Yes, yes it has.
Apologies are in order, but there just hasn't been a lot of time to sit down and write anything at all.
Let's recap things though.
My girlfriend was pregnant, but no more as my first child was born on May 19th. Kylie Brooke is growing by the day and is quite rowdy in the morning, much to our chagrin. Overall she's a lot of fun and it's been amazing watching her personality start to really show. Even if she is a fiery red-head.
Speaking of Rachel, we just passed our 2 year anniversary last month (June 11th to be exact). I couldn't ask for a better girlfriend and mother of my child. Payton drives me crazy sometimes, but when she's not being bad (and she's been something else of late), she's a lot of fun as well.
We moved last week from our old apartment into a much bigger one, which has been a blessing since the extra space seems to have calmed our rowdy dog Ogimaa down quite a bit. Both dogs seem to enjoy the extra space and it's made things somewhat easier.
BTW, moving stinks.
A lot has happened in the sports world as well. The Indians signed Michael Bourne and Nick Swisher as well as traded for Drew Stubbs to bolster the offense. They added depth with Mike Avilas and Ryan Raburn, and if the bullpen hadn't been shaky, they'd probably still be in first place.
The Miami Heat won their second straight title last month, which probably shouldn't have happened given the San Antonio Spurs had a 3-2 lead in the series at one point.
Which is what I want to get into. The Cavs have made some moves this off-season in the draft and in free agency. Obviously the Andrew Bynum signing is the big story, but the bigger story that won't go away is the possible return of LeBron James via free agency next year. Many find it hard to believe that Dan Gilbert would go for resigning LeBron after how he left the franchise dangling, but some think if he wants to come back, you go for it.
I personally would rather see the Cavs try to continue to build around Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters, but ultimately it's not up to us as fans to determine what they decide to do. They may very well be preparing themselves to take a shot at LeBron, but they may also be looking at some of the other big free agents getting set to hit the market next year as well.
The LeBron thing is frankly over done. He left three years ago. He's won two titles, lost one, and won two Finals MVP awards. On the court, he very well could go down as the best player to ever play the game. His game continues to evolve and he seems to be driven by the way he's perceived nationally.
Of course, ESPN is in love with the idea of LeBron courting the Cavs. Then again, ESPN seems to revel in our misery, often taking every chance they get to remind us of our worst sports moments. They've already put up projected lineups if LeBron signed back with the Cavs.
While many Clevelanders were wondering why the Sports Gods continued to torture us by letting our most hated villians continue to win, I shrugged it all off. Sure, I wanted the Heat to lose. I find the way they built that team to be atrocious and completely wrong. I'm almost certain there was an agreement made to put that team together to form a super team. I'm just as appalled that other teams tried to follow the same path.
In the end, LeBron is a two-time champion. We as fans don't have to like it, but it's happened. If the Heat stay as they are, they'll probably win at least two more, if not more. It is what it is. My hatred towards LeBron is almost non-existent at this point as there's no point to it anymore. I'd rather pay attention to what Chris Grant is attempting to build at the moment and think about all the potential that this group could have.
I'd rather look at the Indians, who while wildly streaky, have been a ton of fun to watch so far. Jason Kipnis has recovered from his early season troubles to put together a solid first half and Danny Salazar put on a tantalizing performance yesterday in his Major League debut.
Hell, even the Browns are intriguing with the moves they made (if you ignore all that legal trouble Jimmy Haslam is in right now). New coaches, new staff, new players, and a new system could make things interesting.
But LeBron? Talk to me after he's decided where he's playing next off-season.
Quick Hits
The signing of Bynum is a risk/reward type of scenario. If he's healthy and plays, the Cavs are likely a playoff team and a dangerous one at that. He'd also be in line for a HUGE payout, one I doubt the Cavs would pursue. If he's not, they're only out $6 million but likely miss the postseason again. I'm not a fan of Bynum, but this is such a low-risk move that I can't complain about it.
If Vinnie Pestano isn't healthy, he's not helping the team with how he's performed. He came out recently and said he's been trying too hard to miss bats, rather than trust his pitches, but the guy has clearly been off much of this season. If it's mental, it may never go away and given the situation with Chris Perez and the overall uncertainty of the bullpen, that spells big trouble.
Miguel Cabrera is one of the best hitters in the game, but he's awful whiny for my tastes. It seems he's another one of those players who believes you aren't allowed to pitch him inside and whenever something happens he disagrees with, he begins chirping away. Cabrera is a special talent, but his mouth sometimes overshadows his bat and that's a bad thing.
Rumors continue to swirl that Haslam might have to sell the Browns, but I continue to wonder how the NFL missed him being investigated by the FBI. This seems like something that should've come up at some point, but recent reports have come out that former owner Art Modell at some points barely had full ownership of the Browns and had to scramble much more often to keep the team than most of us previously knew.
