Back to Work

Crazy day spent at the doctor office today.  I got X-Rays on my back, which is still giving me trouble.  Then I went to the eye doctor and found out that I need glasses.  I'm a little upset about the glasses issue because I just got Lasik 7 years ago and already need glasses.  Let me see at just over 3K that is about $428 a year?  Is that a good deal to get rid of glasses?  Maybe that first year in Kuwait driving around with all that sand and not having to worry about glasses, maybe that made it worth it?  Now that the Army is funding Lasik, I'll see if they will re-do it. 

Nice six days off of running, but I found that taking care of three children is more exhausting than any ultra-marathon.  I went to bed each day so exhausted.  I'm surprised my wife and I had the energy to do the extra special thing that couples like to do.  Now I'm back at work and getting some rest.  I love my wife and have so much respect for the strength it takes to do her job.  I make the money, but do not work nearly as hard as she does, plus the children can be emotionally taxing.  I love my son so much, but a couple of times he really got under my skin, and that feeling really makes you feel so bad for letting yourself get so upset, especially by a four year old. 

Well a good 8 mile run today even though my back is bunched up in a knot.  The time was 1:08:50, and that puts me at 190 miles for the month.  I'll break 200 miles, and on 1 May I have Whiskey Row Marathon, so I hope the back gives me a break, so I can have a decent time that I can be proud of. 

Sure wish I was at Zane Grey 50, here are some incredible pictures.  Scott Jamie won the race beating out Karl Meltzer who broke his arm on the course and wimped out by not finishing the race (just a joke).  The whole day seemed like a lot of fun.  I wrestle with myself wondering if the course would be too much of a pain in the ass or a challenge that is really fun.  I doubt I'll ever be back in Arizona, so I will probably never do the race.  This is my last season in Arizona and it is kinda sad since I'm getting to know the people and the races.  Well I'll settle down soon enough in the San Francisco Bay Area and get to know all the ultra people there and be a regular at races like Mi Wok, Quicksilver, Firetrails, and the whole Pacific Coast Trail races. 

Day Twenty-One Keeping Car At Work

All I can think of is being home with my family later tonight. I can not wait! Got me 45.3 miles this week with just four running days. Next week I'll only train four days too, but expect to get about the same amount of miles.

I sure hope my glory days are not over.  It looks like we will soon be pulling most of our troops out of Iraq and then be pulling out of Afghanistan shortly after that.  It is hard to think that I'm really headed on the downward slope of my military career.  Once I put on the major rank it will be all but over, because it will truly be staff work from there; plus I think they issue labotomy when you pin on major. 

I'm planning on taking the kids to the zoo, museum and even one day to San Francisco and take the boat from Oakland to SF.  It should be so much fun. 

Intersting talks of VAT and how much people are worried about it.  How can they scream about deficit, but have no real plan to lower it.  It seems like there is always a way to get out of paying taxes, so the VAT may be a way to force those to pay their taxes and not pay someone to find away to avoid them.  It is time to pay the piper, face it; plus realize you are living in the real world and no politician, liberal or conservative are willing to cut enough to make a difference.  The whole business of government is to grow, not cut, and no one is strong enough to stand up to that force that has cemented itself into the way we run our government. 

Happy 4/20 // Day Twenty Keeping Car at Work//Tomorrow Heading Home to San Jose

I'm so happy that I'm heading back home to be with my wife and kids that I can barely keep my mind on work.  It is going to be so nice to be where my heart is and be able to play with my wonderful children.  It is so hard to see them grow before my eyes and miss out on so much.  My wife called me yesterday and told me that Leo had taught himself to ride his bicycle.  Wasn't I suppose to do that with him? 

Kept my car at work last night, so that make day 20.  I'll leave here again tonight and that will put me at 21 or almost half-way to my goal.  I bet I will not be doing so much of this when it is over 105 degrees day in and day out. 

I'm at 32 miles this week and should pack in another ten or so miles, then I'm planning on taking six days off of training, or very little running.  This may be good to recharge my batteries and help heal any nagging injuries.  When I get back it will be a short training week then off to the Whiskey Row Marathon and three weeks later the 12 hour night run! 

Funny link about Osama.

