Walt Disney World Marathon 2019 recap, Jan 13th 2019

One of the reasons I appreciate and enjoying taking on a marathon is that it has the potential to be one of the greatest teachers to life that one can learn from. It was after my last marathon, my 6th one, that this really became apparent when I went through my second hell race (hitting the wall hard and early and having to suffer, rather than compete, until the end of the line). And it's funny to think before i ever undertook a marathon that I would ever do more than one...but looking back each one has been a teacher in different ways, and to varying degrees, and there is still more i want to learn, experience, and soak up while I can as I continue to embark on this physical test that doubles as a reflector to your own interior make up and fortitude. With each one, we certainly carry our own preparations and expectations, but what you will find as you encounter the challenge that there still is that element of unknown fortune that will show up on race day....and that is why also I like it. Ultimately we can not control every variable, but we try to give ourselves the best chance, and we learn how to spend those saved up coins of fitness more wisely each time we go about the race, yet we march on with that bit of uncertainty that things can go south, or just as unexpectedly better than we hope, all while it unfolds before us.

about a year ago i was looking ahead to see what marathon I would give a go next, and with our third child arriving in April, I had the second half of the year to look towards. I, for the second year in a row, applied for New York Marathon via lottery, but when i didn't get in, and also when I discovered the Disney marathon was run in January, and that we were looking to take a family trip with our other children to visit the parks, it made sense that - while a year away, the Disney marathon 2019 would work well. I'm still in the mode of wanting to try new marathons rather than repeats, and this one was appealing in that it lined up with our vacation and was a nice big event, something memorable.

My recent posts tell you, without having to repeat too much here, that I had gotten myself in shape well enough to garner a PR this past November and that certainly was the beginning of small thoughts toward the potentiality of a new marathon PR, though I still considered it more unlikely than likely. As training continued well with long runs in December through some naturally hilly runs in Charlotte, my target eyes grew a bit more as I considered the flat terrain I would be working with down in Orlando. I felt it was about 50/50 going in to grab a PR, and when pressed, my answer to goal was 2:58-3:04 (as that would be nice to earn another BQ at this stage in my running). that is about 6:48-7:02 pace per mile.

The taper had gone well, and the carb loading also going into the race weekend. A nice Italian dinner at carrabas in Savannah Friday night, a shake out jog Saturday morning, a Mahi Sandwich for lunch the day before after the race expo, and a fantastic buffet at Chef Mickey's at Disney's Contemporary Resort for a pre race dinner where I opted for much pasta (and a Long Island Iced Tea!) served my diet well. I was hydrating well, as the weather was calling for 60 degree with 90% humidity and even an email to all runners to be advised of less than perfect weather and a caution to perhaps forget not going for an attempted best.

The wake up was earlier than anything I had ever woken up for. The last bus was leaving at 3:30 am from our resort at Disney's the Art of Animation, and so I figured looking back I got about 4 hours and change of sleep, with a wake up call at 2:55. A front row seat on the bus with a pleasant conversation with the bus driver who was a Vietnam Vet still in extraordinary shape started my day, as I brought with me coffee, a bagel and some peanut butter which I would eat around 4:15-30. From the bus drop off the runners are held in a parking lot complete with a full pre party stage that held a DJ (yes, working it and playing loud music). It was basically a late night club vibe except everyone was sober and wearing short shorts. Quite the scene at 4am! I continued to drink water after my coffee to make sure i was hydrated, and probably went to the bathroom about 5 times before the gun went off. once i break the seal i am guaranteed multiple times going.

