Rt. 66 10k

I may not be running Kettle Moraine tomorrow but next weekend I will be running the Rt 66 10k in Edwardsville, Illinois home of the 100+Project.  The MetroMilers do an absolutely fantastic job with this race.  Every year it just gets better and better.  So if you are in the neighborhood you should get signed up and get ready to run.

I hear that there have been some changes to the course this year but I have been assured they are only minor tweaks as opposed to a full blown re-route.  In the past the course has always been fair, not pancake flat but not brutally hilly either.  If you've never run a 10k before this would be an ideal start.  The 10k is a great distance because it is long enough to feel the distance yet short enough to feel comfortable with pushing the pace.

Because I haven't done much running this year I will be out there just to have fun, and possibly wage a little guerilla warfare on the Team Godzilla aid station.  Around mile four the Metro Tri Club puts on one of the best aid stations in the region, if not the country.  Armed with water guns and silly string the plucky group of volunteers welcome you as you exit the MCT tunnel, with refreshing water and sports drink.  Most people are good sports about the water guns and silly string and the worst punishment is dealt to "friends" and fellow Metro Tri Club members.  That being said don't think you will escape without getting a little bit wet.  It really is a party atmosphere that people talk about all year long.

If you have a water gun of your own maybe you'd like to join while a dish out a little punishment of my own as I run through.  Last year it was a lot of fun, but I think this year they might have something special planned for me.

It really is a great race and I hope you can make it.

  

See you there!

Great Ideas

Ever have a good idea for a post?  I'm talking about a game changer.  The type of post that makes people stand up and take notice.  An idea that is so ground breaking that there's no need to write it down because something this profound is impossible to forget.  Have you ever had an idea like that?  Well have you?

I have.

But I forgot what it was.

Maybe I should have written it down.  Actually there is no maybe about it, I should have written it down.  In this modern age we live in I really don't have an excuse for not writing it down.  Pens, pencils and paper are no longer exclusively the tools of the ruling elite, they are readily available for even the most lowly among us to use.

I get a lot of ideas, and from now on I will be writing them down in a book I bought specifically for that purpose.  Ideas, even the great ones can be ephemeral if they are not given a place take root and grow into something real.  Most of the ideas that will go in my book will not be spectacular but maybe one or two of them will be great.

Bicycles, not just for recreation

There are five grocery stores within a one mile radius of my house.  For years I have been threatening to ride my bike to the store for groceries.  The ownership of a Surly Disc Trucker complete with Ortlieb panniers has left me with little excuse.

This morning I used the last of the milk, the nature of milk being what it is replacement was assured.  On the way home from work I could have stopped and did my shopping but I had already decided that today would be the day I used my bike for something other than fun.
I got everything together and was on my way.  I was careful to make sure I didn't forget anything, lock, reusable grocery bag, you know bike stuff.  If I keep this up I'll bring the panniers inside and have the bagger load them up but I didn't want to look like a hipster.  This isn't Seattle after all.
With items purchased it was out the door and time to transfer them to the pannier.  Everything fit fine so there was nothing left to do but roll home.  On the way to the store the goal was getting there as quickly as possible so the most direct route was chosen (the same route I would have driven).  The way home was more lackadaisical and circuitous.  I cruised by one of the other grocery stores to check if they had a bike rack (which they did), then hopped a curb in Kohl's parking lot and rode down a little grassy hill, then behind the Sylvan learning center.  From there I rode by Qdoba and wondered why I never eat there.  Through the Arby's parking lot and by the pool.  Back in the residential area and on the home stretch.  The route I took home reminded me of when I was a kid, and used to ride my bike all over town.  My mental map of O'fallon, Illinois had alleys, parks, and greenways featured just as prominently as roads.  I knew which parking space in the Mcdonald's parking lot had the best transition to the Hardee's parking lot.  I knew where the city crews had piles of rocks that could be used as sweet jumps.  I know I got at least three feet of air one time.  Those were great times in my life and I was glad to revisit them.

When I got home I put the bike in the shed and the milk in the fridge.  It felt good.  Dare I say right.

Riding a bike to the store to get some milk is not a new or innovative idea, but still worthwhile.  Try it and see how you like it.

Boston

I haven’t said much about the tragedy in Boston, and make no mistake it was a tragedy despite what Bill O’Reilly would have us believe.  The president called it a tragedy so Mr. O’Reilly had to be contrary as is his way.  In response to the president calling it a tragedy O’Reilly said, “It was not. It was a vile act of violence, designed to kill innocent people, including children…This makes me sick.”  No shit Bill, but a tragedy nonetheless.
Contradictory reports are still coming in and it is unclear what the facts really are.

