Let's Review

The last couple of years I have posted answers to several questions regarding what I did in the past year and what I plan to do in the upcoming year...so why mess with what works...here we go...

1 - What did you do in 2014/will you do in 2015, that you have never done before?

Not really a lot of "new" experiences in 2015, and probably won't be in 2015 either.  I did do a lot more travelling, but I've traveled before, so I can't say that's new.  I am always saying that I'm going to do more cross-training and trying to so some other type of exercise besides running, so in 2015 I do plan to join a fitness group that meets once a week at church in order to get motivated and do some cross training to "mix it up".  The different activity should also help with my running, so it's a win-win.

2 - Did you keep your 2014 Resolutions and will you make more for 2015?

Short answer...no/yes.  I did make resolutions for 2014, which I didn't end up keeping, but I will work on more in 2015.  Probably go back to my 2014 resolutions and try a do-over.  Of the three I made, I was able to keep one for most of the year, but it dwindled towards the end, and I expect to get that one back early in 2015.  The other two will take a good bit of the year to accomplish.

3 - Did anyone close to you give birth?

No.  My nephew's wife is due within the next few weeks though with their 3rd child.

4 - Did anyone close to you die?

No.

5 - Which countries did you visit?

Again, I stayed in the United States, however I did do a lot of traveling inside the country.  In 2014 I went to Phoenix, Nashville, Maryland, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Virginia, New Jersey, New York, California and Florida, adding many more states to my quest to run a race in all 50 states.  If all goes well, I hope to run races in Birmingham, Atlanta and Oklahoma City in late winter and early spring.  I also plan to hit Florida again later in the year to run the third year of the Space Coast Half Marathon.

6 - What would you like to have in 2015 that you lacked in 2014?

Again, I think I did pretty well in 2014, so if I can just keep things progressing in 2015 I'll be in good shape.

7 - What in 2014 will remain etched in your memory?

I keep looking for something "huge", but really that rarely happens.  I can say that in 2014 I had the opportunity to meet 3 Olympic Medalists and met someone whom I consider to be a mentor for me in the running world.  I also had the extra opportunities to "pay it forward."  One of the most notable of those was in joining a group called "I Run 4".  I have mentioned it before on my blog.  I Run 4 matches "runners" with "buddies".  The group started as a way for runners to run for those who do not have the ability to run themselves due to illnesses and/or disabilities.  It expanded to include siblings of those with disabilities and I've been paired with a young man from Georgia who is the older brother of a young girl who has been diagnosed with Mitochondrial Disease.  Brett's a great young man, but does have one flaw that I'm trying to overlook....He's an Alabama fan.  But, at least he's not a Michigan fan, so I think I can overlook it.  In all seriousness, getting to know a little bit about Brett and his family has really encouraged me try and remain positive, even in the most adverse circumstances.  I plan to meet Brett and his family this year when I run a couple of races close to where they live.

8 - What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I think I added 11 - 12 states in my quest for 50 this year.  That was the most traveling I've ever done in a single year, and to have done that while working so much overtime was not something I would have thought I'd be able to do.

9 - What was your biggest failure of the year?

I had decided for 2014 to try working night shift at work.  The days off worked better for the races I wanted to run in 2014.  However, it did make it a little more difficult to maintain a proper diet and running regimen.  I allowed that difficulty to get the better of me, resulting in some weight gain and not running near as many miles as I should have this year.  I plan to fix that in 2015, starting with moving back to day shift.

10 - Did you suffer any illness or injury this year?

OK....I had made it a personal goal of mine to get a "Perfect Attendance" award at work for 2014.  I was SO CLOSE.  But, in November I did end up with an upper respiratory infection.  I tried to fight through it, and went a work a couple of days that I probably shouldn't have.  But I finally gave in to the illness and did end up calling off sick a couple of days in November.  So, I'll try it all over again in 2015.

11 - What is the best thing you bought?

I really didn't buy anything really "special" or "outstanding" for myself in 2014.  I guess I might be able to say I bought a few vacations in 2014, the most special being my trip back to Monterey, CA in November and my whale watching trip I took while I was there.

12 - Whose behavior merited celebration?

I have to give credit to my sibling buddy Brett on this one.  Now Brett is 11 years old, and 11 year olds may not always be on their best behavior.  But, based on what his mom has said, Brett has dealt with a lot of adversity in the past year or two, yet he's still be great big brother to his sister and handled more than any 11 year old should ever have to handle with the maturity of someone far beyond his years.  I have said this before to his parents, and I will say this here for anyone who reads this.  Brett's ability to deal with the issues he has in the way he has, is a tribute who how he's been raised.  I will say the same for his sister too.  Two loving parents teaching good Christian moral values have lead to two great kids.

13 - Where did most of your money go?

Well, I've mentioned already all the travelling I did in 2014.  Gas isn't free, airplane tickets aren't free, hotel rooms aren't free...so there ya go.

14 - What did you get really really excited about?

All year I was really excited for my trip to California.  I had done a lot of planning to get back to a place where I had been stationed in the Army so many years ago.  I couldn't wait to see it again, and see some of it for the first time.  I did enjoy that trip!

15 - What song will always remind you of 2014?

Let it Go.  Not because I'm a fan of Frozen.  Honestly, I haven't seen it.  But when you've got three young nieces and a sibling buddy with a little sister...well, I've heard the song so many times there's not way that I could NOT be reminded of 2014 when I hear the song.

16 - Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?

I think I was in a pretty good place this time last year.  But I think I'm in a little bit better place now, so I'm going to go with happier.  It's not that I have much more than I did a year ago, it's just that I think I continue to appreciate what I do have even more and continue to realize what it and who are the truly important things and people in my life.

17 - What do you wish you'd done more of?

Running, my mileage took a hit this year. (I know, you were probably hoping for a more "insightful" answer..but there it is).

18 - What do you wish you'd done less of?

I think last year's answer can certainly carry over...eating Christmas cookies (or just "crap" in general).

19 - What's your favorite TV program?

- Survivor
- Scandal
- Sleepy Hallow
- The Black List
- Grimm

20 - What was your favorite film this year?

Didn't have one.  There are a few movies out now that I would like to see though, so they may make the 2015 list.

21 - What was the best book you read?

I didn't read any books this year (That's right Lauren, you read correctly).

22 - How would you describe your personal fashion concept for 2014?

I don't know why I even continue to put this question in these year end blog posts.  Seriously, I have never in my life made a fashion statement.

23 - What kept you sane?

Running and my friends.

24 - What political issue stirred you the most?

Events that should never have been politicized in the first place.  I think it's very difficult to have "open, honest" discussions when the conversation starts based on lies.