With the trading deadline looming and no real big names being made available, this could be one of the less spectacular deadlines in MLB history, although that can change in a hurry. I just don't see anything real big happening at this point in time. Too many teams are in contention and the ones that aren't don't exactly have the most appealing pieces to offer. Let's see if someone gets desperate.
Several Cavs players are in Las Vegas getting work in even though they aren't playing in the summer league and that's highly encouraging. Even more encouraging is new Cavalier Jarrett Jack heading out there as well the same day he officially signed his contract. Jack has often been underappreciated where he's been at but could be a very key piece to this year's team. The influence he could have on Irving and Waiters is just as important as the way he plays.
Finally, for those of you who still don't know, I play a game called Minecraft and record it. I then put the videos up on YouTube for all to enjoy. My channel is at http://www.youtube.com/user/kreald1980 You should check it out. Rachel and I are also participating in the Warrior Dash again. We'll be raising money for St. Jude so go to http://www.stjudewarriors.org/dkreal1980 and donate.
Hopefully it doesn't take 6 months to write again....
Showing posts with label st. jude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label st. jude. Show all posts
Friday, July 12, 2013
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
My Warrior Dash experience
Before I detail my experience with the Warrior Dash, let me say thanks to everyone who donated to St. Jude on my behalf. As of this post I've raised $525 with most of it coming from co-workers.
The Warrior Dash itself was a great experience. I intend to do it again next year and will probably register before the end of the year so that it's much cheaper to go. It was definitely worth it though. It was the first race I've ever participated in and while I probably could've finished a little faster, I can't complain too much about it.
Overall, my time was 37:34, which is a little higher than I'd normally run if there weren't obstacles in my way. My last run was 3.3 miles in 32:05, so my pace was slowed by the obstacles somewhat, especially early on since the water ones gave me a little trouble.
For those wondering, I had a tutu on, which isn't all that unusual for the event. What made it real neat was the fact that Payton had a matching tutu, I had a beater that said "Jerkface" on the back, and Payton had a shirt that said "Team Jerkface." There were several comments made to us about the outfits and to me, it was only appropriate to wear one with Payton cheering me on.
In any case, the race starts off innocently enough. It's mostly running, but the trick is that you have to run uphill in several spots, which slows things down considerably. The path also becomes narrow in spots, which makes getting around people difficult at times, and a few were already walking up the hill.
After a little over a half-mile of that, you finally reach the first obstacle, the Barricade Breakdown, which consists of climbing over a board, then going under barbed wire and repeating 3 more times with each. It's actually one of the longest obstacles and the combination of pulling yourself up then dropping down is more grueling than you realize at first.
Almost immediately after you finish that one is the Rio Run, which is essentially running in a shallow creek for a brief period. This one isn't that difficult except for the people in front of you suddenly going from a brisk run to a slow walk. Unfortunately, they became the victim of a massive splashing as I ran by without slowing.
Shortly after that came the Deadweight Drift, which threw some people off since it was earlier than the map online showed. It slowed me down as I realized the tutu was sliding all the way down as I flung myself over the logs. The water was also much deeper than waist high in spots, which complicated things slightly. This one took me the longest to complete just because of the wardrobe malfunction.
Immediately after that was the Capsized Catamaran, which was a floating island with two separate barriers to climb over. Essentially, you pull yourself up out of the water, climb up the barrier, jump down, climb up another barrier, jump down, then jump back in the water and I had to actually swim to the riverbank before pulling myself up out of the water.
After that, there was another long stretch of running before finally reaching The Trenches, which wasn't quite like the map had depicted it. It was supposed to be a trench covered by logs and you crawled under the barbed wire under the logs, but the log part was missing when I went by. It was relatively harmless except for those who were very tall. I feel for anyone who was really tall since I barely was able to squeeze under the first set of wire.
Chaotic Crossover was the next obstacle after another brief run through the woods. After you came out, you could see the wooden structure with the cargo netting stretching between a couple of sections of planks. What made this section funny were the guys who tried to stand and run across the netting. Most made it a couple of steps before falling, while another tried to walk across the side beam. He made it halfway before falling off. I decided I was going to crawl my way across and ended up passing by the other guys who had tried alternative methods of crossing.
After I finished that obstacle, I came across a group of people who were dressed as Waldo. The sad thing about that was that they were from the previous group of runners, which means in 45 minutes they hadn't finished the course that I was halfway done with. After running past them, I came across Deadman's Drop, which seemed more daunting than it actually was. You had to climb up one side of it, swing yourself over the top, then lower yourself down until you were close enough to just fall to the ground. When you're on the top of it, it seems like a much more difficult task.
