Emotions

I don't really know what to say today. If you've read my blog before, you know I'm not exactly the most concise writer, and rarely at a loss for words. However, I've started and deleted this post about 40 times so far, and I don't think it's going to get any better any time soon, so this will have to do. 

I'm excited. 

I'm excited because I just got accepted to run my THIRD Boston Marathon in 3 years. I'm excited because I'm running with my Other Family: the AMAZING people of CharityTeams.org and the 19 charities that they represent. I'm excited because my top choice of teams - The Martin W. Richard Foundation - chose me to be one of their ambassadors this year. I'm excited because that's such a huge honor to me. 

However, there are so many other emotions, too. I have to admit that even when writing my application, things got a bit emotional for me. Luckily, though I was finishing up the application at work, my office was empty at the time, so though I probably looked like a lunatic wiping tears from my eyes at my desk, I made it without anyone knowing. Just don't tell my co-workers...

I'm nervous. 

I'm nervous because this feels like more 'responsibility', I guess you would say. That's not the exact right word, but I'm nervous to screw literally anything up. I'm nervous (already) that I'll get injured in training. That I'll get hit by a bus walking across the street. That I'll contract ebola a week before. Or that I'll just be in a sour mood one morning before my coffee and just make an insensitive comment to someone unnecessarily. I'm nervous to portray myself even for a minute in a way that wouldn't be deserving of wearing the MR8 logo on my chest. 

I'm proud. 

I'm proud that in the past two years, I've raised over $13,000 for two awesome charities, and I can't wait to get started on my third (spoiler alert: I already started fundraising. Donated myself). I'm proud to be a part of this team, proud to represent my community, and proud that the money I'll be raising goes right back to the people and places I love. I'm proud that my running has inspired other friends and family members to do similar things in their own lives. I'm proud of everything I've accomplished these past two Marathon Years.

I'm sad.

I'm sad, in a way, that this team was created in the first place. As I said, even applying for a spot on MR8 was emotional, and I have to imagine there will be more emotional spots in training. No one should have to go through what the Richard family did, though it is true that the toughest times in life are seemingly when people band together and support each other the most, which is what happened after April 15th, 2013.

And though I'm sad, I'm inspired.

I'm inspired by the Richard family and all that they've done since April 16th, 2013, to use this tragedy as an opportunity to do something great. Last year's inaugural team raised over $1.25 million alone. Throughout training, the Richards were there constantly, supporting not only their own team but the rest of the running community by offering coffee, hand warmers, snacks, and encouragement to hundreds of us. I can't wait to be a part of that.

So, I'm excited. 

I'm excited to start training and fundraising. I hope you're excited too, 2015 is going to be an awesome year, and it starts today. Donate today, at my personal page here: https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/EdHarms/bostonmarathon2015 and help me support the Richard Family in all that they do to further Martin's message of Peace. 

He Who Must Not Be Named

I sat staring straight ahead in the back of a cab, totally physically and mentally exhausted. 

Questions raced through my head like, "what just happened?", "what do I do?", "how could this be real?". The cab driver broke me out of my fugue state.

"Where were you?" he asked. 

The day was April 15th, 2013. He didn't have to specify what he meant. I was wearing my finisher's jacket when he picked me up on the Massachusett's Avenue Bridge, about a mile from the bombing sites. 

"Clarendon & Boylston, a block away, I'm not hurt", I replied, still staring blankly. 

"You were lucky," he said. Understatement. "That guy, not so lucky."

We had made it to the end of the bridge and had come to a red light. I looked out the passenger's side window to the man on the Hubway bike that had pulled up next to us. I didn't notice what he meant at first. The man was wearing dark sunglasses and a hat, so I couldn't really see his face. Stocky and well-built, with a dark complexion, he was also staring straight ahead, waiting for the light to change. He was seemingly unfazed by the sirens still wailing relentlessly behind us. 

