Pride

While the English language can be imprecise and fickle, it is nice that there are synonyms for words that help refine and differentiate meaning.

Take arrogant. It has a negative connotation, but words in the same family have different degrees of emotional responses — bravado, confident, pompous — you get the idea.

After running the Boston Marathon in 2011, I would tell people, "I won't run Boston again until I'm 40." Running fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon assumed a lot. It assumed I'd stay healthy enough to be able to maintain an adequate training volume. It assumed I'd have enough time to put in the training necessary.

At the time, I didn't think twice about assuming I'd qualify for the Boston Marathon. Right now, my qualifying time would be under 3:10. My first Boston Marathon qualifying time (BQ) was 3:10 and I ran a 3:02 when trying to qualify. In subsequent marathons I ran 2:59, 2:50, 2:58, 3:03, and 3:04 — all of which would have been BQs.

I then had a couple of marathons in which the courses were mismarked and/or mismeasured, which would have also been BQs. But after that, with injuries and lack of time to train, I was no longer running BQs. I ran a 3:07 (which would qualify me now but not at the time I ran it), 3:20, and 3:14.  

So, in retrospect, it was arrogant of me to assume qualifying for Boston would be easily attainable when I was 40. It obviously wasn't.

It's good though. A little dose of humility doesn't hurt at all.

Run well.

Big Beach Half Marathon

One of this year's destination races was the Big Beach Half Marathon in Gulf Shores, Alabama. The morning of the race we got ready in Laura's parents' condo. I had packed a couple of neon green shirts and threw one on.

Almost everything about the race was perfect — nice weather, scenic course, well organized. The post-race offerings were amazing. There were the traditional offerings of orange slices and bananas, but there was also a box lunch of a large wrap (Laura got ham, and I got veggie), gumbo, chips, and a cookie along with two beer tokens (we only used one each).

I also had a great time running the entire race with Laura. It was awesome being able to chat with her for the race.

While almost everything about the race was excellent, it didn't all go well.

Around three miles into the race we went by a pace group. "Nice job 2:50," I cheered. Normally I get at least some smiles a waves, but instead I got confused looks.

As we passed another pace group, some said, "Are you a pacer?" "No," I said. "Just the same color shirt."

After this happened again, we figured out what was happening. I was wearing a shirt from when I paced City of Lakes Half Marathon. Not only was it the same color as the shirts the Big Beach pacers were wearing, it also said "pacer" on the back.

Once we'd made that connection, I turned my shirt around backwards and ran the rest of the racer with the "pacer" sign on front to reduce the confusion to other runners. 

I blame my wardrobe faux pas on getting dressed at five in the morning and not planning my race kit beforehand.

Still, it was an awesome race, and Laura, who's going to run a half marathon in every state, checked Alabama off the list. I'd definitely do this race again. 

Back from Hiatus

This wasn't planned. I didn't decide one day that I would write one post this calendar year after writing my fewest posts in a year since I started this blog. I just didn't make it a priority. It's been four months since I wrote a post and it'd been almost three months since I'd written a post before that one.

I didn't do a year-end wrap-up of my goals or make new goals for this year. But I want to get back at it, so in the next week I'll share some favorite highlights of the year.

My big running highlights were running a fifty mile week for the first time in a long time, running a half marathon in Alabama with Laura (more on that race soon), and breaking twenty minutes in the 5K for the first time since 2021. It's sometimes depressing running times so much slower than my previous PRs, but I try to keep in mind that I'm older and with two kids I don't have as much time to train.

The biggest highlight is that my oldest kiddo, who's seven, ran his first 5K. It started out with him running with his mom at parkrun. He planned on running just part of the race, but he decided to keep going and ended up finishing. He didn't even want to walk any of it! He's done 4 more since, and he's really been enjoying it.

Laura and I are registered for the Twilight Red Rock Canyon Half Marathon in October in Nevada just outside Vegas. We're really looking forward to this unique race. Check out the link to read about it.

Hospital Anniversary

A couple weeks ago marked six years of being out of the hospital. It’s the second longest stretch since my first time being hospitalized in 1997.

