Running through History!

One of the nice things about losing so much weight and being in good shape is that you can take time and really visit those places that are from your childhood. With all the hard training I have been doing, last Saturday I decided it was time to slow it down a bit and go for a run through the old neighborhood.

My mother still lives in Ellet and she graciously took my wonderful children for the night on Friday so I could run my awesome wife to the airport on Saturday morning. After I dropped off my wife, I headed straight for my mom's, packed up, and took off on a beautiful 11 mile run.

I left my mom's place and headed up Leeds, then onto Tyro toward Dorset. The first stop on my route was the old Pratt house. Many a day was spent watching the Simpsons and plotting out numerous attacks on the poor innocent enemies we had. Then I went down the hill and turned right on to Newton, moving toward the Goodyear Metro Park. The Metro Park in the winter was the main site for all my sled riding excursions.

Once I was at the Metro Parks I ran through the trails past Adler Pond; I headed up to the Brooklands and down to visit my best friend from high school, Douglas Bruce Harrison! Doug is still single and was out the night before so I felt obligated to stop by and wake him up! Well the joke was on me because he was already awake and had his awesome dog Alex out back playing.

I took off from Doug's and went down Congo to route 91 and followed that up to Eastgate. Going up Eastgate I approached Windemere School...the place it all began for me. It was the place I went to 1st through 6th grade and where I met some of the greatest people. It was torn down last year and a new building is being put up in the same spot.

Down Emmons and on to Edgehill to Dougie's childhood home. This is a place that I played a lot of catch with baseballs and footballs we even jumped over a few bushes in the process. After leaving there I went down to East Market Street past the EBA hall and on to Gleason Avenue.

This is the home of the Gleason Ave Gang. John Jarvis, Jeff, Dan, and Julie Conner, Jim Dudones, and me. A few others were also residents like the Sarver family, Aaron Plum, Scottie and Chrissie Miller. The memories on this street were fun to think about. Playing softball day and night on the street, football in the yards, and my favorite memory, playing kick the can at the Conners' house.

I went down Gleason, onto Cramer, and then up Hillbish to Wedgewood and to Hyre Park. If you lived in Ellet and do not have a memory of Hyre I would be shocked. Many a football game, practice, baseball, and soccer games were played in this park. Today they are building the new middle school there so no baseball fields are there.

I ran up to the old junior high school's front doors and started to think about some of the times I had at this school. I looked into the lunch room and could remeber the mornings we would wait in there for school to start. The benches where we would huddle around and socialize with friends. I looked to the end of the parking lot and I could see the entrance to the woods.

Hyre Woods and the Hyre Pond! I entered the woods for the first time in about 25 years. Boy I immediately started thinking about the many walks I had through these woods to school, to football and baseball practice, and to the pond itself. This was a pretty cool run!

Through the woods and down into Lions Park I went. They really had spent a lot of money in the woods putting steps in and grooming the path. The same could be said for Lions Park. They had put in a path to walk around the field and also a fence to close in the field. Across the bridge I went looking at the creek I used to wade in and catch crayfish in. I continued up the hill and down toward the corner of Bender and Cramer.

I started to crack up at this point because I could remember the numerous times we had stolen the Bender sign. The funny part (and I could never explain this well enough) is my buddy Dougie trying to climb the pole to get up to the sign. Doug was never very good at climbing and this pole proved that point completely. He would jump up on to the pole and then try to pull himself up. However, he would not make any progress and would slowly start to slip down the pole until he was back on the ground. I could go on but I will leave the rest to the imagination.

I went down Cramer, to Benton, and then up Benton to Ellet High School. I ran around the back and into the stadium for a few moments. Boy I had a lot of memories in this place. From Football games as a spectator to football games as a player and the same in soccer. During the season I do not think one person practiced and played more on that field than I did. I was a place kicker and I would spend 2 hours a night kicking balls through the post there. Ahhhhh, good times!

Out of the stadium and down the hill to Highgrove I went. I took it to Davenport and ran down it toward Mogadore Road. Along the way I went past so many old friends' houses, Jenny Young, Jenny Sudler, Danny Hammer, and of course, Davenport Park or the home of Ellet's youth baseball league. This is where I learned to play baseball. Coaches like Mr Schultz, Mr. Beard, Mr. Harrison, Mr Givens, and Mr. Casalonova went through my head. Park games, playing hoops and meeting with friends there was just the tip of the events that took place. Davenport Park is full of some of my best memories.

