Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Not sure how I feel about this. Feeling kind of numb. I'm thankful that we are all still together as a family, that Lance and Mik are doing well, and that Abi and Awi are doing ok! Beyond that, I'm a bit pessimistic about the future.
It was hard to sit out this Chicago Marathon and watch all of the athletes go at it, but I avoided thinking about it by volunteering. Chris Conroy used her leverage as one of the race medical team coordinators to get me a job on the mobile triage team. We were stationed at varying spots near the finish line. First, one block past the finish when the elite runners were coming in, then back by the fountain when the 3-4 hour runners arrived, and then even further back by the 27th-mile party area for the rest of the time. It turned out to be a very fun day and we were able to help a lot of people who were appreciative of the care! I had a fun team too: three student ATCs from North Central College, a communications guy (Librarian from the Lombard Library who is a ham operator), and then also for a while with some med students from UIC. Everyone was very friendly and nice and we talked a lot during the slow times. But there were some very busy moments when we had multiple emergencies at once like a possible MI, bad ankle sprain or strain, and someone about to pass out and dizzy. All in all, a good day!
Really fun weekend in MN, riding bikes, running, and hanging with Mik! She played really well in her game despite a tough loss. Here we are at breakfast on Sunday at Highland Cafe before we parted to come home. She even wanted to come home with us! Diana had fun too, meeting up with an old friend from work, Abby, at the game.
I'm so proud of Lance! Although he has had a very boring summer, he managed to get involved in a fun research project, take a class and find time to study for the MCAT exam! He created a weekly calendar to manage his time and has put in a lot of grueling hours. He takes the test in mid-September! Fingers crossed!!! We had fun despite staying in his cramped apartment. Tennis, coffee, run through Shendley and a home-cooked meal! It was a fun weekend!
Fun race with Mik at the Naperville Tri on August 4th!
She had no problems on the swim and completed one and a half loops of the bike course before the blow-out. But was a trooper and ran the bike back to the transition and finished with a strong run! Very proud of her!
Then we met Fo and Abi for breakfast and celebrated Abi's B-Day. Fun day all around!
Very painful but fun race at Pleasant Prairie on Sunday. My heel/plantar fascia has been really messed up since duathlon nationals and it kills to run! Need to take an extended break from running.
Successful Duathlon Nationals in Omaha. Very hot and hilly race, with temps hitting 90 degrees on the bike. Went out way too hard, trying to stay with Paul Greenberg, then cramped up on the bike. But somehow despite the cramps, I didn't lose too much time on the ride. At the top of every hill (and there were a lot), my calves seized up. But in the last few miles of the bike, the cramps subsided. Then the 5K felt ok. Go figure! The most fun part was hanging with Paul and Jim Vernon and dinner afterward at "Modern Love" at vegan restaurant. We sat and talked for almost 3 hours!
So great to have Mik home for the summer! We picked her up from the airport last night.
Just too bad that Lance isn't home as well or it would really feel like a family reunion. But he's coming home on Saturday for Memorial Day, so that will be awesome.
Crazy, difficult, fun, challenging, and awesome race! Way slower than hoped for and way more difficult than expected, but also such a unique and exciting event. I'm just so happy to have made it. Had my doubts early on when I didn't feel great, even at 6 and 7 miles in. But readjusted my attitude and goals and decided to make it about surviving and enjoying the day. Thought a lot about my mom, my brother, my life 40 years ago the first time I ran this race, and about all that has happened since! So lucky to have an amazing wife, wonderful children, a supportive family, and a great life!
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It's only 10 days away from the Boston Marathon! This will be an exciting and also emotional return to Boston for me. While I've been back to Boston quite a few times since I moved away from there in 1985, doing the marathon will really mean I've come full circle! When I lived in Boston from 1981 to 85 (not entirely sure about dates) my life was going nowhere. I worked various crappy restaurant-related jobs as a cook, busboy, and waiter and my life consisted of living in broken-down apartments or worse, in scary neighborhoods, getting drunk and high, and that was about it. A friend challenged me to run the Boston Marathon with him even though neither of us was much of a runner at that time. I recall we started training in the late fall and ran longer runs through the winter on weekends, taking the green line further and further west and running the course into the city from there. I think we got as far as Newton, about 13 or 14 miles for our longest run.
The morning of the race, I think it was 1983 or 84, even though we weren't registered, they let us take the bus out to Hopington for the start. They even gave us numbers that said "back of the back", but we had to wait until all of the official runners had left the start area before they let us start. That was the first race of any kind I ever did! It was a blast, even though we weren't official. We were so far back that it was more of a party than a race. I recall running down the main street through Ashland, MA. We had cousins who we were close to growing up but I had lost touch with them by that point. I knew they lived in Ashland since we had visited them many times, but I didn't realize they were right on the race course. As I ran by, they were all out in the yard cheering on the runners. I'm not sure who was more surprised to see each other, them or me. We waved and they cheered for me. I also recall going by the Wellesley Women's College (I think it's just Wellesley College now) and having beer spilled on my head by partyers in the crown. It was literally only wide enough that we had to run through, single-file.
Maybe the best part was finishing at the Prudential Center (or was it the John Hancock building back then?) and seeing my brother, Kim, and his partner Dennis, waiting for me.
That was '83 or '84, so I'm sure a lot has changed. Now I have an amazing coach, I'm in far better shape even at 66, and I actually have a life with people who depend on me! It won't be the same race at all, but still, that race marked a huge turning point in my life! I owe a lot to that friend, Jim. I tried contacting him. He worked at Tufts University and I found his email and phone number and tried both. But he never replied. That's ok, it wouldn't be the same and likely he doesn't attach the same significance to me or that race. I'll definitely be thinking of Jim, looking for my cousins' old homestead when I run through Ashland, thinking about how my life has changed since 1984 as I run, and looking forward to seeing my brother at the finish line!
