Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Angie's Kids


 This is a shout-out to Angie’s Kids and all that she does to educate our future generations.  Angie is my niece (my brother Al’s youngest) who teaches kids up in NY.  Last summer when visiting family in VT, we had lunch with her and her husband Joe in Montpelier.  She commented that she often uses my blog to show kids in her class that anything is possible.  This hit me like a ton of bricks, and made me reflect for a moment just how far I have come.  I went from least likely to succeed in HS (average athlete and C student at best) to getting an Electrical Engineering degree from a prestigious college, honorable Navy career, an incredible family, highly successful work career, and something I thought I would never be doing (or heard of) which is an ultra-runner.  But none would be possible without God, listening to your inner voice, and having the courage to take that first step into the unknown. 
For all of you out doing the impossible, and writing about it, you never know who might be reading and using your words as an example of what is possible.  

Thank you Angie for all that you do in teaching our future.  For Angie’s Kids, don’t let anyone ever say you can’t do something.  All you need is faith, courage, and determination to overcome any obstacle.  No matter how difficult or impossible the challenge may appear.

Training: It’s been nice lately not to be breathing water.  We finally got a break from all the heat & humidity, and what a difference in my run times have been.  Nonetheless, confusion as for my long runs!  Three week ago on a long run on the trails, I just finished 20 miles, refilled my bottles, snack, and headed back out for another 10 miles.  About 3 miles into my run I felt light headed, weak, and the feeling something was wrong.  Before getting too far into the trail run, with nobody else on the trails, I listened to my inner voice and turned back to the main trailhead.  I knew it was hot, and upon returning to the parking area, I figured out why I might have felt a little off.

The next week was a nice break from the heat and only 85 deg for my long run on the trails.  It was one of those awesome runs when everything feels great all day, even the hills where fun to run.  I ran into this 5 footer halfway into my run.  No worries, this is the good kind, and nudged him along to clear the trail.

Still having a difficult time getting my total weekly mileage up with all the activities going on in my world (Job, kids’ activities, honey-do-list,…), but I’m ok with it because I have my priorities right.  Without that balance, everything falls apart.  My daily runs have been comfortable fast (for me) with 7:30 mpm for 3-5 miles.  Work has been incredible demanding, and hoping to be off for a 34 mile race the first weekend of Oct, followed by the North Face 50M two weeks later near Atlanta.  Time will tell!


My Kids

4 comments:

Lindsay said...

i'm glad you overcame your school-days self and any comments you may have gotten then (or the ones you didn't get). you've achieved a lot!

i guess pointing out that the snake was not poisonous makes it slightly better...

Char said...

What you said is so true - all it takes to make a change is a vision and commitment. It's so nice that you can be a role model to kids you've never even met. It may seem strange, cause you're just going about your own life not thinking about who you may be impacting. I mentioned this to one of my son's friend the other day. He'd said he couldn't wait until he can have an impact on the world and I told him that every day he's in the world he has an impact - we all do.

Black Knight said...

Lions and snake in the same post!!!
Glad that you can be a role model to kids because they need to follow the example of someone and to have a goal in their life.

Anonymous said...

I wish I had heard this more often when I went to school - that anything is possible. And guess why I come to your blog, too?

Have a great race!