My on again/off again affair with running is 'on' again. I've been doing this since, oh, 1976 when I 'ran track' at Branson High School. I use the phrase 'ran track' loosely.
One of the guys I ran around with in those days, Tim, ran track. He ran the 220, and a relay or two I think. He also was a low hurdler. One day, in PE, Tim was practicing his form with a couple of hurdles. I got to messing around with it, too, just for something to do. Well, Tim told his dad about it.
Tim's dad was our PE teacher. And he was the track coach, too.
"Hey, Dad!" says Tim. "I think I found your high hurdler!" says Tim. "Scowden! You going out for track?" says coach. "I guess so." says I.
Inspiring, isn't it?
Wait, it gets better. As it turns out, I was a terrible high hurdler.
But I did last an entire season on a team in high school and that's a pretty cool thing to do. I recommend it. Even if you are terrible.
As I think about it now, it never occurred to me to quit. I think, if I was failing at something today at the rate I failed at high hurdling, I would quit it. It would be so obvious that someone else could do a better job that I should get out and let that someone have my place. But quitting never crossed my mind. Honestly, I am amazed by that.
Because there have been many times in my life that I bailed out on things that were not going well. Perhaps, at times, even quit too soon. I've quit things when I could have done better, but did not want too, and I am not proud of that. But I never considered quitting the track team my senior year, even though it was a 50/50 proposition whether I would finish a race without hitting a hurdle and falling down.
I look back over my rather unremarkable life and am astonished by the desire and guts of my 17-year-old self.
Where did that guy go?
And is he gone for good?
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
3.02.2014
11.17.2008
135. Rejoice With Me!
I am very happily trying to remember how to walk normally.
In the early nineties, when we lived in Ft. Worth, TX, I injured my knee. I was going to run and I was stretching my right quad with my right foot tucked under my rear as I was seated on the floor. I leaned back to stretch the quad and I heard a loud POP from my knee. I felt it too. Not pain surprisingly, but I certainly felt it.
You may not believe me when I tell you that I went ahead and ran, but I did. There was not the pain which you would have expected if I had really torn something up. Later, however, there was swelling and stiffness and the joint did not feel stable. In fact, it hasn't felt stable since then and any over-exertion would make it stiff and achy.
We didn't have insurance at the time, I was just a poor seminary student. I have often thought I would have to have surgery eventually to fix it. I like to run and I like to hike and a balky, unstable knee which is prone to stiffness and pain puts a real damper on those activities. Someday, I thought, I'll get it scoped or whatever.
Recently, a friend and I were talking and I discovered he had hiked a week's worth of the Appalachian Trail. The AT, if you do not know, is the Holy Grail of hiking here in the states. The trail extends unbroken from northern Georgia to central Maine. It's been something I wanted to do since I heard of it, though my responsibilities would prevent me from taking the six months out of my life to do it all at once. I thought it would remain only a dream.
My friend, also with a desire to hike the AT, had hit on the idea of doing it a week at a time and eventually covering the whole thing. And he asked if I wanted to go the next time. Of course I did. We talked about training and the demands the trail puts on a person. Like, periodically walking uphill for half a day.
Enthused, I began exercising the next day. I got up early and went to run. And as I ran, my unstable knee began to complain. Loudly. And I began to think. If I couldn't trust my knee, I wouldn't be able to commit to a week of 12-15 hours a day on a very demanding trail. Well, I thought, maybe now's the time for surgery. But then I thought, what about the recovery time? Could I be ready?
I prayed. I don't remember what I said exactly, but I asked God to help me with my knee in light of the opportunity of the hike and the possibility of failure. I finished the run and my knee was hurting. I went to work that day, came home that evening and was going about my routine. I was seated at the table and turned to speak to my wife. My knee went POP.
I didn't think too much of it at the time because it has popped every now and then since Ft. Worth. But the next day my knee did not hurt. Not only did it not hurt, it felt NORMAL. I stretched my leg very tight like when you have "growing pains", which would typically be slightly painful. No pain. It felt stable. I began to try to move without favoring it, which I have unconsciously done for over 10 or 12 years. No pain. Stable.
It has been a week now and my knee still feels fine, and not a day has passed without my giving thanks to God. I believe He heard me and answered me about my knee. I did not ever know the severity of my injury and so I don't know what was involved to fix it. All I know is, I used to have a bad knee and I asked God to help me and it's fine now. At least as good as a 50 year old knee is supposed to be, anyway.
Rejoice with me, for this knee I had lost has been found!
In the early nineties, when we lived in Ft. Worth, TX, I injured my knee. I was going to run and I was stretching my right quad with my right foot tucked under my rear as I was seated on the floor. I leaned back to stretch the quad and I heard a loud POP from my knee. I felt it too. Not pain surprisingly, but I certainly felt it.
You may not believe me when I tell you that I went ahead and ran, but I did. There was not the pain which you would have expected if I had really torn something up. Later, however, there was swelling and stiffness and the joint did not feel stable. In fact, it hasn't felt stable since then and any over-exertion would make it stiff and achy.
We didn't have insurance at the time, I was just a poor seminary student. I have often thought I would have to have surgery eventually to fix it. I like to run and I like to hike and a balky, unstable knee which is prone to stiffness and pain puts a real damper on those activities. Someday, I thought, I'll get it scoped or whatever.
Recently, a friend and I were talking and I discovered he had hiked a week's worth of the Appalachian Trail. The AT, if you do not know, is the Holy Grail of hiking here in the states. The trail extends unbroken from northern Georgia to central Maine. It's been something I wanted to do since I heard of it, though my responsibilities would prevent me from taking the six months out of my life to do it all at once. I thought it would remain only a dream.
My friend, also with a desire to hike the AT, had hit on the idea of doing it a week at a time and eventually covering the whole thing. And he asked if I wanted to go the next time. Of course I did. We talked about training and the demands the trail puts on a person. Like, periodically walking uphill for half a day.
Enthused, I began exercising the next day. I got up early and went to run. And as I ran, my unstable knee began to complain. Loudly. And I began to think. If I couldn't trust my knee, I wouldn't be able to commit to a week of 12-15 hours a day on a very demanding trail. Well, I thought, maybe now's the time for surgery. But then I thought, what about the recovery time? Could I be ready?
I prayed. I don't remember what I said exactly, but I asked God to help me with my knee in light of the opportunity of the hike and the possibility of failure. I finished the run and my knee was hurting. I went to work that day, came home that evening and was going about my routine. I was seated at the table and turned to speak to my wife. My knee went POP.
I didn't think too much of it at the time because it has popped every now and then since Ft. Worth. But the next day my knee did not hurt. Not only did it not hurt, it felt NORMAL. I stretched my leg very tight like when you have "growing pains", which would typically be slightly painful. No pain. It felt stable. I began to try to move without favoring it, which I have unconsciously done for over 10 or 12 years. No pain. Stable.
It has been a week now and my knee still feels fine, and not a day has passed without my giving thanks to God. I believe He heard me and answered me about my knee. I did not ever know the severity of my injury and so I don't know what was involved to fix it. All I know is, I used to have a bad knee and I asked God to help me and it's fine now. At least as good as a 50 year old knee is supposed to be, anyway.
Rejoice with me, for this knee I had lost has been found!
8.22.2008
103. Taxes and Houses and Veeps, Oh My
Who will be Barack Obama's running mate? The world wants to know. Well, CNN and MSNBC want to know. Personally, I can wait.
Usually, the top of the ticket is the big dog, the head honcho leading the nation into the new - whatever. Well, consider this. Obama is the least qualified person ever to be nominated by a major party for president. And in a few hours, he will probably pick someone who does not outshine him.
Just let that sink in for a moment.
There is a danger in writing about Obama in the way I do. It is that I will be perceived as a negative, grouchy, crabby old man. Crotchety, even. Anti-whippersnapper.
I realize that. But I realize this, as well. I think the argument can be made that we live in the most perilous time since the end of the Cold War. OK, I understand that is not a large chunk of history. Nevertheless, I think it's a valid assessment. So, who then should we pick for president? Barney Fife or Marshall Dillon? The Disorderly Orderly or Dirty Harry? C'mon. It's not even close.
I write about Obama the way I do because two things are abundantly clear to me - 1) there are a handful of very dangerous and/or highly critical international conflicts, or near-conflicts, around the world, and, 2) every one of them demands more than teleprompter speeches and a victory lap through Europe. And that is all Obama's got. That is all he's got.
The world is more dangerous than that. We can not afford to give the keys of state to a guy that hasn't even completed Driver's Ed.
Well, what are others saying? Lots. If you are trying to keep up with the Obama news, it's tough. And I'm not even talking about all the "homer" coverage he gets from the mainstream media. Let's see if I can give you a taste and then maybe we'll talk about some fun stuff.
Back a few weeks ago, when Obama was on his Resume Safari to Europe, John McCain began running some ads that really took Obama to task. That was when the "Celebrity" ads came out. And I thought then that it was brilliant. Obama was on tour, on a schedule and basically working from a script. In other words, he was a bit pinned down and less able to respond to what was happening here due to, again his schedule, and the time zones. And that's when McCain started punching - when Obama couldn't do anything about it. It was very smart, I thought.
