Run Your Race...

Good morning and Happy Memorial Day to the Veterans and Troops out there.  I ran a nice 10 miler this morning around 6:20a.  Why so early on a Holiday?  Have to BEAT THE HEAT!  Today's post has been on my mind for a few runs now and today it all came together.  Here goes.

Run your race.  Simple sentence, yes.  Easy implementation, no.  What I mean by "run your race" is simply to live and evaluate your life based on the guidelines you set rather than the expectations of others.  Think about that for a second.  How many of you who read this blog allow what you think about your accomplishments to be defined by a boss, an industry, a profession, or by what your friends or family may accomplish?  I'm as guilty as the next person and I have sometimes compared my accomplishments in life to the accomplishments of others and allowed that to somehow change how I felt about my own accomplishments--sometimes in a bad way.  A very valuable lesson that running has taught me is that if I choose to run another person's race, then it's going to be one long struggle--and the longer the race the longer the struggle.  I firmly believe that we were all meant to run our race, but much like running in the woods sometimes choosing the right path to run down can be unclear.  It takes some careful thought and planning to make sure you head down the right road.  Once you are on the right road, then you have to make sure to allow yourself to navigate it by your own standards so long as those standards do no harm to others. 

Here are some of the standards I use to determine whether or not I am running a successful race:

Effort:  In running and in work it's my goal every single day to give my best effort.  It's pretty simple, but I expect my best effort every single day no matter what.  Sure...the wind may be blowing when I'm running or there might be some crazy stuff going on at work, but I can still give my best effort.  On any given day my best effort will get me different places, but giving it should always be a priority.

Honesty:  I don't play games and I put all my cards on the table.  With me, you know where I stand on something and I will never allow someone else to deliver a tough message.  It's so important to me that I am always transparent in what I do and how I act.  I know that if I am honest no matter what, then I'll be able to sleep well each night.  I once got caught up in the games of my profession and it was awful.  I'd rather be honest and a step behind than dishonest and two steps ahead.  In running, it's as simple as running the correct route in a race or reporting the correct miles you run during training.  Sure, you could lie about the number of miles you run, but when it's time to race then you'll reap what you sow.  At the end of the day, honesty always wins out.

Day Maker:  I'm blessed because every day at work I have the chance to make a person's day better.  I can either add value (Being a Plus One) or subtract value.  This concept not only applies to work, but all areas of my life.  Now...I'm not perfect (just ask Sarah) and I can be a grumpy guy, but more often than not I am a Day Maker instead of a Day Breaker.  At it's core, I ask myself each day whether or not I went the extra mile for the students and staff that I lead.  In running, I try to answer all of the questions that fellow runners have for me and I try to help as many people with their running as I can.  There's always a chance to surprise people with kindness and I try to do that. 

Be Uncommon:  I can think Coach Tony Dungy for this one.  Coach Dungy wrote a whole book about being uncommonly good at what you do.  That's a scary concept because it implies that you have control over what you achieve.  But...I LOVE this simple concept and try to be uncommon daily.  In work, that means I am trying to lead my team to be the best it can be and to be a model for others to achieve.  In running, that means setting goals like trying to run a 2:39 marathon, putting it in writing in a public forum, and then having the discipline to go out there and train to do it.  Many of us want to be unique or stand out in a positive way.  For me, striving to be uncommonly good at what I do is the way I try to achieve that.

At the end of the day I am a husband, father to Myles, a runner, a Res Lifer, and an Indiana University Basketball and Football fan.  All of those entities are on the path I run and I love "running that race" each day.  The real key in life is not to try and run another person's race or what society says your race should be.  Rather, it's important to run your race in the best way that you can. 

Have a great day.  Happy running to you...

A Great Week...

  

Sarah & I at Dinner



Happy Indianapolis 500 Sunday to you!  Myles and I are ready to write a blog post for today.  I ran about six miles this morning and could not help but notice all of the vehicles headed to the track.  It's a fantastic experience.  Have fun race fans.  Yesterday, Sarah and I made the trek back to Indy after about 8 days of vacation.  The stats for vacation:  2400 miles, 11 states, 2 books on tape, lots of laughs, lots of fun, great time with our family.  I posted runs this week in North Carolina, Florida, and Indiana.  Here are my three best for the week:

 One, spending time with family.  During the first part of our vacation we headed to North Carolina to spend time with Sarah's Grandmother and Sarah's Dad.  As I stated last week, it was a real blessing to be able to be there.  For the last two-thirds of our vacation we were in Destin, Fl with my Mom, Dad, brother, sister and brother-in-law.  We enjoyed being able to spend time walking on the beach, reading good books, eating nice meals, riding jet skis, and indulging in some adult beverages.  On our last day we were enjoying the final moments on the beach and we had a nice time reflecting and just enjoying the moment.  It was probably the first time in about a decade that we were all able to go on vacation and just spend some time together without being rushed.  All in all, we were very fortunate to have been able to have gone on a nice vacation.  Back to medical school (Year 4) for Sarah and to work for me.



