My first ultra, My last post

I haven't been posting a lot lately. Let's just say I've been putting my energy into other things... mainly, running. This will be my last post for a while. I've let life get away from me recently, and there are times when I feel as though I'm no longer in control. I need some time to figure things out.

When I've regained control, I'll be back, and my blog will take on a new focus; one that has more meaning. More meaning to me, and to those who follow it.

I want to leave you with this: a race report on my first ever ultra-marathon. I'm still unsure of how many more will be in my future, but I can assure you this: I will never forget this race, the people who ran it and the people who volunteered, for as long as I live.

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It started out Thursday night, when we got an email from The North Face saying the race was canceled. Governor of VA declared state of emergency, so the special event lost all it's medical, support, search/rescue resources. And the fact that Tropical Storm Hanna was quickly approaching.

There were 25 of us who kept emailing each other, wanted to run the race anyway. We trained for months. We were ready. We wanted to run... so we did.

A few local guys setup a different route for us. We included the 50k runners in with us. Met at 7am instead of 5am (orig start time). Took a group photo. And got on our way at 7:15. At 7:20, it started to rain.

We had 3 aid stations setup on our own. The first at the S/F line (manned by 5 volunteers), the second 7 miles in (manned by 2 volunteers from CA), the third at the turnaround point (unmanned). Everyone brought tons of supplies, so we had plenty extra. Amazing feeling of camaraderie.

It downpoured for hours, picking up intensity every 45 minutes or so. The trails were soaked. Some places had ankle high puddles that stretched 20-30 feet long. Literally, no where to run but through them. Feet were 100% saturated for the entire race. Several of us got lost (2/10 of a mile or so) the first time through the course since we've never ran it before. But we spotted someone else running, and caught back up.

By 12 noon, the water level of the Potomac River had risen so quickly that it was starting to level out with the trails. By 12:30, the trails and the river became one. A guy made it across a stream crossing (jumping rocks) to the turnaround point, only to have to swim his way back. I found myself in thigh-high water on the "trail," so I aborted and ran through the shrubs to the road. Took the road a mile back to the 2nd aid station, told the people to head back to S/F because no one else was making it out here to where they were.

I got lost running on the road back to the S/F. The 2 people at the aid station passed me in their car. Roads were flooded, trees were down, and roads were blocked off. I had to follow them (GPS in car) on side streets to get back to S/F. When I got there, there were 5 or 6 people left. Everyone else called it a day at 50k, and went home. 3 guys were running laps around the parking lot to finish up 50 miles (they only had a few left). I ran for another hour and a half, and shut it down at 40 miles, 8 hours and 40 minutes after I began.


The Renegades signed up for a race, and no matter what, we were running one.
Only 4 people finished all 50 (much respect to them), but we all did at least a 50k. It was my first ultra, and certainly one I'll never forget. We've got a website in the making for the first ever "Renegade 50" (that's what we called it).
You can see some pictures already up on there, and names of participants and volunteers.

It was one of the greatest experiences of my life... but... I still have not run 50 miles, which I set out to do. So, I'll be running a 12-hour race on Oct. 4th, 30 minutes from Richmond, to try and accomplish my goal.

Olympics Inspire

Up until this year, I've never watched much Olympics. I always saw them as a bunch of random sports no one has ever heard of, and athletes who's names I cannot pronounce (95% of them being international).

This year I've already watched more Olympics that all years of my life combined... and we're not even a week in.

Why am I getting stuck in front of the TV? Because regardless of the sport, or the athlete, the competition is inspiring.

Watching these young athletes (and yes, even Dara in her early 40s is young in my book) compete motivates me to push myself. Not just in sports and athletic endeavors, but in everything I do in life. The training they endure. The hundredths of seconds that separate gold from nothing at all. Watching teams battle adversity, lose athletes to injury, and continue on, only to come in a distant second, but congratulate the 1st place team with a smile.

There's something special in that, whether you're an athlete or not. If you've got kids, I hope you encourage them to watch. If you don't have kids, you've got plenty of time to park your butt in front of the TV for the next two weeks. But don't get too comfy. Once it's all over, it's your turn to carry the torch and do something meaningful with your life.

Boycotting Walmart

I shopped at Walmart for the last time today.

The prices are lower. And there was a time when that really mattered to me. But I'm over it. I'm not helping fund a store anymore that just breeds miserable negativity. I enter Walmart feeling dirty and rushed. I exit shocked, frustrated and disappointed... EVERY SINGLE TIME.

I had 5 bucks or so left on a giftcard that I was planning on using up before I started boycotting. Ironically enough, I couldn't get it to work in the self-checkout, then my credit card wouldn't work either, so I had to use my debit card. People waiting in line behind me, just getting more and more pissed off and miserable, feeding into the whole negative atmosphere.

Sure, I'm going to pay more. But I'd much rather pay more to a store that cares about it's customers, a store that hires employees who smile, a store that leaves me feeling happy. Even though you'll pay less at Walmart, the fact of you shopping there is what keeps them in business, and it's what continues to put more and more miserable people in this world. It's time to eliminate things like that... no matter what the cost.

Cleaning Up Cleveland

Ran the half marathon in Cleveland, OH this morning. It was pouring down rain at the start, so of course everyone was sporting their trashbags. Once it stopped, or for some, slowed down, the bags came off. People decided to throw them everywhere: middle of the road, sidewalks, in the grass, near the sewer drain. Essentially, everywhere BUT the trashcan (where, in my very strong opinion... they belong).

