Where the heck is Matt?

I attended a professional development session this afternoon organized by my good friend Warren.  He started the session talking about the incredible ethnic diversity in our classrooms as a segue to the video and his presentation.  After viewing the entire video he asked all 100 participants to stand up and dance while he replayed the video. He danced in front of the huge screen while the video played a second time. The dancing started off kind of awkward with only about half participating, but within a minute we were hopping all over the place.  It was hilarious looking around the room at these normally quiet and reserved professionals and seeing them cut some wicked rug!  It was great ice breaker and emphasized diversity in a way like I've never considered.  I guess you sorta had to be there to fully appreciate the moment.  Turn up the volume and enjoy the video.  Mike

Lovely Linda

My good friend Linda, mother of two under two, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.  On the eve of her second surgery in ten days she sent a few friends an email in which she expressed fear for the future and frustration at her inability to care for her daughters.  I replied to her letter.  


Linda,
First up, I want you to know that I'm indeed honoured to be included on your distribution list.  It tells me you value my friendship and that alone makes my day.  Thank you.  
Second, having run a few marathons I have become a firm believer in the power of positive energy.  The last few miles is incredibly painful and deeply emotional.  It is only the power of positive energy that provides the strength to cross the finish line.  The last six miles of any marathon is littered with runners who, for one reason or another, have lost the spark.  They depended upon their legs to carry them over the line when in fact it's the spirit that's needed.  Without the spark, they fade and give up.  My apologies for the cheesy marathon metaphor but it allows me to imagine, if only a teeny bit, your state of mind and your challenge.
Linda, you need to know that as you were wheeled in for your previous surgery, your good friends were channelling their love and their spirit your way.  The sky was thick with vibrant pink clouds of positive energy churning and swirling.   There was no official "stop everything and focus" but everyone knew.  The discreet chatting, the glances between friends, the emails, the tears, the wringing of hands, the silent prayers... all of us were focusing our love to you.
Tomorrow this will be repeated.  Our thoughts, our prayers, and our concern will shower upon you like a typhoon as you are wheeled in to the O.R.  We are there for you Linda.  Think of us as we think of you.
Get well Lovely Linda, your family needs you back at the tiller, we need you back in our midst.
M
The Winnipeg Police Half Marathon is on Sunday, May 2, 2010.  All money raised is donated to the Canadian Cancer Society.  I plan on running for Lovely Linda.  For whom will you run?


It's a good day to be alive.  :>)  

Love Shack

This is one of the new Love Shacks, so called for the snuggling skaters inside, on the Assiniboine River Trail.  This particular one is called Apparition.  Notice the little solar collector on the roof; they provide power for lights inside the shack. Apparition resembles a chunk of aluminum foil formed into a little cave by grade school kids for a diorama project, complete with comfy benches.  Apparition is one of 5 Love Shacks along the trail.  Each shack is unique, all are beautiful in their own right. Go here for more information.
This trail is my favourite path in the entire city.  I don't so much run it as float along the surface, marvelling at the skaters gliding, the boisterous teens slapping pucks with broken sticks, the lovers hand-in-hand, the little ones bundled warmly in sleds, the sunsets, the black ice, and my personal favourite, the reams of cars stuck in traffic on the bridges overhead.  :>) 
Oh yeah... it is a good day to be alive.  M

Don't Forget Your Catheter

This clip just in from Vivian.  


An 81 year completing a marathon in 5 hours, 22 minutes is ok in my books, road side assisted catheter or not!  Sometimes you just have to give your head a shake with race officials.  I mean, what the *&^%  were they thinking? Instead of cheering this guy on, they want to disqualify him!?  Fortunately, good sense prevailed!


Mike

Chicago Marathon October 10, 2010

Just registered!  I'm one of 45,000 runners.  I can't imagine what 45,000 runners looks like?! I'll be a speck of humanity in a sea of sweat and spandex.  I figure I'll just be carried along in a massive sweep for the first 6 miles, maybe longer, and then, tuck in behind the larger runners for 16 miles, then sprint to the finish ;>)

It's good to know that Shel, Terry, Lorie, Sandra, Todd, and others are coming along.  Anyone else?  My hotel is about 0.6 miles from the start line and even closer from the finish.  This'll be a run of a lifetime.  Totally pumped!

You know it.  It's a good day to be alive!

M

Salt

How do you respond when someone very close to you informs you they have recently had a stroke?  Someone of your vintage and generation.  Someone who embodies healthy living and has been a rock in your life for decades. Someone with whom you share childhood memories that are as strong and colourful as if they happened yesterday.

What do you say to this person?

What do you think? 

What do you do?

The stroke was momentary; a full collapse of the left side of the body with a quick rebound, all over in a few seconds, but unsettling.  Many would have shrugged it off as a simple absent minded slip or a brain fart. Fortunately, my friend didn't shrug it off.  Two MRI's later confirmed the good news and bad; it was indeed a stroke, but not an aneurism. The stroke occurred in a part of the brain that doesn't cause lasting damage, but had it occurred elsewhere the results would have been devastating.  Aside from the initial scare there is no residual damage, at least none that can be detected at this point.  It turns out that this person is probably genetically predisposed to strokes and has been diagnosed with hypertension (high blood pressure).  The best doctor advice?

