So Much Stuff Going on In My Small Brain

One of the firsts things I do in the morning is get my coffee and then I kick my wife off the computer. I proceed to check Facebook first, I guess this is my way of getting the news on what is going on in the world and what is going on with people whom I care about. I guess I look as it as a one stop resource to get caught up on the things that are relevant to me. This morning two things I really could not shake from my mind Syria and something Mike Huckabee posted .

I want to start with Syria and get to Huckabee on a future date. I posted this on my Facebook page the other day;

"I guess I am not understanding why we need to get involved in Syria. It is horrible what is going on over there , but why do we need to get involved?"

I received several responses to it , most of which did not support a strike on Syria. I agree that we should not do anything militarily in Syria , but what can be done? I really do not know the answer to that. 

What a horrible situation ... but what should be done about it?

I do feel that we have backed ourselves into a corner with statements about red lines and such, so we need to do something about the situation there. I also feel that the red line statement that was made by our President was made a year ago when he felt that he had the backing of the international community on the situation in Syria , which we now obviously do not. So I don't fault him for backing away from those comments , but he could've handled it more gracefully and he could have used that statement as a way to get out of the conflict altogether. What I mean by this is that he could have explained that the comments were made when he believed that the world was behind him when he made those comments, now that Syria  has crossed the red line by using the chemical weapons (although we do not know if it was the government or the rebels that used them) he has realized that the world is not willing to back him up on the use of force in Syria, and even though he disagrees he will respect the worlds wishes and try to work with the United Nations  some alternate way to deal with the horrible situation in Syria.

Maybe there is a way out 

This actually would work for a few reasons. This would shift the the focus to the U.N. ( Obama has a long history of shifting the focus and blame to people), it gets him out of the "Red Line" comment and gets us out of possible military actions in a country we have no business being in. It will ease our relations with Russia, who now is saying that it would protect Syria against any air strikes that the U.S. may launch. 

The next thought I have on Syria is I think we finally found something that is not split along party lines, there are republicans who are supporting the president and there are democrats who oppose him. This is the only thing that I find encouraging about the topic is that we actually have politicians who are thinking for them selves and are not following the marching orders that they are given by the parties that they happen to be affiliated with. I only hope that this would continue on all decisions that are made in our country. 

That is it on Syria, I will get to Huckabee's post soon

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What I Think About While I Am Running For a VERY Long Time

It was around 5:15 am when I got up this morning to start preparing to go for a run. It truly was a battle as I looked over at my wife as she was sound asleep and I wish that I could be as well. Thoughts were pouring through my head like, " You can skip today , you have done well , you deserve to go back to bed" and "Maybe you are sick, you deserve to have a sick day". I fought it off and went downstairs to make a cup of coffee and start getting my body ready for an 18 mile run.

I got out the door around 6:30 am and started to go. I have to tell myself to conserve energy because not only do I have several miles ahead of me, I have decided to add some steep hills . I just tell myself to relax and listen to the music on my IPOD. The song that was on was "Trailorhood" by Toby Keith . I quickly let my mind wonder to the following topics (in no particular order):

•  I think about how cool it is going to be to line up at a race that I have dreamed about running since I put on my first pair of running shoes . I imagine what it will be like to run the five boroughs of New York City with my brother . This keeps me going for a few miles this morning.

• I question my training as well, I see what my friend is doing preparing for the same race and I think that I am doing too much too soon, that I might burn out or peak too early . I calm down by telling myself that if I want different results, then I have to train differently . 

• I think about Syria and the issues that are there, I so badly want to post something about it on Facebook, but decide against it. I know I am sick of the political posts , including the anti-Obama posts, I just don't want to add to it. 

• Then this comes on my IPOD: 

I immediately think of my sister who is a big Parry Gripp fan. I haven't seen my sister in a while and hopefully she will be there to cheer me and my brother on on November 3rd.

•  During my runs I process a lot about my life , I think about how proud I am of my son. I think he has found something he really likes in Cross Country. I hope it continues to be that way. I think of Melly and how fast she is growing up . I think a lot about my wife and how lucky I am that she still puts up with me after 15 years of marriage and almost 20 years of being together.

• I also get many Blog entry ideas, which I always forget after I am done. If I can figure out a way to blog while run I would be one happy man

• When I run that is when I feel closest to my Dad who past away last year, I wonder if he is proud of me and of the changes I have made over the past few years. I also at the same time feel close to God and thank Him for giving me the opportunity to run . I don't go to church much anymore so my long runs have sort of taken over for that.  Some song usually triggers it , today it was this one.

• Then it starts , the doubting. I try to talk myself out of finishing the run, that I have had enough. I spend the last few miles fighting this. Most of the time I finish, but sometimes I do let myself quit. What keeps me going is the fact that I like to post my workouts on Facebook , not that anyone really cares what I do, but by posting the workouts it keeps me honest. I don't want to admit to quitting .

I finally finish 18 miles in 2 hours and 36 minutes, time to re-hydrate, nap and take pain meds

Major Announcement

The official NYC Marathon Song.

