Looking toward the fall

So
back to running…. One of the things I hope to teach her through running
is that if you want something, you’ll need to be persistent, keep
working at it, and realize that it will not be handed to you in most
instances in life.

Honestly, being an uncle 12 times over and now having one of my own, if that's the only thing a child ever learns from their parents, they're already well ahead of the game in terms of succeeding in life. And that's a fantastic thing you've done in giving her, in all likelihood, a much better chance of having a good life by providing her a much more stable upbringing than it sounds like she would have had otherwise.

John Kilpatrick wrote:I was reading your blog and the song Father and Daughter by Paul Simon just happened to play on the radio. Got tears in my eyes reading that - Happy Birthday indeed! You all have some story. She is lucky to have a father full of love - I don't even want to think about my son being 9 - his first 5+ have gone by so fast. Thanks for the reminder of what is really important in this world!

Thanks for the encouragement John! It has been a great experience for me to be a dad. It was one thing that we were not sure would happen in our lives. But God had a plan and the timing turned out to be perfect.

mul21 wrote:

So
back to running…. One of the things I hope to teach her through running
is that if you want something, you’ll need to be persistent, keep
working at it, and realize that it will not be handed to you in most
instances in life.

Honestly, being an uncle 12 times over and now having one of my own, if that's the only thing a child ever learns from their parents, they're already well ahead of the game in terms of succeeding in life. And that's a fantastic thing you've done in giving her, in all likelihood, a much better chance of having a good life by providing her a much more stable upbringing than it sounds like she would have had otherwise.

Hannah has two half brothers younger than her that have had a little more unstable life. The birth mom got off drugs and has been married a couple times so she is doing better. She has kind of backed off on the visits with us as I'm sure it's difficult to give up a child even if it is the right decision, which it clearly was at that point in her life. I cannot imagine giving up a child for adoption and I'm sure she has regrets which makes it harder to deal with. We hope she decides at some point to reengage in Hannahs life but that's her decision to make, not ours. We do keep contact with her extended family and that has gone very well. We felt like if we could be any encouragement to them, that it would be worth the effort. So we have made more friends in the process.


As for my running blog, ran six over lunch with a tempo that turned out to be fairly consistent. It went 9:21/7:46/7:41/7:39/7:38/7:39. It is possible that I might go out tonight for an easy recovery run. It is significantly cooler and less humid 75/61 today.

This has been a week of transition schedule wise, so I have not been able to get any doubles in this week yet. Hoping that today will be a day to fit one in and perhaps tomorrow also.



Got a local runner who wins a lot of the local 5 and 10K races around here interested in training for a full. He has decent speed and I told him if he didn't mind running slow I would be happy to run with him. He wants to build up his base mileage without injury so I told him running very slowly would give him a much better chance of doing just that.



So we ran slow and easy 8 miler yesterday. He said that usually when he runs over 5 miles he runs out of gas and also mentioned when he gets over 30 miles per week he gets injured. I told him it sounded like he was training too fast. After the slow 8 miler he mentioned he felt like he could have done more. So hopefully he'll be able to get the big picture soon. I feel like he is someone who with the right training could eventually break the 3 hour mark. So I hope to be an encouragement to him. We discussed the benefits of building his base mileage and not worrying about speed work at all until he has done that.



So we will see if he decides to get serious about it. The weather was warm around 85/64 with a bit of a south breeze but when you run with someone the time goes much faster.

Jon your post entry about the story of Hannah, brought tears to my eyes. What a wonderful story and what wonderful people you and your wife are to rise her. Not only that I think it is great that there is an open relationship with her birth family. I truly believe that has to important to her and to you and your wife. Man I still have tears in my eyes, I'm so glad I read that post today.

"Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right"

Schuey wrote:Jon your post entry about the story of Hannah, brought tears to my eyes. What a wonderful story and what wonderful people you and your wife are to rise her. Not only that I think it is great that there is an open relationship with her birth family. I truly believe that has to important to her and to you and your wife. Man I still have tears in my eyes, I'm so glad I read that post today.

"Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right"

Thanks for your comments Martin. Appreciate that.



We simply try to live each day with gratitude for the opportunity that we have been given.

