27 days until the 2012 Leadville Trail 100 Mile Run...
It's Sunday - I'll summarize Friday and Saturday's workouts. I thought I might play basketball tonight but that didn't happen so today was a pretty easy day :o)
Friday morning Rick and I met Gordon and Todd at "The Exterminator" at 5 a.m. It looked really dark down the hill but you could always see at least 15-20 feet in front and we knew where we were going so we weren't worried. We did 50 hikes up and 50 runs down the Exterminator. It felt really good. I was encouraged that #45 really didn't feel any different than #15 - I hope that is an indication that we are getting our bodies in condition for mountain climbing at Leadville.
While Rick and I hiked up and ran down, Gordon and Todd ran up the hills and walked down. I think they had the harder workout but our training is more appropriate for Leadville so we did what we needed to do. Todd and Gordon have come SO far since their first days training with us in terms of speed and stamina - it is SO cool to witness the transformation they are going through. We took a couple of pictures with Gordon's camera but I don't have them yet to post. - NOW POSTED :o)
Saturday morning's run was great too! We started off with three at 4:30 a.m. - Rick, John O'Brien, and myself. We decided to take off in a different direction today for a change of pace and had some great conversation with John O about his upcoming 24 hour run in Boston next Friday. He has done an outstanding job of training and he will knock out the goals he has set. #1 - he is going to run 54 miles in honor of his mom who passed away at 54 years old - he is working on getting his dad and brothers to run that mile with him - isn't that AWESOME? #2 - he will run 62.5 miles (100 kilometers) because he can. John has already run north of marathon mileage (33 and 44 miles) so these are the next records to fall. Best of luck to you John - you have worked hard and earned it.
When we arrived back at Crow Creek Park at 6 am we had 3 others waiting for us - Phil Pancrazio, Curt Johnston, Len Hawbaker and Brent (a colleague of John O's at John Deere). On this leg we ran north and east of Bettendorf. We had a very good run, moving faster than I thought we were. I was loosely contemplating a 3rd leg at 7:30 a.m. but decided against it. I had some chores to do at home before heading off to a Fellowship of Christian Athlete's Father Son Basketball camp with my 4 sons at noon and my legs were feeling pretty worked over. I think the 50 trips up and down Exterminator Hill took more of a toll on my legs than I thought.
I also learned that I was successful in my audition to give a motivational speech in September for John Deere's Forestry and Construction Division. I am very excited about another opportunity to speak to a large group of important clients for John Deere and hope that it will lead to other speaking opportunities inside and outside of the John Deere organization.
The Fellowship of Christian Athlete's Father Son Basketball Camp was a 22 hour camp that took place at St. Ambrose University from noon Saturday - 10 a.m. Sunday. It was a great time to be with my boys, staying overnight in a college dorm room, eating pizza, and playing games. We had two coaches (and friends) of mine who came to the camp to teach the boys some basketball skills and also to share some of their philosophies on success on and off the field.
A few messages that came through clearly were...
1. Support your child in athletics, regardless of their performance. Don't love them less when they don't perform as well - don't let them think your love is based in any way on their ability to perform on the field.
2. Let your child handle disappointment that may come when they don't get the starting role, the preferred position, or more playing time. Not everyone is a great athlete and not everybody has what they might want to have. Support their desire to excel if they want to work toward it but it is important for them to learn how to put the team above themselves, how to play a role that may not be a star role, and how to accept whatever happens.
3. As a parent, do not tear down teammates, competitors, or officials to make your child feel better, make them believe that they 'deserve' better but are getting the short end of the stick, or promote disdain for their teammates or the competition. Everyone out on the field is someone's son and they have the same goals as you. We are all God's children and we need to stop viewing anyone who gets in the way of our children's achievements or success as evil, undesirable, cheating, or lucky individuals.
The talk these guys gave was a wonderful reminder of how we need to approach athletics.
Until my next post, have a great day! DIG DEEP!
It's Sunday - I'll summarize Friday and Saturday's workouts. I thought I might play basketball tonight but that didn't happen so today was a pretty easy day :o)
Friday morning Rick and I met Gordon and Todd at "The Exterminator" at 5 a.m. It looked really dark down the hill but you could always see at least 15-20 feet in front and we knew where we were going so we weren't worried. We did 50 hikes up and 50 runs down the Exterminator. It felt really good. I was encouraged that #45 really didn't feel any different than #15 - I hope that is an indication that we are getting our bodies in condition for mountain climbing at Leadville.
While Rick and I hiked up and ran down, Gordon and Todd ran up the hills and walked down. I think they had the harder workout but our training is more appropriate for Leadville so we did what we needed to do. Todd and Gordon have come SO far since their first days training with us in terms of speed and stamina - it is SO cool to witness the transformation they are going through. We took a couple of pictures with Gordon's camera but I don't have them yet to post. - NOW POSTED :o)
 |
| Gordon, Todd, and John |
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| Rick, Todd, and John |
 |
| Brent, John O, Curt, Rick, Phil, John B - photographer Len Hawbaker - new camera, better than old one but I'm hoping this was just a bad picture and not indicative of future pics (seems blurry) |
When we arrived back at Crow Creek Park at 6 am we had 3 others waiting for us - Phil Pancrazio, Curt Johnston, Len Hawbaker and Brent (a colleague of John O's at John Deere). On this leg we ran north and east of Bettendorf. We had a very good run, moving faster than I thought we were. I was loosely contemplating a 3rd leg at 7:30 a.m. but decided against it. I had some chores to do at home before heading off to a Fellowship of Christian Athlete's Father Son Basketball camp with my 4 sons at noon and my legs were feeling pretty worked over. I think the 50 trips up and down Exterminator Hill took more of a toll on my legs than I thought.
I also learned that I was successful in my audition to give a motivational speech in September for John Deere's Forestry and Construction Division. I am very excited about another opportunity to speak to a large group of important clients for John Deere and hope that it will lead to other speaking opportunities inside and outside of the John Deere organization.
The Fellowship of Christian Athlete's Father Son Basketball Camp was a 22 hour camp that took place at St. Ambrose University from noon Saturday - 10 a.m. Sunday. It was a great time to be with my boys, staying overnight in a college dorm room, eating pizza, and playing games. We had two coaches (and friends) of mine who came to the camp to teach the boys some basketball skills and also to share some of their philosophies on success on and off the field.
A few messages that came through clearly were...
1. Support your child in athletics, regardless of their performance. Don't love them less when they don't perform as well - don't let them think your love is based in any way on their ability to perform on the field.
2. Let your child handle disappointment that may come when they don't get the starting role, the preferred position, or more playing time. Not everyone is a great athlete and not everybody has what they might want to have. Support their desire to excel if they want to work toward it but it is important for them to learn how to put the team above themselves, how to play a role that may not be a star role, and how to accept whatever happens.
3. As a parent, do not tear down teammates, competitors, or officials to make your child feel better, make them believe that they 'deserve' better but are getting the short end of the stick, or promote disdain for their teammates or the competition. Everyone out on the field is someone's son and they have the same goals as you. We are all God's children and we need to stop viewing anyone who gets in the way of our children's achievements or success as evil, undesirable, cheating, or lucky individuals.
The talk these guys gave was a wonderful reminder of how we need to approach athletics.
Until my next post, have a great day! DIG DEEP!
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