"IT IS WHAT IT IS!"

The shirt and crutches speak for themselves. When you're used to running almost every day for almost eight years, have surgery and are told that you may not be able to run again you go through the same stages of grief that you go through with any other loss. I found a funny list that had donuts and beer as two of the stages of grief. Unfortunately in my case that may have been more truth than fiction. I wound up putting all of the weight that I had lost back on between being limited in what I could do physically and both drinking and eating too much it was a bad situation. Instead of eating and drinking less to offset the lack of exercise I was doing more of both as a stress reaction.

I think when I finally realized that in this case, "It is what it is", didn't mean I had to accept what it was is when I decided to do the Greenland Trail 8 Mile when I was in Colorado. While it was hard and I did have some soreness afterwards I realized that if I couldn't run races then I was going to at least walk some races.

Before I knew that I was going to have surgery I had signed up for the Bay to Breakers, an iconic San Francisco race. I knew that walking it wouldn't be a problem after I had done Greenland. I had signed up to do the race four years ago but decided against it because the logistics seemed overwhelming. In the meantime I have run enough races in San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area that I was confident in getting around. The event was basically a rolling fair or carnival right from the tortilla tossing at the starting line. I'm glad I did it but it would be more fun doing it with family and friends.

The next race I decided to do is one that I had done each of the past three years. It is a Shadow Chase Club race, the Modesto Memorial Run to support veterans. It was a one mile race and I was glad I did it for the 4th straight year. I finished right behind a friend, Don Harris who is having some health issues of his own.

So now I've walked races of 8 miles, 12K and 1 mile. I decided to do a 5K next and signed up for the Marina Bay race in Richmond. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed being involved with the whole running community atmosphere.

So while I'm still eating to much of the wrong things I did make June a "No Beer" month and that has helped take a few pounds back off. I came to the realization that "It is what it is" doesn't mean it has to stay that way. I have now done four "races" even though I have had to walk them and I will continue to do so until I can try running again sometime in the future.

It would have been easy to do nothing and feel sorry for myself. I'm glad I chose to just try something different and walk rather than run events until I can run them again. Next up is a 5K in Eugene, Oregon next month when I go for the Olympic Trials.

Across the Country and Back - Pt 6

When I left Grover I planned to take smaller roads to drive to Colorado Springs and avoid I-70 so that I could see places I had not seen before. It turned out to be a good decision and I enjoyed new scenery. I stayed the first night in Great Bend and intended to drive straight to Colorado Springs and get in fairly early. What I didn't plan but did was stop at the Sand Creek Massacre site. Despite living in the Springs for 25 years and even teaching Colorado history at one time, I had never visited the site. The site itself isn't very impressive but knowing the story and reading more about it while I was there and seeing the actual location and being able to imagine the terror the Native Americans must have felt, it was pretty emotional. In all honesty unless I was on the way somewhere, I wouldn't drive out of my way to visit but if you have an interest in American history and Native American history in particular it is worth stopping.

When I got to the Springs I checked in to my motel and my room had a lingering smoke smell from someone smoking. I was most upset because the lady checking me in made such a big deal about asking me more than once if I smoked. I called to complain and she apologized and said she would send someone down with something to remove the smell. Long story short -- she did nothing. The next day I brought it up again with housekeeping and she brought me a can of room spray. I don't know why I stayed there the whole time instead of getting a different room.

While I was in Missouri I made a decision to walk the Greenland 8 mile trail race. I knew that I couldn't run but I figured that I could walk it o.k. and because there was also a 25K and a 50K I knew I could finish before the finish line shut down. So I had to go downtown to Runner's Roost to get my race packet. While I waited for the time I decided to visit a used bookstore that I always enjoyed visiting, The Book Warehouse. Boy was that a disappointment, I don't know if they changed ownership but the place was so poorly organized and almost impossible to find anything.

I had hoped to make the Greenland race a "reunion race" but I knew with the short notice it probably wouldn't work out. Gerald is the only other one of our "reunion group" to run that race. Walter already had a previous race commitment, Joe has an injury and is actually having knee surgery in July and Robert actually intended to come down Friday to spend the night and then walk it with me but his car broke down on the way down. Joe came by and we had some pizza and beer and visited and caught up. The snow started that night!

