Putting Life in Perspective

The very minute I published my last post, an email arrived from my childhood friend Garen.

A little over a year ago, Garen's mom passed away from ALS. His mom, Leslie, was an amazing person who I was blessed to have in my life. In addition to being good friends and wonderful neighbors, Garen's family has been like my family for as long as I can remember. It was Garen's dad, Rod, who got me interested in biology. It was Leslie who taught my brother how to drive stick shift in her little red Miata.

In honor of his mother, and to fund research for a cure to ALS, Garen has been training to complete an Ironman in Cozumel. His fundraising goal was $20,000, and 19 days before his race, he's exceeded that goal by $600. While this is an enormous amount of money, it's not nearly enough. 

Throughout his training, Garen has really put life into perspective. He's using a difficult time in his life to do something incredible. Half marathons are difficult (for me, at least), and an Ironman is REALLY difficult. In the email he just sent out to all of his friends and family, he pointed out that compared to the battle his mother fought, the Ironman is completely doable. The strength his mother showed in the final year of her life and the strength that Garen is showing now is humbling.

I don't often ask people to donate to causes, but I want to at least make everyone aware of this one. Please check out the website below, and consider supporting research for a cure for ALS.

www.firstgiving.com/garen

And GO GAREN! I'm proud to have you as a friend! I'll be thinking of you in Cozumel :)

You Know It's Bad When....

I've had a lot of stuff going on. Work has driven me a little insane recently, and Vick has been a bit stressed over his impending exams and fellowship applications. Our home has been invaded by Peanut-Love-Bug, a foster cat from a terrible hoarding situation. And while Mr. Peanut is adorable beyond words, my own cats are quite unhappy with his presence. My daily cuddles from Petri have been replaced by hissing fits whenever Petri sees me. He's a little pissed off. Pepper is probably pissed off too, but she's always pissed off, so it's hard to tell the difference.

I'm in a funk. Normally a nice cold beer would make me feel better. Yet, when I opened up one of my Atlantic Brewing Company Ginger Beers (which scored an 8/10 on the Casey Scale), I only took 2 sips before pouring the rest down the drain. Sigh. Not even a beer can fix this.

I've decided to take my negative energy and put it to good use. I've worked-out for 7 out of the past 8 days. I've been trying to channel all of that grumbly-frustration towards my legs, and it seems to be working. Today I ran 5 miles and averaged 9 minutes and 55 seconds per mile. Perhaps my 10-minute mile goal is manageable. Look out Florida! I'm lumbering your way at a moderately brisk pace!

Hopefully beer will taste good again by Friday.

Madeira Beach, Here I Come!

I devoted a lot of time in October to my noble beerquest, and kind of forgot about running. Minutes after my last post, I realized that I really needed to sign up for a half-marathon. My intentions of "staying in shape" by keeping up my running regimen without registering for a race were short lived. Actually, perhaps they never lived. I ran 2 times between my October 3rd race and November 1st. Oops.

The Madeira Beach Half Marathon in Florida is less than a month and a half away! So, it's time to get my butt in gear. I paid for the race before I figured out how many weeks were between now and then. Apparently, I better be ready to run 8 miles this weekend! And my goal for this race- run every mile in 10 minutes or less.

Considering how slow I am, 10-minute miles are a huge-normous goal. I'm excited to report that this week I've run 5 miles two times. Each time has taken me less than 51 minutes! Go meee! Lets see how my 8-mile run goes on Friday...