You head back towards the woods after finishing that and after a short while, you hit the next obstacle, Leader's Ledge, which is another obstacle that was much easier than anticipated. The ledges are wide enough to where you can get a good portion of your foot on it, then it's just a matter of grabbing on to the handholds that are protruding out. I actually moved pretty quickly through this one.
Following that was a pretty good run from the woods into the open area before you encounter one of the final obstacles, the Horizontal Hike. This is another one that seems more intimidating than it actually is. You have to climb up the wooden beams, work your way across the top, turn yourself around, and climb back down the other side. It's a matter of concentration and remembering that you're no more than 20 feet off the ground at the highest point.
The Cargo Climb was the next obstacle and it wasn't too challenging either. It takes a little time to climb up the netting, but then once you pull yourself up over the top, you just have to climb down, jump off, and head towards the final two obstacles.
The second-to-last obstacle was the one that worried me most, not because I thought it was difficult, but because of the material my tutu was made of. The Warrior Roast is two sections of burning logs that you have to jump over, and while the flames aren't very high, I figured if the tute got within 5 feet of the flames, it could go up quickly. I jumped a little higher to ensure this didn't happen before plunging myself into the final obstacle, Muddy Mayhem.
There's nothing difficult about muddy mayhem. It's just a matter of staying low, in the mud, so you stay clear of the barbed wire above you. After that, it's a short run to the finish line where you can greet everyone with a mud hug, which I attempted to do with Payton, who was NOT thrilled with it at all. Nor did she enjoy the hose down for that matter.
Overall, I felt I did pretty good for my first race. I know a little more about what to expect for next time (and there will be a next time; I fully intend on registering for the 2013 Dash) and figure I'll be better trained as well.
The experience was really neat as well. Because I had raised at least $250, we were able to enjoy nicer accomodations, such as private bathrooms and showers, free food and drink, and a tent to sit under (which was unfortunately infested with tiny insects in the back). The weather was warm, but it didn't bother me at all, at least not until afterwards when I was trying to cool off.
Payton enjoyed being there as well. She was yelling "Team Jerkface" as I came down the home stretch, and after initially being mad at the mud, realized how much fun it was and tried to spread the joy. Rachel ended up with some minor mud spots as well, but Payton received the worst of it. I will try to get pictures on the blog soon; I'm in the process of setting up a cloud-type storage so I can get to the files easily.
I ran into my friend Sarah and her boyfriend Eric there as well. She wasn't thrilled with her time, but like me, she can say to people she finished it and has the medal to prove it. She's also talking about doing the dash next year so chances are good we'll see her up there again.
I'm already registered for my next race, the Run of the Dead, which takes place in October. Rachel and I will both be doing that one and it should be a lot of fun. It's a 5K run/jog/walk with a treasure hunt and people trying to scare you. Costumes are encouraged so we might be unveiling this year's costumes at that event.
In the coming year, I'm also hoping to do the Color Run and if I train well enough, consider signing up for the Tough Mudder. I really enjoyed my experience this past weekend and can't wait to do some more running in the near future.
So thanks for the donations and thanks for the support. It was fun and I can't wait to do it again.
The Warrior Dash itself was a great experience. I intend to do it again next year and will probably register before the end of the year so that it's much cheaper to go. It was definitely worth it though. It was the first race I've ever participated in and while I probably could've finished a little faster, I can't complain too much about it.
Overall, my time was 37:34, which is a little higher than I'd normally run if there weren't obstacles in my way. My last run was 3.3 miles in 32:05, so my pace was slowed by the obstacles somewhat, especially early on since the water ones gave me a little trouble.
For those wondering, I had a tutu on, which isn't all that unusual for the event. What made it real neat was the fact that Payton had a matching tutu, I had a beater that said "Jerkface" on the back, and Payton had a shirt that said "Team Jerkface." There were several comments made to us about the outfits and to me, it was only appropriate to wear one with Payton cheering me on.
In any case, the race starts off innocently enough. It's mostly running, but the trick is that you have to run uphill in several spots, which slows things down considerably. The path also becomes narrow in spots, which makes getting around people difficult at times, and a few were already walking up the hill.
After a little over a half-mile of that, you finally reach the first obstacle, the Barricade Breakdown, which consists of climbing over a board, then going under barbed wire and repeating 3 more times with each. It's actually one of the longest obstacles and the combination of pulling yourself up then dropping down is more grueling than you realize at first.
Almost immediately after you finish that one is the Rio Run, which is essentially running in a shallow creek for a brief period. This one isn't that difficult except for the people in front of you suddenly going from a brisk run to a slow walk. Unfortunately, they became the victim of a massive splashing as I ran by without slowing.
Shortly after that came the Deadweight Drift, which threw some people off since it was earlier than the map online showed. It slowed me down as I realized the tutu was sliding all the way down as I flung myself over the logs. The water was also much deeper than waist high in spots, which complicated things slightly. This one took me the longest to complete just because of the wardrobe malfunction.
