Great Day for Up! and Down! and Up Again!

Yesterday was the Dam Half at R.B. Winter State Park.  What an awesome day!  Mid 40's at the start, I think, but low 60's at the end.  Great course and superb volunteers!  Incredible food and HUGE goodie bags (You've got to see them to believe them.).  I ran with Dave Hunter for the first 3/4 of the race and listened to some great stories between him and dam fool, I mean full runner.  I don't know his name, but he is 60 years old and ran a 50k Punxsy last week.  Great group to run with.
My buddy Pat and I ran together most of the way.  I wanted to beat him to the finish and thought at mile 10 I had him licked, but I turned around at the top of "Stairway to Heaven" and there he was 25 meters behind me.  Fortunately, he has a brain and hesitates to barrel headlong down hills, so I was able to finish before him.  I ran as hard yesterday as I have in a long time and feel great, mentally, because of it.
I actually feel good physically as well.
I think it helped to take a dip in the lake afterward, too.  I was in the water up to just above my knees for 10-15 minutes when my wife made some challenging remark about going in the rest of the way.  Well, of course after 19 years, she knows how to push my buttons.  I shed my jersey and dove in - not without some trepidation.  It wasn't that bad, I just didn't stay under too long.
I was worried about 4:00 this morning because I woke up and my calves hurt like crazy.  I had a cup of water and thought about vitamin I (ibuprofen), but figured I would wait to see how the morning looked.  All was well and I made it through the day without incident or medication :)
I am looking forward to the Mega in a couple of weeks.  I am glad there is some time in between, though.  I hope to get my rear in gear tomorrow morning and get in a few before the sun gets up instead of the "No up for me, I'm sleeping in today"  of the Dr. Seuss book.

Thanks JDRF

Today in the mail, I got a cycling jersey from JDRF.  This excites me because this is the sort of top I wear in the mountain runs I do.  I really don't like to advertise for a lot of companies, just those whose products I use and/or really appreciate.  This way, I am putting Juveniles Diabetes right out there.  
I have been in touch with a pro cycling team called Team Type 1.  They are relatively knew and are working to " instill hope and inspiration for people around the world affected by diabetes; through active management, one can achieve their goals, dreams, and potential."  I hope to have a representative from the team come and talk to the kids at Park Forest Middle School.  I think that having someone with experience managing type 1, especially while maintaining a serious exercise program would be really helpful to kids and adults alike.  I hope it works out.
Great workouts today.  This morning I only ran a couple of miles, but did some plyometrics. This afternoon I played capture the flag for a couple of hours with kids at school.  I think this counts as speedwork.  I think Friday I will be playing basketball with a crew again.  This is definitely a different pace than I am used to moving.  It helps loads throughout the year.
Enough for now.  Homework time.

Run to the Hills

Okay, I think it is an "old"Ozzy song ('80's so not too old), but today I finally did a few hill repeats of the hill in our neighborhood.  Not enough to hurt a lot, but I was sort of shamed into it when my friend, Pat, let me know he had run 1 3/4 hours yesterday and felt good enough to register for the Dam Half.  Now, I just have to manage to finish at least 1 second in front of him.  My only hope is to overpower him mentally by making him explain complex organic molecules while going up the steepest climbs.  This way, he will run short of oxygen and need to take a break.
Two weeks to the Dam Half and a month until the Mega.  It is nice having these events on the horizon.  I don't say they make me train harder, since my friends certainly know better, but they do provide some motivation to get my lazy bones out of bed.
Actually I have been thinking about those with chronic illnesses while I run.  This little project I am undertaking might be temporarily uncomfortable, but folks with type 1 diabetes deal with this all the time.  That certainly helps keeps me moving when I get tired and sore.
I was listening to Perry Noble from New Spring church while I was running yesterday. His sermon was about God working in our lives.  One thing he said was that if we're still alive, God wasn't done with us yet.  Reminds me of my niece Mary Ellen singing "God's Still Working on Me . . . to make me what I ought to be . . ."  He's already prepared the good works for us to do, we've just got to get out and do them.  I know, it isn't the works that are going to save me, but I can't help but serve since the work is there to do.  (Just don't tell Molly, since there are bathrooms to be cleaned, windows to wash , carpets to vacuum . . . those are works that are ready to for me to do as well ;) ).
Have a day!

Great Day

Today was a great day.  My classroom is ready for tomorrow and I am excited to meet lots of new kids.  I had a great 1 1/2 hour run this evening.  The temp was perfect, the air dry and the sky beautiful.  The woods are incredible in late summer.  I feel so blessed to be able to live this life.
Illuminite mailed some gear out today to help make my adventure and the long winter of training more doable.  I have an illumite coat for the hard part of winter and I love it.  It doesn't look reflective at al until the headlights hit it.  The driver sees me as a big, silver crazyman running along the country roads.  Makes me a lot safer than a few small stripes.  Tanya at Illuminite was great to talk with and very supportive of the 30 hours project.  If I can figure the way to post their logo on here, you will see it.  Check out the people gear as well as safety gear for your dog from glowdog.com.
Thanks again for checking in!

Upcoming Events

Next week, the school year starts again. I am excited to start with a new group of kids. The ones we had last year were really great! If this year's kids are half as good as last year's, then last year's were twice as good as this year's. Think about it.

September 20 is the Dam Half. A trail half-marathon around R.B. Winter State Park near Mifflinburg, PA.  This is the first time I am participating in this event, but it is part of the "Grand Slam of PA" trail events.  The website features bloody knees and tired looking runners.  Two weeks later is this year's Mega.  According to the race directors, this year will feature an even tougher course.  It took only 3 weeks for the 700 slots to fill and another month to add 400 to the waiting list.
I'd better get to working on the hills.  

I am because I can (I think).

I know lots of times I have thought, "Man, I wish I could do something to help."  Well, I figured that I can do something.  I love to run and seem to be able to go a long way.  Last year I did a great 25 miler through the mountains around Lock Haven (check out the Megatransect) and the next week did 50 miles on PA state forest roads (Tussey MountainBack).  Since then, I have set my sights on a 100 miler.  I'm not certain if there is a good reason to run 100 miles, but I do know that there are loads of good reasons to support diabetes research.  If I can do both, what a deal!

In May, I am going to run for 30 straight hours, around 100 miles, to try and raise $30,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.  This blog will be one way to keep up my preparation, see the sponsors of the run and help me get motivated (I need a lot of help with that.).  The JDRF folks are working to get a website set up for donations and I've begun contacting companies to help with equipment sponsorships.  

I've put the information out there.  By making it public, I have put the pressure on myself.  Away we go, and go and go!

Steve