Autumn Leaves

It is probably fitting, in some bittersweet way, that famed pianist Roger Williams died yesterday at his Encino, California home. Williams, who played for nine presidents starting with Harry Truman, was likely best known for his 1958 hit "Autumn Leaves." The song was the only instrumental to ever reach No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts. 

This past week reminds me why autumn is my most favorite time of year. We were blessed with glorious weather for the past 8-9 days...the brilliant blue sky, illuminated by a blazing sun, served as the perfect canvas for the trees that erupted into gorgeous gold and orange and red hues all week. The warm days gave way to cool nights, with a sky brightened by a waxing gibbous moon and every star and planet twinkled in the sky like lights on a Christmas tree. If only this weather could continue until March. I think Mother Nature gives us this little weather nirvana as a consolation for the snow and cold that will be upon us shortly.

As you might recall, one of my 2011 blogging goals was to document the seasons in Willow Creek Park. Recall that this was July:

Willow Creek Park - July 2011

And, here is Willow Creek Park earlier this week:

Same spot -- just a little zoomed in

If you were ever planning to film a movie in Iowa with fall scenery, this was the week to do it. As Bailey and I walked the neighborhood, I almost felt like I was on a movie set because it just looked almost too picture perfect. You be the judge.

Corner of Earl Road and Westside Drive

The front of Little Creek Condos

Willow Creek Park near playground

There is a great children's book for this time of year: "Leaf Man" by Lois Ehlert. It goes, in part, like this:

Fall has come, the wind is gusting, and Leaf Man is on the move. Is he drifting east, over the marsh and ducks and geese? Or is he heading west, above the orchards, prairie meadows, and spotted cows? No one's quite sure, but this much is certain: A Leaf Man's got to go where the wind blows.

The Last Word on the 5K

The official results are in: 



Especially For You - 5K "Walk" Results

 Even though I signed up for the run, I got lumped in to the results for the walk. I think I must have handed my number to the wrong guy. In any case, it doesn't matter. What this says is that I was 730th overall from all the female walkers (5,130 women) and 91st (out of 514) in my age category (45-49). As I noted yesterday, the time is skewed by 4+ minutes because that's how long it took us to get to the official starting line.

The fastest walker completed the course in 31:12. Should I feel bad that the top two finishers in the 80+ age group had a faster time than me? Hmmmm, I think those broads cheated. We saw quite a number of people cutting across the course. Alledgedly, some 85 year old woman claims to have run the course in 29:59. I think she cheated, too. I have to keep telling myself that, or I'll get really depressed that a grandma can run faster than me. Sheesh...I'm pathetic.

#13962

No, that is not a prisoner number. It was my number in today's Especially for You 5K run/walk in Cedar Rapids. Nearly 16,000 participants signed up for the event...way more than I had imagined. Needless to say, this event was a bit bigger than my initial foray into the race world -- the Farley Kick-off to Summer 2 mile Run/Walk back in June. There were, maybe, about 60-70 participants in that event.

One snafu right off the bat is that they could not find Darcy's registration. Thank God for technology, she had her confirmation on her phone. But, it still seemed a big deal to get her a number and t-shirt. The project manager in the three of us started discussing their implementation planning and contingency planning. Did they adequately assess all of their risks? We think they have some lessons learned. There were still about 50 people in the late registration line with under 15 minutes before race time.

After my months of mentally and physically "preparing" for this day, I have to admit it was almost a bit of a disappointment. (I say preparing with a grain of salt. Admittedly, I was never 100% committed to doing what I really needed to do to run the race.) 16,000 is a lot of humanity, and when they are all lined up along a narrow city street there is not a lot of room to really bust out of the starting line. Granted, my two co-workers Darcy and Tricia and I might not have read all of the instructions. For example, I just realized about 10 minutes ago that the green dot on my race number indicated I was in the "runner" group. All the runners were supposed to line up first at the starting line. We more or less used the visual approach and wandered through the throngs of people until we found people who appeared to look more like runners than walkers. Well, we were far back in the pack away from the runners.

It took a good 4 minutes for us to even make our way to the official starting line. I know this because I started my stopwatch when we got to the starting line and when we finally crossed the finish line there was a 4 minute differential. We need microchips!!

We made a somewhat lame effort to try and run past the walking group by running in and out of the parked cars and up on to the sidewalk and back to the street. We really just found it all a bit annoying. So, we gave up and just walked the rest of the way, which still took some effort to circumnavigate the thousands of kids, seniors, and parents pushing strollers.

At about the halfway mark, there was a whole group of local high school cheerleaders holding up signs and encouraging us to keep going. We pondered whether we would want our high school daughters holding up such signage:

• Save Second Base!
• Save the TaTas!
• Bosom Buddies
• Save the Boobies!

