A Kindred Spirit and a Twin

First I introduce my kindred spirit (disclaimer: although my wife is my true kindred spirit, this is the runner version, just roll with it): Ashley Higginson and you can find the article I read about her here.  She is a Princeton grad who was accepted to the University of Colorado Law School, but is putting it on hold to pursue the Olympics.  Sound like anyone you know?  If it doesn't you need to read my post This is how things are going. Okay, so I never applied to law school, but I was planning on going and I was studying for the LSAT.  Anyways, she says that the reason she's postponed everything is because “I was not ready to let go...I couldn't take the chance of asking myself later, ‘What if?’ That’s something I would regret.”  Interesting!


Now, my twin:  Elizabeth Yetzer and you can find that article here. The reason I say she's my twin is because this is what she's doing: "Right now I'm living with my parents, and a lot of people don't think that looks like an attractive lifestyle, but there's an aspect of faith to take that leap. It's a risk that requires patience."  Yep, there they are.  Cool.

The Beginning of Level 3: 400 Meters

It's currently 7:46 p.m. and I am getting ready to leave for my evening workout.  Today I decided to experiment and do my hard workout time trial in the evening.  I slept in a little this morning and went for an easy 30 minute run.  At 8:00 I will leave and go to the Maple Mountain High School track where I will do my first time trial for 400 meters.  I'm a little nervous; as if I was running a race, but I'll be the only one running.

Oh my goodness!  I am a happy man.  I ran fast and I am pleased with my time.  I ran 400 meters in 56.08. I arrived at the track around 8:20 p.m. and there were a lot of cars in the parking lot which was a little worrisome, but I wasn't to be deterred from my goal.  As I got closer to the track I saw a lot of young junior high/high school age guys.  I'm not going to lie, I started to panic.  How would I ever do an effective time trial when there were kids playing on the track?  I debated heading back to the house, getting in the car and driving to Springville High School, but I needed to get some water and use the bathroom so I decided to do that and see if it would clear up a little.  Well it did.  People were leaving.  A game had ended and by the time I had finished my light plyometrics there were only about 10 adults and kids left.  I'm glad I stayed.

My strategy was to go out fast for the first 100, cruise the backstretch and then bust it the last 200.  I pretty much did that, but felt myself tighten up and get tired the last 100 so I know where I'm weakest and I'm excited for a week from now

That's all I have to say

All I have to say today is that I feel aligned with my true self.  I'm kind of going crazy right now thinking about the near future and next year, but for the first time in a long time I feel like I'm finally doing with my life what I've been wanting to and what was meant to be done.  I have no idea how this all is going to work out.  Maybe I'll end up moving to Idaho Falls and I'll meet someone who has similar interests and we start something and I'm doing what I love every day and it was nothing what I even thought I would ever be doing, but I'm loving it.  ANYWAYS, all I have to say is that right now, even though I'm tired and anxious, I feel aligned with what I should be doing.

Branca Barefoot: I am a running sandal tester

Many of you know I am an advocate of barefoot running.  It changed my running life and was a godsend back in 2008.  It continues to be a central part of my running.  Branca Barefoot contacted me knowing that I was game for just about anything moral and legal.  They sent me a pair of the bad-boys you'll see in this video.  This is from start to finish.  I think it took my about 20-25 minutes from start to finish including an 8 minute run.

I really enjoyed these.  I'm excited to see how they hold up over the next weeks/months.  My right heel slipped a little to the outside of the sandal, but not off the sandal.  I was actually and honestly pleasantly surprised at how well these did.  Check it out:

The Written Version of My Craziest Pre-Race Experience Yet

So I did a video about this and you can watch it by going to My Craziest Pre-Race Experience Yet.  Here's the written version that I'll be posting on the Sojourners' blog as well (which is a part of Runner's Corner in Orem, Utah), which is the running club I currently belong to and the club that has sponsored me with some racing and training shoes:

Background info:  The race was the Deseret News 10K, held in conjunction with the Deseret News Marathon.  Packet Pick-up with race number, timing chip etc. was set for Friday and Saturday up in Salt Lake.  Amy and I decided we didn't want to go up to Salt Lake, pick up a race packet, come back to Provo and then go back up again on Monday for the race.  I found out I would be able to pick up my packet the morning of the race so I planned to wake up early as the race started at 6:00 a.m. I printed off Mapquest directions, but failed to look at the estimated travel time.

