Snowpocalypse Run

So I was able to get my "10 Miler" in yesterday.  I was supposed to have been Saturday but training was cancelled because of the storm.

Looks like fundraising and training with the Prostate Cancer Foundation will be a go this year, and depending on whether Noel gets into the NYC Marathon via the lottery we will either do NYC or Chicago.   More details to come.

A Thankful Recap

I should have written this post a couple days ago, but better late than never...so here it is...a short summary of the things I am thankful for.

I am thankful for:

• Noel.  My wife Noel has and continues to be a fun, lovely, supportive and wonderful friend.  She makes every day more manageable.   Without her with me over the last year, things wouldn't have been manageable.  
• My parents.  My mother and father have given me the skills to be a productive and happy person.   They're responsible for the person I am today.  
• The Kids.  The munchkins are wonderful.  Jacob, Bekah and Sophie are wonderfully smart, caring and loving little people who are almost always a joy to be around. ;-)   They make every day an adventure and are a joy to parent.  I look forward to getting to watch them grown into good and happy adults.
• My dad getting sick in San Diego.  As some of you may know on the Thursday of the week we were in San Diego for our wedding (we got married on Monday) my dad called me at 5 am saying he was sick and needed me to come down to his room.  Without going in to too much detail, Dad's gall bladder had called it a day.  As part of the diagnosis of Dad's troubles the hospital ran a bevy of diagnostics.  One of those was an MRI of his abdomen.  This discovered a spot on his kidney.  Turned out it was probably stage 2  or 3 cancer.  Had Dad not gotten sick there would have been no reason to MRI his abdomen and the cancer would still be on his kidney doing the nasty things it does.  Additionally while he was in the hospital in San Diego they discovered that his prostate wasn't exactly looking right.  Turns out there was cancer there too.  By the end of the year Dad will have all the cancer out and will be back to full working order.
• Doctors and Geeks.   See above.  Without thousands of people I've never met there wouldn't be MRIs and biopsies.  There were scores of doctors and nurses we've dealt with who have diagnosed and treated my dad effectively.  These folks have spent tons of years in school learning a profession that saves their neighbors.  Thanks.
• Cross and running.   I'm not saying I am thankful for Sven Nys, but I am thankful that I am blessed with good health and have the good fortune to be able to go out on the weekend and enjoy myself on a bike or on the road.  I'm healthier than most (although not as fit as I'd like to be) and even though it requires work, I'm joyous than my body continues to work well.   
• My Job.   I've got the good fortune to work for a Senator I believe in and work on issues I really care about.  I get to put my meager skills to the service of my nation in a way I really enjoy.  If you like what I do, getting to work in the US Senate is like playing third base for the Orioles (in the years before Angelos bought the team.) 

That's not the complete list, but it's a list that I needed to start.   To all of you who have had a part in the above, Thank You.

MABRA State Cross

I'm not up for writing too long of a report on today's race, but I will say that I enjoyed the race and did ok.   I didn't race super well and didn't race super poorly.  I'm going to have to spend sometime in the woods next years working a little more on my bike handling so that when I get to muddy sloppy courses like today's I won't be loosing so much time making stupid mistakes in the corners and the mud.

The course was much wetter and muddy than folks expected.  It had been windy and dry for at least 4 days, but we got what might have been the muddiest course of the season that than Granogue.

For those of you who are interested here are some photos: