After what I see to be a sizeable hiatus, I’m getting back
to the blog. It was a heck of a summer,
in many ways. As a teacher, I obviously
have my summers off, and free to spend with my family. My wife works in the schools as well, so all
four of us (the two of us and the kidlings) were home all together. We got in a nice trip to Colorado, and some
other fun family time.
The downer of the summer, and mainly the reason why the blog
went silent is that my dad got sick and passed away at the end of the summer
and early fall. That event, obviously,
took a toll on me, and occupied much of my time and energy – physically,
emotionally, spiritually, and otherwise.
That said, I’m getting back in the game. Since my last post, I have run four half
marathons! Not too shabby for a runner
who, a year and a half ago, ran his first 5K and had to take a walk break. (And look at me, referring to myself in the
third person. Who am I – Bo Jackson? Jimmy from Seinfeld? Elmo?)
In the past months, I have done the Minneapolis HalfMarathon, the Urban Wildland Half Marathon in Richfield, MN, the Surly TrailLoppet Half, and the Monster Dash Half.
I also did a funky little race in Minneapolis called the Tri-Loppet
(it’s a triathlon, but with paddling, running, and biking – perfect for those
of us who HATE swimming).
I’ve written race reports for some of those races – I’ve
tried to write over the past several months, but they pretty much came off
half-assed and, to be honest, not very well written. I’m going to try to pencil-whip them back
into some semblance of shape/coherence and get them on the blog.
I also am working on some shoe reviews, gear reviews, and
book reviews. I just ordered a pair of
the new Skechers Go Run3s, which I’m super excited about, and I just picked up
a pair of Merrell Bare Access 2s from 6pm.com for $40. Not sure if I’ll write up a review on those –
pretty late to the party, since the BA3s are already out.
Finally, immediate goal for the blog will be to chronicle my
road to my first marathon. I’m on the
verge of signing up for the Med City Marathon in Rochester, MN. It’s on May 25th (Memorial Day
Weekend) and from all the reviews I’ve read, it sounds like a really nice
race. I’m hoping to use this space to
keep myself honest and accountable as I train, fret, get excited, get tired,
get sore, and get excited again about the training process (at least as accountable
as a blog with zero current readership is – at the bare minimum I feel like I’m
putting it out there in front of God and everybody, for some sort of scrutiny).
I’ll be posting on a hopefully regular basis from here on
out, and especially starting on Monday, as I officially start the marathon
training.
