Life

When you think about all the things we do in our lives to ensure that we are successful, weather it be careers, health, love, family, there are never any guarantees. You can achieve degrees of education on the highest level, but there is no guarantee that you will land that dream job, or even be happy if you do. You can exercise, eat healthful foods, get plenty of sleep, but that is no guarantee of lasting health or that you won't fall ill and possibly die before your time. You might even think you found your soul mate, but there is still no guarantee that this love will last. It seems at times that all we can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" or "If you ever want to make God laugh, make plans..." Are sayings that remind us of how uncertain life can be. It's because of this that when things do work out, I embrace those moments and try to appreciate them as much as I can. Once in a while things do come together and magnificent things do happen. It is my belief that this fact of life, that good things do happen to those who try, drives us to achieve them. I believe it is this realization that inspire us to be better, to reach out ahead and accomplish more. On Sunday I had the thrill of witnessing this firsthand.

Karen Dean ran the Silicon Valley Marathon on Sunday in San Jose with a purpose. Her goal was to qualify for the Boston Marathon, and to do that she needed to finish in under 4:05:59. Karen had run the Boston Marathon twice before, but this time she was running for her husband John. John had a goal to run Boston. He tried several times to qualify but never quite made it. Just when it seemed he would get his chance, John had a relapse of Cancer. He fought valiantly before losing his battle in March of this year. So when Karen started running again, it was clear what her focus would be. If you ever need to look for signs as to weather or not you should do something, they were abundant surrounding Karen's reasons for wanting to run Boston. 2007 is the 111th running of the Boston Marathon. John's birthday was 1/11. John and Karen met 11/11. Running Boston would be Karen's 11th marathon.

Karen trained long and hard. Long runs on the weekends, Tattersols on Wednesday nights. She went from being her husband's nursemaid for months with little or no exercise, to becoming a well conditioned athlete in a matter of a few months. With a week to go I could tell she was nervous, which is always a good sign. I so wanted to run with her, to support and help anyway I could, and I knew just where to meet her. I stood on the course that morning at mile 10.7 and waited till she got there. She was with Dom and had a big smile on her face. I ran with her from mile 11 to mile 12, she did a 9:00/min split for that mile, just as she had planned. I let her go and caught up with her again at mile 25.5, this time she had an entourage in tow. A dozen friendly faces offering words of encouragement and support, running along with her to the finish. There was no smile on her face this time, just a look of steel determination. I will never forget how great she looked, perfect form, strong and steady. She reached mile 26 with exactly 4:00 on the clock. Just as we crossed that mile marker, her pace picked up. Her group of admirers felt her energy and we all got louder. In a full sprint she crossed the finish line with a time of 4:01:19. She qualified. As she went through the chute we all just stood there smiling and laughing, looking at each other in celebratory amazement as we all enjoyed the moment. It was as if we all simultaneously understood that we had just witnessed something very special.

Good things do happen. Sometimes the best laid plans do work out. Sometimes when we want something bad enough, we can almost will them to fruition. And when our love for someone is so strong that it touches the people around you, it seems that nothing can stand in your way. Even if that person we love is very, very far away...

Karen Dean
bib number: 1111
location: San Jose, CA
Overall Place: 282 out of 1033
Division Place: 4 out of 16
Gender Place: 45 out of 270
Time: 4:01:19
Pace: 9:14

Mount Vernon

Last weekend I headed back to Washington DC and visit my good friend Lecia and her trusty feline, Babs. While the main reason for going to DC was to spend time with my old friend, I also wanted to see some historic sites. I took a tour of Arlington National Cemetary on Friday, witnessed the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier. On the Saturday of my trip, we chose to make the 40 minute drive to Mount Vernon, home of the first President of the United States, George Washington. The site was in word, beautiful. Imagine a massive estate with many buildings surrounded by 8,000 acres of rolling green meadows and forest areas, set against the Potomac River. In it's heyday this plantation held 5 farms, each with thier own workforce of slaves and livestock. Dignitaries and commonfolk alike would travel from miles around to stay at the house, hunt the lands, fish the river, and be fed like royalty all on General Washington's dime. After spending a few hours touring the mansion and surrounding areas, we ended up in the gift shop. I wanted to bring something home that would forever remind me of this historic site. Something of signifigance and reverence for the first president of our great land.

This is what I brought with me from Mount Vernon...

They are F@#%ing socks, lady....