Me, Jennifer, & Jonathan on the last evening



Two, the HRL Team at IUPUI.  One of the major reasons I was able to leave for a week is because I have a great group of leaders.  Before I left I sat down with our Res Life Supervisory Team and went over the list of goals we needed to accomplish to keep things moving while I was gone.  On Monday when checking my email (for a VERY short time), it was clear by the email traffic that they were out there doing their best to move things forward.  It's very nice to know that I don't always have to be there for Res Life related tasks to move forward.  When I was younger in my career I was under the false impression that the show could not go on without me and I thought that was somehow a good thing.  Now, I realize that one's leadership effectiveness can be measured by how the people you lead perform when you are not there.  By all accounts, my team did great work and I'm very proud of them.

Three, the Myles Caretaking Team led by Kat and Hilda.  Many of you asked on Facebook, "what about Myles."  Yes, Sarah and I were a bit sad to leave Myles as we love him very much.  However, we left Myles under the care of two OUTSTANDING individuals.  Kat did a great job of taking care of Myles through the first part of our vacation and Hilda took over for a majority of the week.  They sent videos, pictures, and text updates.  Both Hilda and Kat patiently responded to my texts saying "how's Myles?"  It's tough to care for another person's dog because you just want everything to go well.  It was very clear when we returned yesterday that Myles had been in great care.  I know that for both Sarah and I we were able to enjoy our time away because we knew that Myles was in the best hands possible.  Thanks to both of them!

I hope that you have a fantastic Sunday and Memorial Day weekend.  Happy running to you!

Sarah went to UGA, My Dad and I to IU, My Mom, Sister & Brother to UK.  What a random picture!





Vacation Running...

Enjoying The Beach, Reppin INDIANA!

Good morning!  As I type this it's odd because Mr. Myles is not sitting on my lap.  But...and it's a big BUT (Ha Ha)...I'm sitting here writing with the beach as my backdrop.  It's a beautiful morning here in Destin and the day looks like it will be magnificent.  Yes, I miss my little Myles, but from what I hear he's having just a splendid time with his new friends that are taking care of him for us.  They've been kind enough to send pictures, videos, and text updates about him.  As folks who read this blog know, I'm crazy about my pup. 

I ran for a second time this week here in Florida.  Today I ran 7 miles around 6:45a.  I know, I know.  I'm on vacation.  That's why the post is titled "Vacation Running" rather than a "Running Vacation."  I woke up naturally at 6:30a and decided to hit the road.  It's hot and humid even at 6:45a here so I'd have to classify this run as my first true summer run.  For those who run I have a couple hot weather running tips for you.  One (and it's sort of a given):  Drink lots of water.  You will lose so much water on a run in the summer.  Two, run early or late.  I would avoid running between 8a and 5p in the summer if at all possible.  Three, temper your pace--specifically, I tend to go a bit slower because the effort to run in the heat is much more significant than when it's 70 or below. 

Vacation has been great because we've been with our family this week.  First, in North Carolina with Sarah's Grandmother and Father.  Now, in Destin with my family.  So...it's been a real blessing.  Both Sarah and I go 100 miles an hour so it's nice just to take a break and relax.  Yes, I've answered some work emails.  Yes, I've been up and running and still writing.  But...I've taken a much needed mental break for 95% of my days and I'm just enjoying sitting on the beach reading a John Grisham novel (The Associate).  It's been great and I'm looking forward to another restful day.  Happy running to you...

#3 Best for Week...

Good morning. I'm typing from my iPhone so this will be a short post. Just finished a nice 5 mile run in Greenville, NC through the East Carolina University campus. Is so pretty. We are visiting Sarah's Grandmother who lives in Greenville. Sarah's Grandfather used to be the Dean of the School of Medicine at ECU. So cool. I love running through college campuses--especially when they have meaning. Another Sarah/Josh fun fact: we both had Grandfathers who were Deans on college campuses.