So there it is.  My 2014 in a nutshell.  Happy 2015...I'll see you in the new year.

A Promise and A Request

Normally I'd be posting about Christmas right now.  I'm a big Christmas person, have always loved the season and all that it symbolizes.  I've loved both the secular and religious parts of the holiday.  That will be a blog post for a different day.  For today I want to speak specifically to those I work with.  The responders...the men and women I work with daily who go out and put the uniform on.  Whether you are a police officer, firefighter or EMT, this post is directed to you.

I was reminded, somewhat harshly recently, of the awesome responsibility I have each day when I go to work.  In nearly 17 years doing this job it's something I have always had in the back of my mind.  I've always known it, and I've always tried to make sure I live up to that responsibility.  However, in light of the events over the past few months, and more specifically over the last few days, I felt the need to put this out there.

Each day when you go to work you rely on your partners to be there for you, to back you up, to "have your six".  You also rely on me.  You rely on your dispatcher.  Your wives, your husbands, your girlfriends, your boyfriends, your parents, your children; anyone who cares about you, rely on me.  Part of my responsibility, sitting here in this room, surrounded by locked doors and what they tell me are bullet proof windows, is to do everything I can to make sure you go home safe at the end of your shift.

Some of you are people I've built relationships with.  Some of you I know only as a badge number or a crew member.  I may or may not have met your family, they may or may not have met me, yet they put their most precious possession in my care, your safety.

So to all of you, and to all of your loved ones, I make these promises:

From behind my mic and through my phone, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.
I will ask the questions that need to be asked.
I will make sure I understand you when you tell me where you are, and I will ask you to repeat that location as many times as it takes to make sure I've got it right.
I will relay to you any information I find to enhance your safety.
No matter how many times you tell me you don't need to be checked up on...I WILL continue to check up on you.

To all of you I have some very simple requests:

Tell me where you are.  You can be as upset with me as you want when I ask you to repeat your location.  There can be any number of reasons why I need you to repeat that location, none of them will be that I wasn't paying attention.  Be as upset with me as you want for asking you to repeat it, but repeat it.

Speak as clearly as you can in to your mic.  Again, if I ask you to repeat something, it's not because I'm not paying attention.  Nothing beats speaking directly in to the mic.  I know conditions are not usually the best on your end, and you're trying to get the information out there quickly, while not taking your eyes off a suspect, trying to drive, wind blowing through your mic and sirens in the background.  All of these are conditions that neither one of us can do anything about.  So again, feel free to be upset with me all you want if I ask you to repeat something, but repeat it.

If I send you with backup on a call, don't cancel the backup until you're sure they're not needed.  Please please please, let your backup keep coming until you are 100% sure they will not be needed.  When I call someone back who's hung up on 9-1-1, they are probably going to say it was an accident.  They usually do, and I pass that on to you.  I know you know this, but please remember...the person who answered my call back may very well be the reason 9-1-1 got called in the first place, and now they know it's been called, and now they know you're on the way to their house.  So, take the backup.

Watch out for each other.  I can do only so much from inside this room and behind this mic.

Please be safe.  Please know that most people out there really respect what you do.  It may not seem that way sometimes, but they do.  Right now it's the ones who don't that are getting all the press.  

Vacation/Destination Run - SUCCESS!!

Well, back now from California and I will say it was the best vacation I've had in a long time.  The opportunity to travel to a place where I had once lived, to see what has changed and what has stayed the same, was amazing, so much fun, and very relaxing.

I'll split this blog entry in to two parts, first the vacation part, then the destination run part.

For the vacation, I was able to head out west on the 12th.  I got through the flights just fine, but I will give some credit to Meredith and the rest of the flight crew from Southwest who handled the flight from Chicago to Los Angeles.  They had to deal with several rude passengers, most of whom couldn't understand the basic instructions they'd been given time and time again.  The fact that most of the rules enforced by flight crews are not rules they just make up on the fly, seems to be lost on a lot of people, or at least the people on that flight.  But I got in to San Francisco fine, got my bags and got the rental car just fine.  I had to laugh at them offering "50% off" an upgrade, then after I turned it down ended up getting a free upgrade because they were out of the size car I had originally reserved.

I got down to Monterey without too much hassle, although one of the roads my Garmin had me travelling was filled with a lot of twists, turns, hills, hairpin turns and drivers who were much more comfortable driving those roads than this half blind, out of state driver in the dark was.  But I made it ok, got in to my hotel and settled for the evening.

My first day I spent some time just looking around the Fisherman's Wharf/Cannery Row area of Monterey.  When I was stationed there back in the mid-80's, I would spend a lot of my free time in this area.  It was fun going back to Fisherman's Wharf.  So much of it was just how I remembered it.  Tourist shops selling trinkets, candy stores and some restaurants.  At the end of the wharf were the sea lions staking out their spots to lay around all day.

Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey

Harbor Seals taking in some sun in Monterey

Cannery Row has changed some, new parking garages where parking lots used to exist, new shops in the buildings and a few new buildings where none used to exist.  The biggest change to the area for me though, was the recreation path that runs from Fisherman's Wharf to Cannery Row, and on down the coast through Pacific Grove.

This building is how I originally found Cannery Row back in 1985.  Today it's a movie theater, but back then it had a huge carousel inside and was filled with shops and restaurants.

I also took the time on Thursday to go get a roast beef sandwich from Compagno's Deli.  It sits just a couple of blocks from the Defense Language Institute.  When I was stationed there I would walk to Compagno's every Monday during football season, get a roast beef on french flat bread with mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomato and pickle.  I would take that back to the barraks and watch Monday Night Football.  So, there was no way I was going to go to Monterey and not get one of those sandwiches.  It was every bit as good as I remember it being!!

On Friday I had the opportunity to get a tour of the Defense Language Institute.  It was great being back on the facility again.  I went in to the building where I used to spend my days in class, drove by my old barracks and also saw some of the newer buildings that have gone up over the last 30 years.  I met the head of the German Dept., who informed me that my instructor from 30 years ago had just retired the previous year and was still living in the same place he lived back then.  I thought several times about looking him up, but decided he probably wouldn't remember one of the thousands of students he's had over the years, so I never made the call.

 

Three sections of the Berlin Wall now reside at the Defense Language Institute-Foreign Language Center at The Presidio of Monterey, CA

This was the classroom I spent 8 months in learning to speak German.  The building is now home to the Arabic Languages and this room is now an office.

On Saturday I went on a whale watching trip and saw some amazing sites.  For me that was definitely a "bucket list" moment.  I was able to get some great video and pictures.

