Was Paul Simon a Great Prophet?

No, I wasn't crazy about either candidate, however--

Isn't it cool that FINALLY we've been able to put away the past (at least for a bit) and actually elect a Black guy for President!

I'm feeling pretty proud of my fellow countrymen right now. I hope our new president is up to the task.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Was Paul Simon one of the great prophets? Somewhere around 1975, he sang:

"And if I was president
The minute congress call my name
Id say who do,
Who do you think youre fooling?
Ive got the presidential seal
I'm up on the presidential podium
My mama loves me
She loves me
She get down on her knees and hug me
Like she loves me like Barock"

What? You think I misinterpret? Go back and listen to the song again. And, what kind of colors do you think he might have been talking about in the song Kodachrome?

(You see what I have to deal with--this kind of stuff goes on in my head all the time!)

Best of luck, Mr. President-Elect!!

And now...I really am going to try and start writing again.

It's been a great year. And a bad one. Only bad because I haven't been running and working out as much as normal. But great in all other aspects.

A couple weeks ago I had my SECOND knee done. Arthroscopic surgery. This time, instead of going in and fixing something specific, it was more of a "search and destroy" mission. He went in and cleaned out a whole bunch of stuff that was floating around in there. Anyway, it was MUCH more painful than the first one. It's healing nicely though.

The lovely Francine finished another marathon today. Elyria, Ohio. A nice out-and-back course on bike trails. Significant, because she now has reached 51 marathons before she turns 51 in January. Also significant because she's now done 21 months in a row.

Meanwhile, Carly and I went out while TLF was running and found four different geocaches (http://www.geocaching.com/ if you're curious). It was a nice morning with a great kid.

Carly and I are getting to be closer as we go along. It's great having another kid--my other ones are getting OLD.

Life is good. More soon.

Quote from Jacques Cousteau

"When one man, for whatever reason, has the opportunity to lead an extraordinary life, he has no right to keep it for himself."

Guess I need to start writing more, eh?

25 June 2008 - Mt. Marcy, Lake Placid, and other stuff

On the 13th, the lovely Francine and I spent about 9 hours hiking up and down Mt. Marcy, the highest mountain in New York. 14.8 miles up and down over some really rough trails.

On the 14th, we ran the Lake Placid Marathon. With my knee not feeling bad unless I pushed it, I decided to take it really easy. Meanwhile, Francine ran a really good marathon, taking away an age group award.

After I got back, I decided to go see Terence for some more physical therapy. The following is exerpted from my newsletter:

OK, I told you my knee was goofy lately. Well, Terence has all the ligiments and stuff around it feeling pretty good now, but when he was twisting it around the other day I was feeling some pretty interesting pain. He smiled at me and said, "Let's get Ed in here and schedule an MRI."

So, it's looking like next Wednesday morning at 2:30 I'll be getting my knee scanned. And if it needs fixing, I'm going to get it fixed.

I watched an arena football game on TV once. About the only thing that impressed me about it was that one of the players had arthroscopic surgery on his knee on Wednesday, and on Saturday he was playing football. I was encouraged by that, though it was pointed out to me that no one is going to pay me many thousands of dollars to be back out running marathons the next weekend, regardless of how well it turns out.

Of course, worrying about it would be premature. The MRI might just tell me that I need to heal for a couple more weeks and quit being such a wimp. I hope that's the case.

I'm still planning on running in Carrollton, MI the end of July. Maybe it will be an early-start walk instead. My marathon streak is at 64 months in a row now. I'd hate to have to start over again.


I Threw My Brooks Shoes Away in Lake Placid
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not because I didn't like them, however. They were great shoes. You know that Brooks makes the great race shirts that have become a tradition at our marathon. You may also notice that everyone on our staff is wearing Brooks shoes as well.

The shoes I was wearing were my Brooks Adrenalines. They're the same shoes I was wearing at the FINISH LINE last October when I was shaking hands and hugging a lot of you as you crossed the line.

