The race for October.

We’re in it.

2 games out of the wild card spot. 6 total games left to play.

It’s not 1990. It’s not 1995. It’s not even 2003. We’ve been here before, but this year it’s not expected. No one thinks they can do it. But they’re doing it.

So I say screw all you nay-sayers and bandwagoners. I’ve been a fan of this team since I was old enough to barely pronounce the words… “Let’s go Babes!” And I say it’s time to get behind the home town team.

I’ll be in the Ted tonight. I’ll be the one with my tomahawk cheering our boys past the fish and towards October. It’s time to believe!

 

I came upon my new favorite person quite by accident. That is to say… I was stalking someone I don’t know online. Well… not “stalking” exactly. I was reading a friend’s blog, which linked to her family member’s blog, which linked to his friend’s blog, which of course I started reading through. [Somehow blogging opened up the world to an excusable form of voyeurism. Interesting, really.]

At least my stalking is done in a non-creepy manner by legit channels. For the most part.

Back to the issue at hand. 5 days til the 50k. i.e… holycrapholycrapholycrap. I’m boiling with a cocktail of feelings – a vicious mix of anxiety, excitement, fear and ignorant bliss. All topped with a splash of peaceful confidence. I don’t know what demons lie in wait along that 31 mile course, but I do have this peaceful feeling that Naomi and I will get ourselves across the finish line, no matter how bruised or broken we may be. (The upside of being a Christian runner… I do truly believe the words of Phil 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me…”)

But I digress. As I sit here… barely able to focus on work, my mind already in Chattanooga waiting on the start line… I find myself searching for others who have pushed themselves beyond what the status quo deems “normal.” I search for those who understand the need to drive the human soul to its limits. And I found David Goggins.

Goggins is a Navy SEAL by trade. But as Runner’s World describes in a recent article on the man, he is simply a once overweight man from California who has “recast himself as an elite ultramarathoner, a philanthropic machine, and an accidental role model by pursuing a running life that’s truly unrelenting.” He’s driven to great lengths for two major reasons:

1) Raising funds for the Special Ops Warrior Foundation. He drives himself to the edge in grueling events in an effort to provide funding for children who have lost parents in combat.

2) He is relentless in destroying people’s perceptions of human limitations, and strives to discover the ever growing outer limits of his soul.

Goggins was named a Runner’s World “Hero of Running” in 2008. You can check out the RW article here. Be sure to check out Goggins’ own web site (that includes his blog) as well.

50k is nothing compared to the human potential. To my own potential. And in the shadow of the fear of failing… I have to believe that. Only 5 more days.

“When you think you are about ready to quit….you’re only at 40% of your potential.” 
…David Goggins

If there were two things I learned as a child, they were…
 
#1 Goonies never say die. 
#2 Nobody puts Baby in the corner.
 
To the man who taught pre-pubescent girls that one day, no matter how awkward we were, we could engage in our own dirty dancing [wait... what?]…

RIP Mr. Swayze. 

 

Also worthy of noting… the President was caught off the record calling the darling Kanye West a “jackass” yesterday. Deservedly so…

Mr. Obama was waiting around for a press conference to begin, and someone mentioned Kanye’s rude interruption onstage while Taylor Swift was accepting her recent award for “Best Female Video” at Sunday’s MTV VMA’s. In short: Taylor won, Kanye thought Beyonce should’ve won and acted like his normal idiot self… stormed onstage during Swift’s acceptance speech, stole the mic and said Beyonce had been robbed and that “Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!” Swift just stood there holding her trophy, cameras cut to Beyonce looking stunned in the crowd, and MTV then cut to break.

But back to Obama… cheers to him for calling a spade a spade. Wonder if Kanye will charge the President with discrimination like he did George Dubya in 2005? Can you imagine… “Barack Obama hates black people!”

Phenomenal job Mr. West! You win the VMA for biggest douchebag.

Have confidence that if you have done a little thing well, you can do a bigger thing well, too. 
…Joseph Storey

It’s looming. 18 short days. 2 1/2 flimsy weeks. One 24 mile run and 2 weeks of taper away. That’s it. That’s all that’s left standing between myself, Naomi, and an ultramarathon.

Holy crap.

Can I do this? I’ve 26.2 miles a few times now. But we’re talking 50 kilometers… 31 miles… of dirt, rocks, roots, and impending falls. (I speak honestly… I’ve fallen once during every single trail run over 10 miles during this training cycle. Yowza.) My knees are hanging in the there… bruised, mildly sprained, and covered with scabbed-over raspberries though they are.

To be honest, I’ve lost all concept of the idea that there are people who cannot run 10 miles easily. I cannot comprehend that for some, running 12, 8, 5… hell even 1 mile… is hard/impossible. Not that I am so screaming fast and in awesome shape right now. Nor that I am so ego-tistical to think that everyone should do what I do. Not at all. But for survival, I must not comprehend this. My mind must look at everything up to 26 miles as easy. And everything between 26 and 31 as do-able with equal measures tenacity+grit +stupid determination.

I have registered for this race. I have trained. There is nothing left to do but complete the task at hand. Because in 18 days and 31 miles, Naomi and I want to be ultramarathoners.