This time of year can often be a challenge. The days are still short and the weather’s still cold. Oftentimes I get down this time of year, but this year has been one of the best Februarys I can remember.

Being hospital-free feels good. There’s a lot of little things I do to stay mentally healthy, and another year out of the hospital confirms that I’m doing a lot of things right. In her book, “Preventing Bipolar Relapse,” by Ruth C. White, the author uses the acronym SNAP, which stands for sleep, nutrition, activities, and people.

To stay mentally healthy, I try to keep all these things in mind in my daily activities. I go to bed about the same time every night. Most days I get at least five servings of fruits and vegetables. I also keep a workout routine and keep people in my life who help me stay mentally healthy.

And while I do my best to stay mentally healthy, part of staying out of the hospital has been help from my friends and my family. I receive a lot of understanding and support, especially from my wife. Without her understanding and sacrifices (like taking care of the kids' middle-of-the-night wakeups), along with reminding me to take my pills, I would not be where I am today, and I almost definitely wouldn't be hospital-free for this long.

Home Update

There have been a lot of highlights this year, so here comes some more.

In May we went down to Nebraska to celebrate our niece's graduation.

The two little ones got to run races this spring. The youngest one won her age group (granted the biggest one of her races had three toddlers in it).

The kiddos got to spend the summer at Children's Country Day School.

The older kiddo and I got to have our annual tradition of camping in Laura's sister's backyard.

We got to take a trip to visit my side of the family to Okoboji, Iowa and Nofolk, NE. Some highlights included waterparks in both Iowa and Nebraska, running and riding on the Cowboy trail, and some dinosaurs at a gas station.

 

A big highlight of the summer was having both the kids vaccinated. 

Swimming at Country Day was another highlight of the summer.

The older one got to do circus school.

We got enjoyed some time at Camp Omega where Laura and I met when we were camp counselors.

We got to spend some time at the beach at Lebanon Hills Regional Park.

Family bike ride to Dairy Queen!

A trip top Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater.

We got to go to Wicked in Minneapolis with some friends. Great show!

First day of first grade,

First day of Preschool 1.

Afton Apple Orchard:

Stay tuned for my next round of home updates. Who knows? Maybe I'll catch up by the end of the year

Running Update

In some ways, running has been going pretty well. I've hit 40 miles for a couple weeks in a row, and I've been pain-free during all of my runs.

Over the past few years my foot and ankles had been giving me some problems, but since adding metatarsal pads and Superfeet insoles, things have been much better.

In other ways, I'm not thrilled about my running. My speed just isn't coming back to even close to where it was before my foot problem. I'm trying to be patient and hope that at least some of my speed will come back. I've already resided myself to the fact that I'll never PR in any standard distance again, but it's still hard to accept.

I'm training for a marathon, and I'm trying to balance home responsibilities and spending time with the kids with putting in more time running and strength training.

When this marathon is over, I'll start to reevaluate what my running will look like.

Run well.

Home Update

 For this woefully neglected blog, I thought I'd bring a couple new posts to share some goings on in my life. I thought I'd start with a highlight reel of our family's first four months of the year.

In January, our little ones turned two and six. We keep telling them to stop growing up, but they just won't listen.

In February, we made a trip down to Pensacola, Fla. to visit Laura's parents, get out of the cold, and spend some time on the beach. I enjoyed getting in some runs on ice-free paths.

Our six-year-old got to do swimming lessons and skating lessons this winter. It was fun watching him skate around after just a little practice.

We did a lot of snow time again this winter. It's nice to have a little hill in our yard.

No particular reason for this photo. I just think it's cute.

I took the older one ice fishing a couple times. No luck. The younger one joined us for this photo, but didn't do any actual fishing.

Mom and son on Valentine's Day

Teaching possibly the most important game to our future neurosurgeon.

Easter!

After the pandemic put a damper on our social life, a much needed night out with friends.

We got to celebrate some Boston runners, including my friend Brittany. I had the privilege writing her training plan.

The kids joined Laura for a walk for Team Caroline and toughed it out in the rain.

Stay tuned for another post. I might try to get this blog going again.