Then, in November and December, I wore them for seven marathons across seven continents. Starting in Beirut, Lebanon; then to Atlanta; Florence, Italy; Port Elizabeth, South Africa; Wanganui, New Zealand; Vina del Mar, Chile; and finally in the Patriot Hills in Antarctica. The shoes had a LOT of miles on them, traveling all the way around the world.

I wore them at Disney World in January for Goofy's Challenge, completing both a half and a full marathon the same weekend. And for five more marathons since then.

Last weekend in Lake Placid, the lovely Francine and I spent nine hours on Saturday hiking up and down Mt. Marcy, the highest point in New York. I was wearing my Adrenalines. Then on Sunday, my old friends were with me for their final marathon, as we ran a beautiful course in Lake Placid.

Muddy, well-worn, with a dozen or so marathons under their laces, they found their final resting place somewhere in New York.

But don't worry--I'll be wearing a new pair when I greet you at the FINISH LINE in October.

11 June 2008 Crap! Another necktie!

Yeah, your dad will never say it out loud, but he's probably thinking it. I know, probably your dad doesn't even wear ties any more. Wouldn't it be cool though, if this Father's Day, you got him something he could really ENJOY?!?! Like maybe an entry to the Metro Health Grand Rapids Marathon. (How was that--not too subtle, I hope. The bold print is an attempt at subliminal advertising.)

My knee hurts. Some tendon thing going on which has caused me a lot of aggravation this year so far. Finally I decided to go visit some of my friends at Metro Health Sports Medicine for a bit of physical therapy.

Ever go to a doctor and only to be told that you shouldn't run anymore? Most runners react to that by finding another doctor. Anyway, Dr. Ed knows better--the guys at Metro are all about getting you back in the game. So I'm doing a couple PT sessions, icing, stretching, massage, and all that other great stuff.

And when I told him that the lovely Francine and I are heading out to do the Lake Placid Marathon this week, he didn't even raise an eyebrow. Hmmm...guess he's been around a bunch of us.

We'll also be climbing Mt. Marcy on Saturday. It's the highest point in New York, and Francine hasn't been up it before. Should be fun.

Happy Father's Day everybody. And stay away from the tie rack!

4 June 2008 Medical Marijuana and other thoughts

Medicinal Marijuana, and Other Thoughts

A few years ago I ran the Hogeye Marathon in Fayetteville, Arkansas on a very rainy day. I didn't have a flight home until the next day, so I talked to some of the locals to find out where the party was after the marathon. We ended up at a guy's house, where the party was going well until everything had to stop to watch an epsode of The Simpsons. It was about medicinal marijuana. At one time Homer said, "I hear it's a gateway drug."

Last night I was keying in an entry and the guy put in the comments, "I had so much fun running the half-marathon last year, that I have to run the full this year now."

So maybe the half-marathon is a "gateway drug." It's good, just not quite enough. Gotta go back for a bigger thrill--run the whole enchilada, do the full 26.2.

You can probably figure that I don't have anything else real interesting to say this week, or I wouldn't be talking about Homer Simpson. And I should probably put in a disclaimer too--I DO NOT advocate using marijuana. I DO, however, advocate running half-marathons, full marathons, and other similarly wonderful things. I'm one of the guys who can't figure out why people needs drugs--life it constantly keeping me high anyway.

28 May 2008 - Bayshore Marathon

Yesterday was my 52nd birthday. While doing some hill work, I think I goofed my knee up again. This time I'm going to go to a doctor or something. This is pissing me off.

Saturday turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL day at the Bayshore Marathon. I ran my best marathon of the year so far (which isn't saying much--I've had my brain and body somewhere besides in training mode lately). The lovely Francine ("I'll probably never qualify for Boston again.") ran a Boston Qualifying 4:05:44, beating her time needed by fifteen seconds. Dr. Rick finished fourth Masters in personal record time of 2:50! Cathy Fenton, one of our pacers, did a personal record 3:24 and took second masters. Robert Jarrin, another of our pacers, won his age group after leaving Rick in the dust in 2:49:19. Other staff members Lynne Oosterhouse and Sara Maher were there for the half-marathon as well.