Camelback Mountain Run - 14.2 mi in 3:00:52 ave 12:44

Nice run yesterday up and over Camelback Mountain.  Three hours for a mere 14 miles may sound really slow, but part of that 14 miles was actual rock climbing.  Here are my mile splits, you can tell where the actual climbing came in.  I really need this run every now and then to remind me that my heart is off-road.  Too many of my miles are on roads or on the canal.  I feel so much better or "free" when I'm on the trail or climbing.  I can let go of my need to track every mile and to track how fast I'm going and just enjoy being outside letting the air flow in and out of me.  Too bad I don't live near some real trail and some forest.  I can not wait to get back "home" to San Jose so I can run in beautiful trails on a weekly basis. 

9:49
9:17
9:46
9:15
17:13
38:08
22:35
9:03
8:56
8:48
9:06
8:58
8:44
9:13
2:01
3:00:52
ave 12:44
14.2 mi

The Boston Marathon is over, and Ryan Hall was able to pull out a 4th place finish, which is really great.  His time of 2:08:41 is the fastest American time since 1994, so he should be very proud.  Also, a course record was set by the men with a time of 2:05:52, by a youngster who is only 21 years old.  Time to get him out on the trails.  The womens race was exciting with only three seconds between first and second ($150,000 vs $70,000), incredible. 

This is a picture of Robert Cheruiyot the mens champion.  I should be able to find an exciting picture of the female finish soon.  It should be awsome to see the finishing battle between Teyba Terkesson (ETH) and Tatyana Pushkareve (RUS) with their times of 2:26:11 and 2:26:14; what a race!

Here are the odds for ZG50 by Karl Meltzer.  I think he is pretty spot on, but I am sure pulling for Nick or Jamil Coury for the top spot, but I know it is such an outside chance.  If I was putting money on the race I would put top dollar on Karl.  He said he has a trick up his sleeve, I can not wait to hear what it is. 

Also, I have to link this list of annoying things runners do.  I'm guilty of most of them including the short shorts, so read on it is very funny.

Pat's Run 4.2 miles - 27:37

Up very early to make it to the volunteer tent by 0400 and start data entry for the Pat's Run at 0445.  I did a couple hours of work then took off ot run in the event as a bandit.  It was a lot of fun and didn't cost me a penny.  I posted a 27:37 or average 6:38 over the 4.2 mile course.  I didn't feel guilty because with the chip timing I didn't disrupt the timing and I had a volunteer t-shirt, so as least I did something in exchange for running the race.  The field was incredible, over 25,000 people in this race; I couldn't believe it.  I started about three minutes after the start and was swimming up stream the whole time.  Anyway, I had a great time.  Also, I helped out with the kids race, helping with the wave starts, so we didn't have all 1000 plus kids running over each other.  What a great event that I'm proud to be a part of! 

I did my homeless act too gathering a few cans after the race.  I would have thought there would have been more cans laying around with all the people at the race, but I was only able to find about 12 cans to recycle. 

I went home and drank a few Odell IPA Pale Ale's and was in heaven; what great beer! 

Saw the Doctor Today About My Back

Well went over to Luke AFB and picked up some Robaxin for my back.  I've been suffering from a tied up knot in my back for about a week now.  Seems like one thing gets healed and now it is something else.  I probably could have just worked it out myself, but it was nice to goof of part of the day and try some new muscle relaxers. 

Tomorrow I'm giving back to the running community by volunteering at the Pat's Run.  I'm going to do some data entry from 0400-0730, then help out with the kids race as a course marshal (pointing the kids in the right direction). 

It should be a nice way to spend the day and to get a t-shirt. I really hate to spend $35 dollars on a short race like this, but this race is a big deal in the the city so I wanted to be a part of it. 

I can not wait to hear the results from the Boston Marathon!! 

I've gotten 45 miles in so far this week and have one more training day.  I'm not sure how I will feel after getting up so early tomorrow, but will be sure to get in at least five more miles to get my bare minimum of 50 miles.  Next week I'll take off Th-Sat and then the following week from Sun-Tue, so it will be a nice forced rest.  Then a good week of training and off to the Whiskey Row Marathon and then three weeks later I'll do a 12 hour night run where I'm shooting for at least 50 miles, or if I'm really feeling good I'd love to get 100K!

