Saturday, May 30, 2009
Good little day...
A real quick note: Can I just tell you about my perfect day? Tara and I went to bed early last night and so I was able to wake up early (6:15am). I took a shower, ate some Special K cereal and had two pieces of turkey bacon. I cleaned the kitchen, mowed, trimmed, & edged the lawn, I fixed some broken sprinklers with the neighbor, and then came in for another shower. I laid out in the back yard with Tara for an hour (Tara 2 1/2 hours... She is fried), then I did P90X, which lead to another shower. I really like it when we're productive and today we were. I went to the store and got stuff for taco's which we enjoyed while watching an eppisode of the office. I threw the ball to the dogs until they quit, tired little dudes. Now I'm typing on the computer and soon I will be sleeping... Good night.
Salt Lake City Marathon, April 2009
It's Tuesday, three days after I completed my first marathon and I'm a happy man. I'm hurting all over but it's a good hurt considering how excited I am to have completed that damn run. I do not suggest anyone run in a marathon if they're not prepared... I was not. I didn't miss any of my long runs during training but my efforts could have been much more. Nevertheless I finished! AND IT HURT! Carter Dunn gave me some good advice; make sure to get a good night sleep two nights before the race because no one sleeps the night before a big race. I took his advice and got a great night sleep last Thursday night. Good thing because my mind was going crazy Friday night as I laid there from 9:00pm until I finally fell asleep around 10:45pm. I woke up around 5:00 am and jumped in the shower to warm up my joints. I picked up Jarin’s brother, Brandon Adams, and we headed downtown to the Gateway mall. This was both mine and Brandon’s first Marathon and I was glad to run with him because we saw each other suffer in training together. I brought an old sweatshirt that I knew I wouldn't mind throwing onto the side of the road when I got too hot. I heard they go through after the race, gather up all of the clothing runners throw away, and take it to a charity.
There were hundreds of runners; actually it had to have been thousands because when we started the race there were runners filling the street as far as I could see. We rode the TRAX train up to the start which was just west of Ft. Douglas at some bridge at the University of Utah. As soon as we stepped off the train we heard a count down 10, 9, 8… And thought oh shit we’re late! Then GO! It must have been the wheelchair racers because none of the other runners looked concerned as they stretched, drank water, stood in line for the restroom, etc. Carter, Brandon, and I were running the full marathon and we stretched and talked with Shannon & Billy Rosser. By the time we made it through the crowd of people up to the starting area the gun went off and people starting trotting along. I didn’t feel like I got a good enough stretch in which made me nervous because prior to the race I had so many problems with my left Achilles. Little did I know that would be the least of my worries 2 ½ hours later.
It was a funny site to see the road swimming like the ocean with all the runners’ heads bouncing up and down. We kept a slow pace at first; the last thing we wanted to do was blow up and suffer the last half of the run more than we already had to. We ran down and around towards Sugar House Park which was about six miles. When we arrived there we received our first treat, a little pride booster. There were a bunch of volunteers and a sign with two big arrows on it; “half marathon runners to the left, full marathon runners to the right.” We kind of laughed when we saw how many half marathon runners there were. It seemed like 90% of the runners went to the left. We ran down to and through Sugar House Park and then up into the neighborhoods where people were out in their bath robes, drinking coffee, and cheering us on. It was really cool to hear all the people cheering us on. In fact, there were all kinds of fun things along the sides of the streets to keep us runners going. Music bands, barber shop quartets, solo guitarist, drum circles, marching band type groups, and the best thing ever… aid stations. Carter and I were running together past a group of trumpet players and Carter said “You know 76 trombones?” Without a word they busted right into it and we laughed as we ran by. We had made it about half way through the race at this point and I asked him “you ready to run another 13 miles?” He said “The next 13 are going to be more than twice as hard as the first 13.”
