Ahh! My legs are finally sore!

Finally, I can run far enough so that my legs feel sore the next day. What a nice feeling!

The Las Vegas Marathon was great. Tim met me at the gate and gave me a quick tour through the airport fire and emergency response station. I've never driven on the tarmac with the airplanes before! He then drove me to transporation and I shuttled it to the Mandalay Bay Hotel. On the shuttle, I met Jon from Iowa who is writing a story for Runners World on "ecomarathoner" Hajime Nishi. He was going to run the race wtih Hajime to learn about his mission.

It was easy to find the Zombie's at the expo. All I had to do was look for the booth with masses of people around it. What a nice site! Don and Gillian have created a superb business. After hanging with the Zombies and buying a Snot Spot, I went to the Luxor to meet Scott and Leah. We went to dinner at Komol Restaurant with a couple of their friends.

The weather in the morning was chilly but very bearable. Overall, the temps for marathon running couldn't have been better. There was quite a bit of wind however over one long gentle upgrade and it actually got a little warm the last few miles (for us Northwesterners) but I was very pleased with the weather and pretty much everything.

I went out a little fast. I usually don't do that but I ran early to catch up with a couple of people, including half-marathoners Donna and her friend who were dresssed as bunnies in pink skirts, ears and cotton tails. I knew early that I had better chill my pace lest I pay for it over the second half. And I did a little as I tired over the miles and into the wind.

At about mile 24, a runner goes flying by me - uphill. I can barely read the back of his shirt. It says, "Set a good example." It is Badwater doubler John Radich and he is sprinting to the finish. After I cross the line, I find him and we get a chance to talk about all sorts of running stuff.

My goal was to finish under 4 hours and so I did. The results are already posted. I am satisfied. I am also glad I have run far enough and hard enough to have some muscle soreness. I was going to hop in the sauna this morning, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow instead!

Leah wanted to run around 3:45 and she ran a great race, finishing in 3:47:05. Donna, the bunny in the half marathon, is usually a pretty fast runner, but she is presently coming back from an injury. Her goal was just to be able to cover the distance but also to hopefully make in it under 2 hours....and she did! Way to go, Donna!

Previous lesson learned: NOW, I will rest. I will let my legs - that want so much to run again today - recover. I will treat them like I should and not push them too much. I want to be back for good this time!

Sweetness

This was on my desk this morning. Thanks sweet David!

Vegas baby!

Ohh kaay! I'm packed for Vegas. It's always harder to pack when you want to pack light. I did pretty good - simple, organized, light, yet still prepared for anything at the marathon. I'm glad the temps will be a little warmer this weekend than they have been. Tim called and said he'll meet me at the gate when I arrive just to say hello. He works at the Vegas airport, so I thought that was a really nice thing for him to do. I'll then head to the expo and get my race packet, say hi to the Zombies, and then go to dinner with Scott, Leah, and few other runners. Leah is running the marathon and Scott is the "supporter." Nice. Leah and I will likely talk excitedly about the Death Valley Trail Marathon for which we both registered the other day. Then, I'll catch a few hours sleep, wake ultra early (literally - the marathon starts at 6 am), run easy, and hope I can make it back to my hotel in time to shower before check out (for the sake of the person I have to sit next to on the plane). Then I'm headed back to the airport for a convoluted connecting flight back home. Should be perfect!

Accidental vacation

Whew! I worked 14 hours today. I'm am a bit brain dead. The good news is I accidentally took a day off tomorrow! You see I have to "block off" my schedule at work far in advance because I get booked up about 2 months in advance. It makes planning difficult. Well, I was going to go out of town for a work conference this weekend and into next week, so I had blocked off tomorrow (which is actually Thursday which is actually TODAY now) through next week. At some point, I decided not to go, but I never "opened up" my schedule. (It was only last week that I booked the flight for the LV Marathon, so that really had nothing to do with anything; that's just a short overnight trip on the weekend.)

Well, I opened up my schedule for next week and I was able to fill those days up pretty good with patients, but I had completely forgot that I blocked off tomorrow (today - Thursday). Towards the end of the day today, I glanced at my schedule for tomorrow and....lo and behold...the whole day was BLANK! It took my a while to realize what I did, so I accidentally have the day off tomorrow. After the initial fright, I felt absolutely delighted. (I normally work 10-12 hour days Monday through Thursday, and I usually take Fridays off anyway.)

Now, I've got this long weekend to take care of all the things that need taking care of, which is a lot. Maybe I'll even sleep in! It'll be so nice to do that.

I've been talking with Leah about doing the Death Valley Marathon in February, so we'll work on that tomorrow too.

Thing is, my brother called me today and wants to drive out from Milwaukee to visit and help us with some of the things that need fixin' up around the house. He's thinking of coming next week to stay for awhile. I told him he could come on the condition he bring Farkus, his lab, and he got a chuckle out of that. He will let me know tomorrow if he can make the drive out this weekend. So, when I come back from Vegas Sunday night, he might already be here! Yippee! I can't wait to see him.

My brother, Jeff, is cool. He's my younger brother. I have an older brother too. We get along just fine too, but I have a special affection for my younger bro. He's a self-made guy. He, like me, "skipped" the end of high school, worked about 6 months for someone else, decided he didn't ever want to work FOR anybody ever again, and so he started his own business. His company is "Ultimate Finishes" and he calls himself an artist. He creates, well, faux finishes and murals and pretty much anything you want for design. He specializes in big places like country clubs and mall entries...stuff like that. He is fabulous at what he does. Here is one link to the "Breast Cancer Show House" in Wisconsin that he did. I wish it showed his work and not just listed it, but you gotta trust me, the guy's work...I mean art... is phenomenal.