Dolphins following along side as we headed out for some whale watching

Video of sea lions and hump back whales feeding

I spent most of my time in Monterey just travelling up and down the coast line and admiring the beauty of the area.  It really was a beautiful trip!

Part of the rocky Pacific coastline in Carmel, CA

Took a drive down the Pacific Coast Highway from Monterey to Big Sur on Sunday

This roadway is part of the Big Sur Marathon course, held in April





Enjoying the scenery along 17 Mile Drive

As for the Big Sur Half Marathon held on the Sunday of the trip.

For my running friends, if you're not aware, the Big Sur Half Marathon is not part of the Big Sur Marathon.  Although both events are put on by the same organization, they are two completely separate events, in different places, at different times of the year.

The Big Sur Half Marathon starts and ends near the Fisherman's Wharf area of Monterey.  It is, without a doubt, the most beautiful course I've run for any event.  After circling through downtown Monterey, the course head south through the Cannery Row area and in to Pacific Grove, then turns and comes back up the coast line.

The entertainment along the course is great, with everything from bands, to cheerleaders to kodo drummers.  The course was well manned and well maintained throughout and the entire race experience was very well organized.

Challenges on the course....well it was, what I would describe as a "rolling course".  A lot of hills, but no hills that were too terrible to deal with.  There were a couple of steep hills, but those were short lived.  I would say to just make sure you do some hill work if you want to run this event, but it is nothing like the hills in Nashville or Lexington.  The only other challenge would be the wind.  Running along the coast, there did seem to be a wind significant enough to tire out runners who tried to hard to fight against it or weren't prepared for it.  But the beauty of the course outweighed any challenges.  I had an amazing week that lived up to my expectations.

Back to the Land of the Living

I found some humor in my "Time Hop" entry I saw the other day.  Time Hop is an app that looks back on social media at things that someone posted a year ago, two years ago, three or more years ago on that date.  Just over a year ago I posted a link to my blog entry, which discussed the changes at work, our move from Dublin Communications to the Northwest Regional Emergency Communications Center (NRECC).  I also wrote about the fact that I would be moving to third shift for 2014 because the days off would allow me to do more of the races I wanted to do this year.  I can't deny that I have been able to do a lot of races this year.  So far in 2014 I've added eight states to the number of out of state races I've run.  I was able to run races in Arizona, Tennessee, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, New Jersey, Virginia and Maryland.  A couple of those races were even ones that I was able to run as "last minute" registrations.  Six of those states were not races I had planned on running this year, but the timing worked out well.  I will add one more state in a couple of weeks when I travel to Monterey, CA for the Big Sur Half Marathon.  I'll travel to Florida the following week for year #2 of the Space Coast Half Marathon medal challenge.

But moving to night shift had another affect.  In September 2013 I ran the Philadelphia Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in a personal best time of 1:57.  Less than a year later I ran the Virginia Beach Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in 2:43.  Moving to nights, I've been eating things I shouldn't eat, not running as much as I should have been running and you can see what it did to my race times.

I have gotten a little better over the last couple of months.  Since August I've been teamed up with Brett through the IRun4 Sibling program.  Dedicating my runs to him and knowing that he and his family are cheering me on and following my running has helped me to refocus a bit.  I'm already starting to see the results of that focus.

The next step though is getting back to a normal schedule, or as normal a schedule as one can have when working in public safety.  So next year I will return to first shift.  Having Brett out there to dedicate my runs to, being back to a little bit better sleep pattern and eating pattern, and refocusing my running efforts should bring my race times back to where they were in 2013, or at least close to that.  

I'm glad that the increase in my race times didn't discourage me in my running and I'm glad that the races still continue to be fun.  I am very much looking forward to the two trips I have planned in November.  I get to travel back to Monterey, CA and see places I haven't seen in nearly 30 years as well as having the opportunity to see what all has changed out there in 30 years.  I will do some site seeing that I should have done 30 years ago, but didn't and I will add state #21 to my quest to run a race in all 50 states.  Then I'll head down to Florida.  I'll collect the second medal in the five year dedication to the Space Shuttle program, I'll visit the Kennedy Space Center, on the way back I'll stop and visit an Army buddy and his family in North Carolina and I'll enjoy a little break and some time away.

The week after I run the Space Coast Half Marathon I will be heading up to Cleveland for the Christmas Story 5K.  That race runs from downtown Cleveland to the Christmas Story House, complete with Leg Lamp in window!

The races and traveling will continue next year also.  In March I'm registered to run the Publix Georgia Half Marathon in Atlanta.  My IRun4 buddy Brett lives close to Atlanta, so I'll have the opportunity to finally meet him and his family in person.  Brett's mom has told him that he can take a day off school while I'm in town so that we have an opportunity to spend some time together and do some fun things around Atlanta.  That race will give me state #22.

State #23 will come in April when I run the Oklahoma City Memorial Half Marathon.  2015 will mark the 20th anniversary of the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City where so many people, including 18 children, were killed.  The site of the building is now home to a Memorial and Museum and funds raised from the race help to support those.  Having had the opportunity to hear some first hand experiences from one of the public safety workers who was on duty that day, I'm interested to be in the area and see more of this tragic part of our history.

Tentatively, I also have plans to run races in Washington and Texas in 2015.  That, of course, may change, but that's my plan as of right now.  I've registered to run the Cap City Half Marathon here in Columbus in May, and I plan to go back to Florida in November, 2015 for year #3 in the Space Coast Marathon medal series.

Busy Running Season

Well, after a little bit of time with a few races scattered here and there, I'm entering in to a busy race season.  This morning I ran a race in western Maryland.  The Great Allegany 15K Run.  The first five miles of the race were all downhill, which made for a nice run.  In addition to that, the temperature was great!  A nice cool morning that never really heated up much, so it stayed comfortable for the entire run.  And if that wasn't enough, running through the mountains of western Maryland in early autumn made for some beautiful scenery!  The pictures I took with my cell phone on the way down the mountain didn't do justice to the beautiful fall colors that surrounded us on all sides.

Prior to the race I also took a trip on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.  The train left from Cumberland, MD, where I was staying, and traveled up the mountain to Frostburg, MD.  There was a 90 minute layover for people to check out the town, then it headed back down the mountain and back to Cumberland.  Once again, I don't think my pictures did justice to the colors that I saw on the trip.

My taper starts this week in preparation for my next half marathon, but I will be running one more race between now and then.  On Saturday I'll be running the "Maria's Miles 3 Mile Race" here in Columbus.  Maria's Miles benefits the Maria Tiberi Foundation, which was started to bring awareness to the issues of distracted driving.  Last year, Maria Tiberi, the daughter of local sports anchor Dom Tiberi, was killed in an automobile accident when she ran in to the back of a semi truck that was stopped on the freeway.  The Tiberi's have since made it their mission to bring awareness to the dangers of distracted driving.