One of the best and worst parts of our run came after we reached 6400 south and started to head west. We worked our way down to a street named Van Winkle, which is usually a very busy street. We ran right down the middle of the street and commented that “when else would you get to run right down the middle of this road?” I felt great and I had plenty of energy but when I hit the bottom of Van Winkle I had a pain hit me like a Mac Truck. Oh my hell did my right knee hurt! I’m thinking it was my IT band. It came on very quickly and for a minute there I didn’t think I was going to be able to finish the race. We had seven miles left and I couldn’t even put more than two or three steps on that knee without pulling up. OUCH! Carter told me to lie down on some grass and stretch my legs and rest for a second. I did that, drank some Gatorade, and drank some water before I tried to run again. To my surprise I was able to hobble into an 11 minute mile pace until I reached 4500 south, where my mom was waiting with her dog to cheer us on. We slowed to a walk, where my mom joined us for a few minutes. She was worried about my knee but I told her I didn’t just run 20 miles to stop now.
When we left my mom and started jogging again I knew I was in big trouble. I couldn’t go more than four steps without an amazing pain in my knee. I was so pissed! “This is not what I had in mind… This was not supposed to happen… My legs and lungs feel fine… COME ON KNEE!!!” I tried twenty or so times to run and it just was not happening. Each step hurt worse and worse and I knew this was going to take my goal time of under 4:30 hours to well over that. I f-ing had to walk for three and a half miles! I tried to run a few times after I sent Carter on up ahead without me but I could only hobble. A couple of times volunteers on bikes rode by and yelled out “good job, you’re doing great, keep it up!” I wanted to tell them to go to hell… Can’t you see I can’t even walk? When I reached mile 22 I realized I was in the back of the pack and embarrassment set in. I had the energy to surge and pass all those slow people I was running (hobbling) with but my knee just wouldn’t allow it.
I ran passed this house with about 30 people out on the front lawn with tables set up everywhere with alcohol everywhere. They were all drinking and it wasn’t even noon yet. They had a big sign up that said “Temptation Station.” As I ran past them a couple of people said “hey man, come have a beer… It will help you.” Hey you don’t want to finish this bull shit race, come drink with us.” I laughed despite my frustration and maybe the laughing helped me, or maybe a phone call I received from Tara helped me. I took only a few things with me when I started the race, a bib belt that had my asthma inhaler, five power gels, and my cell phone. Tara called right before I reached Liberty Park which was 5k from the finish line. I told her what happened with my knee and she offered to come pick me up. I said “don’t even ask me that again or give me one bit of discouragement because I am going to finish this even if I have to bleeping crawl.” She said “oh ok… Sorry.” I apologized for being short with her and she said that they would all be waiting for me at the finish line.
I don’t if was the 3 ½ mile walk that helped or if it was something else but when I got to Liberty Park I tried to run again and to my amazement I was able to without major pain in my knee. I was so excited I couldn’t believe it and I took off passing all those people I did not want to finish with. I went from a walk, hobbling 14 minute mile to a seven minute mile and besides my muscles being sore from 23 miles of hell I was cruising.
I received a phone call from Jarin, who asked where I was. I told him I had about 2 ½ miles left and he said well I’m on State Street and I’m going to meet you and finish the race with you. He met me on St. Street and ran, in blue jeans, trying to give me encouragement. He would ask me questions but I was not really playing along because I was suffering. I gave him quick grunt type answers and I was dying because for some reason they changed the end of the race and there was a big up-hill spot that was killing me. I heard tons of runners complaining (in a happy way) about the hill going up state street towards North Temple. I saw Dewayne parked in his truck on the side of the road; he was honking the horn, waving, and yelling “YEAH MICK! YOU CAN DO IT!” It gave me a boost and carried me until I headed west where I met up with Shannon and Billy. They ran with me until I reached the 26 mile marker and then I was on my own. I ran through the streets of the gateway mall and I was not enjoying like I thought I would… Yeah I did it; this is great, I’m so proud… No… I was thinking, oh my god would this race end… Where is the finish line, I’m dying. I finally saw my friends and family cheering me on to finish and Carters kids, Aimee, Conner, and Alex; all came out and ran across the finish line with me. Tara, her mom, my grandma, Terance with Sophia, and Jordan Meinzer were all there. I FINISHED! YEAH! I was so happy! I was mad because of my knee, I knew that I could have run it in a much faster time but at least I got that metal. We all took pictures and I grabbed an ice bag from an aid station to ice my knee. We walked around the mall for awhile and then headed to Iggy’s to eat. I ate my food and couldn’t even wait for Jarin and Tara to finish their food; I went to the car and fell asleep.