It was a beautiful fall morning for the race. I admit to cursing the alarm clock when it went off at 6 a.m.

According to my unofficial time, we crossed the finish line at 49 minutes. The race clock showed 53 minutes.

So, my first 5K was a walk and not the run I had anticipated. It's probably for the best...I know I wouldn't have actually run the course in much faster time. I may look for another 5K in the future, but will definitely check out the small towns...16,000 is too much for me. But, it is a great cause, and I'm happy I was able to contribute in even a small way.

5 days to 5K

Just five more days to the 5K. Over the weekend, my friend "suggested" that perhaps I wasn't pushing myself hard enough when I was training. Oh really? What a surprise! I'm sure it is too little too late, but tonight I did make a concerted effort to push myself more than normal. I completed the 5K in 46 minutes. I realize this is still slow slow slow, but considering that six months ago I wasn't even attempting to run that distance, I feel it is at least sort of kind of respectable.

Onward...

The first song on my treadmill playlist...the Boss:

"...cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run.."

Couch to 5K to .... just stay on the couch

I'm seeing a pattern in my life, and I'm not afraid to admit it. I'm kind of a quitter. It started way back in 3rd grade when I quit Brownies, followed in 6th grade when I quit piano lessons. Then, after junior high, I gave up volleyball and track, and after freshman year, I quit basketball. Finally, after junior year, I quit band. I quit three different colleges before I finally got my bachelor's degree.

I don't know what I was thinking when, earlier this year, some co-workers convinced me to run a 5K with them. They assured me that all I had to do was follow the Couch to 5K program and it would be a breeze. In just 8 short weeks I would be running a 5K like a pro. I bought into the hype...and assumed it would be totally easy since, at the time, I had almost 20 weeks until the 5K.

Hold up, dawg...if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is! First off, how many DD track stars do you see? None...I rest my case. In fact, I just googled "female Olympic runners with big boobs" and the first hit was "Why do women athletes tend to be flat-chested?" Followed by a story in the Orange County Register that begins, "For some women, the path to athletic excellence seems to be blocked by overly large breasts, ..." There you have it, I am doomed.

Then, there's that whole BMI business. Yes, I'm obese according to the charts. About a week ago, Sherri Shepherd tweeted, "Just figured out my BMI (body mass index) ... and it turns out I'M OBESE! WHAT!!!!" I feel your pain, Sherri. Something about that chart just ain't quite right. 

Then I googled "fat people running 5K," and you'd be surprised at how many entries there are about that. 

I tried to be a runner once in college. I took off with my roomie Cathy out of Burge Hall. I made it down the hill on Dubuque Street, before I had to stop...after that it is kind of a blur...I think I managed to cross the Park Road bridge and head back up the bike trail, crossing the Hancher Foot Bridge before ending up on the back side of Burge, where I promptly fell out on the ground and yelled for my other roommate to throw me down a beer and a cigarette.

Where does that leave me now? Well, the race is just 10 days away on Sunday, October 2. Race information can be found here. The mission of the race is to raise funds for individuals unable to afford breast cancer screenings and other support services and to educate individuals on the importance of early detection. ALL PROCEEDS from the race go to the Especially for You Fund and are used locally to provide breast cancer screening and other support services for individuals in need. My family was touched by breast cancer. My sister-in-law succumbed to this horrible disease at age 38, leaving my two nephews--ages 6 and 9 at the time--without a mom.

I should be able to endure a little pain and discomfort in honor of all the women, and men, who have fought breast cancer. (Shout out to my friend Donna in Texas who is also a survivor.)

The Couch to 5K program was going along pretty well for me until I hit a plateau at Week 5, when I was supposed to go from walking/running intervals of 5/8/5/8/5 to just 5/20! What the heck...running 20 minutes without stopping? I've been stuck here for weeks. Let's face it people, it takes a lot of energy to propel a mass like this through the atmosphere.

I mapped out a 5K route by my house. I "ran" it for the first time tonight. OK, mostly I ended up walking because it was hot and the concrete almost instantly gave me shin splints. Oh, how I long to just quit and say, "they already have my money...I don't need to show up for the race." But, alas, I will persevere. I probably should have signed up for the 5K WALK, which is more my speed.

Stay tuned. I'll post an update after the race!

Life in an Instant

I've been thinking a lot about the fragility of life the past few days. How you can wake up one day thinking it is a normal day and by day's end your world has been turned upside down.

An instant -- an infinitesimal space of time; especially a point in time separating two states.

A former co-worker, just 44 years old and the father of three young boys, dies of a heart attack at work during a team building activity. It was his boys' first day of school. A young woman, set to begin her senior year in high school, dies when she loses control of her scooter. Some say she was momentarily distracted by a friend who honked and waved at her. Her mother, suffering from pancreatic cancer, dies just ten days later. A young man and father of a baby girl is shot to death in circumstances that are not yet clear.

