Hey friends, been a while. Animals, PB's and Pink Tights was such a blessing that I wanted it to be the first and only post that people saw for the last 4 months. Hell as a matter of fact, those pink tights were such a hot topic that I'd be fine without writing another blog post again. Yeah its been 4 months since my last time on here; shit I suck. Writing is tough work. I know it's tough because no one else my age takes 2 hours out of their time to come up with BS and post it on the net. Or maybe everyone has better things to do with their time. Bingo. My motivating factor for coming back to Beer Soup is because I promised Mr. Distance Running Super Fan, Pat Robitaille, an update last Friday. Never met Pat, but we've had our fair share of twitter conversation over the last while. From what I can gather, PR is a real stand up guy. Very involved with his little ones, his wife's/his own running, and the sport as a whole. He follows this stuff very closely and he's always mixing in the conversation with the really fast dudes. I wish I was a pro runner, or any sport for that matter. I'd take my fans out to dinner. I'd be the most interactive pro-to-fan athlete there is. Pat we need to go for a beer. Pat insisted I get back to blogging about my mediocre/half-ass running career; mentioning that tumbleweeds were rolling across this damn page. Thanks for getting me back on track man, but sorry for breaking that Friday promise. I'm bound to hit a wall at some point in this post. If I don't get at least 200 views I'm gonna be discouraged and pissed. Been away from educational facilities since december; I'm already sweating and fumbling for vocab and words, my room is spinning, tunnel vision...this is going to be a tough son of a bitch to write. Where am I.
The goons downstairs finally turned off the Lana Del Rey and they're off to the bar..Now it's Josh time at last; finally gathering some focus. So 4 months in a nutshell goes something like this. After Beast/Predator Distance Project athlete, Clint Smith, banged up his leg or knee or toe or ankle (not sure which one it was), we both kinda fell apart in April. I ran a 5k road PB of 15:29 shortly after the half-marathon in Burlington, but my noggin just wasn't on straight with Clint not being able to help me train. It's always nice having a runner around that has to take shits as much as you do during a run. He's not afraid to poop in the woods though cause he's from the country. I'm a city boy so I need at the very least a Tim Horton's...and that toilet has to be nested. So there we were, back to square 1, off and on from running, losing fitness, eating tubs of ice cream and other lard ass crap that runners shouldn't eat. We were getting fat and slow all over again. What a waste of training man. I recall workouts together where we completely blew each others socks off. But who cares about that nonsense, I departed to Asia for a much needed culture shock.
On the way to Asia Pop's and myself jumbo-jetted to Van City for our first checkpoint of the trip. Last time I was in BC I almost croaked out on a cross country course and I was hooked up to machines and heart apparatuses in a Kamloops hospital. Not this time though BC, another 13 hours of travel was between me and all the rice and soy sauce I could eat. Then we took another plane ride over the lengths of the entire Pacific Ocean. Do you know how sweaty my palms get when being in a plane at night over an ocean for 10 hours? How can planes even keep themselves in the air for that long and how do I know Denzel Washington isn't in the crew cabin hammering shots of vodka and coked out of his mind? Rest assured we crossed that International Dateline and somehow gained a day. At this point science had just proven to me that yesterday was today, and today is now, and I don't even know how this shit works but somehow I experienced Saturday twice and got twice the amount of things done than everyone in Canada did. If you want to maximize productivity, step your ass across that imaginary line on the globe and you too can have Saturday two times in one day. And then there was Japan. The layover in the Tokyo airport was exquisite. Having been Saturday twice for me, it would only be fitting that I poop 4 times. Trust me, it wasn't planned that I talk about poop this much in a post, it just somehow happened like this. I was fortunate to experience poop number 3 in one of the most up-to-date toilets on the entire planet in this Japanese terminal. It was a robot man. It talked, it cleaned you, it warmed the seat; they definitely got us one upped in the restroom department. I was a little more at ease once we had a Chinese flight crew over to Shanghai and the possibility of Denzel was no more a threat to my safety. That was a movie reference by the way. If you don't know it, go watch more movies. Shanghai had quite a few Chinese people populated there. I guess they've got something like 23 million+ living in the city alone, and over 30 million in the surrounding areas. To put that in perspective, I believe Canada has around 30 million people in the whole damn country. Yeah you wanna see a concrete jungle clustered with little people bumping shoulder to shoulder everywhere you go, hit up Shanghai. That city is pretty sweet; the most modern buildings/skyscrapers/technology, you name it, Shanghai knows what's up. China is taking over this world for sure man. Everything you see in North America, they have it there, but bigger,(excluding the people)better,(excluding the chocolate bars)and more efficient. We however are ruining the Chinese with our North American influences. They have Burger King, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, KFC, on every bloody street corner. These people love french fries! Look what we've done to them. My least favourite part about the Chinese is that they make everything there, yet its more expensive than over here in Canada! How can they do this! I could have asked Yip to make me the iPhone 7 in a back alley yet they're charging 800$ USD for this stuff, pure bogus, China..I felt robbed and devastated. We also went to 3 smaller cities (6-10million people) that were very neat too. At the end of this 10 day trip, we took the bullet train over to Beijing, the capital city of this foreign land. Beijing was like Toronto only 400x bigger and smoggier. Its funny how we think Toronto is such a huge city and all, but these cities are like a Killer Whale and Toronto is just a shitty little possom; making London, ON...a dried grape? A raisin. London is a bloody raisin. Climbed The Great Wall and saw people crying and puking there..it was amazing because I knew I was at the very least still fit enough not to cry and puke and look foolish. Pretty much every local thought we were just a huge joke coming over to their homeland, not knowing how to use chopsticks; they probably thought we were spies. Friggen people would stop and stare and pull out there phones to take pictures of us, videos of us, they laughed at us, man these miniature humans were mean and getting on my nerves. McDonald's in China sucks; 'MERICA! Fun times in Asia though, I wanted the culture shock and I embraced it big time. I got to see temples, gardens, Tienneman Square, zero fat people, the worst public bathrooms ever..like ya had to buy flippin toilet paper there and dump in a hole. Also saw the Olympic site, ate the same thing 10 days straight, bought an overpriced Nike jacket, the list goes on man. The trip wasn't over though. Dad and I stayed in Vancouver a few extra days before coming back to scenic Ontario. That city is just down right gorgeous. Some great running to be done in Van City; I ran in Stanley Park and that was really cool until I ended up back in the city and had to pay a cabbie 40 dollars to get me back to where my dad was. We also drove up to Whistler. Man the drive up to Whiss on the Sea-to-Sky Highway doesn't have shit on the drive up to Sarnia on the 402. Hope ya caught the sarcasm there, that drive is friggen epic. You can drive off the cliff if you're not careful..there's so much to look at. I'm able to fully understand my buddy Cheuk now and we've become good friends since my arrival back home. So good that we beat up this lanky, red shirt wearing angry boy outside of Stobies Pizza the other night. This was my first ever fight, and I can guarantee the same goes for Cheuk, although we won't call it a fight because it was the most pathetic act of violence in the history of fighting, period. At a combined weight of 240 pounds, Cheuk and I were minding our own business getting fresh out-of-the-oven 'za at Stobies after the bar. Then this hot head wearing a dumb red shirt bumps our little Asian friend and things got heated once his pizza fell. That Cheuk sure is a spark plug, all 110 pounds of him in his H&M attire, looking like a cartoon out of a magazine, or a pop singer..he started to cause a scene. Red shirt's friend wanted no trouble but red shirt was being quite the douche at this point, shoving Cheuk and yelling profanities all over Richmond St. I had enough and finally got involved once I felt the fear in baby China's eyes deepen, and we were under attack. Game on, red shirt came at me with his lanky frame and swung like a chimpanzee, but I countered with a picture perfect duck, and man I wrecked his night 3 seconds later. I wound up with this blistering hot slice of savory, sweltering, cheesey, pepperoni filled pie and planted that sucker smack dab on douche lord's face! It was a quick reaction on my part but I think it was the right move. A while back our buddy Ryan got in a scuffle outside of JBRs and whipped his hot dog at the kid. I think my instincts were to use Ryan's tactics of food fighting to show interest in the fighting match, then any other force could be used shortly thereafter. D-Lord was steaming with that delicious sauce running down his nose, coming at me once more. The amazing part about this was that his friend still had our back and was pushing D-Lord away. Maybe he felt sorry for us. A tiny Asian Justin Bieber and myself, the sailor wearing white denim jeans with a striped blue V on, being picked on by his drunk goofy friend. Pizza face ended up on the ground, and Cheuk and I scurried off celebrating our victorious encounter, although pissed about our food.
