog, that frequently posts comments on my blog, my dear wife whom I love very much and since her house is my house, hopefully she responds so our house doesn't fall down in 3 hours...

1. stop the insanity

Weekends for the Traveller, Blood Sweat & Tears

After being on the road for 6 of the last 8 weeks our weekends are to say the least, crazy. With both Jamie and I trying to catch up with our chores when I am home for the weekend our Saturdays are often quite full. Jamie tries to run the errands that can't be done easily with a crew of kids, I try to make our yard halfway presentable, and when you throw in birthday parties, it can be maddening.

Today was no exception to that rule. Our neighborhood had its annual beautify the neighborhood entrance cleanup. I ran off to do that from 9-12 while Jamie stayed with the kids. Soon after I got home Jamie ran off with one of the kids to a birthday party and to do the weekly grocery shopping. I started the yard work here at home. That is one downside to the south. In New Mexico I could mow the lawn every two weeks and maybe mess with the hedges 1-2 times per year and the yard looked great. Here, everything grows so fast it seems like I am constantly cutting something back. My brother would never run short of compost material out here!

To be fair to my wife, she did tell me that she would be home at 2 to pick up the kids so I could get to my 2:15 blood donation. The fact that this didn't translate in my head to "please have the kids dressed and ready at 2 so I can take them to finish my shopping with me after I pick up Mischa" I blame on the male mind. She was rightfully not too happy when she pulled up at 2, me in the yard working, and three kids running around still in their jammies. Mischa's party was over at 2:15 as well so we packed up the jammied kids and I got the assignment of finishing the shopping after my blood donation.

One more rotation of me coming home, Jamie doing some more shopping, while I did yet more yard work and you get us to the present. This is the first break longer than 10 minutes I have had today and I choose to use it typing on this thing, what am I thinking...? Whoever thinks weekends are for resting from a hard week on the job is delusional (or just doesn't travel for work). I will catch up, eventually...

Pushing It

I know this is my third post in three days after a month with nothing so I probably will have several people that end up reading all three at the same time but hey, if I was more consistent it just wouldn't be me.

Yet again I am going to bore you with my workout stories... Sorry. Tonight on my run I had completed the first mile at a slow 9:53 minute jog but had decided shortly before the end of that mile that I would have a little fun with the second mile. I decided to turn the treadmill up to 9mph and see if I could handle the pace for the entire second mile. Much to my surprise, I held the pace for the entire second mile and clocked in the second mile in 6:47. My last sub 7 minute mile was most definitely back in High School. I'm still roughly 1:20-1:30 off my high school times but I actually surprised myself with that time quite a bit.

I just read my post so far and I hope people don't take my posts the wrong way. They are not supposed to be bragging, just sharing my workouts. Knowledge that I can share these stories actually drives me to work harder in these workouts. I also draw strength that really 99% of my readers know me personally and care about my health, success, and happiness.

To that end though, have any of you surprised yourself lately? Did something you didn't think you could do? Let me help you celebrate those small victories by sharing them with me. By celebrating the small victories, we reach the big ones.

Celebrity Sightings

I have been traveling for work for over two and a half years now. In all of those flights I always thought it was funny that I didn't see more celebrities at the airports I visited. In all that time I saw a grand total of 3 faces that I recognized. Then, in the last month I have seen another 3 in rapid succession including 2 within minutes of each other at the Newark airport and another on Tuesday as I was flying out from Atlanta. Not that I am a celebrity hound but I do get a bit of a kick out of it. The bane of my existence is that although I NEVER forget a face, I RARELY can put a name to it. So here is my challenge to you, I will give you a picture and a very simple clue, can you name the celebrity? Some are pretty easy some are a bit more obscure. Here they are in the order that I have seen them in my journeys. (BTW, Jamie, since we have discussed these sightings, you get to sit this one out...)

Sports Commentator

Football

Space Portal

Mock the Foam, Fear the Foam

TV Fuzz

Penny Pincher

So Who is Who?