Jon that is a beautiful story about your daughter. You and your wife are giving her what her biological mother couldn't give and I'm really glad you all have each other.

I met a mom in a mom's group last fall and she had an older child who she had given up to open adoption and she seemed very at peace and confident that that was the best situation for her child as she was also unmarried and had a bunch of stuff going on that wouldn't have been the best for that child. Now she is more stable and has a healthy little girl, too.

I believe all children are blessings and that is wonderful you can be her dad. One of friends has older parents and she thinks it's awesome having older parents, too.

Jon, what a blessing Hannah has been to you and Connie, and vice versa.
Your story is beautiful as it is inspirational. Happy belated birthday
to Hannah! Thanks so much for sharing this part of your life.

Thanks Julie and Seth for your comments. There are quite a few people here in our community that have adopted through the Nebraska Childrens Home and just about all have had a great experience with them.



Ran 9 yesterday at lunchtime and went 13 this AM with the guy I ran with Thursday. It was all he could do to hold back the pace. I am hoping he can build up a base and I encouraged him to run more miles slower at least until his base is built up to 50-60.



I'm going to run a few more toward evening. The last few weeks have gone pretty well overall so I am hoping that it continues along the same lines.

Great you're helping this man run longer distances and pace himself! I think it takes time to figure all that out especially if he's used to being fast at shorter distances. Sounds like a great opportunity for both of you! I love running with friends, and I don't know all the reasons why but running just seems to lend itself to great conversations we wouldn't otherwise have if we were just sitting down.

Wonderfull story, Jon - you are truly blessed and bless-ed.

Julie wrote:Great you're helping this man run longer distances and pace himself! I think it takes time to figure all that out especially if he's used to being fast at shorter distances. Sounds like a great opportunity for both of you! I love running with friends, and I don't know all the reasons why but running just seems to lend itself to great conversations we wouldn't otherwise have if we were just sitting down.

I definitely think it makes the time go faster to run with someone. I hope that my friend can stay uninjured as he attempts to build up the mileage. I also think he'll be able to help me complete my tempo runs which to him will be pretty easy. So it will go both ways I would think.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Wonderfull story, Jon - you are truly blessed and bless-ed.

Thanks Michele! The only regret is that time goes by so quickly.



Did a four miler last night to loosen up. It felt really sluggish and bad. I imagine it was because the 13 was a bit longer than I had run while still doing a double. Today however I did a seven miler at noon and a three miler before dinner. Both of those felt really pretty good in comparison. So I was encouraged and had been hoping that these runs would not mirror yesterday evening.



I plan to go back up to where I was last week mileage wise with a little longer run on Sat. again. We will see how the week unfolds.

jon c[quote="Michele "1L" Keane wrote:Wonderfull story, Jon - you are truly blessed and bless-ed.

Thanks Michele! The only regret is that time goes by so quickly.

[/quote]



Don't I know it - my daughter turned 18 this summer and will be a senior in high school!

Good work lately - nice to pass along stuff you've learned over the years. I had one running buddy that has moved and really miss him... It was sort of a magical thing that we ran and raced at paces similar to eachother and had great conversations during training runs. Good luck this week!

I hope the week goes well! I can imagine having tired legs doing doubles as often as you do. Do you take full days off regularly?

Nice job with your running Jon and nice story about your daughter.

John Kilpatrick wrote:Good work lately - nice to pass along stuff you've learned over the years. I had one running buddy that has moved and really miss him... It was sort of a magical thing that we ran and raced at paces similar to eachother and had great conversations during training runs. Good luck this week!

Ran again with him today. It's really hard for him to slow down, but by mile 7 or 8 he was feeling it a bit.

Julie wrote:I hope the week goes well! I can imagine having tired legs doing doubles as often as you do. Do you take full days off regularly?

Usually take Mondays off. I'll probably incorporate at least one or two seven day weeks before the cycle is done. The second run of the day typically starts off stiff and with a bit of soreness but after a mile or so it doesn't feel a lot different than the first run of the day. It's a matter of acclimation from what I can tell.

Alex Kubacki wrote:Nice job with your running Jon and nice story about your daughter.

Thanks Alex! Hannah is special to us but no more special than any other kids represented here in this community.



