Category Uncategorized

9/16/2014

Yesterday I ran from Buckeye to Avondale but I had expected to run from Buckeye to Phoenix. That would have made it a thirty mile run. Crystal and my mom had convinced me to call the day short though. They figured I should ease back into my routine after the series of unfortunate events. I really wanted to push through but I’m glad I didn’t. We drove from the Garage to the Renaissance Hotel in Downtown Phoenix. I guess I was the clueless one in the group.

We pulled into the valet as the hotel had instructed. There we were greeted by Marty. She was enthused to meet us. What I walked into was completely unexpected. Two rows of staff with shiny gold pom poms were waiting to greet me. There was even music playing. I was floored by the reception...

9/14/2014

After a futile attempt to find help, there came a point when the smartest course of action was to turn back. A drop of a couple degrees in temperature signaled the impending night. With the memories of the howling packs of coyotes fresh in my mind I sped towards the trailer. I hadn’t realized the distance I had travelled to find help. The road back felt bumpier, the sand felt softer, and my legs felt heavier. To top it all off I began to really feel my thirst. I had somehow lost my water along the way. With more than two marathons on my legs, my conversation with god began. This wasn’t the conversation where one bargains to be good if he promises to take away the pain. It was a very internal type of dialogue. The main message from it all was that I needed to be patient...

9/13/2014

Fortune seemed to be turning as we put on a fun event for kids in grades k-8. It meant I was able to leave my usual 2nd-4th grade range. Like every occupation, career, or endeavor there is a comfort zone. I had just expanded mine. With the kindergarten class I discovered that you can not recycle elephants. With the older kids I had legs eager to run with me. One boy named Abner specifically caught my attention because he stayed after school and asked me if I would run with him on the field. He and a pack of boys came out and did a couple laps. We were all pretty sweaty after lap one but the kids were motivated.

After we left the school, we still had to pack up and vacate our campsite. It took a while to unhitch everything and get back to the running location...