For the next week I struggled to walk, especially down stairs, but I knew that I would be running more of those races. I want to get as many metals as I possible! Carter say’s you can put them up on your “me wall.” HA.
There were hundreds of runners; actually it had to have been thousands because when we started the race there were runners filling the street as far as I could see. We rode the TRAX train up to the start which was just west of Ft. Douglas at some bridge at the University of Utah. As soon as we stepped off the train we heard a count down 10, 9, 8… And thought oh shit we’re late! Then GO! It must have been the wheelchair racers because none of the other runners looked concerned as they stretched, drank water, stood in line for the restroom, etc. Carter, Brandon, and I were running the full marathon and we stretched and talked with Shannon & Billy Rosser. By the time we made it through the crowd of people up to the starting area the gun went off and people starting trotting along. I didn’t feel like I got a good enough stretch in which made me nervous because prior to the race I had so many problems with my left Achilles. Little did I know that would be the least of my worries 2 ½ hours later.
It was a funny site to see the road swimming like the ocean with all the runners’ heads bouncing up and down. We kept a slow pace at first; the last thing we wanted to do was blow up and suffer the last half of the run more than we already had to. We ran down and around towards Sugar House Park which was about six miles. When we arrived there we received our first treat, a little pride booster. There were a bunch of volunteers and a sign with two big arrows on it; “half marathon runners to the left, full marathon runners to the right.” We kind of laughed when we saw how many half marathon runners there were. It seemed like 90% of the runners went to the left. We ran down to and through Sugar House Park and then up into the neighborhoods where people were out in their bath robes, drinking coffee, and cheering us on. It was really cool to hear all the people cheering us on. In fact, there were all kinds of fun things along the sides of the streets to keep us runners going. Music bands, barber shop quartets, solo guitarist, drum circles, marching band type groups, and the best thing ever… aid stations. Carter and I were running together past a group of trumpet players and Carter said “You know 76 trombones?” Without a word they busted right into it and we laughed as we ran by. We had made it about half way through the race at this point and I asked him “you ready to run another 13 miles?” He said “The next 13 are going to be more than twice as hard as the first 13.”
One of the best and worst parts of our run came after we reached 6400 south and started to head west. We worked our way down to a street named Van Winkle, which is usually a very busy street. We ran right down the middle of the street and commented that “when else would you get to run right down the middle of this road?” I felt great and I had plenty of energy but when I hit the bottom of Van Winkle I had a pain hit me like a Mac Truck. Oh my hell did my right knee hurt! I’m thinking it was my IT band. It came on very quickly and for a minute there I didn’t think I was going to be able to finish the race. We had seven miles left and I couldn’t even put more than two or three steps on that knee without pulling up. OUCH! Carter told me to lie down on some grass and stretch my legs and rest for a second. I did that, drank some Gatorade, and drank some water before I tried to run again. To my surprise I was able to hobble into an 11 minute mile pace until I reached 4500 south, where my mom was waiting with her dog to cheer us on. We slowed to a walk, where my mom joined us for a few minutes. She was worried about my knee but I told her I didn’t just run 20 miles to stop now.