Every one of the marathons I ran in had it's own song. I just can't think of a better song than this for the big one on November 3rd. I have to say I am enjoying training for New York more so than any other marathon!

Right here right now, there is no place I would rather be!

The Everyone Must Win Generation

Watch this and I will explain my thoughts on this :



Apparently the "Jeopardy" officials did not give credit to a kid who spelled the final answer wrong and this is causing a big stir and a ton of backlash against the show's decision to not count the answer.  The kid is complaining that he was cheated out of money because of just a spelling error. I guess that many people are on the kids side.

I am not.

I do not watch Jeopardy and haven't watched it for years, but I assume that the rules are communicated to each contestant before they are on the show . I am also sure that the contestants understand that the judges rulings are final . Does the kid have a right to complain? Sure he does, but what gets me is the anger that people feel towards the game show because of this. This can only be explained by the fact that many people believe that we can not let our children feel disappointment. That we need to bend the rules so everyone can win.

Bull honky!

Another example of this is how they "grade" the kids at our local school. They use pluses and minuses instead of number or letter grades. I have talked to parents and some teachers about this and they would rather use the more traditional system because it better communicates how well or poorly the child is doing in school. I agree.

I hated bringing home my report card because I knew that my parents would not be pleased with my grades, but by the grading standards that are used in some of the school's today , I would have looked like a good student.We worry too much about the child's feelings today. There is a feeling that if a child does not achieve their goals then we have to give it to them anyway.

Kids need to learn what it is to not achieve a goal, to lose a game ,to overcome something that may seem unfair. This builds a stronger person , someone who can take something that may be a negative and turn it into a positive.Losing is not a bad thing when we use it to better ourselves, kids today need to learn that.

When I was in 7th grade, the basketball team I played on lost every single game that we played. We were 0-16 . We didn't complain. We vowed that we would be better and we won our league championship the next season because we learned to use that 0-16 year as motivation.

So parents, it is ok if your child doesn't win, teach them by your words and your actions that you can learn much more about yourself when you lose.

At a Plateau,But I Can Still See More to Climb

There comes a point in every runners competitive life that you start to see a decline in your performance . It becomes harder to set personal records and harder to reach goals that you have set for yourself. This usually comes even though that runner gives his/her all during training , but nature just takes over.

I am not sure if this applies to my situation or not. I have run four races and have had disappointing results in all 4. Yes I have won awards in 3 out of the four, but my times are much slower than I had hoped . I have tried to attribute these to many things , such as health issues, haven't done enough speedwork and things like that. But this could be the beginning of my decline.

If it is how do I accept that?

Honestly, if I do accept the fact that I am starting to decline and showing my age, that means that I am giving up. I think I need to continue to train hard and let the chips fall where they may. I think that if you give something everything you got and don't achieve your goals , then you can live with yourself , if you give up before trying or use something like getting older as an excuse then you will have a hard time looking at yourself in the mirror.

I still see much more peaks that I need to climb . I may not succeed at climbing all of them, but I know I won't succeed if I don't try.

The World of Running is Forever Changed

I have felt it.

You can not line up at the starting line of any race without feeling the world of running has changed since April 15, 2013. There is a certain fear for both participants and those who watch , what if it happens again? I have to say I have been thinking about this frequently lately.

The bombings at the finish line in Boston at the marathon have forever changed the way organizers plan for races. There are new rules that are in place, more security measures and just a different feel to races . I have ran three races since then and you can definitely feel the change . The mindset of the runners and spectators have changed as well.

The best example I can think of was this years Buffalo Marathon. I have run larger marathons before and there was always security , but not like this. There were helicopters flying overhead, several Coast Guard Boats in the water and police and security at every turn . You knew there were eyes everywhere, I felt secure, but I still worried , not for me but for the spectators , particularly my biggest fan , my wife.

She was downtown , in with the crowds , if anything like Boston were to happen in Buffalo then it would most likely happen there. I was a moving target, she was stationery . Although I knew that the chances of anything happening were almost zero, it still doesn't erase the fear or put the thought out of your head.

On Monday July 15th I start training for the biggest race of my life , the ING New York City Marathon. I have always dreamed of running this race since I put on my first pair of running shoes  . Although I am super excited I do worry about my wife , my sister and my sister in law, who will be watching me and my brother run the five boroughs of New York. Am I putting them in harms way because I am being selfish?

I know the answer to that is no. They are grown adults who make their own decisions . Also I know that New York will be the most secure place on the planet that day, but again it doesn't stop the fear of something happening to them.

Then this morning I read an article about Bill Iffrig. 

Bill Iffrig

He is a 78 year old runner from Washington state. You know him as the man in the orange tank top who was knocked down by the blast at the finish line in Boston. He got back up and finished the race. 

I guess that is what we runners do, we press on. We fight through many obstacles such as weather, injuries and other environmental challenges just so we can experience running across that finish line again. The people who watch us give everything that we have to cross that line want to experience that with us  , that is why they are there. It is a relationship that should never be torn apart by fear of something happening, because if it does then the terrorists have won.