Who's next? Who's left?

So Tiger Woods has apparently proven to be as big of a slimeball as any other infamous athlete, politician or celebrity. Another shining star that's fallen so far. He joins rank with the likes of Kobe Bryant, Michael Vick, Bill Clinton, Barry Bonds, Rod Blagojevich, Roger Clemens, Jon Goselin, Brittany Spears, Sammy Sosa... The list goes on and on and on.

It's a shame. Not just in Tiger's case; that this golfer who had such a positive reputation is no longer the positive role model that he was. But that he's just the disgraced celebrity du jour. So many have fallen that now it's the remaining positive role models that are the exception, not the norm. Who's left for our kids to look up to? To be the star that they'd like to emulate?

Well, Peyton Manning's still there. Barack Obama. Derek Jeter, I suppose. Lance Armstrong. Oprah? I wonder, if I read this blog in 5 years will these people still stand tall?

It's a shame that there are so few of the relatively clean ones left. Is it really THAT hard to remain decent once you're in the public eye? Is it that hard to follow the law? Is it that hard to remain faithful? To say no to temptation?

Or maybe it's just that now everything is so easily turned into public knowledge. If it weren't for cell phones and texting, maybe we wouldn't all know about Tiger's indescretions. Everyone would still love him. Maybe my childhood heroes were just as faulty. Maybe Walter Payton wasn't really Sweetness. Who knows?

Whatever the case, our kids will probably be best served if they find their heroes closer to home. Police officers, firefighters, soldiers, aunts, uncles, big brothers or sisters. Parents. We may not hit home runs or score touchdowns, but maybe we can avoid at least some of the ugly mess to which our public idols seem to be prone.

Sure, Tiger, you're only human. We're all only human. Let's not use that as a cop out. Humans have choices. Humans make choices.

I heard a quote today from the movie Solaris that has stuck with me: There are no answers, only choices.

Choose wisely, my friends. Choose wisely.

If Shakespeare Was an Aging Marathoner

Chronic knee problems recently led me to an orthopedic doctor's examining table. As you can see, the resulting diagnosis of a torn meniscus has left me in a quandary...

If Shakespear Was an Aging Marathoner
(Ronlet's Soliloquy)

To cut or not to cut: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The pangs and Ow! Ow!'s of outrageous torsion,
Or to take arms against a knee of troubles,
And by op’rating end them?
To cut: to scope;No more; and by a scope to say we end
The knee-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That joint is heir to, 'tis an inflammation
Of whose pain I'd be rid. To cut, to scope;
To jog: perchance to run: ay, there's the rub;
For in that slice of knife what runs may come
When we have suffered through arthritic toil,
Must give us pause: there's the prospect
To de-fray cartilage by so long knife;
For who would bear the pops and tweaks of mine,
Marathoner's gimp, the sore man's hobbled gait,
The pangs of patellar grate, the knee's decay,
The consequence of off-days and the spurns
Of fellow runners, ahead of me they wait,
When he himself might his knee wellness make
With an incision? Who would fartleks bear,
To grunt and sweat during a weary run,
But that the dread of something after knife,
The undiscover'd country from whose paths
Some runners return, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those aches we have
Than run with others that we know not of?
Thus new science does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of my meniscus
Tho’ sicklied o'er with the tear of running fraught,
And re-built knees of great strength and speed
With this regard their footfalls turn awry;
I choose the lame reaction.

One Costume to Rule Them All...

So Lincoln's off to school with his Lord Sauron costume (from Lord of the Rings) for their costume party today. Unfortunately, I think the school frowns on bringing realistic looking weapons to school, so the medieval mace that we've built and painted will have to stay home. But really, what's Lord Sauron without his bone-crushing mace? Just a guy with a ring.

It's been about 25 years...

...since I ran my PR in the mile as a senior in high school. 6:13. Amongst track runners, cross country runners or soccer players, running over 6 minutes for a mile ain't much to write home about. I pretty much sucked at distance running back then (comparatively), and I really only ran the mile all out a few times. I remember always wanting to drop that mile time to below 6 minutes, but 6:13 was the best I could do. Over the years I've had breaking that PR on my mind, but have never been able to get there. Last summer I had the fitness, but a sprained ankle a week before the mile caused me to run just 6:37.