Its 4:11 AM, Tuesday morning. Just getting in from the gym, I'm still on the graveyard shifts so on my nights off I'm still up all night. I had to take a break from the last paragraph about China, and fighting with my Chinese friend, because I needed time to regroup and work on the 8 pack I've been trying to acquire. I guess runner's need those things to run better. And girls like looking at them so thats two reasons we need the 8 pack going. I'm okay with 6 too, whichever shows up first I guess is more than fine with me. So the boys are living at the PCI right now (Patricia Collegiate Institute) on beautiful Patricia Street., myself included. Good times at the PCI so far. Lots of soda pop and chip party's on the weekends, lot's of studying, taco nights..just a happening place. Actually no, haven't done any of that shit to date in here. PCI is a jungle, enter at your own risk. LOL just kidding its a place that brings out the best in people, a prosperous homestead that houses the likes of: Tula the Earthworm, "Beck", Dungeon Dirk, "Dent", The "Nicks" from Frito Lay, and the runner. There has been some great people pass on through this place. Like 45 year old Randy from east London, CEO of his own small company. A couple blurry Tuesday nights ago 11 of us clowns invaded our favourite new watering hole, the upstairs patio of Lonestar Texas Grill. Upon arrival we noticed a gentleman by himself drinking beer. We were getting rowdy up there and the gentleman wanted to join in on the fun. Tequilla's and all sorts of crazy beverages were put in front of this man and before you know it, we got him right liq'd! If you're wondering why this 45 year old CEO was drinking with 23 year old's at Lonestar on a Tuesday night, don't be so critical. Randy had the week off and he was looking for a good time. We gave it to him. We walked him right out of that place and took his ass to Jack's! Ahhhh, Jack's. The place to be if you're 17 and are confused about who you are. Seriously, check out the crowd in Jack's. There's everything in there. Plus it stinks like poo. And liquor. Liquor and poo and confused 17 year old's is not a good scene. Especially if you're Randy. One wrong move and that bastard is in Jail. But Randy here pulled out his Visa like a complete veteran and bought rounds of 11 shots, over, and over, and over again. Couldn't tell ya what happened to the newest addition to our crew that night cause I was pretty Jaromir Jagr-Bombed myself. Tula went downstairs to Dungeon Dirk's room in the morning to find Dirk sleeping on the couch of his own room. Odd. His name isn't Tula by the way, iPhone auto-corrected Tayler to Tula so thats the kid's name from now on. For safety purposes, Tula then performs a final shoulder check while making his departure out of the dungeon. Low and behold, Tula spots a carcass wrapped like a cocoon in Dirk's bed. As the adrenaline builds in this little earthworms body, he unveils the bed sheet to find 45 year old Randy, CEO of a small company, in the Dungeon of PCI on a Wednesday morning. Randy's picture sits right next to the word Gem in Oxford's English Dictionary.
Sadly my time at the Palace is coming to an end when things start getting serious in the cross country running department. Remember how Clint screwed himself up and wasn't running? Yeah that kid's been back for a little while now and he's chompin' at the bit. Kid doesn't run track much but he's been putting in work on that damn oval with LRDC and he's run 4:03 for 1500m and 15:12 for 5k, sick as a dog. I've decided to come out of retirement for the second time and I'm getting myself back into shape so that we can try and be glorious like we were last year. Running is getting easier and easier each day as I claw my way back on this grind. I'm leaving PCI at the start of September so that I can focus solely on the academics and the getting from the start line to the finish line as fast as possible. Love this place and love these kids but sometimes ya just gotta do the right thing that's gonna help ya have the best opportunity of being successfull. As I continue to spend all my money on Nike flats, trainers and spikes; the miles are starting to pile back up and I'm happy to say the running is starting to come around again. I haven't been this stoked for a cross country season yet. Things will be just golden over the next few months and I'm down to ball the hell out on those XC courses.
Magna Carter is the shiiiiiiii...and if you didn't think Yeezus was a masterpiece, Kanye doesn't care.
I've got a plan in the palm of my hand, to keep me rolllllllin'
Catchya on the flip
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Monday, March 4, 2013
Animals, PB's & Pink Tights
Hey Nike, If you want an athlete that can restore your brand's image, call me up!
Back at the old Fanshawe stomping ground this morning. I'm sitting in a computer lab with a coffee and a muffin; caramel coffee swirl to be exact. Many fond memories of this lab I tell ya. Most of my Fanshawe hours have been spent in here, hence why I refer to it as home base. Dane Moffatt has witnessed many brilliant things go down in home base. Like when I would haul around a 6 gallon jug of water with me and slop it down on a desk; making sure I ruined his train of thought or anyone else's around me. Or when I pulled off the greatest citizen's arrest that this school has ever seen. Some typical Fanshawe punk wearing a Truckfit hat and a pair of DC shoes tried stealing a book so I tripped the idiot and had him on the ground in a full-nelson. What happened next was one of the most glorious moments that's ever happened. Homebase erupted and people were applauding with joy. My efforts to make the community a better place were being recognized for the very first time and I was finally regarded for my acts of courageousness and heroism. I brought an entire computer lab together as one and strangers were bonded by the simple acts of selflessness I imposed on the book thief. I will always embellish on the events that occurred that day, and the transition of that experience has given me the strength to win Dane Moffatt's Honorary Citizen of the Week Award, two weeks in a row!
The reason for writing this Blog however is not to boast about my personable and ethical traits. I've been absent for quite some time (again) and my training partner, Clint "The Predator who thinks he's to good for a treadmill" Smith, wanted some reading material for class today. So since our friend Clint has made me a faster individual in the sport of running, I shall give him a read about absolutely nothing at all. Back at the start of cross country season I prided myself on being some sort of wild animal that didn't give a shit about anything. Most animals don't give a shit regardless, they're just animals that do animal type things. Eat, hunt, run..shit everywhere. All the above really. I wanted to be the human version of an animal; Run fast, eat, sleep, hunt and be king of the jungle. I also wanted friends that would be doing the same animalistic type things and he was the perfect fit. So in the midst of this ambitious vision I had, the Beast and the Predator were born. Now I know what you're thinking, I'm almost 23 years old and I'm referring to myself as the beast and the other kid the predator. And to rebuttal in my defence; we are animals that don't give a shit what the non-animals reading this think. I've realized that you can actually be what you want to be; whether it be a beast, predator, plumber, lumberjack, accountant, stripper, drug dealer, restaurant owner, lemonade stand operator, beer bottle collector, car salesmen, sommelier, or bus driver....these trades, careers, and dead end jobs that people have chosen is because it's what they're deeply passionate about. Some occupations require more out of the individual than others, but at the end of the day it's all about being happy with what you're doing with your life. I know that in this life my family and friends will accept the fact that I'm content with being a beast at the present time because they are big supporters of what I do. I can't speak on behalf of the strippers and beer bottle collectors, but I know my occupation as a "Certified Beast" will give me the transferable skills to succeed in almost anything.
In Running News, we've been running a lot. And we've been doing it well. It's very early in our training block and we're seeing some pretty neat things happening. Clint and I are running for the BPDP right now, a privately owned and operated running club; run by us, and made sexy by us. The Beast-Predator Distance Project rolled down to the beautiful little town of Burlington this passed weekend. This was my second race of the year, the first one coming a couple weeks ago here in London- The Really Chilly 10k. LRDC had a good showing, with Kyle O'Neil and Adam Stacey taking 1st and 2nd respectively. My pal Johnny Mason took third while I was not far behind in 4th. I ran 32:50 in that race, but my watch also had the course at 200m over-distance..(32.17 on my watch for 10k)...So I was happy with that, like I said it is still early. Clint ran the 5k in Burlington on Sunday, taking the win in 15:30 (course was also a little long on his watch...either we need new watches or these courses need to be re-evaluated!). Regardless, he ran fast and a wins a win. I ran the 1/2 Marathon with the goal of breaking 70 minutes. We had a nice little following join us for the trip, my buddies Nick Spitters *Mayo Allergy*, Tayler Ferguson *Earth-Worm Jim*, and Dane Moffatt *Cheesy Willy* came for the show. We also had Coach Loney, Ashley and John Mason there to show their Falcon pride and support. It was a risk bringing my friends to a running event, as I had visions of them disturbing the peace for the athletes about to take part.
There was a fairly decent field assembled yesterday with some fast dudes toeing the line in my race. We had Lionel Sanders, Gitah Macharia, Matt Leduc, Predrag M, and a couple others in the 72 minute range. So the gun went off and I stayed back in about 8th place thru the first 5 kilometres. As I passed my friends at 5k, they thought I was cooked and would be walking home for a dismal performance. What they weren't aware of was the tactical warfare I was about to throw down in the later stages. We were knocking off some fast miles, but I stayed very relaxed. A pack of 4 broke away quite substantially at 6k and I thought I would stay back and let them do what they would regret later on in the race. 21.1k is a long ways and I knew If I played my cards right early on, I could pick people off later on. So as I clawed my way up I finally had Matt Leduc in my sights who won here last year (68:30). I was thrilled to see Matt because he's a great runner and I knew we could work together until the finish. I think he was kind of surprised to see me there on his heels at 17k and when I asked him if he wanted to come with me he didn't say much. At that point Sanders and Gitah were a little too far up, battling for 1st and 2nd, but I didn't want to slug it out with Matt so I surged after the word exchange with and never looked back. Sanders took the win (67:56), Gitah (68:16) I rounded out the podium (70:00) and Matt Leduc (70:48). Overall it was a good day and I like where my fitness is at right now. I felt comfortable the entire way and I'm positive I could have run a lot faster if it wasn't so windy and If I had a pack to work with. The races didn't end with BPDP either. The beautiful Jill Tereschyn also came down to run the 5k. She ended up having to stop and tie her shoes like a complete rookie in the middle of the race..she's been doing it long enough that you'd think she would double knot those suckers! At least she looked good though, pink and white patterned leg tights were a big hit. I'm sure some young boys didn't mind running behind her. Also a HUGE shoutout to my mother Donna who continues to keep her PB streak alive. The friggen' lady ran the 1/2 marathon in a time of 1:45..completely amazing accomplishment for a lady of her age. She's convinced that I will need an agent someday, LOL, and when I need that agent she wants to be the one doing it.
I liked having my friends out supporting on Sunday and taking in the running culture. After the race they told me that I was probably the only normal runner in the entire city; noting that this breed of athlete is far from normal. Not that I'm normal, it's just that you come across a lot of awkward friggen' runners, and they got to take that all in. Back when I started running 3 and a half years ago, they thought I was a loser and didn't pay any attention to my interest in the new lifestyle change I was undergoing. I owe my family and those dudes a lot for putting up with through this crazy journey. I have some pretty crazy stories of my past that aren't to be shared, but I look back on them and realize how anything can be possible if you just put your head down and work towards your dream. I realize a 70 minute half marathon isn't even fast when there's professional's out there running them in 61 minutes. But it's all about the journey and years of training that build upon each other. I'm only getting started and I've got loads of work to put in. My dudes often joke with me that there should be one of those ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries made about me. Shit like that makes me want to keep hammering away and see how far this roller coaster ride will take me.
