Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

A pair of shoes. The staple in the runner's arsenal. The difference that a good pair of shoes can make is unmeasurable. For me, it's the insoles that make the difference. You can pretty much put my insole combination into any shoe and I'll make it work. But at the end of the day, it's the shoe that leaves it's mark. I won't be saving any insoles or planning my marathon clothing around the color of my insoles. The shoes, however. Well, that's a different story altogether. I have saved every pair of shoes I've worn in the nearly 7,000 miles I've run. Some have been moved into the role of grass-cutting yard shoes. Others have simply been tossed into the plastic bin that graces the top of the dresser in my basement. None have ever been thrown out. The runner and his shoes form a kind of connection and a bond that is hard to explain. And like bonds made between friends or the bonds between men and women; runner's shoes and their owners can form bonds as well. Until this week only one pair of my former running shoes made it into my personal "hall of fame". Those were the pair of Brooks Adrenaline GTS 7's. My "hall of fame" of course is in my attic with the countless awards and medals and racing bibs I've won and run in over the years. The Brooks made it up there along with my former football jerseys, trophies, photo albums and newspaper articles clipped from the various editions in which my names has graced the pages. This week, I added a second pair of shoes. The ones you see above. The Asics Gel 2140's. I ran 496 miles in them. But it was the 26.2 last October that put them in the "hall of fame". Those will be the shoes I will always look back on as the ones that ran me to Boston. Part of me thought about saving them for the actual Boston race, and I might be able to be convinced of doing so. But a part of me feels as though they should stand alone. I'll add another pair of them after I run Boston. I bought an identical pair for that very reason. Still, I am torn. But I do know that these shoes have a history that got them to the attic. Whether they stay there or make the trip to Massachusetts is unknown. But one thing is for certain. They hold a special place in my heart and always will no matter what happens.

A Record, A Milestone and Another First

Today I ran my fifth race of the year in Meyersdale, PA. With springlike temperatures and a flat and fast course I knew that I would PR in the race today. First, it was a 5-mile race which is not a common distance I've run and actually hadn't run in nearly four years. Second, because my normal training runs during the week are typically 5 miles and I have beaten that 4-year old PR almost every time out for the past year or two. So I was fairly confident that today would be a PR day. I just didn't know by how much.

To my surprise, I felt great and was able to absolutely obliterate my old PR (35:45) by over four minutes (31:22). It was good for a fifth place finish overall out of 129 runners and first in my age group for the fourth time in five races this year. Below is the picture of the race shirt, medal, bib and a pint of maple syrup. The race was part of the Meyersdale Maple Festival where maple syrup and maple candies could be bought on every street corner. After the race, I had hot pancakes with Somerset County maple syrup. A delicious way to end today's race event!

Also, I have been caught up in my running so much that I forgot to post a relatively big milestone in my hockey officiating career. Two Thursday's ago I worked my 1,600th hockey game of my career in the Laurel Mountain Hockey League Championship Game. Although the game itself left much to be desired it still is a pretyt big accomplishment that I should have celebrated.

A FIRST!!!

I have been running road races since 2002. I have finished in 2nd place overall once but have never come close to finishing first overall. Today that changed in Somerset, Pennsylvania. Today I ran the Knights of Columbus 5k run and despite the fact that race time temperatures were near 40 degrees with a driving rain and the fact that there were only 29 runners the bottom line is I WON! I beat out 28 other runners and crossed the finish line first. My time of 19:07 was good for my 5th fastest 5k time of all-time, but today it was good enough to win me the plaque to the left and come home with the title of "champion". I was out front almost from the very start and spent the first mile running with the eventual 3rd place winner but like I always do, I thrived on the hills and hung in for a frantic final half-mile with someone on my tail. Fellow IRRC runner Mike Hudac came in behind me but helped push me for the final 1/2 mile or so.

Even though I've been battling chest cold issues all week long and not really wanting to run this morning I perservered and ran a fairly fast time. When doing road races the winners are usually coming in between 15-18 minutes but when the numbers get down like they did today, it opens the door for someone like me who is in that next layer of speed.

It wasn't a victory in a 1,000 participant event. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't done in front of large crowds and not a lot of fanfare came along with it. But I did add a plaque to my collection of medals and I won a race. It may never happen again, but I can now say I won one. How many people really ever get the chance to say that?

A Crazy Weekend

Let's start with Saturday morning. The Penn State Altoona Snowflake Run that was sponsored by the PSU-Altoona Lady Lions Soccer team. Originally scheduled for LAST Saturday it was canceled due to the horrendous weather we've been experiencing here in Central Pennsylvania. What that created was my fourth 'back to back' situation. Meaning that I had a 5k on Saturday and a 10k on Sunday.

The Snowflake Run was held on the PSU Altoona campus and a prettier course you would have a hard time finding. Despite the double-loop course and a few near "switchbacks" that slowed my time a bit, I still crossed the line in 6th place overall with a time of 19:27. With 26 degree temperatures at the start, it was sunny and overall was a pretty good day for it all. I also got one of the more unique place awards (1st in my age group) that came in the form of a tree ornament. A great idea! Pictures from Saturday follow:



Onto Sunday. Despite a chest cold and coughing that came on in the middle of the night, I went to Shanksville for the Shanksville 10k. A fairly tough course with windy conditions were offset by the fact that it started at 1:00 p.m. Temperatures were in the upper 30's and lower 40's and bright plentiful sunshine made it seem much nicer. I decided not to "race" this one, but just go comfortably fast. The idea worked as I was able to post some pretty good miles despite my physical condition and the fact that I had raced the day before. My 43:44 finish time was good for 4th place overall and 1st in my age group. Another unique award that I did not and could never keep. A peach pie! It along with the race bib is pictured below.

NOTE: I decided to let my last post stand for an extra day or so to give it the time that it deserved. Because I was in a hurry (as I usually am of late) on Saturday I failed to write a bit more about the artist of that amazing painting. Linda Flanagan is a fellow Saint Francis alumni who hails from the Northern Cambria County area. She now calls Chicago home and is a very good friend of mine. She is a fellow runner and is married to John who is a successful podiatrist in the Windy City. She is like a big sister to me. The sister I never had.

Look Familiar?

Burning Bright. My friend and fellow Saint Francis alum Linda Flanagan who hails from Chicago completed a painting of the photo you see to the right along the edge of this blog.

She did so as part of an art class she is taking and if I do say so myself she is a very talented and amazing painter.

I have always wanted to have a portrait painted of myself but this is above and beyond anything I ever expected to happen to me.

My last blog post called for the year in photos from last year. Instead, I give you "Burning Bright". The photo is from the Hollidaysburg YMCA 4th of July race held on July 4, 2009 in Altoona.

I am mesmerized looking at it. I think I will let this stand alone for a day or so. Tomorrow a race update from today that I ran on the campus of Penn State Altoona.