Then I noticed his jeans, and what the cab driver meant. More specifically, I noticed the quarter-sized hole on the left thigh, and the trail of blood that came from it. It's not like it was gushing, and at this point, an hour and a half after the explosions changed 264 lives forever and ended 3 more, the bleeding had probably stopped. Still though, shouldn't he have been among the 264 reported that day? At the hospital, or at the very least, patched up by now? I didn't think about it much at the time. 

Still being about 65 degrees and sunny, our cab driver had the front windows down. He leaned over to the passanger's side and called out. "Hey, buddy, you OK?" 

"I'm fine," came the emotionless response. He still stared straight ahead. The light changed, and we both continued down Mass Ave. I didn't give it a second thought that day. I didn't think about it for at least a few more weeks. The entire interaction was about 20 seconds, max. There wasn't a reason to. 

Until I saw the pictures and videos in the next few days of the suspects. Until I realized they lived within a mile and a half of that red light. Until I thought about what could have been the reason he was unfazed by the wound on his leg, why he wasn't one of the 264 reported injured that day. Mind you, I don't 'know' this for a fact. But the more I've thought about that moment in the past 14 months, the more I've been more than a little unnerved by it. 

The intersection to the suspects' house, 1.5 miles. 

It was him. The older brother. I hate saying their names. 

Or, could have been. Again, similar to my Quinn story, and the 'what ifs' that followed that I think about more than what actually happened. 

Should I have told someone? 

Especially after I thought about who it was? The manhunt was over at that point. 

Should I have tried to at least talk to him, ask him if the leg was really OK? 

Shouldn't I have been concerned that someone who was clearly so close to the bombs had no desire to seek medical attention? 

Worst of all, could I have actually saved a life if I did? 

As many will tell me, or have told me, and what I tell myself, it doesn't matter now. 'What if' won't change a thing about what happened. But I still think about those 20 seconds about as much as anything else from that day. Have you ever looked a mass murderer straight in the face, and watched him ride away without a second thought? I may have. It's something I struggle a bit with, to be totally honest. These questions continue to bother me today, that's why I'm writing this post. Writing about April 15th, 2013 has really helped me deal with it, and I regret not writing about this part of the story sooner. 

That's all. I don't have a message to this post, no lesson, I was just sort of wandering down Memory Lane today and got the urge to write. I promise future posts will be back to normal stories or anecdotes or happier topics. I need to cover one major topic that will affect my 2015 marathon effort (yea, that's happening): the Bruins' decision not to re-sign Shawn Thornton. That will be a much more positive post, as will, hopefully, all future posts. But as we know all too well, the world is not always rainbows and sunshine, so I need to share these stories too. 

Thanks for reading, as usual, and as always, comments and feedback are most appreciated. 

United Airlines, Oh, The Joy!

Oy vey!  

Usually, I'm quite the laid-back, friendly, easy-going, not to mention handsome, philanthropic, and a perfect gentleman, but I had quite the 'vacation' this week in Las Vegas. United Airlines was kind enough to extend it by a day and, well, read my letter to them (sent today) for a snippet of my state of mind for the past couple of days. 

I'll update everyone with their response, but I had to get this one off my chest. 

Really, I have to get over it. I've spent the last 3 days at this point trying to control my blood pressure, as the tiniest of sideways looks get me to nearly explode. This is a great form of venting though, and what I've been trying to keep in mind was the fact that I did have a good vacation for the first three days, and beyond that, there's plenty else in the world that's worse than an extra day in Las Vegas, not that it was the happiest day ever there.

Still though, I was a tad upset, and I've channeled that energy into a strongly-worded letter, which is also hopefully entertaining for y'all. 

Enjoy! 

To whom it may concern,

I am writing today to inform United Airlines of my recent experience using your services, and to inform you of my decision to no longer use your airline for domestic flights unless absolutely necessary.

When I told friends and family about my trip to Las Vegas, an annual tradition for me and a friend from home, the first comment I got from many people was “good luck with United!” Having flown with you last year, with minimal issues (outside an airline’s control, at least), my reply was to hope for the best and rely on my good luck traveling with you in the past.