1)  Keep your weight down.

2) Exercise.

3) Reduce your salt intake.

Salt by the numbers * ...

• 1,500: Recommended daily sodium intake in milligrams for people between 9 and 50.
• 2,300: Maximum daily sodium intake in milligrams compatible with good health.
• 3,400: What the average Canadian consumes daily in milligrams.
• 85: Percentage of Canadian men aged 19 to 70 consuming MORE than 2,300 milligrams of sodium daily.
• 60:  Percentage of women aged 19 to 70 consuming More than 2,300 milligrams of sodium daily.
• 77:  Percentage of Canadian children aged 1 to 3 consuming more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium daily.
• 93:  Percentage of children aged 4 to 8 consuming more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium daily.
• 1: Level teaspoon = about 1,500 milligrams of sodium.

So good friends and readers of this blog keep on running and keep an eye on your salt intake.  The consequences could be serious.

It's a good day to be alive.

Mike

* Source, Statistics Canada

One of those days

I ran 10 miles yesterday in fresh, wet snow.  It was simply "one of those days" that we are truly thankful to be alive; alive and strong.  The gobs of virgin snow softened the outline of trees and benches and muffled all sound.  Aside from the occasional runner, I was alone, all alone, and all quiet, lost in my mind as life and time drifted by.  The crunching of snow underfoot was soft and mimicked the beating of my heart.  The words of Robert Frost's  poem "The woods are lovely, dark and deep..." wormed through my mind.  I was alone.  I was at one with the universe.

These are the fleeting moments that give purpose of being and bring balance to the ugly side of life; these are moments for which we are truly thankful.  The sanctity of life is precious and all is at peace on these days.

As you, my thoughts and prayers go out to the Haitian people who have so tragically lost all sense of balance and beauty.  Haiti, where the sanctity of life is teetering on the edge of dispair. Please give to help restore this delicate balance.

It is such a beautiful day to be alive.

Mike

Project 52

52 weeks... 52 running pictures.  
Week 2:  Lorie's birthday run.  Left to right:  Laura, Terry,  Tess, Murray, Lorie (Ted is just out of frame.  Sorry Ted.).  Click image to enlarge.

1000 Mile Challenge

Looking for some motivation, need a goal, want a personal challenge? Look no further than the 1000 Mile Challenge.  

It's simple, log your running miles from January 1 through December 31, 2010 and try to maintain an average 20 miles per week.  If 1000 miles seems daunting, try 1000 kilometres (about 621 miles).  I've been logging my mileage for the last couple of years (see side bar) and I find it helpful in tracking my running and getting me out of bed on those crisp mornings when I'd rather be sipping coffee and munching sticky-buns on the couch. 
Civil Rights leader and mentor to Martin Luther King, Benjamin Mays once said: 
The tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching our goal.  The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach.  It isn't a disgrace to not reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. 
Don't be afraid of the challenge, do be afraid of not challenging yourself.  If you like, send me your name and I'll make an honour role of runners who have accepted the 1000 Mile Challenge on the sidebar (first names and last initial only).  Or, if you're the shy type, keep it to yourself.  In the words of Nike Canada.... Just Do It, Eh!
Other stuff... I was at a small gathering on New Years eve and my good friend Laurie mentioned that one of her goals for 2010 is to take a photograph every day to visually track her year.  She'll no doubt take several photographs every day, but only one will be chosen for her visual diary.  What an excellent idea!  I'm thinking a picture a day is too much of a commitment, but a picture a week seems doable.  My pictures will somehow be related to running in some way, shape or form.  52 weeks, 52 pictures.  I'll be posting them on Flickr. Stay tuned.
It's a good day to be alive,  Mike

First Run of 2010

Didn't run the Frosty Nipple (too chicken), didn't run Resolution (not available), but I did manage a chilly 7 mile solo-scamper this morning. The temperature was a frosty -30 celsius (-40 w/c) so proper layering made the difference between life and death, or at least comfort and discomfort.  I snapped a few pictures with my wife's Nikon D80 in a fleeting attempt to capture the magic of the day; I hope you can see beyond the -40 and appreciate the real beauty of running on such a magnificently crisp day.  Just being healthy enough to survive the chill, let alone run, is a miracle. Happy New Year to you all.  Thanks for following this old blog; these ramblings of an aging, but passionate runner.  I raise a glass of Chilean Syrah 2006  to you, and to you, and you, and you, and you....

It's a good day to be alive and warm.  If you click the pictures they get big, really big.  And one final thing... yes, my nose is on the large side, but NOT that big. My son the photographer tells me it's just the wide angle lens making it appear potato-like!  :>)  Mike