In each case, one moment these individuals were full of life and hopes and dreams for the future. In an instant, their lives ended leaving spouses, parents, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings, and friends mourning their unexpected loss and questioning their own faith, future, mortality, and why a loving God lets things like this happen.

Admittedly, I have many doubts about faith, and "God's Plan," and the idea that those we have lost are in a "better place." I think of loved ones I have lost and quite honestly think the best place for them would be here, among the living, with their family and friends who need them. My Catholic upbringing leads me to believe that we will all be reunited some day when we all raise up and that if we have led a "good life," we will be rewarded in heaven. I try to believe this, but really, how do we know that we just aren't dead? That's it...the show is over.

Some say that God doesn't give us burdens more than we can handle. Well, I've honestly seen a lot of people I know and love brought to their knees by the unexpected and untimely death of a loved one. I don't think we can always handle the challenges we face. Sometimes, it is just too much.

To me, death brings a void that can never be erased. Time may lessen the raw pain of the loss, but the loss is still there. Memories and moments of life that will never be made.

Death, except for those who have lived a full life, will remain a mystery to me. I found this poem by Maya Angelou. It sums it up beautifully.

When I think of death, and of late the idea has come with alarming frequency, I seem at peace with the idea that a day will dawn when I will no longer be among those living in this valley of strange humors. I can accept the idea of my own demise, but I am unable to accept the death of anyone else. 

I  find it impossible to let a friend or relative go into that country of no return. Disbelief becomes my close companion, and anger follows in its wake. I answer the heroic question 'Death, where is thy sting? ' with ' it is here in my heart and mind and memories.'

Rest in peace Drake Morris, Jr. You will be missed.

Life Goes On...

Suppose God is Black

On my way home from work tonight, there was a story on NPR about a speech Robert F. Kennedy made in South Africa in 1966. A new documentary, RFK in the Land of Apartheid: Ripple of Hope, is set to air on PBS later this month.  

Whenever I hear speeches made by the late Senator Kennedy, I marvel not only at his engaging speaking abilities, but am inspired by the thought provoking and forward thinking ideas he espoused during the turbulent times of the 1960s. Kennedy opened his speech at the University of Cape Town with these words:

I came here because of my deep interest and affection for a land settled by the Dutch in the mid-17th century, then taken over by the British and at last independent; a land in which the native inhabitants were at first subdued, but relations with whom remain a problem to this day; a land which defined itself on a hostile frontier; a land which has tamed rich natural resources through the energetic application of modern technology; a land which once imported slaves, and now must struggle to wipe out the last traces of that former bondage. I refer, of course, to the United States of America.

Later, in the speech to anti-apartheid students, he stated:

Each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope; and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

You can read the entire story at:

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/12/139449268/remembering-rfks-visit-to-the-land-of-apartheid

The story also references an editorial that Senator Kennedy wrote for Look magazine that was published on August 23, 1966. That article was entitled, "Suppose God is Black?" Senator Kennedy poses this question to South Africans as he engaged in dialogue with them about why blacks should be given equal rights. Forty-five years later, this question is still valid.

During the same drive home tonight, on the eve of the straw poll in Ames, there was a news story about the impending entrance to the presidential race of Texas governor Rick Perry. I don't know a lot about Governor Perry, but I'm immediately turned off -- and downright frightened by -- a politician who makes claims like this:

"I think in America that from time to time we have to go through some difficult times, and I think we're going through those difficult economic times for a purpose," he said. "To bring us back to those biblical principles: Not spending all of our money. Not asking for Pharaoh to give everything to everybody and to take care of folks because at the end of the day, it's slavery."

I feel very conflicted by politicians who claim they want less government yet want to insert their religious, often conservative Christian values, into how our country is governed.

Our country is facing difficulties never before experienced. I don't proclaim to know what the answers to resolve these issues are. What I do know is that if I am faced with excessive debt and am struggling to meet my obligations, I have two ways to alleviate the situation: (1) reduce my spending and (2) increase my income. I don't see these as mutually exclusive. Any credit counselor will advise someone with excessive debt to seek additional income by obtaining a second job. I do not understand why raising taxes is an option that is completely off the table as a way to address our country's debt problem. I'm willing to give up a little to help the country out. There are many inequities in our tax code that could be rectified to increase income. And, you can't tell me that the likes of Oprah, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, or Mark Zuckerberg can't afford to pay a little more. 

It's only August 2011, a full 15 months before the next presidential election, and I am already sick of all the politicking that is going on. I'm so disillusioned that I may not vote at all. Or, I may vote only for candidates who are not incumbents.