A Slothful Perspective

I'm sitting on my couch as the sun dips below the horizon and all I can think about is going for a run tomorrow. I think about laying my clothes out. I think about checking the weather and where I might have placed my ice kleets. I wonder how much time is a run going to take me and what time do I have to get up to accomplish this task. Then a number of excuses begin to flood my brain. 

Without a blink of the eye I start thinking how tired I am and how I need to get to work early. I start thinking about what a burden a morning run can be. Do I really want to get up and go? The answer is yes, but sometimes that is easier said than done. 

Where does inspiration come from and how do we hold on to it? What inspires a person to roll out of bed at 5:00 a.m. and go for a three to five mile run in below freezing temps? What makes those guys at the gym stick to it until their bodies are made out of the very iron they press above their heads? 

When looking for inspiration, where does one find it? And when a fat guy like myself does manage to find it, how do I hang on to it. 

Looking Back at 2014 and Forward to 2015

     It is that time of year again. The time we all turn to making resolutions of fitness and financial stability. I am no stranger to this tradition and am just as guilty as anyone else with regards to setting goals I don’t intend to keep. As I reflect back over 2014 I notice a trend for which I am not proud of. I failed to do my very best. I set out to run two full marathons and only accomplished one half marathon instead.

 

     Last year I made a lot of commitments to run this race, and that race only to flake out at the last minute due to lack of training or pure laziness. 

     I sat on the couch way too much in 2014. So my goal for 2015 will be a little different. I don’t intend on committing to running more races than I am capable of or can afford. Instead I am going to commit to a dedicated training schedule which will require me to get up and get moving. 

     There are some races I defiantly want to try to accomplish this year, but it is too soon to make any kind of announcements. I think I will wait until I am actually signed up and one hundred percent confident I am going to cross the starting line before sharing which races I am going to finish in 2015. 

     So, in 2015 I plan to run 1,000 miles. That equates to about 20 miles/week. It may be a stretch at first and I will have to do some major runs to make up for any lag in the beginning, but I know I can do this. In 2014 as lazy as I was, I still ran more than 320 miles and burned more than 50,000 calories. 2015 will be my year. I can do this.I know I can.

Why I chose to Vote No On 1

 

Why I chose to Vote No On 1

Sunday I was asked why I am planning to vote no on 1. I wasn’t able to properly address the question in the setting it was asked. With that in mind I thought I would share my views and insight on the issue. 

Let me begin by saying I was not always an SB21 supporter. When the bill was first introduced I felt like so many others – I felt it was a giveaway. Now I have a different point of view. 

I have had the opportunity to meet and listen to so many of Alaska’s business owners and support industry leaders as well as top level executives of oil producing companies. Each has shared their stories of how ACES (negatively) impacted their business and what SB21 has done to change that for the better. 

For the last decade I have supported my family though media sales. During that time I have seen how businesses are impacted by the oil industry. Like so many of us I have had to say goodbye to friends who were lured away by the oil boom of North Dakota. I watched businesses pull out of Alaska’s hostile climate or choose to diversify their investments in other more productive areas in regions other than our own. 

Did you know 90% of the State’s economy is dependent on oil generated money? Did you know 1North Slope job creates 20 other jobs through industry spending?

Are you aware the new UAA Alaska Airlines Center (my new employer) was built with State money? Additionally, the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program's building was built using oil and gas money, so was the new Department of Health and Science building as well as another new building still under construction. 

Every public school student receives $9,100 dollars of in state aid. $8,170 of the total comes from oil revenue. This means our children’s education and future really does depend on thriving oil and gas industry. 

Six Alaska Native regional corporations have evaluated the ballot initiative and have come to the conclusion a no vote, is the best vote.  

Tim Bradner, journalist for the Alaska Journal of Commerce, Brad Ketihly a private consultant, Scott Goldsmith, professor emeritus of economics at ISER, Andrew Halcrow and the board of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, as well as, the board for the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation, and the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce have also evaluated the issue and all agree… Vote No for Alaska’s Future. 

I choose to align my vote with Alaska’s smartest and brightest all of whom have made it clear there is no give away, SB21 is working and without incentive business will move on and move out of Alaska. 
I am voting no for my wife, for my kids, and for my posterity and prosperity. 

No Big Wild Life Runs 49k

I am sad to announce the following news - I will not be running the inaugural Big Wild Life Runs 49K Ultra Matathon. I have failed to train adaquently enough to accomplish the 30 mile journey from start to finish. I may still sign up to run the half marathon or volunteer to help in some fashion. 

On the bright side of things I am planing on signing up to run the Keani River Marathon. 

I am going to step up my training this week and set some pretty aggressive goals. I am hoping to begin running 25-30 miles a week by the end of the month. If all goes well I should be up to 40iles a week by the end of August. 

I have no doubt I will start and finish the 30 mile ultra next year and plan to get to Fairbanks for their 50 mile ultra in 2016. From there the sky is the limit. 

