“Fear has to be
respected. But fear should never be something that holds any of us back. Once I sort of opened the door to this, and
stepped out of the fear and into belief, then it became a ‘when’ question, not
an ‘if’.”
Spear, S. (2018). 2018 Team World Vision Marathon.
When I look back
over the last year or so, I’ve run a lot of miles, in a lot of places, with a
lot of people.I wanted to mark some of
those experiences through pictures and captions within this blog entry.From the fall of 2017 until now, I have occasionally
run alone, but probably more often than not a group has been formed that enjoys
this common interest.When I run alone I
can gauge my effort and speed to what I am feeling, and to whatever level I personally
want to push myself towards.When I run
with others, I have been able to be a part of their journey and enjoy seeing
their progress.I documented the early
history of my running when I ran a 50 mile ultra marathon for my 50th
birthday in 2016.Those early years
involved running in and around my hometown and state of Gaylord, Michigan.(If you’re interested, you can check out the
first of a three part series I did for that ultra race by clicking on Running - Part#1: The History)
The pictures in
this blog go in chronological order; sometimes following training runs, and
sometimes showing actual races.Not
everything is documented because quite frankly I don’t always have something
with me to take a picture.Many do
exist, however, and so for that I am grateful as they tell a story.I look at my running as a physical activity
and a chance to burn some energy, but in reality it goes far beyond that;
reaching closer to a spiritual journey.This does not make what I am able to do anything close to perfect, but
it does create a purpose for what I do.It’s a purpose to use the gifts that God has granted to me for “such a
time as this” while I am still able. Running
also grants me the opportunity to either gather people together to try things
that they wouldn’t otherwise think they could do, or to be a part of the synergy where
bonds are woven to create strength in numbers.Due to the time I have invested in running over the last year or so, it truly
has often been my “outdoor adventure” until I had opportunities to fish creeks
at safe water levels or hike the snow covered woods and cook over an open fire.
See you along The Way…
“You can certainly go at
it alone, but I really believe that life is best when shared.” Yang, B. (2018). The Why-Running 100
Miles.
A Run With My Friend Louie As He Prepares For The 2017 Chicago Marathon He Ran For The "Team World Vision" Organization That I Had Run For In '08 & '09
Justin And I Ran The Same Morning Louie Was Running The Chicago Marathon
Justin And I Trail Running In Preparation For A Half Marathon
I Sometimes Run With My Dog Kora On Shorter Distances
A Night Run With Justin And The Moon-Last Run Before The Half Marathon
A Road Trip To Waukesha, Wisconsin's "Last Call Half Marathon" December 2017 - Me, Doug, And Justin
It Was Unseasonably Warm For December - It Was Also Justin's First Half Marathon! Justin And I Ran Together While Doug Put Together A Fast Solo Race
An After-Race "Wisconsin Cheesehead Burger" From Murf's - It Was A Lot...Whew!
I Met Up With Some Of Louie's DTY Group On Christmas Eve - 2017
My Long Time Running Partner, Scott (A Great Beard BTW : ), Joins Justin And I For A Cold Last Run Of 2017
I Called Out Times For The "Red Shoe Run" In April & Cheered On Louie It Was Very Windy And Cold!
Some New Brooks Running Shoes - Ready For The Spring And Summer
I Love Trail Runs And Try To Get On Them As Much As Possible Sugar River Forest Preserve
The 4th Of July 8K Run In Rockford (2018) - I've Been Running It For Decades Now
My Cousins, My Son Todd, And I Ran Gaylord's 10K Alpenfest Run (July 2018) Breakfast Afterwards With High School Friend Chris At The Sugar Bowl Restaurant
Together with Cousins Brad And Brian, We Ran Michigan's Northwoods Trails (July 2018)
Clark Lake, Michigan's Classic 12K Race - With Cousins Shannon, Brad, And The Boys (August 2018)
When Zach's Half Marathon Was Canceled Due To A Storm, Scott, Justin, And I Met Up With Him To Run A Few Rain Soaked Miles As He Did His Own Half Anyways (September 2018)
Yup...Zach Did It! His First Unofficial Half Marathon (In Lightning & Heavy Rain) I Ran With This Former Student & Colleague To The End & Then Ran Back To My Jeep
With Louie And Zach I Ran The "Tiger Ten Miler" In Byron, Illinois (September 2018)
This Race Was Beautiful And VERY Hilly - I Loved The Open Prairie Trails
This "Tiger Ten Miler" Race Was Easily One Of My Favorite Races Of All Time It Was Hot, But After Running Lots Of Hills To Train, I placed 9th Over-All
“When it’s your time, is the goal to leave a well preserved body? Or do you really want to use it...a body with stories that says you’ve pushed it, and at times suffered, and you sought its potential.”