3 Best for the week:

One: Running went very well as I ran 40.25 miles and had three days running 10 miles. Overall, I've now run over 530 miles for 2011.

Two: Seeing Sarah's Grandmother. Heck, she's like my Grandmother too. We love her very much and it's been a nice visit. Her humor, wit, intellect, and genuine kindness are unmatched. It's been fun seeing where she lives for the first time. Sarah's Dad gave us quite a nice tour.

Three: Another driving adventure with Sarah. We've driven coast to coast and we are on another summer trip. We've seen some cool places along the way. This week we will have seen Ohio, West Va, Va, NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, TN, & KY. Looking forward to a few days with my family this week.

Happy running to you...

100 Blog Post: Making Time To Run

Good morning!  Hope that you are having a great week.  Believe it or not, this is my 100th blog post entry since restarting my blog back in May of last year.  I've enjoyed writing this and have had fun corresponding with those of you who have been reading.  For today, a very short post.

As I was running this morning I began to think about the past six weeks.  I've recommitted myself to running and have strung together six very productive weeks of running.  Today I ran 10 miles and that brings me to 20 miles run for this week.  The difference between the last six weeks and the first three months of the year is that I've decided to take time to run.  Instead of making excuses about needing to get to work at 6:30a or 7a and staying until 5:30p or 6p and then working on work at home at night, I decided that I was getting WAY out of balance.  While I love my job, as I've noted often, there is a point where if you spend too much time doing it and become overly invested, then you can become ineffective and lose perspective.  If there are a couple things my staff team appreciates about me, it's that I'm sensible, positive, consistent, and reliable.  About six weeks ago I felt like I was teetering on the brink of not being those things.  Mainly, I was working too much and not spending enough time taking a break.  It not only started to effect me there, but it also started to infringe on Sarah and I.  She's the most patient person in the world with me, but I know I was testing limits with my constant work focus.  At one point she just looked at me and said, "you need to go for a run."  So...here I am, six weeks later and training for a marathon and enjoying running.  I'm taking that extra hour in the morning to run rather than just check email.  I'm much more productive, actually, and I think a lot more helpful to my staff.  While they never may have noticed much that I was pushing the limits of being healthy, I know I started to feel it.  And...that's why I LOVE running so much.  It helps me work toward a goal that I 100% control the outcome, it helps me burn energy, it allows me to process and think, and it just allows my body to do what it was meant to do:  RUN.

Thanks to all of you for reading my blog over the past 100 entries.  There have been over 3200 hits on this blog from 15 different countries.  I love that people read and comment and it's as much of a support to me as it might be to you.  Have a great Wednesday and happy running to you...

#3 Best for Week...

Hello and good morning.  Just ran a very nice and easy six miles this morning.  I finished the week with 40 miles run.  Over the past six weeks I've run at least 30 miles per week and have run just over 200 miles for that stretch.  I'm feeling good about the progress and I can feel my legs getting stronger.  I've been thinking a lot about the Monumental Marathon.  I'm 25 weeks away from that race.  My plan is to spend the next 13 weeks doing two things:  (1) Building up my base mileage and (2) working on building the number of miles I can run in a row at a 6 minute per mile clip.  Twelve weeks out from the marathon will start my marathon specific training, which will see me run long runs of up to 24 miles.  It's going to be a very active 25 weeks. 

I've been reading the book "Run" by Dean Karnazes--as I've mentioned previously.  In the book he talks about the idea that most people have no idea of what their limits are because they do not test them enough.  I've decided for this marathon on November 5 that I am going to push myself to try and run 2:39:59 or better.  In order to do that, I've got to condition my body to the point where it can run 6 minutes per mile for 26 miles.  That would put me at about a 2:37:30 pace.  The best marathon I've ever run is 2:48 (6:26/mile average), so that means I have some work to do.  I have to be honest and say that it's a scary goal because it's a risk and probably a physical stretch for me.  It's going to take a lot of work to be able to run that kind of time.  But...a goal probably is not worth going after if it does not scare you just a little bit.  And...it's not that I'm scared of failing because I have failed before. It's more that the goal is really aggressive and it's a major challenge--one that I embrace!

Here are the three best things from last week:

One, the IUPUI Housing and Residence Life Student Leader Banquet on Tuesday evening.  We have such an outstanding staff (as I mentioned in a previous post titled "Blessed.").  The job that I have is wonderful and I'm lucky to be headed to work each day.  "It's a great day to be in Res Life..."