Shoutout to my buddies that just came back from the Vegas and experienced what everyone needs to do at one point or another. Shoutout to Berky for playing lights out on his golf trip in Florida with the UWO Golf Team. Our buddy Bobby who's doing his thing as an Assistant Super at Mississauga Golf & Country Club..as well as volunteering at all sorts of PGA events across North America. The kid was cutting fairways at Riviera last week and spotted Paulina Gretzky. You lucky bastard Bob. Then there's Patty Tufts who's down in the Windsor getting his degree and helping out in the Dominican building classrooms and crazy shit..thats Humanitarian of the year material. The crew is doing well right now man, we've got our heads on straight and we're figuring this life thing out slowly but surely.
Peace ....Oh here's some splits from my 1/2 Marathon yesterday.
Mile 1- 5.12
Mile 2- 5.27
Mile 3- 5.29
Mile 4- 5.21
Mile 5- 5.19 (26:48)
Mile 6- 5.24
Mile 7- 5.22
Mile 8- 5.20
Mile 9- 5.21
Mile 10- 5.19 (53:34)
Mile 11- 5.16
Mile 12- 5.20
Mile 13- 5.16 (69:26)
Back at the old Fanshawe stomping ground this morning. I'm sitting in a computer lab with a coffee and a muffin; caramel coffee swirl to be exact. Many fond memories of this lab I tell ya. Most of my Fanshawe hours have been spent in here, hence why I refer to it as home base. Dane Moffatt has witnessed many brilliant things go down in home base. Like when I would haul around a 6 gallon jug of water with me and slop it down on a desk; making sure I ruined his train of thought or anyone else's around me. Or when I pulled off the greatest citizen's arrest that this school has ever seen. Some typical Fanshawe punk wearing a Truckfit hat and a pair of DC shoes tried stealing a book so I tripped the idiot and had him on the ground in a full-nelson. What happened next was one of the most glorious moments that's ever happened. Homebase erupted and people were applauding with joy. My efforts to make the community a better place were being recognized for the very first time and I was finally regarded for my acts of courageousness and heroism. I brought an entire computer lab together as one and strangers were bonded by the simple acts of selflessness I imposed on the book thief. I will always embellish on the events that occurred that day, and the transition of that experience has given me the strength to win Dane Moffatt's Honorary Citizen of the Week Award, two weeks in a row!
The reason for writing this Blog however is not to boast about my personable and ethical traits. I've been absent for quite some time (again) and my training partner, Clint "The Predator who thinks he's to good for a treadmill" Smith, wanted some reading material for class today. So since our friend Clint has made me a faster individual in the sport of running, I shall give him a read about absolutely nothing at all. Back at the start of cross country season I prided myself on being some sort of wild animal that didn't give a shit about anything. Most animals don't give a shit regardless, they're just animals that do animal type things. Eat, hunt, run..shit everywhere. All the above really. I wanted to be the human version of an animal; Run fast, eat, sleep, hunt and be king of the jungle. I also wanted friends that would be doing the same animalistic type things and he was the perfect fit. So in the midst of this ambitious vision I had, the Beast and the Predator were born. Now I know what you're thinking, I'm almost 23 years old and I'm referring to myself as the beast and the other kid the predator. And to rebuttal in my defence; we are animals that don't give a shit what the non-animals reading this think. I've realized that you can actually be what you want to be; whether it be a beast, predator, plumber, lumberjack, accountant, stripper, drug dealer, restaurant owner, lemonade stand operator, beer bottle collector, car salesmen, sommelier, or bus driver....these trades, careers, and dead end jobs that people have chosen is because it's what they're deeply passionate about. Some occupations require more out of the individual than others, but at the end of the day it's all about being happy with what you're doing with your life. I know that in this life my family and friends will accept the fact that I'm content with being a beast at the present time because they are big supporters of what I do. I can't speak on behalf of the strippers and beer bottle collectors, but I know my occupation as a "Certified Beast" will give me the transferable skills to succeed in almost anything.
In Running News, we've been running a lot. And we've been doing it well. It's very early in our training block and we're seeing some pretty neat things happening. Clint and I are running for the BPDP right now, a privately owned and operated running club; run by us, and made sexy by us. The Beast-Predator Distance Project rolled down to the beautiful little town of Burlington this passed weekend. This was my second race of the year, the first one coming a couple weeks ago here in London- The Really Chilly 10k. LRDC had a good showing, with Kyle O'Neil and Adam Stacey taking 1st and 2nd respectively. My pal Johnny Mason took third while I was not far behind in 4th. I ran 32:50 in that race, but my watch also had the course at 200m over-distance..(32.17 on my watch for 10k)...So I was happy with that, like I said it is still early. Clint ran the 5k in Burlington on Sunday, taking the win in 15:30 (course was also a little long on his watch...either we need new watches or these courses need to be re-evaluated!). Regardless, he ran fast and a wins a win. I ran the 1/2 Marathon with the goal of breaking 70 minutes. We had a nice little following join us for the trip, my buddies Nick Spitters *Mayo Allergy*, Tayler Ferguson *Earth-Worm Jim*, and Dane Moffatt *Cheesy Willy* came for the show. We also had Coach Loney, Ashley and John Mason there to show their Falcon pride and support. It was a risk bringing my friends to a running event, as I had visions of them disturbing the peace for the athletes about to take part.
There was a fairly decent field assembled yesterday with some fast dudes toeing the line in my race. We had Lionel Sanders, Gitah Macharia, Matt Leduc, Predrag M, and a couple others in the 72 minute range. So the gun went off and I stayed back in about 8th place thru the first 5 kilometres. As I passed my friends at 5k, they thought I was cooked and would be walking home for a dismal performance. What they weren't aware of was the tactical warfare I was about to throw down in the later stages. We were knocking off some fast miles, but I stayed very relaxed. A pack of 4 broke away quite substantially at 6k and I thought I would stay back and let them do what they would regret later on in the race. 21.1k is a long ways and I knew If I played my cards right early on, I could pick people off later on. So as I clawed my way up I finally had Matt Leduc in my sights who won here last year (68:30). I was thrilled to see Matt because he's a great runner and I knew we could work together until the finish. I think he was kind of surprised to see me there on his heels at 17k and when I asked him if he wanted to come with me he didn't say much. At that point Sanders and Gitah were a little too far up, battling for 1st and 2nd, but I didn't want to slug it out with Matt so I surged after the word exchange with and never looked back. Sanders took the win (67:56), Gitah (68:16) I rounded out the podium (70:00) and Matt Leduc (70:48). Overall it was a good day and I like where my fitness is at right now. I felt comfortable the entire way and I'm positive I could have run a lot faster if it wasn't so windy and If I had a pack to work with. The races didn't end with BPDP either. The beautiful Jill Tereschyn also came down to run the 5k. She ended up having to stop and tie her shoes like a complete rookie in the middle of the race..she's been doing it long enough that you'd think she would double knot those suckers! At least she looked good though, pink and white patterned leg tights were a big hit. I'm sure some young boys didn't mind running behind her. Also a HUGE shoutout to my mother Donna who continues to keep her PB streak alive. The friggen' lady ran the 1/2 marathon in a time of 1:45..completely amazing accomplishment for a lady of her age. She's convinced that I will need an agent someday, LOL, and when I need that agent she wants to be the one doing it.
I liked having my friends out supporting on Sunday and taking in the running culture. After the race they told me that I was probably the only normal runner in the entire city; noting that this breed of athlete is far from normal. Not that I'm normal, it's just that you come across a lot of awkward friggen' runners, and they got to take that all in. Back when I started running 3 and a half years ago, they thought I was a loser and didn't pay any attention to my interest in the new lifestyle change I was undergoing. I owe my family and those dudes a lot for putting up with through this crazy journey. I have some pretty crazy stories of my past that aren't to be shared, but I look back on them and realize how anything can be possible if you just put your head down and work towards your dream. I realize a 70 minute half marathon isn't even fast when there's professional's out there running them in 61 minutes. But it's all about the journey and years of training that build upon each other. I'm only getting started and I've got loads of work to put in. My dudes often joke with me that there should be one of those ESPN 30 for 30 documentaries made about me. Shit like that makes me want to keep hammering away and see how far this roller coaster ride will take me.
Shoutout to my buddies that just came back from the Vegas and experienced what everyone needs to do at one point or another. Shoutout to Berky for playing lights out on his golf trip in Florida with the UWO Golf Team. Our buddy Bobby who's doing his thing as an Assistant Super at Mississauga Golf & Country Club..as well as volunteering at all sorts of PGA events across North America. The kid was cutting fairways at Riviera last week and spotted Paulina Gretzky. You lucky bastard Bob. Then there's Patty Tufts who's down in the Windsor getting his degree and helping out in the Dominican building classrooms and crazy shit..thats Humanitarian of the year material. The crew is doing well right now man, we've got our heads on straight and we're figuring this life thing out slowly but surely.
Peace ....Oh here's some splits from my 1/2 Marathon yesterday.
Mile 1- 5.12
Mile 2- 5.27
Mile 3- 5.29
Mile 4- 5.21
Mile 5- 5.19 (26:48)
Mile 6- 5.24
Mile 7- 5.22
Mile 8- 5.20
Mile 9- 5.21
Mile 10- 5.19 (53:34)
Mile 11- 5.16
Mile 12- 5.20
Mile 13- 5.16 (69:26)
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
January 14-20th
Alright so here's the deal. I'm back into the swing of things training wise. I'm also working close to 40 hours a week on the graveyard shift. This means I go into work at 11pm-730am, come home and run, sleep for 6 hours, run again, and then do it all over again. I want to run 27 minutes on the track for 10k...haha yeah right. Ok, I want to run fast and get the most out of my training given the circumstances of these Canadian winter days. I've got until the end of May to figure this running thing out, while working hard with my good ol' pal Clint Smith. That kid is faster than me so he keeps me in check. The dude is injured at the present time but when he fixes his legs we're gonna go haywire. I'll be bloggin' up my weekly training so ya'll can check my progress.
Monday Jan 14
Monday Jan 14
AM: 2mi w-up. 4x(2x200m,1x400) 2mi cooldown
Clint and I did this on the track at Thompson arena. Clint rocked 5 sets while I pulled the plug after 4. I need start building a better relationship with running fast around the oval.
