This Time... The Humans Won

Let me apologize upfront to any animal activists, PETA people, Greenpeace, vegetarians, pescatarians, liberatarians, green party, republicans, democrats, independents or any one else that this post may offend, but I am an omnivore and I do eat animals. Funny, Marion had just post on her blog, Shut it and Run, about encountering road kill on runs and commented about Tammy whipping up some tasties with the flattened critters (jokingly people!). Funny she should have mentioned road kill though, which we have a lot of here in Bedford Township, as I went to a wild game dinner at the Erie Fire Department this evening with my friend, Jeremy, as a guest of his dad. Jeremy had smoked a couple of turkeys for the dinner - I know, you're wondering where did he get big enough wrappers and... how do you keep them lit? - which were excellent as usual! So I had a variety of game for dinner including salmon, venison, caribou, elk, buffalo, duck, pheasant, rabbit, squirrel, alligator, turtle, ostrich, and yes, even kangaroo - which was quite tasty I should add. I may have ingested some other animals that I am not aware of too. The food was very well prepared and this is the best game dinner that I have ever attended as far as the food preparation goes. It was a great evening with a great friend and his family and friends. Heard a couple of cool successful elk hunt stories in northern Michigan this past fall from a local woman and man and also Jimmy Gretzinger, from Michigan Out-Of-Doors, was a special guest who related some humorous stories from his adventures in the field. So, thanks Mr. Floyds (both of you) for the great evening, I really appreciate you guys thinking of me for this dinner!

Brisk 10 Miles

This was on my way out the door for my 10 miler this morning. It was a wee bit chilly this morning so I bundled up pretty good with a tech t, long sleeved tech t, turtle neck, and fleece pullover, and with long johns under my nylon, lined running pants. It was 16F with a wind chill of 2F when I headed out. It really wasn't that bad starting out. I went north on Lewis and was going to head west on Erie, but the blasted 18 mph wind was out of the west and I was not going to battle that in these frigid of temps. So, I continued on up to M151 and turned around heading back south on Lewis and into Lewiston Estates where I made my way to Sterns. I was really getting gased and wondering where this elusive "runner's high" was and when the endorphins would kick in at this point and just before mile 6 had to stop and walk, so I took this opportunity to down a Shot Block to try and help out my fatigue. I looped my way through the subdivision over to Jackman Road and back to Lewis for the home stretch. The last mile seemed like 10. It was a tough run and the only "runner's high" I had was at the finish of it. So, here I am coming in from my run with a bit of frostiness notable on my hat and forehead and my upper lip as numb as the dentist has ever gotten it. :-)

From Dread to Awe

I did not want to run when I got home from my travels yesterday. In fact, I was dreading it. I was hoping to have finished up my inspections and get home about 4:00 so I could get my run in before dark. I didn't get home till around 5:35 so, that didn't happen. I thought about blowing it off, but then I thought that the 26.2 miles I will be running in April does not care who's running it or if they blew off some runs during their training. The 26.2 miles will simply be tough. Then I thought, I can't let Marion get too far ahead of me in mileage in the pace groups either. So, after lovin' on my beautiful wife for a bit and irritating my girls, I changed into my running gear and headed out. It was a bit of drudgery initially, but then something happened. The earpieces to our awesome $10 GPX am/fm stereo were hurting my right ear, not to mention not working in that ear, so I took it off and turned off the radio. It was a marvelous night, not too cold, winds calmed substantially, and it was peaceful and quiet. I was also treated to running under a blanket of stars and a bright moon, like that above, that I gazed at a bit too long at one point and found myself on the front lawn of the Bedford Library. My dread had been transformed into awe. I'm glad I went.