Went out today for 9 at lunchtime and then added 4 this evening. It was overcast today and humid but the cloudiness kept the temperature down. It's so much better than it was the past month. The plan is to up the mileage to the level of two weeks ago so we'll see how the week progresses.

Happy to see that things are still rolling along Jon.

Hey are you ready to see your Cornhuskers play in the Big10 this year? I'm excited about it and my buddy Ed Stewart who played on Cornhuskers National Championship team is pretty pumped about it also. It's been awhile since you guys one a National Championship and well it has just gotten a little harder now being a part of the Big 10.

Schuey wrote:Happy to see that things are still rolling along Jon.

Hey are you ready to see your Cornhuskers play in the Big10 this year? I'm excited about it and my buddy Ed Stewart who played on Cornhuskers National Championship team is pretty pumped about it also. It's been awhile since you guys one a National Championship and well it has just gotten a little harder now being a part of the Big 10.

Thanks Schuey! Yes it will be interesting to see how things unfold for the Huskers. One thing for sure is that it will be different to see Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio State etc. on the schedule. I honestly don't think the competition is any tougher or less tough in either the Big 10 or Big 12. Both conferences are tough to win consistently in. Think the Huskers have a reasonable chance of doing well this year, but really who knows until they play the games.



Ed Stewart was quite the fast linebacker. He would have fit in well in Pelini's defensive scheme even today.

I hope the mileage building the next 2 weeks go well and injury-free!

I am loving this weather. It's been almost a week since we've had our a/c on so I'm hoping for a lower electric bill next month.

I've just read your whole blog, Jon...your first entry drew me in like a bee to a flower. The adoption of Hannah truly brought tears to my eyes. You and your wife are remarkable people especially how you have and are handling keeping Hannah in touch with her relatives. As Michele said, time flies so fast...our daughter is 37. I often think of those years when she'd sit beside me...just to be sitting there.

I'm totally enjoying reading about your training and ultra experience. Ultras are on my bucket list (with that sprint tri). Quite a few folks in our running club have taken up running ultras. Being a distance junky (not at the moment, but when both legs are working ), it just seems like it would fit and I'm eating up what you have to say.

Also, congratulations on taking the fellow in hand and helping him accomplish training for his first marathon. We all started there at one time...giving back is important. You are a very special person.

Lastly, I don't think you have any worries re:OSU...I don't see a very good season on tap for them

Julie wrote:I hope the mileage building the next 2 weeks go well and injury-free!

I am loving this weather. It's been almost a week since we've had our a/c on so I'm hoping for a lower electric bill next month.

I really hope that you are right. After what happened this afternoon, we'll see. Injury free that is. Reasonably sure the electric bill will be less than last month.

Paula Sue wrote:I've just read your whole blog, Jon...your first entry drew me in like a bee to a flower. The adoption of Hannah truly brought tears to my eyes. You and your wife are remarkable people especially how you have and are handling keeping Hannah in touch with her relatives. As Michele said, time flies so fast...our daughter is 37. I often think of those years when she'd sit beside me...just to be sitting there.

I'm totally enjoying reading about your training and ultra experience. Ultras are on my bucket list (with that sprint tri). Quite a few folks in our running club have taken up running ultras. Being a distance junky (not at the moment, but when both legs are working ), it just seems like it would fit and I'm eating up what you have to say.

Also, congratulations on taking the fellow in hand and helping him accomplish training for his first marathon. We all started there at one time...giving back is important. You are a very special person.

Lastly, I don't think you have any worries re:OSU...I don't see a very good season on tap for them

Thanks for the kind words, Paula Sue! It seems clear to me that you don't know me very well. I believe I have read part of your blog and saw that you are riding out an injury. Hopefully you'll be back on the roads in good time. I'm sure that I can learn a lot from you as well. BTW, the fellow that is running with me has actually run a full before but he crashed and burned the last eight miles. He realizes now that he needed more long runs and mileage. Hope that things work out well for him.