One thing that is clear is that the runners will overcome, the American people will overcome, and Love will overcome!

I'm gatherin' up my friends today
And those who recognize the face
As the vision that changed my mind
From hate to faith
Was as simple as grapes to wine and
Sweet as
I'm gatherin' up my friends today
All these hookers and soldiers and swine
And would be saints
All alone in their rooms that sparkle in
Their eye
Play a song that they'll come outside
To see if

Love will overcome
If this love will make us men
Love will draw us in
To wipe our tears away

The day that I was so sweetly sung
By the wind and the thunder moved by
"someone"
The feelin' of being lived was so strong
The giver became the gift, all one
The day that I was so sweetly sung
The wind seemed to whisper softly, "oh
Son,
Don't wait for the seas to part or
Messiahs to come
Don't sit around and waste this chance, to
See it!"

Love will overcome
If this love will make us men
Love will draw us in
To take our fear away

Love
Love
Love
Love, hey, yeah

Love, this day now, this day that I was so
Sweetly sung, I know, I know that
Love will overcome

Love will overcome
If this love will make us men
Love will draw us in
To take our fear away, wipe our tears
Away
Love!
And all my friends are here
In the city I sing my song
In the face of the hooker, the soldier, the
Swine
I found it, I found it, I found love!

Love will, love will, love will,
Overcome
Over come

SayYesMore!

I am proud to have been chosen as a SayYesMore ambassador.  Such a simple and elegant philosophy that anyone can embrace straight away to add life to their years.

I have something that I have been putting off for a while but in true SayYesMore style I will put it off no longer and get started.  Look for updates soon!

Graveyard Gravel Grinder

My friends and I are in total agreement that adventure is cool and mini-adventures are a great way to celebrate minor holidays and other special days.  Some of our past mini-adventures include the Epic Leap, and Columbus Day of Discovery.

Our latest adventure was conceived by Chuck.  He got the idea to find all of the old graveyards in the Weldon Spring/Bush Conservation area.  He bought the topo map of the area and plotted the coordinates.  There are many old graveyards because the whole area was once a town but in 1948 the Govt acquired the land for a munitions plant.  You can still see remnants of the old town with the occasional fire hydrant, well, power pole, etc. showing up in the middle of the woods.

We agreed to meet on Sunday March tenth, the day we spring our clocks ahead.  Not quite a holiday but a special day just the same.  It was raining when I left home but the temperature wasn't too cold so I drove to mound where Chuck and Lori were waiting.  Before long Robin, Russ, and Kate arrived.  We were all accounted for and ready for another adventure to begin.



It was a great day for an adventure.  We didn't find the last graveyard on our list but there are more and we will find them next time.

Here are a couple links to ROCK Racing's video and SuperKate's post:

• ROCK Racing Great Graveyard Gravel Grind
• SuperKate Not gonna melt

Career Day!

Did I ever tell you about the time I met a primatologist?

Oddly enough it was during my enrollment in a primatology course at SIUE (I guess that's not so odd after all). Our instructor thought it would be a good idea for us to speak to someone in the field because her area of specialization was archaeology. She happened to know a primatologist and invited her to come speak to the class.

Jen Rehg came to our class and blew my mind. Not because she was such a compelling speaker, and not because she was an awesome primatologist doing ground breaking work that would shake the foundations of human identity for generations to come. She blew my mind because she was a regular person with an amazing career. How many times did I fantasize about having an awesome and fulfilling career only to have it squashed by some naysayer who was looking for a parade to rain on? I always thought special people did special things and that I was destined to work in a supporting roll. We need kennel managers and maintenance workers too you know.

There were subjects that I was very interested in while I was in school (did I mention the Ober honors award in philosophy) but succumbed to the old tired logic that philosophy or archaeology wouldn't pay the bills. I could kick my own ass when I think about it. I ended up leaving school during my last semester to go out into the world looking for a job. I doubted my Liberal Studies degree would land me a job so there was no sense waiting. Even if it did land me a job, what type of job would it have been. Philosopher? Primatologist? No. It would have landed me a job as a drone somewhere in Sector 7G always hoping to make a little more money, and to rise incrementally higher in the corporate flow chart until one day maybe, if I were lucky, I could retire and draw a modest pension. How is that different from where I am now? It's not.

I think the take away is this. You can be what you want to be!*

 The asterisk is meant to symbolize that there is always a catch. No matter how much I want to be the King of England it will never happen.

 Chase your dreams, but know you may fail. Always remember though that there are people just like you and me who are living their dream because they chose to ignore the naysayers and kept on pursuing their goals.

For more information about Jen Rehg you can read her bio from SIUE, here.  She has done some great work in South America.  Chasing monkeys through the jungle sounds like fun doesn't it?