Two, I hit 40 miles for this week and that's the first time I've hit 40 miles in a week since my Kidney Stone episode last November.  It feels good to be out there running with meaning again.  Training for a marathon is a major life commitment and it requires focus each day.  I'm very excited about my progress thus far.

Three, Myles recovering nicely from being sick.  As the folks who read this blog consistently know, I love my dog.  I really hated seeing him suffer last week and it's hard because he is unable to talk (although I did nearly convince a guy yesterday that Myles spoke fluent Spanish).  It was hard to watch him hurt.  He's all better now and is as feisty as ever.  Hooray for Myles.

Have a great week.  Thanks to all of you who have been reading this blog and happy running to you...

Testing your limits...

Good morning to you and happy weekend.  It's been a pretty good week of running.  Today I ran my longest run of the year, 13 miles, in 1:30:17.  I left about 7:30a and return right around 9a.  It's important as the summer approaches that I am able to get in my running early before it gets hot.  It gets so dang hot in Indiana.  Overall, running is going well.  

As I train for the marathon and run progressively longer runs each week I am actually training my body to learn to run and push through fatigue.  Yesterday, I had the opportunity to talk with a student, Heather, about her attempt at the Indianapolis Women's Half Marathon on September 3.  I was sharing with her a training plan so that she could run the race.  One of the points I made to her was that as you increase your long runs, your body adapts.  For instance, when I ran 12 miles last week my body really started to feel bad around the 10 mile mark (which was my longest run of their year prior to the 12 mile run).  Today, my body really started to hurt once I pushed beyond the 12 mile mark and went for 13.  Next week, once I hit 12.5 or 13 miles then my body will start to feel it.  Does that make sense?  As you push you "wall" out, then you are able to just keep pushing the amount of distance you can run before you really feel fatigued.  The trick to training for any race is to push you wall--the point at which it feel just God awful to run--past the distance you have to race.  In my previous marathons I've been able to push that wall out each time I've raced.  My first marathon it was about the 20 mile mark, my second marathon it was 22, my third marathon it was 23, and at Eugene in 2008 it was 25.  This type of training is hard, but totally worth it. 



Myles did NOT enjoy the Vet visit



This week Myles was a pretty sick puppy and he was having a hard time keeping anything in.  After Sarah and I were up most of the night with him on Wednesday evening cleaning up his stuff (he usually does not potty in the house), we decided it was best to get him to the vet.  I took him to the vet on Thursday afternoon and despite not taking him to the vet in three months he remembered as he ran out the door and then buried his head in my armpit when I picked him up and carried him in.  Once we sat down with the Vet she said that she was pretty sure he had a GI issue, but then listed out all of the other things it could be--many of which resulted in death.  She said, "so we can give you this or we can do all these extra tests to make sure it's nothing serious."  She said she'd give me some time to think about it, but I immediately replied, "let's do what we need to do to make sure he's going to be just fine.  I love him too much to take a chance."  So...they did the extra tests and they came back negative and he's just fine.  He probably did not need the tests and they were expensive, but I would have NEVER forgiven myself if I did not agree to the tests.  Some things just don't have a monetary value and the life of my Myles is one of them.  As we were leaving Myles greeted another dog--a very large lab mix (60LBS).  I walked over and talked to the owner and I could see tears in her eyes.  She said, "today is his day."  Oh my, it broke my heart.  I bent down next to her dog and Myles, petted her dog, and gave her dog a kiss on the head.  Yes, I know that sounds COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE, but in the situation it seemed so natural.  As Myles and I left I told her how sorry I was and wished her the best.  I smiled.  Then...I went to my car and I was just moved to sobbing--yes, actual crying.  It BROKE MY HEART to think about the poor woman having to watch her dog be put down.  I just cannot imagine.  It was strange to be driving down the road and crying about some woman and her dog that I met in passing.  But...I think that in that moment it just reminded me of how much I love Myles and how heartbroken I would have been if I was in her position.  Many of my family and friends have had to make that tough call--it's a call that has to be made--and one that I'm sure is just so tough.

I submitted my program proposal for GLACUHO (Great Lakes Association of College and University Housing Officers) and it's titled:  "What I Learned--About Housing & Residence Life--While Running."  I'm pretty pumped up about it and I hope it's accepted.  Generally my programs are about residence hall apartment communities, Social Justice and Multicultural Competence, and Leadership.  So...this is a new program.  Cross your fingers.