Three Cups of Tea // Day Nineteen Leaving Car at Home

I just finished the book Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Relin. It was a great book and I wrote the following review:

I usually don’t like to keep on rating books five stars, but this one is well deserved! Mortenson and Relin weave a powerful story about a true American hero!

This book seems to be a fitting complement to a recent book I finished called the Ugly American. Three Cups of Tea and the Ugly American juxtapose the issue of spreading positive US diplomacy.

I am an American Service man, and hearing how Greg combats terrorism really makes me feel good and makes me see that there is another way that we are totally missing.

There are two sides to any story and even two sides to any solution and this story paints a humble story of Greg making good on his promise to build a school (grew into many schools) after a community came to his aid after a failed attempt to scale K2.

I really enjoyed the explanation of the title of the book when Relin wrote these fine words of when Greg was talking to a tribal leaders and about how he needed patience when working with the people of Norhern Pakistan, he said, “If you want to thrive in Baltistan you must respect our ways. The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die.” I saw this same sentiment when I was deployed as an advisor with an Iraqi Infantry Battalion. What a lesson to learn, but more than tea, it is a lesson in patience, and an understanding on how they look at time. I cannot explain the radical difference time has in their country effectively enough because it is something one has to experience over time to get the full understanding, however, Relin does a pretty good job of trying to explain it.

There was another powerful passage that I have to mention. Again Morteson was receiving counsel on how to fight extremism when he was told the following, “Osama is not a product of Pakistan or Afghanistan. He is a creation of America. Thanks to America Osama is in every home. As a military man, I know you can never fight and win against someone who can shoot at you once and then run off and hide while you have to remain eternally on guard. You have to attack the source of your enemy’s strength. In America’s case that’s not Osama or Saddam or anyone else. The enemy is ignorance. The only way to defeat it is to build relationships with these people, to draw them into the modern world with education and business. Otherwise the fight will go on forever.”

There are so many tidbits of wisdom throughout the book which make it a real gem and a joy to read. Also, the rest of the story about where CAI is headed today makes the book even more impressive. I would expect Greg to be nominated and possibly be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Having said all that, I was a little thrown off by the writing style. I’m no English expert and normally I’m not distracted by pulpy writing style, but Relin made the topic feel forced by making some of the descriptions feel overly flowery. Furthermore, the third person description of Greg seemed out of place. I would have liked it more if Relin would have simply wrote as Greg. We all would have known that Relin was writing, but with the third person style it felt very strange and distracting, but it didn’t take away from the great content, which is what we are reading it for in the first place, so I don’t want to come across as too critical.

I ran to and from work today and then to and from the gym for a total of 10.4 miles today.  I'm suffering from some back pain and will go see the doctor tomorrow in order to see if I can get a few pills or get some advice on how to make it feel better.  I also made it to the pool for the second day in a row.  I'm trying to do anything to make this back feel better including really doing some core work and stretching.  Maybe it will work out. 

Also, saw this picture which got me laughing.  Go to this link if you want a good laugh about stupid people with signs (mostly Tea Party idiots, but not limited to them).  It is too bad this person is from the state I grew up in, but there is a reason I left Oklahoma.  Oh have you heard about their soon to be Governor who wants to stand up to the Federal Government, even if by a militia.  What a dolt, basically calling for civil war.  Why don't people who hate the situation of the nation focus their efforts on upcoming elections and get over themselves?  I almost can't wait for the balance of power to shift so the blaming can go the other way.  It seems to be a huge mess that no matter who is in charge will have a very hard time.  We simply have too many entitlements right now and less wage earners to make up for the shortfall in revenue.  I would think the lionshare of these people who complain about the spending are on some type of government assistance and if you talked about cutting it back they would have a cow.....they deserve it.  I'm a veteran and I know for a fact that the VA is full of fraud or 30% plus disable benefits going to hordes of people who do not need the assistance or their disability has been exaggerated, and that is just VA, don't get me started on all the other entitlement programs.  Anyway, I'm willing to pay a little extra and do my part to help get this country on the right track, but it seems like so many people are so up in arms and want to pay less (how the hell is paying less taxes going to help with the very thing they are complaining about...huge deficits?).  I rarely hear someone saying, "Let us come together and pay more in taxes and cut spending".  It seems only to be a fight.  Oh well, I'm just a small potatoe in the big picture.