Youth Sports

TRAGIC…  This weekend I heard of the Kasandra M. Perkins and Jovan Belcher tragedy…  It appears they had great future potential, he had great income from a sport, they had a three month old child yet but what caused his actions?  We may never know, but I wonder, could it have started at youth sports?

I recently read a few articles on bounties in Pop Warner Football.  Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, and you could find many more…  (Link 3 is the most disheartening!)

I also recently read Play Their Hearts Out: A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine by George Dohrmann.  I read this after reading Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission survey results, which stated:

• 45.3% of youth leaguers said that adults had called them names, yelled at them, or insulted them while they were playing in a game.
• 21% said that they had been pressured to play with an injury.
• 17.5% said that an adult had hit, kicked or slapped them during a game
• 8.2% said that they had been pressured to harm others intentionally. 

A USA survey poll in Indianapolis, Indiana, found:

• 55% of parents said that they had seen other parents engaging in verbal abuse at youth sporting events.
• 21% said that they had seen a physical altercation between other parents.

A survey conducted by Sports Illustrated For Kids magazine found:

• 74% of youth athletes reported that they had watched out-of-control adults at their games
• 37% of the athletes had watched parents yelling at children
• 27% had watched parents yelling at coaches or officials
• 25% had watched coaches yelling at officials or children
• 4% had watched violence by adults

In a survey of adults and players conducted by SportingKid magazine, more than 84% of respondents reported that they had watched parents acting violently (shouting, berating, or using abusive language) toward children, coaches or officials during youth sporting events.

DO YOU REALIZE THAT EVEN WORSE CASE ABOVE, just under 5 of 10 youth sports players have experienced verbal abuse.  Sad part is most of these abuse episodes are not reported.  I am guilty of not reporting incidents like these as well.

A day I will never forget is February 21, 2002.  It was a Friday and I was at a tennis tournament.  I saw a nice 14-year-old boy come off the court, winning in straight sets 6-0, 6-1.  I was near a secluded hallway away from most people (trying to find a lost ball).  There was just one other person besides the winning boy coming off the court in that hallway.  What I saw was the man (the boy’s father), grab the boys shirt, push the boy to the wall with his forearm across his throat and he said (and I am close to quoting):

"You little Sh#@, I do not spend over $20,000 a year for you to come out here and lose a game to a no name F&@k.  Get your head out you’re a$^ or your through!  You got it!”  

He let the boy down from his grasp against the wall and they walked past me.  The boy had tears.  Years later I saw that same parent say “your day is coming” to an official after his son lost an officiated match. 

That is one of many things I regret in life.  I should have told the authorities.  I did not.

Sports, whether running an ultra, golf, tennis, baseball, football, soccer or croquet, etc… it's usually the competition (us against them, me against you or even me against me) which drives participants.  Often, the battle goes beyond the participant and it becomes coaches, peers or parents.

Over the past three decades, I had the opportunities to best and the worse coach, player, and parent.  I did not succeed in being the best or worse in any of these, although I had my chances.  Some were good and some were bad, but I learned quite a bit about kids.

Fact is I do not blame any one part; I blame normal human behaviors’.  Whether it is little league sports, played in small rural towns, or professional sports, played in the limelight of New York City, there are inherent benefits to being the champions, the best of the best.  Obviously, personal pride of achievement and praise of your peers is the first undeniable benefit resulting from being the best. Championship youth sports teams or athletes often suddenly be inundated with sponsors offering to buy uniforms and equipment, some being the same which flatly refused to consider financial help when approached at the beginning of the season.

I have heard of ultra-runners who, after an impressive time or win is given shoes, clothes, supplies, etc...  Before the won, they had little opportunity for anything free unless the picked it off the table at the expo…  It is ingrained starting at a very young age, you win, you get something, you lose, you get nothing...  I support no trophies for youth sports under the age of 12...  

I think society has become one where everything is a game.  A game of "who dies with the most toys or wins" has inflicted our society like a cancer, which shows no signs of receding, destroying financial empires, governments and leaving us without a moral compass.

Isn't this getting a little too involved, too deep for sport? I mean, what could sports possibly change in a world gone ethically awry? Possibly everything.

It goes back to the youth.  Our youth are exposed to the seriousness of sports before anything else in their life. Think about it. Kids play, or at least play at, baseball, football, soccer, marbles, kickball and etc. long before they take educational school serious. They emulate the players they see on television, not their teachers, and that's not to belittle a teacher's importance, it's just fact.

Fortunately, Kids are too young to comprehend the evils committed on Wall Street, ponzi schemes, foreclosures, corrupt politicians, performance enhancing drugs, or spying on a team's practice, but they are old enough and smart enough to learn how to play a game "Fair."  They need the proper coaches, parents and community to support the enjoyment of a game.  Not the “win or you’re a loser” attitude. 