However, after my vacation began on Saturday, May 10^th, 2014, with a flight from Providence, RI, to Chicago, IL, that would be the end of my good experiences with UA. My vacation was subsequently cut short by not one, not two, but three separate customer service, informational, or mechanical issues, and that is without placing any extra emphasis on the final and worst issue. I realize there are certain things beyond an airline’s control when flying, and I certainly don’t place blame on United for those issues that are outside your control, but the response to those issues is far more important to me.

In my opinion, your response, for lack of a more eloquent way to put it at the moment, sucked.

First, the most minor and easy-to-understand issue  was  a mechanical issue with our plane on Saturday, May 10^th, when backing out of the gate in Chicago. It wasn’t a huge deal, mechanical issues are great to know about before takeoff, but we were told by the flight crew that, lucky for us, we had another plane to board, a few gates down, and we would be getting out as soon as we could get boarded and luggage moved. However, that plane wasn’t actually there. It took another 45 minutes, in fact, for that plane to arrive, an additional 30 minutes to prepare it, 30 minutes to board, and 30 to eventually get out, causing a total delay of about 3 hours to get to our destination. Again, this is not a big deal in the grand scheme of flight issues, but I appreciate honesty and the accuracy of the information given to me. Peace-of-mind goes a long way in flying and traveling in general, so just knowing the situation, for me, goes a long way in how I look back on the experience. However, the way that issue was handled, with United representatives telling 150+ people that they’d get right onto a different plane and right out, was not only incorrect, it was dishonest, because someone certainly had to know there wasn’t actually another plane waiting. That situation luckily did not affect me beyond arriving 2.5 hours late, since my final destination was Las Vegas, but to anyone looking to make a connecting flight, I hope they did not rely on your inaccurate information. That was the first issue.

The second dealt with my check-in for my flight on Tuesday, May 13^th, and also should have been very minor. When I attempted to check in online using confirmation codes or other information on Monday, the United website repeatedly was unable to find my reservation. I had to call and speak to a representative, which took a 45 minutes of the rep asking the same information (confirmation codes, names, flight #’s, etc), only to tell me that I may need to speak to a travel agent to re-book a new flight. And after this 45 minute run-around of the same 6-letter confirmation (by the way, the code is AKDQMQ, don’t worry, I’ve memorized it by now!), the conversation ended with me getting the correct email with my boarding passes, with the same confirmation code I had been using for the past hour. Again, I’m not entirely certain what causes issues like that, technology is a funny thing, but the response is more important, and the response this time was a simple ‘have a nice day’. I didn’t mind too much at the time, since I anticipated that phone call being the last of my issues, but an apology or some sort of explanation of what went wrong would have been nice. And, not having the first suggestion be “book another flight” would have been great too. Still though, my ‘vacation’ was still shaping up pretty well.

And then it unraveled on Tuesday, May 13^th, around 11AM.

The final straw was smoke in an FAA building in Chicago. Or rather, the final straw was United Airline’s way of dealing with the chain reaction and meltdown that followed. Again, a malfunction in a ventilation system is far, far beyond an airline’s control. And again, United’s response was abysmal.

Luckily, I was not one of the people that had to board and de-plane our aircraft 4 times that morning and afternoon. That joyous experience was only reserved for the elderly, active military, passengers with babies, and passengers with disabilities. I only physically boarded once, but some of my fellow travelers made it onto, and back off the plane FOUR times (presumably, the last time they were actually allowed to board, fly to Chicago, and get off the plane), and I find that somewhat absurd. After the situation began, I immediately looked it up on my phone, and it seemed like the entire time from then on, I was better informed of the situation and better understood the impact of it than United, which is hard for me to believe. Instantly, when there is a fire in an FAA building, 800+ flights were grounded for precautions, across two airports, which makes perfect sense given the importance of those folks at the FAA. I have no issue with being grounded for smoke, fire, or any sort of potentially dangerous situation.

However, we were subsequently told by United representatives, on two separate occasions, that if we could board as quickly as possible, we could get out in X minutes and hopefully many of us could make connections or get to our respective destinations, which sounded good. Too good to be true, actually. Since I had been checking from the minute the problem occurred, I was aware of the fact that at the time there were over 800 flights at two major airports grounded, delayed, re-routed, or cancelled. United had to have access to this same information, yet every time I checked United.com to check my reservation for my ORD to PVD flight that evening, it still said I would board at 6:30PM local time, and arrive at 10:10PM. Calls to United’s 800 number mentioned a ‘weather issue’ causing delays and heavy call volumes, and a promise of a longer-than-expected wait time. However, I didn’t wait on the phone. After going through the ever-so-fun-and-easy 10 step method to explain to your automated server what my issue was, I was promptly disconnected.

Additionally, it took until that fourth and final boarding of our flight (7 full hours after we arrived at the airport) to finally be able to speak to a United representative live and pry the most important piece of information - to my friend and I - out of him: the fact that our flight to Providence was, as I had a feeling it would be, cancelled.

He casually mentioned we could certainly still go to Chicago, but in the meantime he wouldn’t be able to find us anything to Providence right then, or pay for a hotel for us in either location, since this wasn’t a ‘United Airlines’ issue, it was an ‘FAA issue’. I informed him I didn’t have a house in Chicago, and thus that would be unacceptable since we were trying to get to Providence. Again, I understand the FAA versus United issues, I understand the nightmare that must come out of having to re-book and re-work over 1000 flights-worth of passengers’ issues, but at the same time, be a little realistic with your passengers. Telling me twice that I need to board as quickly as possible sounds great, but every other source I’m looking at is telling me that there are still massive delays, cancellations, re-routings, and all sorts of issues. The words “meltdown situation” were used in one article I read. I heard of other airlines cancelling much earlier, and re-booking their passengers, which would have been greatly, greatly appreciated. Any sort of feeling that United was going out of its way to improve the situation would have been appreciated. Instead, I consistently got the impression that everyone I spoke with was trying, essentially, not to be the bearer of bad news and to pass the buck to the next person to tell me. I don’t really need that when flying. It’s stressful enough as is, what I need is accurate information and again, peace-of-mind. A hotel room would have also been wonderful. I found it hard to believe that one option to rectify my situation was to fly me to Houston, then to Philadelphia, then to Providence, or even connect more ways and at who knows what cost, but a $35 hotel room (which is what I ended up Hotwiring later on, $70 after taxes and a resort fee) was out of the question in either Las Vegas or Chicago.

At no point did I feel that any person I spoke with through these three separate issues was going above or beyond to help me out or in any way rectify the issues that occurred. In fact, it felt like no one was willing to take even a centimeter step in the right direction, and in a customer service industry, I had thought the customer experience was paramount to getting repeated business. Rest assured, this week and the problems involved has led me to conclude that I won’t be flying United Airlines any time in the foreseeable future.  

Once more though, my main complaint is not with the actual issues, but the response. I would greatly appreciate speaking to another representative of your airline regarding my experience, at your earliest convenience. Should you need any more specific information regarding flight numbers, itineraries, passengers, any sort of documentation, or even to hear of a few more of the stories of other passengers whose experiences were even worse than mine (I’m single, I don’t have to worry about babysitters, a family, and luckily have a job with a very understanding group of people who were supportive of my situation, but that wasn’t the case with many other of those people), please let me know when you respond. I am more than happy to speak with anyone over the phone, at XXX-XXX-XXXX (cell), or via email at eharms1@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from someone soon. 

Thank you,

Ed Harms

Is It April 20th, 2015 Yet?

In a word, wow. 

To sum it up, it was the absolute perfect day. 

Described in great detail, in a couple thousand words, it was....

Incredible. I don't even know where to start. Now that the euphoria of crossing that finish line is finally wearing off, after a solid week-and-a-half-long runner's high, I can finally look back and reflect on the past year and a half, and man...what a year and a half it was! 

Reflections: watch your step, folks, this post is gonna get pretty deep

This is exactly what I wanted last year. The chance to look back and think about the year that was. To think about the teammates I had trained with, the friends I made, the money I raised for the Stork Fund, the run I just accomplished, my time, and my goals going forward. I wanted to tell all my teammates what a great job they did. I wanted to see friends at the finish line, get a drink with 100 other salty and exhausted people, and soak up the rest of what had been an awesome day to that point. 

At about 2:48, I finally got through the finisher's area and was just beginning to start my reflection and put on my finisher's jacket. Those first moments were shattered along with windows, limbs, and lives the very next instant. In the extremely surreal week that followed, I felt cheated, to say the least. I was angry at the perpetrators, sad that my friends were unable to finish, guilty that I did, unsure of how proud to feel. 

My view of the finish line on April 15th, 2013, a block from the first bomb

Regarding the Boston Marathon and marathons in general, you can buy books or read articles on how to prepare. How to train, what to eat, when to taper, the best ways to recover. You can check out elevation maps, take a virtual tour of the course, you can even find a Boston-specific pace calculator that tells you exactly how fast to run each mile based on a goal time, and what obstacles you'll be facing within that mile. However, there's no guide on what to do in the event of a terrorist attack. Even though I'm sure we all had a great support system around us (I know I did), you're on your own. There were a lot of emotions, a lot of complex feelings that I had to sort out in my head before I could even think about moving forward with my life, but there was one thing that was clear: I had to run 2014, and I had to do it with my Second Family. 

Fast forward to 9:00 or so, Monday, April 21st, 2014. A day literally a year and a half in the making. The weeks leading up were full of stress, emotion, and anticipation. Every mention of the word 'marathon' rang in my head. Every time I saw the names or faces of Lu Lingzi, Sean Collier, Krystle Campbell, or most of all, Martin Richard, I welled up a bit. Every siren made me a bit jumpy. Stunts like the one pulled on Boyleston a few days earlier had me so anxious it wasn't even funny. 

So imagine my stress level at the starting line at 9AM: 

Foreground: STF teammate & new friend Mike lets the nerves get to him

Not what you pictured? Yea, I have to say, me neither. I think part of it was that I just didn't have any room left for nerves or stress. I worked my ass off with my team for over a year to get there with those people, and knowing it was finally our chance at finishing what we started was comforting. Clearly! The anticipation of getting to that point, though, had killed me for a year or more. Now that the moment had arrived, there was nothing to be anxious or nervous about any more. Just time to get out there and have some fun. 

Me with 32,000 of my closest friends, about to have the time of our lives.

Fun doesn't really begin to describe it, however. There are no words that exist that could accurately describe it. I decided a few days before that my goals for time and performance were basically useless. My overall goal to this day will be to one day qualify for Boston (3:05 for my age group, yikes!), but that day, I had one goal only: enjoy every last second of it that I could. There was no need to put any additional pressure on myself, no need to look back if I ran 3:06 to find out what went 'wrong'. There could not have been anything 'wrong' about this run, unless I created a problem in my own head. Thankfully though, it never came to that, and I was able to quite easily accomplish my goal.

I had a freaking blast. I still am. And, even at a comfortable pace, even in weather a solid 20 degrees above any training run the entire year, I ran 16 seconds faster than last year. 

3:26:18 - PR, Baby!

Even now, almost 2 weeks later, I still have a grin ear to ear when anyone asks about it, comments on my jacket (that may as well have been sewn onto me the week after), or when I check the CharityTeams Facebook group, which happens on average about once every 14 seconds. I simply cannot get enough of this event, or the people I get to associate with while running it and training for it. Though I've told people each of the last 2 years during training "I'm not sure I want to do next year", as soon as I get to about mile 3 in the actual race, all I can think is "next year is going to be AWESOME!" Such is the disease myself and a lot of my new-found friends are afflicted with. 

And man, I'm just fine with that. Again, I can't describe to you the feeling of running down Boylston with thousands of people cheering. Unless you're a professional athlete or have run Boston yourself, you probably don't know what I'm talking about either. So to that, I say, come join me. Anyone can do this. To quote our fearless leader, Susan Hurley, "never doubt yourself". She's so, so right. In my two years I've run with everyone from former linebackers (not exactly the 'runner's body' you'd look for in someone running a marathon) to lifelong runners, single parents with 2 kids and full time jobs to retirees, 18 year olds to about 65, the most outgoing people you'll ever meet to the very reserved, and everyone in between. Most are first-time marathoners. Most come to Susan at first thinking there's no way they can find the time to train for a marathon in addition to raising $5,000 or more for charity. All are wrong. 

For anyone who wants to experience it for themselves, send Susan an email. Or me. Though I'm not an official CharityTeams employee, I certainly advocate for them like one. I hope I can do for you what Susan did for me: make me believe, in one short phone call, that I was not just capable of hitting the minimums, but far exceeding my goals, and having a ball the whole time. 

Again though, words just don't do it. Check it out for yourself below, the look on my teammates' faces says it all. Quite simply put: you have to experience this for yourself. I'll help you. I know at least 309 other CharityTeamers who will, too. All you have to do is do what I did, make that first call, email, or facebook request. You won't regret it. 

STF teammate Chuck crossing the finish line

MR8 members and CharityTeamers Susan and Patrick, who happened to find each other in the final yards

Selfie from the author immediately after high-fiving Doug Flutie in mile 7

STF teammate Kristy, seeing one of her biggest fans (me) at the finish

STF teammate Emily, seeing the finish line. Priceless.

Superheroes

I just wanted to share something with you guys in case you missed it on your local Boston-area news station last weekend. 

Or in case you missed it on Boston.com.

Or maybe you didn't do your daily rundown of the Huffington Post. 

Maybe you were on vacation in Kansas City, but you didn't happen to tune in to the local Fox news broadcast that morning. 

You could have even missed it if you were in Washington, San Francisco, Las Vegas, St. Louis, or even Columbus, Indiana. 

Well, now you know. About 300 of us turned out last week to run the final 18 miles of the Marathon course to train (one slight mis-reported detail was that it was not a race...however if it was, I won) and raise awareness for our respective charities. I represented only a small fraction of the stories all over the country above, so I'd say we succeeded. 

Most of us ran in full Superhero costumes, ranging from Quail Man, to the Joker, to Thor (complete with giant homemade hammer), to "Marathon Girl," and other such newly-minted Superheroes. My 'costume' was admittedly a bit simplistic - I ran as Shawn Thornton - but I wanted to stress that, at least in my eyes, people like Shawn or the people who ran 18 miles in full costume last week are already doing heroic things.

I think I've probably mentioned this before, but running sucks sometimes. 

Running in a harsh Boston winter sucks even more. Since the beginning of the year (calendar, not running year), it's snowed at least half a dozen times and temperatures have reached below 25 degrees 43 times. That creates tough road and sidewalk conditions, which makes running even more of a pain. Jumping over snow banks gets pretty old after 12 miles or so, except at this point in the season, you still have 4-8 miles to go. This past weekend when temperatures reached 55 both days, the amount of runners on my usual paths increased exponentially. Those of us who are training for Boston don't really have the luxury of waiting for those pristine late-winter days though, we're out there clad in head-to-toe spandex, 3-5 times a week, regardless.

This happens often.

You get the idea. It's cold and stuff. But, even crazier, that's not even close to where the commitment to Boston 2014 ends. After you've put in 18 miles this morning, after your cool down, stretching, ice bath, 3000 calorie meal, and shower, you've got another job: fundraising. I'd guess that 80% of the people I'm training with this year have to raise the BAA set minimum of $7,500 for charity. The other 20% may have waivers from not finishing last year, or may have even qualified, but the minimum, with waiver, to just to be accepted to one of the teams I run with is $1,000. Most are raising far more than that. 

It's a huge commitment, mentally and physically. However, not one of these Superheroes I run with complains (too much) about the cold. It's pretty much a running joke (see what I did there?) among us now. No one complains about how high the fundraising minimum is. We all have full time jobs in addition to our running lives, but, as often happens when people do something they love, there are no complaints about the time commitment. We couldn't be happier to be a part of this. Sometimes I wonder if I'm smiling too much when I run in the snow. People think it's odd. But I can't get enough of this running season. 