Have a great day and happy running to you...

Blessed...

Good morning.  This is one of those rare times when I write a blog entry on a day I did not run.  I ran 10 miles on Monday and 5 miles yesterday and thought a lot during those runs.  I just did not have time to write.  So...here's a delayed entry.

I'm blessed.  Plain and simple.  Each day I am able to get up, head to a job I love, and work with outstanding people.  This is my second entry in a row about work, but it's the end of the academic year and that means lots of reflection and time spent celebrating our team.  Last night we had our Student Leader Banquet and it was amazing.  The appreciation our team has for one another and our department is beyond what I would have ever hoped for when I entered the Student Affairs field back in 2001.  Every single staff team decided to say something very nice about their supervisor.  Each supervisor had very nice comments to make about their staff members.  It's nice when you can tell that there is a genuine appreciation between students and the leaders who lead them.  We gave out awards, recognized those members of our team moving on, and had a ton of laughs--some planned and others unplanned.  I spend a lot of the 15 miles I ran on Monday and Tuesday thinking about my comments and thinking about what I would say and I definitely had a great time thinking about the year while on my run.  Here are the three things I will remember from 2010-2011:

• Never stop believing in your staff.  It's true.  We had a rough year with early departures, but the team rallied and just kept going.  They never stopped believing in me and I never stopped believing in them and because of that we accomplished nearly every major goal we set out to accomplish.  As a leader, the lesson is to never stop believing in the people you lead.  That, alone, goes a long way when the chips are down.
• CISS Conference:  We hosted the state Student Staff Conference for Indiana (Conference for Indiana Student Staff) in October.  Our committee went all out and we ended up hosting a fantastic conference.  It truly was an effort shared by 50 or more people and they all worked hard to make sure our 100+ guests had an outstanding experience.  I'll remember that for a long time (and we are hosting it again).
• Extra Effort:  This year could be defined by simply those two words, "extra effort."  I felt like 95% of our staff team did not just try to do their job, but really tried to go above and beyond in doing their job.  We had staff volunteer extra for every major event from move-in, to Welcome Week, to CISS, to the Ice Storm, to Closing and many, many more.  Every single time we had a large event, I was blown away by the staff.  And...on a day to day basis, they did the same.  It's walking that person to an office on campus instead of just telling them where it is.  It's dropping by a student's room when you know they've had a rough go of it.  It's helping clean up your teammates program.  The list could go on and on, but I felt like each and every day that the staff just really went the extra mile.  I love that.

Well.  I think that is enough for today.  I hope you have a fantastic day and happy running to you...

Honoring Our Grads...

Left to Right:  Brian, Josh, Drew, Danielle

Good afternoon.  Yesterday a person "who shall not be named" pretty much stated verbatim in the van ride to Bloomington my blog post for today.  Yes, he was right.  And...here goes. 

Had a nice 6 mile run this morning.  I did not run the mini-marathon, but I ran the last mile of the course and cheered for people.  I did not see who I was looking for (Erica, Theresa, Dan, and others), but I cheered none-the-less.  It was fun cheering for people.  To run the mini is a BIG DEAL.  Congrats to those who ran.

Last night was simply amazing.  I was able to attend the graduation ceremony for our three Graduate Staff Members who graduated from the Indiana University Higher Education and Student Affairs Program.  I am SO proud of them and it was just almost too much for me to handle.  You see, 10 years ago in 2001 I sat in the same room, the Wilkie Auditorium, and graduated from the HESA Program.  George Kuh gave the keynote address and he challenged us to "work at a school like you will work there forever."  I remember leaving Bloomington the next day and just feeling an enormous responsibility to do my best work every single day.  To sit in a room 10 years later, to be working in the profession, and to see three people (Brian Gallagher, Andrew Bennett, and Danielle Miller) who I care deeply about  and supervise graduate from the same program I graduated from was amazing.   More than that, though, I was simply humbled and awestruck by the fact that four of our Resident Assistants (Ose Agho, Nick Estrada, Stephanie Powell, and Danielle Bell) took time out of their schedules to come and cheer for their supervisor, Brian, and for Drew and Danielle.  It's one thing for me as their supervisor to be excited and proud.  It's another thing all together when our student staff feel so moved by their supervisors' performance over the past couple years that they chose to come and cheer them on.  For me, that leaves no doubt that the three people graduating are ready for their next step.  Students "vote with their feet," as the former Executive Director of Housing at UGA Jim Day used to say, and these students decided to come and honor their grad staff.  I could not be any prouder and right now I'm just overcome with pride and positive emotion. 

