In a race we are taught not look back because that is not
where we are going, but one can reflect on what happened and still look to the
future. This is my attempt to
reflect.
This Year began much like the previous year (2010), I was
busy doing graduate work and teaching and running as much as could.
In 2011 I began the process of changing to a more minimal
running shoe and transitioned into a pair of Saucony Kinvara’s. Having read a good deal of literature on the
benefits of going to such a shoe I decided to take the plug, but did so with
the caution that is needed to make the change for a high supportive shoe to one
that is less supportive. The transition
took the better part of the winter and was almost complete by the time track
started in the spring.
When track started in the spring my life was getting pretty
crazy, my graduate classes where in full swing and my paper was coming due
soon, not to mention that our family was about to expand. Because of all the extra work that I was
taking on I was finding it difficult to maintain a good weekend running
regiment. I did something that most
would not suggest doing and that was race myself into shape or race to maintain
shape. In a span of three weeks I ran
three races, two half marathons and one 10k.
The crazy thing about running these races so close together was that I
set PR’s in two out of the three races. The races that I did PR were not that
easy of courses or the weather was not “perfect”.
By the end of spring my paper had be written and my JH track
season was done. But then another
chapter in my life began, my son was born.
On June 1 very early in the morning my son was born after a very hard
labor by my wife. Many runners (male
ones most likely) think that training and running a marathon is difficult but I
was there with my wife and giving birth is more difficult for sure. I know this because the next day my wife was
walking like she ran a marathon and her facial cheeks hurt, which never
happened after a marathon.
The summer was crazy little sleep, not a great deal of running,
but was able to get out and run when I could.
It started off by me going to Bozeman MT for a week to present and receive
my master’s degree.
This was a fun
experience and was able to meet a great deal of people that have some very good
thoughts on how to improve the classroom for students.
When we went home in July for my son’s baptism
I was able to get a race in. The race
ended up being very small and was my third overall win in a race.
By the time we got back from North Dakota it
was time to start thinking about cross country and school.
The fall was crazy we had more kids come into the season
with a great deal of miles ran and the team looked primed for the goal that we eventually
came up short on achieving. The fact that this team did the hard work and still
came up short is just one of those things in running you can do everything that
you can and it still might not be enough.
Also in the fall I was able to come to terms that my race time will
suffer if I do not get the proper amount of sleep. This was after two what I
consider sub-par performances in the half and full marathon’s. This is also around the time that I was able
to get the greatest gift a running stroller.
My son took to it with no problem at all and enjoyed being in the
stroller and going for runs with dad. We
ran our first race together for a Halloween fun run and ran well with the
crowds and in full costume.
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| My step-father Bill in Perth Australia |
The end of the year was met with sadness in the family. My
step-father died suddenly after a surgery.
I tried to write about this life event earlier but each time I tried I
find myself becoming angry and have more questions than I feel comfortable
posting here. I was able to be there for
my mom at least for a short while, but it did not feel that it was enough.
