Good Luck 612

T-odd is in Hawaii about to embark on the Hawaii half ironman race this afternoon, at noon Minnesota time.

Good luck T-odd, kick it!

Wingtips of a Dead Man

Guest Blogger…NATHAN EKLUUUUUND! The following is a story that Nathan told me last week, he was kind enough to write about it. Enjoy!

“What size shoe do you wear?”

“10.5”

“Do you want to try on my dead dad’s shoes?”

“Yes. Yes I do.”

Mary asked if I would be interested in trying on her dad’s shoes that they had purchased a month or two before he died. Frugal like Tom himself, I espoused the “if the shoe fits, wear ‘em” mantra and I went ahead and accepted. I mean who doesn’t want some free Rockport red/brown arminian chili colored wingtips?

To be frank, the shoes aren’t actually really my style, assuming I have a style. But I love Mary, I loved her dad, I love free stuff, and I figured I’d find some occasion to wear them. And I was right.

Last week I went with a co-worker to make a pitch to a potential large client. Please note: I don’t really “make pitches” to “clients” with “co-workers.” Not really my normal gig. But the morning came and when it was time to get dressed, I figured I should dress the part. I knew my co-worker would be the black suit sort of guy. So I decided to play a little good cop/bad cop and I went the more dressed down route. A pair of khakis. A blue dress shirt. A brown sport coat. Pretty plain. A little cute.

But then it was time to pick shoes. It was a clear loafer outfit. But looking in the closet, there were the shoes. Calling to me. And I realized why. Tom made a career of selling stuff. And I bet he was really good at it. So, despite that fact that they were the wrong shoes for the outfit, I slid them on. Did they look good? No. Not really. But were they the right choice? Absolutely.

As we pulled into the client’s office, a black cat passed in front of our car. No kidding. My colleague was sort of jokingly shaken by it. Regardless of your personal view of superstition, I suppose a black cat passing in front of you isn’t necessarily a good omen.

As we were sitting in the lobby waiting for the meeting to start, Phil reiterated that the black cat was sort of unnerving. I crossed my legs and pointed at my shoes.

“See these shoes Phil? These are the wingtips of a dead man. We’re okay.”

An hour later we left the meeting. We had crushed it. It could not have gone better. The shoes were clearly more powerful than the cat. From here on, I’m dedicated to wearing these shoes each time I’m in a sales situation. They might not look good on me. They might not be right for the event. But damned if they don’t work.

Happy 40!

Laura…Happy 40th Birthday!

How did YOU celebrate 40?

Laura went to Paris and slayed the Paris Marathon making her goal time with three minutes to spare.  Can you see the finisher’s medal around her neck?  It goes so well with the pearls.

Have a great day my friend.

Look who showed up and went boom

A while ago, T-odd broke-up with our little girly running group.  Yeah it was hard on us for a little bit but he said, “Oh it’s all me…not you, you guys are great I just need to move, need my own space, find my way.”  Haven’t you heard that before?

Anyway, I was running with Jen last week and T-odd joined us for the first 2.5 seconds of the run, that was right before he put on his jet pack.

As Jen and I were finishing our run, we see T-odd walking back in the opposite direction toward his car.

We come to find out that he bit it…HARD.  Really hard.

His foot got all caught up in his very loopy lace and he went down flat but still had enough strength to shut off his watch.

Here is the detailed version of the fall, including the trip to the doctor the next day for an x-ray of his rib.

But there was no mention of Jen, who with the meds that she was packing, nursed him back to health.

What up with that?

60 is my new 20

I giggle and shake my head at the long distance training perspective.  It’s like when you are training for a marathon and you have done so many 18 and 20 mile runs, that when a 10 mile run comes around again, it seems like a walk in the park.  You actually think that 10 miles is almost nothing.

This is already happening with ironman training.  Today was a 60 mile ride, it wasn’t so long ago that I was on my trainer, biking 45 minutes.  60 is a lot, I am already looking to 20 as a walk in the park.  That’s messed up.

Luckily for me I have friends that are willing to ride with me, impart wisdom and help me along the way.

This is Jon.  He’s the guy, in my circle of friend’s, who knows just about everything there is to know about biking.  If I could download what is in his brain, just think of the speed I could attain.  This guy, will make me a better biker.

I have already warned him, that by the end of the summer….I will have sucked the life out of him.

Girls Gone North

So when your dad’s health is failing, what do you do?

Go up north with your girlfriends.

Jen, Ellen, Ann and I have gone up north, every winter, for the past five years.  It is amazing to look back at what was going on dring those past years.  The joys, the fears, the changes within ourselves, our kids, our families, our jobs, our lives.

We were pondering this past weekend if we could possibly be lucky enough to still be doing this at 60.

Oh how I hope so.

Christmas Eve Morning Run

Adventure Cats

As our new running buddy Katie, who chose to go to the gym this morning instead of run with us said, “You’re kinda like the Postal Service, you run in anything.”

That we do.

This particular run, with all the snow and unplowed streets was ridiculous and funny and fun.

Thanks for the run girls.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Midnight and beyond

To be honest, I am normally sound asleep before 10:30 pm.

But who could resist hitting the theater with a bunch of crazy woman for the midnight showing of New Moon?

And by the way, we were not the oldest people there but we may have had the most fun.

Good Luck

To all of you who are running the TC Marathon, my you have a great race, may the sun shine on you, may the weather be cool, my your legs stay fresh, may your mind stay focused and may you not soil yourself!

Best of luck:

• T-odd who is going for a 3:20
• Courtney, JJ and Julie, who are going to run a 3:30
• Whitney and her whole posse who will, as a group, be running  both a first marathon and a 14th (or something like that)
• And to Ann who is running her first 10 mile!

I will be on the right hand side of Summit, around mile 24, right after Lexington cheering you on home.

Have a GREAT race.

What have I done?

I have tried to write this post several times.  To no avail I have either lost it or run out of time trying to edit it.

That must mean something right?

What it means is you get to read T-odd’s rendition of the weekend.  Don’t stop before you get to The Gary Project.  It is just pee in your pants funny.

And yes, we did sign up.

OMG we signed up!