For some reason I have this erroneous fact embedded in my brain that it takes precisely 30 minutes to drive from Provo to Salt Lake.  That might be true if there wasn't construction, stoplights going out of Provo and into Salt Lake, and traffic in general.  I think maybe I made it there close to 30 minutes one time because my buddies (Joe and Aaron) and I were late for a wedding, so we sped.  Anyways... back to the story.

So Sunday night (7/24/11) I got everything ready to go.  My parents had let us borrow their mini-van and my plan was to leave at 4:30 a.m., get there at 5:00 and be able to take a little power nap before I warmed up and got all ready for the race.

The night was rough.  I have an 18-month-old stud muffin who refuses to sleep through the night and he was having a rough night for whatever reason.  I usually stay in bed/the room no matter what, but I talked to Amy briefly and we decided it would be best if I went out to the living room.

Originally I laid down on the floor which I like because it feels better for my back.  I sleep on my stomach with my head turned to the side.  The family below me had to have been watching a movie, an action one at that, because I could hear guns and sirens etc. and good for them, that's their right and I'm glad they were watching a movie in the living room and not the bedroom.  So I moved to the couch.

I woke up at like 2:30 a.m. and went to the bathroom.  Then I transferred back down to the floor and slept until my alarm went off.  Everything went smoothly except I ended up leaving 5 or 10 minutes later than I had wanted, but that was fine because I had planned in a lot of extra time to arrive.  I had my green smoothie with chia seeds, spinach, strawberries, blueberries, juice concentrate + water that I had prepared the night before and then blended in the Magic Bullet in the closet so I wouldn't wake up Amy and Kimball.  I was set and I drove off in the dark.

By 5:50 I had made it to about American Fork-ish so that's when I started to worry a little, but I thought that if I had to forego my nap plan that would be fine, just as long as I could find a bathroom and go before the race.  I arrived in Salt Lake around 6:30.  That's when I realized I was an idiot and after all these years living in Utah and driving from Provo to Salt Lake I still had not learned that it takes 45 minutes+ to get there.  So I'm driving along, following the directions and I feel myself start to go further than I thought I should be going. Turns out up by the University of Utah they have names for the streets, but down close to the center it changes into numbers.  I realized I was lost, the race was going to start in 30 minutes with or without me AND I really needed to go the bathroom (and it was #2 to make matters worse.)

By about 6:45 I said a little prayer, told Heavenly Father this race was important to me and I needed His help because I was lost.  I turned down a street and had an impression to look at the course map instead of the Mapquest directions.  The Course map had some of the major roads mapped out on the grid and after studying it for about 2 minutes I realized I was going parallel to the race.  I turned and just gunned it East in the direction I now knew I needed to go.

I finally found the road I was looking for, but surprise, surprise, it was blocked off by the police for the race.  I was stopped at a light behind two cars.  I put the van in park, got out of the car, walked towards a police officer and yelled, "How do I get to the race?"  He said, "You gotta turn around and turn left at Sunnyside."  I got back in the van, turned on my left blinker because I was in the lane going straight and I needed  to make a u-turn.  I finally was able to make a u-turn and headed towards Sunnyside.

By this point I think it was about 5:52.  I knew that it was going to come down to the wire.  I forgot to mention that I had warm-ups on and was planning on changing into my race clothes after I got my packet.  Well I needed to buy time where I could so I started changing as I drove.  I took off one shoe, chucked it in the back.  Took off that foot's sock, chucked it.  The other shoe, the other sock.  At Sunnyside the light was red, so I adjusted my seatbelt and took my shirt off.  Then I took my Sojourners jersey and put it on as the light turned green and I turned left up the hill.

I saw a bunch of runners all headed in the general direction so I followed and eventually found a parking spot.  I turned the car off and hopped into the back of the van as I took off my pants and put my shorts on.  I think it goes without saying a naked from the waist down for a few seconds and after I had put my shorts on I looked to the left and saw that there were people in the car to my right.  I was a little shocked for half a second, but the adrenaline was pumping and I forced my socks on, then my flats without tying them and bolted out of the van (locking it of course, but in a bolt-like fashion.)

