5k results and other random thoughts.

3 minutes faster than the first event. Still slower than the 55 minute pace I was hoping for. 4 daughters and their spouses joined me for this 5k event. They all did very well. My youngest daughter Kelli walked with me everyone else ran/jogged the entire course. As mentioned last time I am looking at options for another 5k in early August - still trying to achieve that 55 minute or faster time.

I am not a runner. Never claimed to be. I will begin running a little to build more stamina and try to lose some of the extra weight I have been adding over the last couple decades. Health issues will be limiting how much I can do, but I will push a little to test my limits and (hopefully) begin to stretch those limits incrementally as I gain strength. I am hopeful that I will be able to run the entire course next spring when the Mike the Headless Chicken Festival comes around again.

As Kelli  and I walked this past weekend we had a good conversation about upcoming events in her life. She will begin teaching first grade (her own classroom) at Loma Elementary School this fall. She is very excited to begin this adventure and all I can say is those are some very fortunate children.

I have had occasion to consider how easily I fall into patterns in my life. Patterns that tend to repeat daily. I awake at a certain hour, with or without an alarm, I do certain things in a certain order to begin and end each day. Throughout each day I find that the same things happen again and again and I wonder if I am really doing the best I can with each of those moments. Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes no (I hope you are no different than me). I am starting to wonder how to change the pattern. How do I/we turn those mundane patterns into something more fulfilling and productive.

In October of 2007 Dallin H. Oaks shared some insights that have started to help me understand a little better how I might choose differently. He began with this comment,

"We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available for accomplishing them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives."

"...As we consider various choices, we should remember that it is not enough that something is good. Other choices are better, and still others are best. Even though a particular choice is more costly, its far greater value may make it the best choice of all."

Choices. I find that this is a topic I spend a great deal of time thinking about lately. On occasion I wonder about the course life might have taken with a different choice made when I was a younger man. I tend to be satisfied with the direction of my life so I'm not sure that if I could do things again that the result would be any different. I think we make decisions that affect us into the future, based on available current information. Often these decisions are made with little thought beyond the immediate resulting consequence. Should we give greater consideration? Perhaps. Though it is not clear to me that we would make a different choice based on that further reflection (I can't speak for anyone but me, of course).

I noticed for the first time (again) that one of my granddaughters has a habit when I asking her "How are you doing?" of replying to me as if I asked "What are you doing?". She usually turns toward me with a grin and replies "Oh, nothing." I'm sitting here writing this with a big smile on my face. I don't see any of those granddaughters all the time so this interaction catches me off guard the first time the question is asked during each visit. I am amused by this and hope for its continuation for some time to come. The memory will be cherished.

That's it for today. I warned you at the subject line (random thoughts).

Thanks for checking in. More to come soon. See you then.

Mike the Headless Chicken 5k

So here we are two months after the last post. The Mike the headless chicken 5k came and went and I did not post an update. My plan for this first ever was to walk the distance comfortably but as briskly as I could. I hoped to complete the course in about 55-56 minutes. Two of my daughters, Jennifer (the eldest) and Kelli (the youngest) walked just a little ahead of me. My brother-in-law Dan walked with me the whole way. Dan usually runs a few of these each spring and summer. I appreciate that he decided to support me by staying alongside for this journey. My official time was just over 59 minutes so a little slower than I hoped but still a number I am happy with - for a first attempt.

Coming up this weekend a much larger group of family members will be participating in another 5k run/walk also in Grand Junction. Jennifer, Holly and her husband Eric, Lisa and her husband Alejandro, and Kelli will be joining me as I try to improve on the effort from last month. It will be a walk again for me but my overall strength is improving and I will start doing a little running in the next few weeks. I e-mailed Holly and Eric last week sometime and began by asking if they were getting excited for the upcoming run? and then commented "Me either". But I do realize that without a goal of some kind I would likely not have enough motivation to push myself to go a little farther or a little faster. So the schedule causes me to put in a little more effort.

With that thought in mind, there is another scheduled event on August 9 that I will be shooting for. I hope to be able to run a portion of the course by then. We'll see.

As to the overall purpose of getting this ole body into better condition. Not a lot to report at this time. I will keep pushing a little more now and into the future and expect that the effort will ultimately payoff with the desired result.

As you well know two days ago we celebrated Fathers. This was a particularly difficult Fathers day for me. I lost dad 8 years ago and have not had a particularly difficult time of it celebrating this holiday. It was different this time. My younger brother posted to Facebook on Sunday, "Dad, I miss and love you. Thanks for going to bat for me so many times. I know you were my biggest fan."

along with this photo;



Dad loved sporting events of all varieties. He especially enjoyed attending in person. Every spring, summer, or fall trip to Denver he would try to make it to a Colorado Rockies game. He and Mom would even make it to watch the Denver Broncos for a preseason game every other year or so. Late summer in Denver being as warm as it is Mom probably needed two years to recover.

No great words here today. Just the rambling thoughts of a distracted man trying to find his way in the world.

I'll let you know how the weekend goes.

Thanks for checking in. More to come soon. See you then.