Yang, B. (2018). The Why-Running 100 Miles.
Apparently I'm Still Fast - I Rocked It Out And Got 2nd Place In My Age Group
Time For Some New Brooks (Ghost 11) Running Shoes - Thanks Again Runner's Image! Broke Them In On The Sinnissippi Bike Path Along The Rock River (Oct 2018)
Doug, Scott, Justin, Amy, Zach And I Running Hilly Trails In A Local Forest Preserve (October 2018)
The Tough Guy Look : ) Justin, Zach And I Running Hills At Rock Cut In A Downpour (October 2018)
My Cousin Brad And I Ran Around Clark Lake In Michigan And Then Stood In It He's Crazy And Swims Until It Ices Over (I Don't : ) - November 2018
Justin, Me, & Scott Running A Long Run - The End Of November On Stone Bridge Trail
My 4th Year In A Row Running Waukesha, Wisconsin's "Last Call" Half Marathon (December 2018)
In The Rain And Cold I Cranked Out A Good Half Marathon Time Of 1:44:33
The Teaching Crew That Ran That Day - Doug, Scott, Justin, Zach, Me, Kim, & Traci
An After Race Burger With The Crew At "Mainstream Bar & Grill" In Waukesha
With Louie & His DTY Group And Some Of Our Gang On Christmas Eve Morning 2018
Justin, Me, Amy, And Scott On A Final Trail Run For 2018 In Rock Cut State Park Waving To Zach Who Was In Florida At The Time
From 2017 And 2018
Preparing For The Frozen Gnome 10K Trail Run In Crystal Lake, Illinois Justin, Me, The Gnome, Scott, And Amy - January 2019
We Stuck Together As A Group For Most Of The Race - It Had Great Trails And Hills
Finishing With Amy
Amy Placed First In Her Age Group And I placed Third
Amy's Mom & Sister Were The Support Crew & Captured Our Smiling Faces After The Race
An After Race Greek Skillet From The "Cafe Olympic" In Crystal Lake We Ate As The Snow Started To Fall - It Hasn't Stopped Since! : )
We Look Forward To Doing That Race Again!
“We’re all linked
together and unified by this one thing, this one journey. That’s a special bond.”
Yang, B. (2018). The Why-Running 100 Miles.
Whether you are into running short distances, or long distances, or running at all, this video is worth the watch and is pretty motivational. Enjoy!
One Last Pic For The Road It Was Gaylord, Michigan's Alpenfest Race T-shirt This Year, But It Goes Beyond That Race... When You Follow Your Heart Home, You'll Find That Home Is Where Your Heart Is It's Deep, But Your Motivation, The People, And Your Purpose Help Make It!
He pulled his wool cap down over his ears, put on his mittens,
picked up his snowshoes, and stepped out into the snow. He slipped his
boots into the snowshoe harnesses and adjusted the bindings carefully.
It was a clear, bright,
still day. The spruce and fir trees on the horizon made a green band that
separated the bright blue sky from the white, pure white earth. As Daniel
struck out across the pasture behind the house, the cold air stung his
face. It felt good. It was the perfect day for a hike.
Budbill,
David. Snowshoe Trek to Otter River. New York: The Dial Press,
1976.
Once upon a time I taught the subject of reading in school.In fact, I did for twenty-one years until our
5th grade team grew and expanded, and then we “spread the wealth” as
they say.We used to use a basal reader throughout
the year and supplemented that with high interest novels that the students
really got into; probably because we really got into them as teachers.The basal reader that I like the best came
from the Silver Burdett & Ginn Publishing Company, and was entitled Dream
Chasers.The reason I liked this
reading textbook was because each story was an excerpt or chapter from an
actual book.We worked on reading
strategies and skills such as the main idea and the author’s purpose while
building a connection.If a student
really enjoyed a story from our basal, they could then go to the library and
find the book that it came from to read in its entirety.Simply put, it was ingenious, and encouraged
the students to read books beyond our classroom environment.
One such story was Snowshoe Trek to Otter River by
David Budbill. Now I’ll admit that it
was a story that resonated with me personally, but I used that energy, spurred
on by my interest, to get the students to personally delve into the character
named Daniel. On large sheets of
construction paper we drew pictures of tracks in the snow and Daniel’s camp
beside Otter River, or whatever we thought the setting looked like in our mind’s
eye. I’d bring in my snowshoes and let
the kids walk around the classroom in them.