I just started running fast in the direction all the people were heading.  Then I saw the long line of porta-potties.  I was saved.  It was 5:56 and I thought if I could get in one right away I would only need 1 minute and 20 seconds.  Then I saw the long lines of people.   There were like 30-40 porta-potties and about 10 separate lines of people each at least 12 people long.  I decided the race was more important than going to the bathroom and I figured if it was urgent enough I could find one along the course because I STILL NEEDED TO GET MY RACE NUMBER AND CHIP!!!  So I asked this lady and she pointed in a direction and I ran away mid-sentence, but when I got there there was one lady stretching.  Definitely not it, so I asked her and she said to go to the start line.  So I went there.  The time is now 5:57 and I found the son of the race director who I had met a while back during Cross Country season.  I don't think he recognized me, but I talked to him like I knew him.  I asked him how I could get my number, and I think he was a little shocked, probably thinking, "Are you joking?!"  Nope, not joking brother, long story I'll tell you later.  But that exchange of words never happened and he told me to go to a certain streetlight.

As I was running a guy started singing the national anthem.  I put my hand over my heart and continued to run.  There were three guys under the streetlight.  Nothing there were wearing identified them as race-helper people, but I saw envelopes and knew that's where I needed to be.  Then they announced they would be starting the wheelchair division, and the running 10K one minutes after.  The time was approximately 5:58.  I think they were like 1 or 2 minutes behind and thank goodness!

I got my packet, ripped out my chip and race number.  The tiniest zip-ties ever created were included so I could attach my chip to my shoe.  It felt like I was threading a needle as I poked this tiny zip-tie through this tiny hole then through my shoe laces, and then I realized I had done it from the wrong side, had to take it out, flip it around and re-do it.  I finally got it, pinned my race number on frantically and ran towards the front.  I sandwiched myself in the mosh-pit start and 10 seconds later the gun went off, except it wasn't a gun, it was a guy saying "Ready, set, go!"  I really like the gun, but I wasn't about to argue.

As I started I said another prayer and asked God to help me not have to go to the bathroom until after the race.  My strategy this race was to start out a little slower.  I have a tendency to think I'm in better shape than I actually am and I wasn't about to make that mistake again and kill myself.  I just let the hills take me.  I made it a game in the first 2-3 miles to consistently catch people AND keep track of them.  I caught 30 in the first mile, about 25 during the second and then I think I lost count during mile 3 and started racing.

I was actually pretty consistent in my miles and the race was awesome.  I tried to tell as many people as possible during the race that I thought they were doing great.  I love it when people say "You too."  It's inspiring to me. I want to lift people up and I want to be lifted up back.

As I was running the last 100 meters I heard someone yell out my name.  I turned briefly and caught a glimpse as to who it was, but I wasn't sure.

My previous PR was 36:30 for 10 kilometers.  Today I ran 35:13.  Not bad.  A 1:17 PR without a proper warm-up and without using the bathroom.  Maybe that's the secret.

I went back to where I had heard my name and it was a mission companion of mine from when I served a mission for my church in Argentina.  He was the companion that I ran the most with while we lived in Argentina.  Then I used the bathroom.  Then I did a cool-down barefoot at Liberty Park which is an awesome park.  And that's the end.  Crazy pre-race, awesome race, great post-race.  I was and am happy.

Faster Than I've Ever Been

I hope to be able to say that for a very long time.  Currently I can say that and it's awesome.  I just keep thinking about last night when I was running in the evening after having done a hard workout in the morning I was running fast.  My leg turnover was so efficient.  I felt very fast.  I am proud to say that currently I am faster than I've ever been, at least I think so.  That's how it will continue to be for a long time; mark my words.  I am amazed and grateful.

Tonight I decided not to run.  I felt a little tightness in my right foot and I'm tired.  I like the saying "better safe than sorry"...sometimes.  I like that saying right now, so I'm going to play it safer than sorrier and try to go to bed early.

Running tip for the day:  It's never to late to start.  Just step outside wearing whatever you want.  I really enjoy seeing people running in their pajamas.  At our last apartment I used to see this mom outside in these hot pink pajama pants running.  It was awesome.  I wish I could go back and yell something like, "Nice jamies!" Now that would be funny, but only if I said it in a non-mocking tone.  That was random, but I thought it would be fun to share.

Level 2 Completed: I Feel Content and I'm Ready to Move On

First of all I think I'm growing up.  I may have finally hit puberty.  I actually have hair on my chest AND my armpits stink after I run.  That's an achievement.  Two things that previously weren't happening with my body.