Focus, Grasshopper, Focus

I was on my way back from my inspections yesterday afternoon, the last having been north of Detroit and was heading south down I-75 about 4:40 p.m., not the place you want to be on a Friday afternoon with the North American International Auto Show going on in the City of Detroit and every auto enthusiast from Germany to Sweden to Japan and every car manufacturer in the U.S., etc. in town for the dang thing. Oh, I should say at this point, Bob (my boss) and Chelsea (my driving 16 year old with a cell phone addiction whom I have warned not to use whilst driving) should quit reading here. Anyway, so I decide to give our family friend, Amy, a call to thank her for an encouraging note and a couple of timely articles on parenting teens she sent me ealier in the week following a great dinner conversation we had the Friday before. As I am having this great phone conversation with her and thanking her for her thoughtfulness, I somehow missed staying on the freeway in the heavy rush hour traffic and ended up SMACK DAB in downtown Detroit! AHHHH! The traffic, the people, the craziness! Needless to say I excused myself from the conversation with Amy (sorry Amy for the abrupt stop to the call) to try and extricate myself from downtown Detroit. The upsides (2 of them actually) was I was stopped at a red light waiting to make a u-turn right in front of the Renaissance Center (GM World Headquarters for you non-Michiganders) and got this cool shot of it from my windshield. The other upside was that when the light turned green, I missed hitting two vehicles and two pedestrians, one of which gave me some sort of a hand signal(?), while making my u-turn and got right back on the freeway within about 5 minutes of my little blunder. Yippee! So, that was my drive home yesterday, the rest of which was uneventful, other than a nice conversation with my sis, Vicky, whom I hadn't really talked to since Christmas.

Trappings of Expectations and First Impressions

My birthday is in November, the 11th in case you want to send me gifts, and this past birthday, my oldest daughter, and my original running inspiration, Chelsea, very thoughtfully had gotten me the new Eagles double cd. I was tremendously excited about this gift as I am a HUGE Eagles fan. Perhaps being so, I had higher than normal expectations for the tracks on the cd and, after my initial listening in the car on my way down to Columbus back in November, I was thoroughly unimpressed and sadly disappointed with the cd.

Well, I have listened to the cd's on several more occassions since then, the last time being yesterday while driving around on my inspections, and I have changed my opinion. The songs are growing on me and, what I had initially judged as mundane music from this group, I am now growing to love. This experience has been a valuable reminder for me of something I am all-too-often guilty of, which is judging on first impressions and personal expectations. First impressions are important, and oftentimes can be accurate, however, don't "bank on it/them" and in so doing, possibly miss out on some sort of a blessing. In this case for me, awesome music by an awesome band that I love. I also need to temper my expectations of others, especially those most near and dear to me. Chels, you've done an awesome job this year in XC, school, and your new responsibilities with driving and your first job and I pray you keep it up. Thank you for the GREAT gift and especially the reminders that came with it!

You make me proud! ;-)

Today's Agenda - Not That You Care

I'll be on the road today for work for most of the day doing inspections. Today's route is to the left. The body of water on the bottom of the map is Lake Erie and above is Lake St. Clair for those not familiar with Michigan. I am working Bob. :-) Bob's my boss, and a good one, and hopefully looks in on this inanity every once in a while. His blog is in my right sidebar, which updates the condition of his wife, Bettyjo, who has had a nightmare, to put it mildly, of an experience following what should have been a "routine" cervical fusion surgery prior to Easter last year, the severe complications of which continue to this day. So, if you pray, please keep the Zachrich family in your prayers as they really could use the uplifting and encouragement through this. When I get home I have a medium long run to do, hopefully not in the dark. I am SO glad the days are getting longer. Tammy and the girls are going to a "Body Shop" party this evening hosted by our friend, Tami, not to be confused with Tammy, soooo.... I borrowed the whole Bourne movie series from Tammy's cousin, Seth, last night and am having a guy's movie night at home tonight with Carsen, our dog. Although, I kinda think Carsen will probably sleep through most of the movies. Speaking of last night, we had a great dinner made by Tammy's Aunt Rose with her and Seth, and Tammy's Mom and Dad. Thanks again so much, Aunt Rose, the dinner was awesome! That should have been obvious though by how much I ate! GAH! I wish I would stop doing that! Beat you to the punch, Uncle Jeff! See, he was going to comment on my blog here on what a pig I made of myself at dinner and how I am breaking one of my 2008 Goals (previously posted) to "quit eating when I am full." Nice try though, just like Marion, who keeps trying to get past me in running mileage for the year and may, temporarily, today. Well, lots to do today, so I best get at it. Have a great day everyone! :-)

Rest

Today is a day of rest. As much as I am itchin' to lace 'em up and get out there to get some miles in (and stay ahead of Marion and the pace bunny), I have to resist the urge. With race training, rest is as vitally important as getting runs in are. The body needs time to heal, restore, renew, and refresh, which this time of rest allows. My good friend and kind of a "running mentor" to me, Dianna, reminded me of this yesterday. She kinda felt that I may have been slower in my 10 mile race last Sunday because I had run too much prior to it and not properly rested my body as a runner should. I think she is probably right and, since she has been running for like 20+ years, I think I will heed her advice and fight the urge to go out today. Darn you Marion! I hope it's icy as can be in South Carolina today and you can't get out to run! Sorry, I digressed into a little competitiveness.