So, as I stated, I recently read Play Their Hearts Out: A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine by George Dohrmann.  I read of the Pop Warner Youth Football bounties, and Jevons Belcher murder suicide.  I can’t help but wonder, how many of societies issues are caused by youth sports?  People blame the schools, but if almost 5 of 10 youth sports participants experience verbal abuse, how can that help self esteem? 

I believe youth sports requires monitored with as much scrutiny as our classrooms.  But society is generally focused on winning and one thing we do not micromanage is youth sports or the military… This needs to stop!  I believe a coach and destroy a live in a single season.  Penalties need to be increase.  But that seems more and more a dream to me…

Carry on my friends… Carry on…

Holy Crap!

Love that Frank Barone...  Classic show -- Everybody Loves Raymond...  Although, I have been into the real classic, Dragnet.  Not sure what that has to do with anything, as that is not why I said "Holy Crap" in the title.

I said it as it had been almost 3 months since a post.  WOW...  Been busy with the promotion at work and trying to do more than I am able.  Also been expanding my photography experience.  Some examples:

I think I will sit down and write something good this weekend.  I miss blog post a little since the instant gratification of Facebook.  I really am not that thrilled with Facebook.  Maybe it will be like myspace or other trends.  Never twitted and have no desire to do so.

Either ways, to me the blog is much like pen and paper was to Grandma.  I need to get back to it as it was enjoyable.

Oh well, when everything seems drab, I think of how I have it great and others, well not so much.  Like the poor dog in this cartoon:

Thanks for reading!

Carry on...

Making incomplete judgements

I was a little irritated the past few months with people who have been real hard on the police for a variety of reasons.  Most recently, the you tube video from St. Paul.  When I see this, I am concerned with what I see in more ways than one.  Both from the side of the office but also those around the incident.

First, think about the life of a police officer.  It is awkward having a policeman around the house when friends drop by and a man with a badge opens a door.  The temperature in the room drops 20 degrees.  If they are part of the party, people perceive that badge gets in the way.  All of a sudden there isn’t a normal guy in the crown, everyone becomes a comedian and jokes about the police. “Don’t drink to much or the man with the badge will run you in” or “How is it going Dick Tracy, how many jaywalkers did you pinch today”.  Then at once those who are known as police lose their first name…  they are call copper, pig, dick, flatfoot, a bull, john law, bad news, trouble, fuzz, the heat, pick the poison...  They are called everything but a policeman.

Often being the police is not much of a life unless you like missing important family events because a homicide happens, not unless you like working Saturday, Sunday and holidays at lower than average pay.  They are paid enough that if they pinch the pennies they put the kids through college but have to learn about Europe on TV.

They spend years on the beat where they arrest a drunken prostitute and she destroys the uniform.  Years ago, the office had to pay for a new uniform.  Police get a front row acquaintance with the worlds diverse and elite.  Pimps, addicts, thieves, bums, drunks, girls who cannot keep an address and men who care, tyrants, liars, cheats, con men and many in skid row.  They see the heartbreaks such as beaten wives or girlfriend.  They see first hand beaten, neglected, underfed, molested kids with broken arm kids or broken legs.  They see dead kids, lost kids, homeless kids, hit and run kids, sick kids, dying kids.  They see the old and homeless, the ones often nobody wants, the pensioners, the people who walk the street cold, hungry and homeless.

They work day in and day out and try to pick up the pieces of many lives while trying to preserve their own sanity.  Many times going on a call and never knowing whom they will meet.  They could meet a kid with a knife, a crazed person with a gun, ex-cons with nothing to lose, or an angry mob who hates authority.

The cops get all the down time to think and have to live with it.  Lawyers and the courts have the police pounded with paperwork.  They fill out a report when they are right and fill out another if they were wrong.  May even fill out a report on filling out a report so some twisted legal representation cannot skew the facts to let the killer go free.  They have to write more words in a life than most human beings.

They have to live with doubt, anxiety, frustration, court decision changing the job’s expectations and requirements. If it not bad enough that the have to deal with the basic criminal element, at times they have to defend themselves against lies and deceit or you tube video taken out of context.  They have to defend themselves to judges, juries and much time the public who has no idea what the day-to-day activities of a Police are.  Most of the time, people are very unhappy with the outcome.

Think about it next time when we believe what we see…  I am not saying the St. Paul Policewere not out of line for the way they treated that person, but what I hear is an angry crowd yelling and making comments in the background.  They are telling him "you gonna get paid man".  The crowd was antagonizing the police for trying to arrest a felon.  This was a guy with a warrant and threatened to harm his girlfriend.  I hear a person yelling about “getting it all on tape”.  I could only imagine that officer with his back to the crowd was wondering if someone in that crowd would pull a gun and be the last day that officer would see his wife and kids…  I know if I was near that area, I would be very scared.

