What kind of prison?

So, I'm always talking about how cool it is to have a teenager. How you can relate to them, do fun stuff, avoid watching the same inane program 50 times in a row. Stuff like that.

Well, at some point the teenager bill comes due. Teenagers are fun, but the stakes are just a wee bit high. Your little one messes up and they skin a knee. Your teenager messes up and you are a grandfather or getting them out of prison.

.....speaking of prison, Landon has a girlfriend. When I heard this, I calmly asked Dawn and Landon about her. They said it was one of the football managers and told me which one. "Cool" I said, as all my dealings with this young lady have been positive and she seems very nice. Dawn then switched to a tone that she often uses when she wants to tell me we're overdrawn or that we need a new car.

"Yes, she is very nice, but there are a few issues at home. She's being raised by her mom because her dad's in prison".

"Oh"

I honestly didn't know where to take it beyond "oh". I mean, I shouldn't think worse of this kid because her dad screwed up. Furthermore, I don't know whether this is tax evasion or whether this guy cut someone up and set the parts on fire. However, when it's your kid, every stereotype and worry you can have comes out and comes out quick. While leaving the "oh" hanging in the air, the real me is thinking:

"She's gonna get pregnant because she's looking for male attention"

"This low-life prison dude is going to try to suck off of Landon's athletic future"

"I'm going to turn around and this guy is going to have Landon jumped in to his gang"

(as an aside, why are there gangs in Harrisonburg VA????????)

Not that I'm proud of any of this inner dialogue, that's just what rolls through your mind when it's YOUR kid. Not very progressive, but this is my kid; not a court of law or human resources.

Dawn made my night complete when she said I should have a talk with him. About what? He hasn't done anything. Actually nobody's done anything except apparently this girl's dad. Should the talk go something like "Landon, avoid any gang this guy is in while keeping this girl from roping you in to getting her pregnant. Also check for signs of crack....you know how it is. Oh, since we're in a rural setting, check for meth as well; can't be too careful. Anyway, I love you and trust you, no matter how many progeny of incarcerated felons you date. Need anything to drink?"

Well, maybe I can join the rival gang......just in case I need backup.

Hurry up and wait.......

What a great morning. I just had an incredible weekend seeing my college friends for Homecoming. One running highlight is that I did an 11-miler w/ Riz and Beth. I'll also interject that Beth is going for her first marathon and has some talent based on her strength during said run. I'm predicting a burgeoning runner for Mrs. Risdon.

Anyway, it was fabulous to see everyone and I didn't stop laughing the whole time.

I also made a final decision to do shorter races this spring instead of Boston. I knew I made a good choice as I did an hour and 18 minutes this morning instead of my short shake out run. The thought of busting some fast times this spring really got me motivated.

Five hours later, I find myself with chills and aches and pains. These symptoms exactly describe the malady that has plagued my wife for the past two weeks. So much for today being the first day of a new training cycle. Such moments in a training program teach us that training plans and schedules are what we make before God tells us what actually happens.

In the immortal words of Dan Patrick. I'm day to day........we're all day-to-day.

I GET to do this.........

As anyone can surmise from my last post, running was becoming a job again. I had also grown too old and too busy for another job. Thus began a series of days when instead of following my running schedule, I went for a run. What's the difference? Plenty.

Today I laced 'em up and went out the door not knowing if I was going for 20 minutes or 2 hours. I headed to Purcell park and hit each loop not knowing if I would continue or not. As I went along I slowed up when I wanted, sped up when I wanted and just enjoyed a great fall day. Reminded me of so many things in life that I let myself get in the way of enjoying.

Dawn is forever telling me that I don't enjoy the process. She's right. My type A-task orientation has always got me thinking one step in the future. It helps me get a lot of things done, but it also causes a fair amount of angst. No coincidence that I have a lifetime pattern of picking up activities, wringing the life out of them and then stopping once I burned out.

I thought I was getting to that burned out point with running, but the last few days have reminded me that I can go for a run whenever I feel and do it however I feel. After all, this is my freakin' recreational pursuit as I tell myself often.

Frank Shorter was right.

Shorter is a marathon legend and the last American to ever win an Olympic gold in the marathon. He once said that you aren't ready to do another marathon until you forget the pain of the previous marathon.

Right now my memory is a little too good. About one year ago I was burned out on all things running and truly thought I had run my last marathon. The combination of getting fat and out of shape with going to Kenya made me change my mind and set my sights on Boston 2009. Yet again, I got sucked in to another marathon.