When we left my mom and started jogging again I knew I was in big trouble. I couldn’t go more than four steps without an amazing pain in my knee. I was so pissed! “This is not what I had in mind… This was not supposed to happen… My legs and lungs feel fine… COME ON KNEE!!!” I tried twenty or so times to run and it just was not happening. Each step hurt worse and worse and I knew this was going to take my goal time of under 4:30 hours to well over that. I f-ing had to walk for three and a half miles! I tried to run a few times after I sent Carter on up ahead without me but I could only hobble. A couple of times volunteers on bikes rode by and yelled out “good job, you’re doing great, keep it up!” I wanted to tell them to go to hell… Can’t you see I can’t even walk? When I reached mile 22 I realized I was in the back of the pack and embarrassment set in. I had the energy to surge and pass all those slow people I was running (hobbling) with but my knee just wouldn’t allow it.
I ran passed this house with about 30 people out on the front lawn with tables set up everywhere with alcohol everywhere. They were all drinking and it wasn’t even noon yet. They had a big sign up that said “Temptation Station.” As I ran past them a couple of people said “hey man, come have a beer… It will help you.” Hey you don’t want to finish this bull shit race, come drink with us.” I laughed despite my frustration and maybe the laughing helped me, or maybe a phone call I received from Tara helped me. I took only a few things with me when I started the race, a bib belt that had my asthma inhaler, five power gels, and my cell phone. Tara called right before I reached Liberty Park which was 5k from the finish line. I told her what happened with my knee and she offered to come pick me up. I said “don’t even ask me that again or give me one bit of discouragement because I am going to finish this even if I have to bleeping crawl.” She said “oh ok… Sorry.” I apologized for being short with her and she said that they would all be waiting for me at the finish line.
I don’t if was the 3 ½ mile walk that helped or if it was something else but when I got to Liberty Park I tried to run again and to my amazement I was able to without major pain in my knee. I was so excited I couldn’t believe it and I took off passing all those people I did not want to finish with. I went from a walk, hobbling 14 minute mile to a seven minute mile and besides my muscles being sore from 23 miles of hell I was cruising.
I received a phone call from Jarin, who asked where I was. I told him I had about 2 ½ miles left and he said well I’m on State Street and I’m going to meet you and finish the race with you. He met me on St. Street and ran, in blue jeans, trying to give me encouragement. He would ask me questions but I was not really playing along because I was suffering. I gave him quick grunt type answers and I was dying because for some reason they changed the end of the race and there was a big up-hill spot that was killing me. I heard tons of runners complaining (in a happy way) about the hill going up state street towards North Temple. I saw Dewayne parked in his truck on the side of the road; he was honking the horn, waving, and yelling “YEAH MICK! YOU CAN DO IT!” It gave me a boost and carried me until I headed west where I met up with Shannon and Billy. They ran with me until I reached the 26 mile marker and then I was on my own. I ran through the streets of the gateway mall and I was not enjoying like I thought I would… Yeah I did it; this is great, I’m so proud… No… I was thinking, oh my god would this race end… Where is the finish line, I’m dying. I finally saw my friends and family cheering me on to finish and Carters kids, Aimee, Conner, and Alex; all came out and ran across the finish line with me. Tara, her mom, my grandma, Terance with Sophia, and Jordan Meinzer were all there. I FINISHED! YEAH! I was so happy! I was mad because of my knee, I knew that I could have run it in a much faster time but at least I got that metal. We all took pictures and I grabbed an ice bag from an aid station to ice my knee. We walked around the mall for awhile and then headed to Iggy’s to eat. I ate my food and couldn’t even wait for Jarin and Tara to finish their food; I went to the car and fell asleep.