I was up at 5:45 the next morning and surprised that it had snowed so much over night and was still coming down. I was supposed to get together with Luke for lunch sometime that day so I just hung out and did some reading while I waited to see what his schedule was going to be. When he called we decided to meet at On the Border at 1:30. It is funny how being away for 4 1/2 years can change your whole perspective on driving in the snow. I almost canceled lunch but then I knew that if I was going to walk the race the next morning that I was going to have to get out early and drive in it so I might as well try to get comfortable. I left and gave myself plenty of time knowing that Mardel's bookstore was close to where we were eating. 6 books later, we met for lunch and talked track for quite a while.

"On the Border" the snow was still coming down.

Walter and Gerald came by to visit and we were hoping that Robert would make it but we'll have to hopefully all get together the next time we do a "reunion run" that involves more planning. As of now, we're looking at Labor Day. 

 

 When I got up and looked out the window just after 5:00 the next morning I was glad that I "bit the bullet"was going to have to have to drive north and go over Monument Hill. The drive didn't turn out to be bad and the fact that the roads weren't crowded helped. I saw Gerald and Kari briefly at the starting line but told them not to hang around for me to finish. I knew I was going to take a while. It was hills, cold, wind and snow and I was going to have to walk even more carefully than I normally would because of my knee. They had to leave to drive to Ft. Collins for the Colorado full and half Marathon the next day.

After the race I said that it was the toughest race (event) that I can remember ever doing. Looking back now about six weeks later I still feel that way even though I have done the Pikes Peak Ascent twice and had to drop out halfway through Double Dipsea because of illness. The difficulty was compounded by the fact that I was so conscious of not injuring my surgically repaired knee every time I slipped in the snow. The footing would have been bad without snow and was horrific with the blowing and drifting snow. I was just 78 days post surgery and 26 days off crutches so it probably wasn't the brightest thing to do but I am glad I did it because I know that I can at least walk races until I find out when or if I'll be able to run again.

That night I got together with Ron Payton for dinner and we had a really good time catching up on friends and reminiscing about all the years that we coached together. Then Joe came by so we could visit because even though I was staying one more day his schedule was going to be full. As it turned out I was going to meet Walter for coffee but I decided that I was just going to hang out and rest before the drive home. I did a lot of reading and reflection based on both what I was reading and how I was feeling about this Colorado visit in particular and whether I was going to be visiting the Springs in the future. I wrote a lot of the reflections as the came up in a notebook that I kept on the trip but I don't think I'm ready to share them here.

I had hoped to see Ken and Kristy in Albuquerque on the way home but they were in Ruidoso and even though they invited me down I didn't want to deal with more snow and I was ready to get home to my dog. While driving and listening to sports talk radio I heard an interesting interview with Ryan Leaf, former NFL quarterback who had legal and addiction problems that led to his "disgrace". He said something that I only hope I can remember when I need to; "Whatever people think of me is none of my business"! I stopped that night in Flagstaff and drove home the next day.

Across the Country and Back - Pt 5

The next stop on the homeward journey was in Grover, Missouri to visit Stacie and Tom and the kids. This was an unusual visit for two reasons. The first is that I only stayed with them for four nights, I usually stay 10 or 12 days when I fly or just drive to their house. The second unusual thing was that Tom and I didn't have a half marathon scheduled or Stacie and I a race. Because of my knee surgery running was off the table. With the kids in school and Tom and Stacie both working we made the most of the time that we had to visit.

The first night that I got there Tom grilled and then we all watched the St. Louis Blues hockey team in the NHL playoffs. I got so invested in their excitement that I watched one more game with then, games in motels while I was on the road and their next series with the San Jose Sharks after I got home. The highs were high and the lows were low as is so often the case when you're following a team whether it be youth or professional.

The next morning we had breakfast on the deck and then Tom and Stacie were tied up a good part of the day shuttling the kids to multiple birthday parties. I am still amazed at what a great job they do keeping up with their kid's activities and still making time to have a quality family life and make time for each other. It has certainly been a big help for them having Jackie live so close. That night we walked to dinner where I had my favorite meal at El Maguey. On the way home we stopped to watch the baby ducks and geese at a small pond near the house.

Since I couldn't run and was trying to get stronger by walking I went to a new trail close to their house and had a really nice hike. It was so quiet and pretty with views overlooking the river and the Meramac Valley. There was a lot of small wildlife and birds. Man did I want to run that trail! Maybe someday.

That afternoon we went to Haley's softball practice. My goodness, talk about herding cats! I can't believe that my coaching career started coaching little kids in tee ball and basketball. Wow!

Chase getting a dose of what its like for Haley being a "Hockey Sister"!

We finished the day off with pizza at home and another Blues game.