Been watching Dragnet lately and in the words of Joe Friday, “being a Policeman is a thankless, endless, glamour less job that has got to be done, and I am dumb glad to be one of them.”  I for one am very glad when I see one, even if I am speeding!

Carry on…

1,831

After Grandma’s Marathon I anticipated recurring knee pain and other old age issues of completing yet another 26.2 miles.  It was the first time in a long time I actually missed running.  Not the roads, but the trials.  However, I decided to stay on the bike.  But the knee pain never came, but other body parts told me to take a break.

I have a goal of 3,000 commute miles this year, which equates to 84 days of commuting to work.  After his week, I am half way there for work commutes at 42.  However, I have logged 1,831 miles so far this year.  I thought that was just OK but then I realized this means I averaged 8.2 miles a day this year.  That was an emotional uplift.  Then I realized, I have several running friends who average more than that for daily miles on foot.  It is all relative.

I also improved my average speed to work recently.  After watching the Olympics, I decided to do a time trial on the road bike to work.  The previous time was just over 56 minutes, wind assisted.  But August 2 was ideal.  No wind.  Since I ride all directions to get to work, I always have the wind no matter what direction it blows.  On this day, it was a new personal best of 54:23 for 17.81 miles... According to the Garmin 405! Only had one red light! Record average speed for me of 19.6 mph. Ave heart rate was 152.  I was pumped.  It was on my new rode bike, the Fuji Roubaix 2.0.  I love the ways it glides!

Been taking more pictures and learning new techniques.  Select Pictures below.

Overall been a decent summer so far.  The infection was under control yet now it seems to come back.  I was so happy I rejected the Prednisone the last round.  I will have another exam in a few weeks but I fear I will be given Levaquin again.  But NO PREDNISONE!  I cannot afford another 10 pounds and that is what I seemed to gain every time I was one the stuff.

I am going be a half-century in a next month.  Time goes by so fast.  Not sure where it all went and as I get older, there seems to be so much more I have not accomplished.  Some call it making a bucket list while others call it regrets.  I call it opportunity.  Many of my friends did not get the opportunity I have as they passed at an early age.  I will cherish the time and I am in the mindset that the trails are in my future.

Carry on…

Grandma's 2012

My first thought when starting this post was “where was a blog 28 years ago”.  I have been trying to compare my experience at the 36^th Grandma’s Marathon (my 28^th consecutive) with past experiences.  However, I did not have a blog back then I did not keep a journal?  Bummer as after 28 finishes; they all run together, even two days afterward.  I did have blog entries for 2008, 2009, and 2010.  Last year was a hard year and I only had 5 blog entries (2 in January and 3 in December).

My Friday was not a good precursor to a successful weekend! Work was issue after issue and I found it hard to get away.  When I did, I went to my girlfriend’s house as we were driving up together in her second car, as it is easier to sleep in a Nissan Altima than my Smart four two.  I took her car to fill up with gas and about 5 blocks from the station, it ran out!!!  CRAP… I had to push it to the station.  Now I thought with Minnesota nice, I would get a hand or two but nothing.  Fortunately, the route was flat and the only issue was the entrance and I picked up speed and made it…

After that fiasco, we left Minneapolis about 3:30 PM Friday.  I was concerned as I knew I am not as prepared as I could be, actually logging no running miles since the 2011 Grandma’s Marathon means there was NO preparation.  I did log over 1,500 miles on bike the two months leading up to this attempt, but biking is not the same as running.

Battling traffic made the trip about 45 minutes longer than normal.  Although, the arrival at the DECC was perfect timing as the 5K had finished and much of the parking lot was clear.  I picked up my packet, did a little walk around Canal Park before heading to the car to sleep.

I set my alarm for 4:45 A.M. as the bus/train was scheduled to leave between 5:20 A.M. and 6:30 A.M. and I was expecting rain.  I had a great nights sleep, which was strange, as I have had so much trouble sleeping the past few months.  When I woke, I was surprised to see a mostly clear sky.  The weatherman was stating thunderstorms for the day.  I was happy for them missing the forecast once again! 

The train ride to the start was uneventful. Got to the start, went to the biffs’ and did the final race preparations.  I truly believed this was only going to be an attempt at best.  I have been a little down thinking this would be the end of my consecutive Grandma’s Marathon attempts.  One side of me was hoping injury took me out and the other is a fighter.  I hate to quit.  More than anyone I have ever met, I hate to quit or fail!

