Michael & Liz are Bloggable

A few weeks ago I went out to our garden and came upon some unexpected plants. Little did we realize, that after we pulled out the plants that we no longer wanted at the end of the Summer, plants from the previous year sprouted up.

That's right, we did NOT plant these in 2012. This Thai Dragon Pepper plant, I had planted in 2011:

I made the mistake last weekend of taking on the challenge of eating one of the red ones. That was a MISTAKE. I spent some time under the faucet (yes, I realize water isn't the best solution, but it felt good).

Then I spotted tomato plants, which is not where we planted them this year:


All the plants in the front, all tomato plants from 2011 that just popped up unexpectedly:


So cutting down that tree in the garden turned out to be the best decision ever. We'll see if we get any tomatoes before it gets cold enough to kill them.

Now, it's October. Wait, it's almost November, and I just went out to the garden and found an abundance of sweet peppers, and enough red jalapenos to kill a person. I would have thought that all the plants would be dead by now, but they are still producing more than we can handle.

Here are some peppers I left in the garden:


And this is what I just picked out of the garden:


I wouldn't be surprised at this point if the peppers keep producing all winter long. Crazy.

We know that the thing that makes Cole laugh the hardest, is when Daisy and Gryffin are playing. We didn't realize until yesterday that involving Cole in their play was the easiest way to get him laughing.

We were doing this for a good 15 minutes before deciding to try and video it. Here is a montage of Cole laughing. I dare you to try not to laugh:

Growing up I played almost any sport I could get involved with. Soccer. Basketball. Baseball. Tennis. Track and Field. Cross Country. Etc. Etc. My interest, enjoyment, and talent would probably be listed in the same order as well.

I had no illusions about how average I was at Cross Country and Track. Much like how I am today, I was decent at running but I mostly fed off of my competitive nature and unwillingness to quit.

I was very good at tennis, but when you take the sport up at the age of 17, you really don't compare to the players who began 10 years earlier. I'd say I held my own.

I was good at baseball as well, but then they started throwing curveballs in high school, and I was not interested (or capable) in hitting those. I can remember the exact moment too. 3 pitches. 3 curveballs. 3 swings. 1 out.

Soccer and basketball are different stories though. I played both sports all year round, enjoyed them immensely, and was usually one of the best players on any of the teams. In my mind, I was equally skilled and accomplished in both, that is until recently.

When I got to high school, my freshmen year in soccer I was the last man on the varsity bench, which sounds terrible but is actually really good for a freshmen. I got some playing time my sophomore year on a team that was consistently ranked #1 in the state. Starting my junior year, I was one of the main contributors on the team and during my senior year was the captain and starting sweeper. My point in describing this, is that at the time I felt I was great at soccer and looking back, I believe that to still be true.

Basketball is a different story though. I played point guard my freshmen and sophomore years for the freshmen team and junior varsity team. I was on the right track. Junior and senior years though, when I made varsity, I rode the bench.

I heard one college basketball player a few years ago refer to himself as the "human victory cigar". When the game was no longer in doubt, he was sent in just to get a few minutes of playing time. That's who I was. You know when the crowd starts chanting the name of the guy who never plays and rarely gets a shot, in order to see him come in and make a miraculously worthless 3-pointer to end the game? That was all me, junior year especially.

I felt shafted, wronged, and treated unfairly. BASKETBALL WAS MY SPORT! I was supposed to be better than a human victory cigar! I stuck out 2 years of hustling the hardest in practices, winning all the wind sprints when everyone is exhausted, doing everything I could to prove myself, only to get the best and most comfortable seat in the house on Friday nights. I spent many hours throughout those winters contemplating the one thing I would hate the most, quitting.

I spent many years of my adult life completely oblivious to reality... until today.

I have some basketball videos from high school that I watched this week for the first time in... ever. It was a massive slice of humble pie. My contributions to the team were not fast-breaks, lay-ups, and 3-pointers. They were turnovers, fouls, and 3-point bricks. I'm surprised I played as much as I did.

I had this coddled self-image that all along I was a great point guard who was valuable to the team when really I was being treated as I deserved to be treated. The varsity bench was meant for me. I was certainly good enough to make the team, there's no doubt about that. I had skills, but I was nowhere near the great player I thought I was. The person playing ahead of me DESERVED to be playing, and I did not. Here I thought all along that my coach was wronging me, when really he was passively giving me the truth of the matter.

For a decade now, I had looked at my basketball experience as a growth opportunity. Here I was, sticking it out, refusing to quit in the face of injustice. That experience and the feelings I once held will always be inside of me as something I had felt I had gone through. But now that I've watched myself and seen myself through the eyes of a camera, I've learned a whole new additional lesson.