My last day there I went to Half Price Books and for the first time in a long time walked out without buying anything for me or anyone else. It was weird, I felt completely overwhelmed by the selection and just decided to look around and if nothing jumped out at me then leave without buying. In fairness I had already bought over 15 or 20 books on the trip so far.

It was a fun part of the trip and great seeing everyone.

Making Banana Bread and it was good!!!

The next day it was off to Colorado!

Across the Country and Back - Pt 4

Athens, Georgia

The next stop on this "Family and Friends" Vacation was Athens, Georgia to see Clarence. Normally he would have taken a few days off from work and gone to Florida with me but Fred and Leah's 45th wedding anniversary party was later that month and he needed the time off to go to that. I was hoping to go as well but the schedule just didn't work out. 

When I got to Athens Clarence was still working so I visited with his friend Rick until he got home. When he got home the three of us went to Ted's a place that is always on our stop list when I go to Athens, good pizza. We didn't have pizza that time though just a drink and then we went back to the house where we toasted to almost 50 years of friendship and then Clarence grilled.

Because Clarence had to work I had a lot of free time and I used it to walk all over Athens to see some things I had seen before and wanted to see again and to see parts of Athens, UGA in particular, that I had not seen before. I spent two days walking, reading the tourist brochures and just hanging out. It was a good test for my surgically repaired knee because I hadn't done anything other than physical therapy since the surgery except some walking on the beach in Cocoa Beach. I wound up walking over 7 1/2 miles each day. 

Three disappointments turned up on my wanderings. 1. NOLA, a restaurant and bar that was always our first stop in Athens when I visited was out of business after over 25 years. This was where Clarence was crowned Mardi Gras King a few years ago and Fred and Leah drove over for the coronation. 2. Jackson Street Bookstore was out of business. This was a cool old used book store that I just discovered on my last visit. And 3. I read about a donut shop in "Ampersand Magazine", Ike & Jane Cafe and Bakery. Their comment was, "Don't leave Athens without trying their donuts". I wlked right past Dunkin Donuts to get there and wish I hadn't. Nothing to write home about.

Shortly before leaving on my trip I had read a travel book and the author mentioned Athens and a landmark that I had not heard of so I walked and asked around until I found it. It is the tree that owns itself. It is off on a side street with no signs to it and no information until you actually get there. Just an interesting sidebar to my trip.

I left there and walked until I found the UGA track just because I wanted to see the facility. It was open so I was able to walk around. There was a shot putter throwing so I stopped and asked if he would mind if I watched for a while. He said sure. He was putting it out about 45 feet with no effort and I noticed something about his technique that if he had been one of my athletes I would have corrected. Thank God I didn't say anything because he was literally only warming up. We talked between throws and he said he was training to make a run at his age-group (40) record. I asked, "U.S." and he casually replied, "world". He said it was 70 feet and then he started doing some serious throws all between 66 and 68 feet. Needless to say the "flaw" I had noticed was gone. Man I'm glad I didn't say anything, it would have been humiliating. Turns out he was Olympic Gold Medalist Adam Nelson who I have watched throw on TV many times. I even saw him announcing for a track meet in Atlanta after I got home. Phew!!! He told me to be sure to say hello if I see him at the Olympic Trials in Eugene. I wonder if I'll have the courage to tell him that story.

In the evenings Clarence and I walked all over downtown and visited people he knew. Then we would go back and he would grill except the last night when we went to a Mexican restaurant before going to hear some musicians that he knew and used to manage play at a club.

The last day that I was in Athens was a full day. We drove to Tallulah Gorge in a mostly rainy but still beautiful day. Then we drove to a small German themed town for lunch before heading home to go to the club and see the band play. We wound up only watching them play one song because they spent so much time setting up. Fortunately there was a warm-up act who was really good and we listened to him. When he finished he came over and sat with us for a while and we had a lot of fun telling stories about the bands we used to see in southern California when we were growing up and would go to Hollywood most weekends before we went in the Navy. 

The next morning I left to go to St. Louis. I was looking forward to seeing Stacie, Tom, Chase and Haley. Originally I was going to go to Philadelphia, Mississippi to connect with Joe and Judy Palmer but their motor home broke down on their way up from Florida and they were stuck in Tallahassee for a few days. The plan now is to get together in Eugene this summer.

The day got off to a rough start when I missed an exit and tried to get off at the last minute not seeing the median that was there. I hit it and blew out my right front tire and had to change it and put on the donut spare. That meant either hanging around for a couple of hours for things to open or driving 50 mph all the way to Atlanta. I chose the later and found a place to get a new tire and continue the trip to St. Louis. It was another beautiful drive.

It was fun reconnecting with these guys!