Raining Day Marathon

ANCHORAGE – It is a dreary Saturday morning in Anchorage, Alaska and it is race day.  The Mayor’s Midnight Sun Marathon and Half Marathon are scheduled to start in about 30 minutes and I do not want to get out of my car. I haven’t trained properly and the memories of my last Marathon are flashing in my head. The aches, pains, and struggles of running in 85° temps with humidity were almost more than I could handle. Today is just the opposite. It is cold, wet, and the wind is gusting.

As I muster up the courage to pull a disposable rain poncho over my head and get out of the car. I reassure myself I can do this.

Every major race has a few things in common and one of them happens to be the almost endless row of porta-potties/outhouses at the starting line. One of the rules I have developed to ensure a good and successful run is to “go” before you go. I head over to the bathroom line and which is moving very quickly to my amazement and get the relief I was looking for.

As I continue my journey to the starting line I decide to take a few pictures of the crowd and hear my name being called. It is my friend and occasional running buddy Bob. He tells me about his ambitions for the race and informs me of the new guy to keep my eye on. Bob is confident his friend is going to place (he did).

The rain is not letting up and the crowd of anxious runners is getting bigger by the minute. I bump into another friend and former coworker Tracy. We chat each other up and reassure one another we can do this and how much fun the race is going to be. Everyone is smiling in spite of the weather and a surge of energy moves across the more than 1,700 eager runners as we inch toward the starting line to begin our race to the finish.

This year I had plans to complete the full marathon but time got away from me and I did not plan or train properly for a 26.2 mile run. I decided to downgrade to the half marathon the day before the race to prevent injury and misery. I had learned my lesson after Hawaii.

I am feeling strong and confident – I give some yells of encouragement to the mob and get several excited whoops back. Shoulder to shoulder we are ushered forward along the first stages of the course in a traffic jam of people. As we make our way along the crowd starts to thin out. The more hurried and excited racers zigzag their way through the clusters of slower or perhaps more seasoned runners. I can’t help but think to myself, “I will see you again soon” as they zoom by.

The race is going very smoothly and I am impressed with my ability to keep a steady pace. I look at each mile as an achievement, and victory, and yell out more words of encouragement to the runners around me. Mile six – “Every mile deserves a smile,” I yell! The runners around me must be annoyed with my level of enthusiasm.

At this point I am running along the back side of the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and it is all up hill. The wind is blowing right in my face causing the rain to sting my skin with every drop. My poncho is flapping and making a sound so loud I could barely hear the engines of the idling jets sitting on the tarmac. You could taste the fumes of the jet fuel that power the plans carrying packages and letters to destinations I could only imagine. As I watch the plans takeoff from the runway I can’t help but be amazed by the clouds of water they kick up as they propel forward into the air. There is so much rainwater everywhere. The water quickly turns to mud as the course changes direction and leads us into a wide greenbelt before connecting back to the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail.

A bottle necking effect starts to take place as people try to maneuver around huge puddles of mud and water – everyone is slowing down so they don’t slip and fall. This is a very hilly part of the course – up and down – up and down we go until we come to a very sudden stop. I can hear a grumbling from the multitude and calls of warning to watch your step. We are on a huge and very muddy incline. One wrong move and you are going to fall without question.

I notice a guy at the bottom of the hill as he slips and falls and slides two the end with little effort. At that moment without hardly any thought I jump to the middle of the trail and begin my decent on my backside. People are cheering and pushing me along helping me gain speed as I slide past them. At the bottom a stranger grabs my hand lifts me up and tells me to go. I am off – avoiding injury and having a blast.

Now I am back on the coastal trail and on pavement again. I pull off my poncho and am looking forward to a tail wind that never comes. As the downtown city scape comes into view so does a young bull moose who almost leaps over the trail and back into the woods. This has my heart racing even more as I pull out my smartphone to try and snap a few shots without slowing down.

Miles 10, 11 and 12 come and go and I am still feeling great. I am at the last hill and not worried about a thing. I walk and jog up the obstacle and can hear the onlookers at the finish cheering for the runners as they make a mad dash across the last stretch to the finish line. I am getting more and more excited as I reach the top of the hill and everyone is yelling you did it… keep going… you’re almost there… Go! GO! GO! I dig deep and push forward with the last of my energy and sprint to the finish. I did it! I completed another endurance run, 13.1 challenging miles.

A young man at the finish line places my finishers metal over my head and around my neck and tells me good job. I make my way over to the t-shirt both, grab a dull orange shirt that reaffirms I did it. The volunteers all tell me great job and congratulate me for finishing the race. A text message from my wife say good job babe, we are proud of you. Notifications from my Facebook page are blowing up my phone and I am all smiles.

It is a great day and was an awesome race. As I make my way to my car I notice just how happy everyone is and what a great accomplishment we all just achieved. I love being a runner and I am proud of the race organizers for putting on such an amazing event year after year.