Today has been an awesome day.  Probably because it started awesome.  I did a 200 meter time trial today and I did not run as fast as I wanted, but after I was done I did not feel frustrated or angry but rather at peace.  That's when I knew I was ready to move on.  The following is my progression of 200 meter time trials:

Date          Time
7/14/11     26.95
7/21/11     26.94
8/4/11       26.65  

I realized that the fastest 100 meter time trial I had ever done from a standing-start was 13.03 (see my 100 meter time trial progression) so then you double that: 26.06 and that's pretty close to my fastest time today of 26.65.  I feel really good about my decision to move on to Level 3: 400 meter time trials.

Now, I went for run #2 at 8:40.  I went North towards Springville, then turned around and came back up a gradual hill.  I felt my body start speeding up, automatically! It was sweet.  Then I got a little sick from dinner, not that the dinner made me sick but I finished eating around 7:30 and ran at 8:40.  Not enough time, but I'll take what I can get.  Then at the end of the run I felt my body start speeding up.  My form felt good.  I was flying and I was sincerely feeling a TON of gratitude to[wards] God for blessing me and allowing me to run.

How I Became Invincible...Kind of...

I didn't really know what to name this post.  I thought about "Repentance" or "My Personal NOS" or "And Everything Started Working Out" or something like that.  But I felt like "How I Became Invincible...Kind of..." would be better.  This will be short but sweet.

A couple months ago my wife and I faced some challenges.  Part of that challenge had to do with some unresolved issues/sins that were plaguing me in my life.  I say "plaguing" me, but it was all me.  It was all my choice and I was faced with a decision I have faced often in my life and that was a need to repent and change.  This time I was serious and I made some intense steps towards becoming clean and on track with God's will for me in my life.

It has been one of the single best decisions in my life.  Ever since I made that decision my dreams have begun to be realized.  Miracles have happened.   I have experienced the tender mercies of God.  I have tasted of His love and felt His power in my life.  Yes, my dream is motivating, but it has been, is and ever will be God that allows me to succeed when I am doing what He has asked me to do.  I hope that I can be faithful.  I have a testimony that when we follow His commandments, He will bless us and help us realize our dreams. 

I found a park

I went running tonight and thought I would go to a nearby housing development.  I thought the roads would be nice and headed in the that direction.  Before I even really got into the neighborhood I came across this park.  It's about a third of mile around and the grass was very nice so I sipped off my shoes and socks and ran a couple miles barefoot.  It was glorious.  Mapleton, Utah: Where have you been my whole life?

That's all for now, gotta go to bed.

At the In-laws and Maple Mountain

Okay, I'm not going to lie and I am going to be honest.  I had a little breakdown Sunday morning before church.  It was probably a combination of things: lack of sleep, added stress--you know, the usual stressors.  By Saturday night we had moved 95% of our stuff to Idaho and come back all on the same day, went for a run, and then I didn't go to bed as early as I should have.  Anyways, Sunday morning I started to have a breakdown.  Negativity started to creep in.  We were at my in-laws' place in Mapleton and I started to think of all the bad things that could happen and how it was going to ruin my life and my running dreams and on and on. 

I was a wreck and grumpy.  So I took some time right before church to write down the things that were really stressing me out.  Then I went to church.  Funny how answers to some of my most difficult dilemmas come at church.  I think I'll keep going.  Anyways, I figured out how I could run the same amount and a little more, cut out some unnecessary things to make up for the time I was going to lose in a longer transit to work and by Sunday night I was feeling a lot better. 

This morning I had an incredible run.  It was very peaceful and focused.  The weather was great.  Rolling black clouds in the distance and sun breaking over the mountains.  I ran to Maple Mountain High School where they not only have a beautiful new track, but to the side of that they have several soccer fields and football fields where I ditched my shoes and soaked up the goodness of planet earth while doing some plyometrics.  I think everything will work out great.  I'm tired right now, but I feel great about life.

This is how things are going

For those of you reading for the first time, welcome.  For those returning, I also welcome you.  I had all of you in mind as I did this post.  A lot of people will ask me periodically, "How's the running going?" or "Are you still planning on going after the Olympics?" etc. and for those of you I have not told or for those of you I have kept less informed this is the latest on my running life:

On Father's Day I was with my father and we were talking about life.  I told him I wasn't excited about law school or the LSAT.  Even though I was feeling good about those things and they were going relatively well, I was just not at peace with myself and my choices.  My dad proceeded to ask me what I really wanted to do and I told him what I have always told him--that I wanted to run full-time, see what I could achieve with full-time training and not have any regrets.  He told me that he would be willing to house and feed me and my family for about a year and then I could do just that.