Immediately after that was the Capsized Catamaran, which was a floating island with two separate barriers to climb over. Essentially, you pull yourself up out of the water, climb up the barrier, jump down, climb up another barrier, jump down, then jump back in the water and I had to actually swim to the riverbank before pulling myself up out of the water.
After that, there was another long stretch of running before finally reaching The Trenches, which wasn't quite like the map had depicted it. It was supposed to be a trench covered by logs and you crawled under the barbed wire under the logs, but the log part was missing when I went by. It was relatively harmless except for those who were very tall. I feel for anyone who was really tall since I barely was able to squeeze under the first set of wire.
Chaotic Crossover was the next obstacle after another brief run through the woods. After you came out, you could see the wooden structure with the cargo netting stretching between a couple of sections of planks. What made this section funny were the guys who tried to stand and run across the netting. Most made it a couple of steps before falling, while another tried to walk across the side beam. He made it halfway before falling off. I decided I was going to crawl my way across and ended up passing by the other guys who had tried alternative methods of crossing.
After I finished that obstacle, I came across a group of people who were dressed as Waldo. The sad thing about that was that they were from the previous group of runners, which means in 45 minutes they hadn't finished the course that I was halfway done with. After running past them, I came across Deadman's Drop, which seemed more daunting than it actually was. You had to climb up one side of it, swing yourself over the top, then lower yourself down until you were close enough to just fall to the ground. When you're on the top of it, it seems like a much more difficult task.
You head back towards the woods after finishing that and after a short while, you hit the next obstacle, Leader's Ledge, which is another obstacle that was much easier than anticipated. The ledges are wide enough to where you can get a good portion of your foot on it, then it's just a matter of grabbing on to the handholds that are protruding out. I actually moved pretty quickly through this one.
Following that was a pretty good run from the woods into the open area before you encounter one of the final obstacles, the Horizontal Hike. This is another one that seems more intimidating than it actually is. You have to climb up the wooden beams, work your way across the top, turn yourself around, and climb back down the other side. It's a matter of concentration and remembering that you're no more than 20 feet off the ground at the highest point.
The Cargo Climb was the next obstacle and it wasn't too challenging either. It takes a little time to climb up the netting, but then once you pull yourself up over the top, you just have to climb down, jump off, and head towards the final two obstacles.
The second-to-last obstacle was the one that worried me most, not because I thought it was difficult, but because of the material my tutu was made of. The Warrior Roast is two sections of burning logs that you have to jump over, and while the flames aren't very high, I figured if the tute got within 5 feet of the flames, it could go up quickly. I jumped a little higher to ensure this didn't happen before plunging myself into the final obstacle, Muddy Mayhem.
There's nothing difficult about muddy mayhem. It's just a matter of staying low, in the mud, so you stay clear of the barbed wire above you. After that, it's a short run to the finish line where you can greet everyone with a mud hug, which I attempted to do with Payton, who was NOT thrilled with it at all. Nor did she enjoy the hose down for that matter.
Overall, I felt I did pretty good for my first race. I know a little more about what to expect for next time (and there will be a next time; I fully intend on registering for the 2013 Dash) and figure I'll be better trained as well.
The experience was really neat as well. Because I had raised at least $250, we were able to enjoy nicer accomodations, such as private bathrooms and showers, free food and drink, and a tent to sit under (which was unfortunately infested with tiny insects in the back). The weather was warm, but it didn't bother me at all, at least not until afterwards when I was trying to cool off.
Payton enjoyed being there as well. She was yelling "Team Jerkface" as I came down the home stretch, and after initially being mad at the mud, realized how much fun it was and tried to spread the joy. Rachel ended up with some minor mud spots as well, but Payton received the worst of it. I will try to get pictures on the blog soon; I'm in the process of setting up a cloud-type storage so I can get to the files easily.
I ran into my friend Sarah and her boyfriend Eric there as well. She wasn't thrilled with her time, but like me, she can say to people she finished it and has the medal to prove it. She's also talking about doing the dash next year so chances are good we'll see her up there again.
I'm already registered for my next race, the Run of the Dead, which takes place in October. Rachel and I will both be doing that one and it should be a lot of fun. It's a 5K run/jog/walk with a treasure hunt and people trying to scare you. Costumes are encouraged so we might be unveiling this year's costumes at that event.
In the coming year, I'm also hoping to do the Color Run and if I train well enough, consider signing up for the Tough Mudder. I really enjoyed my experience this past weekend and can't wait to do some more running in the near future.
So thanks for the donations and thanks for the support. It was fun and I can't wait to do it again.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Update to the course I'm taking on
When I originally wrote that I was taking part in the Warrior Dash, I had posted a blog listing some of the obstacles listed on the web site. It didn't seem like it was the final version because it said that the course map was coming soon, but I wasn't entirely sure.
