We're in Roanoke tonight as we get ready to go into Lynchburg tomorrow.
For the fourth - and maybe final (just depending where she does her student teaching in the fall of 2017) - time, we'll leave Waverly at Liberty University on Sunday as she begins her senior year.
She's a very grounded young woman, despite being very admired by so many. And just as beautiful inside as she is outside.
Given the events that have transpired last week as it relates to my livelihood, we thought about not running the race that we have planned in the morning.
However, I had been reimbursed well for some work - outside of my professional career - that I had done in the past; therefore, I decided it would be one of two more times to run together before I come back home Sunday.
There's a 5K and a 10K so we'll chew off the longer distance to kick-start her training for the Virginia 10 Miler at the end of next month.
We'll run on campus early Sunday morning, something I love to get to do whenever I make a trip up here.
I'm a little concerned that my late September trip - to run the 10-Miler - may be in jeopardy, but I'll just have to see how things play out.
Thank you to everyone who has prayed for me, taken my resume and connected with others on my behalf.
There are others, specifically the Sizemore family in Georgia, who need prayers more than me, but again, I'm thankful.
I've asked God to show me exactly where I my next steps need to be and I'm doing my best to completely trust Him with where I can best serve others through my job.
I've been very fortunate that I've been able to be home since July 2012 while working for a consulting firm. That's certainly unusual; however, it speaks to the work that I've done for the client that has repeatedly asked for my services.
I've given them my best every day I walk in the door. They pay a lot of money to the company that I'm employed by and they shouldn't get anything less than that.
The last couple of days, in an effort to not be too tossed in the midst of the storm, I've been trying to get back to some basic roots.
Before going to bed, I'm taking some time to read a little bit and pray.
Especially the latter, as many of us often don't take the time that we know to do so. It has helped bring peace - and comfort - to my world.
The book that I started to read is called "Crazy Busy: A (Mercifully) Short Book About A (Really) Big Problem" by Kevin DeYoung.
One of the preview quotes is, "If you are someone who checks your email before going to bed and as soon as you wake up, DeYoung has your number, and this is your book."
As I read it, I measure up OK, even though I've been guilty much on the item just stated.
I believe people think that I'm busier than I am, but I have room to work with.
Yet, I have room to improve, especially disconnecting from social media. Something we all can probably benefit a little bit from.
There's another book of his that I want to read titled, "Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will".
In that "slowing down", I made a conscious decision today to take the road less travelled.
We all should when we can as we never know how much time we're given to enjoy the incredible Earth that we call home.
I flew into Charlotte, drove north on Interstate 77, but didn't go all the way to Interstate 81 before heading north.
I got off on Highway 221 near Hillsville. It featured some of the prettiest stretches of Virginia that I've seen and there's certainly a lot in this beautiful state.
Lots of opportunity ahead. Just want to be wise enough to make the right decisions.
Thanks again for all of your love and support.
Friday, August 12, 2016
Monday, July 25, 2016
Weekend Report; July 25, 2016
People around me joke (or at least the ones that are willing to share), "Where will Jon end up next?"
I know. It seems like I'm always on the go. I can assure you that I don't sit down well.
There are some reasons why I have a lot of time on my hands, other than with Waverly spending the last three school years in Virginia (with a fourth fast approaching), but they're not for publication.
I feel, though, as if I'd be wasting the time I've been given if I sat around and did nothing.
I also suppose these notions have been exacerbated by the passing of my sister, Holly, two years ago.
I guess I'm coming face to face with my own mortality.
And, honestly, it is scary.
Not in the sense that I don't know where my soul will go for eternity - as that's been settled, but just that at some point in time, you won't see the next day.
Through the heartaches and all that life can be sometimes, I still don't ever want that day to come.
I enjoy the most of what life has to offer. And even though I'm an introvert, I enjoy interacting with all of those I choose and the majority of everybody else I suppose.
I say "majority" because I'm not sure how much I enjoy those who just decide to go 85 on the freeway and come up behind you because they think the road is theirs alone.
I headed north Friday evening to run a 5K race (Up And Away 5K produced by the Longview Running Club) Saturday morning on and near the grounds of the East Texas Regional Airport in Longview.
To me, life is about experiencing new things.
I had wanted to run this race a year ago, but when I came out of my hotel room in Marshall that morning I had a flat tire.
And talking with one runner, I'm glad that things - for me - got delayed a year because the course the year before was simply running along the far right-hand line of a busy two-lane road.
The race started on the grounds of the Airport just outside the LeTourneau University hangar. (Like Liberty, they have a school of Aeronautics.)
It ended up being a complete, out-and-back course that took us onto a small portion of one of the taxiways and then on to a road that led off the airport grounds to a public road.
Looks like I went 15:42.34 out to the turnaround and then 4:38.26 to the two-mile marker for a total of 20:20.60. But I'm thinking that the marking might have been suspect.
Followed that with 11:55.54 for the last 1.1 for a total of 32:16.14 -- 15:42.34 out and 16:33.80 back.
During that last mile, I actually stopped and walked to talk to a couple of fellow runners so I could have been under 32.
I went back to the hotel to shower after having breakfast at Corner Bakery Cafe - a new place for me to eat at -- and mapped out my path to get to Waco.
I had heard that the traffic was bad around the south loop of Tyler so I decided to follow state Highway 31 to and around Kilgore.
Stopped in Leverett's Chapel because I thought they had played 6-man football, but when I saw the field I could definitely tell it was an 11-man field.
The road didn't take me directly to New London, but knowing about the 1937 gas explosion that killed more than 300 I had to go there since I was close.