Reps: 30-34" 200s. 68-70" 400s
Reps: 30-34" 200s. 68-70" 400s
PM: 30 minutes easy.
Tuesday
AM: 11 miles with Brandon Laan. Real solid dude, Brandon is co-founder of Runnersfeed.com, president of Race Roster, Race Director for Rock the Road 10k, and a 2:20 marathoner. Check out his website and sign up for his race this August!
PM: Planned a 40 minute run in the afternoon that never ended up happening.
Wednesday
PM: 2.5 mile w-up (5x1 mile with 1' rest between intervals) 2 mile c-down. Rocked this workout with Clint on the roads in his neighbourhood. It was real windy and we were looking to keep it honest at 5:20ish/mile. We got a little to excited. Splits were 5:05, 5:01, 5:03, 4:57, 4:47
PM: 35 minutes easy.
Thursday
AM: 26 minutes easy. 6 strides
PM: 58 minutes. Started easy and worked it down to 6' pace.
Friday
AM: 29 minutes easy.
PM: With Clint. 2.5 mile w-up, 2' hard, 1' jog, 1' hard, 30" jog, 30" hard, 30" jog. Then we would repeat that set until we hit 8km. 2 mile c-down.
Hard efforts were done at 5'/mile pace.
Saturday
PM: 44 minutes easy. Tweaked my right hip flexor after the Friday workout. It's tight as hell
and doesn't feel the greatest right now. Hoping I can open that sucker up before it gets any worse.
Sunday
AM: I had to scrap the long run due to how shitty my right hip flexor has been feeling. Ended up running for 56 minutes easy.
PM: 77 minutes easy. Decided to head back out and see how things felt. Managed to get in 18 miles for the day.
Week Total: 87 Miles
There were a lot of highs and lows during this first week back. That Monday workout was demoralizing. I wanted to puke all over the track. After we killed the mile repeats on Wednesday, I was back on top of my high horse. Friday's fartlek was pretty "meh" and the whole bunged up hip-flexor ordeal is getting pretty lame. Week 1 is in the books, I'm hungry for more!
PM: Planned a 40 minute run in the afternoon that never ended up happening.
Wednesday
PM: 2.5 mile w-up (5x1 mile with 1' rest between intervals) 2 mile c-down. Rocked this workout with Clint on the roads in his neighbourhood. It was real windy and we were looking to keep it honest at 5:20ish/mile. We got a little to excited. Splits were 5:05, 5:01, 5:03, 4:57, 4:47
PM: 35 minutes easy.
Thursday
AM: 26 minutes easy. 6 strides
PM: 58 minutes. Started easy and worked it down to 6' pace.
Friday
AM: 29 minutes easy.
PM: With Clint. 2.5 mile w-up, 2' hard, 1' jog, 1' hard, 30" jog, 30" hard, 30" jog. Then we would repeat that set until we hit 8km. 2 mile c-down.
Hard efforts were done at 5'/mile pace.
Saturday
PM: 44 minutes easy. Tweaked my right hip flexor after the Friday workout. It's tight as hell
and doesn't feel the greatest right now. Hoping I can open that sucker up before it gets any worse.
Sunday
AM: I had to scrap the long run due to how shitty my right hip flexor has been feeling. Ended up running for 56 minutes easy.
PM: 77 minutes easy. Decided to head back out and see how things felt. Managed to get in 18 miles for the day.
Week Total: 87 Miles
There were a lot of highs and lows during this first week back. That Monday workout was demoralizing. I wanted to puke all over the track. After we killed the mile repeats on Wednesday, I was back on top of my high horse. Friday's fartlek was pretty "meh" and the whole bunged up hip-flexor ordeal is getting pretty lame. Week 1 is in the books, I'm hungry for more!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Ramble On
I've spent almost 10 minutes thinking of a title for this and all I've done is drawn blanks. Sort of like how I've been with the whole blog thing over the past little while. I'm almost scared and hesitant to come back on here and write up a post; let's face it, I'm a boring dude with not much to share. By the end of this rant I hope to come up with a title of relevance. Like any good book, article, movie, magazine, Brazzers clip etc., the title must catch the reader/viewers attention. Django Unchained was a very relevant title. Once our boy Django was in fact unchained, he showed a level of beastmode, dominance and animosity which his other compadres lacked, ultimately making the title correspond directly with the actions about to unfold in the thick of things.
A few things have happened in the last little while.
I. Moved in with a couple bro-dudes at the start of December. I go way back with said bro-dudes to the early stages of life as we know it. Best buddies Spencer and Nick S. are my roommates right now and it's been quite the eye-opener thus far. Nick is allergic to Mayonnaise so we like to taunt and use this weakness against him. One morning a few of us were playing credit card roulette to see who would be buying the first couple cases of beer for the afternoon. Luckily my card was picked first because the darn thing was maxed out at the time due to some regretful and questionable purchases. Over the course of the afternoon and a few soda-pop's deep, we plotted a Mayo attack while our friend was at work. The plan involved dumping half a jar of Hellman's into a bowl and putting it under his bed (we thought this tactic would make his room smell musty, raunchy and have a sour, mayoey rank). Then we put the jar in his pillow case. NS woke up with a sore neck and a level of pistification that tipped 8 on the 10 level pistified scale. When I asked him what was wrong, he explained that some jackass put an industrial sized Mayonnaise bottle in his bed and a bowl of shit, under it. He would't investigate the remnants of the dish. We are such dicks. Spencer is quite the dude too. Don't let the amount of video games played in our house fool you, we're a bunch of athletes when we want to be. If I ever need a good laugh I just watch Spenny play xbox live. He puts the headset on and and gets very hostile with his opponents. Sometimes he even gets inches away from the TV whilst yelling at the top of his lungs, it always has me on the edge of my seat. We live in a great location. Minutes away from the bars, UWO and St. Josephs Hospital. Running in this neighbourhood is friggen' sweet too. I like running the streets of Old North because there's some pretty ballin' houses to look at. I like looking at these houses of ballin'-ness because one day I'm going to live in one.
II. I've decided to grow my hair out. I've always kept the noggin freshly shaven but I'm going for a trendier, more sophisticated, and all around hip appearance. I was also told by this chick that she liked this luscious new me. I'm using a nice gluey like wax to keep the flow groomed appropriately for any type of situation. The product is called Alberto European: Extreme Style, which has been appropriately named for a guy like me. The plan is to keep this hair growing until I can wrap it up like a Samurai warrior for some races in the near future. If I can mishmash that look with some eye paint and that thing Tarzan wears around his package, the intimidation factor would be through the roof. Or I could distinguish myself on the line of races as a pirate with long hair and a bandana, hair flapping graciously in the wind like some sort of exotic animal. A mix between a gazelle and a zebra, thats the look I'm going for.
III. Christmas came and Christmas went. Christmas was a majestic time of year until that asshole Matthew L. ruined it for me in grade 4 during a pizza lunch at school. I didn't like young Matthew to begin with because he would read novels at an incredible rate. Then he told me Santa Clause was a bust and my hatred for that douche grew immensely. Matthew is probably playing video games right now and yelling into the television, but he's far from an athlete like best buddy Spencer. The holidays were good though, saw some family, drank some beer, drank a lot of beer, ate way to much and just ran a lot. I love my entire family to death. Dad's side, Mom's side, damnit you're all beautiful human beings. Then New Years eve came and that's all I'll say about that. Glad to make it into 2013 though, those Mayan activists look like a bunch of big fat phonies now, don't they? Seriously though, If something jaw dropping did happen, I would survive no doubt about it. My good pal George has a woodsmen mentality. He puts that lame "Overly Manly Man" dude on Twitter to shame. He's got swords and bows and crazy objects that would have us fit for a hunter gatherers type of lifestyle. The dude fights for a living and was born in the jungle, you can throw an alien or solar flare at us Mr. Mayan, we will kill both of you.
IV. Running has been boring for the last 6 weeks. There has been a lot of running but there hasn't been any substance to it. Just rolling my ass out of bed at 6am, heading out for a 5mile jaunt, then putting in another 10-12 miles later in the afternoons. I'm trying to mirror the life of an elite distance runner right now, while having the god given ability of an amateur. My days go something like this. Wake up, coffee, run. Come home, eat. Head to the gym. Go home to eat and nap. Awake from (normally a shitty) nap and run for longer. Then I'll cook up some dinner which usually consists of peanut butter and banana on toast with a side of raisin bran. Depending if I'm feeling bold or not, I'll head to the gym for a second time. I'm bold more often than not.
If I'm running on the treadmill at the gym, I'll usually get the look from several on-lookers around the facility. I'll get the "Why is that kid running hes already 120 pounds, go lift a weight" look. The "Why is that kid running so fast, he's only gonna last two minutes at that pace" look. The "Holy frig, that dude on the treadmill keeps ripping loud farts, how hasn't he shit himself" look. And finally, the "He's wearing half-tights and has shaved legs, dude is definitely a queer" look. In the time I'm not eating, performing physical activity, or sleeping, I generally mix in a couple teeth brushings, a poop, a couple pee's, a whole lot of twittering, and some good laughs with my idiot best friends.
In these 6 weeks I've been working up the base mileage and callousing these young legs to get strong and prepared for the training around the corner. Like any young and stupid runner, I've grown fascinated with 23 year-old Canadian stud, Cam Levins. Levins runs about 180 miles a week, which is close to 300km. So I tried running 200km a few weeks ago and that shit flat out sucked. There is simply not enough time in the day to even drive this far let alone get out the door and run it. I backed off that insane bogus and have been putting in 100mile weeks which is still a very aggressive move. These runs are nothing special and there hasn't been any type of workouts involved in them, but I think my body is responding well to the volume and I'm looking forward to my first workout on the track this coming Monday. The big race will be near the end of May. It's 10,000m around the track at TD Waterhouse Stadium. Other than that, I'm gonna get back to the doll house town of Burlington on March 3rd and try and dip under 70 minutes for the half-marathon. Along the way I'm gonna jump in some short road races and the odd track race. I want to get my ass kicked so bad on the track because a good reality check is just the thing I need.