So I dedicated my race, not to a great time, a PR, or a top finish in my age group, but a cleaning up of Cleveland. I picked up approximately 80 trashbags (rough estimate, I was not counting) scattered all over the course, and carried them until I found a trashcan to deposit them in. Finished in a respectable time, despite all the circumstances: 2:02:58.

Sometimes it's the simple things that make a race worthwhile.

6 people died today

I went to donate blood today, as I always do almost as soon as I'm eligible again. I do it because it saves lives, because sick and injured people are lying in hospitals right now, dying, because they need an operation that requires more blood.

Today was the first day I went to donate, and was unable to save lives.

I tried to give two units of blood by using an automated machine (which I had done twice before), but this machine was different. It was supposed to cut the donation time down from 45 minutes to 25. All that really happened was 6 people died because they couldn't receive my blood.

Maybe it was my fault, and I didn't squeeze hard enough or relax when I was supposed to. But since when is donating blood supposed to feel like a video game? I had to watch an interactive screen, and squeeze and relax based on colored bars moving up and down. The thing started beeping, lights went off, Sheila kept coming over and hitting buttons. At one point, after Sheila had already asked me if my arm hurt, she then said to me, when a bunch of lights were going off, "Really? And that doesn't hurt?"... almost implying that it was SUPPOSED TO hurt. And even when she finally hit the button to stop it because my arm was bruising, she said, "Why isn't this working?"

There are many people that would never come back if they had an experience like this.

2 big reasons why I left upset, and am still extremely upset:

1. All the marketing keeps stressing how every donation saves lives (3, to be exact), and they highlight specific individuals who would not be here today if it weren't for blood donors. So obviously every single donation counts.
   
   I did not see that same level of care today with the woman who was taking my blood (or trying to, anyway). Do they take it seriously enough? Do they realize that if they make a mistake, they could cost someone their life? If every pint counts, like they say (and I believe them when they say it), then the people taking your blood need to start acting the same way.
   
   
2. 6 people will lose their lives over the next 112 days, and I have to wait 112 days before I can try again.

I never thought I'd be this upset over a failed blood donation... until it actually happened to me.

Patient First

I spent an hour and a half at Patient First just to get a strep test. It was negative. I walked out with a receipt description of tonsilitis that wouldn't have told an 8-year-old anything she didn't already know.

Health care is a big issue in America right now. I don't know all that much about it, so I'm not about to give you the answer. But here's what I can give you: It really does start with the patient first:

Pre-illness: The patient (yes, that means you) needs to take care of herself. We need to get away from obesity and heart disease and start thinking vegetables, portion size and exercise.

Post-illness: Why don't they (not really sure who "they" is) let us, the patient, take care of ourselves? I think at least two of those reasons are 1) We're too lazy and don't seem to care about our health as much as we should 2) We would cheat the system.

We've got self-pregnancy tests. And several drugs that used to require a prescription are now being sold over-the-counter. A self-strep test would have saved me over an hour today.

I still think it's time to try a different kind of health care system in America, but it'd be really cool if we all took some responsibility (and the government allowed us that freedom) for our own health. We'd all be a little happier, not worried about our insurance and probably live a heck of a lot longer.

How much do you tip?

I evaluate servers from the second they approach the table. Are they polite? Personable? Do they have a good memory? Good timing? Do they smile? Do they really "take care of me" like they always say they'll do in the beginning? And I factor all this into their tip.

I am in control. It's one situation where I know I'm getting what I pay for (because if I get crappy service, yup, you guessed it, I don't have to pay for it). It's the same concept with your meal, really. If they screw up your order, what does the manager normally offer? FREE meal.

This system works. It's a constant evaluation of service. The server is evaluated 20-30 times each day they work, and they're receiving that feedback in the form of a tip.

As a manager, I'm constantly evaluating my team. Not on a monthly basis, once a quarter or even worse, once a year. If I have feedback, I give it to them. I don't wait.

Enter an interesting concept: what if, during the daily evaluation of all employees, you adjusted their salary based on that feedback? Would they work harder?

Managers, think about it: If you were to do this, how many people would you have who would leave because they couldn't pay the bills? How many of those people do you want on your team anyway?

Facebook is its own distraction

I'm not a huge fan of social networks, but Facebook is one site I do actually use. Well, last night when I logged in, I realized that they have taken things too far.

They launched Facebook Chat, which is essentially an instant messaging service, but all done within your browser window when signed in to your Facebook account. A bar appears at the bottom of the screen, with all the friends that are currently logged in, and you can view their status and easily minimize & maximize popup windows with your conversation.

As if browsing through the site didn't distract you enough, enter Facebook Chat to distract you from ACTUALLY USING FACEBOOK.

I gave up instant messaging my junior year of college (cold turkey, been sober for 4 years now) because it distracted me from everything else that I wanted to do, and I deemed "everything else" as more important than having pointless conversations that only create stress trying to keep up with all the windows and dinging noises.

So who's really at fault? The social networks who encourage and provide the platform for the ultimate distraction? Or the people who don't have the discipline to say no to it?

I've made my decision, and disabled the chat feature. So that pointless conversation we were going to have tomorrow night... you'll just have to write on my wall instead.