I saw the Memorial in the middle of State Highway 42 that was adjacent to incredibly new, modern West Rusk High School with a really nice football stadium, Bruce Bradshaw Stadium.
From there, I stopped in Overton, but not Arp. Troup, Jacksonville at the Tomato Bowl (which I had never laid eyes on before) and then Westwood High School outside of Palestine, which now had field turf.
I made a couple of stops for Texas Historical Commission signs on the way to Fairfield, but stopped just once more in Teague before making it into Waco.
Dinner at Jason's Deli and a 4 a.m. wakeup call to be able to help out RunFAR at the TriWaco Triathlon, held near the banks of the Brazos River and finishing at the Waco Suspension Bridge.
Owner Raul Najera really didn't need much of my help, so I ended up helping clear the area in front of the finish line to give athletes a straight shot to sprint across the bridge and not be impeded by spectators.
Didn't know it at the time, but the announcer was the voice of the Baylor Bears, John Morris.
Really nice guy and in fact, a class act, as he didn't say a word about broadcasting for the Bears.
Most would have scoffed at me, even though I do a lot of race announcing.
I did what I would have done for anybody and that is help him to be able to be heard.
There were four speakers close to transition. They were positioned so that everyone could hear when transition was closed, when the pre-race briefing started and where and so on.
John did an incredible job of clearly communicating all of that. Things went incredibly smooth and a very good public address announcer can lead to that happening.
After the race started, John, though, was announcing off the reader mat from behind the finish line.
So I had one of Raul's staff turn the speakers in such a way so the athletes could better hear their names being announced by John as they finished.
I think it turned out well.
I left at about 9:30 a.m. to go to church at Greater Waco Baptist Church, which was located on the east side of Waco - along Loop 340.
It is a member church of Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI), the organization that North Park Baptist Church affiliates with too.
In fact, there's at least one missionary family - the Reaps - who both churches support. When Pastor McKelroy introduced himself and welcomed me to the service - as it was easy to see that I had never been there before, he said that he went to Phillipines once a year to visit the Reaps.
It was a great service and it felt very home to me because for many years North Park Baptist was much the same with our founding Pastor, John Gross.
That's not to say that there's anything wrong with how North Park is today or that Greater Waco is set back in time. Neither. It is just that if you're in (or were in) a BBFI church, you'd know and understand.
We actually sang three songs from the hymnal, which used to be a staple in North Park for many, many years.
Made the drive home and after resting a little bit, Waverly and I went to eat at some place new in The Woodlands, Grub Burger Bar. It was pretty good. Got the Ghost burger and took the jalapeno head on. That was a mistake -- and it took a good bit of Dr. Pepper to put the fire out.
What's up next weekend? Not sure, but there'll definitely be a plan. It is already in the works.
Have a great rest of the week.
I know. It seems like I'm always on the go. I can assure you that I don't sit down well.
There are some reasons why I have a lot of time on my hands, other than with Waverly spending the last three school years in Virginia (with a fourth fast approaching), but they're not for publication.
I feel, though, as if I'd be wasting the time I've been given if I sat around and did nothing.
I also suppose these notions have been exacerbated by the passing of my sister, Holly, two years ago.
I guess I'm coming face to face with my own mortality.
And, honestly, it is scary.
Not in the sense that I don't know where my soul will go for eternity - as that's been settled, but just that at some point in time, you won't see the next day.
Through the heartaches and all that life can be sometimes, I still don't ever want that day to come.
I enjoy the most of what life has to offer. And even though I'm an introvert, I enjoy interacting with all of those I choose and the majority of everybody else I suppose.
I say "majority" because I'm not sure how much I enjoy those who just decide to go 85 on the freeway and come up behind you because they think the road is theirs alone.
I headed north Friday evening to run a 5K race (Up And Away 5K produced by the Longview Running Club) Saturday morning on and near the grounds of the East Texas Regional Airport in Longview.
To me, life is about experiencing new things.
I had wanted to run this race a year ago, but when I came out of my hotel room in Marshall that morning I had a flat tire.
And talking with one runner, I'm glad that things - for me - got delayed a year because the course the year before was simply running along the far right-hand line of a busy two-lane road.
The race started on the grounds of the Airport just outside the LeTourneau University hangar. (Like Liberty, they have a school of Aeronautics.)
It ended up being a complete, out-and-back course that took us onto a small portion of one of the taxiways and then on to a road that led off the airport grounds to a public road.
Looks like I went 15:42.34 out to the turnaround and then 4:38.26 to the two-mile marker for a total of 20:20.60. But I'm thinking that the marking might have been suspect.
Followed that with 11:55.54 for the last 1.1 for a total of 32:16.14 -- 15:42.34 out and 16:33.80 back.
During that last mile, I actually stopped and walked to talk to a couple of fellow runners so I could have been under 32.
I went back to the hotel to shower after having breakfast at Corner Bakery Cafe - a new place for me to eat at -- and mapped out my path to get to Waco.
I had heard that the traffic was bad around the south loop of Tyler so I decided to follow state Highway 31 to and around Kilgore.
Stopped in Leverett's Chapel because I thought they had played 6-man football, but when I saw the field I could definitely tell it was an 11-man field.
The road didn't take me directly to New London, but knowing about the 1937 gas explosion that killed more than 300 I had to go there since I was close.
I saw the Memorial in the middle of State Highway 42 that was adjacent to incredibly new, modern West Rusk High School with a really nice football stadium, Bruce Bradshaw Stadium.