For the next week I struggled to walk, especially down stairs, but I knew that I would be running more of those races. I want to get as many metals as I possible! Carter say’s you can put them up on your “me wall.” HA.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Training for a marathon
I'm getting really excited for my first marathon this saturday. I'm running in the Salt Lake City Marathon and my goal is to finish. I don't really care about time considering this is my first marathon. I didn't train as hard as I should have but I never missed my long run for each week of traing. I tried to get a bunch of people to join the B-12 running club for a 18 mile race up on Bountiful Blvd. a few weeks ago. Brandon Adams and I were the only ones that showed up for the run. It was a very hard run with all of the hills up there and it was snowing most of the time. Because of the hills it took us 4:23 to run 19 miles. I'm sure that our marathon this saturday won't be any harder... we will see. I was surprised to see as many runners on Bountiful Blvd as we did considering how crappy of weather we had that day.
I'm hoping our B-12 club gets a bit... or a lot... bigger than it is. We have 34 members as of today and I really want to grow this. I was very happy to see I got an email from Dean Karnazes the other day. He is one of my favorite people in the world and if you don't know who he is I suggest you find out. He gets so many emails and phone calls, for me to have received an email from him talking about running is a treat. I invited hime to be a part of b-12 running and he sent me a message saying he accepted my request and "good to know ya.. keep charging brother." LOVE IT! I hope the race goes well this saturday. Talk to ya soon.
Mick.
I'm hoping our B-12 club gets a bit... or a lot... bigger than it is. We have 34 members as of today and I really want to grow this. I was very happy to see I got an email from Dean Karnazes the other day. He is one of my favorite people in the world and if you don't know who he is I suggest you find out. He gets so many emails and phone calls, for me to have received an email from him talking about running is a treat. I invited hime to be a part of b-12 running and he sent me a message saying he accepted my request and "good to know ya.. keep charging brother." LOVE IT! I hope the race goes well this saturday. Talk to ya soon.
Mick.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Easter Sunday
What a great day! Last night we had dinner with Terance and Angelica Rowe at their place. He made some great buffalo wings and homemade french fries. He asked us to bring something that went with chicken and we were to lazy to go to the store so we stopped at KFC and bought two things of mac and cheese. I wanted to take a nice dish and act like we made it from scratch but Tara said there was no need... Anyways we got home around 10:30 pm and went right to bed so I felt great when I woke up this morning. I drove over to Wal-Mart before Tara woke up and bought her some flowers, a dvd (Untraceable), and a bunch of candy. I cleaned the downstairs really good and set up a little easter display for her when she woke up.
We hung out around the house for awhile and then headed up to Tara's grandparents for dinner. Ham, Cheesy potatoes, salad, roles, fruit, etc... Yum. I played a game with the little kids downstairs on the pool table. We stood on one side and rolled a ball down to the other side, bounced it off of the far side back towards us and tried to get it as close to our side without hitting the edge. Whoever was closest without hitting got a point. We left around 6:30 and decided to stop in to see my grandma. We talked for awhile about family and Tara was saying how it was funny that her boss, Ed Swanson, just got a clean bill of health from his doctor when he eats as crappy as he does. No Veggies ever. I said "what about lettuce?" Nope not even on a sandwich or hamburger. I said "he won't even eat a side salad with dinner?" No way. I thought that was funny. We went in to grandmas room, laid on her bed, and looked through an old photo album. It was amazing to see her and my mom with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Jim Brown, Tommy Johns, and a bunch more celebrities. There was a picture of Dean Martin with five or six security guards around him. She said no one could get near him. She saw Dean walking down the fairway at some golf tournament and Dean saw Grandma and said "hold it... Come here (to grandma) We need to take a picture". Grandma ran up to him and gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. She was so excited. I think that is so cool! Dean Martin stopped everything and asked for a picture with my grandma! Ok... It's time to go watch an eppisode of "Rome" and then bedtime. Long day tomorrow with work and school. My day will start around 6am and I should get home around 10:30pm. Goodnight.