For the past two years I have gone through some tough stuff – bad days, sad days and downright crappy days. EXCEPT when it came to the glorious epic-ness that was my Labor Day weekends of aught-seven and aught-eight…

DAVE MATTHEWS BAND THREE DAY RUN AT THE GORGE.

If you don’t already have an idea of how freakin spectacular the very idea of this is, then nothing I can say will do it justice. Yet I will throw some choice adjectives out there just in case. Because honestly, how could a town named George, WA not be awesome…

Washington state’s Columbia River Gorge. A backdrop of water and red earthworks, carved over time and jutting into a painted sunset. Plus a little ole stage. With the best band ever playing 3 nights of ripping, make you wanna slap yo mama sets. Breaktaking. High desert, no humidity, blue-est of blue skies. Camping. Lots of God’s nectar (coughbeercough). Frolicking around green grass tossing a frisbee during the day, and jamming around barefoot at night, surrounded by thousands of fellow DMB obsessors.

Alack and alas, all good things must come to and end sometime. This year, I won’t be making my pilgrimage to the great Northwest. Rather I’ll be…

FRI: Light dinner and sleep by 9:30 (prior to Dave even walking onstage, PST)
SAT: Wake too early. Eat too many gels, nuuns, powerbars. Run too many miles (22). Watch tearfully as I watch UGA’s first game of the season… and realize Matty and Knowshon are really gone.
SUN: Wake early. Again. Run a few miles. Church. Work at job #2. Go to bed early. Again.
MON: Wake at 5ish so I can go run another 8 miles or so. On a friggin hilly 10k race course.

Grrrr for less fun. But on the bright side… I made a fantastic discovery!! No, it was not the man I came upon peeing in the woods practically ON the trail at Stone Mtn yesterday, though the image of his unmentionables is burned into my brain (UGH).

Actually I’ve made 3 fantastic discoveries in the last 24 hours. I am sure everyone and their brother knows about these, because I am the last to know about almost everything.

1. DMB Streaming online radio. Yes… it is as awesome as you can imagine.
2. Killer gear deals from SteepandCheap. One awesome deal at a time til the item is gone. Like woah!
3. ShitMyDadSays. I’m not on Twitter, but when it comes to large doses of funny, I listen.

Hope your Labor Day is full of good things, wherever you may be.

Every now and again take a good look at something not made with hands – a mountain, a star, the turn of a stream. There will come to you wisdom and patience and solace and, above all, the assurance that you are not alone in the world.
…Sidney Lovett

I’ve been thinking. And it’s dangerous.

I’ve been thinking of adventures. Of mountains. Of clear blue skies at 10,000 ft. Of glacial passes. Of seeing God all around me… and actually recognizing and thanking and praising Him among his gifts. Of a nice long walk to remind myself what life is all about.

I’ve been thinking of a great western adventure.

I’ve been thinking of Chris McCandless walking into the wild. But not in the tragic sort of way… in the inspiring, living, reaching sort of way.

There is a crazy idea germinating like the tiniest seed inside my brain. For now it’s just an idea. A thought. But with proper sunlight and food and water, I am afraid the idea will grow roots. I’m afraid the roots will reach my soul, and deeply situated, will allow its feathered branches time to reach my heart. And that the once tiny idea may force action. And one day, I may just have to do this crazy thing.

The Pacific Crest Trail winds 2,650 miles from the US/Mexican border to Manning Provincial Park, British Columbia… just 9 miles past the US/Canadian border. Through California, Oregon and Washington states, it crosses the Mojave Desert, the Sierra Nevada and Mt. Whitney, Yosemite National Park, Marble Mountain and the Russian Wilderness in Northern California, the volcanoes of the Cascades including Mt. Shasta and Mt. Hood, Crater Lake, Columbia River Gorge, Mt. Rainier, and the Northern Cascades.

And I’d kinda like to take a walk from one end to the other.

Insane you say? Oh absolutely. But many people have done it. About 300 attempt a PCT thru-hike each year, with just about 180 completing it annually. And how could you pass up what the Pacific Crest Trail Association web site notes… “From desert to glacier-flanked mountain, meadow to forest, the PCT symbolizes everything there is to love – and protect – in the Western United States.”

Incredible…

Glacier Peak Wilderness

Today is a day off from work and scheduled events… something I haven’t had in months. Seriously. I am generally working at REI on the weekends, or I have requested off for some specific event that keeps me busy the entire day. But today my friends… I am OFF!

Which is to say… I’ll be busy all day long, per usual. Running this morning, running errands for a few hours, then running to church. But at least I get a date night tonight with Doug which is certainly something to be excited about.

Got some more pictures uploaded from Kevin’s commissioning ceremony and dine out formal last weekend. I wish I had more pictures of one of Kevin’s TAC officers (which are what most people think of as drill sergeants for officer training). Anyway… this guy is a hardass, but outside of training he is awesome. He looks like Dave Chappell and does impressions of Flava Flav. Hilarious.

Kevin receiving his award - one of the top in his class!

Getting ready for the dinner

Adam and Aunt Cindy

Adam and Beth - my beautiful sister in law.

Adam and Mom

Patrick and Paul

my goofy brothers

Kevin, one of his good friends and their tough drill instructor (Dave Chappell) in the middle.

Kevin and another of his instructors, Major Bailey.