It also struck me as being strategic in the military sense. And for heaven's sake, John McCain is nothing if not military. And you know what? I think the campaign has been going that way ever since. There has been a precision and incisiveness to what McCain is doing. And I think Obama has been in the position of having to respond to whatever McCain dictates. And I think the poll numbers reflect that.
Well, here's someone who has taken the latest flap over houses and turned it into a military campaign and it's hilarious. I also think it confirms my thinking. But, of course I would think that.
Here are a couple of more thoughts to ponder. The Dems National Convention is this coming week, but how does the week end? With McCain announcing his running mate on Friday. Sure it won't get the foaming-at-the-mouth coverage that we've seen for the last two days, but it will be the capstone of the week. The timing is brilliant. Again.
And then I saw an article just a few hours ago where the McCain camp said it's expecting Obama to get a 15-point bounce from the Convention. That would be huge. But here's the deal. If he gets it, OK, that's what we expect. If he doesn't, then something must be wrong because he didn't have the bounce we expected.
I think McCain is playing Obama and the media masterfully. And better still, I don't think they know it. It's against the Liberal Code to think anyone could best them.
Here the guys at Powerline echo the "unprepared" theme. Here's a quote: "... one of the many problems with being a leftist is that it leads you to say lots of stupid things. Today, the Obama gaffe machine went into overdrive. By November, I suspect that most voters will have heard enough to know that Barack Obama is unqualified to be a middle-manager in a well-run company, let alone President of the United States."
You should read it all.
Same song, another verse. This one is particularly witty and I wish I had written it. Back in junior high, one of the dangers we had to face was getting "pantsed" during gym class. Getting pantsed meant that, unbeknownst to the victim, someone snuck up behind him and yanked the victim's gym shorts down around his knees and then the perpetrator would run off. That is getting pantsed. In this article, Obama gets pantsed. Here's a quote - “With all due respect, Sen. Obama, being president is above your pay grade. And the voters are starting to figure that out.”
As we all learned in "The Untouchables" there is something called 'the Chicago way'. Except in the movie it was a good thing. From the article - “Democrats don't like it when you say that Barack Obama won his first election in 1996 by throwing all of his opponents off the ballot on technicalities.
More - “Mr. Obama has never stood up against Chicago's corruption problem because his donors and allies are Chicago's corruption problem. Mr. Obama is not the reformer he now claims to be. The real man is the one they know in Chicago -- the one who won his first election by depriving voters of a choice.”
Hold on to your wallet. Obama likes to raise taxes according to this piece. And this one, too. Here's George Will - "This senator, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, is going to get a huge, complex industry to produce, and is going to get a million consumers to buy, (hybrid) cars. How? Almost certainly by federal financial incentives for both — billions of dollars of tax subsidies for automakers, and billions more to bribe customers to buy these cars they otherwise would spurn."
I know! Let's raise taxes to entice people to buy cars they do not want! Brilliant!
Have you Obama fatigue yet? I hope so. The more, the merrier.
Did you know Seahawks can run? Well, some of them do and after I read this article I was ready to hit the trail. Here's what they said about the run - "I really look at this as kind of a metaphor on life," Pattison said. "You want to stop and you want to quit, but that's the easy thing to do."
"This isn't about climbing Tiger Mountain specifically, since there are higher peaks with longer trails. And it isn't about time, since Pattison will still be running the trail this winter when the weather turns cold, the trail gets sloppy and the times can get downright glacial.
Running the Cable Line trail is more about dedication.”
My daughter and son-in-law honeymooned in Seattle last summer and they would like to go back there some time. Peter, you need to find this trail and run it. In fact, take me along and I'll run it, too. Or I will try. Or I'll hold your camera, or something.
Man, that was a long post. I'm glad it's Friday.
Usually, the top of the ticket is the big dog, the head honcho leading the nation into the new - whatever. Well, consider this. Obama is the least qualified person ever to be nominated by a major party for president. And in a few hours, he will probably pick someone who does not outshine him.
Just let that sink in for a moment.
There is a danger in writing about Obama in the way I do. It is that I will be perceived as a negative, grouchy, crabby old man. Crotchety, even. Anti-whippersnapper.
I realize that. But I realize this, as well. I think the argument can be made that we live in the most perilous time since the end of the Cold War. OK, I understand that is not a large chunk of history. Nevertheless, I think it's a valid assessment. So, who then should we pick for president? Barney Fife or Marshall Dillon? The Disorderly Orderly or Dirty Harry? C'mon. It's not even close.
I write about Obama the way I do because two things are abundantly clear to me - 1) there are a handful of very dangerous and/or highly critical international conflicts, or near-conflicts, around the world, and, 2) every one of them demands more than teleprompter speeches and a victory lap through Europe. And that is all Obama's got. That is all he's got.