The following weekend is, of course, the Nationwide Children's Hospital Half Marathon.  My only goal/expectation for this race is that I do much better than I did in Virginia Beach.  I do plan to take a little more time to recognize all the children that are honored each mile and to recognize the children in the Angel's Mile.

Then, a few weeks later, I head out for the race that I'm looking forward to the most this year.  The Big Sur Half Marathon in Monterey, CA.  As I've said before, this race will be more about the trip back to Monterey than it will be about the race.  However, the race will also give me an opportunity to see some of the area and remember the fun I had while I was stationed there nearly 30 years ago.

Two weeks after that I will travel down to Florida for my second year running the Space Coast Half Marathon, picking up my second medal from that series.  Because of all the travelling I've done I have been able to book my hotels for the Florida trip using my HHonors points, so I don't have to pay for my hotel rooms for that trip.

One week later I'll head up to Cleveland where I'll be running the Christmas Story 5K.  This run starts in downtown Cleveland and runs to the house used in The Christmas Story movie.  That house is now a museum dedicated to the movie.

With my run this morning, I have now run races in 20 different states.  California will make 21.  In March I'm scheduled to run the Georgia Half Marathon (#22) and in April the Oklahoma City Memorial Half Marathon (#23).

My "quest for 50" went a lot further in 2014 than I expected it to.  Many of the new states I raced in this year were "last minute" races.  Times when I found myself with a free weekend, or the ability to get an extra day or two off for a long weekend and make the trip.  Now that I've pretty much raced in those states that are within a few hours drive from home, I expect that those new out of state races will have to be scheduled more in advance, and I really don't expect to knock out as many states in future years as I did in 2014.

Post by The Mito Life - Living Life As Zebras & Butterflies.

Too Much or Too Little?

All throughout this last week circumstances have come up in the lives of people I know that have made me want to sit down and start typing in my blog.  But on each occasion I would sit down, and the words just wouldn't come.  I didn't know what to say, or what I wanted to say seemed almost inadequate.

Those things that came to mind were both positive and not so positive.  While I want to be a positive person, I think it's also important to be realistic.  And while I want to be realistic, I don't want to focus so much on the negative that I forget that positive things are happening.  And while I don't want to be too negative, I want to let those that have been dealt a rough hand know that I am not trying to minimize what they're dealing with.

So, that being said, a phrase from a class I was in last week comes to mind, "It is what it is....until it ain't."

I can only say that those in my life who are struggling with whatever they're struggling with are in my thoughts and prayers.  While I believe in the "power of positivity" (I know...it's not even a thing), I believe more in the "power of negativity."  I don't think positive thoughts necessarily heal, but I do think they can hold off the negative side effects of ... well, whatever.  I also believe that negativity can speed up decline of one's health if that person is dealing with a health issue.

That may not make much sense, and I know it's a little muddled in how I presented it, but really this is my blog, and as long as I understand what I'm saying then that's really all that matters... ;-)

So basically I will say this, to my mother, father and sister, who are all dealing with health issues, I love you all and you are in my thoughts and prayers.

To my "I Run 4 Buddy" Brett, you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers, and I'll remember your toughness and bravery every time I hit the road for a run.

To Pastor Jay, I pray for your mother to recover from her stroke and for you and your family to find strength in a difficult time.

To 115 who, as I type this is probably being prepped for surgery, you too are in my prayers, especially today, but always as you move forward in your fight.

To Mollie and her daughter, to 125, and to so many other people who have entered my life and are dealing with things they'd surely rather not be dealing with, I'm thinking about you, I'm praying for you, and I'll do what I can to keep it positive.

Having said all that....don't you think a spelling bee would be more entertaining if the contestants had to say "to the" between each letter of their word?

Not a Good Run - But a Good Time

Well, over the last couple of weeks I've checked off a couple more states in my quest to run a race in all 50 states.  New Jersey and Virginia are both done.  Last weekend I ran the Virginia Beach Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon.

I've been a fan of the Rock 'n' Roll Marathons that are put on by a company called "The Competitor Group".  They do a really good job of putting on an event that appeals to runners of all capabilities and speeds and really work to make the entire experience a fun one.  In the case of Virginia Beach, I'll be honest and say that I had more fun attending the expo than I did actually running the race.

Now when I say in the title to this blog that it was a "Good Time" I'm not referring to the time it took me to run the half marathon.  As a matter of fact, this was my worst half marathon time in over two years.  I came no where close to accomplishing any of the three goals I had set for this race.  The weather was very hot and humid.  I can only remember running one race in hotter, stickier weather, and that race was 3.1...NOT 13.1!  However, the Competitor Group, as well as the residents in Virginia Beach who came out to watch the race, did a good job of supplying enough water, gatorade, cold sponges and other treats, to keep runners as cool and hydrated as they could.  It didn't make running in that weather any more pleasurable, but it allowed me to actually finish the race.

Now combine the weather with what I will loosely call my "training schedule" this year, and I did not have a good race.

With all of that in mind, I've already decided that, in all likelihood, I will be going back to day shift next year.  Although I've adjusted well on nights, that adjustment has come at a price.  That "price" has been that my training for runs has suffered.  I can make all the excuses in the world, but the fact is, I just am better at sticking to my schedule when I'm working day time hours and not adjusting to sleeping different hours on the weekends.

But I don't want to leave the impression that I did not enjoy my trip to Virginia Beach.  I didn't do everything that I had originally planned, but I did get out and do a little site seeing while I was in Virginia.  In addition to getting to the Virginia Aquarium, I also enjoyed the runners expo, and actually attended that both days.  For someone of my ability to be able to sit, listen to, and have conversations with Olympic God Medalists and other accomplished athletes is something you really can't find in any other sport. The running community is different however.  I've run races with World Record Holders and Olympic Medalists.  No, I won't pretend that I'm "in their league". I can't keep up with them on the course, nor would I try.  But I can say I've run the course with them, been in the race with them.  You can't do that in other sports, and that's one of the things that makes running so much for fun for me.

(With 1972 Olympic Marathon Gold Medalist Frank Shorter)

(With author and columnist John Bingham)

(With Olympic Medalist and 2014 Boston Marathon Winner Meb Keflezighi)

With that being said, there's something else that makes running even more enjoyable.  While I can say I've run the course that Olympic Gold Medalist Frank Shorter ran, I also get to say that I ran with friends, I met new people and we had a good time.  Running with friends will always mean more, and bring me more joy than I can find doing other things.  It's also helped me meet new friends, and running friends are like no other friends in the world.  I've run the same course as Steph, Jan, Kristin, Jeff, Jen, Ben and so many others.

