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?

Who Knows Why...

I think I have made it clear that I enjoy running. When I run I typically have a TV or an MP3 going to distract me from the discomfort and the desire to check the treadmill display every 10 seconds that seems to slow the passage of time. When I get the rare occasion to run on the road I typically need the same distractions to keep me from checking my watch. When I travel I am familiar with the different hotels I stay at and which ones have treadmills and TVs. I knew the Hampton Inn I was staying in tonight has such a set up. I was so confident that I left my MP3 player at home knowing I would have a TV to watch. Only when I went for a run this evening did I discover that they have move their gym and have not yet installed the new TV they are planning for the room. It is the VERY rare occasion that I have run on a treadmill with no music or distraction. Maybe I should try it more often.

This evening I ran my 5 kilometers (according to the treadmill) in 24:15. 24:15!!!! And that was with the treadmill taking a good minute to come up to speed. 24:15!!! Let me put that in context for ya. Since I started running last August and loosing the weight, I slowly dropped my 5k time from 32 minutes, to 29:50 in the Corporate Challenge in September, and slowly down to just over 26 minutes on my best days on the most favorable treadmills. It was my long term goal to reach 25 minutes but thought I wouldn't get there until I weighed in under 200. Throw that limit out the window!

There are three possible "explanations for the 1:45+ reduction in my time but it is probably a combination of all three. First, this particular treadmill has been "kind" to me in the past. I have routinely run ~30 seconds faster than on the treadmill at home but I don't know if it is smoother, miss calibrated, the home one is miss calibrated, or if I just run harder when away from home. Second, with no TV or MP3 to distract me I focused on form and breathing the entire time. I recently watched the movie "Without Limits" about the life of Steve Prefontaine, a distance runner in the early 70's (probably the greatest American distance runner ever before he died in a car accident at age 24). One scene with his college coach caught my attention. His coach told him to run with his hips thrust forward, (BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP - That was the sound of me removing the metaphor used in the movie to describe this position that was originally in my post but deemed a bit to racy (no pun intended) and "ruining" how a certain reader of mine looks at all runners) and showed him how much easier it was to drive his knees forward and up. I don't know if it made all the difference but with no music or TV I focused on that technique and other good form lessons I remember from my high school days. It did feel easier and I felt like my strides were longer with no increase in effort. Even with no distractions I found myself getting lazy at times and had to correct myself periodically throughout the run. Third and perhaps most importantly, I spoke to my twin brother today. He informed me that he has begun daily recumbent bike rides in his effort to catch me. To imagine that I am 15 lbs lighter than my twin is unimaginable to the "fat one" for our entire childhoods and the motivation to retain that status is a POWERFUL driving force. Competition with my Twin has always driven me to some of my best efforts in life.

When I finished I walked out and told the hotel desk they really need to put a TV in there so I don't try and pull that crap again! It was the first time since the 29:50 road race that I actually felt sick at the end of a run. Different treadmill or not, I am confident that I didn't leave anything left in the tank when I finished and that is the most important thing to me when I choose to run for time.