From there, I stopped in Overton, but not Arp. Troup, Jacksonville at the Tomato Bowl (which I had never laid eyes on before) and then Westwood High School outside of Palestine, which now had field turf.
I made a couple of stops for Texas Historical Commission signs on the way to Fairfield, but stopped just once more in Teague before making it into Waco.
Dinner at Jason's Deli and a 4 a.m. wakeup call to be able to help out RunFAR at the TriWaco Triathlon, held near the banks of the Brazos River and finishing at the Waco Suspension Bridge.
Owner Raul Najera really didn't need much of my help, so I ended up helping clear the area in front of the finish line to give athletes a straight shot to sprint across the bridge and not be impeded by spectators.
Didn't know it at the time, but the announcer was the voice of the Baylor Bears, John Morris.
Really nice guy and in fact, a class act, as he didn't say a word about broadcasting for the Bears.
Most would have scoffed at me, even though I do a lot of race announcing.
I did what I would have done for anybody and that is help him to be able to be heard.
There were four speakers close to transition. They were positioned so that everyone could hear when transition was closed, when the pre-race briefing started and where and so on.
John did an incredible job of clearly communicating all of that. Things went incredibly smooth and a very good public address announcer can lead to that happening.
After the race started, John, though, was announcing off the reader mat from behind the finish line.
So I had one of Raul's staff turn the speakers in such a way so the athletes could better hear their names being announced by John as they finished.
I think it turned out well.
I left at about 9:30 a.m. to go to church at Greater Waco Baptist Church, which was located on the east side of Waco - along Loop 340.
It is a member church of Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI), the organization that North Park Baptist Church affiliates with too.
In fact, there's at least one missionary family - the Reaps - who both churches support. When Pastor McKelroy introduced himself and welcomed me to the service - as it was easy to see that I had never been there before, he said that he went to Phillipines once a year to visit the Reaps.
It was a great service and it felt very home to me because for many years North Park Baptist was much the same with our founding Pastor, John Gross.
That's not to say that there's anything wrong with how North Park is today or that Greater Waco is set back in time. Neither. It is just that if you're in (or were in) a BBFI church, you'd know and understand.
We actually sang three songs from the hymnal, which used to be a staple in North Park for many, many years.
Made the drive home and after resting a little bit, Waverly and I went to eat at some place new in The Woodlands, Grub Burger Bar. It was pretty good. Got the Ghost burger and took the jalapeno head on. That was a mistake -- and it took a good bit of Dr. Pepper to put the fire out.
What's up next weekend? Not sure, but there'll definitely be a plan. It is already in the works.
Have a great rest of the week.
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Thoughts From Vacation; July 17, 2016
Vacations, while enjoyable to get away from day-to-day work life and most responsibilities, are also times for me to become very introspective.
I cherish these weeks over the years that I get to spend with Waverly.
They are priceless, memorable and not easily forgotten, even though, as a result of seeing so much, some of the details through the years begin to blur.
This year's vacation was put into motion before last year's was even over.
A year ago, we figured out that by getting her into the states of Michigan and Wisconsin, which we also ran races in, that it left her with three remaining: Minnesota, North Dakota and Rhode Island.
Minneapolis-St. Paul seemed the most logical place to fly into, as I had done back in 2007 when I ran the Fargo Half Marathon and the Apple Blossom Half Marathon in ND and MN on consecutive days.
So the week was chosen, airline tickets were purchased, hotel reservations made (eight hotels in eight days in five states), races signed up for and off we went.
Well, sort of.
We experienced a delay getting out of IAH the Friday night before last as we were moved to a plane that was having mechanical issues (which turned out to be the evacuation slide on the entrance door to the plane) from a gate whose plane had not yet arrived.
Terribly frustrating and an experience that put us at our hotel in Hudson, Wisconsin, just across the state line from Minnesota, at about 3 a.m. instead of 11:30 p.m.
One thing, though, that has been a trademark in our vacations over the years has been flexibility.
If it had looked as if we might get delayed to Saturday morning, I had scouted out a reward flight into Des Moines, Iowa that would have allowed for us to make our Saturday evening race in Eldridge.
But we eventually got underway and we were thankful for paying such a price on our tickets that it allowed us to be upgraded to first class on both legs.
This allowed us to gain some much needed rest as we got up with a few hours sleep to run a race in New Richmond, Wisconsin on Saturday morning.
It is times like these that I appreciate the experience that I have gained since 1994 with all of the domestic business and personal travel that I've done.
While we're home and I'm back from a almost 4.5-mile walk on The Woodlands Waterway this evening, I know that these vacations - in their current form - will soon come to pass as Waverly begins embarking on her own professional career and personal life after graduating from Liberty University in May 2017.
We may still be able to spend time like this together, but the times may be shorter - and that's perfectly understandable and to be expected.
We're able to cover a lot of ground between the two of us and work on some things together that need dealt with.
An issue arose from school that was sprung upon her at the last minute. It was very personally unsettling for her in that it could possibly have derailed some plans that she had been working for the last three years.
However, being there and having the time to actively engage and attack the issue and emotionally support her through the process was incredibly rewarding and satisfying.
I relate our time together each year - with the exception of 2014 when she was on the road for five weeks working Christian summer youth camps - to what our church's founding pastor Dr. John Gross shared with me many years ago.
He said that when we were able to take young people to those church youth camps in the summer that we had their attention for 168 hours.
Even if they attended Sunday School and church every single Sunday through the year, it was still 60-plus hours - minus sleep at camp - more. It makes a difference.
And I think Waverly would tell you that our time together during these trips does the same.