I got to my A corral about 5 mins before the start as they were beginning to sing the national anthem, and I was feeling ready and good. The gun went off under the dark 5:30am sky, clear and star and moonlit, and I was off with 11,000 other marathoners. Even though i was in the A corral, behind the elites, I was not in the front of A and so the first mile was quite a bit of dancing around the crowds to where i could get into my pace, and so my first mile split put me behind the 8 ball with a 7: 17 split. Doing quick math in my head, I realized at about 30 seconds behind optimal goal pace I'd have to hit about 6 miles of 6:40 to make it up. When I thought about this i was a bit frustrated at how just one mile can really effect such a long race as a marathon, but I had the experience to not worry, as the marathon still had more than 2 hours and 50 mins for many things to unfold. Also, I was a bit agitated at this point as I already had to pee! I knew i wasn't going to hold it forever, but I wanted to not give in right away for the thought that if I was to go this early, it could lend itself to having to go again still early in the race, and so I used the opportunity to practice patience and my mind to go elsewhere. 6:42 split the second mile, and so I was pleased that I was moving in the right direction to start chipping away at the deficit I had put myself in. The first couple miles of the race send you off on wide open highways leaving Epcot towards Magic Kingdom, and around mile 3 you see the entrance to the first Park of the day. I was comfortable with the next 6:43 and as the next couple of miles led us through Magic Kingdom, complete with running literally through Cinderellas castle, the flair that makes the Disney marathon special was really shining through. The spectators, characters, music, and lit up park made it an outstanding environment and scenery and increased the race adrenaline as i continued to stay on pace with high 630s and low 640s through the park and past mile 6 until we exited and were on a dark road on mile 7 that i gave in to my bladder  and pulled over to empty the liquids. This was a full 30 second pee break. Part of holding it seemed to fill the bladder more and thus take longer for it to empty. I hated losing that time but it's part of the race and most runners have to go through it. Only once I believe have I not had to stop for bathroom (Charlotte 2011). about 10 runners passed me, and I kept the group in my sights as I got back into pace. 

I tried to have some small surges to chop away at lost time and my 8th mile was about 5 seconds faster than my miles yet, with a 6:33. the next couple of miles i started passing those guys that passed me, and took my first of 3 Maurten energy gels (actually had this around mile 7, right around pee time). Character photo ops continued to line the streets, as did Disney music as well as DJs on stages blaring loud pump up music. At mile 10-12 there was this long straightaway on a wide road that did an out and back, with screens playing inspirational music and movie clips that got me going along with seeing the faster runners make their way ahead of me as i noticed their stride and determination on their face that helped keep me focused and reactivated to a sense of purpose and pursuit. Seeing these fast male and female runners out in front leading a charge got my focused as i was about to begin the second half of the race. 

We were finally led into our second park, Animal Kingdom where we would cross the half way point, for me, as the sun was rising, and the music was sounds of African Serengeti tunes and live animals awaking as well in their habitat, occurring around 7am. I started to get a surge of adrenaline as I was half way home and still feeling comfortable on my pace for a PR, crossing in just under 129. I was about ready to take my second energy gel as we exited the park, and I started to gap the nearby runners behind me and began to close in on some runners ahead.

We made the exit and through the parking lot out onto the highways of Orlando that would take us to the next Park. Here, the course was long wide and straight, with plenty of good views of runners ahead to put in my sights. These were miles 15, 16, and 17 - all straight away with some moderate ascents as we over-passed highways underneath about two different times. The population was sparse, but there were several loud official stops with blaring speakers playing inspirational loud rock and roll and various other pump up music along the way. This is the stretch I began to feel a bit of a toll on the legs from the pace, and had to start running on faith and focus.

We entered ESPN Wide World of Sports at mile marker 18, and here, for the next 2+ miles would run around the campus that included sports fields, a 400m running track, and the outfield of a baseball stadium which was seated with spectators and a guy on the PA announcing our names and places of residence on the loudspeaker, providing a nice little boost of motivation. This park was peppered with tight turns and narrow chutes which made for some tougher miles, but i was holding still to a sub 6:45 pace. My fastest mile of the day was the 18th where I hit 6:28, followed by 6:42, and 6:44 for my 20th mile. We exited the park on the 21st mile, and this is where I started to put into focus my last 10 kilometers of the race to execute, having done the work so far for 20 miles. At this point I was on my 3rd and final energy gel, and it started to go down not as easy as the other 2. A little bit of nausea, and some upper GI pains began to creep in, but I had to ignore that as best I could and begin the "hanging on" part of the race, as I also was trying to begin my most focused part of "letting go" to caution and leave all I had out there.