(With Jan & Steph after my first race)

(With Steph after we had finished running in Myrtle Beach)

(With a different Steph just before we ran the Cap City Half Marathon)

 

(With Kristin just before her first Half Marathon)

 (With Chip, Dale and Pluto after the Disney World Half Marathon)

(With Chad, Christy and Sara before the Tunnel to Towers Run in NYC)

(With Jeff, Jen and others from the WCUCC running group after running the Hoover Hustle)

#18 Done - #19 Upcoming

Well, I took some much needed time away from work last week and headed east for a short runcation.  I went to Morris Plains, NJ and ran the Share the Care 5K to benefit Habitat for Humanity of Morris County NJ.

Morristown, NJ was a location where Gen. Washington and his Army wintered one year during the Revolutionary War, so I went to the Wright Mansion where Washington stayed and explored some of that area.

I also took a day to take the train in to New York City.  This was my fourth trip to NYC.  I saw a few of the sites that I've seen on previous trips, but also took the opportunity to see some things and go some places where I hadn't on my previous trips.

I went to the Empire State Building.  I will say that there is a lot of waiting involved in making it up to the 86th floor observation deck of the Empire State Building.  It was also a little bit expensive.  It's one of those..."I can now say I've done it." moments, but for the money the view from Top of the Rock is just as good and costs less.  But, now I can say that I've visited the Empire State Building.  I also walked around Central Park, which I hadn't done in any of my previous visits.  It was an enjoyable visit to the city, and I was glad I went.  However, I will say that, not being one for crowds, the streets of NYC seem to be more and more crowded each time I go.  While I don't think I'd skip an opportunity to go back if I'm in the area again, I don't know that I'd go out of my way to plan a trip there in the future.

I'm back at work for a week, plus twelve hours of overtime and a doctors appointment this week, before heading to Virginia Beach for a few days and the Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon.  That will be my 19th state to run a race and my second race for my IRun4 Sibling Hero Brett.

Upcoming Running 4

Some of you may have noticed on my Facebook that I'm involved in a group call IRun4.  I noticed a post about this group on a friend's facebook page and checked it out.  The IRun4 organization started by joining runners with people who are unable to run themselves.  Recently the group branched out and added an IRun4 Sibling group.  The idea behind the sibling group is to match runners with the siblings of kids who have disabilities.  Sometimes the siblings can miss out on things and are more supportive of their families than anyone their age should have to be at that point.  The siblings group allows the siblings to have their own runner, who focuses on supporting them and running for them.

I was matched a couple of weeks ago with a young man named Brett.  Brett's younger sister was diagnosed last year with mitochondrial disease and, according to his mother, has been the "rock of the family."  At 10 years old it amazes me that Brett could step in that role, a role that no 10 year old should have to step in to.  But in getting to know Brett and his family, it doesn't surprise me.  He's an amazing young man who has obviously been raised by two amazing parents.  I have to admit that I think I'm getting more out of this match than Brett is.  He and his family inspire me, and I hope to continue to get to know Brett and his family for many years to come.

Now I should say, that you don't have to be a runner to join this group.  If you are active in any way you can sign up to be matched.  There's no cost to join, no "registration fee" or "initial cost".  The only cost is a little bit of your time.  Taking the time to post updates to your buddy and getting to know him or her.  If you're interested please go to http://www.whoirun4.com to find out more.  Also, if you have a child who might benefit from being teamed up with a runner, check it out.

On a different topic, I'm finally getting a little bit more time off.  My last weekend off was the first part of July.  I was able to find a few days in the coming week when I could take some comp time and extend my weekend, so I'll be off work Mon-Fri this week.  The plan is to head out to Morris Plains, NJ where I'll run the Share the Care 5K on Thursday evening.  This will be state #18 in my quest to run a race in all 50 states.  Then, the following week I will run state #19 when I head to Virginia Beach for the Virginia Beach Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon.  I plan to do a little site-seeing both in the NJ area and the VA area while I'm there.

In the past I would set 3 goals every time I ran a half marathon.  During my run this morning I thought it might be a good time to start doing that again.  My running speed and endurance took a little hit this year, so in trying to get that back I thought I'd try and get back to the basics.

Goal #1 - Or my "I should be able to accomplish this" goal  is to finish with an 11::00 per mile pace, which would mean a final time of 2:24:12 or better.  That would be the slowest half marathon I've run in the last two years, but that's ok; like I said earlier...back to the basics.

Goal #2 - Or my "If I'm feeling good I might be able to hit this goal" would be to finish with a 10:20 per mile pace, which would give me a time of  2:15:27 or better.  I'm basing that pace on my long run this morning.  I was able to maintain that pace for almost 9 miles, so this is definitely doable.

Goal #3 - Or my "If the stars and planets align" goal would be to finish with a 10:00 per mile pace or better.  This would mean finishing in 2:11:00 or better.  I finished my last half marathon close to that time, but with the hit my speed and endurance have taken lately, I think this would only happen if everything goes just perfect.

I'm hoping that I will be able to bring back my goal of breaking the 2:00:00 mark sometime next year.  I accomplished it once and believe I can do it again, but it's going to take some time and training.

So, in addition to NJ and VA coming up this month, I've got a 5 Mile run scheduled here in Columbus in September, the Nationwide Children's Hospital Columbus Half Marathon in October, and the Big Sur Half Marathon in Monterey, CA and the Space Coast Half Marathon in Cocoa, FL scheduled for November.  After getting matched up with Brett I signed up to run the Publix Georgia Half Marathon in Atlanta come March.  I'll work on the remainder of the 2015 running schedule after vacation bids are done later this fall.

Just Some Thoughts

Because after all...isn't that really what keeping a blog is all about?  At least for me it is.  A little bit of informing friends of family of what I'm up to, and a little bit of just airing my thoughts.

I have found myself recently looking forward to one trip this year a little more than any of my other trips that I've taken in the past, or any others I have planned for the future.  In November I will be flying out to Monterey, CA to run the Big Sur Half Marathon.  Interesting thing about the Big Sur Half Marathon is that it does not take place in Big Sur, CA.  It takes place in Monterey.  OK...well maybe it's NOT that interesting.
While I am looking forward to the race, I'm looking forward more to being back in Monterey.  I left Monterey 28 years ago after being stationed at a military school there for nine months.  It was a nice place to be stationed.  The school overlooked Monterey Bay, I walked would regularly walk down to Cannery Row and Fisherman's Wharf or in to Pacific Grove.  But being young and stupid, I really didn't take advantage of being stationed there for nine months.  There were so many other things I could have, and should have done while I was there.  So I'm getting a second chance.  I've already started planning.  The plane tickets have been purchased, the hotel room and rental car reserved.