We usually have one - what I would call a - dust up during the trip, but we usually come away with a deeper understanding of where each other is in their lives.
Without me putting any burdens on her, she understands what I'm going through as a middle-aged man and the pressures that I am - or place myself - under, and she usually learns even more how passionately I desire her to succeed and be a strong, successful, independent and beautiful young woman, inside and out.
There are certain ways that I challenge her - even though she challenges herself so well already - to be even more assertive in certain areas yet not take away from the Christ-like, service-minded approach she has to life.
While neither one of us are fast, we enjoy the challenges that come with running a road race and coming away with something that we can use in our day-to-day life from it.
We did five races in three states. The first two were on the same day and the final three were on three consecutive days.
She took me down in four out of the five - coming from behind in three of them.
And we ran the fifth one - Thursday night in downtown Milwaukee under some unique conditions - together, but I get great joy continuing to see her grow and develop as a young woman and how the physical activity has helped to transform her through the years.
In some ways, the sport has transformed me too.
I went down a road that saw me put on, at times, ranging from between 80 to 100 pounds.
I probably still carry 40 more than I did in 1991, but despite that I'm thankful to continue to be in generally good health.
I also think it has turned me into more of an encourager of people than I had been in the past, even though I'm still an introvert and highly value my alone time.
One of the biggest things that we accomplished this trip, knowing the kind of ground that we chose to cover in addition to making some adjustments on the first day or two, was setting a plan to get up and to be on the road by a certain time.
In year's past, we would often - and, yes, me leading the charge - be willing to keep hitting the snooze on the alarms and not getting our day underway until late morning.
But, by doing so, we saw and experienced a lot and I even passed up going to a ball game or two during the trip.
The first plan of the trip included a Sunday afternoon independent minor league ball game in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but when we found a church we wanted to go to in Des Moines, Iowa on Sunday morning that made that an unlikely occurence.
There were also some tentative plans to see games in Fargo-Moorhead and St. Paul, but exhaustion on the latter (on Saturday) and when we saw certain things on the former earlier in the week eliminated those. But it was perfectly OK.
One evening in Bismarck, we got in a nice, late evening 40-minute walk that winded down a busy day getting there.
And the other, we experienced the benefits of excellent public transportation in Minneapolis-St. Paul to facilitate exploring St. Paul for about three hours or so that made me not even want to stop and see the beautiful stadium that the University of Minnesota would be playing in.
One thing's for sure, though, as we get ready to start a new week, we'll get to Rhode Island for her 50th state to visit - and maybe we'll figure out a way to do it together when I'm able to run my half marathon there.
More to come, I'm sure. Enjoy the week.
I cherish these weeks over the years that I get to spend with Waverly.
They are priceless, memorable and not easily forgotten, even though, as a result of seeing so much, some of the details through the years begin to blur.
This year's vacation was put into motion before last year's was even over.
A year ago, we figured out that by getting her into the states of Michigan and Wisconsin, which we also ran races in, that it left her with three remaining: Minnesota, North Dakota and Rhode Island.
Minneapolis-St. Paul seemed the most logical place to fly into, as I had done back in 2007 when I ran the Fargo Half Marathon and the Apple Blossom Half Marathon in ND and MN on consecutive days.
So the week was chosen, airline tickets were purchased, hotel reservations made (eight hotels in eight days in five states), races signed up for and off we went.
Well, sort of.
We experienced a delay getting out of IAH the Friday night before last as we were moved to a plane that was having mechanical issues (which turned out to be the evacuation slide on the entrance door to the plane) from a gate whose plane had not yet arrived.
Terribly frustrating and an experience that put us at our hotel in Hudson, Wisconsin, just across the state line from Minnesota, at about 3 a.m. instead of 11:30 p.m.
One thing, though, that has been a trademark in our vacations over the years has been flexibility.
If it had looked as if we might get delayed to Saturday morning, I had scouted out a reward flight into Des Moines, Iowa that would have allowed for us to make our Saturday evening race in Eldridge.
But we eventually got underway and we were thankful for paying such a price on our tickets that it allowed us to be upgraded to first class on both legs.
This allowed us to gain some much needed rest as we got up with a few hours sleep to run a race in New Richmond, Wisconsin on Saturday morning.
It is times like these that I appreciate the experience that I have gained since 1994 with all of the domestic business and personal travel that I've done.
While we're home and I'm back from a almost 4.5-mile walk on The Woodlands Waterway this evening, I know that these vacations - in their current form - will soon come to pass as Waverly begins embarking on her own professional career and personal life after graduating from Liberty University in May 2017.
We may still be able to spend time like this together, but the times may be shorter - and that's perfectly understandable and to be expected.
We're able to cover a lot of ground between the two of us and work on some things together that need dealt with.
An issue arose from school that was sprung upon her at the last minute. It was very personally unsettling for her in that it could possibly have derailed some plans that she had been working for the last three years.
However, being there and having the time to actively engage and attack the issue and emotionally support her through the process was incredibly rewarding and satisfying.
I relate our time together each year - with the exception of 2014 when she was on the road for five weeks working Christian summer youth camps - to what our church's founding pastor Dr. John Gross shared with me many years ago.
He said that when we were able to take young people to those church youth camps in the summer that we had their attention for 168 hours.
Even if they attended Sunday School and church every single Sunday through the year, it was still 60-plus hours - minus sleep at camp - more. It makes a difference.
And I think Waverly would tell you that our time together during these trips does the same.
We usually have one - what I would call a - dust up during the trip, but we usually come away with a deeper understanding of where each other is in their lives.