Tonight was the last night of the Frederick Steeplechasers Summer Decathlon. Tonight's event? You guessed it, the mile. Goal #1 - break 6:13 and PR. Goal #2 - Sub 6.

I ran in the fast heat and for the first lap I tried to key on a friend of mine who expected to run around 5:50. I was aiming for 1:30 laps to get me to 6 minutes. The first lap was smooth but perhaps a bit fast, I thought. Finishing the lap I hear 1:22, so yup, too fast. I eased up a little and let my friend get further ahead. Then I tried to stay steady. Lap 2 split - 3:00. Right on target, but I was concerned because that meant my 2nd lap was a 1:38. The third lap was tough and I remained steady. Another 1:38, meaning I'd have to rip off another 1:22 to get back to 6. I surged, then kept accelerating from about 300 yards out.

There are times in these races when you feel like you just want to stop. There's a fear that you will. With 300 yards to go I was beyond that, and kicking with everything I had. Although alone most of the way (behind all the fast runners that REALLY belong in the fast heat), I ran hard. I knew this was my shot at getting that PR and maybe sub 6.

Well, I cross the finish in 6:08. PR by 5 seconds! 1:30 for the 4th lap. Now 42 years old, I can run a mile faster now than when running track in high school!!! And so far this year I've PR'd in the mile, 10 mile, and marathon.

But honestly, I really still want to go sub 6.

Autism Speaks 5K - July 4th, 2009

Okay, I just sat here for 3 minutes trying to figure where I should start with this post, and I still don't really know. The race and walk on the morning of the 4th was the culmination of so much activity that I don't really know where to begin.


But here's what I do know. I know we've been on the receiving end of some of the most wonderful support from family and friends that anyone could ever hope for. I know that we, Andrea, Raeann, Lincoln, Skylar and I, are so thankful for that support!


Andrea and I were forced to divide and conquer on Saturday morning: I drove to Frederick with Raeann and my long-time friend Brad (whose family stayed with us for the weekend) at 6am to meet up with her friend from the Frederick Chamber Singers, Timmy. The two of them, along with another friend, Lizzey, would later be singing the Star Spangled Banner before the race. From there we drove down to Potomac where we would meet up with Andrea, Tanya (Brad's wife) and all the kids.


In Potomac, we also met up with Lizzey and her family, the Frederick Steeplechaser contingent of Raeann's Runners, and numerous other friends, co-workers, and relatives. All told we had about 30 people there as part of Raeann's Runners!


Before a race, time moves VERY fast, especially when you're trying to find people, handing out t-shirts, and making sure you're kids have their bibs pinned on and timing chips strapped on their shoes. Before I knew it, the anthem was moments away!


Lizzey, Timmy, and Raeann did a wonderful job singing our national anthem! I only wish the microphone had been held not so close to Raeann, because her voice was much louder as a result, and it made it tough to hear Lizzey and Timmy.


Well, they finished and then we were all off for the starting line. I tried to get up front where I figured the other Steeps would be, but I didn't end up seeing anyone I knew during the race. Oh, well. It was an absolutely beautiful morning for a race, and I headed up the first hill not worrying too much about how the race would go. I went out comfortably fast, but not real sure how fast because one of the things that I'd forgotten on Saturday was to put on my runner's GPS watch.


I hit the Mile 1 mark at about 7:40. I figured that maybe it took me 10-15 seconds to get to the starting line once the race started, so that meant a 7:25 mile. Fine. At Mile 2 the clock read about 15:10, so that was a 7:30 mile. Fine. The last mile is a bit more hilly, and I was not quite able to maintain the same pace - dropping to something more like an 8:00 minute pace -- but the last 1/4 mile is a nice downhill and I finished with a 23:12, which is about a minute faster than I ran the race last year. So I was cool with that!


After a quick water bottle and pizza, I doubled back onto the course and soon found Lincoln joggin into the homestretch. I joined him and soon he was really kicking for the finish! His buddy, Ben, followed close behind, and several minutes behind them came Ben's brother, Josh! At 7 years young, he was finishing his first 5K in grand fashion!