I'm not sure why I keep doing this. I have somehow managed to do 8 of these things without really liking the distance very much. Marathons aren't really my strength as an event, yet I eschew opportunities to lower my times in the 5k, 10k, etc in order to plod along for 3+ hours. I also get really tired of how they just shred my body up. Finally, if you have a bad day on a marathon, you can't just pick up and run your best next week. You are in for another training cycle before you can make it up.

I achieved just about everything I ever wanted to achieve when I qualified for Boston the first time and then subsequently did the race in 2006. Then I got the idea that I could get under 3 hours in the Richmond Marathon. After that awful race, I felt like I needed to redeem myself in the next Richmond Marathon. That was the one that occurred a year ago. Ran a decent race, but killed any joy I ever had for running (as I mentioned previously).

Now I find myself registered for Boston without a shred of eagerness for the race. As it stands now, I think I've made a donation to the Boston Athletic Association, as they won't refund and I don't think I'll be going. There's a little hesitation as my friends David and Becca have qualified and we were all going to run together. However, this is my freakin' recreational pursuit and I'm tired of it turning in to a job.

Well, I guess the silver lining is that I have time to change my mind since I can't ditch the registration. I'll train for the shorter races (C-ville 10-miler, Clyde's 10k, Capital Hill Classic) and then switch if I feel incline to do the marathon.

Why can't I be normal and like golf like everyone else my age?

Baby Huey

My highlight for the week was watching Landon walk. I wasn't there for the exciting first steps that were dutifully recorded in the baby book. However, since breaking his ankle, we have all been instantly transported to something resembling that time. I take him his meals, I clean up after him, I make sure he's safe and that I don't leave him for too long lest he hurt himself. I am SOOOOOO relieved that he's potty trained.

To put this in the proper perspective, Dawn and I are teenager people. Through the years we've noticed that parents vary on what age they are most excited about. Of course, you love your kids during the entire life span, but there's that one age range that you hit your stride as a parent. For example, Dawn's sister-in-law is absolutely clutch in the 2-4 year range and gets bummed when the kiddos take those steps to kindergarden. She's a little-kid person. Little kid people think up fun and elaborate activities (usually art projects) on a constant basis. They have no problems watching the same movie 55 times and convey to the child a sense of concern and empathy when a 50 cent toy is broken or lost.

We know people that unbelievably adore the middle-school years (That's a different topic in itself but this always amazes me. NOBODY should like the middle-school years since the kid rarely likes the middle school years. I digress).

Dawn and I, on the other hand, are teenager people. The good news about the teenage years is that the kid is as independent as they will get while still living with you. The bad news about the teenage years is that the kid is as independent as they will get while still living with you. In short, the stakes are higher. A bad day in the teenage years can involve a trip to the police station. Don't get me wrong, nothing even on the radar suggests that for Landon. He's a great kid, but you worry about what could happen. Despite the high stakes, it's fun to interact and have discussions with Landon at a depth that wasn't even possible until a year or so ago.

We can still do that, but the broken leg thing has taken away his ability to do many things for himself. I get the feeling he's not too broken up about this. So, the "delegation" of duties (i.e. mow the lawn, clean the room, help out around the house) that I've enjoyed has been put on hold and he spends his time playing video games, going to physical therapy and going to school. My time is coming though. He's off the boot, walking with crutches and even sometimes without. He is about to be a full-fledged independent teen again. At which point I'll probably need to clean his room.......

The Greatest

That's Haile Gebrselassie (Geb) becoming the first human being to ever run 26.2 miles in under 2 hours and 4 minutes. For those of you keeping score, that's 4 minutes and 40 seconds per mile pace.

For those of you keeping score further, he has now held numerous world records in the 5K, 10K and marathon in a career that dates back to the early '90s.

There are many people who run. There are recreational runners, competitive runners, sub-elite runners, elite runners, and then there is Geb.

Well, I gotta get a run in..........I only need to shave another 66 minutes off my PR to catch this little bastage.

Running slower to get fast.......

This is one of the many running paradoxes I've discovered in my attempts to lower my pedestrian PR's. For me, I don't do well unless I run a lot of miles. I also don't recover from workouts very well, so if I want to be at all sharp, my easy days need to be easy so that the workouts can be hard. Fortunately, the knowledge that I need some days where I'm simply plodding along comes along at a time in my life where I could care less if I am running slow in full view of everyone in town. My newfound running humility courtesy of the following:

1) I'm older and less hung up on that crap.

2) Athletes in Action camp last summer

3) The amazing realization that people in town could give a crap how slow I am.

4) The amazing realization that people in town don't know what slow is in running terms.......or fast for that matter.

This morning's run was a pleasant slog up around Eastern Mennonite University and back. I looked amazing.