We hung out around the house for awhile and then headed up to Tara's grandparents for dinner. Ham, Cheesy potatoes, salad, roles, fruit, etc... Yum. I played a game with the little kids downstairs on the pool table. We stood on one side and rolled a ball down to the other side, bounced it off of the far side back towards us and tried to get it as close to our side without hitting the edge. Whoever was closest without hitting got a point. We left around 6:30 and decided to stop in to see my grandma. We talked for awhile about family and Tara was saying how it was funny that her boss, Ed Swanson, just got a clean bill of health from his doctor when he eats as crappy as he does. No Veggies ever. I said "what about lettuce?" Nope not even on a sandwich or hamburger. I said "he won't even eat a side salad with dinner?" No way. I thought that was funny. We went in to grandmas room, laid on her bed, and looked through an old photo album. It was amazing to see her and my mom with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Jim Brown, Tommy Johns, and a bunch more celebrities. There was a picture of Dean Martin with five or six security guards around him. She said no one could get near him. She saw Dean walking down the fairway at some golf tournament and Dean saw Grandma and said "hold it... Come here (to grandma) We need to take a picture". Grandma ran up to him and gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. She was so excited. I think that is so cool! Dean Martin stopped everything and asked for a picture with my grandma! Ok... It's time to go watch an eppisode of "Rome" and then bedtime. Long day tomorrow with work and school. My day will start around 6am and I should get home around 10:30pm. Goodnight.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Funny Story
Jake Kilgore called me the other day and said his wife was sick and had to go to the hospital (she’s ok). His two young daughters were getting restless so he decided to take them for a drive to see his friends Grandma Bev. They started whining that they did not want to see Grandma Bev so Jake started building her up saying all the kids in the whole neighborhood just love Grandma Bev and that she always has treats for them. He said she has a big jar of pennies full to the top and a piano that plays by itself. Oh man were they excited to see Grandma Bev now! They pulled up in the driveway and ran up to the door ringing the bell and knocking at the same time. A little Korean kid answered the door and Jake said “Is Grandma here?”
“What?” The boy replied.
“Is Grandma here?”
“I’m not really sure what you’re talking about?”
Jake realized and said “how long have you lived here?”
“About three years”
Jake had no idea Grandma had sold her house at 940 East 1500 South in Bountiful and had bought a Condo about 5 miles away.
Jake said sorry to bother you and told the girls Grandma moved and they would have to leave. Both kids started bawling “We want to see your friends Grandma”, “You promised we could see Grandma Bev”…. Poor little girls had to go back to the hospital instead of cashing in their golden ticket to see Grandma Bev. HA!! I told Grandma that story after Jake had called me and she said to tell Jake to get those girls over to her new place and she’d have a special treat for them.
“What?” The boy replied.
“Is Grandma here?”
“I’m not really sure what you’re talking about?”
Jake realized and said “how long have you lived here?”
“About three years”
Jake had no idea Grandma had sold her house at 940 East 1500 South in Bountiful and had bought a Condo about 5 miles away.
Jake said sorry to bother you and told the girls Grandma moved and they would have to leave. Both kids started bawling “We want to see your friends Grandma”, “You promised we could see Grandma Bev”…. Poor little girls had to go back to the hospital instead of cashing in their golden ticket to see Grandma Bev. HA!! I told Grandma that story after Jake had called me and she said to tell Jake to get those girls over to her new place and she’d have a special treat for them.
B-12 Running club. First run.
I’m sitting here because it hurts to stand! My Achilles tendons are so sore. I invited a few friends over to the house yesterday for a 12 mile run. I put together an invitation and called it “Bountiful’s dozen”. We had ten runners commit to the race and each would bring a snack or something to drink for the others. Tara, Jarin, and Grandma helped us out by setting up aid stations every three miles. They were a big help, not only because we needed the re-fueling but it was a big moral boost every time we reached a station. I’m training for the SLC marathon on April 18th and I don’t know how the hell I’m going to run 26.3 miles. Bountiful’s dozen didn’t flow so I changed the name to the B-12 running club. Jeremy Butler and his girlfriend Lindsey came (Lindsey ran only three but she pushed her kid in a stroller). Carter and his new girlfriend Corey (strong runner), Shannon Rosser, her friend Julie, Jarins brother Brandon, and I were the orginal runners of the B-12 club. Jarin and Ryan Knighton were the other two of the original ten that didn’t race.
I went to bed the night before just having eaten a great pasta meal Tara made for us. I fell asleep around 10:30 pm and woke up at 7:00am. I was laughing at myself because when I was trying to fall asleep I kept getting nervous for the race, just like if it was a real event. When I woke up I felt tightness in my left Achilles and knew based on my 7 mile run last Saturday that I needed to do something or I’d never make it 12 miles. I jumped in the car and cruised over to Sports Authority to see if they had something I could put on my leg. They had everything a runner would need except where the Achilles support bands were it had a sign the said “temporarily out of stock”. I asked the worker and he said for some reason they did a re-call on that item. I was out of luck! So I grabbed the closest thing to it, a knee support band. It was about ½” wide and it looked like it would help so I bought it. The first three miles of the race went by in what seemed like a minute because I was concentrating on my Achilles so much. Lucky for me it held up for the entire race and I was able to finish, but I’m sure feeling it today, especially when I try to walk down stairs.
I went to bed the night before just having eaten a great pasta meal Tara made for us. I fell asleep around 10:30 pm and woke up at 7:00am. I was laughing at myself because when I was trying to fall asleep I kept getting nervous for the race, just like if it was a real event. When I woke up I felt tightness in my left Achilles and knew based on my 7 mile run last Saturday that I needed to do something or I’d never make it 12 miles. I jumped in the car and cruised over to Sports Authority to see if they had something I could put on my leg. They had everything a runner would need except where the Achilles support bands were it had a sign the said “temporarily out of stock”. I asked the worker and he said for some reason they did a re-call on that item. I was out of luck! So I grabbed the closest thing to it, a knee support band. It was about ½” wide and it looked like it would help so I bought it. The first three miles of the race went by in what seemed like a minute because I was concentrating on my Achilles so much. Lucky for me it held up for the entire race and I was able to finish, but I’m sure feeling it today, especially when I try to walk down stairs.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Tara’s mom just picked her up and they’re off to church. I am going to run 6.2 miles and I’m thinking I’ll be as spiritually up-lifted as they will be at church. Running has become my new hobby and when I’m in the middle of a tough run I love to push myself and find out what I’m really made of. I know that I’m going to suffer one of two things; the pain and discipline of the run or the pain of regret, which will last all day, if I stop. Running is solidarity without loneliness and there’s nothing better than completing a long run and feeling the good hurt in my muscles.
I read a book by Dean Karnazes who is a leader to me and I’ve never met him. Dean is someone who leads by example and he is called the Ultra-Marathon Man. He started running in high school and when a coach laughed at him for saying he ran with his heart Dean walked off and didn’t run for many years.
One night Dean was at a bar in San Francisco without his wife. There was a cute girl flirting with him and when he told her he was married she said “I know; I have a place down the street we can go. He was pretty drunk and the girl was really cute and Dean did think about going with her. He told her he need to use the restroom and headed to the back of the club. He saw a door leading to the kitchen and walked through it and out the back door. He only lived a few miles away and walked home to his wife, except he never made it through the front door. He saw an old pair of his sneakers and decided to put them on and go for a run, drunk, at midnight. He ran all night and when he called his wife for a ride she had to drive 30 miles to pick him up. He told her to bring water, food, and their insurance card incase they had to stop by the hospital.
Dean started running a great deal and ended up becoming an ultra-marathon man. He is known for running 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. He has finished the Bad Water ultra marathon race nine times. Bad Water is a 135 mile race through Death Valley. His longest run is 300 miles and he just recently ran on a treadmill for 48 hours straight. All that running seams crazy but he is able to handle the pain. He says “Just let the pain settle in and get going” (Ultra Marathon Man). Dean is a leader to me, he motivates me to run and when I want to stop I think of him and keep going.