Without me putting any burdens on her, she understands what I'm going through as a middle-aged man and the pressures that I am - or place myself - under, and she usually learns even more how passionately I desire her to succeed and be a strong, successful, independent and beautiful young woman, inside and out.
There are certain ways that I challenge her - even though she challenges herself so well already - to be even more assertive in certain areas yet not take away from the Christ-like, service-minded approach she has to life.
While neither one of us are fast, we enjoy the challenges that come with running a road race and coming away with something that we can use in our day-to-day life from it.
We did five races in three states. The first two were on the same day and the final three were on three consecutive days.
She took me down in four out of the five - coming from behind in three of them.
And we ran the fifth one - Thursday night in downtown Milwaukee under some unique conditions - together, but I get great joy continuing to see her grow and develop as a young woman and how the physical activity has helped to transform her through the years.
In some ways, the sport has transformed me too.
I went down a road that saw me put on, at times, ranging from between 80 to 100 pounds.
I probably still carry 40 more than I did in 1991, but despite that I'm thankful to continue to be in generally good health.
I also think it has turned me into more of an encourager of people than I had been in the past, even though I'm still an introvert and highly value my alone time.
One of the biggest things that we accomplished this trip, knowing the kind of ground that we chose to cover in addition to making some adjustments on the first day or two, was setting a plan to get up and to be on the road by a certain time.
In year's past, we would often - and, yes, me leading the charge - be willing to keep hitting the snooze on the alarms and not getting our day underway until late morning.
But, by doing so, we saw and experienced a lot and I even passed up going to a ball game or two during the trip.
The first plan of the trip included a Sunday afternoon independent minor league ball game in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but when we found a church we wanted to go to in Des Moines, Iowa on Sunday morning that made that an unlikely occurence.
There were also some tentative plans to see games in Fargo-Moorhead and St. Paul, but exhaustion on the latter (on Saturday) and when we saw certain things on the former earlier in the week eliminated those. But it was perfectly OK.
One evening in Bismarck, we got in a nice, late evening 40-minute walk that winded down a busy day getting there.
And the other, we experienced the benefits of excellent public transportation in Minneapolis-St. Paul to facilitate exploring St. Paul for about three hours or so that made me not even want to stop and see the beautiful stadium that the University of Minnesota would be playing in.
One thing's for sure, though, as we get ready to start a new week, we'll get to Rhode Island for her 50th state to visit - and maybe we'll figure out a way to do it together when I'm able to run my half marathon there.
More to come, I'm sure. Enjoy the week.
Monday, May 9, 2016
Tap Out Ten; May 8, 2016
I would call Mother's Day 2016 a mixed bag.
Nothing bad, just different.
I wanted to go do the Run For Wellness 5K at the San Jacinto Monument, but I was still a little wiped from Saturday's downhill half marathon in Las Vegas.
In fact, the delayed onset muscle soreness is definitely worse right now.
I made it to church as planned with my Mom. Dad and my two nieces were there too.
It was a rough day for Mom and the girls.
I think it is one of the reasons why I (almost) detest the Hallmark holidays as it puts inordinate amounts of focus and stresses on some folks who may find such days to be challenging.
Really? Shouldn't I love my parents year-round (I.e. Every day)?
Absolutely.
The five of us went to Brooklyn Pizza and had a good meal together.
I came back, lounged around and took a nap.
Had a text from Waverly about changing our call because she had an activity planned at the time of our call with her leadership team for her hall for next year.
That absolutely trumps Dad with Dad's approval.
Even though I love am spending time and talking with my daughter.
She'll be home in a week and I can't wait for her to be here.
As we discussed and I noted a few days ago, this will be an emotional week for her as she has invested her heart in each one of the young women on her hall.
Again, I'm so proud of her desire to be involved, reach out and do her best to minister to the young ladies she spent eight months of her life with this past school year.
Lots ahead this week and lots to be in prayer about, especially Dad's and our founding Pastor John Gross' surgeries that both are on Wednesday morning.
Thankful for all that God has given me.
I do my best never to take it for granted for one minute.
Nothing bad, just different.
I wanted to go do the Run For Wellness 5K at the San Jacinto Monument, but I was still a little wiped from Saturday's downhill half marathon in Las Vegas.
In fact, the delayed onset muscle soreness is definitely worse right now.
I made it to church as planned with my Mom. Dad and my two nieces were there too.
It was a rough day for Mom and the girls.
I think it is one of the reasons why I (almost) detest the Hallmark holidays as it puts inordinate amounts of focus and stresses on some folks who may find such days to be challenging.
Really? Shouldn't I love my parents year-round (I.e. Every day)?
Absolutely.
The five of us went to Brooklyn Pizza and had a good meal together.
I came back, lounged around and took a nap.
Had a text from Waverly about changing our call because she had an activity planned at the time of our call with her leadership team for her hall for next year.
That absolutely trumps Dad with Dad's approval.
Even though I love am spending time and talking with my daughter.
She'll be home in a week and I can't wait for her to be here.
As we discussed and I noted a few days ago, this will be an emotional week for her as she has invested her heart in each one of the young women on her hall.
Again, I'm so proud of her desire to be involved, reach out and do her best to minister to the young ladies she spent eight months of her life with this past school year.
Lots ahead this week and lots to be in prayer about, especially Dad's and our founding Pastor John Gross' surgeries that both are on Wednesday morning.
Thankful for all that God has given me.
I do my best never to take it for granted for one minute.