I even had my parents come in as guest speakers one year. My Mom read a book to the class about “Old
Man Winter,” and my Dad showed the students all of the different styles of
snowshoes (that I had grown up using).
He also explained the different names that the Native American Ojibwe tribe
had for the various kinds of snow. It
was cool, and amazingly enough, the boys and girls really liked that story. It’s no wonder why. I now own my own copy of the book Snowshoe
Trek to Otter River, and during this time of the year I try to live it out
as often as possible (just short of falling through the ice like Daniel did in that
story).
Today was one of those days I was able to live it.I think we got about 6 inches of snow last
night, and so after I shoveled the driveway and did some indoor chores, I got
my gear together to head out.That
included my Michigan style snowshoes, now outfitted with the new bindings my
parents had gotten me for Christmas about a month ago.With the crisp air and wind, the temperature
felt like zero degrees, but I was dressed for it.I loaded our dog Kora into my old Jeep and
took off on slushy roads.I was at my
destination by 11:45.I parked and then
started hiking in.Kora enjoyed running,
exploring, and then circling back to check in with me.She’s good like that.
Kora Excited About An Outing
Setting Out The Gear
CLICK FOR A VIDEO:
I truly hate having people know where I’m at when I’m out
and about on a solo adventure, and so because I can’t hide my snowshoe tracks
very well in the snow, I go to extreme measures.When hiking on foot, I’ve been known to walk
backwards, use a pine bough to brush away evidence, or walk along the tops of
downed logs to throw off any would be pursuers.
Today, however, I fought through thick patches of
blackberry bushes, and tangled brush before jumping and climbing (still in my
snowshoes) across a small steam. If
anyone happened upon my trail today, and decided to follow it, they were going
to have to earn it or pay dearly with shredded clothing. It’s the price you sometimes have to pay for
solitude. Plus, it’s funny in retrospect
and makes for a good story.
Unfortunately it’s also true, and those who have ventured forth with me
in the past will vouch for it. When
areas of escape are few and far between, you hold onto them as sacred and holy.
CLICK FOR A VIDEO:
Kora was great today with the chilly air. She curled up on the flannel lined blanket I
brought along as I set up our little camp; that despite the exuberant amount of
smoke that kept blowing in her face. I
actually moved the location of her blanket once I had the food cooking so it
wouldn’t be as much of a nuisance for her.
I had made the fire in a low spot to help block the wind, but because of
that, and the wood available, the smoke was thicker than usual. Kora would rise and follow me the few times I
needed to look for more wood but then she would return to her spot afterwards;
knowing food would be her reward soon enough.
We ate, and then I enjoyed a warm cup of cocoa. It was nice to take a few moments to hold
onto the cup, for when I worked with my leather mittens off, it didn’t take
long for my fingers to lose their dexterity and my hands to feel like clubs.
Tracks Going In And Out-From Kora And I
On our way out we only stopped when I wanted to take
pictures or catch my breath. Today’s
hike was my “work out run” (of sorts), and all told, I traveled about four
miles. That’s not too bad considering I
was dressed as I was with a hip-pack, backpack (complete with gear and an iron
skillet), wearing snowshoes, and traveling through the terrain I previously
mentioned. I gave my hip flexors the
once over today for sure.
A PRAYING MANTIS EGG CASE
Amazingly my tracks were the only tracks I saw today that
were made from a human. Kora and I had
the place virtually to ourselves. We did
see signs in the snow left by different forest critters. In fact, as we trudged along, we saw where a
deer had walked in the tracks I had made coming in; presumably while we were
cooking at the river’s edge. Also, I
usually see at least one eagle in that area this time of the year, and so I
kept my eyes peeled. I was blessed with
a glimpse of a soaring, mature adult eagle, with its white head and tail, just
after breaking out into an open prairie area.
All in all, it was a fine snowshoe trek to the river today, one that
would have made a great story for others to read.
See you along The Way…
Soon he was beyond the open fields and deep into the swamp.It was a different world, darker, quieter.The big spruce and fir trees covered up the
sky.There was no sound.It was as if this swamp were a noiseless
chamber. All Daniel could hear were his
snowshoes, whispering, hissing as he moved along.He stopped.Listened.Now there was no sound
at all.None.It was as if everything in the world were
dead except for one boy who stood silent and alone, deep in a snowy evergreen
swamp.
Budbill,
David. Snowshoe Trek to Otter River. New York: The Dial Press,
1976.