Well, I checked the site again yesterday and discovered that it wasn't the right list of obstacles and now have an updated list of the obstacles I'm going to be traversing through over the course of 3.12 miles.
*Barricade Breakdown - In this I have to over the barricades and under barbed wired.
*Rio Run - A run down a river.
*Capsized Catamaran - The description says it all "swim, climb, stumble, swim"
*Cliffhanger - I get to rapel!
*Deadweight Drifter - Wading through waist deep water and over logs.
*The Trenches - It says to stay low to crawl in the dirt and under the logs.
*Chaotic Crossover - Crossing over tangled cargo nets.
*Deadman's Drop - No description, but sounds fun
*Leader's Ledge - A walk across a narrow ledge above water.
*Horizontal Hike - Traversing over an arching obstruction.
*Cargo Climb - More fun with cargo nets.
*Warrior Roast - Hopping over flames
*Muddy Mayhem - The final leg of the run through the mud under barbed wire.
Needless to say, I'm excited. I hope that I do well and have a great story to tell in the days following the dash.
Finally, it's not too late to donate to St. Jude. I've raised $500 so far, which is short of my goal, but so much better than I could've done if I just donated by myself. Thanks to those who have donated, thanks to anyone who donates before the race starts, and everyone else? Pray for me.
Just kidding, it should be fun.
See you after the dash!
Well, I checked the site again yesterday and discovered that it wasn't the right list of obstacles and now have an updated list of the obstacles I'm going to be traversing through over the course of 3.12 miles.
*Barricade Breakdown - In this I have to over the barricades and under barbed wired.
*Rio Run - A run down a river.
*Capsized Catamaran - The description says it all "swim, climb, stumble, swim"
*Cliffhanger - I get to rapel!
*Deadweight Drifter - Wading through waist deep water and over logs.
*The Trenches - It says to stay low to crawl in the dirt and under the logs.
*Chaotic Crossover - Crossing over tangled cargo nets.
*Deadman's Drop - No description, but sounds fun
*Leader's Ledge - A walk across a narrow ledge above water.
*Horizontal Hike - Traversing over an arching obstruction.
*Cargo Climb - More fun with cargo nets.
*Warrior Roast - Hopping over flames
*Muddy Mayhem - The final leg of the run through the mud under barbed wire.
Needless to say, I'm excited. I hope that I do well and have a great story to tell in the days following the dash.
Finally, it's not too late to donate to St. Jude. I've raised $500 so far, which is short of my goal, but so much better than I could've done if I just donated by myself. Thanks to those who have donated, thanks to anyone who donates before the race starts, and everyone else? Pray for me.
Just kidding, it should be fun.
See you after the dash!
Sunday, August 19, 2012
I should be sad
I should be crushed.
My weekend should've been completely ruined, completely turned upside down.
I should be an emotional wreck right now.
I found it yesterday that on Wednesday, my dad died of an apparent heart attack, most likely brought about because of his continued problem with alcoholism. The night he died he had left drunken voicemails for my mom, who along with my sister, is completely devastated by the news.
See, the day he died was their wedding anniversary, and while they had been divorced for many years, she still loved him and it's pretty likely that he still loved her. So she's understandable having a hard time with this, just like my sister, who unlike me, tried for years to continue to have a functioning relationship with him.
Me?
I had detached myself from him years ago. Most who know me well know that. I've written a few blogs detailing why I feel the way I do about him and why I was done giving him chances.
When the news was given to me, there was no sadness, there was no remorse, there was, well, nothing. I literally had no feeling one way or another about finding that out, which I suppose shows just how little I felt for the man that was partly responsible for me existing in the first place. I just wanted to make sure I was there for my mom and sister.
I've spent a fair amount of time thinking about it all though. I've always sometimes wondered "what if" when it came to him, so I of course started thinking once more what if he hadn't had the alcohol problem, what if he avoided drugs?
The bigger thing for me though is what if the rest of his family had stepped in rather than act like nothing was wrong. What if they had heard our pleas for help rather than turn away from us? What if they had forced him to face the reality of his actions rather than enable him?
There are certain members on his side of the family that just irritate me with their actions. Most are caring people who mean well, but there are a couple who just are clueless and think they know what's best. One in particular still hasn't grown up and acts like a 20 year old when they are older than that.
There's a part of me that wishes I could sit them all down in a room, tell them to keep quiet, and tell them about all the stuff that they don't want to hear about. Tell them all about the nights that he came home at 3am and scared us all because he was so drunk, so high, and looking for a fight. I'd tell them that it wasn't just one night, it wasn't just two nights. It was repeatedly over the years. I'd tell them how we were afraid of the repercussions of his actions, his dealings with drug dealers. I'd tell them how we weren't sure he was even going to come home sometimes.
