Today is Tom's Birthday! Remember to wish him a Happy Birthday tomorrow.
Two nights ago while sitting at dinner a man walked by our restaurant. We were sitting parallel to the sidewalk. Tom getting to see his face and I his back as he walked away. We paused and thought to ourselves maybe we recognize this man. We were pretty sure we knew who it was so I got up and decided to chase him down. Sure enough there he was, Rich Peck. Rich Peck was an International Affairs Professor at Lewis and Clark. Tom and I both took international organizations from him and I also took my theories class with him. Shortly after having to deal with me in class he decided to retire. Not surprising in the least. This was after my junior year of college. He spent the next few years around portland and then this last year decided to take off and see the world. We caught him on month 9th of his year long adventure. He started in Europe and is making his way east until Portland. We caught up I am sure without him remembering tom or myself. This was just one of those occasions when the world seems like a really small place.
Most of you will want to skip this next section:
The National Games are in Luang Prabang in December. Currently I have no idea who is coaching, training and competing in the games. I am not sure if anyone does know for sure. I know that I would like to be involved and I have made that abundantly clear to those of you who read the blog. All of the talk of competing got me to self reflect on my career. I am very competitive as many could tell you although I like to think I am better at hiding it than I get credit for. This mean that my self reflection may be harsher than an on looker. I started running my freshman year of high school. My mom thought that I needed to do a sport and cross country could have been something I could be good at. The first year was rough although I did make varsity but then during track I started to come into my own. My sophomore year was really where I started to step things up. The results werent great yet but I was moving up in cross country I was top 100 at state. In track I was city champion at home in the 2 mile and I made state in the 2 mile where I placed last due to my worst race of the season. The next year I really stepped it up. I was second at city and region in cross country and top 50 at state. Track more decent results although state I didnt perform well in the 2 mile. Two weeks before my senior season of cross country I was doing some high altitude training at a running camp in glacier national park when my career changed forever. During my first run at the camp I got a really bad cramp. I did not know what this was I just thought it was a cramp. 4 days and 36 miles later. I was unable to lay flat on my back or walk and running was almost impossible. I went to a doctor who diagnosed me with a torn abdominal muscle. He had me do a sit up and you could actually see where I tore it. This was a huge shock and would end up being a seminal moment in my athletics life. I spent the next few weeks doing rehab and not getting to run/compete with the team. When I came back I had to take it slow and couldnt race to my full potential. I was forced to run races differently than I had before. I ended up coming back and winning city, regions, and placing 14th at state which was an all state label. At the end of the season my body felt worn out and if state had been just a few weeks later I am not sure how I would have done. Track was one of the worst seasons of my career where the only event I made state in was the 4x800. We got 7th and I ran the best 800 of my life but there was something pathetic about not making it in an event I had gone in the last few years. Summer training was difficult and a lot of work which was personally difficult for me to put in so I spent most of that summer on my bike which hurt my ab less than my running. I came to college and spent the first few weeks rehabbing and not racing. When I did race the beginning of the season was terrible but by the end I had worked with the coaches on a new racing plan. In high school I was a front runner meaning I would try to be in the top group the whole way. Now I had to start my races from the back and work my way up. Mentally much harder for me to do. Just a few weeks before conference I got a cortisone shot into my chest between my ribs. This was very sore at the time but helped out for the big meets. At Conference I was third for Lewis and Clark and one of the top freshman in the field. At Regional's I was second for LC. We never qualified for nationals when I went to LC. Track was similar with the beginning of the season rough. I ran the 400 hurdles to train for steeple chase and qualified for conference in the 400m hurdles and 4x400 not the steeple chase or 1500 which I had been focused on. I ran the lead leg of the 4x400 the three years I compete in track in college. My sophomore year was similar to the freshman year where the beginning was terrible and after the cortisone shots I was second for the team at conference and region. Conference was be best race of my career. I started in last place and ended up running my best time ever. Track I didnt run the 400 hurdles instead I focused on the 1500 and even ran a 5k which went poorly. The only event I ran at conference was the 4x400. Junior year followed the formula with another 2nd for the team at conference then first for LC at regionals which resulted in an all west region designation. I studied abroad shortly there after and didnt run enough in Vietnam. My senior season as one of my professor would say "started off on the wrong foot and never recovered". My best finish was at conference were I was 6th on the team and I decided to give up my spot at regionals because I thought the team would be better without me running. After cross country I sat down with the coaches and discussed track. I was unable to deal with the fact that I couldnt finish most workouts and I wasnt performing in a way that I found respectable and in my eyes didnt help the team. I was not accustomed to not being in the top group and it ate at me. I voiced my concerns and I was changed into a sprinter for that final season. I ran the 400m hurdles at conference and just missed finals. I was the lead leg of the 4x400m and I ran 3rd on the 4x100m team. After the 4x400m race finished (the final event of most meets) I cooled down and then retired. I ran about 10 time in almost 2 years before running an open race for LC...I got last. I have moved behind the whistle and although I miss the glory days almost everyday I love the sport. Is there a reason I told you all this? Not really I just wanted to give those of you who read the blog some insight into my career and what weighs on me every time I see a pair of running shoes. Wishing I was able to do what came so easily early on. I spent atleast 15 minutes everyday after running for four years sitting chest deep in the ice bath. I wore heat patches on my chest during my race warm up. I got 4 sets of cortisone shots in between my ribs. I spent hours in the pool water jogging. I had hours of physical therapy and all I got were...memories.
Hopefully more substantive updates will come soon.
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