At IUPUI in Housing & Residence Life we have built a culture of success, support, and outstanding work.  Tralicia (former AD) and Hayward (Director) and then Vicky (AD who hired me, Brian, Drew, & Danielle) and Hayward help lay the foundation for what our program has become.  It's been an honor for me to come and benefit from their work and then build on it.  What we have is a special program where our student staff work hard and often exceed expectations without being asked.  The Supervisory Team Members are successful and they give me their best effort every single day (okay 98.5% of the time).  When all of that happens, then the people we are responsible for, our residents, benefit greatly.  I'm so proud that our student staff members are headed to jobs in business, to medical school, to law school, to higher education programs, the teaching profession, Peace Corps, and to many other careers.  All three of our grad students have landed great jobs that they wanted badly.  Our program is about working and doing a great job, and also about us as a Supervisory Team preparing our students for their next step beyond graduation.  Our staff often refers to IUPUI HRL as a family, and it's so true.  It's a family that cares about each other, a family that helps each other reach their goals, and a family that works it's tail off everyday.  I'm so proud to be a member of the IUPUI HRL Family and I'm looking forward to continuing to build on our success.  

Have a great day.  Happy running to you...

Run Dancing...

Good morning!  Happy mid-week to you.  Myles is here with me and we are blogging.  Next to taking him for a walk, this is one of his favorite times of the day (and mine too).  Our number one is when it's me, him, and Sarah just hanging out.  Number two is our daily walk followed closely by number three, blogging together.   I'll tell you one thing:  this dog has it MADE!  And...I got it made too.  He's a terrific pup!

Had a fantastic run this morning.  Ran about 6 miles in downtown Indianapolis.  Because it was not raining, I was able to listen to some music.  I cannot lie.  Every now and then a song just hits me, moves me, and causes me to start "run dancing."  That's right.  I'll actually dance while running.  Today, this song called Block After Block came on and I was just stoked.  Here it is by Matt & Kim:


Anyway, it's catchy, isn't it?  I ended my run with the song playing.  I jumped up on the bench outside our patio on the canal and just started dancing like I was on the team that won the NBA Finals.  Silly, yes.  Liberating and fun?  ABSOLUTELY!  Running moves me and when you couple that with a fun song, then I'm just about ready to pop with good feelings.  I'm sure to passers-by I looked foolish.  But...I don't care.  I won't let others define my relationship with running or music.  I love it.  I have fun with it.  I make people laugh with it.  And...if you want to come "run dancing" with me, then come.  Some people dance at the club at 2a all decked out in party gear.  I dance in the streets in my running gear at 5a.  Either way, we're both decked out dancing. 

Have a fantastic day.  Go to iTunes and try out Matt & Kim.  They are fantastic and Sarah introduced me to them about a month ago.  It's worth it!  Be a plus one to somebody (make their day) and happy running to you.

Hello May...

Good morning to you.  Hard to believe it's the first of May.  It's about time as the winter was harsh, cold, and dreary.  I'm hoping that May will be bright, sunny, and warm.  I ran 6.25 miles this morning and finished the week at 35.25 miles.  I've now had weeks of 31, 32, 33, and 35.25 consecutively.  This is the best four week stretch I've had since last November.  Slowly, the base is being built to make a great run at a Marathon PR.  For the year, I've run 426.25 miles.

Here are my three best for the week:

One, planting flowers and landscaping!  Last year we moved to a place that has a nice patio that just begs for outdoor decor.  I've had a good time trying my hand at planting flowers and making things look nice outside.  Myles was a very good helper (LOL) and he was very interested in everything I was doing.  See below for the pictures.

Two, Harry Potter.  Sarah and I are quite big fans of the Harry Potter movies.  We bought part one of the Deathly Hallows and watched it last night.  It's just so easy to get lost in the world of those movies and for over a decade the books and movies have captivated many people on this planet.  We enjoyed watching it again.  I'm excited for the release of the final installment.  Don't tell me what happens, because I've not read the book. I'd like to be surprised.

Three, signing up for the Monumental Marathon.  No going back now.  I'm signed up.  More than that, I'm mentally committed and focused.  With every run for the next six months I'll be working so that I'll be ready for November 5.  188 days from today I'll be running it.  Here's the link just in case you get a hankering to run it as well:  http://monumentalmarathon.com/

Happy running to you.  Enjoy my pictures: