Lexington Has Hills

Well, I headed to Lexington, KY to run in the Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon.  I'd seen some things on their website that indicated that the course had some hills.  Knowing that, I really didn't set any goals for this run.  I had done pretty well in Myrtle Beach last month, and knew that I would not be able to beat that time.  Especially on a course with "some" hills. 

Well, they weren't kidding.  The Lexington course is nothing BUT hills.  I really don't think there was a level spot anywhere on the course, and that is not an exageration.  Each hill I ran up, I saw more and more people walking.  My time came at about the 9.2 mile mark when I finally decided that I was going to have to start walking on some of the uphills.  I did this for most of the remainder of the race. 

However, even with walking so many of the hills, I still finished with my second best time and only about 3 1/2 minutes slower than my Myrtle Beach personal best time.  I finished with an unofficial time of 2:08:07.  Given that, I now know that a sub two hour half is within my grasp.  Don't know if that could be accomplished in May, but I really do think I may be able to tentatively set that as a goal for one of my fall half marathons.

I decided to drive back a day early so I could watch the Buckeyes play in the comfort of my own home.  Since that game is about to start, I'll close this for now.

Happy Easter to you all.

First Quarter

With the first quarter of 2013 winding down I'm pretty happy with my progress towards my goals for the year.  I've read six books so far, which puts me half way to my goal.  The latest book, Good Cop Bad Cop is a true story about a quadruple homicide that took place in Ithaca, NY in the late 80's.  Even more than that, the book outlines how one officer with the New York state police fabricated evidence in the case.  While the case was resolved and the man responsible was identified, another individual who may or may not have been involved in the murders had evidence planted against her by the officer.  This situation called in to question the enitre New York State Police Dept.  I read the book in less than a day.  It was one I couldn't put down.

By the end of March I will have logged nearly 254 miles of running for the year, which keeps me on track for my goal of running 1000 miles in 2013.  Saturday I will run the Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon in Lexington, KY.  I have set any goals at all for this race.  My training runs would give me no indication that I'll better my time from last month, and since I expect this course to have more hills I actually expect to run slower.  This course is also more rural than any of the half marathons I've run so far, but the view is expected to be great as I run past the many horse farms around the Lexington area. 

There are also a couple of restaurants that I want to make it to in Lexington.  I enjoy watching Diners, Drive Ins and Dives on the Food Network, and they have shown a couple of places in Lexington that I'm looking forward to checking out while I'm there.

Also, here's hoping you all have a Happy and Joyful Easter.




 

Can I Do Three???

As I am preparing for the Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon next weekend I began thinking about the summer.  I've been keeping pretty busy with my running having run a half marathon last May, August, October, December and February.  I will run my next half marathon next week and another the first weekend in May.  Then I will have a few months before my next half marathon, which is currently scheduled to be September when I run the Philadelphia Half Marathon.  So what do I do during the more than four months when I currently do not have a run scheduled?

Now I know that I'll probably pick up a local 5K run here and there throughout the summer, and I enjoy sometimes doing a "spur of the moment" run.  But I also like to have things scheduled in order to keep me focussed on running.

I've mentioned before that I have a goal of running a race in every state (at least all 48 of the Continental US).  After next weekend I will have run a race in 10 different states.  But I started checking out a weekend in the summer that may allow me to pick up three more states all in one weekend.  The last weekend in June may afford me that opportunity.  Getting the weekend off work that I would need might be a little difficult, but if I'm able to make it happen it would work like this...

On Friday afternoon I would drive to El Paso, IL and wake up the Saturday morning to run the "Jog for Jackie 5K".  I would then leave and head to McFarland, WI where I would run the Firecracker 5000 on Sunday morning.  After running that race I would continue up to Minneapolis, MN to run the Fun Run for Echo 5K scheduled early Monday morning.  I could then spend the rest of that day visiting some family that lives in that area.  On Tuesday I would have to drive straight back through from Minneapolis to Columbus in order to be back to work on Wednesday morning.

But it can be done.  Do I want to spend my weekend doing that?  Maybe.  It's a chance to get some states out of the way, and for the run in Wisconsin and Minnesota I would even have an opportunity to do a little bit of siteseeing.  In addition to those states, knocking out a run in West Virginia ought to be something I can accomplish before the year is out.  We'll see how the finances work out and how some other things line up, but if all goes well, I may be 14 states in to my goal by the end of this year.

On Track

A Scotsman, an Englishman and an Irishman are sitting in a bar in New York reminiscing about home.
"Back in me pub in Glasgow," brags the Scotsman, "fer every four pints of stout I order, they give me one fer free!"
"In me pub in London," says the Englishman,"I pay fer two pint's o' Guiness and they give me a third one free!"
"That's nuthin'" says the Irishman, "In my pub back in Dublin, you walk up to the bar, they give the first pint fer free, the second pint fer free, the third pint fer free -- and then they take you upstairs and you have sex for FREE!"
"Is that true?" asks the Scotsman. "Has that really happened to you?"
"Well, no," says the Irishman, "but it happens to me sister all the time!"