I was worried as the sun was hot. The forecast was maybe 65 degrees for the day with scattered thunderstorms.  It was all of 65 degrees at 7:00 A.M. and the sun was very hot.  Standing at the start grid many of the runners already had sweat from the warmth.  

The race started 15 minutes early this year with a 7:45 AM start as opposed to the traditional 8 A.M. start.  I knew that I needed to run smart to have a chance at finishing.

The race start was uneventful. Took over 7 minutes to get across the start line. I was doing a 12-minute mile without much worry. Had a heart rate at about 130. Not much to worry about.  As typical for longer activities, I went with the heart rate monitor as my pace guide. I kept the heart rate in the 130-140 ranges.

Everything was going along fine when at six miles I had a loud and painful clicking in my right knee.  It was like a ratchet.  Step after step...  Click, click, click... I started to get real concerned and changed my gate and rotation hoping to ease the issue.  I walked for a while and tried to minimize the pain and odd feeling. Then started to run at a variety of ways to ease the pain.  Found a real short shuffle was pain free.  After the half marathon mark I realized my brisk walk was about a minute slower than the shuffle run and walking did not hurt.  I was beginning to think I can I finish, I have to finish!

So I proceeded to walk, briskly.  I was clicking off the miles at a 15 to 16 minute per mile pace.  It was easy and I had built a cushion that I knew I only needed an 19 minute mile average for the rest of the race to make the cut-off.  I decided this was all about the finish, not the time.

Everything was great until mile 22 when I felt both calves, the right thigh and lower back start to tighten up.  I focused all the mental energy I had on each step, changing each step to assure I did not get a cramp to stop me in my tracks.  I had been taking S-Caps and felt I had completed a very solid regimen to keep hydrated.  So I just focused.  I have always said the brain can overcome so much if you know how to use it!

Shelley met me at mile 24.5 and walked the rest of the way in to the finish.  It was a finish like so many others, only the slowest ever. I was not disappointed nor was I happy.  It was strange that for the first time that I can ever remember, it felt like I finished a day at work and it was time to clock out and go home.  I was not happy with my job but had no intention of quitting. 

Lets see what the next week holds, although, I am really looking forward to getting back on the bike!  I am surprised my knee hurts much less than the week before the race.  I noticed that last year as well, it felt better after 26.2 miles than it does with zero miles… I really enjoy the bike rides this past year and hope someday, I will once again really look forward to my running and finishing Grandma’s Marathon.  When that day comes, I will then make it my last as I do not want to quit without my last one being a race I enjoyed so that positive memory will stay with me for as long as I live.

Right now I am looking to focus my energy on fighting this infection once again.  I do not feel much improvement after 6 days of Amox-Clav.  Looks like the stronger option is needed and that will limit my activities...  But I need to take action as I wake up unable to see clear for the first 10 minutes each morning and when I lay down to watch TV or read, within minutes everything is blurry.  As I wrote previously, this is my 9^th antibiotic rotation in 26 months.  I will fight and win that battle so I can win others.   

Thanks for reading and may you all live a happy life and enjoy everything you do.  This is a blessing humans often take for granted.  Including me, who needs to feel so blessed with the health, perserverance and success for more than half my life finishing Grandma’s marathon.  I still have a hard comprehending, 28 years…  Wow!

Carry on my friends.

Grandma’s 28? Now that is a young Grandma!

No I do not mean a human Grandma, but the marathon in Duluth, MN.  Where for some reason thousands of people meet annually on the third Saturday in June for 26.2 mile trek from Two Harbors to Duluth.  The place where I have put my body at the start line for the 27 years and managed to finish.  I am beginning to think each time the body was different…  

There have been a great variety of personal outcomes and race conditions over the years.  There were brutally hot races, a brutally cold race and even one where the wind took down the finish line entertainment tents just hours after I finished.  My PR (personal record) and PW (personal worst) on this course are over three hours apart.  Yes I have averaged 8 miles per hour but also as slow as 4 miles per hour.  The race is different experience at each pace.

This is actually the 36^th Annual Grandma’s marathon, but my 28^th.  I know there are three people in there 60’s who have run them all. (I am not out of the 40’s yet!)  I was not even a teenager for the first annual Grandma’s…  With 27 under the belt, I have no real understanding what makes me think I need 28!  Some think I need an intervention, some think I am overly competitive and others wonder why I ever started in the first place.  Over the years I have met other “streakers”…  In 2009 I ran with a women who was on her 23^rd.  I have a friend who is going for his 29^th consecutive finish.  In 1985, my goal was 25 consecutive finishes, but like those words from Forrest Gump, “for no particular reason I just kept going” or “I figured, since I'd gone this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going”.

