After the morning newspaper and coffee, I headed up to 57th. What a wonderful morning, and what a wonderful way to start the day! The five mile loop went fine, and as I rounded the corner from 65th onto Freya, it looked like there was a reasonable chance for a new personal best. Sure enough....58 minutes! So that's an average of 11 minutes and 36 seconds per blessed mile.

In a week (on Labor Day) I am getting together with Brian's parents to learn more about their plans for "Frogs Helping Families". But if you get the chance, I would encourage you to visit their website (brianslegacy.org). I, for one, have tremendous admiration for Jan and Steve. And I hope that the preparation and participation in this "race" in late November can be of help to their cause. Maybe it will raise some money, but maybe it will also raise awareness of the needs, right here in our community. Just imagine being a parent with a child suffering from a life-threatening illness.

My wife and I went to dinner on Saturday evening over in Coeur d'Alene. I noticed out the window of the restaurant that there was a horse-drawn buggy taking folks on a tour of downtown Coeur d'Alene. I'm not sure whether those were clydesdales pulling the buggy, but they certainly had some similarities to the Budweiser clydesdales that we see in commercials during football season. In horse vernacular, a clydesdale may be synonymous with smart, or distinguished, or larger than life. In "running" vernacular, clydesdale means just larger that life. Many races have a category for these larger runners called clydesdales, if you are a male and weigh over 220 pounds. I could shed 80 pounds and still be in the clydesdale category! Seasoned runners can pick out a clydesdale "runner" from miles away. As the cars go by on 57th and observe this larger than life "jogger", there's no question whatsover......that's a clydesdale.

Plenty of excuses

So this morning, I was initially jazzed about the upcoming "run". After the coffee and the morning paper (Mariner recap, Seahawks, Cougars, etc.), it actually began to rain. So should I simply wait until tomorrow? The excuses began to pour out mentally......I did have a sneeze last night which could indicate the beginning of another swine flu case......I can wait until tomorrow.....what would I wear in the rain anyway.......people would think I was a total idiot for "running" in the rain......

But I drove up to 57th anyway, because I was not willing to sit and feel guilty all day. The "run" worked out fine - actually shaved a full 30 seconds off the five mile time from a couple of days ago, so that felt like progress. Pride trumps guilt any day of the week!

Spokane sloth?

The training schedule gave me a day off yesterday. The "rest" days are highlighted on the schedule because one of my biggest fears is to have inadvertantly "run" on a rest day. I have no fears whatsoever of resting on a "run" day but am petrified of "running" on a rest day.

Anyway, I ate too much yesterday, but hear me out. We had two employees celebrating birthdays - one with cheesecake and the other with ice cream. It's important to be polite and celebrate right along with everyone else. Last evening, my wife and I had a pretty good size meal at a restaurant followed by a large helping of ice cream (she didn't know about the ice cream incident from earlier in the day, so I'm hoping now she doesn't read the blog!). Needless to say, the rest days need to be approached with a little more caloric control.

So this morning, with some reluctance, I headed to 57th for a 5 mile "run". The training schedule said 4 miles but let's try 5. The reluctance was because of the preference for the track, but the track is next to a school, and school starts today, and it was already 8:30am and it would be difficult for any teacher to have full attention from the students while a pachyderm-like creature was "running" around the track just outside their classroom. I finished the five mile "run" in exactly 60 minutes or 12 minutes/mile. That's not too bad. I was happy with that. Some readers may now feel that the blog title should be changed to Spokane Sloth, but there's still nearly three months to go. And I really really want to make a difference for Brian and his family and their intense hope to help other families in need.

Initial entry

First off, let's be frank. This body was not manufactured for running or jogging or any rapid movement whatsoever. But it's important to stay active, and it's important to devote one's efforts toward worthwhile causes, regardless of any impediments or excuses. So that brings us to the Seattle Marathon on November 29th and Fr.O.G.s Helping Families-Brian's Legacy. Over the next 3+ months, I plan to prepare for the Seattle Marathon and help raise money for Brian's Legacy. There's a head start to report - six slow miles at the track this past Saturday. There's a long way to go and a ton of work between now and November 29th. I'll post updates on my progress, including jogging distances and any appreciable weight reductions. Suffice it to say that I currently tip the scales at 300+ pounds. But I'm ready for the challenge. So.....ready, set, go!