In the mid-1980's, when I was stationed there, the school was pretty much an "open" base, meaning anyone could drive through without being stopped or showing any type of identification.  The world being what it is now, gates have been constructed at the school, and military ID is required to gain access.  I've started making arrangements with the president of the Alumni Association for the school to be able to get access to the base while I'm there and take a tour.  I've purchased my ticket to take a whale watching tour while I'm there.  I'm hoping to drive out to Big Sur and drive along US Rt. 1, a very beautiful coastal roadway (ironically where the Big Sur Marathon is run each April).  I also want to check out some of the areas I frequented when I was stationed there, see some of the local sites that I didn't take advantage of then and really explore the area.  That will be a lot to try to fit in during a relatively short amount of time.  So I'm already thinking about planning another trip to the Monterey area next year.  To do that means taking longer to get in some of those out of state races that I want to get in.  But I can play it by ear to some extent.  See how much I actually accomplish in November, and decide then if I want to make another trip back to California for more.

Not a bad thing to have to worry about though.  Where to take vacations.  Running is my excuse for travelling, and as much fun as the running is, seeing parts of the country that I wouldn't have otherwise is really what I enjoy most.

At the end of this year I should have 31 more states to visit for races.  A few of them are states I've visited in the past, when I was much younger.  However, most are states that I've never really seen.  Maybe I've driven through, but rarely did I check out what sites they had to offer.  Now I'll see them.  I'll go see the bigger tourist attractions and I'll stop at the little "hole in the wall" museums and sites along the way.  I'll see the country and run the races.  Some of the races will have thousands of people running, some will have less than 100.  Each will have its own unique story and most will provide me with opportunities to see places I would not otherwise have seen.

And now for something totally different....

Weekend Trip

I had an opportunity to take a little weekend trip to Illinois.  For those who aren't aware, my "weekend" is Thursday & Friday.  Depending on how my sleep schedule works out, I can sometimes turn my weekends in to three-day weekends without taking extra time off work.  I get off work Thursday morning and, if I'm not working overtime, don't have to be back to work until Saturday evening.

This schedule worked out well for me this past weekend, allowing me to take an out of state trip, add state #17 to my goal of running a race in all 50 states, and get in a little site-seeing.  I was then able to make it back home on Saturday in enough time to get a few hour sleep before heading back to work Saturday evening.

On Thursday, after getting off work I headed home and was able to get a short nap.  I got my suitcase packed and got on the road just before noon.  Even though it was a little early, I couldn't help but notice that the Ohio State Highway Patrol was very active Thursday, with more troopers patrolling the roadways than I've ever noticed before.  I got to Bloomington, Illinois Thursday afternoon and located the running store where I needed to pick up my race packet.  As I made my way to the hotel I realized that there didn't seem to be much to do in Bloomington, and started to wonder if I'd be heading back to Columbus after my race on Friday morning.

I found the hotel easily and got checked in with no problems.  The Hampton Inn was nice, quick to get checked in to and well maintained.  Given my travel experiences this past year, I was happy to see this Hampton Inn was more to the quality I had been accustomed to from Hampton Inn.

On Independence Day I woke up in time to grab a quick breakfast at the hotel and head to the Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington for the start of the Park 2 Park 5 Miler.  The weather was great running weather.  Not too hot, which can obviously be an issue when running in July.  The race went from Miller Park in Bloomington to The Corn Crib, a minor league ball park, in Normal, Illinois.  It was a nice route, the rolling hills along the route made it just challenging enough to push you without being completely ridiculous with hills.  I was happy with my finish, grabbed a couple snacks then took the bus back to the start area and headed back to the hotel.

Even though I was back early I was happy to see that housekeeping had already been to my room.  I hate never knowing when they're going to come through in case I want to take a nap or just relax for a while.  I got cleaned up and tried to decide if I wanted to go ahead and check out a day early to head home.  I went to the front desk and asked the clerk what things there were to do in the area.  You know it's bad when the hotel clerk can't come up with much.  She did have a visitor's guide though, and I was able to find some things that looked interesting.  Not in Bloomington, but not so far away that I would be on the road too much.  

Realizing at that point how close I was to Springfield, Illinois, I made a call and found out that the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library was open, even on the holiday.  I made the trip down to Springfield and was not disappointed with my choice.  A display was set up across the street from the museum featuring items from the Steven Spielberg movie "Lincoln".  Several of the costumes worn by the actors and some of the props and sets were in the display.  It was interesting to see and hear how much preparation was made by the actors, costume designers and set designers to try and make everything as authentic as possible for the movie.  

I then went across to the museum. They had several displays and presentations set up in museum, and for someone who enjoys history as much as I do, it made for a very enjoyable visit.  

I also made my way over to the Old Capital Building.  Now a museum, it used to be the home to all the state offices for the State of Illinois.  A presentation by an actor portraying Civil War General John A. Logan was taking place while I was there, and I was able to catch most of that and hear some very interesting stories about his life, his role in the war and his political life after the war.

Overall a very successful trip, and the fact that I could do it in a weekend was a bonus.  

For now my next running trip is scheduled for late August when I head to Virginia Beach for another Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon and state number #18.

A Little Vacation Before a Long Week

Well, after about a week and a half off work, I'm back for one of my longer weeks.  So far I'm scheduled to work 35 hours of overtime this week and expect to get at least another 4 hours.  Believe it or not, this will not be the most hours I've worked in a single week....close...but not the most.

Fortunately the week was preceded by some time away from the Communications Center.  I worked my "second job" for a week, teaching a dispatcher class at the state police academy.  I usually have a good time teaching the class and this week was no exception.  I had another good group of students who stayed engaged in the class and brought their experiences from their agencies with them to help everyone else in the class.  This class also provides me with some good networking opportunities, allowing me to meet telecommunicators from all over the State of Ohio.

After class ended on Friday I headed back to Columbus, then packed for a weekend out of  town to visit some family and get in a couple of out of state races.  Friday the 13th may not have been the best day to start a trip though.  Although the day started off good, it started going down hill.  As I was driving home I was eating a Starburst fruit chew and felt a crown come off in my mouth....then another...then another.  Yes, that's right, I had three crowns all come off at the same time.  Not to worry though, I was in Dublin when it happened, and the dentist office was right down the street.  I would make a quick stop and get them cemented back on.  Easy right?  Not so much.  I went to the dentist office, which was closed.  The receptionist was inside and she tried to help me get in to one of their other offices, but all the other offices were already double-booked and couldn't guarantee they'd be able to get me in and taken care of before I had to catch my flight out of town that afternoon.  She did give me some cement to use, which I was able to mix myself and use to get me through the weekend.