Around mile 13 or so, I began to think about how I felt like I was holding back, with the adrenaline making the pace seem easy, and still having so much more to go. The marathon is all about patience and then determination. The first half (13 miles) you have to make sure you get to your point on pace, but it feels like you are running with the brakes on. It's a race, but it doesn't really feel like it, as the mental part is a repeated "hold back" mantra. You see runners ahead and you cannot let your competitive race instincts kick in, going after them. You have to be methodical. Then from the half way point to mile 20, you still have to hold back, knowing that the last 6 miles a lot of bad things can happen the way fatigue will jump on your back in a hurry, and can cause you to derail all the work you have done.  20 miles of 26 is 76% of the race, and so I will tell you - three fourths of the race you are "holding back" and the last quarter of the race, you are "holding on/letting go" - trying to keep it together while also letting all the gas out of your tank so that you are completely empty at the finish line.

that 22 mile i really started feeling the exhaustion in energy, and some soreness in the legs, but I was not red lining it so I kept going, as we went up another overpass. A hill here was very challenging, but there was a Toy Story Army Man with a megaphone barking out military like exhortations and encouragement. I played to him and pointed to him and gave him a firm look, and he subsequently bolted out more encouragement which propelled me up the ramp, to where i was able to ride the down ramp and into mile 23, as i passed another runner.

These last 3 miles of the race were the hardest, and the suffering seemed to exponentially increase here. That 24th mile we jut into the 4th park, Hollywood Studios, and while there was much attractions along the way, I had lost the ability to take in my surroundings. I only had the capacity to focus on my will to keep going and hold on to the pace. With another park to navigate, the turns became tight again and the paths more narrow. This was intensely more challenging that the previous parks, but it didn't last long as this park is not very big. When I hit the 24th mile marker, I had a bit of a sense of relief that I only had two miles to go. This was a point I wanted to reach when the pain started because I knew once i got here, I told myself i just needed to hold on for one more mile, then let everything I had out that last mile. And so, that 25th mile began and I could sense the end being near, and that I was on pace to go 258 or faster as long as i didn't crumble. The only point really the whole day, a runner started coming up on me, as I was passing a couple runners ahead, and here he latched on to my shoulder and forced me to either give up - which i think would have mentally led me to slow down via just negative thoughts coming in that i was slipping, or try and push him and there by holding on to my pace. I chose the hard way by not letting him pass me, and this was the hardest part of the race for me. The next mile we ran stride for stride. He didn't make a move to pass me, and I was giving it all I could to stay one step ahead, and so we raced. Into the last mile, around the lake of the nations at Epcot, where the motivational loud music was replaces with common park Disney songs, smells of food and funnel cake wafting in the air, and the heat overhead and sun beginning to make things all that much warmer...all while I was in tremendous pain and battling the aforementioned bouts of nausea. With less than a mile to go, he passed me, and I couldn't fight back. I knew I had made it without falling off my pace and I simply just had to get to the finish line - about two laps around a track I told myself, and then I could start to feel better.

The finish lines stands started up ahead, and I was almost there. I was thinking of my family during the hard parts of the race, knowing they were going to be waiting for me at the end. Here, I was started to get emotional knowing I fought hard to not falter in, and was proud of my efforts. My daughter Avery made me a bracelet i wore during the race that i would look down on from time to time, knowing that I had people looking up to me, and that I wanted to run my best for her and all my family. The pics Disney took, you can see my face writhed in pain, more so than any marathon I have ever done. The battles of Boston and Chicago to finish were excruciating and hellacious, but this race was the hardest in it's own way of me fighting to hold on, and doing the best I have done so so far - through a faster pace than planned, and fighting the 90% humidity with low 60's temps and many many water stops taking me off rhythm. I will say i think my training in Charlotte with hills did prove to be an extra benefit to translating a faster time on this flat course. I saw the clock up in the distance at the finish line just tick up to 2:57, and I knew i was going to break 2:58. I saw my family just past the finish line...Grace, Avery, Arden, Katie, Debby, and Kristen, and I welled up with tears and emotion just having gone through the whole ordeal - the only other time getting that way in a marathon aside from my first one back in 2010. I gave them a smile and a high five, and kept going down the finishing chute, to catch up with them soon.

A great race event, a surprising PR, and a hard fought battle. 7th time was a charm.

From Official race results:
5 mile split: 34:14
10 Mile Split: 1:07:55
Half: 1:28.44
20 Mile: 2:14:30
Finish: 2:57:25 (6:46 ppm)

44th overall, 39th overall male, 8th in age group 35-40

Miles via Garmin: 7:16, 6:42, 6:43, 6:38, 6:43, 6:36, 7:05 (includes 30 sec pee break), 6:33, 6:34,
6:36, 6:33, 6:33, 6:38, 6:34, 6:34, 6:34, 6:36, 6:29, 6:42, 6:44, 6:33, 6:41, 6:41, 6:50, 6:47, 6:58, 3:27 (6:54 pace....watch measured an extra .3)

Raintree 21 miler

Started off immediately feeling a little better and recovered, having taken yesterday off and the runs before so slow, but still the first 5 miles I couldn’t get out of the slow funk I’d been in and sub 8 seemed still a bit of a chore. But after 5 miles, I took a Gu brand gel and that plus I guess just getting loose and warmed up I started to get in a little bit of a better rhythm. 5-9 as I ran down Rea and onto Bevington, I clipped away nicely and as I got into the 9th mile heading back towards the house I began to feel the first sign of fatigue. I’ll say the miles solo and with no headphones or anything seemed to go by peacefully and quickly. I made it back home as planned shortly after 10am where Mike Oelz was waiting for me to join in. I was at about 11.8 here, and I quickly grabbed my first ever Maurten gel and switched into my new Zoom Flys, and away we went. Holy cow. The immediate feel of the new shoes felt like someone gave me leg transplants. I had springs on my feet. I have never felt a show like this. The result was a dip below 7:30 pace, but I knew Oelz had to get warmed up and I didn’t want to get too eager so I actually backed off a bit as we settled into conversational pace. More hills as we ventured up Four Mile Creek, and the time started ticking away nicely with the company. At mile 16 Oelz wished to back off and allow me to go, which was fine. I was starting to feel the itch to drop some miles and wanted to capitalize in doing so at this point of the run. I turned into Ballantyne Commons and into Alexa here solo again, and got excited as I knew was going to complete 20 with out a collapse. More hills during this stretch and back out to Providence Rd where I was past 18 miles. On the sidewalk past Latin I started to glide with ease and joy, and realized I was going to reach home past 20 miles so I started thinking about this being a great Run where id finish it at 21. Down the home stretch I passed home at 20.5 and so tacked on an extra half mile and finished the run with my last mile being my fastest of the day. The second half of the run was also a big negative split. A great confidence boost with the wheel falling off last week, and to pull it off with all the hills today, I’m seeing the glass half full (only not fully full, in a perfect world I would have liked the overall pace quicker, but each run has its own design-how we go along with it is what counts). The Maurten gel surely was also a great weapon. That stuff gave me a big second wind. Hard to see myself getting to the pace that will yield a PR, which has been looming in my head since my half marathon PR in Nov., but the taper is here, and race day can have some magic-especially at Magic Kingdom?! :). 

running ruminations

one way to look at running is to consider the runner as a fitness receptacle vessel. the metaphor occurred to me on my run this evening as I was about 30 minutes into the run, and started to contemplate my current level of fitness. I've noticed I have gotten stronger overall physically and mentally being able to knock off runs of certain distance and pace with greater ease, as well as feeling my current state in this approaching summit of training before the taper where the compounded toll of the pyramid is being noticed. The notion of a receptacle comes to mind as I have gotten here by a building phase of stretching what I have been able to absorb, and then being able to fill a larger amount of fitness the next week, similar to a weight lifter who breaks his muscles, only to find them grown back in stronger after the recovery. And so, as a runner, we are either using the container of fitness that we have built, sustaining it, allowing it to shrink, or expanding it - pushing the envelope of our boundaries hoping that we might not shatter it too much, so we can have it repaired stronger and able to hold more fitness, as we then get it ready to put on display at our contest.