As for today, I ran eight at lunchtime and had plans to add on 4 this evening. As fate would have it, at around mile 7 while running on a paved road, I tripped over something, probably a crack in the road and fell forward onto the pavement. Caught myself with my right hand and slightly scraped my right knee. No blood, so simply got up and began to run again and shortly finished the run. Not one of my most graceful moments. I have had some mild left knee bursitis which makes my knee slightly sore at times, but in falling I stirred it up pretty good. No visible swelling, just some pain upon extending the leg from a 90 degree angle for about 20 degrees or so. Certain it is not a major knee problem, but I suspect the bursa may be sore for several days at least. So I am going to play it by ear. Decided against attempting it tonight and we will see what the morning brings. I am thankful it is not worse.

Bummer with the fall - hopefully you dodged a major bullet there. I apologize in advance, but I just have to do this. I am a VT grad and you could always turn around a point James Madison back at me .....

I hope Nebraska does really well in the Big 10!

Jon hopefully the fall only results in some soreness and nothing major.



I love all the college football talk.

I hope you're OK from the fall. My shoulder is still sore and that was 4 weeks ago, I think. Take it easy if you need to!

I wish I could join you in the football talk but I just can't get into it. When my sister was in college one of her friends took notes for Eric Crouch's biology class (he failed). That was awhile ago and I just don't keep up with it.

John Kilpatrick wrote:Bummer with the fall - hopefully you dodged a major bullet there. I apologize in advance, but I just have to do this. I am a VT grad and you could always turn around a point James Madison back at me .....

I hope Nebraska does really well in the Big 10!

John, I heard from a policeman that works in Lincoln who knows some of the law enforcement security guys that travel with the team that the University of Nebraska had to pay some money to Va Tech after that game due to a certain coach who got a little upset after that game in the locker room. Don't know how true it is, but I think that coach Pelini really doesn't take losing very well. Which is good to a point, but can be counterproductive if lines are crossed. That was a tough way to lose, and an exciting way to win a game.

Alex Kubacki wrote:Jon hopefully the fall only results in some soreness and nothing major.



I love all the college football talk.

Thanks Alex, I'm sure we'll have some more things to talk about in a few weeks.

Julie wrote:I hope you're OK from the fall. My shoulder is still sore and that was 4 weeks ago, I think. Take it easy if you need to!

I wish I could join you in the football talk but I just can't get into it. When my sister was in college one of her friends took notes for Eric Crouch's biology class (he failed). That was awhile ago and I just don't keep up with it.

What? An athlete failing a course? That's really shocking!



No worries Julie, I know quite a few people here that don't have much if any interest in football. Obviously it's not a requirement to write in this blog.
As for the knee, it seemed to tone down pretty quickly although I still feel it some after a run. But it seems to be back to where it was before the splat on the pavement. Hope that your shoulder gets completely healed up.



So to catch things up: Didn't run on Wed. evening but did go out and jog a couple blocks to test the knee out. It felt good to go but I decided not to push things.



Thursday: Went out at lunchtime and ran six. Had intended to go 8 and this was supposed to be a tempo run. The problem with this run turned out to be that the heat and humidity came back and kind of surprised me. I got a couple warm up miles in, then ran a 7:52 and then an 8:05. I started to feel sick to my stomach and was breathing hard which is very unusual at that pace. When I got home, found out it was 86/77 which yielded a 100 heat index. The humidity was stifling and needless to say it was not my best day. Intended on going out in the evening, but found out I needed to watch my daughter for the evening and when Connie came back we were under a tornado warning and a severe thunderstorm was in the area. Live to fight another day.



Friday: Went out for an 8 at lunchtime. Heat was still there but the humidity was down a bit which helped a lot. Drove to KC to attend the Royals/ Red Sox game after school. Got to the game way late due to having to reroute due to Missouri River flooding and hit some traffic/road construction issues close to KC. Hannah and her schoolmate pal Riley made the best of it and really had fun anyway. They giggled, laughed and had a great time in the car together. They also enjoyed the post game fireworks and also saw a boy there that attends their school at the game. Who knew? It turned out to be more stressful for me, but the kids enjoyed themselves thoroughly and that made it worthwhile to me.



Sat: Went out in Platte City, Mo in the AM before leaving for home and ran a brief 4 in very hilly terrain. In the evening after arriving home, went out for 12 and that seemed to go well. We will see what tomorrow brings.