This year will be a little tougher.  My right knee is painful, not sure why.  The pain is all around.  It is inconsistent.  Often feels better the longer I use it.  May be a good sign?    Feels like a hamstring strain but also feels like it did when I had the meniscus issue.   I may have that checked after the marathon, as I did not want a medical finding to say I could not run this year.

Although, I have been waking in the morning with my vision being an issue again.  When I lay down, it gets so bad I cannot read or watch TV.  So I went to the Doctor late last month, had another check-up which led to another CatScan... we found out the infection I have been fighting since 2009 continues to impact my head.  For years now, seems like every 4 months I am on a Prednisone and antibiotic regimen…  Seems like tow or three weeks on and then 13 weeks off and back on again!  He wanted to put me on Levaquin again, that helped for about 5 months in 2010, but I could not risk taking that and running the marathon.  So Amox-Clav in the meantime…  If that fails (like it has in the past) then I will get back on that dreadful Levaquin.  I did refuse more prednisone as every time I am on it, it is 15 pounds added to the body!

I am sure the infection will make the marathon a little harder, but hey, 27 years in a row is more than I would say 99.999 percent of all humans could do?  That is still 700,000 so maybe I am not correct.  Also, if the body fails, I will not have a reason to do it next year, unless I want to run it!  I have not looked forward to this race since about 2003.

Looking back over 28 years, things I recall from 1985 -- as it was my first Grandma’s and I set a goal of 25 consecutive years…

• Could not get a place to stay so I stayed at the Best Western in Hinkley.
• Michael Jordan (Basketball) was a rookie in the NBA!!!!
• New Coke/Old Coke fiasco
• We celebrated the Dow Jones breaking 1,500!
• VH1 started
• Wade Wilson replaced Tommy Kramer as Viking quarterback.
• Dukes of Hazard was cancelled. (Yes, I watched it…)
• Back to the Future (Movie) was released!
• We are the World was recorded
• Billy Joel married Christy Brinkley
• But Moonlighting started (Always liked Cybill Shepherd)
• This is also the first year for MacGyver. (Loved that show as well)
• I purchased my first computer – A Macintosh 512K – I PAID $2,100 OUCH!
• The world had 4.8 billion people

In Between 1985 and now

• World population grew by 2.4 Billion people!  That is right...  BILLION.
• I lived in 4 states (North Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Illinois)
• Six US Presidents (Ronald Reagan, George Herbert Walker Bush, William Clinton, George Walker Bush, Barack Obama)
• Four so called stock market crashes…
• Ten Jobs (From a cook, waiter, manufacturing, sports official, retail sales, to my current job as a City Planner)
• Lived in 14 different homes
• Went through 12 cars – Included ex-wife and Son’s cars (Chevy Malibu, Ford Mustang, Honda 600 Sedan, Chevy Station Wagon, Dodge Daytona, Mitsubishi Expo, Ford Fiesta, Kia Sephia, Mazda Millennia, VW Passast, Smart fourtwo (twice))
• Went through 6 girlfriends, one wife
• Son was born, raised… now 23 years old
• Couple marathons just over 3 hours
• Couple of 6 plus hour marathon finishes, many in-between

What a ride this has been!  


I guess it is time to saddle up the old bones and head North.  Hope I can still enjoy the ride or at least do not fall off the horse.  I will once again (as I have done since 1999) sleep in the car, run it and come home.  Unlike 28 years ago, I feel it much more before, during and after…  

Carry on…

Vacation...

On May 9, 2012, I loaded up the Smart car for my first long journey (920 miles) in the micro car.  I headed to Golden, Colorado where my son was graduating from the Colorado School of Mines.  Graduations are an interesting time as relatives all get together and desire time with the graduate, but the graduate also cherishes the chance to reflect alone.  I was prepared to be as accommodating as possible to his wants and desires.  After all, it was about him, not me or others in his life.

This would be the first time I have left the office for more than 5 consecutive days of vacation in over 10 years.  During that time, vacation was usually used to work tennis events.  Since I left all sports officiating at the end of 2011 (after almost 20 years I have seen all I wanted to see in that hobby) I was at first depressed then lost with extra time on my hands.  Looking back, I think I was in need of a vacation and this was the best reason of any to take a longer vacation, for personal reasons.  I planned to spend 11 days in Colorado; some alone while my son-spent time with his mom but most with him.

The drive was not unpleasant as I was unsure of the small car comfort potential.  In fact, I was surprised how the little Smart Car was a comfortable ride!  I was a little disappointed about only getting 38 MPG on the highway, but there was a slight head wind and I was driving 75 MPH.  Once I get over 60 MPH, the gas mileage drops from the usual 42-43 MPG.  I made the trip in just 13 hours and 30 minutes and spend the night at my son’s place before heading to the hotel on Thursday.  I stayed at the local hotel for 3 days as that allowed his mother to stay with him.  He has a nice place, but not one to hold more than one visitor.