Once again I doubled back, and about a 1/2 mile back I came upon the wave of violet that was Raeann's entourage! Raeann, Timmy, and Rae's cousin Lexi walked together, followed closely by Andrea pushing Skylar in the stroller, and then followed not as closely by Andrea's sister, Chris, and cousin Emma. The kids were having a great time, getting into the cheering as much as the vocal fans were! As we all approached the finish, the 14-year olds took off and ran to the finish! The 9th annual Autism Speaks 5K was in the books!


It was wonderful to meet so many people at the race: our dear friends Renee & Nenad and Brad & Tanya; Lizzey's family; my co-worker Ted and his girlfriend Jen (both of whom placed in their age groups, I think!); Raeann's Runners veteran from last year, Tony; all the Steeps (Tim, Rick, Brenda, Steve); Aunt Chris and cousins Lexi and Emma, Chris from the Marine Corps Marathon forum; race director Susan Pereles; Andrea's co-worker Elyse; Susan, Alexander & Brian!


For those that couldn't join us today or missed us there (so sorry, Kat!), we missed you and hope you can join us next year!


Thanks to you all for the help, emotional support, donations, good vibes, and friendship!


With Love,

Andrea, Ron, Raeann, Lincoln & Skylar

Summer Decathlon in the Rain

I'm clocking in a little late here, but had a nice night at the track, despite a rain delay and much concern that the festivites would get canceled. First up were the little kiddies in the 200 M dash. That's a long way for a 3 yr old, but Skylar hung with the older kids great and finished the 200 in about 64 seconds! She was utterly adorable out there, running free, elbows straight like only a toddler knows how, and a huge smile on her face flanked by dimples!

Next up: Lincoln. Though he was tired from basketball camp today, he still brought home a 5 second PR by beating last summer's time. I think he finished in about 48 seconds.
I ran with the big dogs in the last, fast heat, though whether I really belonged there might have been iffy. With the rain and monitoring 2 kids, I didn't warm up completely as I might have liked. But I got off to nice, quick start anyway. By the straightaway, though, it was clear that a few of the young guys were too fast for too long. I finished 5th of 6 with a 28.88s. This beats last year's time by almost a second, and I think I could still improve it a little with some more focused training.

The "workout" session after the main event tonight was a predict-your-finish 5k. I didn't give it much thought and put down 23:00. I was rather surprised to find that I ran smoothly so soon after the 200. My pace was steady throughout and I had a nice dogfight with another guy over the last 3 laps. I took over in the last straightaway, though, and got him by a few seconds. 23:23 - and 3rd place in getting close to my prediction! But the real story was my son. He was beat from basketball, beat from the 200 sprint, but wanted to give the 5k a shot anyway. I figured he'd jog a couple laps and get tired a walk for a while before retiring. He'd never gone more than 2 miles before. I told him to just go for as long as he felt like it and not worry about doing the full distance. I knew he was beat.

I'll tell you what, that boy ran and ran and ran! We all started together, so I got to cheer him on a few times while lapping him. He just kept on going! Half way through I could tell he was psyched that he'd even done that much. With 2 laps to go I was screaming my fool head off for him! He was steady throughout and even finished with a kick to pass another kid. 34:15 PR for Lincoln!!!

Happy Fathers' Day!

I did an awesome trail run today with 15 other Fathers, Mothers and Others from the Steeplechasers. We tackled the Catoctin Mountain blue trail, which is the same trail that the Catoctin 50K is run on. Hilly, rocky, and on this morning VERY muddy! It was a blast! Most of us did 10 miles (a few others did 13), then we had a huge cookout at one of the runners' house (Mike O'Grady's) which was on the mountain about 50 feet from the nearest trailhead. What an awesome place to live! My wife and daughters came up for the cookout (brats, burgers, pasta salid, fruit salad, sweets, and plenty of beverages) and then we went on a short hike with all the kids to a nearby pond where the littlest ones got a kick out of tossing rocks into the water. Great morning, great run, great company, great food! It just doesn't get any better than this!
Happy Father's Day, my fellow fathers!