Back out of the park and down Davenport to Mogadore Road I ran. Once on Mogadore I was reminded of Steve Melton, a friend that lived right off the road. I continued down Mogadore and back up Canton Road to the end of my run. In the end I ran 11 miles and what I thought would be an easy day I ended up running at a much faster pace than I wanted to keep.

It felt pretty good to be able to run this area and it surely distracted me from the mundane task of just running for speed. Memories are pretty cool and being able to go and relive them a bit is fun as well. It really helps you to see all that you have done and further helps you realize that the Lord was by your side through it all. Maybe next time I will run the Hatton neighborhood and include more of the Betty Jane and Ritzman area!

If you have memories of this area I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to comment here or on my Facebook page. Pictures of this are in an album on Facebook marked neighborhood run.

Race Day Part 2 HOF to ND Race

On race morning I woke up at 4:30 AM and started the morning listening to Christian music and spent time reading the Bible and praying. I prayed that God would be seen through me. Why, you might ask? Because God made me and gave me the ability, strength, and heart to accomplish this goal, so I think it is only appropriate to give Him the praise He deserves. Picture this when an MVP is given the honor - he typically gives the credit to his teammates as they were a big part of the award. Well, the same is true here - God played the biggest role in giving me the ability to finish this event, therefore, I believe He deserves the glory (Not me)!

I took a shower, ate, and began to take my stuff down to the car. During most of my runs a song runs through my head but during this race it was different. The scripture I was studying that morning was Ephesians 3:20-21 and John 15. The Ephesians verse I detailed in one of my last blog posts and John 15 is when Jesus tells the parable of the vines and branches. The key here is that if we remain in Him, He will remain in us! I was learning that God is working within me and all I have to do in order to get His power is remain in His Word, Prayer, and Worship.

As I arrived at the starting line I was fairly focused on just running free and running with no worries, including the thoughts about fear of failure or pain. As I lined up I was at peace. Just a few months before the race I had a shirt made up with the Ephesians verse on it to wear in this event, and as I was standing there with my shirt on another runner tapped me on the shoulder and said, "I love your shirt." I said thanks and turned back around. A moment later I looked back behind me and this same guy was on his knees in prayer! Pretty Cool! The National Anthem was played by a Trumpet player from the area and then the gun sounded.

The first mile was extremely easy and went down Michigan Street and over to Lafayette Street, heading North toward the Saint Joseph River. I looked at my watch about a 1/2 mile into my run and noticed I was going at 7:40 pace. This really seemed easy as my adrenaline was flowing. I thought to myself, I need to slow down, but as the first part of the course was downhill and I was constantly being passed, I thought I would be just fine.

I continued at this pace and then headed west on to Riverside Drive. This street takes you right next to the Saint Joseph River and is a beautiful area. Across the river you can see the campuses of Saint Mary's College and Holy Cross College. The River also hosts the famous East boat race. As I was running west up the river, as this is an out and back course ,about mile 5 I could see the leaders passing me heading down the trail right next to the river.

This was really encouraging as I was only about 2 miles off the leaders and this told me I was in the front of the pack. My pace remained at about 7:40 and I continued to feel really good. As I went through the water stops I got water, took a drink and poured the rest of it on my head and down my back. At race time the temperature was 70 degrees with 90% humidity. By mile 5 or 6 it was even hotter. This strategy would come back and bite me in the end!

As you come up on mile 6.25 you hit the turnaround and start down the trail toward the University of Notre Dame. At this point I was on a trail that was right next to the Saint Joseph River. It was at this point I started to spend plenty of time running by myself. This is the point where my scripture reading from the morning came into the picture. I was still averaging 7:40/mile pace and felt good, but I feared the pain that was going to hit me in the final few miles. I would constantly recite in my head the Ephesians verses and tell myself He is at work within me.

Around mile 7 I came up to a gentleman that was a little bit older than me and had a brief conversation. He mentioned that he was 45 and that he began running about ten years ago as a way to stay in shape. I told him I was 38 and that I began my journey in December of 2008 at 311 pounds. He told me he had a nephew that was overweight and he has tried to encourage him. I gave him this blog site and offered to help if I ever could and carried on my way to mile 8.