Saturday at the Rev was interesting. The day before the inaugural San Jose Rock and Roll Half Marathon brought lots of nervous people making last minute purchases of GU and clothing, and the clueless fools who decided that they needed a new pair of shoes a day before the race. I didn't mind them that much, they were all new to a sport I love, and excited as I was for the first rock and roll event in my home town. But there was this one lady who needed running socks that really pissed me off. I see her staring at the sock wall, looking at the toe socks. Toe socks are just what you would imagine they would be, socks with individual toes at the end which for some are a God send as they tend to blister in between their toes when they run. I asked her if she needed some help and she says to me: "yes I need these toe socks in size small for running" as she points to a pair of white toe socks that are a size large and happen to have the word running on the package. This was last years packaging before the folks at Injinji decided to change the label to say "Performance". I pull a pair of white socks in size small with the "Performance" moniker and say plainly, "here you go..." In disgust with my apparent ignorance, she says "NO, those are "performance" socks and I need running socks." So I explain to her about the packaging change and these were in fact, running socks but she wouldn't have it. "Well cant you just go in the back and find a pair of running socks in small, that say running on the package." I then said, "well, these ARE running socks and they are size small..." Not giving up she says "what about those on the right, are they size small? I explain to her that we stock the wall in order by size and that they are all larges. The smalls were over on this side, and even though they are the exact same fabric, size, style, look, feel, and for the time being smell as the ones that say running, unfortunately for me they say performance. After all, why in the hell would you find "Performance" socks in a running store??? (I didn't really say that, but I imagined saying it as I shook her senselessly.)

Then it dawned on me, I was just brought to the brink of unbridled rage over a pair of socks. Maybe my blood pressure IS causing this. I really should consider cutting back my coffee intake. Maybe just have one cup a day. Then switching to half cab, weaning myself off the insidious caffeine completely until finally I am totally decaffeinate...

NAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Yearly Physical

I had my annual physical today and got a small piece of bad news. Nothing too serious or anything that cannot be reversed in the next month and a half or so, but apparently I have high blood pressure. 135/90 is what it came out to which is what my doctor termed "boarderline HBP" which he says is due to of all things, my weight. Apparently I am overweight at 174 lbs! (who makes up his clientelle, runway models?) Next time someone tells me that I am skinny, I'll refer them to Dr. Chiu. At any rate, he says if I drop 5 lbs I'll be fine again. Honestly, I think it's due in part to my lack of sleep caused by stress at work among other things. I plan on getting to bed earlier every night, cutting out sweets, red meat, and snacks. I'll also drink more water which is something I should be doing anyway. For those of you who think my coffee intake might be the culprit, to hell with you. They'll never take my coffee! NEVER!!!!!

FYI, I received flying colors for the rest of my physical, including a 151 Cholesterol level! Woo hoo!!!

Chicken Dance II

The day before the race in Portland, I found myself once again at the Expo. We came across what might possibly be the worst chicken suit (dare I say "cock" suit) that I have ever seen. The urge was too great and there was nobody around who I would embarrass so I decided to break out into GOB's chicken dance. Nobody around me seemed to have any clue as to what I was doing which made it even more fun. The Arrested Develpmentless crowd stopped to watch as the chicken him/herself seemed to freeze as if he/she went into victim mode which made it all the more funnier. A personal Thanks to Jerald Balgos for capturing this moment on camera.

Marathon #9 in the books...

Portland was fun. Once the race started you could hear drums in the distance. At about the half mile mark was a band of about 12 drummers, doing a rhythmic cadence that was so loud that it raised the hair on the back of your neck. I had heard that the race was very well organized and supported so I decided to try running this without my fuel belt. 19 aid stations along the way, each one having your choice of Ultima (yuk) Gleukos (not bad) and water. Many also had gummi bears and cliff shots, and a few others offered vaseline for the chaffed. I never felt as though I needed a thing. I felt fully hydrated the entire time.

There were also lots of bands in all shapes and sizes. Blues bands, rock bands, folk bands, and even a harp player. At mile 19, things turned a bit surreal. There was an actual RED BULL aid station where they handed out full ice cold cans of RED BULL! Just what you need at that point in the race, how brilliant!!! Then we came across some belly dancers, one of which was a man (I am really hoping that was the RED BULL kicking in) so there were plenty of laughs to be had on the way back into town. About 100 yards from the finish line there was a cartoon character of a female opera singer with an opera recording blaring across the course. As the saying goes, it aint over till the fat lady sings, so this clearly signified that the finish was near. Once across the finish line you enter a corral where only runners are allowed. There waiting for you is tons of food, drinks, foil wraps to keep you warm, and a large medical staff who walked up to each runner and checked on thier health. This was by far the best finish area of any marathon I have ever ran. From there you get a rose (complete with thorns) a medal of course, finisher's shirt, and a tree sapling that you can plant when you get home.


I didn't kill it, and it didn't kill me. I finished at 3:39:22 and felt great afterwards. So much so that the next day I actually was able to do about 30 minutes on the treadmill to loosen up my legs. That was a first... I highly recommend this marathon. It's a great time if you like to travel and make a short vacation out of your race, and it wont break the bank!

Unfortunately, Jerald did not make his goal of qualifying for Boston. At mile 20 his achilles flared up and he hobbled in the rest of the way. Undeterred, he already has his sights set for PF Chang's in Phoenix. What a warrior!