I got home and got my stuff packed for the trip.  I was at the airport with plenty of time to spare, but storms in the south were delaying flights all over the rest of the country, and my flight was delayed.  I got in to St. Paul, MN about 3 hours later than planned, but no worries.  The late night arrival did mean that I didn't have to wait in line at the rental car counter, got my car pretty quickly and got to my hotel.  Checked in with no problem....well, almost no problem.  I got the key card to my room, got to my room, but the door would not open.  So I went to the front desk and got the keycard reprogrammed, then got back to my room.  Success!!  Well...almost...I settled in for the evening turned on the TV, which wasn't working.  So I called the front desk and after trying a couple of things to "fix" the TV, finally got moved to another room.  The keycard for the new room worked and the TV worked.  All good right?  Well, pretty much.  After a long day of crowded airports and a couple of minor issues at the hotel, I was finally settled in.  I set the alarm so I would be up in time to head to my first 5K of the weekend.

I didn't get much sleep, but enough to get up, dressed and head out to the Lederhosenlauf 5K on Saturday morning.  The run was a small local 5K held in conjunction with the German American Festival.  I ran the 5K, had my free bratwurst, and after hanging around for a little while, headed back to the hotel.  I got ahold of my nephew and made arrangements to meet up with him and his daughters.  We headed over to the Mall of America.  My (almost) 4 year old great-niece rode some of the rides, we got some lunch at Burger King.

The next morning I made the two hour drive over to La Crosse, WI to run another 5K.  Another small, local 5K event, this was their first year of running it.  The way you can tell how small these events were, is that I placed 3rd in my age group on Saturday and first in my age group on Sunday.  Which usually means that their were very few people in my age group.  But that's ok.  The small local events are sometimes just as fun, if not more fun, to participate in than the larger, nationally known events.

My "bump in the road" on the trip home was when my luggage didn't show up at the airport when I did.  Not a huge problem, except that my car keys were in my luggage, so had it not shown up on the next flight, an hour later, I'd have been stuck at the airport for a while.  But, all ended well.  I got home just fine.  It was a good opportunity to get away and get some time off before working a long week.

Small Worlds and Facebook Friends

Gee....two blog entries in two days!!

During my first stint on Facebook I came across something I found interesting.  Facebook will suggest friends for you; people you may know based on the fact that they are friends with people you are also friends with.  I found it interesting when these suggested friends would be friends with people who I knew through completely different circumstances.  What I mean is, usually the mutual friends you have with this suggested person are all part of the same group.  Five mutual friends, all of whom you went to high school with, usually means you also went to high school with this suggested friend.  Three of your friends from work know this person, then it's probably someone they knew through work.

Every once in a while though, people will have mutual friends who you happen to know through completely different circumstances.  For example, the first time I was on Facebook I was friends with an individual I had been stationed with when I was in the Army.  We were stationed together in Germany and he lives no where close to me here in the States.  That person, Jason Becker, was facebook friends with an individual named Mike Banks.  Mike was someone I knew from his job in public safety communications in Wadsworth, OH.  My paths with these two individuals had crossed years apart and in two very different ways, yet somehow they knew each other and both knew me.

Today something very similar happened.  As I was looking through people that facebook was saying I might know, I came across the name Melissa Albert.  I don't know Melissa, but it said that three of my friends did know her.  I checked out who those three people were, expecting them to maybe be a cousin, his wife and his kid.  However, it was not.  Two of the friends, my sister and her son, made sense that they would both know Melissa, but the third was a co-worker of mine, Justin Chappelear.  To the best of my knowledge Justin has never crossed paths with my sister or her son, but somehow they both know and are friends with the same person.  Small world, nice coincidence, but hardly earth shattering.

But check this one out.  Another friend suggestion was a girl named Laurie Johnston.  Laurie is friends with two people who are Facebook friends of mine.  One, Steven Daniel, is my second cousin who lives in Chicago.  Steven's mother and my grandmother were sisters, but not raised together for a variety of reasons, some which are still unknown to the family.  The other mutual friend is Brian Evak, someone I went to high school with in Pickerington.  I don't know of any situation when Brian and Steve would have had any reason to cross paths, yet somehow they both crossed paths with Laurie Johnston and have crossed paths with me in very different ways.

Again, none of this is earth shattering, but it is, at least to me, very interesting.  It shows that the world is indeed small and that we are all connected much more closely than we may realize.

Been A While

Well, it has been a while since I last added to my blog, so I thought I'd "check-in".

I started off May by running the Cap City Half Marathon.  My fitness level, which dropped after running the Columbus Marathon last fall, does not seem to have fully recovered.  I'm not real discouraged by that though.  I was able to run the entire Half Marathon without walking, and with a respectable time.  I've still got a full marathon training schedule planned for the summer in preparation for the Virginia Beach Half Marathon at the end of August, the Nationwide Children's Hospital Half Marathon in October and the Big Sur and Space Coast Half Marathons in November.  Along the way I've got a few more out of state races that I'm scheduled to do and am looking forward to the traveling that will come with them.

This past weekend the Burkhardt Family had their annual reunion/cookout.  As always, it was a good time.  A time to see family that we usually only see once or twice a year, and catch up.  One thing you can be sure of at ANY gathering of Burkhardt's is that the food will be plentiful and it will be good.  This year was no exception.

I remember as a kid, the highlight of every summer was the family reunion.  We would head to the location early and secure the shelter house.  There were a lot more family and extended family there then, but the Burkhardt's always knew out to put out a spread.  The cookout now is an extension of one of those traditions that you hate to ever see go away.

This week at work is one that we tend to look forward to coming and look forward to ending both at the same time.  It's Memorial Tournament week in Dublin, Ohio.  The Memorial is an event on the PGA tour.  It's interesting how each year we tend to get complaints from residents about the traffic and parking in the area.  Even long-time residents seem to complain, as if this hasn't been going on for over 30 years.  But overall the week usually goes smoothly and we get through it unscathed.  It's almost down to a science now.  Early in the week, it's still pretty tame.  It'll be later this week, when play actually begins, that our activity level will pick up.  We'll get the inevitable loud noise complaints, parking complaints and dealing with those who overestimate the amount of alcohol their bodies can handle.  

Then in a couple of weeks I'll spend a week at my second job teaching a class at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy in London, OH.  The following weekend is a trip up to Minnesota and Wisconsin for a couple 5K runs, visit some family, attend a German-American festival and do some quick site seeing around the area.  Those two runs will move me up to 16 states completed in my quest to run a race in every state.  In July I'll add #17 with a 4th of July race in Bloomington, IL.  In August I'll tack on #18 when I head to Virginia Beach and #19 will come in November when I head to California for the Big Sur Half Marathon (which, interestingly, is not run in Big Sur).