I was still running strong through mile 8 and 9, and then came mile 10. Somewhere in my thoughts I got mixed up and thought mile 9 was mile 10 and mentally I thought to myself, I have an easy 5K left to run. Imagine my anguish and surprise when I figured out I had a 5K plus 1 mile left. However, I continued on pace through mile 10, continuing to take water at the stops and pouring on my head.

As mile 11 started we departed from the Saint Joseph River and headed north to Notre Dame. This section of the course began with a hill that seemed to go for ¼ mile straight uphill. It was probably only 1/8th of a mile, but after 11 miles everything seems like Mount Everest! I started at this point to lose pace and I went to a 8:15/mile pace

As that mile continued I found myself feeling more and more fatigued. I thought, here we go, this must be the end of my endurance. Until this point I was on pace to run the race in 1 hour and 40 minutes, so to lose pace did not surprise me but it seemed like it happened quickly. I came up to mile 12 and just before it was a water stop. In my head I thought, I will walk through this water stop and get a good drink and continue on. My body at this point was starting to cramp as my calves were contracting like a grape when it is being turned into a raisin, so I did walk through the water stop and continued to walk for about 1/10th of a mile.

At that point I picked back up and started running again. Soon my running turned into a slow shuffle using only my heels as the push off point of my foot so as to keep my calves from cramping. I turned left onto Eddy and started directly north toward the stadium. At this point I could see the stadium in the distance, which energized me.

As you run down Eddy you run past some shops and then they had 3 bag pipe players entertaining the runners. What would a good Irish Marathon be without bag pipers? Soon on my right I was running up on the Legends of Notre Dame Restaurant which is in the parking lot of the stadium and I could clearly see my destination.

As I ran up Eddy and crossed on to Moose Krause Circle, I remembered my run the night before. I had already run this section and knew exactly what to expect. An overwhelming feeling came upon me and I forgot the pain that was in my legs. I started to look around and enjoy the run once again and I anticipated the moment that would be directly ahead of me, the moment I would look to the north and see Touchdown Jesus! As is tradition for me when running a race I looked to the sky, raised my hands, and told the Lord, "Thank you for this day and for your presence."

I turned right and headed to the tunnel of the stadium; I could hear the sound of the crowd. It was not the marathon crowd but the organizers had the sound of the crowd playing through the tunnel as you entered the field, and soon after that they had the Notre Dame Fight song playing. As I went through the tunnel this experience went through my head like highlights you see at the end of a show when the person puts all the parts of the puzzle together. I realized at that point that my prayer for the morning was answered! He was with me and stayed with me through the whole race!

Hall of Fame to Notre Dame Part 1

Last week I wrote that I was feeling weak and that I was a bit worried about how I would do at the race on Saturday. In the end I determined that God would provide all I needed and the Bible even says He will work through our weaknesses. Well, He did not disappoint on Saturday!

It all began as I entered into South Bend on Friday night and checked into my hotel; I made my way to pick up my packet in downtown South Bend. Once I got my packet I headed back to the hotel and got on my running clothes and headed out to Notre Dame to take a 2 mile run to loosen up. I went to the stadium and ran around the athletic facilities. I went around Moose Krause Circle and simulated what the ending would be like. What a cool place to explore!

Right next to the stadium is the Joyce Center where the basketball team plays, then across the street from there is the holy grail of college football. Prior to 1930 when Notre Dame Stadium was built, Cartier Field was the stadium that Notre Dame played in. This is now part of their practice facility, but when running around this area you cannot help but think of the greats like the 4 horsemen, Gipp (The Gipper), and Knute Rockne. In the 23 years this field was open, the Irish never lost a home game.



Just running around the stadium itself was an incredible experience. As you run counter clockwise from the south side of the stadium, one of the first statues you run into is one of Ara Parseghian on the shoulders of his players. Ara was born in Akron, Ohio and was head coach of the Irish from 1964-1974. His teams compiled 95 victories, 17 losses, and 4 ties. Along with this, his teams won 2 national championships. As you keep running north you see a wall on the concourse inside the gate. This wall is filled with helmets and plaques for Consensus All Americans.
As you turn the corner of the stadium, you look up to the right and you see Touchdown Jesus! What an amazing site to see a mosaic of Jesus with his hands up as if to say come one, come all to me and I will provide! It was named Touchdown Jesus because it looks as if He is signaling touchdown and can clearly be seen from inside the stadium when looking north.