Party in the parking lot afterwards with a few of the GR crowd, cheering on the people who where still coming in. People of all shapes and sizes, but all enjoying the accomplishment of finishing a marathon. Every time I see people coming in at 5+ hours and see the look on their faces, I'm reminded of why I enjoy this so much. The accomplishment of doing something BIGGER than most people will EVER do just inspires the heck out of me.

Yesterday I bought my first furniture for my new house. If you call it furniture. It was 10 of those plastic lawn chairs. Figured I'd need them sooner or later, and we had our first regular staff meeting of the year and I needed somewhere for people to sit.

21 May 2008 - From my newsletter.

I started a newsletter for the marathon. That's the big news this week. Now it's July, and I'm going to catch up on my blog a bit. A lot of this entry was in the newsletter.

At the end of April, Francine and I closed on a new house! Nice quiet street in Forest Hills. Grand Rapids address and just a couple blocks inside Ada Township. I really like it here.

Exerpted from the newsletter:

So, what's happening around here? Last week nearly everyone I know was running the River Bank Run. Now, a lot of people are suffering what I call "Post Partum Depression." (Yes, I know it's nothing like having a baby, but I can't think of a better term for it.) They trained for a long race (if you call 25K "long") and now it's over. Never fear! You can beat that depression by picking a Fall marathon and starting right back into your training! Do I have a biased opinion on WHICH Fall marathon you should enter? Duh!

So, in the process of moving, I'm trying to consume (with the help of my friends) some of the beer that was given to me last year at the marathon. (See http://www.grandrapidsmarathon.com/race day.aspx for details on where the beer came from.)

One of the bottles I got was labeled "Masters IPA - T" and was brewed by Tom Townsend and Scott Oberlin. Now, normally, IPA is a bit hoppy for my taste, but this stuff was GOOD! Nice finish, left a real good taste in my mouth. Keep up the good works, Tom & Scott.

This weekend is the Bayshore Marathon in Traverse City. The lovely Francine and I are heading up there, along with other staff members Dr. Rick (who's gunning to get his Master's title back this year), Lynne Oosterhouse to do the half-marathon, and I'm probably missing a few others. Rick's been training like a madman this Spring, just won the Clydesdale A class at the River Bank, and is shooting for sub 2:50 Saturday. Which means he'll be showered and kicking back with a cigar and a beer by the time I get done. Oh well.

Starting Over

In case you haven't already heard, I just bought a house. Or, I should say, WE (the lovely Francine and I) just bought a house.

It's a great time for reflection for me. The first time I bought a house, I was 21 years old, just starting out, figuring out who I am. Now, it's like the same feeling. Starting fresh. I've been closing old accounts on past business ventures, shredding old records from the early 90s and before, just basically cleaning my life up. Now I'm getting ready to move into a new place with a beautiful woman. I've got fun things to do, including organizing the Grand Rapids Marathon. I've got a lot more experience now. It's pretty amazing.

Don't know where life goes from here, but I'm optimistic and excited about it. "Starting over" at 51. Pretty cool.

Dick's Sporting Goods

So, we're heading into Dick's Sporting Goods last week, and Carly is in the back seat, remembering another trip we did to the other Dick's Sporting Goods in the Rivertown Crossings mall a while back--you know, the really big two story one.

"Mom, you know how some Dick's are bigger than others..." is the way her story started out.

We don't know what she said after that, because we were way too busy trying to keep from cracking up in the front seat.

I thought this was interesting - from my email

Read it all!!
Our Tax System Described With Beer Analogy
This is brilliant: Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."

Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings)
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 ( 22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Running Last Weekend

Finally--February sucked! I pulled a calf muscle and only managed about 52 miles that month. Half of that was on one day. I did manage to log a marathon for the month, extending my streak to 60 months in a row. Then I caught that nasty crap that was going around, and the fact that I couldn't breathe well enough to run at least gave my leg enough time to finish healing.

So last week, I ran the Irish Jig, probably my worst 5K time ever. But at least it didn't hurt.