I know that will never happen. A lot of his family lives in a world where his problems weren't that bad, that he wasn't an alcoholic, he didn't do drugs, and he wasn't mentally unstable. They refuse to believe that anything was that bad, that he meant well.
I kind of feel sorry for them. It must be nice to live in a world where people don't have serious problems, drug issues, or alcoholism.
See, I live in a world where I see it all the time. I work in an environment where I see it constantly. I see the people coming through and know that he was someone who should've been going to a place like where I work. But I know it would never happen. He never admitted to having a problem and a lot of the family didn't accept that he had a problem.
Now he's dead. Dead because of the primary problem that he had. His parents outlived him and that's not something that should happen.
He didn't deserve to die. I'm going to say that now. All the animosity, all the anger towards him, all the years that went by without us talking didn't make me wish him dead. I was perfectly content with not talking to him and going about my life. It's had its ups and downs, but things are fairly stable now and I have very little to worry about other than figuring out my car situation.
There has been some talk about my sister and I being beneficiaries of something, but I'm not sold on that. I do believe it's possible that he had something set up, but I also wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. In short, I'm not going to hold my breath on this.
Instead, I'm going to continue to look forward as I always have. I have my Warrior Dash coming next weekend, which I need to continue training for. I have a very good job. I have a great girlfriend who has a funny kid to keep me entertained. We have great pets (even though Kisa needs to cut out the peeing thing).
I'm going to wrap this up now with another pitch for my fundraising activity. I haven't received any donations in a while and have been stuck at $205. If anyone wants to donate, you have until Sunday, August 26th to do so. So please, give a little towards St. Jude. It's a good cause and helps motivate me to run even harder.
It was encouraging to hear the trainer of our fitness class tell me that he thinks I'm going to be good to go for it, but I'm going to keep running all week as I prepare for it. He gave me some good tips for training for the race/obstacle course that I'm going to heed. It means missing a class, but I'm going to do my best to make up for it the first few days this week and in the classes after the race.
Anyone who wants to come watch me can as well. Just comment or if you know me, contact me and I'll tell you where to go.
My Donation Page
Hope everyone had a good weekend. I'll write a separate blog about the weekend and the race in the next couple of days.
My weekend should've been completely ruined, completely turned upside down.
I should be an emotional wreck right now.
I found it yesterday that on Wednesday, my dad died of an apparent heart attack, most likely brought about because of his continued problem with alcoholism. The night he died he had left drunken voicemails for my mom, who along with my sister, is completely devastated by the news.
See, the day he died was their wedding anniversary, and while they had been divorced for many years, she still loved him and it's pretty likely that he still loved her. So she's understandable having a hard time with this, just like my sister, who unlike me, tried for years to continue to have a functioning relationship with him.
Me?
I had detached myself from him years ago. Most who know me well know that. I've written a few blogs detailing why I feel the way I do about him and why I was done giving him chances.
When the news was given to me, there was no sadness, there was no remorse, there was, well, nothing. I literally had no feeling one way or another about finding that out, which I suppose shows just how little I felt for the man that was partly responsible for me existing in the first place. I just wanted to make sure I was there for my mom and sister.
I've spent a fair amount of time thinking about it all though. I've always sometimes wondered "what if" when it came to him, so I of course started thinking once more what if he hadn't had the alcohol problem, what if he avoided drugs?
The bigger thing for me though is what if the rest of his family had stepped in rather than act like nothing was wrong. What if they had heard our pleas for help rather than turn away from us? What if they had forced him to face the reality of his actions rather than enable him?
There are certain members on his side of the family that just irritate me with their actions. Most are caring people who mean well, but there are a couple who just are clueless and think they know what's best. One in particular still hasn't grown up and acts like a 20 year old when they are older than that.
There's a part of me that wishes I could sit them all down in a room, tell them to keep quiet, and tell them about all the stuff that they don't want to hear about. Tell them all about the nights that he came home at 3am and scared us all because he was so drunk, so high, and looking for a fight. I'd tell them that it wasn't just one night, it wasn't just two nights. It was repeatedly over the years. I'd tell them how we were afraid of the repercussions of his actions, his dealings with drug dealers. I'd tell them how we weren't sure he was even going to come home sometimes.
I know that will never happen. A lot of his family lives in a world where his problems weren't that bad, that he wasn't an alcoholic, he didn't do drugs, and he wasn't mentally unstable. They refuse to believe that anything was that bad, that he meant well.
I kind of feel sorry for them. It must be nice to live in a world where people don't have serious problems, drug issues, or alcoholism.
See, I live in a world where I see it all the time. I work in an environment where I see it constantly. I see the people coming through and know that he was someone who should've been going to a place like where I work. But I know it would never happen. He never admitted to having a problem and a lot of the family didn't accept that he had a problem.
Now he's dead. Dead because of the primary problem that he had. His parents outlived him and that's not something that should happen.
