|
Limited Archive: April 2007 |
|
Happy Birthday Today to Mike Ealy (19)
Sunday, April 01, 2007
I am officially signed up for the Chicago Marathon on October 07, 2007. This journal will reflect upon my daily training and life activities through that special date.
At left is a photo of me (no longer available) finishing up my first Chicago Marathon in 2004 in a time of 4-hours, 11-minutes, and 30-seconds. My new marathon PR was set just last October in Detroit, but I wasn’t very happy with the result. The Detroit event was well run, but the weather was very windy and cold.
Training-wise, I put in a one-hour run today starting from my home near the village of Shumway and ending at my office in downtown Effingham. But my “official” training program doesn’t kick in until tomorrow.
Cool Person of the Week: It’s definitely gotta be Ben Wallace of the Chicago Bulls basketball team. Why? For endorsing and wearing a pair of basketball shoes that will retail at the family-affordable price of only $14.95.
Yes, that’s right. This guy’s shoes will sell for FOURTEEN dollars and ninety-five cents.
For more information on this worthwhile development, visit the Chicago Bulls web site at:
www.nba.com/bulls/news/wallace_shoes_070327.html
Monday, April 02, 2007
I put in my one-hour run today a little later than I had intended - just before work this morning. Looks like it’s going to be a great day - sunny with high temperatures near 80. It’s killing me to be cooped up inside right now. Great song I heard while running this morning: “Not Ready To Make Nice” by the Dixie Chicks. Besides taking on the powers that be, this song has universal appeal and means a little something different to everyone who hears it, I’m sure. “Forgive, sounds good. Forget, I’m not sure I could. . . .”
In the courtroom, it was busier than expected this morning. I have court in Paris (Illinois) this afternoon, and then it’s off to boys track practice at Effingham High School, where I am assistant coach.
I entered my appearance pro bono (for free) today for a young adult who appears to be at somewhat of a crossroads in his life. As I write, his parents are scrambling to come up with his bail money.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
The beautiful weather continues. I completed a 90-minute run this morning, the first part of which included some of the hills of village of Teutopolis, such as Crystal Club Road. At the end of this endeavor, I was substantially spent. Great song I heard while running this morning: “Bring It On” by Seal. It captured my mood, at least early on in my run.
Some great news: I received The Broken Arrow Running Club’s newsletter in the mail this morning. It’s the first club newsletter in quite a while. One of my running friends, Shelley Nuelle, is taking over the newsletter now, and she’s the perfect person for the job. To get on the newsletter mailing list, mail $ 10.00-dollars to: Tiffany Hartke; 8435 N. 1600th St.; Effingham IL 62401. Contact Shelley with your running news via email at: Shelley_909@hotmail.com
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Since winter seems to have set back in, I returned to indoor running this evening utilizing all three floors of my office building (with makeshift lighting on the second and third floors). Lots of stairs. Anyone driving by might well have thought: “Now, I KNOW he’s crazy.”
This photograph (no longer available) is my so-so attempt to illustrate the lighting of all three floors of the office building.
Decision time: I’ve decided to “train through” Saturday’s Lake Sara Dam Run. This means I’m not interrupting my set training schedule (for the next six months) in order to perform well at the Dam Run. Even though I won’t be resting or enjoying any “easy days” this week, I’ll just have to do the best I can in Saturday’s event. I may wind up just running with some friends, anyway.
Great song I heard while running: “Moments” by Emerson Drive.
I've had my moments, days in the sun Moments I was second to none . . .
Lookin' at me now you might not know it
The song is actually about a fairly heavy subject, and you might not truly understand what’s happening in the song the first few times you hear it. I won’t explain it here. But I recommend giving the lyrics a good listen and / or watching the video. It would be time well spent.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
I spent about five hours in the courtroom today in Jasper and Effingham counties, ending with a family court case in Effingham that concluded late in the afternoon. I felt that the judge (Hon. James Eder) did a particularly good job in handling the many issues that were presented to him in the last matter. I suspect that the general public probably has no idea how seriously our area judges take their responsibilities and how well they follow the law while striving to bring about a just result - Judge Eder in particular.
I ran for 90-minutes continuously (indoors) this evening. I’m sticking with my training plan. It’s still very, very cold outside. Temps are in the 20s and 30s with lots of wind.
Friday, April 06, 2007
As I type this journal entry, I am listening to Greg Sapp deliver the local news. He’s giving us a weather forecast that contains “a hard freeze warning” leading all the way up to the time of the Lake Sara Dam Run (8-miles) tomorrow morning (at 10 a.m.) Sounds like great fun, huh? It was actually snowing at times this afternoon in Effingham, although nothing actually was sticking on the ground.
On a related note: I thoroughly enjoyed the EHS boys track team’s “field trip to the Collinsville McDonald’s” restaurant earlier today. Well, actually the team was supposed to compete this afternoon at the Belleville West Invitational track meet. However, just after we pulled in to Belleville West High School, all of the athletes from one of the top teams in the state, Cahokia, made a quick exit. Cahokia had decided that the terrible weather brought with it a great of a risk of injury to its athletes - with very little chance for them to set any PRs (personal records or personal bests). Our coach, Terry Harbaugh, decided that we should follow suit. His decision was agreed upon by all of us and turned out to be a wise one. So, as I said, the field trip to the Collinsville McDonald’s was thoroughly enjoyable . . . and warm.
In just a couple of minutes, I’ll be putting in my 60-minute training run . . . indoors.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
I survived this morning’s Lake Sara Dam Run. In fact, for the forth consecutive year I actually improved my time at Lake Sara’s 8-mile run. So, I am a little bit pleased. Maybe I’m not really growing older [he began to write . . . somewhat foolishly and then smartly dropped that goofy idea].
My official time for the race hasn’t been posted anywhere yet, but it was 64:00-minutes and change. I was fairly consistently running 8:00-minute miles, which I had set as a goal. If I could achieve that time result through the course of a marathon, I’d actually have a Boston Marathon qualifying time of just under 3:30, which may be within reach this year depending more than anything on my continued state of good health, a.k.a., no major injuries.
Today’s race was windy and cold, but the organizers had a great turnout of people from all over, as usual. Lake Sara’s organizers work extremely hard and put on a first class event each year in every possible way. The beneficiaries of this work are Special Olympics children, who also are among the event’s many excellent workers. |