Heck, even Jesus called us to rest at times saying, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. Anyway, I am a bit weary today and my right leg a little sore, so like our most loved family dog in the pic above, Carsen, I will be physically resting today, and everyday in Jesus.

ps - Dad does not condone Carsen's sloth on the couch in the family room. He has his OWN bed and... he is not at his pappa and grandma's who let him sleep wherever he wants!

Busy Evenings

Yesterday was kind of a typical evening in our family. Tammy was going to go to coffee with her girlfriends (which is a-typical as she does not get enough time for herself and never has) from church round 5:00, which I am always thankful she gets to do... gets to vent about me and all offer support for each other for the knuckleheads their husbands can be. Hey! I'm a realist and I know I am a knucklehead when it comes to being a husband and father... on RARE ocassions. Seriously, I'm sure that is not ALL that they talk about... I hope.

So, Lindsey had to be picked up from b-ball practice (she made the 7th grade team this year) at 5:00, then I had to run her over to the foot doc for continued assault on a nasty wart on her left foot that just won't go away. We got back home a little before 6:00. I whipped up some spaghetti and garlic toast for her and I (Chelsea was working at 5:00). Scarfed down the dinner and cleaned up the kitchen as best as I could. I grabbed my horn, kissed Linds goodbye, and headed over to my awesome friend and CrossRoads worship brass team leader, Jeremy's, house to meet with the rest of the team (Leo, Vicki, Barry, and Marky-Mark) around 6:30 to listen to and select some music to start working on for this year. His oldest son, Jarred, had just fractured his ankle a couple of days ago sliding down the basement stairs in a box! Didn't surprise me as his boys are very much boys! :-)

We finished up there around 9:00 and I headed home to dump off my horn and music and let Tammy know I had to run up to the fire station to clean my area for the week (it has to be done by Wednesday night at midnight... see, I've said before and I'll say it again, I am the KING of procrastinators!). Missed the second new season show of American Idol, but got my area cleaned and was getting ready to head out when my station house officer, Jim, showed up to do his area around 10:30 (Ok, so maybe I am NOT the king of procrastination, but most certainly a court jester at least!). Had a great conversation with Jim for quite a time. It was good to talk with him like that as I haven't in awhile. He's a great husband, father, and fire department officer, even if he does have issues with timeliness. HA! Pot calling the kettle black! I was glad to get a chance to remind him though that I respected the husband, father, and officer he is.

Left the fire station and got home round 11:40, showered and asleep by midnight. A busy, but good and well-rounded evening, other than not being able to see enough of my family. Thank you Tammy, Lindsey, and Chelsea for your tolerance of all my "busyness". I love you all more than you know! Muah!

Lovely 5 Mile Run With Lovely Company

Had a great 5 mile run on a beautiful winter day perfect for running with a beautiful woman this afternoon. It was brisk, about 32, but sunny, light winds and just gorgeous outside. A great afternoon to run with my best friend and honey! She's so tough too, after about a mile and a half she was down to runnin' in a t-shirt! GAH! Here I am in a hoodie, with a hat and gloves on and she's runnin' next to me in a t-shirt. I probably looked like a candidate for Wuss of the Year! I run a lot by myself so, it's always great to be able to run with Tammy. I appreciate the blessing of being able to be with her in moments like this afternoon more and more every day. She's quite simply, awesome and I am crazy about her. :-)

The Tortoise and the Hare

I may be slow like the tortoise, but I am steady. Marion thought she and her little hare of a running self was going to catch up to this turtle in mileage today. This tortoise had different plans. Keep on keepin' on, Marion... see you on the other side of 1,000! ;-)

See my Pace Groups on the right sidebar and Marion's (user name JustMarion) futile attempts, along with her hare-friend, to try and catch this tortoise (user name rvelich).