Well I'm still on track for my 2013 Resolutions.  Yesterday I finished book #5 for the year.  I read "Life Code" by Dr. Phil McGraw.  It was a very interesting book and one that I'll probably refer back to regularly, either as a reminder to myself that it's ok to stand up for myself, or when I forget some of what I've read and want to go back and look at it again.  It also let me know that I can still put up a little bit of a wall to protect myself from being taking advantage of while still maintaining a positive and friendly attitude.  It doesn't have to be one or the other.

As for running, I set a goal this year of logging 1000 miles of running.  As of yesterday I am just over 208 miles for the year.  In order to be "on track" I need to log another 42 miles before the end of this month.  In looking at my training schedule for the remainder of this month, it appears that I will log that much, or maybe even a little more, culminating with the Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon in Lexington, KY on March 30. 

In addition to those things, my sister and her husband will be celebrating their Silver Anniversary this month.  I'm hosting a reception for them next Saturday.  I chose Saturday only for the fact that it is the weekend before their anniversary and probably should have looked at the calendar a little closer.  Since the party is on the 23rd, it falls on the day before Palm Sunday, so my brother, who is a minister, will be unable to attend.  However, my sister did give me a lengthy list of people to invite and she took some extra invitations to pass out to more of her friends, so I expect she and her husband will be surrounded with a lot of their friends and family to celebrate this milestone.

Walk in to a bar....

A priest, a rabbi and a Methodist minister walk in to a bar.  The bartender looks up and says, "Is this some kind of a joke?"

Why not laugh once in a while?  Laughing is proven to reduce stress.  Laughing and reducing stress both contribute to a better attitude and improved health.  Feeling better helps you to laugh more often.  Laughing is proven to reduce stress.  Laughing and reducing....well, you get it.

So often I meet up, talk to, work with, or just come in to contact with the "grass is always greener" people.  People who are never satisfied or happy with what they have.  No matter how good something turns out, how the great the benefits or how wonderful the person, they focus on the negative. 

I work for a great police department, in a communications center that is considered one of the best communications centers in which to work in Central Ohio and probably one of the best in the entire State of Ohio.  We get great training, the benefits are terrific, the equipment is top notch and pay is outstanding.  I'm not saying this just because I work there, but because, as a part time trainer at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy, I meet dispatchers from all over the State of Ohio and know what their centers are like and how they respond when they see our communications center.  Yet, I work with people who can find any and every possible thing to complain about here.  Now don't get me wrong, things where I work are not perfect.  There are some issues that occassionally need addressed and things that could be better.  But sometimes, the complaints I hear make me wonder what some of these people would do if they had to go get a job in a department where things were not as good.  What would happen if they had to go get a job in the private sector.  Things aren't perfect here, but they're a heck of a lot better than a lot of places that I've seen, and places where I've worked. 

I think it's habit though.  It seems like it's human nature to focus on the negative.  Heck, I'm doing it right now.  I could be blogging about the great things I see in human nature, but what am I doing?  I'm blogging about the negative.    OOPS!!!  So is it hypocritical of me?  Is blogging about the negative aspects of human nature and complaining about it contributing to the negativity? 

OK.  So I went on line and searched "Postive News Stories" and came up with this one.  If you've ever seen the movie "The Notebook" this will sound familiar.  But this is real life, not the movies.  91 year old Jack Potter and his 93 year old wife Phyllis Clayson Potter have been together for 70 years.  Phyllis is starting to suffer from dementia and losing much of her memory of their past.  But she still remembers Jack and reaches out to hug him every time he shows up to visit his wife.  Jack always kept a diary of his time with Phyllis, taking note of the times and memories they shared.  Now, each visit, he reads those memories to Phyllis so that she can remember or relive those memories with him.  Jack takes pictures each day of Phyllis' dogs and lets her know each visit how they are doing.  What a great example these two people are to everyone who seeks to have a truely loving relationship.

Let's all of us try to be more like Jack.  Talking or blogging about negativity IS negative.  So let's all of us be more positive.  I mean, what have we got to lose but our bad tempers?

This is for you Greg

An American, a Canadian, a Mexican, a Cuban, a Nicaraguan, a Costa Rican, a Hatian, a Brazilian, a Bolivian, an Argentinian, a Fin, a Swede, a Norwegian, an Englishman, an Irishman, a Spaniard, a Frenchman, a German, a Pole, a Ukrainian, a Romanian, a Bulgarian, a Turk, a Libyan, an Algerian, an Ethiopian, an Israeli, an Egyptian, an Iraqi, an Iranian, an Afghan, an Indian, a Russian and a Korean walk in to a restaurant.  The manager approaches them and says, "Sorry gentlemen.  You can't be served here without a Thai."