Archive for May, 2010

• Last Square Root of the Year

  Date: 2010.05.25 | Category: Anniversary | Response: 2

  Today, May 25, 2010 is the last square root of the year. Why is this significant?

  Ten years to the day, my “Beautiful Bride” and I uttered two small phrases, “I Do” and we became one unit, a Mr. and a Mrs.

  The words and advice spoken at a wedding ceremony are important and I wonder who really remembers each and every word. I don’t remember them all, but I do remember the feelings. Having just witnessed my cousin’s wedding over the weekend and hearing the words that joined them together, takes me back and reminds of the words, commitment and feelings that joined the two of us, my wife and I together 10 years ago.

  I am honored to have such a great, wonderful person by my side. Someone to hold hands with and enjoy the ride as we travel through the adventure of life. And yet today as we celebrate our 10th anniversary, our adventure is beginning yet again. Together the two of us will stand in front of many to utter the same two small phrases, “I Do.” To which our unit of two will become three. I am so happy that I get to share this moment with you and our “little man”.

  Today, we change from foster parents to official parents for our son who has brought so much joy into your heart and has accentuated your traits as a strong, patient, caring woman, mother and wife.

  I love you Shelly! Happy Anniversary!

  One time there was this boy who loved a girl…

• 9 Miles + 1 in reverse

  Date: 2010.05.24 | Category: Saturdays | Response: 1

  Last week I ran 9 miles away from my house. This week I ran 10 miles back.

  Yes 10 miles, non stop running. Sounds fun right? Oh yeah!

  The wife drove me 10 miles away from the home. Kicked me out of the car and said see you in a couple of hours. Needless to say the little guy was not too happy about this. I guess he wanted to run with his daddy. Some how though, I don’t think he would have made the 10 miles, let alone the first mile. Love you little man, but daddy is going to run by himself on this one.

  Today’s path was the exact same as last weeks only in reverse plus 1 more extra mile. The reverse path did seem to be easier and I finished about 20 minutes quicker than the previous week. Either I am getting faster or it was really easier. Or perhaps I am getting into better shape for these long distance runs. I’m sticking with the later choice.

• 9 Miles

  Date: 2010.05.16 | Category: Saturdays | Response: 1

  What started out as a scary moment this morning turned out to be a great day. I woke up early this morning thinking I had to go into work today. Luckily some sense kicked in and I realized it was not a work day. Yahoo!

  Instead however it was a run day. A 9 mile run day in fact. I threw on some clothes and headed out to map a running path for 9 miles. Currently my running paths have only consisted of 3 to 5 miles and I didn’t want to run it twice.

  It took me two times to come up with a satisfactory run. The first was a bunch of circles in circles around the neighborhood, but I thought I might get defeated quickly if I ran around the house too often. The second try proved to be the winner.

  I decided to clock the distance from my house to my sister-in-law’s house. 11.7 miles was the final total. I scaled back a few miles and this was my chosen route. I headed home to get dressed for my run.

  Had some wheat toast with peanut butter, a little extra boost. Sunscreen for the head, face and arms. Made arrangements with the wife for the pick up point and time. A kiss from the family and I was on my way.

  The first mile or so was on familiar territory, anything after that I was blazing new trails. I got a later start this morning then I would have hoped, due to the route discovery, so I ended up running in some heat. The breeze kept me cool and was nice to have here and there. But the further I got from the house the more open I was to the sun. This is not a good thing. I realized now I should have added sunscreen to the list for my legs. Ouch! They are a little red.

  When I was about 3 miles out from my designated finish line, running up a hill, my wife pulled up and gave me a little more encouragement, gave me a time check and said she would meet me in a few after getting me some water.

  One of my goals is to just keep running through the whole marathon. This goal is also rolling into my training runs. Each time I set out, I keep running until I reach the finish line, even if the run looks like a fast walk. This is totally a mental game and today I am proud to say, I succeeded.

  The last stretch of the run was a decline and as I got closer to the finish line I noticed that my pace had picked up and my strides were longer. I guess I thought the faster I run the sooner I would be done. This got me breathing really heavy and into a step-step breathe pattern that got me through the last little bit.

  When I finished I walked to the car, filled with my smiling family and really cold water. I did a little stretching, caught my breath and we headed home.

  Then, something funny happened. My nose and the top of my mouth started tingling like when your foot goes to sleep and you try to take a step. It was funny feeling. Then I noticed I got a brain freeze because the water I was drinking was really, really cold. I didn’t really notice the coldness until after I chugged a bunch. I was so hot it didn’t really feel cold the first couple of drinks. This produced another strange reaction. My voice got really deep and breathy when I tried to talk. Weird and funny, but definitely a good laugh came of it.

  In the end I finished in just over 2 hours. The 9 miles all in all were hard, but the first 3-5 miles were easy. My training is paying off. I remember when the 3 and 5 miles were hard and now they are easy. A few more long runs and 9 miles will be easy too.

• 1st Official Tagline Run

  Date: 2010.05.08 | Category: Saturdays | Response: 0

  Today, was my first official tagline run. Running to Help…

  I have done the race for the cure previously, but this year it had special meaning and purpose for me. It is amazing, well OK amazing might not be the right word, how many lives this disease touches. The number of participants and number of survivors was astonishing.

  I ran with my sister. I ran with my mom. I ran with my sister-in-law. I ran with my wife.
  I ran for my Aunt Connie. I ran for my Aunt Kathy. I ran for my mother-in-law Bonnie.

  I ran to help. I ran for the cure.

• 7 Miles more…

  Date: 2010.05.01 | Category: Saturdays | Response: 1

  26.2 miles equals a marathon. However, to cross the finish line one must run far more than just 26.2 miles. The marathon itself is just a small chunk in the overall scheme of things. Which got me thinking. “I wonder how many miles I have gone so far and how many more will it take to get me to the finish line?”

  Today it was 7 miles more. 7 miles more, complete. 7 miles more, behind me. 7 miles more, closer to the finish line.

  Crossing the finish line will be a major goal complete for me. But I am realizing that there is a bigger goal being accomplished. I am actually sticking with it. I find myself amazed by this and it excites me. I want to keep going and I do just that. Yes. Ok, I admit that not every day that I am supposed to train, do I actually train, but overall I am still moving forward. I am running. I am training. I am succeeding because I am still doing it. In January it was one step – one mile and today it was, 7 miles more…