Then as you turn to the left, you see the tunnel to the field and of course a Knute Rockne Statue. As you look down the tunnel you can see the north end zone and goal post. What a place to see the Knute Rockne statue. Next to crosses and Jesus himself, Knute Rockne’s memory is the next most preserved on campus. Knute Rockne, of course, is the famed head coach of Notre Dame from 1918 to 1930 where his teams had 105 victories, 12 losses, 5 ties, and 5 national championships, including 5 undefeated seasons without even a tie.

Turning the corner and heading back south you run with the campus to your west and you can see the beauty of the campus. They keep this place immaculate. Soon you come to another staute, one with which you would be very familiar if you are from the Kent State area. It is a statue of Lou Holtz. Holtz is a Kent State University graduate and the Irish coach from 1986 to 1993. He is noted with having the players' names taken off their jerseys to emphasize the team part of the game. His teams had 64 victories, 9 losses, and 1 tie with 1 national championship.

Turning east on Moose Krause, you head back toward the south end of the stadium where you run into the last statue around the stadium. It is of Frank Leahy a player who, next to Rockne, was probably the most notable coach of Notre Dame. His teams are thought to have been the most successful of Irish history. His teams had 6 undeafeated seasons, 4 national championships and were unbeaten in 39 games. As you look into the concourse at this point you see that they have banners of their national championship team coaches.

When I was done running, I walked the campus a bit and admired the beauty and reverence they had to God. What a place to run and reflect on all God has done! After this, I headed out for a pasta dinner and then settled into the hotel for the night, knowing the next day would be awesome and I could not wait to hear the chanting and the crowd when I reached Notre Dame Stadium in the morning.

Thoughts for this Weekend

Well, it is two days before my first fitness test of the new year. On Saturday at 7:30 AM the Hall of Fame to Notre Dame 1/2 Marathon will start and I will be at the starting line. So what will go through my mind prior to the race on Saturday?

A few days before I am starting to think about the goal I set and it is scary thinking about how I will get there. My first goal is always to glorify God with every step. The second goal is to finish the race. Lastly, I have a time goal which is to maintain 8:00/mile pace for all 13.1 miles. This will have me finishing in 1:44:52.

The first two goals seem easy enough, however, the first goal will help me obtain the last 2 goals. As I have gone on my final training runs the last few days, I have been truly humbled and I hope that is because God is trying to show me how much I need Him to finish this race.

Sunday I did a 5 Mile run, but I had to stop about 3 miles into it to get a drink and cool off. On Tuesday, I did my last 6 miler at race pace and I must say when I was done I was spent! It took everything I had to run 6 miles at 8:00/mile pace! This morning I ran 5.6 miles at slightly over race pace as my final tune up.

So for a guy who leading up to this ran 10 mile runs like they were easy, you can only imagine that this week has been a bit worrying and humbling. This is not the first time I have felt this way and I can truly say that I feel good about this feeling. You know the feeling...like you are going to fall short or, better yet, like you are not going to finish at all.

Why do I feel good about that you may ask? My answer may trouble some ,but I can only speak from my heart here. I am not a true runner. I have never been much into running in the past, for that matter I have always been average in my athletic endeavors. I can hold my own in sports but when the going gets tough or the competition gets better, I am separated quickly as it is obvious I do not belong.

With this all in mind, I have set my sights on running a marathon. According to one source, last year 464,923 people in the USA finished marathons. This does not mean 464,923 different people but finishers. For instance, one of my friends ran and finished 2 last year. The US population as of 2009 was approximately 305 million, so less than 1% of Americans have finished a marathon. So, either I am a great athlete or I am accomplishing this with someone else's power.

If I were a great athlete I sure would be making more money than I am today and I would be playing a game everyday. Obviously you can see that is not true because I am not an athlete but a regular, everyday business man. That only leaves one way I can accomplish this goal. It is with the power of Jesus Christ in me. Ephesians 3:20 says, "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us" as you read this, note that it says His power is at work within us! That is pretty cool!

So for me to be humbled shows me that 'I' cannot do anything, but if I let God's power work through me He can accomplish far more than I can ask or imagine!

In the end, what will be my thoughts on race morning? I will begin the day in prayer on my knees asking for His help, His power, and His presence in my run. I will begin focusing on God and will try to lessen my aniexty by putting all my goals on His shoulders. This way I cannot lose! I will be able to run free with a clear mind and a joyful heart. Please say a prayer for me!