For me, tonight, it was with uncertain reservation that I eschewed my weighed option of pushing some miles on the run at a faster pace - a trade off of perhaps a better decision - in order to be ready to maximize my effort on the pinnacled 20 miler this weekend, by keeping tonight full duration in cruise control.

Alas, around the 7th mile, as I sauntered onto Strawberry Ln., did I serendipitously slide into some swifter segments of the final sail, at least in feeling. The run felt very nice and comfortable. I am in good spirits and ready to take on the outpouring of the rest of the final hard week into my container before I begin the sharpening and recovery into Disney

a return to the PR streets

as i thought of a title and settled on the above, it was just then that it dawned on my that my hometown marathon (and half...and 5k) annual event has provided the grounds for a perfect 1000 batting average of personal records in my running career. A lucky, 3 for 3...2 fulls and 1 half.

keeping with the theme of late to the party realizations, with not registering for the event until yesterday, and not even considering what a PR pace would mean...until last night as i lay in bed, the prospects of earning a lifetime best as even a thought at this seemingly unspectacular point in my running were not put into conscious, sub or otherwise, were only given with the slightest of possibility. 

The temperature and weather overall (aside from a *slight* headwind...only in places) were indeed spectacular, and my preparations- diet, sleep, health were all gracefully present....but my training seemed to - in looking back - only reveal a decent trajectory to approaching what i had done back when i was getting Half and Full PRs back in 2011-2012, still seeming a few months away - if i were to keep the discipline. Yet on a really good day, with everything working in my favor - and as i had mentioned, those things were checking off...perhaps i had a slim outside shot. And there before me, within the first two miles what laid before me was no doubt the secret ingredient that would launch me into a really good chance or keeping Charlotte perfect with it's doling out of running high-marks. 

Brian Baum was found moments before as we gathered at the start of the race, and with the gun - he, naturally, went, and i settled back - but quickly realizing the pace a bit swifter than anticipated.

For me, with running, you have to be disciplined. The marathon being the most requisite. Yet with the half marathon, it's not so short that you go into great lactic buildup with too quick a start like a 5k, and not so long that you bonk hard and have a death march like the full. Even the 10k i think can be a little more delicate with having to hold the thin line on pace, and endurance. The half no doubt is critical, but as an experienced runner may tell you - you know instinctively what your pace more or less feels like (usually) and what your pace/economy needs to be to keep it even, or with enough gas to still drop and not leave too much early race time out on the course. 

so there i was, with baum coming to me at mile 2...on a downhill...okay. I know i hit the downs a little faster than most given my longer legs, but i was not in a place that felt overwhelmingly too fast to sustain for 13.1 miles. something i think about, today being no different, is, if i'm ahead of the pace a little bit it at least gives me a cushion. Sometimes this backfires (see Chicago 2017), but sometimes if you are really being honest with yourself and feeling like a gambler, it can really pay off. Ideally, you might like to negative split, but sometimes you just have to go with it and hang on. That's what is inspiring me lately...i think from reading Bill Rodgers book "marathoning" where he basically just went for it and came out out of the gates into world class stardom by hitting it hard early. 