Sunday got better. Our little group (about a dozen of us) started at John Ball Park, ran downtown, then north through Riverside Park, onto the White Pine Trail. We went north to Fifth Third Ballpark and ran around it. The lovely Francine suggested that we hop the fence and run the bases. Hmm.... Only 4 of us did that, but it was kinda fun. (Note, I'm not saying WHICH 4, in case someone has a problem with tresspassing. In which case I officially disavow all knowledge.)

Then we ran back to John Ball Park, a total of nearly 17 miles.

The next day was St. Patricks Day. Now, the YMCA runners had a tradition at one time of running to the Triangle Bar, drinking a beer, and then running back to the Y on St. Patricks Day. We talked about it at a party on Saturday night, and decided that would be the plan. Now, here's the dumb part:

I knew of a triangle just north of Richmond Street, at the point of which is a bar. I pointed it out on the map on my iPhone, and someone even agreed that that's where we were going. Pretty easy route, exactly 2 miles from the Y.

So, five of us set out from the Y Monday at noon, and because I'm kind of a map guy, they had me lead the way, figuring I knew where I was going. We ran Broadway all the way to Richmond and I pointed the way north from there. "No, that's not right, it's over on Stocking." Guess what. The bar I was thinking of is called The Point.

OK, now I did ask where it was and showed someone on the map, you remember. Come to find out, EVERYONE I was running with had been to the Triangle before. Which had me wondering, "Why the hell were you all following me then?" Anyway, we ran to the Triangle, but were a little later than we had planned so a couple people just headed back to the Y. Kent, Brad and I had a pitcher of beer before returning. So our 4 mile run ended up being a little more than 5, but that's cool.

P.S. They also had corned beef and cabbage and some other stuff for free at the Triangle. Not good food in the middle of the run, but after showering, I went back up for an inexpensive beer and a free St. Patrick's Day lunch. Yummy.

P.P.S. Next time you guys decide to elect me leader, make sure I know where the hell I'm going, would you please?

Old Stuff

Found when cleaning out my old documents:

Did you know?
The word gullible isn’t in the dictionary.

Dear Don,
Gullible is too in the dictionary. I went and looked it up.
Reader

Dear Reader,
You can make $50,000 in the next 30 days. Send me $49.95 and I’ll tell you how.

My Little Girl - Part 2

So, just a little more than a week after Shawn was deployed, Katie called me. "Guess what, Daddy? I'm pregnant."

So, sometime in late summer or early fall, another baby will enter the picture. Should be fun!

My Little Girl

OK, she's not so little any more. In fact, she just turned 30 in December, and this month her husband Shawn's National Guard unit got sent on a 400 day deployment which will leave them in Iraq in a couple of months.

Katie is the president of the Family Resource Group for the local National Guard armory. She was the primary person in charge of planning the send-off for the unit. So on Monday a couple weeks ago, I walked into the Armory to see an amazing show. All the local media was there, flags everywhere, lots of refreshments and lots of ceremony. All planned by my daughter and a host of other people.

When thank-yous were handed out later in the evening, she was mentioned by name by one of the big-shot military guys.

Her dad, meanwhile, had tears in his eyes from being so proud of her. And from being proud of my son-in-law, as well.

I Gotta Write Something

Digging out! That's what I've been doing for the past month since returning from my seven-continents marathon tour. Man, am I behind on stories. So, I'll give you a few.

The lovely Francine and I went to Florida to do the Goofy Challenge - The Disney Half-marathon on Saturday, the Disney World Marathon on Sunday - and spend a day before that with my Mom and Dad in Eustis. The following event took place in that small, Florida town....

I sat motionless in the chair, totally still. The man beside me had sharp implements in his hands. One slip and I would hate to imagine what might happen.

The guy in the next chair, however, had lost control. He was squirming, crying, resisting, as a man nearly four times his size was holding him down. Try as he might, he couldn't get away, the big man pinning his arms at his side as the cutting was finished. He would leave that day a little lighter than when he came in.

And all the while, a woman took pictures of the procedure, preserving the event. She took a lock of the victim's hair and put it in a envelope. The procedure completed, the big man took out his wallet.