After my run today I’m going to go take some Valentines flowers to Grandma. We bought flowers for Mel (Tara’s mom), my mom, and Grandma. Tara’s brother, Nathan, is having a birthday party tonight so we are going to eat dinner and have a party and Mel’s house. We bought Nate a blanket and some candy, hope he likes it. I hope we don’t stay too long because they have a bunch of cats and a dog and my asthma kicks in bad when I’m over there. My asthma usually hits when I’m exercising but things I’m allergic to, like cats, make it nearly impossible to breathe. It’s weird because I never had asthma until this year. I went to the doctor and he gave me some Albuterol which is amazing.
I’ve been doing so many reports lately in school and writing in my journal (which I just started today) reminds me of doing my school work. I was going to Weber State University but I transferred last year to University of Phoenix. It’s about double the cost but I like it a lot more. Smaller classes, 5 week courses (which is still full time), and it’s easier to get to from my work than Weber was. I’m going to school with my buddy Carter Dunn. We are both going for our accounting degree, MBA, and CPA. All the school will be hard work but it will be worth it some day. I do like my job now as a calibration technician for Simco Electronics but I don’t want to be a cal tech for the rest of my life.
I read a book by Dean Karnazes who is a leader to me and I’ve never met him. Dean is someone who leads by example and he is called the Ultra-Marathon Man. He started running in high school and when a coach laughed at him for saying he ran with his heart Dean walked off and didn’t run for many years.
One night Dean was at a bar in San Francisco without his wife. There was a cute girl flirting with him and when he told her he was married she said “I know; I have a place down the street we can go. He was pretty drunk and the girl was really cute and Dean did think about going with her. He told her he need to use the restroom and headed to the back of the club. He saw a door leading to the kitchen and walked through it and out the back door. He only lived a few miles away and walked home to his wife, except he never made it through the front door. He saw an old pair of his sneakers and decided to put them on and go for a run, drunk, at midnight. He ran all night and when he called his wife for a ride she had to drive 30 miles to pick him up. He told her to bring water, food, and their insurance card incase they had to stop by the hospital.
Dean started running a great deal and ended up becoming an ultra-marathon man. He is known for running 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. He has finished the Bad Water ultra marathon race nine times. Bad Water is a 135 mile race through Death Valley. His longest run is 300 miles and he just recently ran on a treadmill for 48 hours straight. All that running seams crazy but he is able to handle the pain. He says “Just let the pain settle in and get going” (Ultra Marathon Man). Dean is a leader to me, he motivates me to run and when I want to stop I think of him and keep going.
After my run today I’m going to go take some Valentines flowers to Grandma. We bought flowers for Mel (Tara’s mom), my mom, and Grandma. Tara’s brother, Nathan, is having a birthday party tonight so we are going to eat dinner and have a party and Mel’s house. We bought Nate a blanket and some candy, hope he likes it. I hope we don’t stay too long because they have a bunch of cats and a dog and my asthma kicks in bad when I’m over there. My asthma usually hits when I’m exercising but things I’m allergic to, like cats, make it nearly impossible to breathe. It’s weird because I never had asthma until this year. I went to the doctor and he gave me some Albuterol which is amazing.
I’ve been doing so many reports lately in school and writing in my journal (which I just started today) reminds me of doing my school work. I was going to Weber State University but I transferred last year to University of Phoenix. It’s about double the cost but I like it a lot more. Smaller classes, 5 week courses (which is still full time), and it’s easier to get to from my work than Weber was. I’m going to school with my buddy Carter Dunn. We are both going for our accounting degree, MBA, and CPA. All the school will be hard work but it will be worth it some day. I do like my job now as a calibration technician for Simco Electronics but I don’t want to be a cal tech for the rest of my life.
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