This is the little brother who I can count on if I needed him in any way. He has even helped me when I was financially strapped. He's hit a couple of rough spots in his life recently and I was able to help him too. He knew to call me. It was hard for him to do. I am honored that he did and it confirms the often unspoken bond in our relationship.

This would be his first visit to our home in Washington if he can make it next week. I told him to get some chains for his tires to make it over the passes (he wants to drive out) but he said the snow doesn't bother him. Actually, he chuckled and said, "Pfft! If I could drive my little BMW across the country in the dead of winter without so much as a slip of a tire, I can make it there in my 4-wheel drive Xterra....'snot a problem, sis." He's got a great attitude.

I love my brother. I hope he comes to visit (with Farkus). Above is our picture at my wedding.

Homeless Runners

Here is an interesting and inspiring article from The Associated Press.

* * *

Homeless Runners Turning Lives Around

By TIM REYNOLDS
The Associated Press
Sunday, December 3, 2006; 2:33 PM


WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Rebecca Kelly used to run from her problems. Now, she runs in an effort to solve them. Kelly took her first drink at 14, soon entering the first of what would be many rehabilitation stints. She's been forced to live on the streets, once got kicked in the face by a male attacker, been completely broke more times than she cares to remember.

Now, the 31-year-old is part of a most unusual athletic club called The Home Team, a group of homeless people trying to turn their lives around through running. Three of their members finished 13.1 miles Sunday morning at the Marathon of the Palm Beaches in downtown West Palm Beach.

"It felt better. Absolutely better than I thought it would feel," Kelly said. "It wasn't even the moment crossing the line. It was just knowing that I was going to finish when I got to 10, 11 miles, knowing 'Hey, I trained for this. I deserve to feel good.' It was better than any drug I've ever done."

That's kind of the idea.

The concept _ taking people who are living in shelters and showing them how the discipline needed to become a marathon runner can apply to their regular lives _ is an unusual one. The Home Team's members all have jobs and are in rehab programs, vowing to stay clean and trying to get on their feet.

Each runner was approached a few months ago and asked if they wanted to begin training. Most immediately said yes.

"They had some Hawaiian Tropic girls at one of the water stations. I wasn't feeling any pain going to touch her hand," said Doug Scheer, 35, who's struggled with addictions to alcohol and painkillers and now lives in a tiny room at a shelter. "This is the most fun I've ever had."

Brent Ion felt the same way.

He's a longtime runner, a financial consultant involved in philanthropic projects with his wife, Suzanne. He usually spends part of each Wednesday at a place called Cafe Joshua, a restaurant unlike most others.

Homeless or shelter-dwelling individuals often meet there to eat, and they can receive job coaching, medical exams, even haircuts there. It has become an epicenter of sorts for The Home Team's program, and is where Ion sought out potential club members.

"I look at the best sellers list and half the time it's people trying to find religion and trying to find the meaning of life," Ion said. "This is it. This is where it's at. All the religions and all the things you can shoot for on a philosophical basis, it's all right here. It all ends up in the same place, helping people who need a hand."

Sponsors donated running attire and shoes to the team members, who often rose at 5 a.m. on Sundays for long training runs.

Johnathan Czerwinski, 26, doesn't hide that he hated those early wake-up calls.

He also doesn't hide the scars on both wrists, evidence of past failed suicide attempts that he was driven to because he couldn't shake his drug craving.

"Being part of this, I've got goals now," said Czerwinski, whose girlfriend gave birth to their first son three weeks ago. "I want to get a car. I want to get an apartment. This has taught me that everything comes step by step, not all at once. It's all a process."

Czerwinski finished 802nd in the men's half-marathon, crossing the line in 2 hours, 28 minutes, 58 seconds.

"He's changed now," said his girlfriend, Caitlin Aleskovsky, 20. "He has a sense of direction _ the right direction, for once."

The sun was just beginning to rise when the starter's gun fired at 6:30 a.m., but conditions _ 76 degrees, with the humidity making it feel a few degrees hotter _ were already brutal for the field of about 6,000 competitors.

Some couldn't finish. But none of The Home Team's three half-marathon entrants dropped out, drawing high praise from some of the elite runners in the field.

"It's phenomenal," said Bea Marie Altieri of Clermont, Fla., who was third in the women's half-marathon, 722 spots ahead of Kelly. "Running has the endorphins, that natural high. So for people who are a little down on their luck or have an addiction like alcohol or drugs or whatever, running is a perfect fit because it gives them a real goal."

And from that goal comes another endeavor _ running the whole marathon next year, something all three would like to do.

"I've always known, even when things were bad, that I'm a strong person," Kelly said. "This has just made me strive a little bit harder."

© 2006 The Associated Press

More winter running

Today, the four of us met at 8 am and ran the Hillby loop for another 9.5 miles. We were actually a little faster today than yesterday (not that any of us cares), but we stopped and took a couple of pictures: http://www.pbase.com/lbliss/winterroadrun

There. I'm ready for a marathon!

Winter running

I stuck to the roads today...though you'd never know they were roads. Lots of hard packed snow and ice. Made me nervous because my ankle doesn't like uneven terrain yet. We had a great run. 9.5 miles in 90 minutes. Not bad for the weather.

David, on the other hand, took the pup on the mountain. He got some great shots with his camera. You gotta check them out:

http://www.pbase.com/lbliss/tower/