Christmas 2013

Merry Christmas

 

           As we reflect on the past year, it was a time of loss, a time of change, and a time of gain. We had to say good-bye to our dear Aunt Tootsy and our beloved Midnight. We also witnessed the senseless bombings at the Boston Marathon which I was close enough to hear. In September it was wonderful to see our great cousins and Uncle Howie at Aunt Tootsy’s memorial in Auburn. In November it was so touching to see the outpouring of love from Midnight’s friends in the neighborhood. And back in April there was a tremendous response from the Fresno running community in support of the people of Boston. I was asked to speak at a number of functions regarding my perspective on what had happened in what was my 15^th Boston Marathon.

            I coached 2 marathon teams this year adding one for the local running store (SRC) as well as one for Team in Training. The season was extra special because I met my girl friend, Jodi Nili, and coached her for her first marathon. She and I had a lot of fun going to a Fresno Grizzlies’ baseball game, hiking in Sequoia and Yosemite, going to a Cal football game, and visiting Mom and Bill in Calistoga. I also got my picture taken with the Giants’ 2 World Series trophies from 2010 and 2012 when they came to Reedley. The FSU Bulldogs’ 11-1, conference champion, and bowl-bound football team provided a lot of excitement this year, too.

            My running this year suffered greatly from the dislocated and fractured shoulder I experienced skiing in December 2012. I did join some of my Westmont buddies at Big Sky, MT for some skiing in February, but spent 6 months of 2013 doing shoulder and hamstring rehab. I ran only  5 marathons this year including one in South Carolina where I got to spend a week with Becki and Bob McKee. I ran 2 more marathons in Canada (Winnipeg, MB and New Brunswick) and did qualify for Boston 2015 at CIM in Sacramento in December. My two cats Boston and CIM (named after my two favorite marathons) continue to be such attentive and affectionate buddies. After running CIM, I did get on TV to talk about Boston and CIM (the marathons), but the clip didn’t include the part about the cats being named for the marathons: http://fox40.com/2013/12/08/runners-brave-freezing-temps-in-cim/

            An extra special week was the one I spent in August with Brad Towers and his family at Newport Beach. Brad and I went to an Angels game and to Disneyland with his nieces and acted like kids again. This year I have also been teaching Bible classes and developing a computer-based library at “Rescue the Children” which provides Christian homes and training for women and their children. It is such a blessing to work with these ladies. And that brings us back to thanking the Lord for being with us through all our gains and losses this year, and to wishing you all the Lord’s blessings in 2014.

                                               

Have a great New Year,

 

John

 

CIM 2013

CIM, Sacramento

Dec. 8, 2013

 

3:52:14  31/127 in 60-64    2160/6435 overall  8:52 pace overall

            Driving rain and 30 mph winds? Yes, it was much worse at CIM last year. This year it was very cold-about 28 degrees, but it didn’t rain and there was little wind. So actually, pretty good for a marathon. One interesting aspect of the freezing temps was that at the early aid stations the spilled liquid froze on the ground and created icy, slippery conditions. One had to be very careful not to fall.    

            Jodi and I drove up on Sat. morning and had fun looking at the Christmas tree on the Capitol lawn and then going to the expo. I ran into a group of friends that I knew from when I taught in Reedley, and it was neat to hear that they were doing the marathon. I also got my award from CIM loyalty group for having run CIM 10 times since I didn’t get it earlier. They had 2 years with my name as Volkmar.

            Sat. night we had dinner at the Spaghetti Factory with a number of Fresno friends who were running CIM including Paul, Amanda, Nick, Michelle, Juan (who was doing his 23^rd CIM and 140^th marathon), and Bill. And then race morning, I got on the bus at 5:15 and lo and behold it was the same bus that Amanda, Mark, Dion, Kathleen and Paul were on. We had fun chatting and then freezing together when we finally had to get off the bus.

            I wore a short sleeve shirt and arm warmers with a long sleeve shirt over the top. I debated long and hard with myself, but finally did opt for tights which proved to be a good decision as the cold prevailed the whole race. I also wore cotton gloves and a cap with ear flaps. After mile 7, I tossed the long sleeve shirt and was not cold, just invigorated. I felt really good and after the first couple of miles at just under 9, I ran some 8:25 miles and some 8:35 miles feeling like I was holding myself back as best I could. The paces came very comfortably. But then at mile 6 my right calf tightened, followed shortly my the left calf doing the same. My right calf had been tight the week before, but very odd to have both of them hurt so much. I did have an awful lot of soreness throughout my legs when I got my massage from Kristie on Thursday so was wondering what was going on in those let muscles. At one point I felt like the right calf had ripped and I had to stop and stretch. Jodi really helped me by being out on the course to cheer and take pictures and use “The Stick” on me. No, not to beat me to go faster. It’s the one used to massage tight muscles and it really helped to have her rub on those calves at miles 13 and 19. That and seven ibuprofen and a lot of grimacing got me through somehow. This was the most painful marathon I’ve run because of the calf cramps. It was doubly frustrating because I felt fast and in good shape but couldn’t perform at peak level.

            At halfway I was at 1:54 and still hoping for sub 3:50. I did run an 8:35 and an 8:30 at miles 15 and 17 and 8:45-8:55 for miles 21-26, but had a couple of 9:30s at 19 and 20 where I had to stretch and roll that cost me the 3:50. My time was a Boston Qualifying time so I was very happy about that.

            At the expo there was a young man named Lance Casazza who has run 3 marathons in the 5 hour range. He hopes to go from 260 lbs to 210 and get his time down to his BQ time of 3:15. See his quest to qualify and to raise money for the Boston Marathon bombing victims at: http://thelongroadtoboston.com/  He points out that “less than 1% of the US population will ever finish a marathon. Of that group, only 10.4% will ever receive an invitation to Boston.” It certainly makes me appreciate all the more how blessed I’ve been to be able to run Boston 15 times and be registered to run again in 2014 and qualified for 2015.

This was Marathon #134;16 states on 2d go round; 8 provinces.. Pictures at: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=1JcNWbVkxY8Q