Remarkable

Les and Lance have now pedaled their way into their eighth of nine states!  They crossed the Mississippi/Alabama border this morning and are nearing the 2300 mile mark.  They have had an amazing trip and if all continues as planned they will reach Savannah, Georgia and the Atlantic Ocean this Friday!!

But let me tell you about someone else who is remarkable - my neighbor, Joe.  I introduced him on this blog over five years ago.  He is one of many smiling faces I see on a regular basis when I'm out running or riding my bike.  Joe is an avid hiker and always has a smile for me.

About a month ago Les and I saw Joe while we were on a bike ride.  It was just a quick, "Good morning!" but I told Les, "Joe didn't seem himself."  Les wondered how I could tell in such a short greeting, but I just knew.

Fast forward to this morning while I was out for a run.  I saw Joe up ahead and determined to catch him.  I slowed to a walked when I caught him.  Our conversation started off like this:

Me:  How are you, Joe?
Joe:  I'm great!
Me:  You didn't seem yourself when I saw you a few weeks ago, are you okay?
Joe:  Well, I had my toes cut off...

To make a long story short, due to poor circulation, Joe's feet were not getting adequate blood supply.  In June he had the toes of his right foot removed and in July had the same procedure done on his left foot.  He is now walking on stumps.  He said he was in a lot of pain prior to the surgery but has had none since.  The main thing that has changed is the length of his stride, but his sunny outlook hasn't changed a bit.

I asked Joe if he had been able to resume hiking.  "I wanted to hike a certain mountain on my 80th birthday and I did just that on Wednesday!"  I am so in awe of this man!  80 years young, walking three miles, 5 days a week and in his words, "working at the Senior center to help those less fortunate," the other two days!

Joe reached his turn around point and we said goodbye for the day.  I finished my run with a huge smile on my face!  What an inspiration!

Veterans Day - Running All the Way

I'm taking a break from marathon chatter to honor the men and women who have served in the American Armed forces.  Two of my great uncles served during World War II, one in Germany and one in the Philippines.  Our family was blessed that they both came home unharmed.

Last week I read "Running All the Way: A Marine, a Runner, a Journey through Life" by Lawrence Dickerson. It is "a remarkable memoir of Larry Dickerson growing up in West Virginia, serving in the U. S. Marine Corps, graduating from Northwestern University and working 40 years in corporate management, all the while running. Throughout a life at full throttle, Larry, now in his 80’s, has run."

This was a wonderful read!   Born in 1932, a child of the Great Depression, Mr. Dickerson learned early on that anything he wanted would require hard work.  The early chapters tell of his childhood, chickens that he named Batman, Superman and Green Hornet, and typical escapades of a growing boy.  About his mother, he wrote, "She believed in corporal punishment and I believed in evasion of corporal punishment."

While in high school, he knew he wanted to go to college.  His family could not afford it, so he enlisted in the Marine Corp.  Twenty five days after enlisting, the North Korean People's Army crossed the 38th parallel in an act of war and the United States would be sending troops to Korea.  The book details his time in the service and one thing he said really stuck with me, "A combat veteran will never again recognize a non-life-threatening event as 'critical.'  Business problems, test results or athletic victories don't qualify.  He or she will face day-to-day circumstances with a serenity most won't grasp."

Mr. Dickerson has run every distance, including the Boston Marathon in 3:21:33 at age 53.  He ran a 20:22 5k in his 60s.  The Parkersburg Half Marathon in August 2001 was his 1,000th race.  After counting the number of races he had done, he realized he had run in 20 states and that's when he decided to run in all 50 states.

One of the things that really inspired me was how hard he worked to run races in clustered states.  By that time he was retired, but he continued to live frugally, running as many as 3 races in 4 days to keep costs down.  He was in his late 70s and wrote of running a 5k in a "slow thirty minutes."  He went on to run a 5k on Oahu, winning the 80+ age group in 29:44!

This is a great read for runners and non-runners alike.

Great Run!

With marathon training starting next week, my plan for this week was to ride, ride, and ride!  I rode Sunday and Monday, then took yesterday off.  Before bed last night I told Les, "I think I'm going to run tomorrow."  I hadn't run since last Thursday and "needed" to run.

I headed out and my legs felt great.  Mile one 10:00.  Hmm?  Can I maintain that?  What route would be best?  Mile two 10:08.  Oh, it's on now!

Mile three 10:06, mile four 10:08. With one mile to go, I wanted to get my pace under 10:00/mile.  Mile five 9:11!!  5 miles in 49:40, 9:55 pace!

That's just what I needed to kick off marathon training!  I know I'll have slower runs, but this one felt so good.  I was not running all out, this pace felt just slightly uncomfortable, but not too bad.

Something tells me these are not the shoes Marilyn Monroe had in mind!

Happy National Running Day!

My plan did not include a run this morning, but since it is National Running Day I talked Les into a short run.  It was a recovery run for me - I ran the trail again yesterday and had my best time ever - 11:30 average for 7 miles with over 700' of climbing.

I love this story about Harriette Thompson.  She ran the San Diego Marathon on Sunday in 7:07:42.  She is 91!!  She ran her first marathon when she was 76 proving it's never too late to start running!  “We’re seeing more and more people of all ages entering marathons as they discover that running is something that can keep you fit for a lifetime,” said Tish Hamilton, the executive editor of Runner’s World.  Harriette just finished nine rounds of radiation on her legs for cancer treatment.  She's also raised over $90,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training.

Harriette Thompson with Meb Keflezighi, the winner of this year's Boston Marathon

Did you run today?