On Friday morning at 9:00 AM was the graduation ceremony.  It was cold but there was no rain as forecasted.  Instead, we were blessed with an occasional snowflake.  Throughout the ceremony my son sent a text messages exclaiming, “I’m bored”.  With about 600 graduates, it was long but then, he earned that boredom!  Took a few pictures and then off on our own ways.  A little more than an hour after Graduation the rain started falling.  We were lucky!

Proud Parents

The "M" for Colorado School of Mines

While Jordan spent time with his mother Saturday, I traveled to Boulder for a day trip.  I always liked Boulder.  Could have moved there a few years ago but did turn down a nice offer for it was the best decision at the time.  Often wonder about decisions like that?

While in Colorado, I ventured on an excursion or two every day.  My GPS watch logged just under 15 miles hiking and 7,000 feet of climbing and 28 miles on bike with just under 5,000 feet of climb.  Some of the highlights of the trip was hiking to the Royal Arch in Chautatauqua Park just outside Boulder.  About 1,500 feet of climb over 3 miles.  At the top, there was the arch (Picture below).

I also bike up Lookout Mountain. This was 57 minutes for 5.1 miles and 2,000 feet of climb.  I posted a youtube video of the ride (driven in my car and them sped up by 800%).   It was a killer, but glad I accomplished the thigh burning uphill ride.  .  I tried on Wednesday the 16^th and only made it 4.2 miles.  So on Thursday I was determined and completed the attempt.  VICTORY WAS SWEET!  I also visit many sites and cities and took many pictures. 

Also while we were in Boulder, we test rode the Optibike, the ultimate electric bike!  We could go from 0-20 in 5 seconds and fly over speed bumps at 20 MPH and did not even know we hit one.  What a  great urban bike!  Although, at 60 pounds I would hate to run out of juice and have to pedal home.  Unlike my Bionx, it can not charge while riding.

The trip home was an event.  My son came back to Minnesota with me and with a full Smart Car and a 30 MPH side wind, we had an adventure.  We were not the only vehicle struggling in the wind!  It was way too much to handle at times, but we made it.  My forearms were cramping! We also were lucky to top 38 MPG…

What was unique is when I was in the Denver area, I was getting closer to 50 MPG on a regular basis but one I left that area, it was back to the usually 40-43 MPG?  Made no sense…

Anyway, the trip was so very nice and I was able to get some very high heart rate hikes and bike rides in while visiting.  Been a while since I was able to get the heart rate up as my last dose of Levaquin and Prednisone was only a few months ago and after regular doses of the medicine for two years.  I really think I have rid myself of the issues and can start working out regular again.  Hope so, even though my son made fun of me panting like a dog in heat, I sure slept wall and felt good.

Thanks for reading.

Carry on!

A state of perceptual anesthesia?

I recently read a shirt that said "to be in true love is merely to be in a state of perceptual anesthesia".    I immediately thought of my girlfriend.  Not because of the love, but the anesthesia.  She is miserable and hates the thought of anesthesia.  I on the other hand, have never had any issues and really feel great after any surgery where I was treated to a great nap (at least what I call it).


It made me think about how we are all unique and have different answers to the question of who, what, where, why and how of humans.  Some run fast naturally and other have a hard time going half that speed and they are the same height and weight.  Then there are those who are twice the weight who run faster than those half their weight.   There are those those who, no matter what we try, are geographically challenged where other can find their was around any city with ease and without a map.  There are those who can enjoy a beer and those who can't enjoy one (alcoholism).  Is this all genetics?  Is it all the result of our environment?  Is it long lasting effect of good decisions or bad decisions?  I wonder if I will ever know?


Recently at the office, we had a middle age women die from Cancer.  This is my 4th friend in 5 years to be taken from cancer.  The most recent smoked and lived like the average human being would as far as diet and exercise (meaning occasional). Recently, another staff person in my office was informed she has terminal cancer.  She is very healthy in life.  Always made organic food choices, never smoked, exercised regular, and took very good care of herself.  Made me think, does it matter what we eat or how much we exercise?  


Then I digress and speak about the the world of technology and we as people fooled by what we see and forget the variables that caused the false visual.  Advertising often uses parts of factual data to emphasize how great something is over another.  People believe what we see more than what we read, at least that is what the advertising group tells me.  