Sunday, May 8, 2016
Revel Mt. Charleston Half Marathon Race Report; May 7, 2016
Friday and Saturday were spent in Nevada, specifically the Las Vegas area.
I went out to run the Revel Mt. Charleston Half Marathon for the finish to become the 41st state that I've run a half marathon in.
I flew out to Vegas from IAH Friday morning.
After checking my work e-mails and going to get my packet from the Race Expo, I ventured out to Boulder City and Searchlight to get away and off the beaten path for a little while.
Back in the Vegas area, I didn't budget my time well enough to get to a specific museum that I had hoped to see, but did stop in the Pinball Hall of Fame and played five or six of the different pinball machines.
Pretty neat. I took a picture and posted it on my Dad's Facebook page. I've heard story after story about his pinball-playing exploits when he was young in our hometown of Tyrone, Pennsylvania.
I thought about going to the New Mexico at UNLV baseball game at 6 p.m., but by 5:15 I was hungry.
So I drove up I-15 and checked into my hotel, which I switched from my original Marriott property the day before to save about $25, and then went and had a lighter fare dinner.
Up Saturday morning at 3: 45 a.m. Pacific time and out of the hotel no later than 4:30 a.m., I was on a bus that took us to the half marathon starting line and got us there by 5:45 a.m.-ish.
While I waited, I put one of my two garbage bags on over me to keep the cool breeze from bothering me too bad. (It could have been worse and I heard that the marathoners had experienced snow in the first four miles 3,000 more feet up the mountain.) A gentleman came up and indicated that the two of us might have been the only ones that had one of them at the time.
As we chit-chatted, I learned he was from Many, Louisiana and then he indicated that he had seen me somewhere before. We dialed into the fact that we had both run this year's Mardi Gras Madness 5K in Lake Charles that started their Mardi Gras parade.
I just learned his name was Jack Adair and he won his 65-69 age group yesterday in 1:35:19 and was 56th overall.
They started walking people to the start line and I leisurely took my time as I was there simply to check off a state. It was my fourth half in five weeks, but my fitness was nowhere it needed to be to try and really, really push.
In fact, I didn't even hear the gun go off. So I started my watch when I crossed the start line and off I went.
My strategy was to run nice, easy and as controlled as possible for as long as I could.
Mile 1 - 9:31.44
Mile 2 - 9:53.91
Mile 3 - 10:10.04
Mile 4 - 10:18.55
At this point, I almost got discouraged because I thought the 11's were going to come pretty quickly. I didn't expect to break 2:10, but I had hoped to be in the 2:10s.
Mile 5 - 10:15.09
Mile 6 - 10:26.38
Mile 7 - 10:18.41
Mile 8 - 10:24.36
Mile 9 - 10:01.66 (Flat)
Mile 10 - 10:21.55 (Flat)
Mile 11 - 11:09.30 (Very slight incline)
Mile 12 - 10:54.10 (Overpass)
Mile 13 - 10:45.66 (Slight downhill)
Last .1 - 57.08
As I started to see the split times increase as the miles went on, I worried that I was going to crash sooner than I had expected. However, that wasn't proven to be the case.
I made it to the end of the downhill in pretty decent shape, but the downhill takes a little bit out of not only from just the quads but also your overall body.
You would think it might be easier on you, but you're still working the entire body for the same distance.
Was kind of surprised that mile 9 came in at 10:01 and even though mile 10 was 10:21, I had started to walk a little in this mile.
Mile 11, I felt completely fatigued and walked three times, at least.
I think just knowing that I only had two miles to go is how I kept the last two miles under 11 minutes to allow me to finish in 2:15:27.53.
Well, that and not wanting to get passed by the winner of the marathon, who turned out to be 31-year-old Gary Krugger as he won in 2:33:16.
All in all, I think the event went well.
Jack (above) said that he did their Revel Rockies race (I think) and they had busses that didn't show up to take more than a couple of thousand half marathoners to the start line. He said he got there early - hence the trash bag! - and was one of only about 100 that did the half marathon - he said - that day.
Aid stations were well-worked. The only thing they could have done different on most of them was to set them up beyond the mile marker. That way, you could run to the split, then stop and get fluid.
The roads were very, very well-patrolled by the Nevada Highway Patrol - as the lead law enforcemen agency - as you can imagine with all of the activity that takes place in a location like Las Vegas.
There were a few unhappy people the closer you got the finish line venue. One leaned over from his front seat through an open window to share his displeasure. We're both lucky that I had run by a little bit before I hollered back and told him what I thought.
The finish line setup was pretty strong by event production standards.
The race announcer was more "rah-rah" and, in fact, they should have had two - one to recognize individuals and where they were from and another to be overly energetic.
Hearing that they were calling names and places, I came in with the "Hook 'Em Horns" sign as it was my first time for that state and the announcer said something about Oklahoma.
Again, after I crossed, I remarked rather unkindly. A woman close by heard it, got what I meant and laughed.
They had the traditional post-race food fare - bagels, bananas, water, pizza and then ... bam! ... pieces of Marie Callendar pies! Pumpkin for me, please.
The marathon drew folks - looking for the benefits from a 5,000-foot elevation drop -- looking to qualify for Boston and by my calculations, the event was a success.
Male finishers numbered 331. 121 qualified with their current age and another 10 who were in the last single age of their age group and benefitted from the additional time of the year that they would run Boston made it 39.6% for qualifiers.
The women had 279 finishers with 121 total qualifiers (117/4) for a 43.4%.
I have nine states to go to get to all 50 in half marathoners. California, Idaho, Kentucky, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Hawaii. I think I can make these happen before the end of next summer if all goes well.