Another indicator i was in a little bit of uncharted territory was being in front of the Charlotte Running legend, Paul Mainwaring. Now, he was running the Full - so I won't pretend anything here, but we shot a few encouraging messages to each other last night and he told me he would be looking for 6:15 pace. What kind of got me wondering, was seeing Dan Matena at the Expo and his spurring me on to get after it and perhaps check in with those guys who might be hitting my pace. i don't think i was even serious about wearing flats until he gave me the gas to get in race mode. thankful for that. 

the first 3 miles were even. 607, and 1824 at three miles (didn't get mile 2) *note: my garmin was a bit off early from the downtime miles, perhaps pinging signals off the skyscrapers. 6:28 was my pace for my old PR, so there i was with a bit of that cushion i was talking about. At this point Baum was basically beside me (minimal) or just out in front. There wasn't much package around, with a group (paul, the winning female in the half, and another) and another guy who popped in and out for the first 8 miles....then Baum, also alone...playing carrot to my donkey :) 

on the rolling course, i would gain ground on the downhills and he would retake on the ups. Only once on the ups would i surge past him...going up providence for a bit when i felt my pace slack off and i knew it was too early to start succumbing to any thoughts of "where i should be". 

the course was laced with nice pockets of live music, speakers, and spectators encouraging and providing needed boosts to spur me along. to note: the live band on providence playing a song that escapes me now - a dixie tune with nice acoustic guitar, Bruce Springsteen "I'm on fire", brian's wife Sue on the bike cheering me, Megan Filnow cheering me, Hovis cheering me, a stranger on Morehead giving great encouragement (she seemed like a coach the way she knew what to say, seeing me), and a Rolling Stones tune - that is also escaping me at the moment (i'm a little tired writing this, while watching Bama and LSU) and of course the whole way of seeing Baum, being in front of the great Paul - for the first 8 miles...and being in place to get a PR with the clock ticking on my age! 

as Baum would go on to start making his gap grow from mile 9 (up morehead) to the end, i was able to hold on and knew - just from being aware of how i felt, that i could hang on to the pace if i stayed focused. Getting through latta park was a chore, but once I started going down on West Blvd and had a couple miles to go I ran with confidence and increased joy. I thought of a lot of things....all the runs i've done....my training....my family....my friends out there racing, here and elsewhere (josh brewer doing Shut In in Asheville)....and fed off any fan that offered support, in to the end. I also thought of my form, which lately i've paid more attention to, and really think it is key when you get tired as you can keep the fall off at bay with being aware and intentionally keeping as an efficient (think choppy....steps per minute) stride as can be. 

on the last 5k of the race I thought i was going to hold on to a sub 124, but closing I was easily in under 123....122:26 for a PR by 2 mins and 20 seconds.
*my official 10mile split was a PR (unofficial as splits don't technically count in running) - 1:02:34 (6:15 pace)...by almost 4 minutes!

what a joyous blessing it was to be able to etch a new PR on this almost 35 year old body after more than half a lifetime of running. onward we go! 

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3135171917 - splits via garmin (a little off)

https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/17795/IndividualResult/FNcN?#U31748639 - race results
13th overall, 6th age group 30-34, 12th male overall 6:18 pace

pulling

I've seemed to feel the pull to write more again, as of late. the blog was a labor of love when i began it when I had decided to undertake my first marathon, and while it took time, it seemed to really bring me balance, joy, and an outlet that i didn't know i had at my disposal to help vent thoughts and feelings that seemed to come in large doses when i ran. Running has always been a source of great thought, and contemplative time, but i guess it wasn't until i really began to open up and pen them on the blog that i found this great platform to help me sort through and organize and journal the life going on under my moving feet and in between my swirling thoughts. While you can see the entries have been pretty sparse since 2012, I have kept up an "old school" journal with real ink and paper, and that has been good, at least. But back to that pull...

I don't have as much time as i did when i was blogging regularly, but i sure seem to have just as much thought and content to write about. My current running is on a sustained high that hasn't been reached in perhaps 6 years, I am coaching for the first time - my old high school at that, I'm back to running with a watch and absorbing information, feeling more open to the Spirit all around us, manifesting itself in more ways I am discovering,  and on top of all that, i'm just feeling so richly blessed with a wonderful family of a beautiful wife and three daughters. I find, like running, and the things which eventually set us up with balance, harmony, self giving and emptying joy and peace, are the items that we work with through motivated intention rightly channel to staying properly formed, becoming those who become subjects of gravity toward,s with more ease and smoother course, to the weight of love.