"It's on the house," the barber said, and presented the proud mom and dad with a Certificate of First Haircut. Maybe if I had cried or something, they would have given me my haircut for free. Or not.

Postings

In case you're looking here for something interesting, check my other blog at http://7continentsmarathons.blogspot.com/. That's where I've been posting the last month or so. Some of it's a little bit interesting. But don't get your hopes too high. :-)

Bad News

At 1:00 we had a briefing. Doesn't look good. We're definitely not leaving for the ice today. Or tomorrow. Or Saturday. I have until Monday at 4:17 pm Eastern time to finish the marathon in Antarctica. Otherwise, the only world record I'll have is for running all seven continents twice in the shortest amount of time. A bit of a disappointment. Still have some hope of flying on Sunday, and most everyone on the trip is game for running within an hour of when we get off the plane. Everyone would like to be home before Christmas. Me included.

So, this afternoon, Brent and I are going to go see some penguins. Just what I need. More penguins. Anyone know of any marathons in South America in the next three weeks or so? Maybe I start on 17 December in Antarctica and finish on 13 January in Disney World. That means I have to do a bunch of marathons between now and then. I'm only half serious about this, but I can't shut my brain off. Oh well.

About time...

Hey, I know I haven't been posting much lately, but I've been between two really big projects. Check it out near the top of my home page at www.cooladventures.net. I'll be blogging on my Seven Continents Blog for the next month, so keep an eye on me. Click on the Seven Continents in 25 days link and go from there.

Chicago Marathon

Race organizers were just not ready for this one, in spite of the warnings they were emailing us. Nonetheless, I had a pretty good time there.

Spent Saturday working the expo in the afternoon, then FINALLY managed to get to a brewery in Illinois and collect a beer glass from that state. Paul Ruesch, my best traveling buddy. and I spent the evening at the Goose Island Brewery, eating some wings, a light dinner, and watching the Cubs finish getting swept out of the playoffs.

Sunday I was a pacer for the marathon. Christina and Pauley, my local training partners, Randi Lass, and I were the 5:15 pace team leaders. (NO!! That DOES NOT mean 5 minutes and 15 seconds per mile!) We started off with a group of around 100 others who would try to finish the course in 5:15, our mission to stay on pace and encourage/help them along the way. Good intentions.

We were really close to our pace all the way, adjusting a little after each mile as we needed to stay on. Big problem though. It was in the high 70s when we started and just got worse from there, and by the time we made the aid stations the water was mostly gone. COMPLETLY gone at the second one. This is just not good for such a hot day, especially when we were trying to help fairly new marathoners finish their race.

We separated a little bit, but I kepe Pauley and Christina in sight until past the 15 mile mark. In fact, I stepped on the 15 mile mark exactly on pace. Still good a half mile later at 25K mark. Then for the third time I reached a water stop with NO WATER. Now I was getting aggravated.

Finally just past 17, Paul met me and gave me a bottle of Gatorade and filled my water glass. I went on, taking a little break between there and 18. I ran for a few minutes beside a girl I would later know as Kristen. We chatted a little, then got separated. Just before 19, they started announcing that race was cancelled. I've heard stories about this stuff before, and decided to ignore them and keep running. Just ahead, they had a fire hydrant opened up and spraying water all over the place. Another announcement. Nora, a first-time marathoner running beside me with 5:15 on her back turned to me and said, "What are you going to do?" I said, "I'm going to run through that fire hydrant over there." "Then what?" "I'm going to finish running this marathon." She said, "OK then, I'm going with you."

At the next aid station, we ran into Kristin. She joined us, and the three of us (despite the warnings to just walk) ran the rest of the Chicago Marathon. Nora finished her first marathon and I watched her eyes, close to tears, with the joy of doing so. I lost track of Paul, Christina, and Randi, but at least one person in our 5:15 group accomplished her dreams that day. It felt pretty darn good!

Some days are good, some are bad. It's the nature of adventure. I had a great time anyway, made a couple new friends, helped someone finish her first marathon. Nice day.