Hope you'll stick around for the ride!
I went out to run the Revel Mt. Charleston Half Marathon for the finish to become the 41st state that I've run a half marathon in.
I flew out to Vegas from IAH Friday morning.
After checking my work e-mails and going to get my packet from the Race Expo, I ventured out to Boulder City and Searchlight to get away and off the beaten path for a little while.
Back in the Vegas area, I didn't budget my time well enough to get to a specific museum that I had hoped to see, but did stop in the Pinball Hall of Fame and played five or six of the different pinball machines.
Pretty neat. I took a picture and posted it on my Dad's Facebook page. I've heard story after story about his pinball-playing exploits when he was young in our hometown of Tyrone, Pennsylvania.
I thought about going to the New Mexico at UNLV baseball game at 6 p.m., but by 5:15 I was hungry.
So I drove up I-15 and checked into my hotel, which I switched from my original Marriott property the day before to save about $25, and then went and had a lighter fare dinner.
Up Saturday morning at 3: 45 a.m. Pacific time and out of the hotel no later than 4:30 a.m., I was on a bus that took us to the half marathon starting line and got us there by 5:45 a.m.-ish.
While I waited, I put one of my two garbage bags on over me to keep the cool breeze from bothering me too bad. (It could have been worse and I heard that the marathoners had experienced snow in the first four miles 3,000 more feet up the mountain.) A gentleman came up and indicated that the two of us might have been the only ones that had one of them at the time.
As we chit-chatted, I learned he was from Many, Louisiana and then he indicated that he had seen me somewhere before. We dialed into the fact that we had both run this year's Mardi Gras Madness 5K in Lake Charles that started their Mardi Gras parade.
I just learned his name was Jack Adair and he won his 65-69 age group yesterday in 1:35:19 and was 56th overall.
They started walking people to the start line and I leisurely took my time as I was there simply to check off a state. It was my fourth half in five weeks, but my fitness was nowhere it needed to be to try and really, really push.
In fact, I didn't even hear the gun go off. So I started my watch when I crossed the start line and off I went.
My strategy was to run nice, easy and as controlled as possible for as long as I could.
Mile 1 - 9:31.44
Mile 2 - 9:53.91
Mile 3 - 10:10.04
Mile 4 - 10:18.55
At this point, I almost got discouraged because I thought the 11's were going to come pretty quickly. I didn't expect to break 2:10, but I had hoped to be in the 2:10s.
Mile 5 - 10:15.09
Mile 6 - 10:26.38
Mile 7 - 10:18.41
Mile 8 - 10:24.36
Mile 9 - 10:01.66 (Flat)
Mile 10 - 10:21.55 (Flat)
Mile 11 - 11:09.30 (Very slight incline)
Mile 12 - 10:54.10 (Overpass)
Mile 13 - 10:45.66 (Slight downhill)
Last .1 - 57.08
As I started to see the split times increase as the miles went on, I worried that I was going to crash sooner than I had expected. However, that wasn't proven to be the case.
I made it to the end of the downhill in pretty decent shape, but the downhill takes a little bit out of not only from just the quads but also your overall body.
You would think it might be easier on you, but you're still working the entire body for the same distance.
Was kind of surprised that mile 9 came in at 10:01 and even though mile 10 was 10:21, I had started to walk a little in this mile.
Mile 11, I felt completely fatigued and walked three times, at least.
I think just knowing that I only had two miles to go is how I kept the last two miles under 11 minutes to allow me to finish in 2:15:27.53.
Well, that and not wanting to get passed by the winner of the marathon, who turned out to be 31-year-old Gary Krugger as he won in 2:33:16.
All in all, I think the event went well.
Jack (above) said that he did their Revel Rockies race (I think) and they had busses that didn't show up to take more than a couple of thousand half marathoners to the start line. He said he got there early - hence the trash bag! - and was one of only about 100 that did the half marathon - he said - that day.
Aid stations were well-worked. The only thing they could have done different on most of them was to set them up beyond the mile marker. That way, you could run to the split, then stop and get fluid.
The roads were very, very well-patrolled by the Nevada Highway Patrol - as the lead law enforcemen agency - as you can imagine with all of the activity that takes place in a location like Las Vegas.
There were a few unhappy people the closer you got the finish line venue. One leaned over from his front seat through an open window to share his displeasure. We're both lucky that I had run by a little bit before I hollered back and told him what I thought.
The finish line setup was pretty strong by event production standards.
The race announcer was more "rah-rah" and, in fact, they should have had two - one to recognize individuals and where they were from and another to be overly energetic.
Hearing that they were calling names and places, I came in with the "Hook 'Em Horns" sign as it was my first time for that state and the announcer said something about Oklahoma.
Again, after I crossed, I remarked rather unkindly. A woman close by heard it, got what I meant and laughed.
They had the traditional post-race food fare - bagels, bananas, water, pizza and then ... bam! ... pieces of Marie Callendar pies! Pumpkin for me, please.
The marathon drew folks - looking for the benefits from a 5,000-foot elevation drop -- looking to qualify for Boston and by my calculations, the event was a success.
Male finishers numbered 331. 121 qualified with their current age and another 10 who were in the last single age of their age group and benefitted from the additional time of the year that they would run Boston made it 39.6% for qualifiers.
The women had 279 finishers with 121 total qualifiers (117/4) for a 43.4%.
I have nine states to go to get to all 50 in half marathoners. California, Idaho, Kentucky, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont and Hawaii. I think I can make these happen before the end of next summer if all goes well.