The world is more dangerous than that. We can not afford to give the keys of state to a guy that hasn't even completed Driver's Ed.
Well, what are others saying? Lots. If you are trying to keep up with the Obama news, it's tough. And I'm not even talking about all the "homer" coverage he gets from the mainstream media. Let's see if I can give you a taste and then maybe we'll talk about some fun stuff.
Back a few weeks ago, when Obama was on his Resume Safari to Europe, John McCain began running some ads that really took Obama to task. That was when the "Celebrity" ads came out. And I thought then that it was brilliant. Obama was on tour, on a schedule and basically working from a script. In other words, he was a bit pinned down and less able to respond to what was happening here due to, again his schedule, and the time zones. And that's when McCain started punching - when Obama couldn't do anything about it. It was very smart, I thought.
It also struck me as being strategic in the military sense. And for heaven's sake, John McCain is nothing if not military. And you know what? I think the campaign has been going that way ever since. There has been a precision and incisiveness to what McCain is doing. And I think Obama has been in the position of having to respond to whatever McCain dictates. And I think the poll numbers reflect that.
Well, here's someone who has taken the latest flap over houses and turned it into a military campaign and it's hilarious. I also think it confirms my thinking. But, of course I would think that.
Here are a couple of more thoughts to ponder. The Dems National Convention is this coming week, but how does the week end? With McCain announcing his running mate on Friday. Sure it won't get the foaming-at-the-mouth coverage that we've seen for the last two days, but it will be the capstone of the week. The timing is brilliant. Again.
And then I saw an article just a few hours ago where the McCain camp said it's expecting Obama to get a 15-point bounce from the Convention. That would be huge. But here's the deal. If he gets it, OK, that's what we expect. If he doesn't, then something must be wrong because he didn't have the bounce we expected.
I think McCain is playing Obama and the media masterfully. And better still, I don't think they know it. It's against the Liberal Code to think anyone could best them.
Here the guys at Powerline echo the "unprepared" theme. Here's a quote: "... one of the many problems with being a leftist is that it leads you to say lots of stupid things. Today, the Obama gaffe machine went into overdrive. By November, I suspect that most voters will have heard enough to know that Barack Obama is unqualified to be a middle-manager in a well-run company, let alone President of the United States."
You should read it all.
Same song, another verse. This one is particularly witty and I wish I had written it. Back in junior high, one of the dangers we had to face was getting "pantsed" during gym class. Getting pantsed meant that, unbeknownst to the victim, someone snuck up behind him and yanked the victim's gym shorts down around his knees and then the perpetrator would run off. That is getting pantsed. In this article, Obama gets pantsed. Here's a quote - “With all due respect, Sen. Obama, being president is above your pay grade. And the voters are starting to figure that out.”
As we all learned in "The Untouchables" there is something called 'the Chicago way'. Except in the movie it was a good thing. From the article - “Democrats don't like it when you say that Barack Obama won his first election in 1996 by throwing all of his opponents off the ballot on technicalities.
More - “Mr. Obama has never stood up against Chicago's corruption problem because his donors and allies are Chicago's corruption problem. Mr. Obama is not the reformer he now claims to be. The real man is the one they know in Chicago -- the one who won his first election by depriving voters of a choice.”
Hold on to your wallet. Obama likes to raise taxes according to this piece. And this one, too. Here's George Will - "This senator, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, is going to get a huge, complex industry to produce, and is going to get a million consumers to buy, (hybrid) cars. How? Almost certainly by federal financial incentives for both — billions of dollars of tax subsidies for automakers, and billions more to bribe customers to buy these cars they otherwise would spurn."
I know! Let's raise taxes to entice people to buy cars they do not want! Brilliant!
Have you Obama fatigue yet? I hope so. The more, the merrier.
Did you know Seahawks can run? Well, some of them do and after I read this article I was ready to hit the trail. Here's what they said about the run - "I really look at this as kind of a metaphor on life," Pattison said. "You want to stop and you want to quit, but that's the easy thing to do."
"This isn't about climbing Tiger Mountain specifically, since there are higher peaks with longer trails. And it isn't about time, since Pattison will still be running the trail this winter when the weather turns cold, the trail gets sloppy and the times can get downright glacial.
Running the Cable Line trail is more about dedication.”
My daughter and son-in-law honeymooned in Seattle last summer and they would like to go back there some time. Peter, you need to find this trail and run it. In fact, take me along and I'll run it, too. Or I will try. Or I'll hold your camera, or something.
Man, that was a long post. I'm glad it's Friday.
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