Runcation and Warranties

Well, for the most part, April ended pretty well.  I got my second runcation in for the year.  I headed down to Nashville for the Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Half Marathon.  I'm not sure if this course had more hills than any other course I've run, or if the hills on this course were steeper than any other course I've run, or if it just happened to be the most recent hilly course and therefore I perceived it to be hillier and steeper.  Whatever the case, the first 9 miles of the course was a rough course when it came to the hills.  There was pretty good crowd support however, and I have to say that the Competitor Group, who owns the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series, put on yet another great event.

While in Nashville I made it a point to look around the area, take a couple tours, catch a couple shows.  My first day there I took a tour of the Ryman Auditorium and toured the Johnny Cash Museum.  Later that evening I went back to the Ryman for the Opry Country Classics show where they were doing a tribute to George Jones as it neared the one year anniversary of his death.

After the run on Saturday I got some dinner, then went to the Grand Ole Opry for their Saturday evening show.  After the show I stuck around for the back stage tour.

Because of some storms that were supposed to blow through the are Sunday night in to Monday, I decided to leave a day early and head home Sunday.

On Monday I found a leak in my water heater.  Getting that fixed has turned out to be more of an adventure than my trip to Nashville.  After finding the leak, I pulled out my paperwork for the heater.  Knowing that the water heater was not that old I thought it may be possible that it was still under warranty, so I checked the paperwork and, as luck would have it, the paperwork showed that I spent a little extra on an extended warranty to cover the tank until 2017.  GREAT!  So I called the phone number on the contract to set up a service appointment and was told that the contract expired in 2012.  Now my paperwork clearly said 2017, but they refused to send a tech out unless I sent them the paperwork.  In the mean time they suggested I shut off the water to my hot water heater.  So I was supposed to go without hot water until I proved to them that they made a mistake.  They also informed me that it would take 3 business days to look at the contract and determine if it was a mistake.  Why it would take 3 days to look at a contract that says "Expiration Date 7/12/2017" was beyond me, and the company couldn't seem to be able to explain it to me either.
The next day I went to Home Depot and spoke to a manager there.  I showed her my contract, she made a couple of phone calls and put me on the line with someone in Atlanta.  Phillip assured me that if I could email a copy of the contract to him, he would be sure to accelerate this issue and get resolved with the company who sells the extended warranties.  Sure enough, the next morning I got a phone call from Assurant telling me that they had gotten the information from Home Depot that I did have a good warranty and they would be sending out a tech that day.
Well, the tech came out and, at first, it appeared to be a simple fix.  Replace the valve.  So, after getting approval by the warranty company he replaced the valve...however the leak didn't go away.  It turned out not to be a leak in the valve, but a crack in the tank at the base of the valve.
So another phone call to the warranty company who now told the tech that he had to call the manufacturer and get approval first.  Of course, the manufacturer's warranty was expired (the purpose of buying an "extended" warranty).  After another 30-45 minutes of phone calls, with yet another customer service rep telling me that my extended warranty was expired, and refusing to listen to me, I was finally able to get ahold of someone who understood English enough to understand what was going on and get the work approved.
That is now supposed to happen this morning after I get home from work.  Fortunately I'm going in to my weekend.  This SHOULD all be resolved this morning.

It's my firm belief that when this company sells someone an extended warranty that they make it so difficult and time consuming for the customer to make a claim on the warranty that most just give up and pay for the repairs out of pocket.  Overall I'm happy with the way Home Depot responded to my issues.  But I'm not happy with their affiliation with Assurant to cover the extended warranties that are sold in the name of Home Depot.  In most cases customer service is poor because we as consumers allow it to be.  Mistakes are going to be made, but customer service as horrendous as what I've dealt with the last few days is inexcusable and should be responded to that way.

On a better note, I'll also be heading downtown today or tomorrow to pick up my race packet for this weekend's Cap City Half Marathon.  This is the fourth time I will run this particular race.  It is enjoyable and I'm interested to see how my legs hold up, as this will be the first time I've ever run two half marathons on back to back weekends.  Usually I've had at least 4-5 weeks between Half's.

My race in Nashville was the 14th State that I've run a race in.  In June I will be doing two out of state races.  The Lederhosenlauf 5K in St. Paul, MN, and the Run for the Stars 5K the next morning in La Crosse, WI.  

A Time To Play That Shot and A Time to Leave It In The Bag

In between naps yesterday I was watching a movie on the Golf Channel.  The Legend of Bagger Vance starring Will Smith and Matt Damon.  Although many would consider this a movie about golf, it is much deeper than that.  Bagger Vance is a movie about God and a man's relationship to him.

For those who haven't seen the movie, I'll try to sum up the basic premise.  Rannulph Junuh is a promising young golfer, poised to become one of the best to play the game.  When WWI starts, Junuh enlists and, while at war, sees the horrific things that soldiers see in war.  He comes back a broken man.  As the Great Depression sweeps the country Junuh is put in a position to play in a golf tournament with two other great golfers in an effort to save the country club left to his former fiancee when her father succumbs to the effects of the depression and takes his own life.

Junuh hasn't picked up a club in years, but while practicing his drives one night, out of the darkness emerges a caddy, Bagger Vance.  Junuh is reluctant to accept the help from Bagger, but slowly starts to see the advantage of following the caddy's advice.  As the movie goes on, Junuh becomes more and more confident in his abilities, but in doing so feels less and less reliant on Bagger Vance.  Then, instead of laying up on a hole, decides he's going to "go for the win".  Bagger tries to tell Junuh that, "There's a time to play that shot, and a time to leave it in the bag."

I know I've been guilty of that myself, probably more often than I care to admit.  When I should be "leaving it in the bag" and trusting in God to show me the right direction, I "play the shot".  I don't mean to say that I take unnecessary risks, as most who know me would probably not think of me as one who takes too many risks.  What I mean though is that I don't do what is right for me or best for me at that moment in my life.  I want what I want and when I want it.  I get impatient so, instead of laying up on the shot, I end up hitting the shot in to the bunker.

I guess the hard part for me is knowing when it's time to play the shot, and when it's time to leave it in the bag.  When do we take our stance and just knock the living crap out of the ball and when do we lay up?  We've got to trust God to let us know when what we want may not be what is best for us.  We've got to be ok with the answer we get to be "no".

I'll keep striving to achieve that balance.  I'll keep listening for God to let me know when it's time to hit the shot, and when it's time to leave it in the bag.