V. My dad proposed an offer to take me on a trip of a lifetime. When he said China, I thought what the hell. I am a big advocate of Asian cuisine, and the Great Wall would definitely be a boner-worthy experience. I took Papa Lu up on his once in a lifetime offer, and we're trekking all over that place at the end of April. Before departing, I will likely have to brush up on some skills. My chop-stick game is horrendous and most likely sinful in the eyes of Chinese locals. Every time I'm grubbing out at some Asian joint I can see fire in the eyes of the waiters when I ask for North American cutlery. I don't know a lic of Cantonese, Taiwanese or Mandarin. I'm bankin' on my little friend Cheuk Leung to teach me the swear words, you need to know the swear words. I think I can use some transferrable skills while I'm over there, however. I like to spend money on toys and I hear toys are dirt cheap over there. I know Tae Kwon Do, so I can defend myself in the event of a Triad related ambush. I know Gangnam Style when I'm drunk. I can take good Instagram photo's of Shanghai and Bangkok. I'm going to become cultural and diverse. I'm going to conquer that wall.
VI. I've removed myself from the college scene. It was a good go coming back in the fall to race another season and win a Canadian college cross country championship. The motivation however came to an end after we locked that thing up and I wanted to finish off the semester and do other things. I will most likely pick it back up in the fall, but until then I'm content with making some money and running like hell. Since I'm not back at the college, I'm making the most of my money making ability (sort of) and training. I'm trying to become a god damn specimen and freak. I'm trying to re-invent myself in every way possible, from cleaning the dishes with precision and finesse, to taking out the garbage in a timely fashion, with a smile on my face. I'm upping my cooking game from cereal at every meal to the odd chicken on a sauce pan grilled with veg and spices. I'm getting good core strength lately and I'm looking to achieve a 12 pack ab ensemble because I think girls like abs and I want more abs then the normal ab sporting male. Abs are such a lame thing to talk about but runner's need those things.
VII. We are still figuring out who won man of the year for 2012. Theres so many strong candidates and it's making the final decision a very tough one. There is Frito Lay delivery guru, Nick Russell, mentioned on here before for his uncanny behaviour and ability to drink, dance, and destroy anything that doesn't belong to him. Corey Gutjahr, whose actions must be kept to ourselves. Dane Moffatt, the banker, mechanic, and general piece of work. And finally, Nick Spitters. Bloody hell I think the whole city likes the kid and he can talk to anyone. All our buddies are fairly close-minded when it comes to meeting new souls, yet Nick has the ability to make best friends with any crack head on the street. Mayo allergy or not, he's got my vote. And he tops it all off with a hair-doo that accurately resembles Ace Ventura in this memorable clip:
I'll stop there cause I don't know any more Roman numerals and I don't want to cheat by using google. A couple days ago I was a mile into a run when I passed by a long lost buddy at a bus stop. I didn't notice him until he yelled and I thought it was another jackass with the words run forest run about to come out of his mouth. I looked back and there was old buddy Delo. Hadn't see this dude in a while so it was cool seeing him there all hipster-esque waiting for the bus. So we said a couple things and I went back about my business. Yesterday I'm playing some xbox with our intense gamer buddy Spence and Delo walks in the door with M.O.T.Y. Candidate Corey G. It was the weirdest thing ever cause I went from not seeing him in years, to seeing him twice in two days, and now hes in my house. This story is really dumb but I'm mentioning young Delo because I know hes gonna be reading this and he put perspective into my eyes yesterday. He is pretty grown up now, wearing nice clothes, not having hair like Kraemer from Seinfeld anymore, sporting some Ralph Lauren spec's (which I think are for show) and an all around professional demeanor to the guy. The kid is more focused and intelligent than most people I know, surprising after he was the one encouraging me to funnel that bottle of red wine (*see post below about Campanle Basement Massacre) back in the day. Delo told me that when I ran by it was a thing of beauty, like a horse galloping 60km an hour and that he couldn't stop watching. He told me that I am a "get shit done" type of dude and that what I do is what 99% of people living cannot. In hindsight, Delo was pumping my tires to the fullest extent and told me to get after what I want. He explained that If I applied my work ethic in running to every facet of life, I would be a successful person, without a doubt. Delo is moving out to Calgary in May to start making some real dough and get his shit together. Delo: you best be knowing that I'm visiting your punk ass in Calgary and Pinnacle Peak when you're down in Arizona. Get after it kid.
I ran with my mom this morning and followed it up with a coffee at Starbucks. I can really get into this routine because I like my mom, early mornings, and coffee. Today she encouraged me to travel and go work in various places. After my 10,000 on the track, that's just what I'm gonna do.
Stay good everyone, God has a plan for you.
About that title...couldn't figure it out
A few things have happened in the last little while.
I. Moved in with a couple bro-dudes at the start of December. I go way back with said bro-dudes to the early stages of life as we know it. Best buddies Spencer and Nick S. are my roommates right now and it's been quite the eye-opener thus far. Nick is allergic to Mayonnaise so we like to taunt and use this weakness against him. One morning a few of us were playing credit card roulette to see who would be buying the first couple cases of beer for the afternoon. Luckily my card was picked first because the darn thing was maxed out at the time due to some regretful and questionable purchases. Over the course of the afternoon and a few soda-pop's deep, we plotted a Mayo attack while our friend was at work. The plan involved dumping half a jar of Hellman's into a bowl and putting it under his bed (we thought this tactic would make his room smell musty, raunchy and have a sour, mayoey rank). Then we put the jar in his pillow case. NS woke up with a sore neck and a level of pistification that tipped 8 on the 10 level pistified scale. When I asked him what was wrong, he explained that some jackass put an industrial sized Mayonnaise bottle in his bed and a bowl of shit, under it. He would't investigate the remnants of the dish. We are such dicks. Spencer is quite the dude too. Don't let the amount of video games played in our house fool you, we're a bunch of athletes when we want to be. If I ever need a good laugh I just watch Spenny play xbox live. He puts the headset on and and gets very hostile with his opponents. Sometimes he even gets inches away from the TV whilst yelling at the top of his lungs, it always has me on the edge of my seat. We live in a great location. Minutes away from the bars, UWO and St. Josephs Hospital. Running in this neighbourhood is friggen' sweet too. I like running the streets of Old North because there's some pretty ballin' houses to look at. I like looking at these houses of ballin'-ness because one day I'm going to live in one.
II. I've decided to grow my hair out. I've always kept the noggin freshly shaven but I'm going for a trendier, more sophisticated, and all around hip appearance. I was also told by this chick that she liked this luscious new me. I'm using a nice gluey like wax to keep the flow groomed appropriately for any type of situation. The product is called Alberto European: Extreme Style, which has been appropriately named for a guy like me. The plan is to keep this hair growing until I can wrap it up like a Samurai warrior for some races in the near future. If I can mishmash that look with some eye paint and that thing Tarzan wears around his package, the intimidation factor would be through the roof. Or I could distinguish myself on the line of races as a pirate with long hair and a bandana, hair flapping graciously in the wind like some sort of exotic animal. A mix between a gazelle and a zebra, thats the look I'm going for.
III. Christmas came and Christmas went. Christmas was a majestic time of year until that asshole Matthew L. ruined it for me in grade 4 during a pizza lunch at school. I didn't like young Matthew to begin with because he would read novels at an incredible rate. Then he told me Santa Clause was a bust and my hatred for that douche grew immensely. Matthew is probably playing video games right now and yelling into the television, but he's far from an athlete like best buddy Spencer. The holidays were good though, saw some family, drank some beer, drank a lot of beer, ate way to much and just ran a lot. I love my entire family to death. Dad's side, Mom's side, damnit you're all beautiful human beings. Then New Years eve came and that's all I'll say about that. Glad to make it into 2013 though, those Mayan activists look like a bunch of big fat phonies now, don't they? Seriously though, If something jaw dropping did happen, I would survive no doubt about it. My good pal George has a woodsmen mentality. He puts that lame "Overly Manly Man" dude on Twitter to shame. He's got swords and bows and crazy objects that would have us fit for a hunter gatherers type of lifestyle. The dude fights for a living and was born in the jungle, you can throw an alien or solar flare at us Mr. Mayan, we will kill both of you.
IV. Running has been boring for the last 6 weeks. There has been a lot of running but there hasn't been any substance to it. Just rolling my ass out of bed at 6am, heading out for a 5mile jaunt, then putting in another 10-12 miles later in the afternoons. I'm trying to mirror the life of an elite distance runner right now, while having the god given ability of an amateur. My days go something like this. Wake up, coffee, run. Come home, eat. Head to the gym. Go home to eat and nap. Awake from (normally a shitty) nap and run for longer. Then I'll cook up some dinner which usually consists of peanut butter and banana on toast with a side of raisin bran. Depending if I'm feeling bold or not, I'll head to the gym for a second time. I'm bold more often than not.
If I'm running on the treadmill at the gym, I'll usually get the look from several on-lookers around the facility. I'll get the "Why is that kid running hes already 120 pounds, go lift a weight" look. The "Why is that kid running so fast, he's only gonna last two minutes at that pace" look. The "Holy frig, that dude on the treadmill keeps ripping loud farts, how hasn't he shit himself" look. And finally, the "He's wearing half-tights and has shaved legs, dude is definitely a queer" look. In the time I'm not eating, performing physical activity, or sleeping, I generally mix in a couple teeth brushings, a poop, a couple pee's, a whole lot of twittering, and some good laughs with my idiot best friends.
