Good rain and falling hammocks

Last week I was complaining about too much rain, but this week I welcome what we have gotten. Last week was excessive (32″ in 4 days, half of which was in one 24 hour period). This week it has been much more calm. At the end of a 3 mile run this morning it started raining. Not a hard rain, but a nice sprinkle. It was nice. Especially since today was a very cool morning. We got to an overnight low of 70 degrees and it was 72 at the end of my run.Sprawled out in the rain

I laid down in the back yard and enjoyed the rain for a few minutes until it stopped.

Later this morning I assumed the same sprawled out position on the floor of the bedroom. This time it was not so enjoyable. I was talking to my younger brother on the phone while lounging in my hammock. I had been swinging slightly and was laying in the best possible position for what happened next. One of the hooks that holds the hammock on the wall slipped out of its hole. I went crashing down! Because of the way I was laying in the hammock–perpendicular instead of longways–I hit the ground mostly flat. Because I was on my back, I did not damage a shoulder. I also had my pillow under my head with an exercise mat on the floor beneath me.

If I had been laying parallel with the hammock and the hook at the end closest to my head had failed, then I would have come down right on my noggin. Also, without the pillow and exercise mat, I could have been severely damaged. Fortunately everything was lined up just right so that the worst was avoided.

My son said that he felt the floor shake in the whole upstairs part of the house. My wife was downstairs and heard me yell out and figured it was one of the construction workers from the street behind us that had dropped something big. Needless to say, she did not come and check on me.

My brother, however, had the biggest laugh of the day out of it.

Blogging Birthday Bash

One of the blogs that I have been reading for about a year is having a three year birthday celebration this week. It is a very popular blog and he has been able to get more than $50,000 worth of prizes donated! One of the prizes is a pair of 20″ LG monitors with DisplayLink technology.

If you are a blogger, you owe it to yourself to visit ProBlogger regularly for great tips. With all the giveaways he has going this week, you might just win something good too. I am really hoping for those monitors, but there are plenty of other good prizes.

Look what we have again

More Diet Dr PepperYesterday my wife hit the store that has previously carried Diet Dr Pepper. Though we have somewhat given up hope, we still walk down the aisle where they are stocked. She was pleased to see some on the shelf. This is the first time since early June that the store has had any. She snatched up half of what was available.

The Cherry Cokes you see in the picture are my wife’s. She has been judiciously hoarding them. I believe she has plans to drink one a month so that the box she bought in July will last until next year when we go back to the border.

Maybe someday we will be able to get Diet Dr Pepper and Cherry Coke on a regular basis. After all, we have heard rumors of an ice skating rink coming soon. There was even talk about a Starbucks coming in. You think their coffee is expensive in the US, I can only imagine that it will cost twice as much, or more, here. We may go have a cup sometime just to try it, but it won’t be a regular part of our lives.

Thank you to all of you out there who sent good vibes our way to get me the Diet Dr Pepper again. This should keep me sane for a bit longer.

Review: No Finish Line: My Life As I See It

This morning I finished reading a very enjoyable autobiography by Marla Runyan. Among her list of accomplishments as a runner are participation in 2 Olympic games (only 1 as of the writing of the book). She currently holds the 5000 meter indoor track world record. She ran competitive hurdles and competed in the heptathlon. All of which is amazing to be sure. What is more amazing is when you learn that she is blind!

She really tries to downplay her blindness in every day life. If you met her today (from what I have read about her) she certainly does not make a big deal of it and chooses to focus on the fact that she is an athlete primarily. But, I am glad that she got into the whole story of her blindness within the book.

For those of you who are not runners, have no fear, this book is not as much about running as it is about her life and story. While the second half of the book is focused on her first trip of the Olympics by the time you get to that point you will be so entranced with the story of her life you just have to know how it ends. However, “the future has not been written.” Or, at least her life is far from over. Since the writing of the book she has competed in the 2004 Olympics, had a baby and is continuing with Olympic hopes for 2008.

Her blindness is caused by Stargardt’s disease, for which there is no cure. She has some peripheral vision, though it is not even good enough with which to read.

The book is not a political one. It really is simply her autobiography, but she does end the book with some great words.

I have also learned that running saves lives. It saved mine, and Matt’s [her boyfriend at the time]. Running has the potential to alter lifestyles and priorities. I believe that many of the diseases and conditions that plague our society–hypothyroidism, Type II diabetes, obesity–are the results of a lifestyle of poor judgment. Children run. This is a fact. Yet, somewhere between puberty and adulthood, they stop running and start slouching and dragging their feet. And they sustain themselves on staples of potato chips and Coca-Cola. And the cycle continues.

Perhaps it’s idealistic of me to believe that the world could be saved if only everyone started running. “I don’t have the time,” people say, or “I’m not a runner.” There are a million excuses. But the body was made to move. Muscles, tendons, heart, and lungs were designed to be challenged and to move our bodies through our environment naturally. I believe that running is the fountain of youth. You need not look any farther than inside your own body to find a way to feel and look younger. Beauty comes from the inside out. Running doesn’t require an expensive gym membership or a lot of equipment. Kenyan children run barefoot along the grass fields and unpaved roads of their villages….

Basically, what it comes down to is a choice: a decision to do the opposite of what mainstream America tells you to do every day. There is no secret, no pill, no quick fix. Put away the Snackwells and the fat-free potato chips, and shop in the produce section more often. Leave your car in the garage. Move your body. Breathe. Sweat. Eat less. Drink water. A line from Matt’s favorite movie, The Shawshank Redemption, says it best: Get busy living, or get busy dying.

This is the only “preaching” she does in the book. The rest is the very interesting story of her life. Whether you are a runner, or never plan to be, I think you can find the book very enjoyable and inspiring.

My thanks to Terry for loaning me the book. He told me it was an “easy read” to which I have to agree. I am typically not a fast reader, but this book captured my interest so much that I finished it in just a few days.

No Finish Line: My Life As I See It. Marla Runyan with Sally Jenkins. Berkly Books. 2001. 303 pages.

Marathon World Record set today

Haile Gebrselassie took first place in the Berlin Marathon today with a time of 2 hours 4 minutes and 26 seconds. This is a world record besting Paul Tergat’s previous world record by 29 seconds (also set in Berlin).

I first heard about Gebrselassie in an episode of Endurance Planet (MP3 file). Haile is 34 years old and set his 25th world record with this win today. He took $71,000 for winning the race and another $71,000 for setting a world record at the marathon.

He was previously a middle distance runner and this is only his 7th marathon attempt. Read more articles about the event.