It just makes me realize that I am not the person I think I see standing in the mirror. No one is. We can't be judges of ourselves no matter how great or terrible we think we may be. Sometimes someone in your life who cuts to the chase and gives you direct criticism is just as valuable as someone who is a constant encouragement. I think we all could use a dish of both, hold the humble pie.

This past weekend was huge when it comes to Cole's development. He started moving and crawling a lot more, and is continuing to "sit-up" more often and for a longer amount of time. His old crawl and lunge methods are much more crawl than lunge these days, and he can fly across the floor now. But he also learned his most impressive skill so far, and that is standing.

He likes doing it on small furniture, but he is most proficient when we offer our hands to him. He pulls himself up on his knees, and then immediately pops up to his feet. He is still wobbly and is nowhere near the point of standing on his own, but he LOVES bouncing and weaving on his feet.

The following video shows 3 clips. The first and last clips show how quick he is at crawling around the floor now and the middle clip is his ability to stand. Liz's Mom is in town and she is his standing assistant in the video:

This past weekend I ran the Hinson Lake 24 Hour Ultra. To give a brief summary, it's a running race that lasts 24 hours. All the runners run around the 1.52 mile lake as many times as they can in that period of time. The results are based on how far you run, not how long it takes you like normal races. You don't have to be out there the whole time. You can run 1 lap or you can run 100 laps, it's up to you.

We got up at 3AM on Saturday and got to the course early. We wanted to get a good spot on the course to set up our tailgating tent. Get a good spot, we did!! That was a huge help, although we didn't have to get out there at 3AM. The only people out there at that time were people who were camping the night. No one showed up until 5AM. Although if you didn't get there by 6AM, you may not have gotten a decent spot.

Here's a picture of me and Cole right before the start. I think his new nickname is "mini-me", and you can probably see why. Our hair is so similar, so funny.

Cole enjoyed hanging out in our bug free tent and rolling around on the blankets.


He also discovered grass for the first time, and I wouldn't say it got rave reviews.


At 7:50 AM, they did the pre-race briefing in the rotary lodge parking lot, can you identify which one I am? I'm not subtle.


We shared the tent with a friend of mine I met in the Spring, Mark. He's standing next to me in his almost-trademarked red running shirt. He may claim not to be a good runner or very experienced, but he pushed me in the direction of doing this race, so I have him to thank for me joining in on this awesome craziness.


Here is our tailgating tent we set up on the course. We were right next to the scorer's table and refreshment stand, which had it's pros and cons. It was awesome to be able to get convenient food, but it was tough to sleep at night with so many of the runners eating and talking next door. When we set our tent up, it was then dubbed "The Taj Mahal of Tents" by the envious runners around us. I'd say that's appropriate, big thanks to Joe and Mandy for lending it to us!!


I have to mention though, that the race director and the food and scoring volunteers were absolutely fantastic. I have never been a part of an event that was run so flawlessly and smoothly. Their organization and direction didn't make it feel like a race, but rather a run with a lot of casual friends. Their process of counting runners was clear and concise, and their generosity with food and supplies was incredible. They had more refreshments than I have ever seen and on Saturday they bought an unbelievable amount of pizza for all the runners to pick up on their way by. The race registration was only $24 and you got a "tech-tshirt", a pint glass, and 24 hour ultra sticker. Can you think of another race that provides that kind of swag?!

Here is Hinson Lake. If you look closely, you can see the bridge on the far side where runners turn and make their way back around the course. At night, when people had their headlamps on, you could see little lights bobbing up and down in the distance. VERY COOL!


Only 20 feet into the race and still looking strong, score!


Here is the beginning of the race and tent row on the dam of the lake. You can see why getting a good spot here was crucial. Runners could stop and eat and converse with their helping crew. Not having to walk to your car or a distant tent in this race that requires so much time and energy was really important.


Mark and I coming over the bridge after lap 1.


When we were running by Liz after the first lap, I just waved and said "hey!" and Liz says "Do you see who's holding Cole?!" and I turned and there was John and Allison who came all the way from Atlanta to see the race. It wasn't until I was well past them that I realized they were standing there. As if this picture needs a caption, I yelled out "HOLY CRAP!"




On lap 2, John jumped in. He had come all this way to pace with me as long as I was moving. That was such an awesome surprise! Allison was so great helping take care of Cole and he certainly enjoyed it!


Cole and his favorite past time. He LOVES getting a foot rub. When it gets to be around 6 or 7PM, if you put him on your lap like this and rub his feet, he gets so calm and sleepy.


Around 10AM, I got another surprise! Matt came down from Raleigh to help pace me too! I cannot exclaim how good it feels to have friends like that travel so far for me. It really meant a lot and I can't thank them enough!! For 20 miles during the day, he took my mind off the race (as best they could), and having good conversation really helped. Matt stayed until around 6PM and ended up pacing me for roughly 20 miles. Very awesome!


Around the same time Matt left, Liz and Allison went back to the hotel with Cole. Liz, being the photographer, was not in any of the pictures, but I could not be more thankful for how much she helped throughout the day. She was constantly handing us food and drinks as we ran by and almost made Wendy's sellout of their #6's and #7's. She was a trooper for all 24 hours and I am so blessed to have her in my corner!

So a little more details about the race, the course was surprisingly flat. There were very few up and downs, and that was a huge relief. I read before the race about a part that was dubbed, "Mount Hinson". I did not realize until I ran the course for the first time, that the name was sarcastic. It's no more than a bump in the trail.

The trail consisted mostly of packed sand with the occasional wooden bridge and a few more sandy portions. The sandy portions were super obnoxious. Before the race I noticed people had these handkerchiefs tied around their shoes. I asked Mark "Is that to catch sweat? That's brilliant!" and he said "No, that's to stop rocks and sand from getting in the shoe." Little did I know, that that is even more brilliant.

I ran the first 30 miles in 6 hours, which my game plan was to hit a marathon in that time, so I was happy. I've done marathons in 4 hours before, but having so much farther to go in this race, I added walking, eating, drinking, and taking short breaks to the running plan.

Between miles 30 and 40, I was started to have a lot of knee and leg pain. That is rare for me, I have never had knee pain or leg pain before, but they were for good reason. 2 weeks ago I had a soccer game in which I kicked the ball a little funny and I hurt a muscle in my leg. It's the outside muscle near your shin that helps you lift your toes, whichever one that is. And last weekend, maybe this deserves it's own blog post, I fell down the stairs with Cole in my hands and banged my knee up. So with those two incidents that caused these pains, Allison, the traveling pharmacist, gave me Aleve which promptly took those pains away completely. Life saver!

At mile 40 I also started developing blisters on the bottom of both feet. I think mainly because of the sand and rocks that hopped in my shoes while running. To stop them from getting worse, I resorted to just walking from then on. I walked until I hit 52 miles at 9PM, and due to the blisters, threw away my goal of not stopping at all. John and I laid down, put our feet up, and decided getting a little sleep was a good idea.

We napped until 2AM, at which point I woke up and had a moment. I was sitting there and watching all the elite runners run by. I started thinking to myself, "You've done 52 miles, and are laying down during the race with 6 hours to go? Seriously?! When is the next time you'll have this opportunity. Do you really want your story to be that you threw away the last 11 hours of the race?"

So I got up and kept walking in spite of the blisters. At this point though, I'd say it was more "waddling" than walking. My muscles felt great, my sleepiness dissipated, but those blisters were killing me. The outside temperature was pretty cool, maybe 60 degrees, and that felt wonderful. I continued walking until around 6 or 6:30AM. On my 41st lap, one short of what I was hoping to get, the blisters on the bottom of both feet burst. My pain threshold had been exceeded. I sat down and called it a day.

Sitting in a big baggy sweatshirt never felt so good!


John got up super stiff and sore, and we took this picture near the end of the race. John, if I remember correctly, covered a total of roughly 41 miles. At this point  in the morning, I had walked an additional 10 miles from 2AM to 6AM and finished 41 laps for a total of 62.32 miles.

Thumbs up for a job well down:


I couldn't resist including this picture as well:


And if you looked up "sexy" in the dictionary, you could find this picture:


The Banana Lap. I love John's quote on the subject: "Everything in life should have a banana lap". At the end of the race, because it's a 24 hour race, they include what is called "The Banana Lap". If you are leaving the scorer's table, and don't think you can complete a full lap in the time that is left, you are handed a banana with your number on it. When the clock hits 24 hours, they honk a horn, and everyone drops their banana where they are on the course, and the race director makes his way around and marks everyone's distance. 


Technically I did participate in the banana lap, but only half-heartedly. At 7:30AM, I took a banana and walked what I thought was .2 miles, and set my banana down. That would give me 62.5 miles. My feet were too blistered to be able to make it around another lap, so after setting down my banana I walked back to our Taj Mahal and waited for the horn.

An unexpected side-effect of the race? I no longer think running a marathon is that big of a deal. 26.2 miles? Whatever.

Will I run Lake Hinson again? At 8AM on Sunday I announced that it was not worth the effort or pain to run 62 miles. Today I disagree. I am proud of my distance but am frustrated by the blisters. I'd love to know how far I could have gone if I didn't get blisters? 70? 80 miles? I continued to eat and drink enough that my muscles never cramped and my energy level never wavered. It only took 1 day, but I'd say Lake Hinson 2013 may be a go.