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.