Hope you'll stick around for the ride!
Friday, May 6, 2016
Tap Out Ten; May 5, 2016
Long day. In the office early and out late with an errand to run in between.
However, the best part of the day came from Waverly as she reported the outcome of two of her three finals on Wednesday at Liberty via Facebook chat.
It read, "Good news - 91/100 for a history final and 192/200 for educ. final today 😊"
She's really, truly done incredibly, especially this year as she stepped up from prayer leader to resident adviser.
And she's done a stellar job.
She'd tell you that she was definitely stretched and forced to grow even more than she might have expected, but she'll come out of it so much more prepared for the workplace.
Am already packed for my trip to Vegas tomorrow.
I'll be back, though, Saturday night to be able to be in church with Mom on Mother's Day.
The only one I think I've missed - other than in 2014 after Holly passed away (and Mom understandably wasn't ready to be in church on an emotional day as such) - was in 2004 when I inadvertently stayed over the weekend in Ohio and Indiana and ran the big 30,000-participant Indianapolis Mini-Marathon (or half marathon).
Then in three weeks, I'll head to Pennsylvania for the Memorisl Day weekend to visit my grandmother.
Waverly will be home next Sunday evening. I'll be glad to have her here.
I can't believe that three years have passed that she's been at Liberty day-in and day-out for approximately eight months out of a school year.
So very thankful, though, for the resources to provide for Waverly to go to college and her desire and courage to go off to school away from home.
I'm confident of Waverly's opportunities to succeed in life.
Am thankful for the front row seat that I have. :-)
However, the best part of the day came from Waverly as she reported the outcome of two of her three finals on Wednesday at Liberty via Facebook chat.
It read, "Good news - 91/100 for a history final and 192/200 for educ. final today 😊"
She's really, truly done incredibly, especially this year as she stepped up from prayer leader to resident adviser.
And she's done a stellar job.
She'd tell you that she was definitely stretched and forced to grow even more than she might have expected, but she'll come out of it so much more prepared for the workplace.
Am already packed for my trip to Vegas tomorrow.
I'll be back, though, Saturday night to be able to be in church with Mom on Mother's Day.
The only one I think I've missed - other than in 2014 after Holly passed away (and Mom understandably wasn't ready to be in church on an emotional day as such) - was in 2004 when I inadvertently stayed over the weekend in Ohio and Indiana and ran the big 30,000-participant Indianapolis Mini-Marathon (or half marathon).
Then in three weeks, I'll head to Pennsylvania for the Memorisl Day weekend to visit my grandmother.
Waverly will be home next Sunday evening. I'll be glad to have her here.
I can't believe that three years have passed that she's been at Liberty day-in and day-out for approximately eight months out of a school year.
So very thankful, though, for the resources to provide for Waverly to go to college and her desire and courage to go off to school away from home.
I'm confident of Waverly's opportunities to succeed in life.
Am thankful for the front row seat that I have. :-)
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Tap Out Ten; May 4, 2016
We'll see how long I can keep this "Tap Out Ten" going.
Been a slow, yet busy week.
Slow from a work standpoint in that much of what I've been doing for my client changes with implementation of their hospital's new EHR (electronic health record) in March.
Busy because of yesterday's activities putting pressure for me to be able to get my hours in because I'm not going to be in on Friday.
It is looking like I'll have to go in on Mother's Day to make up 4-6 hours.
Thankful, however, that I have work.
Really, really was touched by a picture that Waverly put on her Instagram that I referenced yesterday.
Touched me so much that I teared up quite a bit.
I imagine that the girls she had on her hall were good to be able to learn and get to know better, but it is going to be sad that they won't be in that same place and that same time together again.
A perfect example of seizing each and every moment of every day that God gives us.
No matter where we are, no matter what we're doing, we have an opportunity to impact someone's life. And, unfortunately, it can be in a negative way too.
I'm most challenged driving Houston's freeways and streets and am typically unforgiving to those who can't keep up - decision-wise.
I'm also pretty certain I haven't made a few folks very welcomed.
God, please forgive me for that.
Long work day on Thursday then I'm heading to Las Vegas to run a half marathon outside of town on Saturday morning for a 13.1-mile race or greater in my 41st state.
And after two uphill or hilly half courses, I'm glad that this will be a downhill course!
Been a slow, yet busy week.
Slow from a work standpoint in that much of what I've been doing for my client changes with implementation of their hospital's new EHR (electronic health record) in March.
Busy because of yesterday's activities putting pressure for me to be able to get my hours in because I'm not going to be in on Friday.
It is looking like I'll have to go in on Mother's Day to make up 4-6 hours.
Thankful, however, that I have work.
Really, really was touched by a picture that Waverly put on her Instagram that I referenced yesterday.
Touched me so much that I teared up quite a bit.
I imagine that the girls she had on her hall were good to be able to learn and get to know better, but it is going to be sad that they won't be in that same place and that same time together again.
A perfect example of seizing each and every moment of every day that God gives us.
No matter where we are, no matter what we're doing, we have an opportunity to impact someone's life. And, unfortunately, it can be in a negative way too.
I'm most challenged driving Houston's freeways and streets and am typically unforgiving to those who can't keep up - decision-wise.
I'm also pretty certain I haven't made a few folks very welcomed.
God, please forgive me for that.
Long work day on Thursday then I'm heading to Las Vegas to run a half marathon outside of town on Saturday morning for a 13.1-mile race or greater in my 41st state.
And after two uphill or hilly half courses, I'm glad that this will be a downhill course!
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