Well my wife, Amy, and I decided it probably wasn't a good choice for our family, but my dad suggested we do a pros and cons list for staying in Utah and moving to Idaho.  We did just that.  As we did, we realized a few things and began to feel surprisingly good about the idea of moving to Idaho despite all the reservations we previously had.  Then, as we moved forward with the idea, miracles began to happen that communicated, at least to us, that we were making the right choice. (I talk about these more in detail on my 14 Miracles part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4.)

Today my father-in-law and I drove my parent's mini-van pulling a 5'x8' U-haul trailer to Idaho Falls at 5:30 in the morning, unloaded it with the help of neighbors and friends from the church, then we came back to Utah.  We'll be staying in Utah until the 18th of August, then going on vacation from the 19th to the 29th, then we will officially be living in Idaho Falls where I will work part-time and train full-time.

The main goal will be to achieve my potential and ten years from now be able to look back and not have any regrets whatsoever.  This is my passion, my dream, my goal and I am giving up almost everything to chase it while I'm still young.

I would be grateful for your support and there are many ways you can do it.  There's a Support and Sponsor! tab up there for more information on that, but the best thing is to spread the word and let people know.  I figure the more people that know about the goal the more support I will get, the prayers will be said and deep down inside I feel like I will be able to achieve my dreams.  If I do everything I have imagined since high school I will be at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon next year and running in the Olympic final(s) for the 5,000 meter and/or 10,000 meter.  Help me chase the dream.  Thanks.

When There's a Burning in Your Heart

There was a morning before the 4th of July that I was driving to the track to do a time trial for 100 meters.  As I approached the track, a song came on by Death Cab for Cutie called You Are a Tourist and it was inspiring.  I've posted the YouTube video that has the song and lyrics below so you can partake of the goodness. (The music video is a little weird so watch at your own risk.)  The reason why it inspired me is because there's a burning in my heart, and that burning talks to me and tells me I can.  That's the fire the propels me forward with a crazy dream at a crazy time in my life.  I know I can.  I know I can go faster.  I can feel it inside of me.  When I'm running it's like I can feel my potential.  It's real.  I can feel the fact that someday in the very near future I will be able to drop several minutes from my PRs and amaze everyone including myself.  I just know I can run faster and there's a burning in my heart.

The Week of the Move

I apologize in advance.  I may not have a ton of new and exciting material for you because we're moving all of our stuff up to Idaho this Saturday.  I will stay and work in Provo until August 17th because that's what my boss has asked me to do and I was happy to oblige.  We'll be staying at my in-laws' place until then.  I am very grateful to and for them and all they do.  It's crazy to believe this is all really happening.  I'm not exactly sure what to think.  I'm tired right now and my calves are sore from the race yesterday.  Anyways, crazy life.

My Craziest Pre-Race Experience Yet

Okay, just to give a little background for today.  My best 10K up until this morning was 36:30, which I did as a freshman at BYU in the Rex Lee Run.  I have done 10Ks since, but they have almost always been part of Olympic distance triathlons.  So I went into this race wanting to break my PR and I did it.  I ran it in 35:13, and I came in 46th overall (check out the Deseret News 10K results).  Pretty fast field.

But the craziest, funniest things are yet to come. Making it to the race was a little intense. I left with enough time to pick up my race number, change into my racing clothes, and possibly take a little nap before the race. But I got lost, and I hadn't even picked up my race number by 1 minute until the race started, and I didn't even park 5 minutes before. For the full story, check out the video below.  I wanted it to be fresh and exciting so I called my best friend Brant and had him on speaker phone as I told him, which is why it might sound like I'm yelling--I'm not, I'm just talking loud.  He asked me questions and brought out some more details that made the story even better and more complete:

"I'm a little envious"

Today I had to meet a client outside of work to make it easier for everyone.  As I was waiting, I ran into a friend who is a really good triathlete.  I know he went to Age Group Nationals which is really hard to do, I know because I tried.  I also know that he did really well at the national biathlon (swim-run, I think, or maybe bike-run, duathlon) and was invited to compete in Spain for that.

Anyways, he asked how training was going and I told him that I was going to be moving up to Idaho to train full-time, work part-time.  He said, "I'm a little envious."  He said something to the effect that he wished he could go back and do something like that, train full-time and see what could have happened.