He didn't deserve to die. I'm going to say that now. All the animosity, all the anger towards him, all the years that went by without us talking didn't make me wish him dead. I was perfectly content with not talking to him and going about my life. It's had its ups and downs, but things are fairly stable now and I have very little to worry about other than figuring out my car situation.
There has been some talk about my sister and I being beneficiaries of something, but I'm not sold on that. I do believe it's possible that he had something set up, but I also wouldn't be surprised if he didn't. In short, I'm not going to hold my breath on this.
Instead, I'm going to continue to look forward as I always have. I have my Warrior Dash coming next weekend, which I need to continue training for. I have a very good job. I have a great girlfriend who has a funny kid to keep me entertained. We have great pets (even though Kisa needs to cut out the peeing thing).
I'm going to wrap this up now with another pitch for my fundraising activity. I haven't received any donations in a while and have been stuck at $205. If anyone wants to donate, you have until Sunday, August 26th to do so. So please, give a little towards St. Jude. It's a good cause and helps motivate me to run even harder.
It was encouraging to hear the trainer of our fitness class tell me that he thinks I'm going to be good to go for it, but I'm going to keep running all week as I prepare for it. He gave me some good tips for training for the race/obstacle course that I'm going to heed. It means missing a class, but I'm going to do my best to make up for it the first few days this week and in the classes after the race.
Anyone who wants to come watch me can as well. Just comment or if you know me, contact me and I'll tell you where to go.
My Donation Page
Hope everyone had a good weekend. I'll write a separate blog about the weekend and the race in the next couple of days.
Monday, August 13, 2012
A mini update
It's been 11 days so I figured it was time to give a mini update on the Warrior Dash.
First and foremost, thanks to anyone who's donated. Granted, all of the donations have been from coworkers at this point, but even so, the total so far is $205, which isn't too shabby. $45 and I'll reach the second achievement level. Just $795 from my overall goal with just under two weeks remaining.
Is it a little disappointing that no one from my Facebook (aside from coworkers) has donated? Meh, I suppose, but I realize that most don't have money to throw around. I'm hoping to get a few more donations by the time I race, but whatever I end up with is still going to be more than I would've donated myself, so it's already a victory as far as I'm concerned.
Tonight is another fitness class, which is so far helping me become more fit. The idea is that in the next two weeks I can add a little endurance and make finishing the dash that much easier. I figure the more I get a workout in, the better this experience will go. It's helped that Rachel's been pushing me to keep up with things as well.
In any case, I'm less than two weeks away from running and still looking for donations. I've been resisting mimicing a certain pop song when trying to persuade people to donate, but I may not have a choice but to unleash it upon the world.
Stay tuned for further updates and if you'd like to donate, please do so by going here.
Do it!
First and foremost, thanks to anyone who's donated. Granted, all of the donations have been from coworkers at this point, but even so, the total so far is $205, which isn't too shabby. $45 and I'll reach the second achievement level. Just $795 from my overall goal with just under two weeks remaining.
Is it a little disappointing that no one from my Facebook (aside from coworkers) has donated? Meh, I suppose, but I realize that most don't have money to throw around. I'm hoping to get a few more donations by the time I race, but whatever I end up with is still going to be more than I would've donated myself, so it's already a victory as far as I'm concerned.
Tonight is another fitness class, which is so far helping me become more fit. The idea is that in the next two weeks I can add a little endurance and make finishing the dash that much easier. I figure the more I get a workout in, the better this experience will go. It's helped that Rachel's been pushing me to keep up with things as well.
In any case, I'm less than two weeks away from running and still looking for donations. I've been resisting mimicing a certain pop song when trying to persuade people to donate, but I may not have a choice but to unleash it upon the world.
Stay tuned for further updates and if you'd like to donate, please do so by going here.
Do it!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Warrior Dash update #2
It's the second, right?
I can't keep it all straight.
Anyway, today I finally received the e-mail allowing me to set-up my donation page with St. Jude. With this page, you can, well, donate to St. Jude on my behalf. Any amount is appreciated so don't think you have to donate a big amount (yes, the opportunity to win a trip to Australia is pretty sweet, but that's not the reason to raise money, is it?)
So take a look and donate if you wish. Regardless of whether you donate or not, sharing the page is also appreciated, so hit the "share" button on the bottom.
I'll try to personally thank anyone who donates as they come in. As I said before, any amount is appreciated.
Donate!
If I get a decent amount of donations, I'll put a post up detailing what's been donated and how much I need to donate to reach my goal on a weekly basis until the time of the event.
What is the goal you ask? I'm hoping to raise $1,000. Yeah, seems like a big number, but with a little here and little there, next thing you know I'll be there.
Or so goes the hope.
I can't keep it all straight.
Anyway, today I finally received the e-mail allowing me to set-up my donation page with St. Jude. With this page, you can, well, donate to St. Jude on my behalf. Any amount is appreciated so don't think you have to donate a big amount (yes, the opportunity to win a trip to Australia is pretty sweet, but that's not the reason to raise money, is it?)
So take a look and donate if you wish. Regardless of whether you donate or not, sharing the page is also appreciated, so hit the "share" button on the bottom.
I'll try to personally thank anyone who donates as they come in. As I said before, any amount is appreciated.
Donate!
If I get a decent amount of donations, I'll put a post up detailing what's been donated and how much I need to donate to reach my goal on a weekly basis until the time of the event.
What is the goal you ask? I'm hoping to raise $1,000. Yeah, seems like a big number, but with a little here and little there, next thing you know I'll be there.
Or so goes the hope.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Warrior Dash update #1
After getting home and talking to Rachel about what I was doing, we went on the website and I have a little more information.
Keep in mind this information is subject to change, so don't take any of this as being set in stone, but it's accurate as of right now.
First off, I'm not sure if the course map is accurate since it still says in the corner "coming soon," but there is a layout available when you click on "Ohio II." The obstacles are placed over a 5k course.
The first obstacle is called "Hay Fever" and requires climbing over stacks of hay. The second obstacle is called "Barricade Breakdown" and it requires you to climb over and under barricades. The third obstacle is called "Arachnophobia," which needs to weave through tangled ropes. The fourth obstacle is "Slithering Swamp," which is just what it sounds like. You get to traverse through murky water. The fifth obstacle is called "Rubber Ricochet," which is a rubber jungle you have to get through. The sixth obstacle is called "Great Warrior Wall," which will probably require the assistance of others running the course. The seventh obstacle is called "Teetering Traverse," which is another obstacle that will probably kill me. The eight obstacle is called "Cargo Climb," which is climbing up over cargo nets. The ninth obstacle is called "Blackout," which requires you to maneuver through a pitch-black environment. This means I'll be facing my claustrophobia fear head-on. The last obstacled is "Mud Mayhem," which is crawling through a lot of mud.
The other piece of information I wanted to outline was the donation levels. I'll be raising money for St. Jude, and depending on how much money I raise determines what I earn the day of the event. As before, this is based off of information based on the website, so it's subject to change.
$100 - St. Jude Tube Bandana
$250 - Free food and drinks, private showers and bathrooms, and private bag check.
$500 - St. Jude Bag
$1,000 - Sports headphones
Additionally, if I'm able to collect 12 or more donations of $25, I'll be eligible for a trip for two to the 2013 Warrior Dash event in Australia.
In any case, I'm not raising money to win a prize, I'm donating because it's a good cause and this is the first time I'll be raising money for anything, so when I get the information I need, I hope anyone who can donate will donate something.
When I have more information, I'll pass it along both in the blog and on my facebook page.
Keep in mind this information is subject to change, so don't take any of this as being set in stone, but it's accurate as of right now.
First off, I'm not sure if the course map is accurate since it still says in the corner "coming soon," but there is a layout available when you click on "Ohio II." The obstacles are placed over a 5k course.
The first obstacle is called "Hay Fever" and requires climbing over stacks of hay. The second obstacle is called "Barricade Breakdown" and it requires you to climb over and under barricades. The third obstacle is called "Arachnophobia," which needs to weave through tangled ropes. The fourth obstacle is "Slithering Swamp," which is just what it sounds like. You get to traverse through murky water. The fifth obstacle is called "Rubber Ricochet," which is a rubber jungle you have to get through. The sixth obstacle is called "Great Warrior Wall," which will probably require the assistance of others running the course. The seventh obstacle is called "Teetering Traverse," which is another obstacle that will probably kill me. The eight obstacle is called "Cargo Climb," which is climbing up over cargo nets. The ninth obstacle is called "Blackout," which requires you to maneuver through a pitch-black environment. This means I'll be facing my claustrophobia fear head-on. The last obstacled is "Mud Mayhem," which is crawling through a lot of mud.
The other piece of information I wanted to outline was the donation levels. I'll be raising money for St. Jude, and depending on how much money I raise determines what I earn the day of the event. As before, this is based off of information based on the website, so it's subject to change.
$100 - St. Jude Tube Bandana
$250 - Free food and drinks, private showers and bathrooms, and private bag check.
$500 - St. Jude Bag
$1,000 - Sports headphones
Additionally, if I'm able to collect 12 or more donations of $25, I'll be eligible for a trip for two to the 2013 Warrior Dash event in Australia.
In any case, I'm not raising money to win a prize, I'm donating because it's a good cause and this is the first time I'll be raising money for anything, so when I get the information I need, I hope anyone who can donate will donate something.
When I have more information, I'll pass it along both in the blog and on my facebook page.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)