For Whom the Dogs Bark

April 28, 2024

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Location:

Cypress,TX,

Member Since:

Oct 10, 2009

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

5K: 24:22 (March 2010); 22:33 (October 2010); 20:47 (May 2011); 21:05 (May 2012); 21:33 (September 2012); 21:23 (November, 2013); 22:31 (September 2014)

5M: 39:22 (November, 2012); 35:54 (November, 2013); 36:03 (March, 2015)

10K: 44:08 (November, 2010); 49:20 (July, 2013); 44:07 (April, 2015)

12K: 56:03 (December, 2013); 58:58 (December, 2014)

10M: 1:11:58 (October, 2012); 1:15:24 (October, 2014)

Half Marathon: 1:53:xx (London's Run 2010); 2:05:21 (Cowtown 2010); 1:37:04 (Gusher 2011); 1:42:19 (Huntsville 2011); 1:33:47 (Baytown Jailbreak 2012); 1:33:50 (The Woodlands 2012); 1:42:52 (Texas 2015); 1:49:17 (Jailbreak 2015); 1:38:34 (The Woodlands 2015)

25K: 2:01:47 (Fifth Third River Bank, May 2014)

Marathon: 5:51:35 (Texas Marathon 2009); 6:21:36 (Ogden 2009); 4:58:29 (St. George 2009); 4:13:45 (Texas Marathon 2010); 4:04:12 (Utah Valley Marathon, 2010); 5:11:14 (Hartford ING, 2010); 3:41:43 (Richmond SunTrust, 2010); 3:39:27 (Texas Marathon 2011); 3:41:46 (Utah Valley Marathon, 2011); 3:30:35 (St. George 2011); 3:41:51 (Richmond 2012); 3:49:15 (Texas 2013); 3:46:59 (Paavo Nurmi, 2013); 3:34:04 (St. George 2013); 3:49:51 (Texas 2014); 3:31:59 (Richmond 2014); 3:28:34 (Boston 2015)

Short-Term Running Goals:

3:20, 1:30, 0:20

Long-Term Running Goals:

I'm 60, there is no long term.

Personal:

I live, work and run in Houston, Texas. I have run 17 marathons, some good ones and some others. I prefer straight, flat, cold, sea-level marathons, still waiting for my first one. I feel like there are more PRs out there. When I have them, I am told it is time to dial it back, run for healthy reasons. I'm sure that's right, and I'm sure it won't happen.

My wife and I are from the mountains of the west. We have five kids, three granddaughters and three grandsons. The kids and grandkids are native Texans but we are not -- you have to be born here.

As for my blog title: I run most of my miles before sunrise, sometimes hours before. On the back road of my neighborhood two hours before daylight, I can depend on a pack of mutts behind the boundary fence lighting up when they hear my footsteps. I have wondered what they wanted; but according to Hemingway I needn't ask.

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Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	0.00

Tue, Mar 09, 2010

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.30	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.30

64F, cloudy but no rain. Ran 10.30 in 2:01:27, average pace 11:48, low heart rate. Everything seems back to normal this morning, although temperatures are almost in the summer range, hopefully only temporarily.

I just read Burt's entry from this morning and happened anyway to have been thinking a lot lately about things more important than running. My mom has had cancer for a while, although she has other age-related issues that will probably take her first. And two families I home teach (church-related visits) also have cancer in the family. In one, an older lady has been fighting it for years. She expected to pass away about two years ago. She and her family spoke of it openly and made plans -- but instead she is in complete remission and happy as a lark, as are her family obviously. Never met a sweeter lady. Then in the last month the father in the other family, 4 young kids, got a rare form of esophogal cancer. He starts radiation and chemo on Monday, so I will be going over there on Sunday night to try to help. I talked to him last night. He and his wife had a long session yesterday with the head doctor on his team, a very talented and caring woman who told them she will not let him die. We have world class cancer facilities here at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, possibly the best, both in terms of scientific prowess and legendary compassion. It seems like they cure stuff that nobody else cures. I had a colleague 15 years ago who got brain cancer, an aggressive form with a 5-year survival rate under 15%. He actively researched and pursued all avenues here in Houston and also ended up with very good care. His cancer eventually stabilized and he quit his job and moved to Utah to be close to both familes. He can't practice law anymore, but is an instructor in the philosophy department at BYU and in the last year has seen one son finish a mission and a daughter marry very well. Sometimes life can be bad for a while before it gets quite good. Other times the inevitable happens, I have seen some of those in the last year as well. So best wishes to anyone out there who is struggling. Struggle well.

Comments

From Missee on Tue, Mar 09, 2010 at 12:01:44 from 173.14.225.246

Thank you for that post!

From Burt on Tue, Mar 09, 2010 at 13:15:06 from 206.19.214.144

Thanks Mark. Struggle well used to be the MichelleL's blog title.

From flatlander on Tue, Mar 09, 2010 at 15:08:31 from 76.31.26.153

Thanks Missee and Burt, and Burt thanks for the heads up. Apologies to MichelleL if she happens to see the entry.

From SlowJoe on Tue, Mar 09, 2010 at 15:37:35 from 131.59.200.82

Nice words - my wife's mother is going through cancer treatments so I'll pass along the uplifting stories.

From flatlander on Fri, Mar 12, 2010 at 12:43:30 from 198.207.244.102

Joe, thanks, best wishes to your mother in law.

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