and that is something we are wise to remember. love is part and parcel with a weight. the pull of love. someone once wrote, to love is to feel pain. And i think that is it's core, a suffering, a longing, something that carries such a tug to emote and lash in a myriad of directions, still all stemming from a root of Love....perhaps that is how we know it as simple yet loved human conscious children. and this mass of perception is because we can recognize and catch glimpses of something beyond...something that shows up in mysterious ways, that speaks of unchangeable love. unconditional love. love that is perfect and weightless. because it doesn't need an anchor. it loves all with purity. the creator of it, the manifestation of the weight of love, and blanket-er of it whose spirit is peace and comfort. who unveils windows into this love that encompasses all, even the definers of it, and those who let it open them up to trust, wonders, and comfort as we go...and as we be.


maybe a race this Saturday. stay tuned. 

20 years a runner

Give or take a day or two, today marked the 20th year anniversary of me being a runner, and on a special note, it also coincided with me returning to the very place that trek began - Charlotte Christian School - but this time not as an incoming freshmen beginning his first season of cross country, but as an assistant coach. 

I remember that first day at practice in 1998 in August pretty clearly. With basketball shoes, long basketball shorts, and a semi bowl hair cut I ran the same two warm up laps I ran today, 20 years later, and started the course of my life that would take me literally thousands of miles (and more to come) and began the bond of friendships that still last, as well as a love affair with running that for the most part has stayed true and matured over all those years. 

The same trails were traversed today as a 34 year old as they were as a 14 year old. The pace probably not much different either, or the duration, as today - while in better shape - I sought out and latched on to a group of freshmen runners who I tried to encourage and begin with my relationship as not only their coach, but as a fellow runner who wants to share my love and any wisdom I've picked up that may help them open their eyes and carry them along the way. 

It was only day one as a coach, with modest beginnings to whatever kind of coaching career may be in store, but it was nonetheless a very special and almost mystical symmetry to the first 20 years of  me being a runner...a label that I include with whatever else may go along with it, but one that I am proud of and love, and one that I hope to impart on those other fellow Knights off Sardis Road as we run those trails off McAlpine that have so many fond memories. 

dont fall apart on me tonight

as Bob Dylan is one of my all time favorite singer songwriters, and i guess overall people, considering what he has shared and given to the world, the title above is a very nice song from 1983 that he played with another of my favorite artists on, Mark Knopfler. I was playing it tonight while feeding the last bottle of the night to our 1 month old baby girl, not only singing along, but also singing it to her with the hopes that she would obey the commands in order to give us a peaceful night, which has not really been the case since she arrived in this world, as it is with most newborns.

i rearranged the desk to how i like it, for the first time since we have been in this house, and now with the new computer, i am once again beckoned to type some keys on this here blog.

Since my last post, I purchased a watch. Kind of big news, with it being one of the staples with runners, the fact that I haven't worn one in 3 years - let alone almost 6 with one that was a gps watch, and since my second to last post was ABOUT watch-less running! suppose that may have been a subconscious signal that I was changing.

Naturally, I've been quite inquisitive and curious to run again with a time piece, and with this one being......a gps watch with the latest features for the runner, even all the more so. As would indicate, the last few weeks, despite adding a newborn baby, my running has been pretty consistently frequent. of course I can tell you, given the ease of data, about 20 miles a week with about 4 runs in a 7 day period. It's getting hot, and my energy is sometimes lower and just different with going through the changes, the speeds aren't dramatically dropping - yet they are going down (faster). So all of that playing into the mix, I am not displeased.

As i wrap this blog up, it bookends nicely with the current song playing behind me, Baby, Stop Cryin from an album previous to the opening paragraph's, 1978 Street Legal- which ALSO double bookends Bob's evangelical christian trio of albums from 1979 and 81 (also good albums), with the hopes for tonight's slumber while one month old daughter optimistically snoozes the night away.

this was a nice little post - i have more to say about running, much to begin and continue a hopeful usage of writting for what i enjoy the well being and settling nature of it, introspectively. it's kind of creative and meditative. and helpful and a staple in running like the watch...a runners log.