In these 6 weeks I've been working up the base mileage and callousing these young legs to get strong and prepared for the training around the corner. Like any young and stupid runner, I've grown fascinated with 23 year-old Canadian stud, Cam Levins. Levins runs about 180 miles a week, which is close to 300km. So I tried running 200km a few weeks ago and that shit flat out sucked. There is simply not enough time in the day to even drive this far let alone get out the door and run it. I backed off that insane bogus and have been putting in 100mile weeks which is still a very aggressive move. These runs are nothing special and there hasn't been any type of workouts involved in them, but I think my body is responding well to the volume and I'm looking forward to my first workout on the track this coming Monday. The big race will be near the end of May. It's 10,000m around the track at TD Waterhouse Stadium. Other than that, I'm gonna get back to the doll house town of Burlington on March 3rd and try and dip under 70 minutes for the half-marathon. Along the way I'm gonna jump in some short road races and the odd track race. I want to get my ass kicked so bad on the track because a good reality check is just the thing I need.
V. My dad proposed an offer to take me on a trip of a lifetime. When he said China, I thought what the hell. I am a big advocate of Asian cuisine, and the Great Wall would definitely be a boner-worthy experience. I took Papa Lu up on his once in a lifetime offer, and we're trekking all over that place at the end of April. Before departing, I will likely have to brush up on some skills. My chop-stick game is horrendous and most likely sinful in the eyes of Chinese locals. Every time I'm grubbing out at some Asian joint I can see fire in the eyes of the waiters when I ask for North American cutlery. I don't know a lic of Cantonese, Taiwanese or Mandarin. I'm bankin' on my little friend Cheuk Leung to teach me the swear words, you need to know the swear words. I think I can use some transferrable skills while I'm over there, however. I like to spend money on toys and I hear toys are dirt cheap over there. I know Tae Kwon Do, so I can defend myself in the event of a Triad related ambush. I know Gangnam Style when I'm drunk. I can take good Instagram photo's of Shanghai and Bangkok. I'm going to become cultural and diverse. I'm going to conquer that wall.
VI. I've removed myself from the college scene. It was a good go coming back in the fall to race another season and win a Canadian college cross country championship. The motivation however came to an end after we locked that thing up and I wanted to finish off the semester and do other things. I will most likely pick it back up in the fall, but until then I'm content with making some money and running like hell. Since I'm not back at the college, I'm making the most of my money making ability (sort of) and training. I'm trying to become a god damn specimen and freak. I'm trying to re-invent myself in every way possible, from cleaning the dishes with precision and finesse, to taking out the garbage in a timely fashion, with a smile on my face. I'm upping my cooking game from cereal at every meal to the odd chicken on a sauce pan grilled with veg and spices. I'm getting good core strength lately and I'm looking to achieve a 12 pack ab ensemble because I think girls like abs and I want more abs then the normal ab sporting male. Abs are such a lame thing to talk about but runner's need those things.
VII. We are still figuring out who won man of the year for 2012. Theres so many strong candidates and it's making the final decision a very tough one. There is Frito Lay delivery guru, Nick Russell, mentioned on here before for his uncanny behaviour and ability to drink, dance, and destroy anything that doesn't belong to him. Corey Gutjahr, whose actions must be kept to ourselves. Dane Moffatt, the banker, mechanic, and general piece of work. And finally, Nick Spitters. Bloody hell I think the whole city likes the kid and he can talk to anyone. All our buddies are fairly close-minded when it comes to meeting new souls, yet Nick has the ability to make best friends with any crack head on the street. Mayo allergy or not, he's got my vote. And he tops it all off with a hair-doo that accurately resembles Ace Ventura in this memorable clip:
I'll stop there cause I don't know any more Roman numerals and I don't want to cheat by using google. A couple days ago I was a mile into a run when I passed by a long lost buddy at a bus stop. I didn't notice him until he yelled and I thought it was another jackass with the words run forest run about to come out of his mouth. I looked back and there was old buddy Delo. Hadn't see this dude in a while so it was cool seeing him there all hipster-esque waiting for the bus. So we said a couple things and I went back about my business. Yesterday I'm playing some xbox with our intense gamer buddy Spence and Delo walks in the door with M.O.T.Y. Candidate Corey G. It was the weirdest thing ever cause I went from not seeing him in years, to seeing him twice in two days, and now hes in my house. This story is really dumb but I'm mentioning young Delo because I know hes gonna be reading this and he put perspective into my eyes yesterday. He is pretty grown up now, wearing nice clothes, not having hair like Kraemer from Seinfeld anymore, sporting some Ralph Lauren spec's (which I think are for show) and an all around professional demeanor to the guy. The kid is more focused and intelligent than most people I know, surprising after he was the one encouraging me to funnel that bottle of red wine (*see post below about Campanle Basement Massacre) back in the day. Delo told me that when I ran by it was a thing of beauty, like a horse galloping 60km an hour and that he couldn't stop watching. He told me that I am a "get shit done" type of dude and that what I do is what 99% of people living cannot. In hindsight, Delo was pumping my tires to the fullest extent and told me to get after what I want. He explained that If I applied my work ethic in running to every facet of life, I would be a successful person, without a doubt. Delo is moving out to Calgary in May to start making some real dough and get his shit together. Delo: you best be knowing that I'm visiting your punk ass in Calgary and Pinnacle Peak when you're down in Arizona. Get after it kid.
I ran with my mom this morning and followed it up with a coffee at Starbucks. I can really get into this routine because I like my mom, early mornings, and coffee. Today she encouraged me to travel and go work in various places. After my 10,000 on the track, that's just what I'm gonna do.
Stay good everyone, God has a plan for you.
About that title...couldn't figure it out
Monday, November 12, 2012
A Year in the Making
Yesterday was Sunday and I woke up with the nastiest hangover I've had in a while. Making this hangover even worse was an 8+ hour bus ride from Montreal back to London ahead of me. Today is Monday and I woke up with a pounding headache. Busses and hangovers suck a lot, and so do Monday migraines. One may argue that these two days should be erased and forgotten about. But for me, these two days have rocked so far. I should probably be in class right now getting caught up on everything I've put on hold for the past 2 months, but I think I'll log some computer time and get this blog up. I do it for my fans...
I would love to see the facial expressions of the people pooping next to my stall at the Stop-And-Go yesterday afternoon. Not because I was ripping stinky toots or playing battle shits with those poor confused bastards, but because of my violent vomiting and cursing in that unfortunate stall. What did that toilet do to deserve that sort of punishment? I think I cracked the porcelain. We had a pretty nifty celebration Saturday night and I was paying the price big time. My good pal George says it best; A man at night is a man in the morning. I wasn't a man in either situation. I went from a drunken school girl to a walking puddle in a matter of hours. I was green. I had the mouth-sweats. I was a bag of hammers.
The benefits of being a runner, or any athlete involved in a vigorous training regimen, is that they generally become a very cheap drunk. I remember in highschool I could demolish 26 ounces of poisonous rum, shotgun 15 cans of beer in a 90 minute window (Fubar style), funnel bottles of wine, etc. At 5 foot 7, 132 pounds, I am now lucky enough to start achieving the funny affects after 2-3 beers...running lots of miles has definitely made me a huge lightweight but my wallet is quite content. Before I became a runner I was a very immature person and now I don't have an ounce of immaturity in my body. In my grade 10 rebel days I went to my 8am welding exam with a bottle of red wine in my backpack. The plan after the exam was to go celebrate the start of summer and the shenanigans that were about to unfold on that soon-to-be horrific day. At approximately 11am, I had that bottle of red wine poured into a funnel and pointed to my throat, with a circle of cheering imbeciles chanting for me to conquer the alcohol. I opened my valve, released my thumb, cheers'd to the sky and started chugging. What a great idea at the time! I felt like an unstoppable machine with my buddies baseball medals on, marker all over my face, dancing gracefully for these laughing fools. That ended up being the worst afternoon of my life and Lisa and Sam Campanale's basement walls took a beating when my guts layered them in what would be known as the Campanale Basement Massacre. My past was pretty pathetic. Present day Josh is much more mature than that.
This blog has gotten a decent number of pageviews which gives me a lot of confidence. All the confidence I can get is very important because my lackluster appearance doesn't provide me with this quality. I like to think that these pageviews come from a population of many different and interested blog inquirers, but in hindsight, it's probably just the same 4 people who read it a thousand times over again. If you are reading this, chances are you're a friend of mine, runner, drinking partner, family member, or a coach and know what happened to me at the end of my 2011 cross country season. If you're one of the people that have reached my blog from Singapore, Germany, UK, Tasmania or anything else like that, I'll fill ya in.
In 2010 our men's team was compiled from a bunch of fast rookies, a couple seasoned vets, a kid that showed up to first tryout and ran in jeans, myself, and some optimistic coaches. The women were expected to win National gold again, and that's exactly what they did. Us dudes were expected to do well, but winning National gold was a pretty big shock for us to pull off and that's exactly what we did. After we won Nats there in New Brunswick, 110 pound Daniel Bright was brought back to the hotel at 3am by two lesbian body builders after he was found intoxicated in an alley. Brilliant. At the start of 2011, we lost a couple of bodies including the entire women's team. Us dudes were back to repeat and things were looking very good going into Nationals out in BC. It was literally our race to lose and I lost it for my team, my coaches, and everyone that invested their time into me. At 5k into the race, I started going blank, dizzy, breathing started fading, lost feeling in my legs, and chaos was happening. With 200m to go and another team gold medal in my sights, I collapsed and was unable to get back to my feet and help my team to another title. As I laid there in goose shit, listening to the drama and echoing unfolding around me, my world felt like it was coming to an end. I was held back in hospital for 3 days with Coach Ron while everyone else went back with questions and disappointment. In between all the bloodwork, tests they did on my heart, sexy nurses, and McDonald's meals from Ron; I did a lot of thinking in that hospital bed. I asked myself if I wanted to call it quits after that experience or keep at it and put that tragedy behind me. All the testing that was done on me came back negative and Ron and I went for a Keg dinner to help me feel a little better. Then we saw a mountain goat perched in his habitat, it was just sitting there all majestic and such. Ron was fascinated. Back in London I saw a cardiologist where more tests were done, yet nothing came of it. I started running about a week later and 2012 was going to become a harbour of excellence, perserverance and hope, while the gongshow of 2011 would be my motivation.