An example, I saw an advertisement for the "new wave" oven on Television this morning.  They were bragging how much more fat is removed by using their product as opposed to a conventional oven.  They "prove" it by cooking chicken in the "new wave" oven and in the conventional oven.  Then they dump the drippings into a cup to show how much more fat is removed.  Everyone was in awe!  What they do not say if that the over they were selling did not allow the moisture to escape.  Instead, water was added to the fat increasing the volume.  In the real oven, it dissipated and the left over fat is like motor oil.  But people just believe what they see, we forget to think...


I recently saw a video that is inspiring about YRG - Yoga.  It was a video about Arthur Boorman who sets a goal to walk again and to reclaim his life. An Army veteran who was hurt in the first Gulf War, Arthur suffered for 15 years with the effects of a botched surgery that left him unable to walk without the assistance of leg braces and canes. By February 2007, he had ballooned to 297 pounds and, by his own admission, was waiting to die. In looking for a yoga program to alleviate some of his constant pain, Arthur found the YRG workout. He gained inspiration and strength from DDP and other members of Team YRG to propel him toward his goal -- "I Will Walk Again!" -- and, ultimately, to blow past it. Watch here as Arthur vividly demonstrates that life is not about how many times you fall down -- it's about how many times you get up.  http://youtu.be/suTPns5cy_Q


What I have come to the conclusion is that science is wrong to generalize when it come to health and well being!  Each of our bodies are vastly different genetically and the environments in which we are raised.  What works for one may have a opposite impact on another.  So strange but makes scientific research difficult.


I did buy a new road bike.  I intend to ride my Bionx Cannondale quick 5 one day and the new Fuji Roubaix 2.0 the other.  This will allow me to ride more without exhaustion.  It is 18 miles one way.  I have commuted to work over 500 miles already in 2012 and have the goal of 3,000 commute miles.  Crazy when I think about how that is almost an I-pad worth of fuel savings!  


Now on to my health.  I have not lost any weight since January 1.  I believe this is caused by three things:

1. I had been depressed about leaving tennis (which after almost four months I am really feeling good emotionally about quitting.
2. Work has been so busy and stressful.  I have been able to cut back to working 55-60 hour weeks.  We did hire two new staff and I will be able to work my 40 hours weeks again soon. (THANK GOD, I AM BURNING OUT!)
3. Right knee is strange.  I have been taking real care not to push the knee.  It never really recovered from the surgery.  I think, as I stated many time, if the weight goes down, the pain is less of a possibility.  My weight is only 18 pounds from the obnoxious weight I was in 2005.  Gained 72 pounds from my 2005 Grandma's....  Ouch!  I am to blame, but the regular does of prednisone since between 2008 and 2011 sure did not help.  I felt the weight add each time I was on the drug, but I felt so much better!

I have signed up for my 28th Grandma's Marathon.  Really not sure if I will run the race but I am a lifetime member and never have to pay a entry fee and had to enter by April 1 or lose my chance for the year.  So I signed up.  Last year I ran it with only one 2.4 mile training run the Tuesday before the marathon.

As I close, I have been taking more photo's and learning about my new camera.  I took one the other night and there was a strange object in the sky for one of them.  Look at the upper left.  I you look at the second picture, I zoomed to the corner.  It is only in one of the pictures and I took several that night.  Strange!

UFO?  Doubt it but I was not feeling good about what was around me that night.  It was a easy feeling.  When I came home I told my girlfriend I felt uneasy the whole time I was taking photo's.  Then later in the week I downloaded the photo's and we both were surprised!

Anyway, looking forward to running when I can.  For the first time in a few years I miss running through the woods.  It had become a chore.  Almost went a few times but was so exhausted after a 11 hour workday, I do not.  Really stupid as I know a easy run would make me feel better.  

I have been told that telling everyone I am going to go on a diet and post the results weekly will enhance the likelihood of success?  Not sure, but it makes me think...

Carry on....

You would think...

I was back on track...  I side stepped.  Had some issue with the infection again.  Had a Cat scan and on medicine and felling much better this week...

I had thought now that with no longer spending 35-40 of my weekends a years in tennis, that ending the decade of tennis officiating would mean so much free time.  That has not been the case...  There is an adjustment when making a life change.  I have always emphasized the year rule when ending relationships, replacing the deceased dog, moving into a new place and etc.  That means give yourself a year break before diving into a new "replacement:" for what has been lost with the change.  I often hear people say it takes two years to fully unpack and feel settles in a new home (unless they are moving from a dorm room).

Well, I believe that the leaving tennis had a slight amount of depression as I have dabbled into many things over the past 2 months.  Been 8 free weekends in a row and only one has seem productive.  However, that is because I am immersed in so many other things that keep me busy, but none have really became a passion.  I have always loved photography and spent some tim e recently gaining some skill in that hobby.