We're getting down to the wire - 40 days to go now - and I have to admit I'll miss it when it's over. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm going to miss 15 mile runs, in 10 degree weather, on ice, at 8AM. I'm going to miss running with my second family, with whom, over the past year and a half, I've been through a lot. 

The one thing I ask in return: for you to support me or one of the Superheroes with whom I run. Team MR8 for Martin Richard, the Joe Andruzzi Foundation, WalkBoston, GoKids Boston, the NE Patriots Foundation, Dreamfar, Lazarus House, the Doug Flutie Foundation, or my near and dear Shawn Thornton Foundation, to name a few. There are dozens of other charities though, and I encourage anyone reading this to support them in any way you can. Obviously, financial help is great, but words of encouragement go a long way towards making the mental part of it easier. Every time someone shouts "Yea Bruins!" or "Thorty!" when I run by, my stride gets longer, my pace quickens, yet I feel lighter. It's such a simple thing to do, but you don't realize the effect it has on runners in those conditions. It's nice to know other people are taking notice, not just in Boston but around the country. It makes the extra 2-3 hours per day spent on running and fundraising that much easier. So if you're one of those people who donates or encourages, keep doing that. 

Personally, as far as fundraising goes, I'm over the halfway mark at a little over $4,000, so I could use your help! As always, HUGE thank-you's to everyone who's donated so far, and even bigger ones to those who donate in the future. Your support means everything to me. Makes being a Superhero pretty easy. 

An Apple a Day

There's a brief moment of quasi-panic I experience just milliseconds before taking my first bite into an apple. Almost every time. 

It's pretty irrational. I would say 95% of the apples I eat are exactly what I expect them to be; delicious, sweet (or tart, depending), nutritious, nothing wrong with them. But every once in a while, you get that one bad apple. It looks fine, no more or less bruises than the apple you had yesterday, the same shade of red, no funny smells. Only when you take that first bite....

Nothing. The flavor didn't burst into your mouth. The juices didn't run down the side of the apple. There is no tart, no sweet, no tang. You got a mouthful of sand, with a slight hint of artificial apple-seasoning. 

Plus you probably look about as dumb as this kid, holding your sandy apple in two fingers at arm's length as if it now has SARS and you need to put as much physical distance between you and the offending fruit lest you get infected. You've still got a mouthful of dry, mealy apple too, that you're trying to nonchalantly spit out, but you're unable to both spit and maintain your image as a polite, proper, and productive member of society. 

Today's cultures frowns upon wasting food

So you bite the proverbial bullet in your mouth, and swallow it. No other option. Gross. Now, not to be melodramatic, your day is completely ruined. There goes your delicious treat, your pre-workout energy boost, or your train commute snack. You find yourself wandering aimlessly, stumbling through the next 3 minutes of pointless life with a blank expression and an empty tummy. You wonder how things are ever going to right themselves. You contemplate your very existence on earth, and why God lets bad things happen to good people.

Again, not to exaggerate the feeling of getting a bad apple. 

Sometimes running can be like that. A bad run leaves a bad taste in your mouth just the same as a bad apple does. 

It's just as unsatisfying, and maybe even more frustrating. At least with the apple, you know instantly that your apple is bad. With a bad run, it takes some more time to figure out. You spend an extra 10-20 minutes chewing on your mealy jog before it slowly dawns on you that this is a lost cause. Even on a flat course, you feel as though you're running uphill. You cramp more easily, your form feels off, and you never feel like you're in a rhythm. 

And when you're finally done, you sit with that bad taste in your mouth. Nothing you did beforehand indicated a bad run. You ate the same as before last run. You stretched like normal, you warmed up like normal, the weather isn't all that different than yesterday's run...so what gives? Why hath God forsaken thee? 

Put simply, running just sucks sometimes. Apples are just mealy sometimes. 