I'm grateful that I have great parents who invited me to stay with them so I could pursue my dream.  I'm grateful I have a great wife who supports me in my dream.  I'm glad I have a son who's 17 months old and to my knowledge is game for the adventure, and really from what I can tell, could care less as long as he has his parents, food and a place to sleep.  I'm grateful that I never stopped asking the Lord for a way to make my dream come true.  I don't know what's going to happen, but I am so dang excited!

An Unfortunate 26.94 200 meters

Okay, I'm going to be brief.  I let things slide this week and for the last week's time.  I've been sugar bingeing again.  There were brownies at work and I just couldn't help myself, I ate 4 or 6, I lost count for two days in a row along with granola bars and other wonderful sugary snacks.  This morning when I ran I felt sluggish.  Granted, if you compare my time today a 26.94 to last week's time trial time of 26.95  it's .01 seconds faster, but I KNOW I could have gone faster and I'm going to prove it to myself.  One weeks from today I'm going to run significantly faster, which for a 200 may only be a half-second faster, but I'm going to eat better so I can recover better and dominate my time!  That's all I have to say.  I will be better I promise.

14 Miracles (part 4)

The continuation of the miracles or tender mercies I have seen as my family and I have gone forward with the decision to chase my dream and move to Idaho Falls:

Miracle #8:  My parents, and siblings still living at home, feel good about it.  It's a lot to offer where they are willing to house me, my wife and child for about a year-ish and help pay for some expenses.  They are my biggest sponsor right now (besides God.)

Miracle #9:  We sold our food storage shelf.  Amy and I have been purging all of our belongings.  If it doesn't mean anything to us and if we haven't really used it then we're either giving it away or selling it.  Part of the goal is to accumulate a $1000.00 emergency fund recommended by the finance guru himself, Dave Ramsey.  Anyways, we had a food storage shelf that we were kind of using, and we knew it would only go into storage and we wouldn't take it to Idaho... Anyways, it sold for a good amount and that was a small miracle in my opinion.

Miracle #10:  I met with one of the owners of a new running store in Idaho Falls when I went there over the 4th of July weekend.  Who knows what will happen, but there could be some open positions coming available about the time I move there.

Miracle #11:  For my birthday present I was able to run the Firecracker 5K in Idaho Falls on July 4th, 2011 and I will be running the Deseret News 10K on July 25 so two road races in one month is more than usual, for me lately and that's awesome.

Grassy Hill(s) on a Rainy Day

Alright, so I thought it would be cool to have some video coverage of my training.  You got Plyometrics last Friday so today you get hills.  It's actually pretty flat for the first 120 meters-ish, and then it goes pretty steep which I like.  The grass is great so I can, and did do it completely barefoot.  I did six of these bad boys with 3:00 rest in between.  I figure it wasn't quite 200 meters because I was hitting 27s and 28s and with a little hill I don't know if I could hit that, BUT maybe we'll see.  If in Thursday I can bust a 24 second 200 meter then maybe I'm wrong... Vamos a ver.

My Wonderful Wife

I have a wonderful wife.  Today I was feeling tired and not completely up for an evening run, but then I got an inspired text from my wife which said, and I quote, "What if you went for a run while I walked with Kimball tonight at 7:30 or so? We could have a quick FHE and then go exercise."

It made me so happy.  I love my wife.  Even more.  We ended up going shortly after I came home and then doing FHE afterwards and eating dinner after as well.  It was great.  We both looked at each other during dinner and talked about how good we felt.  My wife helps me to run fearless.

14 Miracles (part 3)

Alright, continuing on I'd like to share 3 more miracles or tender mercies that lead me to believe this is the right decision:

Miracle #5:  I'm not going to tell all the details because I don't know if I should, but suffice it to say that I talked to an important person and to make a long story short I'll be running a big race for free in hopes that I can run a very fast time and attract some sponsors, or at least get on track for something like that.

Miracle #6: I met with Ed Eyestone, former marathon Olympian and NCAA champion, and he gave me a lot of really good advice, some of which I was happy to hear, some of which was hard to hear, and all of which I was grateful to hear.  I wrote a post about it called Meeting with an Olympian, check it out.

Miracle #7: Both Amy and I feel very good about it.  Now that should be no surprise to you that I feel good about it; this is what I've been waiting for for about 10 years.  Amy, however, has not always felt this is a good idea, but as of late she's just as excited as me and pushing me out the door to do a second workout in the evening.  I love her and I'm grateful for her love and support.