As with any hobby, there are upgrades and expenses.  I recently upgraded to a new DSLR.  I selected the Nikon D5100.  While this is not a professional level upgrade, it sure has a great deal of enhancements overt he old camera.  It has almost three time the MP's.

So I have been "learning" the new camera.  It is hard to believe that there are so many variables that make or break the right photo taken in the perfect light at the right time!   To see what I have learned so far, here are a few recent pictures I took.

Nine Mile Creek - Bloomington

Two Harbors MN 

Split Rock Lighthouse  

Lake Superior south of Two Harbors

Therefore, the new camera has been occupying my time.  

I also have had regular workouts for the first time in years.  Then again, let us define regular.  Some some who read this blog that is 50-100 miles running plus they throw in a little cross training like weight lift three times a week, swim a little and another 100 miles on the bike is normal.  For me, normal is getting at least five times a week with at least 45 minutes a day.  I started 2012 that way, slipped for about 2 weeks but have has two greta weeks behind me.

Rally getting itchy for biking to work.  It is 18 miles one way but more often than not, a nice day ride is a great way to prepare for the day and then coming home is a great way to de-stress from what has become a very very stressful job.  I have been looking at possibly upgrading my 25 year old Cannondale SR 400 road bike into a new flat bar road bike.  I have looked at:

• Marin Lucas Valley
• Jamis Allegro Comp
• Novara Express (REI) 
• Trex 7.5FX (However, never been a Trek fan)

But with the new camera, there is always that thing call a budget.  That is notices as tennis, while a hobby, generated about $400 a month net in extra cash.  While I live comfortably that dent makes a difference.  It is more than a 10 percent decrease in net pay from last year.  So my "toys" just take longer to acquire and appreciate, but with tennis, I never had the time to enjoy the toys, so there is a needed balance.

I am hoping to try occasional runs soon.  Will be real slow.   I am really trying to get the weight down before I pound the surgically fixed knee, but I am finding the running is the best way I lose pounds...  Catch-22.

Anyway, still have some withdraw in the life changes and that shield be expected.  It was a over a decade!  I think I will fully adjust in time for a nice spring.  

Hope you all are well and wish you safety in whatever you do...

Carry on...

Update

Been busy after the Holiday's and the start of 2012.  On January 10 I rode bike to work...  (18 miles one way and in January without winter gear!)  I rode home that afternoon in a T-shirt...  In JANUARY, in Minnesota?

Getting good workouts in and not losing weight.  After a solid first 8 days into 2012 where I worked out about 2 hours daily and at least one hour of that was cardio over 145 HR, I stepped on the scale with anticipation...  PLUS 4.2 pounds!  I wanted to use four letter words but realized there were as many choice three and five letter words to use.  Spend a few days pissed off and then got back on track and do not plan on visiting the scale for a while!

Tennis had been finished for just over a month.  Initially I had planned on helping the Association cover the collegiate season and that starts this weekend.  Although, after some thought (and pushing from others) I decided I am not going to officiate anything for a while.  I have looked at Lacrosse?  Well, that is false, I am going to officiate my health and eating...  That takes time by itself...

For about 13 years, tennis was a major part of my identity.  That of which makes me, me and makes me feel whole.  Many of you may understand when I say that you have an identity outside yourself which make life whole.  Some have running ultra-marathons, some it is their spouse, some it is their children and so on...  Well my son and tennis have been at least 80% of who I have been since getting divorced over a decade ago.  SHIT, it has been over a decade!  Time flies...

Either way I am trying to adjust and find new passions.  I look forward to the outdoors but today the wind chill is -35 degrees, so I will stay in thank you...  I am looking at upgrading the bike a little for the spring.  I am thinking of putting a flat bat on my 25 year old Cannondale SR 400...  Flat bar road bikes look funny, but I like the flat bar better...

For Christmas, my girlfriend purchased a weekend class for outdoor photography (Coldsnap.com - Winder Wonderland) in late February.  Hope for better than -34 degree's but it will be fun to learn.  I will share some of the results here...  maybe?

Running is still nonexistent.  I need to get the weight down to assure the knee is not an issue.  So indoor biking, elliptical and weights are the extent of the workouts.  An occasional swim and yoga are also enjoyable.

That is the extent of it.  I will continue onward to gain a sense of identity lost with leaving tennis.  It was time, however...  Really was not enjoying it and many of the people I dealt with so it was time for a new hobby.  I know I have a very happy week after volunteering for an ultra-marathon.  Next close opportunity for such looks like Zumbro 100!  I think I should contact John and secure a spot...

I leave for Colorado tomorrow for 4 days.  Should be fun.  Going to help my son move and get caught up on some matter that need attention.  He just returned from 5 weeks in Chile...  Hope to get some good stories and pictures.

Please be warm and take care of yourself.

Carry on...