I graduated from my program and was ready to take on the real world, run for myself, make some money, chip away at some marathons and just figure things out. A couple blogposts ago I talked about ditching the New York City Marathon to go back to Fanshawe and run Cross Country for one last time. Let me tell you how great that decision was. Remember that hurricane that came to the eastern seaboard and effed shit up? They cancelled the marathon two days before the race was supposed to happen. I would have been in the Big Apple when they broke the news and I would have absolutely snapped, knowing I trained and travelled there to run and then could have ran for Fanshawe instead. I wanted to go back to Fanshawe to redeem myself after last year and help finish what we started. I went back to better my education and complete another program also. There is a good chance that I may even be back next year and the year after that. I figure I could just become the next Van Wilder and take every program that the school has to offer until I figure out what I like. I'll be a jack of all trades and drive around in my own golf cart around campus. Girls like guys with good skills, I need more skills. The theme of this season was very clear and everyone knew that nothing less than 1st place in the country this year would be accepted. There was this really cute girl that showed up to tryout in September that also altered my brain to make the decision to come back. Amazing how she had that affect on me:) When coach John unveiled the new Falcon shirts it put goosebumps on my scrawny little arms. It says "UNFINISHED BUSINESS" on the back of them and that was the motto for the entire season.
I'm just rambling on right now and I know I've lost the readers interest so I'll put this as simplistic as possible. We dominated Provincial Championships, putting 6 of us in the top 13 on October 20th. This probably scared the shit out of the rest of the country. On Saturday morning I woke up with redemption on my mind. You could see it in everyone's eyes man, we weren't going to let anyone get in the way of us this time. Coach John delivered his speech, we went to the course, the women raced their hearts out and it was time for us to go out there and get the job done. We had a lot of support which was awesome, All eyes were on us. Fanshawe Alumni came just to watch, along with parents and friends. Everyone had their battles and strategy. We figured if we put together 6 solid races on Saturday, no one would touch us. I put Trev and Ally's initials on my hand, something I've done all season. I warmed up, drills and strides, made sure I knew where the St. Foy Frenchies were and then toed the line. Predator Clint did his thing up front there despite running 25:41 for the 3rd straight Nationals. He is cursed in terms of running that same friggen' time, but he isn't complaining because he came 2nd in the race individually for the second straight year- he's legit people. My plan was to roll with DB for a few KM then start beasting my way up the pack and take as many scalps as I could. The start of the race was pretty crazy and there were bodies everywhere (the first 400 was probably dropped under 60 seconds) and I found myself in front of DB the entire way. I ran super smart and and just floated along nicely, reeling in bodies like a beast would. The thought of my incident in 2011 entered my mind a hundred times during the race and I kept blocking that demon out with things like: I can't wait to party after the race, damn it's nice having John Mason yelling at me right now, I hope I looked good coming up that hill in the picture you just took mom, revenge is a meal best served cold, this is for you Tbarts and Ally, this is for you boys and coaches, there will be absolutely no ambulances this year, I hope I don't shit myself, I might puke my way out of the finishing chute after the race, I'm gonna drink gin like an animal tonight, quick go catch that St. Foy kid, cursing back and forth with that idiot in the back section of the 3k loop, did he actually just call me slim shady, so-long gay boy, suck on these chinese balls, that kenyan dude is gonna crash hard, how bad do you want this, we're gonna do this, keep digging buddy you're almost there, 200m and I'm feeling better than last time, god damnit Sean Sweeny just out kicked me by a second.
I rolled through the line and flashed my Fanshawe singlet for the cameras. I finished in 10th place with a time of 26:18. I looked back and there was DB, Rick, Mckellar, and BG. It was exhilarating to see our whole squad finish in the top 26. My emotions just started pouring out and I was fist pumping and yelling like a crazy bastard. I ran great and I knew redemption just happened. Business was finished. That was one of the best moments of my life so far; just jumping around with a permanent smile, hugging everyone and celebrating..I'm getting so happy thinking about it- I want to start screaming in the computer lab I'm in right now and break dance for everyone in here. After the race, Clint and I helped pace Kyle and Mike in the community/coaches 5k race. We had to live up to our nicknames as Predator and Beast so pacing those boys to a fast and strong 5k was the right thing to do.
It was so nice to show that you can do great things if you want it bad enough. I could have been wallowing with my head down or I could have came back to re-live another season with my family and teammates. I got to meet a super cool chick, help my boys win National College Cross Country Gold, further my education, and tell you all about my amazing experience this season. This season was a message from god that everything in fact does happen for a reason. Dreams do not work unless you do. Champions are made when no one is watching. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something. When life hits you hard you gotta get up and keep grinding man. Whatever it is that interests you, work hard and be the best at it. Do what makes you happy and live life abundantly.
Thanks to everyone that has supported me and the team this year. This was a year in the making and I can finally breathe and relax a little now. This is definitely a bittersweet moment for me because I am ending my running career at Fanshawe as a champion but I'm gonna miss these experiences like crazy. I can't thank my coaches enough for investing the time into me and making me something I never thought I'd become. The relationships I've made in this sport will last a lifetime.
I said I'd take a week off completely from running. I'm going to party like a rock star for a couple weeks now but I don't think I'll get passed day 3 of no running. In about a week from now I'm gonna start logging some sexy base mileage for the winter. I'm thinking like 100miles a week and then just work my way up from there. Cam Levins reportedly just signed with Speed River and is working with Dave Scott-Thomas but will be training in Utah still. He also ran 190 miles last week. Most people I know don't drive 100 miles a week, so I'll just start there. I also want to get a Beer Mile organized soon, so I'll keep you running people up to date with that. This Saturday, November 17th I will be hosting a party at my mothers pad to celebrate 3 months of sobriety and a fairy tale ending to an amazing season running with my Falcons. Alcohol and food, runners and non-runners, pin the tail on the Dane Moffatt, hugs, high fives, sky punches, fist pumps, beer pong, no bongs, good looking and ugly people, dogs, ratchets, music and winning will be a few things on display, so come check it out.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
Familiar Territory
Bonjour and welcome back to the BlogSpot. Some fairly hot topics boiling over right now so let's get going here shall we. My last post I mentioned that I would be scribbling ideas down in my idea bank journal, however I've been knee deep in school work, running, and a new hobby in Tae Kwon Do over the past couple of weeks. Needless to say, the idea bank has been neglected for good grades, a sexy looking running log, and some decent race results. Back when I was a tyke I was entered into a karate class. The instructor wasn't cool at all though, nor was he Chinese. There was something about a bald white guy teaching me lame maneuvers on the exercise mats that didn't seem right. I wanted Bruce Lee and I wanted violence. When I order my food, it's very important to me that the person serving the food is of the same ethnicity of the stuff I'm about to eat. Same goes for my karate lessons. He explained karate was about self defence and respect. With total disregard to me and the rest of my peers, Sensei Karl diminished our dreams of snapping necks and round house kicks with his croc of shit theories on this so called respect methodology. After never graduating beyond a white belt in my days as a minor, I developed this wussy mantra approach to everything I worked towards. Looking back, my background in karate, or lack there of, was the product of me becoming a terrible lacrosse player and a very good artist. If you haven't put the pieces of the puzzle together (my friends have), I am a pretty weird dude. Some of the weirdest individuals roaming the planet at this very moment are of the following breed of human being:
Ice Hockey Goalie
Artist
Gin Enthusiast
Runner
Guy With Bleached Hair
Guy With Blog That Wastes Your Time
I could catch a hockey puck like you wouldn't believe man. I was a young Felix Potvin back in the Jr. Knights days, and I was a very talented drawer. The artistic qualities I possessed back then could have taken me all the way to the top, but there was nothing sexy about a drawing goalie that always won the art award. Now if I was Leonardo Di Caprio in Titanic drawing naked women that lay in front of me, that would be a different story. The only problem with that is there would never be any work done and my career would crumble worse than Chad Johnson's. Now I love my mom to death, and I understand she was doing things in the best interest for me as a young gaffer, but she contributed to my pansy lifestyle when she would always give me a combover before school. Now that I've graduated from hockey, art, and combovers, Dane Moffatt has reinvented himself to become the guy with the pansy haircut. He is 22 years old and started gelling his hair off to the side. What....A....Doorknob. Since the entire blog thus far has been nothing in relation to "familiar territory", I'll transition over to that topic soon. I will let you know that my sudden interest in Tae Kwon Do has re-kindled the fire and drive to become successful in achieving daily excellence. Finding this inner chi has given me the strength to become magnificent at everything I am doing at that moment in time. If it comes to washing the dishes, Tae Kwon Do has taught me to be the best damn plate cleaner I can be. Backing my car out of the driveway? I'll honk to alert people that the beast is now pulling out of his parking space. Packing a suitcase? I'll pack that Samsonite 2 hours earlier than I normally would, with precision folding and efficiency. Studying for a test? I'll get Starbucks like everyone else who studies and study the shit out of those notes. You get the idea, Tae Kwon Do gives me perspective, drive and clarity.
Running. Let's talk running. In case you didn't read my last post, I pulled the plug on New York City and the whole marathon thing. I'm back at the Funshawe striving for academic and athletic excellence. There is this theory that if you want good grades, fast times, and enough sleep; you can only pick two. With that being said, I have totally abandoned my 7 hour sleeps and generally wake up before 6am every morning to get the friggen' job done. Early bird gets the worm man. Sure wake up call sucks ass at that hour, but there isn't enough time in the day anymore to be successful without jeopardizing some sleep. I love when people complain about Mondays and being up at 9am. Having to walk up stairs when the elevators broke down. They tweet about their #FirstWorldProblems, wishing their phone chargers would reach their beds and that they don't have a bathroom on every floor of their homes. These are not problems, these are lazy people. The same soft people who complain about snow and rain while I'm out running 2 hours at a time in it. Sorry for the rant, that was a little offside. Point is, if you want to sleep, forget about being successful. If you want you're drinking water a couple degrees colder, hit up my sister and ask her about the project she's working on down there in Kenya.