95% of the time, as with apples, running will be exactly what you thought it would be. Your interval run is hard, your recovery run is relaxing, and your long run is....well, long. Most of the time you can trace a bad run to an injury, a birthday celebration the previous day, a long layoff, etc. It's just mentally more challenging to deal with a bad run if it's for no reason. 

Your bad apple probably won't be literally screaming at you

Just remember though, like the apple, tomorrow's run is going to be fine again. When you get that bad apple, it might not be blatantly obvious, but recognize it for what it is: the exception rather than the rule. Tomorrow, don't have a mini-panic attack before you even step out the door though. Just take that first bite, realize it's a new day, and forget that bad apples even exist. 

Hell of a Tuesday

Guys, I have terrible news, so brace yourselves.

Iowa lost last night. 

I know, I know, they were at home too! Gotta give credit to Michigan State though, they turned up the D in the second half and Iowa went 1-13 in the last 10 minutes of regulation and OT. Tough, tough loss for the Hawkeyes, who led most of the game, but I'm confident they'll bounce back and be a top 5 seed when March Madness starts. 

The good news is, the rest of the night was fantastic.

First, the CharityTeams group finally made it out to Hell, aka Newton, for our first hill run of the year. Cold weather and snow have forced cancellations the past 2 weeks, but it was awesome to finally get back out there and do some hard running with a great group of people. I'm actually going to write another post specifically about training and my running schedule, so I'll delve into more detail about the format of hills and the people involved in a later post.

I'll stop beating around the bush now though. Ok, maybe a little more messing around:

The REAL reason I'm writing this post today is because I had my first fundraising event, A Very Special Trivia Night, yesterday evening at Common Ground Bar & Grill in Allston. Geeks Who Drink, a Denver-based organization, runs the trivia sessions every Tuesday, but for a minuscule (i.e. $0.00) fee, they'll put on the exact same trivia night, only with an entry fee of your choice, with all the money raised going to a) a cash prize, and b) the charity of your choice. It's a really fun way to get people out on a Tuesday, have a ton of fun, and raise money for charity, all with zero stress of having to cover room or DJ fees, or that sort of thing. Great stuff.

I'm usually there for trivia each and every Tuesday with my team, Dikembe Mutombo(a decade-long trivia name for my friends, dating back to high school), along with 6-7 other teams on average during the winter. Yesterday we doubled that, 16 teams showed up in support, helping me raise $215.00 for the Shawn Thornton Foundation. 

Our winners, apparent local-trivia-ringers Quiz in My Pants, were one of the few teams who I didn't know, but they still came out, donated, had a great time and ended up essentially eating and drinking for free. Read the full recap, along with YOUR results, answers, and of course, the all-important team names, on the Geeks Who Drink blog here. It's written by the Quizmaster, Corey (I won't use last names, he's kind of a big deal and I don't want to blow up his spot), who donated an additional $50 himself. 

To everyone who came, who braved 12 degree weather, who did the hill runs with me then didn't shower(I didn't mind, I didn't shower either) and came right over, who came over from Somerville (I know it's only 4-5 miles, but it's a Big Deal to cross the river), or who just came down the street for a few minutes to say hello, thank you. I've been pretty excited for this to happen for a couple months now, and the reception was incredible. Seemed like everyone had a good time, win or lose, and I've already had several people ask me when the next one is, or tell me they're coming out to more trivia nights in the future. I love that, the more people who are involved, the more fun it is, so if I do end up doing this again, I'd love to see the same people there, and more! 

So thanks for making my night, week, and month. You all get huge, awkward high-fives for that.

The grand total I've raised for the STF at the moment stands at $1,877, or almost exactly a quarter of the way to my $7,500 goal. I still need some help folks, but nights like these are so, so encouraging. Distance running can be a pretty lonely sport at times, but knowing I have so much support behind me makes it so much easier. My legs may be tired today, but man, I'm as excited as ever to run. 

Oh yea, and by the way, the Bruins won, and Shawn scored on Tim Thomas. He was excited.
Hell of a day.