Running. Let's talk running. In case you didn't read my last post,.....damnit. We're back in familiar territory ladies and gentlemen. This passed weekend we travelled to the great blue collar city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario for OCAA Provincial Championships. The ladies came into the race taking 2nd place in every exhibition race this season, while the dudes have been undefeated this fall. Falcon men have won 3 straight OCAA's and we grabbed our 4th straight on Saturday, putting 6 guys in the top 13! That's basically a sexy guy in a red singlet, every other runner- pure domination. The ladies were edged out of a third place finish by a small margin, but we're stoked as hell for them and all that they've accomplished this year! Last year we were hurting for numbers on the ladies side, and this year we're back to rebuilding them and they have been running well, and looking cute! I want to say I'm super proud of everyone thus far, just wicked results and a lot of fun we're having right now. Definitely taking care of business along the way as we make our final decent down into Quebec for Nats on November 10th. Clint Smith proved he is the real deal yet again, Finally getting that OCAA individual gold that he's deserved. Past 2 years he's won silver, and he finally grew the balls to become a champion, good job Clinty boy! There is no doubt in my mind that Clint "If You're Not First, You're Last" Smith, is the top collegiate runner in the country. He obliterated the field on Saturday and even shocked himself a little. Other shoutouts go to my Mother, who continues to drop her times with age, running another personal best at the Columbus Half-Marathon in a blazing time of 1:47. Just amazing man. Shoutouts continue on with Doug Berk, father of 2012 Westen Mustang OUA Golf Champ Spencer, for running his first Marathon in Toronto last Sunday. Dougie is by far one of the most inspiring people I know. Growing up in the Berk household, I quickly became better friends with Doug than I was with his bad influence-of-a-son Spencer. Mr. B became like a father to me, and a funny one at that. This man is so legendary, that he was in a McDonald's drive thru once with a car full of hockey kids, and their order was taking forever. Doug said enough of this child's play and he walked into the McDonalds, walked behind the counter, and started serving the vehicle full of kids on his own. Doug became very ill a while back and he fought back and overcame the cancer he was diagnosed with. Heart of a Lion. Since becoming healthy, Douglar now competes in Triathalon and road races. Although he is a back-of-the-pack runner, he never quits and it is these inspiring acts that motivate people like me to continue to dream, and run for people like Doug. Spence, be more like your dad and less like Nick Spitters. Another dude I would like to mention is John Mason....because it's John Mason. JWM is a gnarly, hard working, boot wearing, mustache sporting, cow farming, joke telling dude that built Fanshawe Cross Country to what she is today. After laying the foundation for us newbies, he graduated on to run for the great SpeedRiver Track and Field Club in Guelph, where all those fast people that produce Canada's Olympians (minus Dylan Wykes and Rob Watson) train. He recently ran the Vic Matthews XC Open there in Guelph, where he hyped it up so much that he actually lost his shoe 30 meteres into the race. Like a total goon, JWM continued to run with only 1 shoe, while the smarter decision would have been to put that sucker back on and work his way back up. John learned from his mistake, and he's going to go beastmode on the 10k down in Springbank park this coming Sunday. That's where we'll be too. The Falcons will be down their racing the 5k. Come and watch us.
Fun Facts:
I lost my iPod for the 3rd time this weekend. I actually left it in my hotel room in the Soo, along with my Chuck Taylors. Damn my head was in a haze of confusion that morning.
Congrats to Brother Russell and his girlfriend Laura on moving into a home on Colbourne. Beaut of a place, love ya guys.
Forever in our thoughts, Trevor Barton and Ally Miletic. R.I.P
Cheers Folks
Ice Hockey Goalie
Artist
Gin Enthusiast
Runner
Guy With Bleached Hair
Guy With Blog That Wastes Your Time
I could catch a hockey puck like you wouldn't believe man. I was a young Felix Potvin back in the Jr. Knights days, and I was a very talented drawer. The artistic qualities I possessed back then could have taken me all the way to the top, but there was nothing sexy about a drawing goalie that always won the art award. Now if I was Leonardo Di Caprio in Titanic drawing naked women that lay in front of me, that would be a different story. The only problem with that is there would never be any work done and my career would crumble worse than Chad Johnson's. Now I love my mom to death, and I understand she was doing things in the best interest for me as a young gaffer, but she contributed to my pansy lifestyle when she would always give me a combover before school. Now that I've graduated from hockey, art, and combovers, Dane Moffatt has reinvented himself to become the guy with the pansy haircut. He is 22 years old and started gelling his hair off to the side. What....A....Doorknob. Since the entire blog thus far has been nothing in relation to "familiar territory", I'll transition over to that topic soon. I will let you know that my sudden interest in Tae Kwon Do has re-kindled the fire and drive to become successful in achieving daily excellence. Finding this inner chi has given me the strength to become magnificent at everything I am doing at that moment in time. If it comes to washing the dishes, Tae Kwon Do has taught me to be the best damn plate cleaner I can be. Backing my car out of the driveway? I'll honk to alert people that the beast is now pulling out of his parking space. Packing a suitcase? I'll pack that Samsonite 2 hours earlier than I normally would, with precision folding and efficiency. Studying for a test? I'll get Starbucks like everyone else who studies and study the shit out of those notes. You get the idea, Tae Kwon Do gives me perspective, drive and clarity.
Running. Let's talk running. In case you didn't read my last post, I pulled the plug on New York City and the whole marathon thing. I'm back at the Funshawe striving for academic and athletic excellence. There is this theory that if you want good grades, fast times, and enough sleep; you can only pick two. With that being said, I have totally abandoned my 7 hour sleeps and generally wake up before 6am every morning to get the friggen' job done. Early bird gets the worm man. Sure wake up call sucks ass at that hour, but there isn't enough time in the day anymore to be successful without jeopardizing some sleep. I love when people complain about Mondays and being up at 9am. Having to walk up stairs when the elevators broke down. They tweet about their #FirstWorldProblems, wishing their phone chargers would reach their beds and that they don't have a bathroom on every floor of their homes. These are not problems, these are lazy people. The same soft people who complain about snow and rain while I'm out running 2 hours at a time in it. Sorry for the rant, that was a little offside. Point is, if you want to sleep, forget about being successful. If you want you're drinking water a couple degrees colder, hit up my sister and ask her about the project she's working on down there in Kenya.
Running. Let's talk running. In case you didn't read my last post,.....damnit. We're back in familiar territory ladies and gentlemen. This passed weekend we travelled to the great blue collar city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario for OCAA Provincial Championships. The ladies came into the race taking 2nd place in every exhibition race this season, while the dudes have been undefeated this fall. Falcon men have won 3 straight OCAA's and we grabbed our 4th straight on Saturday, putting 6 guys in the top 13! That's basically a sexy guy in a red singlet, every other runner- pure domination. The ladies were edged out of a third place finish by a small margin, but we're stoked as hell for them and all that they've accomplished this year! Last year we were hurting for numbers on the ladies side, and this year we're back to rebuilding them and they have been running well, and looking cute! I want to say I'm super proud of everyone thus far, just wicked results and a lot of fun we're having right now. Definitely taking care of business along the way as we make our final decent down into Quebec for Nats on November 10th. Clint Smith proved he is the real deal yet again, Finally getting that OCAA individual gold that he's deserved. Past 2 years he's won silver, and he finally grew the balls to become a champion, good job Clinty boy! There is no doubt in my mind that Clint "If You're Not First, You're Last" Smith, is the top collegiate runner in the country. He obliterated the field on Saturday and even shocked himself a little. Other shoutouts go to my Mother, who continues to drop her times with age, running another personal best at the Columbus Half-Marathon in a blazing time of 1:47. Just amazing man. Shoutouts continue on with Doug Berk, father of 2012 Westen Mustang OUA Golf Champ Spencer, for running his first Marathon in Toronto last Sunday. Dougie is by far one of the most inspiring people I know. Growing up in the Berk household, I quickly became better friends with Doug than I was with his bad influence-of-a-son Spencer. Mr. B became like a father to me, and a funny one at that. This man is so legendary, that he was in a McDonald's drive thru once with a car full of hockey kids, and their order was taking forever. Doug said enough of this child's play and he walked into the McDonalds, walked behind the counter, and started serving the vehicle full of kids on his own. Doug became very ill a while back and he fought back and overcame the cancer he was diagnosed with. Heart of a Lion. Since becoming healthy, Douglar now competes in Triathalon and road races. Although he is a back-of-the-pack runner, he never quits and it is these inspiring acts that motivate people like me to continue to dream, and run for people like Doug. Spence, be more like your dad and less like Nick Spitters. Another dude I would like to mention is John Mason....because it's John Mason. JWM is a gnarly, hard working, boot wearing, mustache sporting, cow farming, joke telling dude that built Fanshawe Cross Country to what she is today. After laying the foundation for us newbies, he graduated on to run for the great SpeedRiver Track and Field Club in Guelph, where all those fast people that produce Canada's Olympians (minus Dylan Wykes and Rob Watson) train. He recently ran the Vic Matthews XC Open there in Guelph, where he hyped it up so much that he actually lost his shoe 30 meteres into the race. Like a total goon, JWM continued to run with only 1 shoe, while the smarter decision would have been to put that sucker back on and work his way back up. John learned from his mistake, and he's going to go beastmode on the 10k down in Springbank park this coming Sunday. That's where we'll be too. The Falcons will be down their racing the 5k. Come and watch us.
Fun Facts:
I lost my iPod for the 3rd time this weekend. I actually left it in my hotel room in the Soo, along with my Chuck Taylors. Damn my head was in a haze of confusion that morning.
Congrats to Brother Russell and his girlfriend Laura on moving into a home on Colbourne. Beaut of a place, love ya guys.
Forever in our thoughts, Trevor Barton and Ally Miletic. R.I.P
Cheers Folks
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